natematias · July 1, 2013 05:16
diff --git a/joebiden b/joebiden
 Axelrod really wanted me to do this on teleprompter -- but I told him I'm much better when I wing it. I know these evenings run long, so I'm going to be brief. Talk about the audacity of hope. President Obama does send his greetings, though. He can't be here tonight -- because he's busy getting ready for Easter. He thinks it's about him
 My record stands for itself. I never say anything I don't mean. Everybody knows whatever I say, I do. And my whole life has been devoted to leveling the playing field for middle-class people, giving them an even break, treating Main Street and Wall Street the same, holding the same responsibility. Look at my record. It's been all about the middle class. They're the people who grow this country. We think you grow this country from the middle out, not from the top down.
 My fellow Democrats, and my favorite Democrat.
 Jilly, I want you to know that Beau, Hunt, Ashley, and I are so proud of you. We admire the way you treat every single student who walks into your classroom. You not only teach them. You give them confidence. And the passion you bring to easing the burden on the families of our warriors. They know you understand what they're going through. It makes a difference. And I'm grateful. So grateful that you said Yes on that fifth try.
 And Beau, thank you for placing my name in nomination to be Vice President of the United States. I accept.
 My fellow Americans, four years ago, a battered nation turned away from the failed policies of the past—and turned to a leader—who they knew, could lift our nation out of crisis. Our journey isn’t finished. We still have more to do. But today, I say to you, my fellow citizens: In the face of the deepest economic crisis in our lifetimes-- this nation proved itself. We're as worthy as any generation that has gone before us. The same grit, the same determination, the same courage, that has always defined what it’s meant to be an American—is in you.
 We're on a mission to move this nation forward—from doubt and downturn, to promise and prosperity. A mission we will continue and a mission we will complete.
 Folks, tonight, I want to tell you about Barack Obama. The Barack Obama I’ve come to know. I want to show you the character of a leader—who had what it took, when the American people stood at the brink of a new Depression. A leader who has what it takes to lead us over the next four years--to a future as great as our people.
 I want to take you inside the White House to see the President, as I see him every day. Because I don’t see him in sound bites. I walk down the hall, 30 steps to the Oval Office, and I see him in action.
 Four years ago, middle class incomes were already falling. Then the bottom fell out. The financial crisis hit. You remember the headlines: “Markets Plummet Worldwide”, “Highest Job Losses in 60 Years”, and “Economy on the Brink”
 From the moment President Obama sat behind the Resolute desk in the Oval Office, he knew he had to restore the confidence not only of the nation-- but the whole world. He knew, that one false move could bring a run on the banks, or a credit collapse, that could throw millions out of work. America and the world needed a strong president with a steady hand, with the judgment and vision to see us through.
 Day after day, night after night, I sat beside him, as he made one gutsy decision after another--to stop the slide and reverse it. I watched him stand up to intense pressure and stare down choices of enormous consequence. Most of all, I saw what drove him: His profound concern for the American people.
 He knew, that no matter how tough the decisions he had to make in the Oval Office were, families all over America had to make decisions every bit as tough for them—as they sat around their kitchen tables. Barack and I have been through a lot together. And we’ve learned a lot about each other. I learned of the enormity of his heart. And he learned of the depth of my loyalty. And there was another thing that bound us. We both had a pretty good idea what these families were going through--in part because our own families had gone through similar struggles.
 Barack had to sit at the end of his mom's hospital bed and watch her fight cancer and fight her insurance companies at the same time. I was a kid, but I can remember the day that my dad sat at the end of my bed, and said, things are going to be tough for a while. I have to go to Delaware to get a new job. But it's going to be better for us. The rest of my life, my dad never failed to remind me--that a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It’s about dignity. It’s about respect. It’s about being able to look your children in the eye—and say honey, it’s going to be okay, and believe it was going to be okay. When Barack and I were growing up, there was an implicit understanding. If you took responsibility, you’d get a fair shot at a better deal. The values behind that deal--were the values that shaped us both. And today, they are Barack’s guiding star.
 Folks, I’ve watched him. He never wavers. He steps up. He asks the same thing over and over again: How is this going to work for ordinary families? Will it help them? And because of the decisions he’s made, and the strength the American people have demonstrated every day, America has turned the corner. After the worst job loss since the Great Depression, we’ve created 4.5 million private sector jobs in the past 29 months.
 President Obama and Governor Romney are both loving husbands and devoted fathers. But they bring vastly different values and visions to the job. Tonight I’d like to focus on two crises--that show the character of the leadership each man will bring to the job. The first is the rescue of the automobile industry.
 Let me tell you about how Barack saved more than 1 million American jobs. In our first days in office, General Motors and Chrysler were on the verge of liquidation. If the President didn’t act immediately, there wouldn’t be an industry left to save.
 We listened to Senators, Congressmen, outside advisors, even some of our own advisors say--we shouldn’t step in, the risks were too high, the outcome too uncertain. The President patiently listened. But he didn’t see it their way. He understood something they didn’t. He understood that this wasn’t just about cars. It was about the Americans who built those cars and the America they built.
 In those meetings, I often thought about my dad. My dad was an automobile man. He would have been one of those guys—all the way down the line—not in the factory—not along the supply chain—but one of those guys selling American cars to the American people. I thought about what this crisis would have meant for the mechanics, the secretaries, the sales people who he managed. And I know for certain, that if my dad were here today, he would be fighting for this President, who fought to save all those jobs, his job, and the jobs of all the people he cared about. He would respect Barack Obama for having the guts to stand up for the automobile industry, when others walked away.
 When I look back now on the President’s decision, I also think of another son of an automobile man--Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney grew up in Detroit. His father ran American Motors. Yet he was willing to let Detroit go bankrupt. It’s not that he’s a bad guy. I’m sure he grew up loving cars as much as I did. I just don’t think he understood—I just don’t think he understood what saving the automobile industry meant-to all of America. I think he saw it the Bain way. Balance sheets. Write-offs.
 Folks, the Bain way may bring your firm the highest profit. But it’s not the way to lead your country from its highest office.
 When things hung in the balance, the President understood it was about a lot more than the automobile industry. It was about restoring America’s pride. He knew what it would mean to leave 1 million people without hope or work if we didn’t act. He knew the message it would have sent to the rest of the world if the United States of America gave up on the industry that helped put America on the map. Conviction. Resolve.
 Barack Obama. This President has shown that same resolve, that same steady hand, in his role as Commander in Chief. Which brings me to the second crisis.
 In 2008, Barack Obama made a promise to the American people. He said, “If we have Osama bin Laden in our sights, we will take him out. That has to be our biggest national security priority.” Barack understood that the search for bin Laden was about a lot more than taking a monstrous leader off the battlefield. It was about righting an unspeakable wrong, healing a nearly unbearable wound in America’s heart. He also knew the message we had to send to terrorists around the world—if you attack innocent Americans, we will follow you to the ends of the earth. Most of all, the President had faith in our special forces--the finest warriors the world has ever known.
 We sat for days in the Situation Room. He listened to the risks and reservations about the raid. And he asked the tough questions. But when Admiral McRaven looked him in the eye and said-- “Sir, we can get this done,” I knew at that moment Barack had made his decision. His response was decisive. He said do it. And justice was done.
 But Governor Romney didn’t see things that way. When he was asked about bin Laden in 2007, he said, and I quote, “it’s not worth moving heaven and earth, and spending billions of dollars, just trying to catch one person.”
 He was wrong. If you understood that America’s heart had to be healed, you would have done exactly what the President did. And you too would have moved heaven and earth--to hunt down bin Laden, and bring him to justice.
 Four years ago, when my mom was still with us, sitting in the stadium in Denver, I quoted one of her favorite expressions. She used to say, Joey, bravery resides in every heart, and the time will come, when it must be summoned.
 Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m here to tell you, bravery resides in the heart of Barack Obama. And time and time again, I witnessed him summon it. This man has courage in his soul, compassion in his heart, and steel in his spine. And because of all the actions he took, because of the calls he made--and because of the grit and determination of American workers--and the unparalled bravery of our special forces--we can now proudly say—
 Osama Bin Laden is dead, and General Motors is alive.
 Folks, we know we have more work to do. We know we’re not there yet. But not a day has gone by, in the last four years when I haven’t been grateful that Barack Obama is our President. Because he has always had the courage to make the tough calls.
 Speaking of tough calls, last week at their convention, our opponents pledged that they too had the courage to make tough calls. But in case you didn’t notice, they didn’t have the courage to tell you what calls they would make. They talked about how much they cared about Medicare. How much they wanted to preserve it. That’s what they told you.
 But what they didn’t tell you, is that their plan would immediately cut benefits to more than 30 million seniors already on Medicare. What they didn’t tell you is what they’re proposing would cause Medicare to go bankrupt by 2016. And what they really didn’t tell you is, they’re not for preserving Medicare. They’re for a whole new plan. They’re for Vouchercare. That’s not courage. That’s not even truthful.
 In Tampa, they talked with great urgency about the national debt. The need to act, to act now. But not once, not once, did they tell you they’ve rejected every plan put forward by us--by the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles Commission—by other respected outside groups—to reduce our national debt if it contained even one dollar—one cent—in new taxes for millionaires. That’s not courage. And that’s not fair.
 Let’s just say it straight: The two men seeking to lead this country over the next four years have fundamentally different visions, and a completely different value set.
 Governor Romney believes that in the global economy, it doesn’t much matter where American companies put their money or where they create jobs. As a matter of fact, he has a new tax proposal -- the territorial tax -- that experts say will create 800,000 jobs, all of them overseas.
 I found it fascinating last week--when Governor Romney said, that as President, he’d take a jobs tour. Well with all his support for outsourcing, it’s going to have to be a foreign trip. Look, President Obama knows that creating jobs in America--keeping jobs in America--and bringing jobs back to America--is what being President is all about. That’s the President's job.
 Governor Romney believes that it’s okay to raise taxes on the middle class by $2,000 in order to pay for over a trillion dollars in tax cuts for the very wealthy. President Obama knows that there is nothing decent or fair about asking more of those with less--and less--of those with more.
 Governor Romney believes that kids-the kids we call DREAMers—those immigrant children who were brought to America at a very young age, through no fault of their own—he thinks they’re a drag on America.
 President Obama believes that even though these DREAMERs—these kids—didn’t choose to come to America-they’ve chosen to do right by America and we should do right by them. Governor Romney looks at the notion of equal pay for equal work in terms of a company’s bottom line.
 President Obama knows--that making sure our daughters are paid the same as our sons for the same job must be every father’s bottom line. But I must tell you--one thing that perplexed me the most at their convention was this idea of a culture of dependency. They seem to think you create a culture of dependency when you provide a bright, qualified child from a working family a loan to get to college, or when you provide job training in a new industry, for a dad who lost his job, because it was outsourced.
 Folks, that’s not how we look at it. Americans have never looked at it that way. These men and women aren’t looking for a handout. They’re just looking for a chance to acquire the tools and the skills to provide for their families—so they can hold their heads high and lead independent lives with dignity. I told you the choice is stark. Two different visions. Two different value sets. And at its core, the difference is, we have incredible faith in the decency, and the hard work of the American people. And we know what has made this country great--its people.
 As I mentioned at the outset folks--four years ago, Americans we were hit hard. You saw your retirement accounts drained, the equity in your homes vanish, and your jobs lost or on the line. But you did what Americans have always done. You didn’t lose faith. You fought back. You didn’t give up. You got up. You’re the ones bringing America back. You’re the reason why we’re still better positioned-- than any country in the world--to lead the 21st century.
 You never quit on America. And you deserve a President who will never quit on you. And one more thing that our opponents are dead wrong about: America is NOT in decline.
 I’ve got news for Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan, it has never, never, ever, been a good bet to bet against the American people.
 My fellow Americans, America is coming back and we’re not going back! And we have no intention of downsizing the American Dream.
 In a moment you’re going to hear from a man, whose whole life is a testament to the power of that dream. And whose Presidency is the best hope to secure that dream, for our children.
 We see a future where everyone rich or poor does their part and has a part.
 A future where we depend more on clean energy from home and less on oil from abroad.
 A future where we’re #1 in the world again in college graduation.
 A future where we promote the private sector, not the privileged sector.
 And a future where women control their own choices, health, and destiny.
 A future where no one—no one—is forced to live in the shadows of intolerance.
 
 We see a future where America leads not only by the example of our power, but by the power of our example. Where we bring our troops home from Afghanistan, just as we brought them home from Iraq.
 And a future where we fulfill the only truly, sacred obligation we have as a nation--to equip those we send to war and care for them when they come home from war.
