In Obama's Words

Obama participates in Univision town hall

Now, here's what's also important -- that eight out of 10 future jobs are going to require more than a high school education. They're going to require some sort of higher education, whether it's a community college, a four-year college, at the very least some job training and technical training -- all of which means nobody -- nobody -- can drop out. We can't afford to have anybody here at Bell drop out. We can't have anybody drop out anywhere in the country.”

• Other issues:Education

Obama hosts townhall with young African leaders

I'll be honest with you -- I'm heartbroken when I see what's happened in Zimbabwe. I think Mugabe is an example of a leader who came in as a liberation fighter and -- I'm just going to be very blunt -- I do not see him serving his people well.”

• Other issues:Foreign Policy, Social Issues

Obama holds a town hall with students; the First Lady also attends

...I am absolutely convinced that the country that has the biggest stake in Pakistan's success is India.”

• Other issues:Foreign Policy

Obama participates in a youth Town Hall live on Viacom’s BET, CMT and MTV networks

We've got to be able to have a conversation and recognize we're all Americans; we all want the best for this country. We may have some disagreements in terms of how to get there, but all of us want to make sure that our economy is strong, that jobs are growing. All of us want to make sure that people aren't bankrupt when they get sick. All of us want to make sure that young people can afford an education.”

• Other issues:Government and Politics

Obama delivers remarks at the White House Science Fair

You know, when you win first place at a science fair, nobody's rushing the field or dumping Gatorade over your head.”

• Other issues:Education, Science and Technology

Obama Holds a Town Hall in Istanbul

I want to focus on three areas in which I think we can make some progress: advancing dialogue between our two countries, but also advancing dialogue between the United States and the Muslim world; extending opportunity in education and in social welfare; and then also reaching out to young people as our best hope for peaceful, prosperous futures in both Turkey and in the United States.”

• Other issues:Foreign Policy

Obama holds a discussion on the economy

A lot of folks think it's an easy way to score political points is by trying to act as if there's a "them" and an "us," instead of just an "us."”

• Other issues:Economy

Obama hosts an on-the-record conference call with college and university student-journalists

You can't suddenly just check in once every 10 years or so, on an exciting presidential election, and then not pay attention during big midterm elections where we've got a real big choice between Democrats and Republicans.”

• Other issues:Education

Obama holds town hall meeting in Ottumwa, Iowa

So I want everybody here as parents, as community members, as church members, to know that if we're supporting our kids -- if we're supporting our kids and we are instilling the values of responsibility, and hard work, and excellence, and second place isn't good enough -- that's how America got built.”

• Other issues:Economy

Obama holds a town hall meeting with future Chinese leaders

I should be honest, as President of the United States, there are times where I wish information didn't flow so freely...”

• Other issues:Foreign Policy

Obama meets with Des Moines family

All right, we're going way afield now. I mean, the -- so let me focus on your question...”

• Other issues:Economy

Obama holds teleconference on Affordable Care Act

I wanted to have this call because we've got a big day coming up -- the six-month anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act.”

• Other issues:Government and Politics, Health Care

Obama delivers remarks on education at National Urban League

An education is not something you just tip your head and they pour it in your ear. You've got to want it. You've got to reach out and claim that future for yourself.”

• Other issues:Education

Obama in Hispanic online roundtable hosted by Yahoo!

MODERATOR: Ladies and gentleman, Senoras and Senores, welcome to Open for Questions with President Obama. I'm Jose Siade from Yahoo, your host today coming to you from the White House. I am honored to be joined today by industry colleagues, Sabrina Medina (ph) from MSN Latino and (inaudible) from AOL Latino and Huff Post Latino Voices. And sitting next to me, a man that needs no introduction, President Barack Obama. OBAMA: Thank you so much Jose, thank you for having me. MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Sir for sitting down with us today. We have received hundreds of questions from our audience, from our U.S. Hispanic audience across the country. And we've brought some of those questions in today so you can address them. OBAMA: Excellent. I look forward to it. MODERATOR: Very well. Let's jump into the first question from Claudia in California. President Obama, there are many illegal aliens currently in the U.S. that can contribute much to the country and cannot do so because of their status. What are you currently doing? And what still needs to be done in order to reform immigration laws and solve this issue? OBAMA: Well, I appreciate this, Jose. Obviously this is an issue that I've been working on for years when I was in the U.S. Senate. I was a co-sponsor of comprehensive immigration reform. I have voted for comprehensive immigration reform. And our administration consistently has supported the basic concept that we are a nation of laws, but we're also a nation of immigrants. And that immigrants continually have strengthened America's economy, America's culture, and that we have to create a system that works for all of us. The way to do that is to be serious about border security, and we have been. We put more resources in border security than we have in anything that's been done in previous administrations. But, what we've also said is, is that for those persons who are here, we have to make sure that we provide a pathway to earning a legal status in this country. To create a pathway so that they can get out of the shadows and contribute to society in the more effective way is something that I consider to be a top priority. And we can do it in a way that is compatible with our tradition of everybody being responsible and following the law. Now, to do that, we've got to get legislation through Congress. And in the past we've seen bipartisan support for comprehensive immigration reform. Unfortunately, over the last several years what you've seen is the Republican Party move away from support of comprehensive immigration reform. It used to be that we had a lot of Republican sponsors for the DREAM Act, which would allow young people who have grown up here as Americans and did not break laws themselves, but rather were brought here by their parents they should be studying, serving our military, contributing to our society, starting businesses. We used to have Republican cosponsors for the DREAM Act. Now, we don't. So, our biggest challenge right now, the vast majority of Democrats are supportive of comprehensive immigration reform. But given that the Republicans control the House of Representatives, and that we need 60 votes in the Senate, our key approach is trying to push Republicans to get back to where they were only a few years ago. In the meantime what we're trying to do is to manage the enforcement of our inadequate immigration laws in a way that is humane and just. So, we've tried to emphasize making sure that we're focusing on violent criminals, people who were a threat to society and a threat to our communities for deportation. And setting a clear signal that our enforcement priority is not to chase down young people who are going to school and who are following all the other laws, and are trying to make a contribution to society. But until we get an actual comprehensive law passed through Congress, we're gonging to continue to have some of the problems we've been seeing. MODERATOR: Just to follow up, Mr. President, you just mentioned enforcement of immigration laws in the subject of deportations. And you said that many of those -- or it's aimed at criminals. But until now and until recently it hadn't been just criminals or a majority of criminals, those that have been deported. And also, you've been deporting much more immigrants than the previous administration did in eight years. So, laws didn't change. Enforcement was done even then. Why that emphasis on deportation during your administration? OBAMA: Actually, what happened if you look at the statistics, two things happened. Number one is that there was a much greater emphasis on criminals rather than non-criminals. And there's been a huge shift in terms of enforcement, and that began as soon as I came into office. That change has taken place. Secondly, the statistics are -- are actually a little deceptive because what we've been doing is with stronger border enforcement, we've been apprehending folks at the borders and sending them back. That is counted as a deportation, even though they may have only been held for a day or 48 hours, sent back; that's counted as a deportation. So, we've been much more effective on the borders. But we have not been more aggressive when it comes to dealing, for example, with DREAM Act kids. That's just not the case. So, what we've tried to do is within the constraints of the laws on the books, we've tried to be as fair, humane, just as we can, recognizing, though, that the laws themselves need to be changed. And I've been unwavering in my support of changing the laws so that we're strong on border security; we're going after companies that are taking advantage of undocumented workers, paying them subminimum wages, you know not respecting workplace safety laws; but also saying that we've got to have a pathway to citizenship and for legal status for those who are already here and have put roots down here, and are a part of the fabric of our community because we actually believe that they can contribute to our economy in an effective way. The other thing that we want to emphasize is for those who have an ambition to start a business, entrepreneurs, young people who have gotten college degrees or advanced degrees. For us to train them here in the United States and then send them back to start businesses elsewhere makes absolutely no sense. You know the history of many of our biggest businesses is they were started by immigrants who came here seeking opportunity. And we want to make sure that both in terms of people who are here doing jobs that other folks may not want to do, but also people who have extraordinary training and can create jobs for all Americans, that we are giving both -- both of those folks opportunities. MODERATOR: So, my first question comes from (Inaudible). Mr. President, your proposed jobs bill addresses tax breaks for small businesses and the repair of stock infrastructure like roads and bridges. But that seems like a short-term solution to a more sluggish problem. With the unemployment rate among Latinos at 11.3 percent across the nation, what do you plan to do for the remainder of your term, and if re-elected, to ensure that large factories and Fortune 1000 companies begin hiring again? OBAMA: Well, obviously we're going through the worst financial crisis and recession since the Great Depression. It has been a worldwide phenomenon; it's not just here in the United States. And some of the challenges that we've had over