 Where we acknowledge the incredible debt we owe to the families of the 6,473 fallen angels and the 49,746 wounded. Thousands, critically wounded.
 We must never forget their sacrifice and always keep them in our care and our prayers.
 My fellow Americans, we now find ourselves at the hinge of history. And the direction we turn is in your hands. It has been an honor to serve you, and to serve with a President who has always stood up for you.
 As I’ve said, I’ve seen him tested. I know his strength, his command, his faith.
 I also know, the incredible confidence he has in all of you. I know this man. Yes, the work of recovery is not yet complete, but we are on our way.
 The journey of hope is not yet finished, but we are on our way. The cause of change is not fully accomplished, but we are on our way. So I say to you tonight, with absolute confidence,
 America’s best days are ahead of us, and, yes, we are on our way.
 In the light of that horizon, for the values that define us, for the ideas that inspire us, there is only one choice.
 The choice is to move forward, boldly forward. Finish the job we started and re-elect President Barack Obama.
 God bless you and may God protect our troops.
 Thank you, Mr. President. (Applause.) It’s great to be here. It’s great to be here. (Applause.) Hey, Debbie.
 Ladies and gentlemen, oh, what a difference 40 years makes. (Laughter.) I look out there and see an old friend, Annette Lantos. Annette, how are you? Her husband, Tom Lantos, a survivor, was my assistant, was my foreign policy advisor for years. And Tom used to say all the time, Joe -- he talked with that Hungarian accent -- he’d say, Joe, we must do another fundraiser for AIPAC. (Laughter.) I did more fundraisers for AIPAC in the ‘70s and early ‘80s than -- just about as many as anybody. Thank God you weren’t putting on shows like this, we would have never made it. (Laughter.) We would have never made it.
 My Lord, it’s so great to be with you all and great to see - Mr. President, thank you so much for that kind introduction. And President-elect Bob Cohen, the entire AIPAC Board of Directors, I’m delighted to be with you today. But I’m particularly delighted to be with an old friend - and he is an old friend; we use that phrase lightly in Washington, but it’s real, and I think he’d even tell you - Ehud Barak, it’s great to be with you, Mr. Minister. Great to be with you. (Applause.)
 There is a standup guy. There is a standup guy. Standing up for his country, putting his life on the line for his country, and continuing to defend the values that we all share. (Applause.) I’m a fan of the man. (Applause.) Thanks for being here, Ehud. It’s good to be with you again.
 Ladies and gentlemen, a lot of you know me if you’re old enough. (Laughter.) Some of you don’t know me, and understand I can’t see now, but in the bleachers to either side, I’m told you have 2,000 young AIPAC members here. (Applause.) We talked about this a lot over the years. We talked about it a lot: This is the lifeblood. This is the connective tissue. This is the reason why no American will ever forget. You’ve got to keep raising them. (Applause.)
 Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve stood shoulder to shoulder, a lot of us in this auditorium, defending the legitimate interest of Israel and our enduring commitment over the last 40 years. And many of you in this hall -- I won’t start to name them, but many of you in this hall, starting with Annette Lantos’s husband, who is not here, God rest his soul -- many of you in this hall have been my teachers, my mentors and my educators, and that is not hyperbole. You literally have been.
 But my education started, as some of you know, at my father’s dinner table. My father was what you would have called a righteous Christian. We gathered at my dinner table to have conversation, and incidentally eat, as we were growing up. It was a table -- it was at that table I first heard the phrase that is overused sometimes today, but in a sense not used meaningfully enough -- first I heard the phrase, “Never again.”
 It was at that table that I learned that the only way to ensure that it could never happen again was the establishment and the existence of a secure, Jewish state of Israel. (Applause.) I remember my father, a Christian, being baffled at the debate taking place at the end of World War II talking about it. I don’t remember it at that time, but about how there could be a debate about whether or not -- within the community, of whether or not to establish the State of Israel.
 My father would say, were he a Jew, he would never, never entrust the security of his people to any individual nation, no matter how good and how noble it was, like the United States. (Applause.) Everybody knows it’s real. But I want you to know one thing, which some of you -- I’ve met with a lot of you over the last 40 years, but the last four years as well. President Obama shares my commitment. We both know that Israel faces new threats, new pressures and uncertainty. The Defense Minister and I have discussed it often. In the area of national security, the threats to Israel’s existence continue, but they have changed as the world and the region have changed over the last decade.
 The Arab Spring, at once full of both hope and uncertainty, has required Israel -- and the United States -- to reassess old and settled relationships. Iran’s dangerous nuclear weapons program, and its continued support of terrorist organizations, like Hezbollah and Hamas, not only endanger Israel, but endanger the world. (Applause.) Attempts of much of the world to isolate and delegitimize the State of Israel are increasingly common, and taken as the norm in other parts of the world.
 All these pressures are similar but different, and they put enormous pressure on the State of Israel. We understand that. And we especially understand that if we make a mistake, it’s not a threat to our existence. But if Israel makes a mistake, it could be a threat to its very existence. (Applause.) And that’s why, from the moment the President took office, he has acted swiftly and decisively to make clear to the whole world and to Israel that even as circumstances have changed, one thing has not: our deep commitment to the security of the state of Israel. That has not changed. That will not change as long as I and he are President and Vice President of the United States. (Applause.) It’s in our naked self-interest, beyond the moral imperative. (Applause.)
 And to all of you, I thank you for continuing to remind the nation and the world of that commitment. And while we may not always agree on tactics -- and I’ve been around a long time; I’ve been there for a lot of prime ministers -- we’ve always disagreed on tactic. We’ve always disagreed at some point or another on tactic. But, ladies and gentlemen, we have never disagreed on the strategic imperative that Israel must be able to protect its own, must be able to do it on its own, and we must always stand with Israel to be sure that can happen. And we will. (Applause.)
 That’s why we’ve worked so hard to make sure Israel keeps its qualitative edge in the midst of the Great Recession. I’ve served with eight Presidents of the United States of America, and I can assure you, unequivocally, no President has done as much to physically secure the State of Israel as President Barack Obama. (Applause.)
 
 President Obama last year requested $3.1 billion in military assistance for Israel -- the most in history. He has directed close coordination, strategically and operationally, between our government and our Israeli partners, including our political, military and intelligence leadership. 
 I can say with certitude, in the last eight Presidents, I don’t know any time, Ehud, when there has been as many meetings, as much coordination, between our intelligence services and our military. Matter of fact, they’re getting tired of traveling back across the ocean, I think. (Laughter.)
 Under this administration, we’ve held the most regular and largest-ever joint military exercises. We’ve invested $275 million in Iron Dome, including $70 million that the President directed to be spent last year on an urgent basis -- to increase the production of Iron Dome batteries and interceptors. (Applause.)
 Not long ago, I would have had to describe to an audience what Iron Dome was, how it would work, why funding it mattered. I don’t have to explain to anybody anymore. Everybody gets it. (Applause.) Everybody saw -- the world saw firsthand why it was and remains so critical. 
 For too long, when those sirens blared in the streets of the cities bordering Gaza, the only defense had been a bomb shelter. But late last year, Iron Dome made a difference. When Hamas rockets rained on Israel, Iron Dome shot them out of the sky, intercepting nearly 400 rockets in November alone. It was our unique partnership -- Israel and the United States -- that pioneered this technology and funded it.
 And it is in that same spirit that we’re working with Israel to jointly develop new systems, called Arrow and David’s Sling, interceptors that can defeat long-range threats from Iran, Syria and Hezbollah -- equally as urgent. (Applause.) And we are working to deploy a powerful new radar, networked with American early warning satellites, that could buy Israel valuable time in the event of an attack. This is what we do. This is what we do to ensure Israel can counter and defeat any threat from any corner. (Applause.)
 But that’s only the first piece of this equation. Let me tell you -- and I expect I share the view of many of you who have been involved with AIPAC for a long time. Let me tell you what worries me the most today -- what worries me more than at any time in the 40 years I’ve been engaged, and it is different than any time in my career. And that is the wholesale, seemingly coordinated effort to delegitimize Israel as a Jewish state. That is the single most dangerous, pernicious change that has taken place, in my humble opinion, since I’ve been engaged. (Applause.) 
 And, ladies and gentlemen, it matters. It matters. To put it bluntly, there is only one nation -- only one nation in the world that has unequivocally, without hesitation and consistently confronted the efforts to delegitimize Israel. At every point in our administration, at every juncture, we’ve stood up on the legitimacy -- on behalf of legitimacy of the State of Israel. President Obama has been a bulwark against those insidious efforts at every step of the way.
 Wherever he goes in the world, he makes clear that although we want better relations with Muslim-majority countries, Israel’s legitimacy and our support for it is not a matter of debate. There is no light. It is not a matter of debate. (Applause.) It’s simple, and he means it: It is not a matter of debated. Don't raise it with us. Do not raise it with us. It is not negotiable. (Applause.)
 As recently as last year, the only country on the United Nations Human Rights Council to vote against -- I think it’s 36 countries, don't hold me to the exact number -- but the only country on the Human Rights Council of the United Nations to vote against the establishment of a fact-finding mission on settlements was the United States of America. 
 We opposed the unilateral efforts of the Palestinian Authority to circumvent direct negotiations by pushing for statehood and multilateral organizations like UNESCO. We stood strongly with Israel in its right to defend itself after the Goldstone Report was issued in 2009. While the rest of the world, including some of our good friend, was prepared to embrace the report, we came out straightforwardly, expressed our concerns and with recommendations. 
 When Israel was isolated in the aftermath of the Gaza flotilla in 2010, I was in Africa. We spent a lot of time on the phone, Ehud and -- the Defense Minister and I. (Laughter.) And Bibi and I spent a lot time on that phone with my interceding, going to the United Nations directly by telephone, speaking with the Secretary General, making sure that one thing was made clear, Israel had the right -- had the right -- to impose that blockade. (Applause.)
 Ladies and gentlemen, that's why we refuse to attend events such as the 10th anniversary of the 2001 World Conference on Racism that shamefully equated Zionism with racism. (Applause.) That's why we rejected anti-Semitic rhetoric from any corner and from leaders of any nation. And that's why I’m proud to say my friend, the new Secretary of State, John Kerry, spoke out against the kind of language in Ankara just this Friday. (Applause.) By the way, he’s a good man. You're going to be happy with Kerry.
 And it was in the strongest terms that we vigorously opposed the Palestinian bid for nonmember observer status in the General Assembly, and we will continue to oppose any effort to establish a state of Palestine through unilateral actions.
 There is no shortcut to peace. There is no shortcut to face-to-face negotiations. There is no shortcut to guarantees made looking in the eyes of the other party.
 Ladies and gentlemen, Israel's own leaders currently understand the imperative of peace. Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Barak, President Peres -- they've all called for a two-state solution and an absolute secure, democratic and Jewish State of Israel; to live side by side with an independent Palestinian state. But it takes two to tango, and the rest of the Arab world has to get in the game. (Applause.) 
 We are under no illusions about how difficult it will be to achieve. Even some of you in the audience said, why do we even talk about it anymore? Well, it's going to require hard steps on both sides. But it's in all of our interests -- Israel's interest, the United States' interest, the interest of the Palestinian people. We all have a profound interest in peace. To use an expression of a former President, Bill Clinton, we've got to get caught trying. We've got to get caught trying. (Applause.)
 So we remain deeply engaged. As President Obama has said, while there are those who question whether this goal may ever be reached, we make no apologies for continuing to pursue that goal, to pursue a better future. And he'll make that clear when he goes to Israel later this month.
 We're also mindful that pursuing a better future for Israel means helping Israel confront the myriads of threat it faces in the neighborhood. It's a tough neighborhood, and it starts with Iran. It is not only in Israel's interest -- and everybody should understand -- I know you understand this, but the world should -- it's not only in Israel's interest that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon, it's in the interest of the United States of America. It's simple. And, as a matter of fact, it's in the interest of the entire world. (Applause.)
 Iraq's [sic] acquisition of a nuclear weapon not only would present an existential threat to Israel, it would present a threat to our allies and our partners -- and to the United States. And it would trigger an arms race -- a nuclear arms race in the region, and make the world a whole lot less stable. 
 So we have a shared strategic commitment. Let me make clear what that commitment is: It is to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Period. (Applause.) End of discussion. Prevent -- not contain -- prevent. (Applause.)
 The President has flatly stated that. And as many of you in this room have heard me say -- and he always kids me about this; we'll be in the security room -- and I know that Debbie Wasserman Schultz knows this because she hears it -- he always says, you know -- he'll turn to other people and say, as Joe would say, he’s -- as Joe would say, big nations can't bluff. Well, big nations can't bluff. And Presidents of the United States cannot and do not bluff. And President Barack Obama is not bluffing. He is not bluffing. (Applause.) 