the last several months actually have to do with the fact that in Europe we haven't seen them deal with their banking system and their financial system as effectively as they needed to. You know the changes that have taken place in the Middle East sent oil prices up, and that gave a shock to the world economy. So, there are a lot of forces at work here that we have to address. But my main goal has consistently been to get the economy growing again and putting people back to work. Now, we've created more than two million jobs over the last 18 months in the private sector. The problem is we lost so many during the recession back in 2007-2008 that we still haven't gotten back to where we need to be and unemployment is still far too high. What the Jobs Act does is a couple of things. Number one, it, yes, puts people back to work rebuilding roads, bridges, schools. Those infrastructure projects could employ a lot of construction workers, including a lot of Latino construction workers who were laid off after the housing bubble burst. And so that could significantly reduce unemployment in that sector. It says that we're going to rehire teachers. And Latino community obviously is deeply concerned about education. A lot of schools are understaffed in Latino communities where the young population, the youth population is growing rapidly. Putting teachers back to work is not only good for employment, but it's also good for training our young people. OBAMA: The tax breaks that we give, there're 250,000 Latino small businesses. They hire a lot of people. And if they are getting significant tax breaks, that gives them more capital. It allows them to expand their businesses, grow and potentially hire more workers. And the bill also addresses summer jobs for disadvantaged youth. It also provides unemployment insurance for those who are still looking for work. So, this is not a small piece of business. It's estimated that if we pass the Jobs Bill, we would expand the gross domestic product by about two percent and you would see 1.9 million people potentially find jobs as a consequence of this bill. So it would significantly reduce the unemployment rate. You're right there that the long term challenge is how do we create an economy that is more competitive, more productive and is employing more people? And to do that, we've got to improve our education system, which is why we place such a big emphasis on reform, particularly targeting those schools that are under performing and disproportionately Latino and African American youth are dropping out of high school at a time when it's very hard to find a job if you don't have not only a high school degree, but also some advanced training. So, that's been a big emphasis. We -- because of the work that we did to change how the student loan program worked, instead of going through banks, it's not going directly to students, we've freed up about $60 billion that we're going to be able to provide for Pell grants and scholarships and as a consequence, we've actually seen the Latino college enrollment rate go up significantly over the last couple of years. We're still going to have to rebuild our infrastructure, even though what we've slated is just what we can do over the next year, year and a half, we probably have a 10 year project of rebuilding roads, bridges, airports, schools and a sustained effort at investing in our infrastructure could put a lot of people back to work and make us more competitive over the long term. And then we have to continue to emphasize exports. The United States historically was a manufacturing base. We made things here and we sold them elsewhere. Over the last 15 years we have been consuming, importing from China and other places and -- but the manufacturing has been done there. And what we need to do, is to start moving manufacturing back here to the United States, particularly in cutting edge areas like, for example you know, advanced -- advanced vehicles, more efficient cars that are built here, based on electric technology for example. That's going to be a growth industry. We need to develop those. So there's not going to be one single silver bullet, we're going to have to keep on investing in research and development, making sure that technology is developed here. We have got to emphasize exports, infrastructure. The most important thing we can do though is make sure that our young people are trained. Because companies today are going to be locating where there's the most skilled workforce. And making sure that Latino students who are going to be the largest growing group in the United States, are the ones who are going to be the workforce of the future, along with, you know, African Americans and -- and -- and Asian Americans as well as white Americans, all -- making sure that every single one of those young people is trained and equipped for this economy of the future. That's the most important thing we can do to get companies to locate here and hire here. MODERATOR: Thank you. MODERATOR: Mr. President, this is a great opportunity for Latinos to ask you questions directly. And this type of question has come repeatedly. So just to complete the subject -- and you mentioned border security at the top. Mr. (Inaudible) Sanchez and I'm sure that's his name, he says; "Mr. President, I am a naturalized American citizen and as such, an immigrant. What happened to the investigation of the many violations and challenges to the federal government by Sherriff Joe Arpaio in Maricopa, Arizona. Let me just add this investigation started March 2009. It's -- it is high time to have maybe a resolution on that. OBAMA: Well, you know, I -- I have to be careful about commenting on individual cases. That's handled typically by the Department of Justice or these other agencies. What I will say is this, that the approach that's been taken to immigration in Arizona, I think has not always been as productive as it's been (sic). As you know, we challenged the Arizona law that was supported by the sheriff because we thought there was a great danger that naturalized citizens, individuals with Latino surnames potentially could be vulnerable to questioning. The laws could be potentially abused in ways that were not fair to Latino citizens in -- in Arizona. So, rather than comment on the individual case, what I would say is this, that we can't have a patchwork of 50 states with 50 different immigration laws. We can't have a situation in which individual counties are trying to enforce their own immigration laws rather than having a national approach. We think it is very important for the federal government to be serious about border security to go after companies that are taking advantage of undocumented workers and to provide a pathway to legal status for immigrants. That is a comprehensive approach that needs to be taken. We are going to push hard for it. I have been pushing hard for it and I'm going to keep pushing hard for it. The most important thing for your viewers and listeners and readers to understand is that in order to change our laws, we've got to get it through the House of Representatives, which is currently controlled by Republicans and we've got to get 60 votes in the Senate. And right now, we have not gotten that kind of support. Sadly, because only a few years ago as I said, you had some Republicans that were willing to recognize that we needed to fix our immigration system. George Bush to his credit, recognized