 We are not looking for war. We are looking to and ready to negotiate peacefully, but all options, including military force, are on the table. But as I made clear at the Munich Security Conference just last month, our strong preference, the world’s preference is for a diplomatic solution. So while that window is closing, we believe there is still time and space to achieve the outcome. We are in constant dialogue, sharing information with the Israeli military, the Israeli intelligence service, the Israeli political establishment at every level, and we’re taking all the steps required to get there. 
 But I want to make clear to you something. If, God forbid, the need to act occurs, it is critically important for the whole world to know we did everything in our power, we did everything that reasonably could have been expected to avoid any confrontation. And that matters. Because God forbid, if we have to act, it’s important that the rest of the world is with us. (Applause.) We have a united international community. We have a united international community behind these unprecedented sanctions. 
 We have left Iran more isolated than ever. When we came to office, as you remember -- not because of the last administration, just a reality -- Iran was on the ascendency in the region. It is no longer on the ascendency. The purpose of this pressure is not to punish. It is to convince Iran to make good on its international obligations. Put simply, we are sharpening a choice that the Iranian leadership has to make. They can meet their obligations and give the international community ironclad confidence in the peaceful nature of their program, or they can continue down the path they’re on to further isolate and mounting pressure of the world. 
 But even preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon still leaves them a dangerous neighbor, particularly to Israel. They are using terrorist proxies to spread violence in the region and beyond the region, putting Israelis, Americans, citizens of every continent in danger. For too long, Hezbollah has tried to pose as nothing more than a political and social welfare group, while plotting against innocents in Eastern Europe -- from Eastern Europe to East Africa; from Southeast Asia to South America. We know what Israel knows: Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. Period. (Applause.) And we -- and me -- we are urging every nation in the world that we deal with -- and we deal with them all -- to start treating Hezbollah as such, and naming them as a terrorist organization. (Applause.) 
 This isn’t just about a threat to Israel and the United States. It’s about a global terrorist organization that has targeted people on several continents. We’ll say and we’ll do our part to stop them. And we ask the world to do the same. That’s why we’ve been talking to our friends in Europe to forcefully declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization. This past month I’ve made the case to leading European heads of state, as Barack and Israelis know, together we have to continue to confront Hezbollah wherever it shows -- sews the seeds of hatred and stands against the nations that sponsor campaigns of terror.
 Ladies and gentlemen, the United States and Israel have a shared interest in Syria as well. Assad has shown his father’s disregard for human life and dignity, engaging in brutal murder of his own citizens. Our position on that tragedy could not be clearer: Assad must go. But we are not signing up for one murderous gang replacing another in Damascus. (Applause.)
 That’s why our focus is on supporting a legitimate opposition not only committed to a peaceful Syria but to a peaceful region. That’s why we’re carefully vetting those to whom we provide assistance. That’s why, while putting relentless pressure on Assad and sanctioning the pro-regime, Iranian-backed militia, we’ve also designated al-Nusra Front as a terrorist organization. 
 And because we recognize the great danger Assad’s chemical and biological arsenals pose to Israel and the United States, to the whole world, we’ve set a clear red line against the use of the transfer of the those weapons. And we will work together to prevent this conflict and these horrific weapons from threatening Israel’s security. And while we try to ensure an end to the dictatorship in Syria, we have supported and will support a genuine transition to Egyptian democracy. 
 We have no illusions -- we know how difficult this will be and how difficult it is. There’s been -- obviously been a dramatic change in Egypt. A lot of it has given us hope and a lot of it has given us pause, and a lot of it has caused fears in other quarters. 
 It’s not about us, but it profoundly affects us. We need to be invested in Egypt’s success and stability. The stable success of Egypt will translate into a stable region. We’re not looking at what’s happening in Egypt through rose-colored glasses. Again, our eyes are wide open. We have no illusions about the challenges that we face, but we also know this: There’s no legitimate alternative at this point to engagement. 
 Only through engagement -- it’s only through engagement with Egypt that we can focus Egypt’s leaders on the need to repair international obligations -- respect their international obligations, including and especially its peace treaty with Israel. It’s only through active engagement that we can help ensure that Hamas does not re-arm through the Sinai and put the people of Israel at risk. It’s only through engagement that we can concentrate Egypt’s government on the imperative of confronting the extremists. And it’s only through engagement that we can encourage Egypt’s leaders to make reforms that will spark economic growth and stabilize the democratic process. And it’s all tough, and there’s no certainty. There’s no certainty about anything in the Arab Spring.
 I expect President Obama to cover each of these issues in much greater detail. I’ve learned one thing, as I was telling the President, I learned it’s never a good idea, Ehud, to steal the President’s thunder. It’s never a good idea to say what he’s going to say the next day. So I’m not going to go into any further detail on this. (Laughter.) But in much greater detail he will discuss this when he goes to Israel later this month, just before Passover begins.
 I have to admit I’m a little jealous that he gets to be the one to say “this year in Jerusalem,” but I’m the Vice President. I’m not the President. (Applause.) So I -- when I told him that, I’m not sure he thought I was serious or not. But anyway. (Laughter.)
 As will come as no surprise to you, the President and I not only are partners, we’ve become friends, and he and I have spoken at length about this trip. And I can assure you he’s particularly looking forward to having a chance to hear directly from the people of Israel and beyond their political leaders, and particularly the younger generation of Israelis. (Applause.)
 And I must note just as I’m getting a chance to speak to 2,000 young, American Jews involved and committed to the state of Israel and the relationship with the United States, he’s as anxious to do what I got a chance to do when I was there last, Ehud with you, as you flew me along the line. I got to go to Tel Aviv University to speak several thousand young Israelis. The vibrancy, the optimism, the absolute commitment is contagious, and he’s looking forward to seeing it and feeling it and tasting it.
 The President looks forward to having conversations about their hopes and their aspirations, about their astonishing world-leading technological achievements, about the future they envision for themselves and for their country, about how different the world they face is from the one their parents faced, even if many of the threats are the same.
 These are really important conversations for the President to have and to hear and for them to hear. These are critically important. I get kidded, again to quote Debbie, she kids sometimes, everybody quotes -- Democrat and Republican -- quotes Tip O’Neill saying, all politics is local. With all due respect, Lonny, I think that's not right. I think all politics is personal. And I mean it: All politics is personal. And it’s building personal relationships and trust and exposure, talking to people that really matters, particularly in foreign policy.
 So, ladies and gentlemen, let me end where I began, by reaffirming our commitment to the State of Israel. It’s not only a longstanding, moral commitment, it’s a strategic commitment. An independent Israel, secure in its own borders, recognized by the world is in the practical, strategic interests of the United States of America. I used to say when I -- Lonny was president -- I used to say if there weren't an Israel, we'd have to invent one. 
 Ladies and gentlemen, we also know that it's critical to remind every generation of Americans -- as you're doing with your children here today, it's critical to remind our children, my children, your children. That's why the first time I ever took the three of my children separately to Europe, the first place I took them was Dachau. We flew to Munich and went to Dachau -- the first thing we ever did as Annette will remember -- because it's important that all our children and grandchildren understand that this is a never-ending requirement. The preservation of an independent Jewish state is the ultimate guarantor, it's the only certain guarantor of freedom and security for the Jewish people in the world. (Applause.) 
 That was most pointedly pointed out to me when I was a young senator making my first trip to Israel. I had the great, great honor -- and that is not hyperbole -- of getting to meet for the first time -- and subsequently, I met her beyond that -- Golda Meir. She was the prime minister. (Applause.)
 Now, I'm sure every kid up there said, you can't be that old, Senator. (Laughter.) I hope that's what you're saying. (Laughter.) But seriously, the first trip I ever made -- and you all know those double doors. You just go into the office and the blonde furniture and the desk on the left side, if memory serves me correctly. And Golda Meir, as a prime minister and as a defense minister, she had those maps behind her. You could pull down all those maps like you had in geography class in high school. 
 And she sat behind her desk. And I sat in a chair in front of her desk, and a young man was sitting to my right who was her assistant. His name was Yitzhak Rabin. (Laughter.) Seriously -- an absolutely true story. (Applause.) And she sat there chain-smoking and reading letters to me, letters from the front from the Six-Day War. She read letters and told me how this young man or woman had died and this is their family. This went on for I don't know how long, and I guess she could tell I was visibly moved by this, and I was getting depressed about it -- oh, my God. 
 And she suddenly looked at me and said -- and I give you my word as a Biden that she looked at me and said -- she said, Senator, would you like a photo opportunity? (Laughter.) And I looked at her. I said, well yes, Madam Prime Minister. I mean I was -- and we walk out those doors. We stood there -- no statements, and we're standing next to one another looking at this array of media, television and photojournalists, take -- snapping pictures. And we're looking straight ahead.
 Without looking at me, she speaks to me. She said, Senator, don't look so sad. She said, we have a secret weapon in our confrontation in this part of the world. And I thought she was about to lean over and tell me about a new system or something. Because you can see the pictures, I still have them -- I turned to look at her. We were supposed to be looking straight ahead. And I said, Madam Prime Minister -- and never turned her head, she kept looking -- she said, our secret weapon, Senator, is we have no place else to go. We have no place else to go. (Applause.)
 Ladies and gentlemen, our job is to make sure there's always a place to go, that there's always an Israel, that there's always a secure Israel and there's an Israel that can care for itself. (Applause.) My father was right. You are right. It's the ultimate guarantor of never again. God bless you all and may God protect our troops. Thank you. (Applause.)
 Beau, I love you. I am so proud of you. Proud of the son you are. Proud of the father you've become. And I'm so proud of my son Hunter, my daughter Ashley, and my wife Jill, the only one who leaves me breathless and speechless at the same time.
 It is an honour to share this stage tonight with President Clinton. And last night, it was moving to watch Hillary, one of the great leaders of our party, a woman who has made history and will continue to make history: my colleague and my friend, Senator Hillary Clinton.
 And I am honoured to represent our first state—my state—Delaware.
 Since I've never been called a man of few words, let me say this as simply as I can: Yes. Yes, I accept your nomination to run and serve alongside our next President of the United States of America, Barack Obama.
 Let me make this pledge to you right here and now. For every American who is trying to do the right thing, for all those people in government who are honouring their pledge to uphold the law and respect our Constitution, no longer will the eight most dreaded words in the English language be: "The vice president's office is on the phone."
 Barack Obama and I took very different journeys to this destination, but we share a common story. Mine began in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and then Wilmington, Delaware. With a dad who fell on hard economic times, but who always told me: "Champ, when you get knocked down, get up. Get up."
 I wish that my dad was here tonight, but I am so grateful that my mom, Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden, is here. You know, she taught her children—all the children who flocked to our house—that you are defined by your sense of honour, and you are redeemed by your loyalty. She believes bravery lives in every heart and her expectation is that it will be summoned.
 Failure at some point in everyone's life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable. As a child I stuttered, and she lovingly told me it was because I was so bright I couldn't get the thoughts out quickly enough. When I was not as well dressed as others, she told me how handsome she thought I was. When I got knocked down by guys bigger than me, she sent me back out and demanded that I bloody their nose so I could walk down that street the next day.
 After the accident, she told me, "Joey, God sends no cross you cannot bear." And when I triumphed, she was quick to remind me it was because of others.
 My mother's creed is the American creed: No one is better than you. You are everyone's equal, and everyone is equal to you.
 My parents taught us to live our faith, and treasure our family. We learned the dignity of work, and we were told that anyone can make it if they try.
 That was America's promise. For those of us who grew up in middle-class neighbourhoods like Scranton and Wilmington, that was the American dream and we knew it.
 But today that American dream feels as if it's slowly slipping away. I don't need to tell you that. You feel it every single day in your own lives.
 I've never seen a time when Washington has watched so many people get knocked down without doing anything to help them get back up. Almost every night, I take the train home to Wilmington, sometimes very late. As I look out the window at the homes we pass, I can almost hear what they're talking about at the kitchen table after they put the kids to bed.
 Like millions of Americans, they're asking questions as profound as they are ordinary. Questions they never thought they would have to ask:
 - Should mom move in with us now that dad is gone?
 - Fifty, sixty, seventy dollars to fill up the car?
 - Winter's coming. How we gonna pay the heating bills?
 - Another year and no raise?
 - Did you hear the company may be cutting our healthcare?
 - Now, we owe more on the house than it's worth. How are we going to send the kids to college?
 - How are we gonna be able to retire?
 That's the America that George Bush has left us, and that's the future John McCain will give us. These are not isolated discussions among families down on their luck. These are common stories among middle-class people who worked hard and played by the rules on the promise that their tomorrows would be better than their yesterdays.