that we needed to fix our immigration system. Ronald Reagan understood that immigration was an important part of the American experience. Right now, you have not that kind of leadership coming from the Republican party. We want to partner in a bipartisan way to get this problem solved and I'm going to keep on pushing to get it done. MODERATOR: The next question comes from (Inaudible) in Florida. Since bullying is increasing in an alarming way in the U.S. what can be done to avoid further discrimination, or bullying within various racial groups, particularly for Hispanic kids in school? OBAMA: I think it's a really important question. We actually had the first ever conference on bullying here in the White House. Because, you know, for young people, it's hard enough growing up without also then being subject to constant harassment and you know, the kind of bullying we're seeing now, including using the internet and new media can -- can be very oppressive on young people. So, what we've tried to do is to provide information and tools to parents, to schools, to you know, communities, to push back and fight against these kinds of trends. And a lot of the best work has actually been done by young people themselves, who start anti-bullying campaigns in their schools, showing how you have to respect everyone, regardless of race, regardless of religion, regardless of sexual orientation. And when you get a -- a school environment in which that's not accepted by young people themselves, where they say, you know, we're not going to tolerate that kind of bullying, that usually ends up making the biggest difference. Because kids react to their peer group more than sometimes they do adults. And what we need to do is make sure that we're providing tools to schools and to young people to help combat against bullying. And it's something we'll continue to work on with local communities and with local school districts, as well. MODERATOR: So you're going to have a conference on bullying in the White House? OBAMA: We already did. We had it -- it was probably four or five months ago and we brought in nonprofit groups, you know, religious leadership, schools, students themselves. And they have now organized conferences regionally around the country so that we can prevent this kind of bullying from taking place. MORe MODERATOR: So the next question comes from (inaudible) California and it was asked by Mike. Is there anything the United States can do to strengthen the Mexican economy? Could we form a stronger partnership with Mexico that could result in less illegal immigration and lower the expense of border patrol? OBAMA: Well, I think it's very important to -- to -- to recognize as the question recognizes, that if we can strengthen the Mexican economy, then people have less incentive to look for work in the United States. We welcome immigration, but obviously a lot of people in Mexico would love to stay home and create businesses and find jobs that allow them to support their family if they could. But the Mexican economy has not always been able to generate all the jobs that it needs. This is a long-term challenge. The Mexican economy is very integrated to the world economy and the U.S. economy. So, they were affected by the recession very badly themselves. I have a great relationship with President Calderon and we have looked for a whole range of ways that we can improve cross-border trade. For example, we've been focused on how we can change the border's infrastructure so that goods are flowing more easily back and forth. Ultimately, though, the Mexican economy is going to depend also on changing some of the structures internally to increase productivity, to train the workforce there. So, education in Mexico is going to be also very important. You know, part of what's happened is -- in Mexico is, is that a lot of people have been displaced from the agricultural sector and they move to the cities. They don't have the skills necessarily for the higher skill jobs that exist in urban areas. And so, an education agenda in Mexico is also important, just as it is here in the United States. But we very much want to work with Mexico around their development agenda because the more they are able to generate industry and businesses in Mexico, to some extent that's probably going to be one of the best solutions for the immigration pressures that we've been seeing over the last decade or so. MODERATOR: Thank you. MODERATOR: Mr. President, on the Defensive Marriage Act, also called DOMA. This comes from Kevin in North Carolina. He says, "I'm a gay American who fell in love with a foreigner. As you know, due to DOMA I'm not permitted to sponsor my foreign-born partner for residency. And as a result, we are stuck between a rock and an impossible situation. How do you intend to fix this?" "Waiting for DOMA to be repealed or strike down in the courts will potentially take years. What do bi-national couples do in the meantime?" OBAMA: Well, we made a decision that was a very significant decision based on my assessment of the Constitution that this administration would not defend DOMA in the federal courts. It's not going to be years before this issue is settled. This is going to be settled fairly soon because right now we have cases pending in the federal courts. Administratively, you know, we can't ignore the law. DOMA is still on the books. But we have said that even as we enforce it, we don't support it. We think it's unconstitutional. The position that my administration has taken, I think will add a significant influence on the court as it examines the constitutionality of this law. And once that law is -- is struck down, and I don't know what the ruling will be, then addressing these bi-national issues could flow from that decision potentially. I can't comment on sort of where the case is going to go. I can only say what I believe, and that is, is that DOMA doesn't make sense. It's unfair. I don't think that it meets the demands of our constitution. And in the meantime, if -- you know I've already said that I'm also supportive of Congress repealing DOMA on its own and not waiting for the courts. The likelihood of us being able to get the votes in the House of Representatives for DOMA repeal are very low at this point. So, truthfully, the recourse to the courts is probably going to be the best approach. MODERATOR: Me again on the DREAM Act that you mentioned before. And this is like a statement from Cesar in New York City. Cesar says, "Mr. President, I am an undocumented law graduate from New York City. I'm just writing to say that your message that you do not have a dance partner is not a message of hope. A real dancer goes out on the dance floor and takes out his or her dance partner. You're just waiting. You have the facts, number, dollars and votes on the side of granting administrative relief for DREAMers (ph). We are doing our part. It is time to do yours, Mr. President." OBAMA: You know, I just have to continue to say this notion that somehow I can just change the laws unilaterally is just not true. We -- we are doing everything we can administratively. But the fact of the matter is there are laws on the books that I have to enforce. And I think that there's been a great disservice done to the cause of getting the DREAM Act passed and getting comprehensive immigration passed by perpetrating the notion that somehow by myself I can go and do these things. It's just not true. Now, what