 That promise is the bedrock of America. It defines who we are as a people. And now it's in jeopardy. I know it. You know it. But John McCain doesn't get it.
 Barack Obama gets it. Like many of us, Barack worked his way up. His is a great American story.
 You know, I believe the measure of a man isn't just the road he's travelled; it's the choices he's made along the way. Barack Obama could have done anything after he graduated from college. With all his talent and promise, he could have written his ticket to Wall Street. But that's not what he chose to do. He chose to go to Chicago. The South Side. There he met men and women who had lost their jobs. Their neighbourhood was devastated when the local steel plant closed. Their dreams deferred. Their dignity shattered. Their self-esteem gone.
 And he made their lives the work of his life. That's what you do when you've been raised by a single mom, who worked, went to school and raised two kids on her own. That's how you come to believe, to the very core of your being, that work is more than a pay cheque. It's dignity. It's respect. It's about whether you can look your children in the eye and say: we're going to be ok.
 Because Barack made that choice, 150,000 more children and parents have healthcare in Illinois. He fought to make that happen. And because Barack made that choice, working families in Illinois pay less taxes and more people have moved from welfare to the dignity of work. He got it done.
 And when he came to Washington, I watched him hit the ground running, leading the fight to pass the most sweeping ethics reform in a generation. He reached across party lines to pass a law that helps keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists. And he moved Congress and the president to give our wounded veterans the care and dignity they deserve.
 You can learn an awful lot about a man campaigning with him, debating him and seeing how he reacts under pressure. You learn about the strength of his mind, but even more importantly, you learn about the quality of his heart.
 I watched how he touched people, how he inspired them, and I realized he has tapped into the oldest American belief of all: We don't have to accept a situation we cannot bear.
 We have the power to change it. That's Barack Obama, and that's what he will do for this country. He'll change it.
 John McCain is my friend. We've known each other for three decades. We've travelled the world together. It's a friendship that goes beyond politics. And the personal courage and heroism John demonstrated still amaze me.
 But I profoundly disagree with the direction that John wants to take the country. For example,
 John thinks that during the Bush years "we've made great progress economically." I think it's been abysmal.
 And in the Senate, John sided with President Bush 95 percent of the time. Give me a break. When John McCain proposes $200bn in new tax breaks for corporate America, $1bn alone for just eight of the largest companies, but no relief for 100m American families, that's not change; that's more of the same.
 Even today, as oil companies post the biggest profits in history—a half trillion dollars in the last five years—he wants to give them another $4bn in tax breaks. But he voted time and again against incentives for renewable energy: solar, wind, bio-fuels. That's not change; that's more of the same.
 Millions of jobs have left our shores, yet John continues to support tax breaks for corporations that send them there. That's not change; that's more of the same.
 He voted 19 times against raising the minimum wage. For people who are struggling just to get to the next day, that's not change; that's more of the same.
 And when he says he will continue to spend $10bn a month in Iraq when Iraq is sitting on a surplus of nearly $80bn, that's not change; that's more of the same.
 The choice in this election is clear. These times require more than a good soldier; they require a wise leader, a leader who can deliver change—the change everybody knows we need.
 Barack Obama will deliver that change. Barack Obama will reform our tax code. He'll cut taxes for 95% of the American people who draw a pay cheque. That's the change we need.
 Barack Obama will transform our economy by making alternative energy a genuine national priority, creating 5m new jobs and finally freeing us from the grip of foreign oil. That's the change we need.
 Barack Obama knows that any country that out teaches us today will out-compete us tomorrow. He'll invest in the next generation of teachers. He'll make college more affordable. That's the change we need.
 Barack Obama will bring down healthcare costs by $2,500 for the typical family, and, at long last, deliver affordable, accessible healthcare for all Americans. That's the change we need.
 Barack Obama will put more cops on the streets, put the "security" back in Social Security and never give up until we achieve equal pay for women. That's the change we need.
 As we gather here tonight, our country is less secure and more isolated than at any time in recent history. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has dug us into a very deep hole with very few friends to help us climb out. For the last seven years, this administration has failed to face the biggest forces shaping this century: the emergence of Russia, China and India as great powers; the spread of lethal weapons; the shortage of secure supplies of energy, food and water; the challenge of climate change; and the resurgence of fundamentalism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the real central front against terrorism.
 In recent days, we've once again seen the consequences of this neglect with Russia's challenge to the free and democratic country of Georgia. Barack Obama and I will end this neglect. We will hold Russia accountable for its actions, and we'll help the people of Georgia rebuild.
 I've been on the ground in Georgia, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and I can tell you in no uncertain terms: this Administration's policy has been an abject failure. America cannot afford four more years of this.
 Now, despite being complicit in this catastrophic foreign policy, John McCain says Barack Obama isn't ready to protect our national security. Now, let me ask you: whose judgment should we trust? Should we trust John McCain's judgment when he said only three years ago, "Afghanistan—we don't read about it anymore because it's succeeded"? Or should we trust Barack Obama, who more than a year ago called for sending two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan?
 The fact is, al-Qaida and the Taliban—the people who actually attacked us on 9/11—have regrouped in those mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan and are plotting new attacks. And the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff echoed Barack's call for more troops.
 John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right.
 Should we trust John McCain's judgment when he rejected talking with Iran and then asked: What is there to talk about? Or Barack Obama, who said we must talk and make it clear to Iran that its conduct must change.
 Now, after seven years of denial, even the Bush administration recognizes that we should talk to Iran, because that's the best way to advance our security.
 Again, John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right.
 Should we trust John McCain's judgment when he says there can be no timelines to draw down our troops from Iraq—that we must stay indefinitely? Or should we listen to Barack Obama, who says shift responsibility to the Iraqis and set a time to bring our combat troops home?
 Now, after six long years, the Bush administration and the Iraqi government are on the verge of setting a date to bring our troops home.
 John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right.
 Again and again, on the most important national security issues of our time, John McCain was wrong, and Barack Obama was proven right.
 Folks, remember when the world used to trust us? When they looked to us for leadership? With Barack Obama as our president, they'll look to us again, they'll trust us again, and we'll be able to lead again.
 Jill and I are truly honored to join Barack and Michelle on this journey. When I look at their young children—and when I look at my grandchildren—I realize why I'm here. I'm here for their future.
 And I am here for everyone I grew up with in Scranton and Wilmington. I am here for the cops and firefighters, the teachers and assembly line workers—the folks whose lives are the very measure of whether the American dream endures.
 Our greatest presidents—from Abraham Lincoln to Franklin Roosevelt to John Kennedy—they all challenged us to embrace change. Now, it's our responsibility to meet that challenge.
 Millions of Americans have been knocked down. And this is the time as Americans, together, we get back up. Our people are too good, our debt to our parents and grandparents too great, our obligation to our children is too sacred.
 These are extraordinary times. This is an extraordinary election. The American people are ready. I'm ready. Barack Obama is ready. This is his time. This is our time. This is America's time.
 May God bless America and protect our troops.
 Best decision I ever made, and she's still wondering whether she gave the right answer the fifth time.  But, folks, all kidding aside, you're a different breed of cat.  Thank God for all of you.  Thank God for your unyielding belief that in the toughest of circumstances, every child, every child deserves a chance.  And ladies and gentlemen, I just wish those folks who are attacking you now, I wish those folks who are trying to ascribe the blame for the worst recession America has had since the great depression, knew you a little better. 
 Look, all of us in this room, all of us on this stage, we have something in common.  You, Dennis, me, Jill, Barack, Michelle, none of us, none of us would be in the positions we're in today were it literally not for the inspiration and love and guidance of at least one or two of our teachers. 
 We would not be here.  Used to say in the United States Senate, if you'll excuse a point of personal privilege, were it not for the teachers I had in grade school, when I stuttered so badly, I could ‑‑ could ‑‑ couldn't ‑‑ say ‑‑ say my name --  Were it not for those teachers who told me how smart I was, what a good boy I was, how capable I was.  I would have never overcome that impediment. 
 So I want to thank you.  I want to thank all of you for inspiring the young kid in your class who stutters, the young girl who is overweight, the beautiful young child who just doesn't have any notion about the possibilities that lie before her. 
 Look, I know you have a lot more business to conduct before this assembly ends, so let me get right to the point and I'll try to be brief.  Dennis ‑‑ and I mean this sincerely, I told him ‑‑ I read your speech on the plane from Nevada to here.  Not only was it rhetorically inspiring, more importantly, it contained real insight that is not reflected much in the public debate about what this debate is ‑‑ what it's really about. 
 I mean it.  And Dennis, it's not just because your mom is sitting there. 
 Literally, I can say and I'll go on record with the press here, there's not a single solitary assertion you made in that speech that I don't wholeheartedly agree with, particularly one.  Yesterday ‑‑ yesterday you said ‑‑ and I want to quote you ‑‑ I know of no family of means in America who would deny their own children preschool, child care, good nutrition, health care, and other opportunities from soccer to music to dance to art.  Well, I say to you ‑‑ if this nation wants to remain strong and prosperous, why would we perpetuate a system that denies these opportunities to every child?  That is the question before this body.  That is the question before the United States of America.  That is the most fundamental question we can be asking as a people today!  None is more consequential! 
 That's the question.  Look, the answer ‑‑ the answer, Dennis, is that the other team doesn't think we can either afford it or that it should be the priority.  This new Republican Party ‑‑ and I emphasize ‑‑ this new Republican Party has a different philosophy.  This is not your father's Republican Party.  This is a different breed of cat.  They are decent people, but they have a fundamentally different view, a fundamentally different view than even the previous Republican Party had, let alone others.  I think the crux of this is, they really don't believe in public education as we do. 
 It's not that they don't care.  They care.  But they do not think the past 150 years public education is the vehicle.  They seem to think something different.  Public education is as much about poverty, lack of health care, unemployment as it is about what goes on in the classroom.  Ask any teacher. 
 Dennis, I don't quote Barack as much as I'm quoting you.  But Dennis went on to say, part of the madness of this country is an economy that is out of balance, end of quote.  Well, folks, to the new Republican Party, this madness is madness by design.  They don't think –- literally -- listen to me now.  I'm being deadly earnest.  These are not intended to be applause lines.  They really don't think it's out of balance.  They think finally we are re‑establishing balance in America.  That's what they honestly and truly believe.  They believe that a CEO making 260 times what their workers makes is an honest reflection of the respective value of the CEO and their workers.  Think about it.  Listen for a second.  I really mean this.  I'm not trying to be pejorative.  I think it's important that we understand what the other team thinks so we understand what this is about.  It's not just about rewarding rich folks and their friends and all that sort of popular slogans.  They really believe this.  It is not illegitimate.  I fundamentally disagree, but they believe it.  They believe that 1 percent of the wage earners controlling 24 percent of the wealth in this country is a vehicle by which you can spur economic growth because those with the wealth know the most and will know best to do with that wealth. 
 They believe that a hedge fund manager ‑‑ and I might add, in 2010 ‑‑ and these aren't bad guys, but 25 hedge fund managers made among themselves $22 billion.  Essentially a billion dollars apiece.  Their income.  They believe that income should be taxed at a 15 percent tax rate while most of you sitting out here teaching and driving a bus and working in the cafeterias, you pay at a 25 percent tax rate. 
 They don't do that to reward the rich and punish the poor.  They believe it will encourage investors to take risks on economic growth.  That's what they think. 
 Ladies and gentlemen, as Dennis said yesterday, you – we -- everything I believe in is under attack.  The new Republican Party has undertaken the most direct assault on labor, not just in my lifetime, but, without any hyperbole, literally since the 1920s. 
 Our differences with the governors of Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, Michigan, and over and over again, run much deeper than our differing philosophies on public education and educators. 
 Fundamentally, it's a debate about the importance of community and the appropriate role of government.  So it should be no surprise that the same people who are pushing vouchers for schools are pushing vouchers for Medicare.  It should be no surprise, literally, it is intellectually and philosophically consistent. 
 It should be no surprise that the same people who want to amend the middle class tax cut of $10,000 tax credit to send your kid to college also want to lower taxes for the top 1 percent of the millionaires in America.  It is not inconsistent to them. 
 It should be no surprise that the same people who opposed our efforts to fund reconstruction of schools opposed our intention to build a major infrastructure investment in highways, bridges, and ports.  They don't think it's government's business. 
 It should be no surprise that the same people are against aid to states which we put in the Recovery Act, allowing them to keep 300,000 of you educators employed last year. 
 It should be no surprise that they have had no problem giving aid to investment bankers on Wall Street who drove us into this dilemma. 
 Folks, we've got to wake up. 
 It should be no surprise that the same people who oppose funding community colleges so that they can retrain workers for specific companies in their communities, are for incentives for the same companies who want to ship jobs overseas.  It is consistent from their perspective. 
 It should be no surprise that those who oppose subsidizing after‑school programs are for subsidizing oil companies to drill for oil when they made just, this last quarter, $25 billion in profits. 
 Ladies and gentlemen, to average people, to well‑educated people, it seems like some of the things they are suggesting are totally out of the blue, but it is a consistent philosophy. 
 It should be no surprise that the folks who want to cut school lunch and nutrition programs are the same people who vote against extending unemployment insurance and food stamps for the jobless.  It is consistent. 
 It should be no surprise that the same people who want to slash funding from medical and scientific research at our great universities also want to slash funding for innovation in solar, in biomass fuels, in dealing with new technologies for wind, new investments in lithium ion batteries.  It's consistent. 
 My fellow Americans, this debate is about whether or not, for America to succeed, we need to provide the best education for all our children or just for some of our children, for just enough of our children, that's the crux of the debate. 
 Folks, I could go on, but in the end, it's much more than about education.  It's about social equality, economic opportunity, concentration of wealth, about the belief and the possibilities of every child in America. 
 As I said, these are not bad guys.  They just have a very different view.  Their America is an America different from the one I see.  You know, it's about not only what we're doing in education, but what we're doing to our country.  Just take a look around the country.  Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, on and on, the new majority in the House of Representatives all over our country, they have rejected good‑faith offers by teachers and other public employees to sacrifice, to do their part to help balance state budgets, which they were not responsible for putting out of balance. 
 And instead of doing what former governors, even former Republican governors would have done, sat down with you, embraced your offer, talked to you about the changes, be willing to acknowledge the sacrifice you've already made and the sacrifices you're making, instead, these governors use the budget process to systematically erode the rights of public employees to collectively bargain. 
 Look, slashes in education funding, reneging on teachers' contracts -- these guys talk about the sanctity of contracts in the business world.  I mean, think about it.  Think about it.  Mandating, decertification for any union involved in a teacher strike action, limiting the issues public school employees can bargain over.  Paycheck deception.  Benefits slashed.  Wages cut. 
 You know, all states are struggling from the impacts of this brutal recession that we inherited, yet there is an organized effort to place the blame for the budget shortfall squarely on educators and other public workers.  It is one of the biggest scams in modern American history. 
 And guess what ‑‑ the American people are figuring it out.  This debate is about a fundamental ‑‑ it's a legitimate debate ‑‑ about a fundamental difference in vision.  Our vision and their vision.   Look, folks, in these times of change, I know you haven't agreed with everything we have done in this administration.  Believe me, I know.
 And as I think, everyone in my home state will tell you, and Dennis will tell you, I respect the disagreement we have, and not all of it are you wrong about. 
 Some of it you are.  But one thing, this is more a fight within the family.  One thing you should not have any doubt in your mind about is that Barack Obama, he is on your side.  Make no mistake about it. 
 He will and I will and we will, we will ‑‑ we will fight alongside you.  We will fight for you.  And occasionally in the privacy of the family, we'll fight with you.  But this is about the same fundamental vision for this country.
 Look, this administration stands for education and it stands with labor.  It's about your fundamental right to collectively bargain, not just about your wages and benefits, but about the environment in which you work: the size of your classrooms, the mix of special education students in the classroom, the competency of the administrators in your schools, after‑school programs. 
 Look, folks, it's about working conditions, but unlike almost any other organization, your fight is our children's fight.  Your fight is about our children.  Your fight is about giving them the best chance.  And it's also about whether or not we'll provide things like adequate preschool education. 
 Folks, how many more studies do we need?  I'm here in Chicago with my co‑grandparent, Dr. Roberta Buhl who works for the Chicago school system, former NEA member.  Roberta, where are you?  We are co‑grandparents.  And she is here with me today.  She'll tell ya.  She will tell ya about the studies.  You all know.  How many more studies do we need to find out that if you give any kid, no matter what their circumstance, a preschool head start, their chances of graduating are incredible better.  How many studies do we need to know that?  How much more do we have to debate?
 It's about whether or not we have classroom sizes that allow a child to be recognized. 
 It's about whether or not we offer courses in math and science, introduce our children to art and music.  It's about whether or not we'll have adequate sports programs.  It's about whether or not we provide educational and financial capability for students who are able to go to college.  That's what it's about!  It's about giving kids a chance! 
 Ultimately it's about America.  It's about whether or not America will succeed.  Look, folks, it's a fact.  It's a fact that more than half the jobs in the next decade will require post secondary education. 
 Where are these guys living?  You know that ad about, are they living under a rock?  You know, they come up and see that Geico. I think some of our friends are down there with those guys.  Where have they been? 
 How can you expect to compete for the future without the best educated, best prepared?  Ladies and gentlemen, how can we lead the world into the 21st century when we are tied for ninth with five other nations?  In the neighborhood I come from, that means you're 14.  How can you lead the world when you're 14th in the world in the percent of children of population you graduate from college?  How?  How?  How can we expect to do any of that, to remedy any of that without you?  We should be working with you, not against you. 
 We should be listening to you, not lecturing to you.  We should be embracing you, not pushing you aside! 
 You are not the problem.
 And like you, people in Madison, Wisconsin; Columbus, Ohio; and all over America, they are standing up.  They're standing up on the front lines to do battle for you!  For our children!  Against these policies! 
 It's so often said, Dennis, it's almost lost its meaning, but you are teaching the next great engineers who can't get there without learning in preschool and kindergarten and first and second grade to begin to do arithmetic. 
 You're teaching the next generation of novelists how to write a simple sentence in a paragraph. 
 You're uncovering the next Mozart.  You're unleashing the next Steve Jobs.  You are building generation after generation of hardworking Americans in all walks of life.  Doctors, lawyers, architects, computer programmers, welders, business owners, artists, soldiers, and, yes, educators. 
 Your classrooms are literally the incubators of new technology, of future scientific breakthroughs, a medical discovery -- in your classroom is the future President of the United States.  And, ladies and gentlemen ‑‑ and all of you know what my wife knows, what anybody who spent their life  in a classroom ‑‑ and God love her, she's still teaching 15 credits full time while being second lady. 
 Look, folks, you know, you know you never know where that next scientist, president, Mozart -- you know you don't have any idea where that child has come from.  You just know when you see it, you recognize it.  You don't know where that child is going to come from, a row house or a mansion on the hill, from the inner city or farm, but you know it when you see it.  You can smell it.  You can taste it, and you want to nurture it.  You know that they will come, though, all of them will come from our children. 
 Ladies and gentlemen, the way some people talk about our children as if they are from somewhere else, some other place.  Ladies and gentlemen, these are our children.  These are not someone else's children.  These are America's children! 
 These children are the kite strings that lift our national ambitions aloft and in the end, we will be judged by whether or not we've honored our obligation to our children. 
 My favorite poet, William Butler Yates once wrote, "Education is not about filling a bucket, it's about lighting a fire."  So light those fires!  We will stand with you!  Light those fires and light them greatly!  Everywhere in America, every generation has relied upon you.  We stand with the NEA because of you. Because of you, the American dream will grow faster and go further than ever before. 
 Ladies and gentlemen, we stand ‑‑ because you stand with the people who are struggling to get into the middle class as well as stay in the middle class. We stand with you, the NEA, because with you, we can and will literally ‑‑ it sounds trite, but restore the American dream. 
 Ladies and gentlemen, I give you my word. I thank you.  Thank you for what you do.
 Look, just so I don't leave here with the press saying all this was a love fest. Not all teachers are created equal.  Not all vice presidents or presidents are created equal.  Not all doctors are created equal.
 I know what you know in your private conversations. You want your profession to be the best, the most competent and capable it can be.  It's your obligation.  It's your obligation. 
 It's your obligation to tell us how we make sure we have the best and we only count as the best. 
 I am confident, I am confident you want that as much as any citizen in this country wants it, because, folks, at the end of the day, incompetence in my profession and in yours reflects upon each and every one of us. 
 So I don't have any doubt about your sincerity.  And I don't have any doubt about your capacity.  You should have no doubt about my affection for you and the President's commitment to you.  Thank you for what you do.  May God bless you all and may God protect our troops.  Thank you so very much.
 When I was a young man in law school, I was married--when I got elected to the Senate, I was married to a beautiful woman who was also a teacher and was killed in an automobile accident right after I was elected.  And no man deserves one great love let alone two.  And five years later when I found Jill ‑‑ and, by the way, like all educators, she has a healthy degree of skepticism.  I literally had to ask her five times to marry me. 
 And there is one thing that I found over the last 40 years.  That there is something special about all of you who believe in what I call possibilities.  You don't go into education unless you believe in the possibility of making things better.  Just part of your DNA, part of your makeup.
 You know, it's interesting.  You all know this.  When you are an educator or you are married to an educator or you dip your toe in the water like I did teaching a course in law school for 20 years, you find that you hang out with, you're friends with, you go to the movies with, you raise your children with, you eat with, a whole lot of other people involved in education. 
 Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Joe Biden and I'm in love with an educator!  And I'm in love with education!  I sure need it. 
 What it was, it was a tragedy, Martha. It — Chris Stevens was one of our best. We lost three other brave Americans.
 And I can make absolutely two commitments to you and all of the American people tonight: One, we will find and bring to justice the men who did this.
 And secondly, we will get to the bottom of it, and whatever — wherever the facts lead us, wherever they lead us, w will make clear to the American public, because whatever mistakes were made will not be made again.
 When you're looking at a president, Martha, it seems to me that you should take a look at his most important responsibility. That's carrying forward the national security of the country. And the best way to do that is take a look at how he's handled he issues of the day.
 On Iraq, the president said he would end the war. Governor Romney said that was a tragic mistake; we should have left — that he ended it — Governor Romney said that was a tragic mistake; we should have left 30,000 troops there.
 With regard to Afghanistan, he said he will end the war in 2014. Governor Romney said we should not set a date, number one, and number two, with regard to 2014, it depends.
 When it came to Osama bin Laden, the president, the first day in office — I was sitting with him in the Oval Office. He called in the CIA and signed an order saying, my highest priority is to get bin Laden.
 Prior to the election, prior to the — him being sworn in, Governor Romney was asked a question about how he would proceed. He said, I wouldn't move heaven and earth to get bin Laden. He didn't understand it was more than about taking a — a murderer off the battlefield; it was about restoring America's heart and letting terrorists around the world know if you do harm to America, we will track you to the gates of hell, if need be.
 And lastly, the — the president of the United States has — has led with a steady hand and clear vision. Governor Romney, the opposite. The last thing we need now is another war.
 Am I going to get to say anything here?
 Because not a single thing he said is accurate. First of all
 I will be very specific. Number one, the — this lecture on embassy security — the congressman here cut embassy security in his budget by $300 million below what we asked for, number one. So much for the embassy security piece.
 Number two, Governor Romney, before he knew the facts, before he even knew that our ambassador was killed, he was out making a political statement which was panned by the media around the world. And this talk about this — this weakness, I — I don't understand what my friend's talking about here.
 We — this is a president who's gone out and done everything he has said he was going to do. This is the guy who's repaired our alliances so the rest of the world follows us again. This is the guy who brought the entire world, including Russia and China, to bring about the most devastating, most devastating — the most devastating efforts on Iran to make sure that they in fact stop with their — look, I — I — I just — I mean, these guys bet against America all the time.
 The intelligence community told us that. As they learned more facts about exactly what happened, they changed their assessment. That's why there's also an investigation headed by Tom Pickering, a leading diplomat in the — from the Reagan years, who is doing an investigation as to whether or not there were any lapses, what the lapses were, so that they will never happen again
 Well, we weren't told they wanted more security again. We did not know they wanted more security again. And by the way, at the time we were told exactly — we said exactly what the intelligence community told us that they knew. That was the assessment. And as the intelligence community changed their view, we made it clear they changed their view. That's why I said, we will get to the bottom of this.
 You know, usually when there's a crisis, we pull together. We pull together as a nation. But as I said, even before we knew what happened to the ambassador, the governor was holding a press conference — was holding a press conference. That's not presidential leadership.
 Look, imagine had we let the Republican Congress work out the sanctions. You think there's any possibility the entire world would have joined us, Russia and China, all of our allies? These are the most crippling sanctions in the history of sanctions, period, period.
 When Governor Romney's asked about it, he said, we got to keep these sanctions. When they said, well, you're talking about doing more, what are you — are you — you're going to go to war? Is that you want to do now?
 he interesting thing is, how they're going to prevent war. How are they going to prevent war if they say that there's nothing more that we — that they say we should do than what we've already done, number one?