we can do is to prioritize enforcement since there are limited enforcement resources and say, we're not going to go chasing after this young man or anybody else who's been acting responsibly and would otherwise qualify for legal status if the DREAM Act passed. But we live in a Democracy. You have to pass bills through the legislature and then I can sign it. And if all the attention is focused away from the legislative process, then that is going to lead to a constant dead end. We have to recognize how the system works and then apply pressure to those places where you know votes can be gotten and ultimately we can get this thing solved. And no -- nobody will be a stronger advocate for making that happen than me. MODERATOR: This next question is about Cuba, and it comes from Landis (ph) in Florida. "What is your procedure regarding Cuba and the embargo? What should the Cuban people expect from you and your government during the remainder of your term and in the future if you are re-elected?" OBAMA: Well, what we did with respect to Cuba was recognize that the Cuban people now have not enjoyed freedom for 50 years. And everywhere else in the world you've been seeing a democratization movement that has been pressing forward throughout Latin America Democracies have emerged from previously authoritarian regimes. The time has come for the same thing to happen in Cuba. Now, what we've tried to do is send a signal that we are open to a new relationship with Cuba if the Cuban government starts taking the proper steps to open up its own country and its own -- and provide the space and the respect for human rights that would allow the Cuban people to determine their own destiny. I changed the remittance laws so that family members could more easily send money back to Cuba because that would give them more power and create an economic space for them to prosper within Cuba. We have changed the family travel laws so that they can travel more frequently, as well as laws that relate to educational travel. And so we've made these modifications that send a signal that we're prepared to show flexibility and not be stuck in a Cold War mentality dating back to when I was born. On the other hand, we have to see a signal back from the Cuban government that it is following through on releasing political prisoners, on providing people their basic human rights in order for us to be fully engaged with that. And so far at least, what we haven't seen is the kind of genuine spirit of transformation inside of Cuba that would justify us eliminating the embargo. I don't know what will happen over the next year, but we are prepared to see what happens in Cuba. If we see positive movement, we will respond in a positive way. Hopefully, over the next five years we'll see Cuba looking around the world and saying we need to catch up with history. And, you know, as long as I'm president I will always be prepared to change our Cuba policy if and when we start seeing a -- a serious intention on the part of the Cuban government to -- to provide liberty for its people. But that's always my watch word (ph), is -- is -- are we seeing freedom for the Cuban people to live lives of opportunity and prosperity? If -- if we are, then we'll be supportive of it. MODERATOR: Those conditions will suffice. Human rights, free political prisoners. No demand for a change in the economic structure, for example? OBAMA: Well, you know, it's very hard to separate liberty from some economic reforms. You know, if people have no way to eat other than through the government, then the government ends up having very strict control over them and they can be punished in all sorts of ways for expressing their own opinions. That's not to say that a condition for us releasing the embargo would be that they have a perfect market system, because obviously we have trade and exchanges with a number of countries that fall short of a liberal democracy. But there is a -- there is a basic I think recognition of people's human rights that includes their right to work, to change jobs, to get an education, to start a business. So some elements of freedom are included in how an economic system works. And right now, you know, we haven't seen any of that. But let me just say this. Obviously is we saw a release of political prisoners, the ability for people to express their opinions and -- and to petition their government, if we saw even those steps, those would be very significant. And we would -- we would pay attention and we would undoubtedly reexamine our -- our overall approach to Cuba if we saw a serious movement in that direction. MODERATOR: Mr. President, this question comes from Padina (ph) in Ohio. "Mr. President, what is your strategy to stop the flow of weapons bought with drug money in the U.S. and then sent to Mexico, especially after what happened in Operation Fast and Furious?" OBAMA: Well, this is a great challenge. And I've been the first one to admit, I've said this publicly in bilateral meetings with President Calderon, that there's a two-way street in terms of the problems of -- of transnational drug operations. You know, the Mexican government I think has been very courageous in taking on these cartels at great cost obviously with respect to violence in Mexico. That's the right thing to do. We have to be a more effective partner in both reducing demand for drugs here in the United States and for stemming the flow of weapons and cash that help to finance and -- and facilitate these cartels. So we're working very hard to have a much more effective interdiction effort of south to north -- or north to south traffic than we have in the past. So we are checking southbound transit to try to capture illegal guns, illegal cash transfers to drug cartels. It is something that we have been building over the last couple of years. It's not yet finished. And there's going to be more work to do. You know, part of the issue here obviously is budgetary. At a time when the federal government is looking for ways to save money, you know, we're going to have to figure out ways to operate smarter and more effective in our investigations with -- without a huge expansion of resources. Because those resources aren't there. MODERATOR: And in terms of the demand here in the U.S., what kind of efforts? OBAMA: With respect to the demand in the U.S., our, you know, our drug czar here in the United States I think has done a very good job working with schools and local communities, working with local law enforcement to try and continue to reduce drug demand. One of the things that I've always believed, and -- and this is reflective in my administration's policy is that we can't just think about this as a law enforcement issue. We also have to think of it as a public health issue. So if you think about the enormous changes that have been made in terms of people's use of tobacco, for example. That wasn't because of -- they were arrested, it was also because young people were taught that smoking was bad for your health, it didn't make you cool. There were public service announcements. So, you know, I think taking a -- a comprehensive approach that includes interdiction and law enforcement, but also takes into account public health strategies, treatment. You know, in a lot of cities around the country if you decide that you want to rid yourself of drugs, you know, you may have to wait three months, six months to get into a local treatment program.”