 And number two, with regard to the ability of the United States to take action militarily, it is — it is not in my purview to talk about classified information.
 But we feel quite confident we could deal a serious blow to the Iranians. But number two, the Iranians are — the Israelis and the United States — our military and intelligence communities are absolutely the same exact place in terms of how close — how close the Iranians are to getting a nuclear weapon. They are a good way away. There is no difference between our view and theirs.
 When my friend talks about fissile material, they have to take this highly enriched uranium, get it from 20 percent up. Then they have to be able to have something to put it in. There is no weapon that the Iranians have at this point. Both the Israelis and we know we'll know if they start the process of building a weapon. So all this bluster I keep hearing, all this loose talk — what are they talking about? Are you talking about to be more credible? What — what more can the president do? Stand before the United Nations, tell the whole world, directly communicate to the ayatollah: We will not let them acquire a nuclear weapon, period, unless he's talking about going to war.
 Let me tell you what the ayatollah sees.
 The ayatollah sees his economy being crippled. The ayatollah sees that there are 50 percent fewer exports of oil. He sees the currency going into the tank. He sees the economy going into free fall, and he sees the world for the first time totally united in opposition to him getting a nuclear weapon.
 Now, with regard to Bibi, he's been my friend for 39 years. The president has met with Bibi a dozen times. He's spoken to Bibi Netanyahu as much as he's spoken to anybody. The idea that we're not — I was in a — just before he went to the U.N., I was in a conference call with the — with the president, with him talking to Bibi, for well over an hour in — in — in — in — in stark relief and detail about what was going on. This is a bunch of stuff. Look, here's the deal
 Well, it means it's simply inaccurate.
 No, we Irish call it malarkey. (Laughter.) But last thing: the secretary of defense has made it absolutely clear. He didn't walk anything back. We will not allow the Iranians to get a nuclear weapon. What Bibi held up there was when they get to the point where they can enrich uranium enough to put into a weapon, they don't have a weapon to put it into.
 Let's all calm down a little bit here. Iran is more isolated today than when we took office. It was on the ascendancy when we took office. It is totally isolated.
 I don't know what world you guys are in.
 Oh, God.
 By the way, they're — no, no, they are not four years closer to a nuclear weapon.
 they're closer to being able to get enough fissile material to put in a weapon if they had a weapon
 Oh, I didn't say — no, I'm not saying — (look?), facts matter, Martha. You're a foreign policy expert. Facts matter. All this loose talk about them — all they have to do is get to — enrich uranium in a certain amount and they have a weapon — not true. Not true. They are more — and if we ever have to take action, unlike where we took office, we will have the world behind us, and that matters. That matters.
 He is right. It could prove catastrophic if we do
 War should always be the absolute last resort. That's why these crippling sanctions, what Bibi Netanyahu says we should continue — which, if I'm not mistaken, Governor Romney says we — we should continue. If I — I may be mistaken; he changes his mind so often, I could be wrong. But the fact of the matter is, he says they're working. And the fact is that they are being crippled by them. And we've made it clear, big nations can't bluff. This president doesn't bluff.
 We can and we will get it under 6 percent.
 Let's look at the — let's take a look at the facts. Let's look at where we were when we came to office. The economy was in free fall. We had — the Great Recession hit. Nine million people lost their job, 1.7 — $1.6 trillion in wealth lost in equity in your homes, in retirement accounts from the middle class.
 We knew we had to act for the middle class. We immediately went out and rescued General Motors. We went ahead and made sure that we cut taxes for the middle class. And in addition to that, when that — and when that occurred, what did Romney do? Romney said, no, let Detroit go bankrupt. We moved in and helped people refinance their homes. Governor Romney said, no, let foreclosures hit the bottom.
 But it shouldn't be surprising for a guy who says 47 percent of the American people are unwilling to take responsibility for their own lives. My friend recently, in a speech in Washington, said 30% of the American people are takers. These people are my mom and dad, the people I grew up with, my neighbors. They pay more effective tax than Governor Romney pays in his federal income tax. They are elderly people who in fact are living off of Social Security. They are veterans and people fighting in Afghanistan right now who are, quote, not paying any taxes.
 I've had it up to here with this notion that 47 percent — it's about time they take some responsibility here. And instead of signing pledges to Grover Norquist not to ask the wealthiest among us to contribute to bring back the middle class, they should be signing a pledge saying to the middle class, we're going to level the playing field. We're going to give you a fair shot again. We are going to not repeat the mistakes we made in the past by having a different set of rules for Wall Street and Main Street, making sure that we continue to hemorrhage these tax cuts for the superwealthy.
 They're pushing the continuation of a tax cut that will give an additional $500 billion in tax cuts to 120,000 families. And they're holding hostage the middle-class tax cut because they say, we won't pass — we won't continue the middle-class tax cut unless you give the tax cut for the superwealthy. It's about time they take some responsibility.
 You don't read the statistics. That's not "how it's going." It's going down.
 But I always say what I mean.
 he idea, if you heard that — that little soliloquy on 47 percent, and you think he just made a mistake, then I think you're — I got a bridge to sell you.
 Look, I don't doubt his personal generosity, and I understand what it's like. When I was a little younger than the congressman, my wife was in an accident, killed my daughter and my wife, and my two sons survived. I have sat in the homes of many people who've gone through what I get through because the one thing you can give people solace is to know they know you've been through it, that they can make it. So I don't doubt his personal commitment to individuals.
 But you know what, I know he had no commitment to the automobile industry. He just let — he said, let it go bankrupt, period, let it drop out. All this talk — we saved a million jobs. Two hundred thousand people are working today. And I have never met two guys who are more down on America across the board. We're told everything is going bad. We have 5.2 million new jobs, private sector jobs. We need more, but 5.2 million — if they'd get out of the way, if they get out of the way and let us pass the tax cut for the middle class, make it permanent, if they get out of the way and pass the — pass the jobs bill, if they get out of the way and let us allow 14 million people who are struggling to stay in their homes because their mortgages are upside-down, but they never missed a mortgage payment — just get out of the way.
 Stop talking about how you care about people. Show me something. Show me a policy. Show me a policy where you take responsibility.
 And by the way, they talk about this Great Recession if it fell out of the sky, like, oh my goodness, where did it come from? It came from this man voting to put two wars in a credit card, to at the same time put a prescription drug benefit on the credit card, a trillion- dollar tax cut for a — very wealthy. I was there. I voted against him. I said, no, we can't afford that. And now all of a sudden these guys are so seized with a concern about the debt that they created —
 Martha, look. His colleague runs an investigative committee
 They found no evidence of cronyism. And I love my friend here. I — I'm not allowed to show letters, but go on our website: He sent me two letters saying, by the way, can you send me some stimulus money for companies here in the state of Wisconsin? We sent millions of dollars. You know why he said he needed
 I love that. I love that. This is such a bad program, and he writes me a letter saying — writes the Department of Energy a letter saying, the reason we need this stimulus — it will create growth and jobs. He — his words. And now he's sitting here looking at me — and by the way, that program — again, investigated — what the Congress said was, it was a model: less than four-tenths of 1 percent waste or fraud in the program. And all this talk about cronyism — they investigated, investigated; did not find one single piece of evidence. I wish he would just tell — be a little more candid.
 (Chuckles.)
 Let me tell you it was a good idea. It was a good idea — Moody's and others said that this was exactly what we needed that stopped us from going off the cliff. It set the conditions to be able to grow again. We have — in fact, 4 percent of those green jobs didn't go under — or went — went — went under — didn't work. It's a better batting average than investment bankers have. They have about a 40 percent — (inaudible) — loss.
 You know, I heard that death panel argument from Sarah Palin. It seems that every vice presidential debate, I hear this kind of stuff about panels. But let's talk about Medicare.
 What we did is we saved $716 billion and put it back — applied it to Medicare. We cut the cost of Medicare. We stopped overpaying insurance companies when doctors and hospitals — the AMA supported what we did. AARP endorsed what we did. And it extends the life of Medicare to 2024. They want to wipe this all out. It also gave more benefits. Any senior out there, ask yourself: Do you have more benefits today? You do. If you're near the doughnut hole, you have $600 more to help your prescription drug costs. You get wellness visits without copays. They wipe all of this out, and Medicare goes — becomes insolvent in 2016, number one.
 Number two, guaranteed benefit — it's a voucher. When they first proposed — when the congressman had his first voucher program, the CBO said it would cost $6,400 a year, Martha, more for every senior 55 and below when they got there. He knew that, yet he got it — all the guys in Congress, and women in the Republican party to vote for it. Governor Romney, knowing that, said, I — I — I would sign it were I there. Who you believe, the AMA? Me? A guy who's fought his whole life for this? Or somebody who had actually put in motion a plan that knowingly cut — added $6,400 a year more to the cost of Medicare?
 Now they got a new plan. Trust me, it's not going to cost you any more. Folks, follow your instincts on this one.
 And with regard to Social Security, we will not — we will not privatize it. If we had listened to Romney, to Governor Romney and the congressman during the Bush years, imagine where all those seniors would be now if their money had been in the market. Their ideas are old, and their ideas are bad, and they eliminate the guarantee of Medicare.
 That didn't happen.
 More people signed up.
 More people signed up.
 more people signed up for Medicare Advantage after the change.
 Well, don't take all the four minutes, then.
 not one Democrat who signed his plan.
 Who disavows it. (Chuckles.)
 Which was rejected.
 Martha, if we just did one thing, if we just — if they allow Medicare to bargain for the cost of drugs like Medicaid can, that would save $156 billion right off the bat.
 Seniors are not denied.
 Look, folks, and all you seniors out there, have you been denied choices? Have you lost Medicare Advantage or, if you have signed up —
 Because we changed the law!
 Look, I was there when we did that with Social Security, in 1983. I was one of eight people sitting in the room that included Tip O'Neill negotiating with President Reagan. We all got together, and everybody said, as long as everybody's in the deal, everybody's in the deal, and everybody is making some sacrifice, we can find a way. We made the system solvent to 2033.
 We will not, though, be part of any voucher plan eliminating — the voucher says, Mom, when you're — when you're 65, go out there, shop for the best insurance you can get; you're out of Medicare. You can buy back in, if you want, with this voucher, which will not keep pace — will not keep pace with health care costs, because if it did keep pace with health care costs, there would be no savings. That's why they go the voucher — they — we will be no part of a voucher program or the privatization of Social Security.
 You saw how well that worked.
 Quickly, the bottom line here is that all the studies show that if we went with Social Security proposal made by Mitt Romney, if you're 40 — in your 40s now, you will pay $2,600 a year — you get $2,600 a year less in Social Security. If you're in your 20s now, you get $4,700 a year less. The idea of changing — and change being, in this case, to cut the benefits for people without taking other action you could do to make it work — is absolutely the wrong way.
 These — look, these guys haven't been big on Medicare from the beginning. Their party's not been big on Medicare from the beginning. And they've always been about Social Security as little as you can do. Look, folks, use your common sense. Who do you trust on this? A man who introduced a bill that would raise it $6,400 a year, knowing it and passing it, and Romney saying he'd sign it? Or me and the president?
 You are jeopardizing the program. You're changing the program from a guaranteed benefit to a premium support. Whatever you call it, the bottom line is people are going to have to pay more money out of their pocket.
 The middle class will pay less, and people making a million dollars or more will begin to contribute slightly more. Let me give you one concrete example: the continuation of the Bush tax cuts. We're arguing that the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy should be allowed to expire. Of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, 800 million — billion dollars of that goes to people making a minimum of a million dollars. We see no justification in these economic times for those — and they're patriotic Americans. They're — they're not asking for this continued tax cut; they're not suggesting it; but my friends are insisting on it. A hundred and twenty thousand families, by continuing that tax cut, will get an additional $500 billion in tax relief in the next 10 years, and their income is an average of $8 million.
 We want to extend permanently the middle-class tax cut for — permanently from the Bush middle-class tax cut. These guys won't allow us to.
 You what we're saying? We say let's have a vote. Let's have a vote on the middle-class tax cut, and let's have a vote on the upper tax cut. Let's go ahead and vote on it. They're saying no. They're holding hostage the middle-class tax cut to the super wealthy.
 And on top of that, they got another tax cut coming that's $5 trillion that all of the studies point out will, in fact, give another $250 million dollar — yeah, $250,000 a year to those 120,000 families and raise taxes for people who are middle-income with a child by $2,000 a year. This is unconscionable. There is no need for this. The middle class got knocked on their heels. The Great Recession crushed them. They need some help now. The last people who need help are 120,000 families for another — another $500 billion tax cut over the next 10 years.
 that'd be a first for the Republican Congress.