• Other issues:Government and Politics

Obama Takes Questions at Town Hall in Los Angeles

Because we know that enhancing America's competitiveness will require reducing our dependence on foreign oil and building a clean energy economy, this budget will spark the transformation we need to create green jobs and launch renewable energy companies right here in California.”

• Other issues:Economy

Obama Remarks on Math, Science and Technology Education

[This nation] was forged of stronger stuff by bold men and women who dared to invent something new or improve something old, who took big chances on big ideas, who believed that in America all things are possible.”

• Other issues:Education, Science and Technology

Obama Delivers Remarks on Health-Care Reform at Town Hall

As we meet today, we're seeing double-digit rate increases on insurance premiums all over America.”

• Other issues:Government and Politics

Obama holds a town hall meeting in Cannon Falls, Minn.

You are following through on your responsibilities, and that's true all across the country. People are doing the right thing. Well, if you can do the right thing, then folks in Washington have to do the right thing.”

• Other issues:Economy

Obama Delivers Remarks at Signing of Edward Kennedy Service America Act

More than anyone else, the new era of service we enter in today has been made possible by the unlikely friendship between these two men, Orrin Hatch and Ted Kennedy.”

• Other issues:Social Issues

Obama delivers remarks on jobs in Manchester, N.H.

We are Americans. And our story has never been about doing things easy. It's been about rising to the moment when the moment is hard. It's about doing what's right. It's about making sure that everybody has a chance, not just a few.”

• Other issues:Economy