 I hope I'm going to get time to respond to this.
 First of all, I was there when Ronald Reagan tax breaks — I mean, he gave specifics of what he was going to cut, no — number one, in terms of tax expenditures.
 Number two, 97 percent of the small businesses of America pay less — make less than $250,000. Let me tell you who some of those other small businesses are: hedge funds that make 6(00 million dollars), $800 million a year. That — that's what they count as small business because they're passthrough.
 Let's look at how sincere they are. Ronald — I mean, excuse me, Governor Romney, on "60 Minutes," I guess it's about 10 days ago, was asked, Governor, you pay 14 percent on $20 million. Someone making $50,000 pays more than that. Do you think that's fair? He said, oh, yes, that's fair; that's fair.
 This is — and they're going to talk — I mean, you think these guys are going to go out there and cut those loopholes? The loophole — the biggest loophole they take advantage of is the carried interest loophole and — and capital gains loophole. They exempt that.
 Now, there's not enough — the reason why the AEI study, the American Enterprise Institute study, the Tax Policy Center study, the reason they all say it's going to — taxes will go up on the middle class, the only way you can find $5 trillion in loopholes is cut the mortgage deduction for middle-class people, cut the health care deduction for middle-class people, take away their ability to get a tax break to send their kids to college.
 Not mathematically possible.
 (Chuckles.) It has never been done before.
 It has never been done before.
 Oh, now you're Jack Kennedy.
 Seriously?
 That's coming from the Republican Congress working bipartisanly?
 Seven percent rating? Come on.
 Just let the taxes expire like they're supposed to on those millionaires. We don't — we can't afford $800 billion going to people making a minimum a million dollars. They do not need it, Martha. Those 120,000 families make $8 million a year. Middle-class people need the help. Why does my friend cut out the tuition tax credit for them?
 Can you guarantee that no one making less than $100,000 will have their mortgage deduction impacted? Guarantee?
 Ninety-seven percent of the small businesses make less than $250,000 a year
 Look, we don't cut it. And I might add this so-called — I know we don't want to use the fancy word "sequester," this automatic cut — that was part of a debt deal that they asked for.
 And let me tell you what my friend said at a press conference announcing his support of the deal. He said — and I'm — we've been looking for this moment for a long time.
 And so the bipartisanship is what he voted for: the automatic cuts in defense if they didn't act. And beyond that, they asked for another — look, the military says, we need a smaller, leaner Army. We need more special forces. We need — we don't need more M1 tanks. What we need is more UAVs.
 Not some of the military; that was the decision of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recommended to us and agreed to by the president. That's a fact.
 Martha, let's keep our eye on the ball. The reason I've been in and out of Afghanistan and Iraq 20 times — I've been up in the Kunar — I've been throughout that whole country, mostly in a helicopter and sometimes in a vehicle. The fact is we went there for one reason: to get those people who killed Americans, al-Qaida. We've decimated al-Qaida central. We have eliminated Osama bin Laden. That was our purpose. And in fact, in the meantime, what we said we would do, we would help train the Afghan military. It's their responsibility to take over their own security. That's why, with 49 of our allies in Afghanistan, we've agreed on a gradual drawdown so we're out of there by the year — in the year 2014.
 My friend and the governor say it's based on conditions, which means it depends. It does not depend for us. It is the responsibility of the Afghans to take care of their own security. We have trained over 315,000, mostly without incident. There have been more than two dozen cases of green on blue where Americans have been killed.
 If we do — if the — if the measures the military has taken do not take hold, we will not go on joint patrols, we will not train in the field. We'll only train in the — in the Army bases that exist there.
 But we are leaving. We are leaving in 2014, period, and in the process, we're going to be saving over the next 10 years another $800 billion. We've been in this war for over a decade. The primary objective is almost completed. Now all we're doing is putting the Kabul government in a position to be able to maintain their own security. It's their responsibility, not America's.
 We will leave in 2014.
 That's a bizarre statement, since 49 of our allies — hear me, 49 of our allies signed onto this position, 49.
 Forty-nine. Forty-nine of our allies said out in 2014. It's the responsibility of the Afghans. We have other responsibilities
 Well, look, the Taliban — what we've found out — and we — you — you saw it in Iraq, Martha. Unless you set a timeline, Baghdad in the case of Iraq and — and Kabul in the case of Afghanistan will not step up. They're happy to let us continue to do the job — international security forces to do the job. The only way they step up is say, fellas, we're leaving; we've trained you; step up. Step up.
 The military reason was bringing — by the way, when the president announced the surge — you'll remember, Martha — he said, the surge will be out by the end of the summer. The military said, the surge will be out. Nothing political about this. Before the surge occurred — so you be a little straight with me here, too — before the surge occurred, we said, they'll be out by the end of the summer. That's what the military said.
 there are people that were concerned, but not the Joint Chiefs. That was their recommendation in the Oval Office to the president of the United States of America. I sat there. I'm sure you'll find someone who disagrees with the Pentagon. I'm positive you'll find that within the military. But that's not the case here.
 And secondly, the reason why the military said that is you cannot wait and have a cliff. It takes, you know, months and months and months to draw down forces.
 we turned it over to the Afghan troops we trained. No one got pulled out that didn't get filled in by trained Afghan personnel. And he's — he's — he's conflating two issues. The fighting season that Petraeus was talking about and former — and Admiral Mullen was the fighting season this spring. That's what he was talking about. We did not — we did not pull them out.
 That's right, because that's the Afghan responsibility. We've trained them.
 It's a different country. It's a different country. It is five times as large geographically. It has one-fifth the population that is Libya, one-fifth the population, five times as large geographically.
 It's in a part of the world where you're not going to see whatever would come from that war. It's (seep ?) into a regional war. You're in a country that is heavily populated in the midst of the most dangerous area in the world. And in fact, if, in fact, it blows up and the wrong people gain control, it's going to have impact on the entire region, causing potentially regional wars.
 We are working hand in glove with the Turks, with the Jordanians, with the Saudis and with all the people in the region attempting to identify the people who deserve the help so that when Assad goes and he will go, there will be a legitimate government that follows on, not an al-Qaida-sponsored government that follows on.
 And all this loose talk of my friend, Governor Romney, and the congressman about how we're going to do, we could do so much more in there, what more would they do other than put American boots on the ground? The last thing America needs is to get into another ground war in the Middle East requiring tens of thousands if not well over a hundred thousand American forces. That — they are the facts. They are the facts.
 Now, every time the governor is asked about this, he doesn't say any — he say — he goes up with a whole lot of verbiage, but when he gets pressed, he says, no, he would not do anything different then we are doing now. Are they proposing putting American troops on the ground, putting American aircraft in their airspace? Is that what they're proposing? If they do, they should speak up and say so. But that's not what they're saying.
 We are doing it exactly like we need to do to identify those forces who, in fact, will provide for a stable government and not cause a regional Sunni-Shia war when Bashar Assad falls.
 you don't go through the U.N. We are in the process now and have been for months in making sure that help, humanitarian aid, as well as other aid and training, is getting to those forces that we believe, the Turks believe, the Jordanians believe, the Saudis believe are the free forces inside of Syria.
 That is under way. Our allies were all on the same page, NATO as well as our Arab allies, in terms of trying to get a settlement. That was their idea. We're the ones that said, enough.
 With regard to the reset not working, the fact of the matter is that Russia has a different interest in Syria than we do, and that's not in our interest.
 My religion defines who I am. And I've been a practicing Catholic my whole life. And it has particularly informed my social doctrine. Catholic social doctrine talks about taking care of those who — who can't take care of themselves, people who need help.
 With regard to — with regard to abortion, I accept my church's position on abortion as a — what we call de fide (doctrine ?). Life begins at conception. That's the church's judgment. I accept it in my personal life.
 But I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and Jews and — I just refuse to impose that on others, unlike my friend here, the congressman.
 I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people that women, they — they can't control their body. It's a decision between them and their doctor, in my view. And the Supreme Court — I'm not going to interfere with that.
 With regard to the assault on the Catholic Church, let me make it absolutely clear. No religious institution, Catholic or otherwise, including Catholic Social Services, Georgetown Hospital, Mercy — any hospital — none has to either refer contraception. None has to pay for contraception. None has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide. That is a fact. That is a fact.
 Now, with regard to the way in which the — we differ, my friend says that he — well, I guess he accepts Governor Romney's position now, because in the past he has argued that there was — there's rape and forcible rape. He's argued that, in the case of rape or incest, it was still — it would be a crime to engage in having an abortion. I just fundamentally disagree with my friend.
 You have, on the issue of Catholic social doctrine, taken issue.
 The court — the next president will get one or two Supreme Court nominees. That's how close Roe v. Wade is.
 Just ask yourself: With Robert Bork being the chief adviser on the court for — for Mr. Romney, who do you think he's likely to appoint? Do you think he's likely to appoint someone like Scalia or someone else on the court, far right, that would outlaw Planned — excuse me — outlaw abortion? I suspect that would happen.
 I guarantee you that will not happen. We picked two people. We picked people who are open-minded. They've been good justices. So keep an eye on the Supreme Court
 There was no litmus test. We picked people who had an open mind, did not come with an agenda.
 I would say to him the same thing I say to my son, who did serve year in Iraq: that we only have one truly sacred obligation as a government. That's to equip those we send into harm's way and care for those who come home.
 That's the only sacred obligation we have. Everything else falls behind that.
 I would also tell him that the fact that he, this decorated soldier you talked about, fought for his country — that that should be honored. He should not be thrown into a category of the 47 percent who don't pay their taxes while he was out there fighting and not having to pay taxes and somehow not taking responsibility.
 I would also tell him that there are things that have occurred in this campaign and occur in every campaign that I'm sure both of us regret anyone having said, particularly in these special new groups that can go out there, raise all the money they want, not have to identify themselves and say the most scurrilous things about the other candidate. It's — it's — it's an abomination.
 But the bottom line here is I'd ask that hero you reference to take a look at whether or not Governor Romney or President Obama has the conviction to help lift up the middle class, restore them to where they were before this Great Recession hit and they got wiped out or whether or not he's going to continue to focus on taking care of only the very wealthy, not asking them to make — pay any part of the deal to bring the — bring back the middle class, the economy of this country.
 I would ask him to take a look at whether the president of the United States has acted wisely in the use of force and whether or not the slipshod comments being made by my — my friend or by Governor Romney serve — serve our interests very well. But there are things that have been said in campaigns that I — I find not very appealing.
 The two budgets the congressman introduced have eviscerated all the things that the middle class cares about. It has knocked 19 — it will knock 19 million people off of Medicare. It will kick 200,000 children off of early education. It will eliminate the tax credit people have to be able to send their children to college. It cuts education by $450 billion. It — it — it does — it does virtually nothing, except continue to increase the tax cuts for the very wealthy.
 And, you know, we've had enough of this. My — the idea that these — so concerned about these deficits, I pointed out, he voted to put two wars on a credit card.
 let me say at the outset that I want to thank you, Martha, for doing this, and Centre College. The fact is that we're in a situation where we inherited a god-awful circumstance. People are in real trouble. We acted to move to bring relief to the people who need the most help now.
 In case you haven't noticed, we have strong disagreements. But I — you probably detected my frustration with their attitude about the — the American people. My friend says that 30 percent of the American people are takers. They — Romney points out, 47 percent of the people won't take responsibility. He's talking about my mother and father. And he's talking about the places I grew up in, my neighbors in Scranton and Claymont.
 He's talking about — he's talking about the people that have built this country. All they're looking for, Martha — all they're looking for is an even shot. When they've been given the shot, they've done it. They've done it. Whenever you level the playing field, they've been able to move.
 And they want a little bit of peace of mind. And the president and I are not going to rest until that playing field is leveled, they in fact have a clear shot and they have peace of mind, until they can turn to their kid and say with a degree of confidence, honey, it's going to be OK. It's going to be OK. That's what this is all about.
 Look, John's last-minute economic plan does nothing to tackle the number-one job facing the middle class, and it happens to be, as Barack says, a three-letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S, jobs.
 If your kitchen table is like mine, you sit there at night before you put the kids to bed and you talk about what you need. You talk about how much you are worried about being able to pay the bills. Ladies and gentlemen, that is not a worry John McCain has to worry about. It's a pretty hard experience. He'll have to figure out which of the seven kitchen tables to sit at.
 There's only three things he mentions in a sentence -- a noun, a verb, and 9/11.
 I should start with an apology to Rudy Giuliani. I said every sentence Rudy utters has a noun, a verb, and 9/11 in it. I was wrong. He called me to tell me after Pat Robertson's endorsement, there's an Amen in every sentence he says too.
 I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man.
 I got tested for AIDS. I know Barack got tested for AIDS. There's no shame in being tested for AIDS. It's an important thing.
 I've had a great relationship. In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking,
 It’s so, so good to be with you all. I want to thank you all for your leadership, for your friendship and, again for me personally, for your loyalty.
 It is not an exaggeration were it not for the leadership of the NAACP, for the men and women who educated me when we’ve sit over in Rev. Wright’s churches we’re talking about desegregating the Rialto and the Queen movie theaters. Remember, Maus?
 I learned so much. I learned so much. And I owe so much.
 But ladies and gentlemen, this is – as much as I enjoy it – this is not about me. This is about another office. This is about the presidency.
 This is about more than any other office in the land, the presidency is about character – the character of your convictions, whether you put country above politics.
 From the very moment that Barack Obama took his hand off that Bible on that cold January day in the Mall, he’s done just that. He has put country first.
 When the economy was about to go over the cliff, I watched him make some of the toughest decisions any President has had to make since Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
 He saved the nation’s financial system and in doing so he prevented a worldwide depression. It wasn’t a popular decision but it was an essential decision. And he was right – we needed a national financial system to function and credit to flow again.
 He stepped up and rescued the automobile industry. It was not popular. It was not popular.
 But it was critical and he was right saving a million jobs and creating 200,000 new jobs in the automobile industry. General Motors now leads the world again, and Chrysler is the fastest growing company in America.
 This is a man who made the call to go after Osama bin Laden. It was a bold…
 It was a bold decision – a bold decision – with profound risks for our warriors as well as his presidency. But he made it and he made that decision on his own.
 Bin Laden is dead and America is more secure because of this man’s decision.
 He passed the Affordable Care Act – a goal strived for by Presidents starting with Teddy Roosevelt. It required him early on to use up almost all of his political capital. He prevailed where no President had done before. He was right. He was right.
 He’d cut $100 billion in the federal debt over the next 10 years, provided access to affordable health care to 30 million Americans – 8 million black Americans who never have had insurance.
 This is a man – this is a President – who has the character of his convictions.
 And almost never, since he’s taken office, during this entire time did the Republican Congress reach across the aisle to help.
 On the Recovery Act, which kept us from sliding further into a depression, only 3 Republican Senators and not one House member voted for it.
 On the Affordable Care Act, no Republican in the Senate and none in the House on the final vote.
 But it wasn’t just in the big signature issues. It was on the easy, obvious things where we got no cooperation.
 Extending the payroll tax – only 7 Republicans initially voted for it.
 Lilly Ledbetter equal pay – 3 Republicans voted for it in the House.
 When we attempted to raise the debt limit to maintain the full faith and credit of the United States, not a single Republican met the responsibility of meeting that requirement, resulting in a negotiation that brought us to the brink of disaster, ultimately causing America’s credit rating to be lowered for the first time.
 But it wasn’t until later – folks, it wasn’t until later – that we learned that this was a plan – obstructionist was a plan from the outset.
 According to a recent book by a respected author Robert Draper, he stated in a meeting the night of inauguration, according to Draper, Republican leaders from Paul Ryan to Eric Cantor to Kevin McCarthy, they gathered. McCarthy is reported in the book as have said, ‘If you act like you’re a minority, you’re going to stay a minority. We’ve got to challenge them on every single bill and challenge them on every single campaign.’
 Newt Gingrich, who was also there, said – and he was prophetic – ‘You will remember this as the day the seeds of 2012 were sown.’
 Well, they were seeds of obstruction.
 Later, Mitch McConnell just said it out loud. When talking about lessons he’s learned from history, he said, ‘The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term President.’
 Not to get us out of this recession. Not to promote jobs. Not to do the things that needed to be done. But make Barack Obama a one-term President.
 And folks, their discipline is amazing. They have never let up. But neither has my guy. Neither has President Barack Obama!
 He has not given up.
 He continues – he continues to be driven by the character of his convictions.
 And folks, in the end, that’s what the Presidency’s all about – your character, your convictions. And one more important thing, it’s about your vision for the future of America.
 And here the candidates for President have fundamentally different visions for the future of this country.
 By the way, I think Mitt Romney’s a fine family man. I believe he’s driven by what he believes but the differences are so basic about how we view the future of America.
 Let me give you just a few examples.
 On education, we see education as central to the vision of how do we ensure America’s ascendancy throughout the 21st century.
 We see education as the single most important criteria for minority children for their growth.
 We see education – we see a future where once again America has the highest percentage of college graduates in the world, a future where school graduation rates of high school are not a matter of what neighborhood you come from or what background of your parents, what your economic circumstances are.
 A future where everyone has access to education beyond high school because 6 out of 10 jobs – 6 out of 10 jobs – in the coming decade are going to require more than a high school diploma.
 A future where everyone can find a decent job, where quality early education is available to our children increasing exponentially the chances they’ll succeed in school, where class sizes are small so kids can get personalized attention they need, where we demand more of our teachers and we treat them like they are – professionals, high standards and pay equal to other professions.
 Look, education doesn’t play a central role in the Romney Republican vision of the future of America. It’s on the back burner. It’s not a priority. If you doubt me, just look at their budget for the future.
 Massive cuts in early education – the one thing all educators agree on is the central most important initiative to deal right up front with the achievement gap.
 Elimination of the tuition tax credit for families.
 Cuts in Pell Grants scholarships for children of low-income families.
 Cuts in Title I funding for lowest performing schools – a cut of $2.1 billion.
 Cuts in special education funding, in my view, backing away from the proposition we’ve held for years and years that children should be educated to the degree that they’re educable. Cuts by $2.2 billion.
 Cuts in job training.
 Just listen to what they say, what he says. He says, ‘The efforts to reduce classroom size may actually hurt education more than it helps.’ Tell that to all those private schools. Tell that to all those parents.
 Energy. We envision a future where clean renewable energy represents increasingly large share of energy consumed in America. An America that is energy independent.
 We see a nation that breathes cleaner air, where our cities are not polluted, where asthma doesn’t claim the lives of African American children 4 times as great as it does all other children because of the environment in which they live.
 Romney sees a different energy future where renewable energy – wind, solar, biofuels – they’re not a priority, where Romney’s allies in the Congress oppose any incentives to invest in clean energy but insist on retaining a $4 billion a year tax cut for the oil industry – a tax cut that even they acknowledge they don’t need.
 Women’s rights. We see an America where no woman pays more for health care than any man in America.
 Where working women have access to quality affordable child care, where women receive equal pay for equal work.
 We see a future where the barriers are removed for women and girls who want to participate in science, technology, engineering, and the math field.
 Where the Violence Against Women Act – the proudest achievement of my career – is not only law but part of American culture.
 Where the government doesn’t make choices for women, for every woman has unfettered access to contraception and family planning if she desires it.
 In short, we see an America where our daughters have every – and I mean, every – opportunity our sons have.
 Gov. Romney and his allies in Congress see a different future for women in America.
 The Governor isn’t sure what his position is on the Violence Against Women Act.
 He’s not sure whether or not Lilly Ledbetter law that passed was good.
 But he’s certain on his position on Roe v. Wade – overturn it. Planned Parenthood – get rid of it. He’s certain that any employer – any employer – should be able to decide whether or not to make contraception available on their health care plans, where working women lose access to quality child care, where social policy that’s basically a throwback to the ’50s.
 In innovation and medical research, we see an America where HIV is a thing of the past, where infant mortality is drastically reduced. That’s why we continue to invest in basic research in the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Health, the research universities.
 Romney sees a very different future, where he cuts funding for the NIH and the National Science Foundation.
 Health care. We see a future where everyone has access to affordable health care…
 Where seniors have access to prescription drugs at a lower cost, where they have access to preventive care – making their lives more livable and reducing costs, where insurance companies cannot deny coverage because of a pre-existing condition, where there are no limits on insurance policies, where children can stay with their parents on their policy until they’re 26, where Medicare is guaranteed and Medicaid is expanded.
 Where no American faces the prospect of a bankruptcy just because they get sick.
 Romney and his allies see health care a different way – controlled by the insurance companies – where pregnancy is a pre-existing condition, where coverage can be taken away if you get sick or hit your limit, where Medicare is voucherized,19 million people cut off of Medicaid, where 30 million Americans will have to wait for another generation before they have a chance for affordable decent health care.
 On the tax system. We see a system where everybody pays their fair share.
 Where the middle-class tax cut is maintained, and where no one making $1 million a year or more pays a lower percentage of income than middle-class or working class families.
 Where the college tuition tax credit is made permanent, where the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit are preserved, where everyone – and I mean everyone – has skin in the game and no one gets played for a sucker.
 The tax code that Gov. Romney and his allies in Congress envisioned continues to be skewed to help the very wealthy.
 He preserves the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest among us – $530 billion of that tax cut over the next 10 years going to just 120,000 households in America – while we cut and eviscerate all these other programs, while the debt continues to climb.
 But in addition, he proposes a $1.6 trillion tax cut. The people who can qualify are only people who make $1 million or more.
 He eliminates college tuition tax credit, the earned income tax credit, and the child tax credit are cut. The result? 2.2 million African American working families will see a tax increase if he succeeds. That’s a fact.
 On foreign policy, we see a future where, we – the President and I and the Democratic Party – see a future where America leads by the power of example as well as by the example of its power.
 Where the democracies of the world join to share the burden of maintaining world peace, where we continue to reduce nuclear arms around the world, where responsibility is turned over to the Afghans and American troops can start to come home.
 Gov. Romney and his allies see a very different future for America’s involvement in the world – one that still has 30,000 combat troops in Iraq. Remember he criticized us for bringing them home? Said 30,000 combat troops should remain?
 Where we set no date for leaving Afghanistan, where we stay and he doesn’t say how long, where the new START Treaty – the new arms control treaty with Russia endorsed by every former Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, National Security Advisor in the Republican Party, where he said he would not have proposed it and would have voted against it, and I suspect mean where he would abandon it.
 Where Russia is viewed – in his mind – as the greatest geopolitical threat foe America faces, where in the future we once again decide to go it alone.
 This guy’s vision of the future of America’s foreign policy is mired in the Cold War, and the Cold War is over.
 On civil rights, your raison d’être – the reason for our existence. And by the way, I want to remind everybody of one thing – remember what this at its core was all about – why this organization at its core was all about. It was the franchise. It was about the right to vote.
 Because when you have the right to vote, you have the right to change things.
 And we – the President and I and Eric [Holder] and all of us – we see a future where those rights are expanded not diminished, where racial profiling is a thing of the past…
 Where access to the ballot is expanded and unencumbered, where there are no distinctions made on the basis of race or gender in access to housing and lending.
 And so much more. Did you think we’d be fighting these battles again?
 I was Chairman of the Judiciary Committee for almost 17 years with a Ranking Member. We went through these battles. I didn’t think – I didn’t think we’d be back.
 I remember working with Republicans – who by the way, this ain’t your father’s Republican Party.
 Remember working with Republicans on Motor Voter? On expanding the franchise on early voting? On voting by mail? Some of these were Republican ideas.
 But this is not the Republican Party’s view today nor Romney’s. They see a different future where voting is made harder not easier, where the Justice Department is even prohibited from challenging any of those efforts to suppress votes.
 I know you know. But I’m not sure everybody – the House of Representatives’ Republicans voted affirmatively to prevent the Justice Department from even investigating whether or not there was voter suppression.
 Folks, there’s a lot more to say but this is preaching to the choir.
 Let me close, my friends, by saying I want you – I mean this sincerely. Just close your eyes and imagine. Imagine what the Romney Justice Department will look like.
 Imagine when his senior adviser on constitutional issues is Robert Bork. Imagine the recommendations for who is likely to be picked as Attorney General or the head of the civil rights division or those other incredibly important positions in justice.
 Imagine – and I mean this. This to me is one of the most critical issues of this election. Imagine what the Supreme Court will look like after 4 years of a Romney presidency.
 Folks, this election in my view is a fight for the heart and soul of America.
 Again, these guys aren’t bad guys. They just have a fundamentally different view.
 The best way to sum up the President’s view, my view, and, I think, your view is we see America where, in the word of the scripture, ‘What you do onto the least of my brethren you do onto me.’
 As President Barack Obama says we are our brother’s keeper, we are our sister’s keeper. We have an obligation.
 And as I’ve said, I believe this election will come down to character, conviction, and vision. And will not surprise, I don’t even think it’s a close call.
 And so it’s time. It’s time for the NAACP to do what it’s always done. What it did for me – a young kid from Wilmington, Delaware – inspired a generation to stand up, make our case, stand our ground, and real our vision for America!
 God bless you all, and may God protect our troops. Thank you!”