Jacinda Ardern: 'They were New Zealanders. They are us', Address to Parliament following Christchurch massacre - 2019

19 March 2019, Wellington, New Zealand

Mr Speaker, Al salam Alaikum.

Peace be upon you. And peace be upon all of us.

Mr Speaker, March 15 will now be forever a day etched in our collective memories.

On a quiet Friday afternoon, a man stormed into a place of peaceful worship and took away the lives of 50 people.

That quiet Friday afternoon has become our darkest of days.

But for the families, it was more than that.

It was the day that the simple act of prayer — of practicing their Muslim faith and religion — led to the loss of their loved ones' lives.

Those loved ones were brothers, daughters, fathers and children.

They were New Zealanders. They are us.

And because they are us, we, as a nation, we mourn them.

We feel a huge duty of care to them. And Mr Speaker, we have so much we feel the need to say and to do.

One of the roles I never anticipated having, and hoped never to have, is to voice the grief of a nation.

At this time, it has been second only to securing the care of those affected, and the safety of everyone.

And in this role, I wanted to speak directly to the families.

We cannot know your grief, but we can walk with you at every stage. We can.

And we will surround you with aroha, manaakitanga and all that makes us, us. Our hearts are heavy but our spirit is strong.

Mr Speaker, six minutes after a 111 call was placed alerting the police to the shootings at Al-Noor mosque, police were on the scene.

The arrest itself was nothing short of an act of bravery.

Two country police officers rammed the vehicle from which the offender was still shooting.

They pulled open his car door — when there were explosives inside — and pulled him out.

I know we all wish to acknowledge that their acts put the safety of New Zealanders above their own, and we thank them.

But they were not the only ones who showed extraordinary courage.

Naeem Rashid, originally from Pakistan, died after rushing at the terrorist and trying to wrestle the gun from him.

He lost his life trying to save those who were worshipping alongside him.

Abdul Aziz, originally from Afghanistan, confronted and faced down the armed terrorist after grabbing the nearest thing to hand — a simple eftpos machine.

He risked his life and no doubt saved many with his selfless bravery.

There will be countless stories, some of which we may never know, but to each, we acknowledge you in this place, in this House.

For many of us, the first sign of the scale of this terrorist attack was the images of ambulance staff transporting victims to Christchurch hospital.

To the first responders, the ambulance staff and the health professionals who have assisted, and who continue to assist those who have been injured, please accept the heartfelt thanks of us all.

I saw first-hand your care and your professionalism in the face of extraordinary challenges.

We are proud of your work, and incredibly grateful for it.

Mr Speaker, if you'll allow, I'd like to talk about some of the immediate measures currently in place especially to ensure the safety of our Muslim community, and more broadly the safety of everyone.

As a nation, we do remain on high alert.

While there isn't a specific threat at present, we are maintaining vigilance.

Unfortunately, we have seen in countries that know the horrors of terrorism more than us, there is a pattern of increased tension and actions over the weeks that follow that means we do need to ensure that vigilance is maintained.

There is an additional and ongoing security presence in Christchurch, and as the police have indicated, there will continue to be a police presence at mosques around the country while their doors are open.

When they are closed, police will be in the vicinity.

There is a huge focus on ensuring the needs of families are met.

That has to be our priority.

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A community welfare centre has been set up near the hospital in Christchurch to make sure people know how to access support.

Visas for family members overseas are being prioritised so that they can attend funerals.

Funeral costs are covered, and we have moved quickly to ensure that this includes repatriation costs for any family members who would like to move their loved ones away from New Zealand.

We are working to provide mental health and social support.

The 1737 number yesterday received roughly 600 texts or phone calls.

They are on average lasting around 40 minutes, and I encourage anyone in need to reach out and use these services. They are there for you.

Our language service has also provided support from more than 5,000 contacts, ensuring whether you are ACC or MSD, you are able to pass on the support that is needed, in the language that is needed.

To all those working within this service, we say thank you.

Our security and intelligence services are receiving a range of additional information.

As has been the case in the past, these are being taken extremely seriously, and they are being followed up.

I know though Mr Speaker, that there have rightly been questions around how this could have happened here.

In a place that prides itself on being open, peaceful, diverse.

And there is anger that it has happened here.

There are many questions that need to be answered, and the assurance that I give you is that they will be.

Yesterday, Cabinet agreed that an inquiry — one that looks into the events that led up to the attack on March 15 — will occur.

We will examine what we did know, could have known, or should have known.

We cannot allow this to happen again.

Part of ensuring the safety of New Zealanders must include a frank examination of our gun laws.

As I have already said Mr Speaker, our gun laws will change.

Cabinet met yesterday and made in-principle decisions, 72 hours after the attack.

Before we meet again next Monday, these decisions will be announced.

Mr Speaker, there is one person at the centre of this act of terror against our Muslim community in New Zealand.

A 28-year-old man — an Australian citizen — has been charged with one count of murder. Other charges will follow.

He will face the full force of the law in New Zealand. The families of the fallen will have justice.

He sought many things from his act of terror, but one was notoriety.

And that is why you will never hear me mention his name.

He is a terrorist. He is a criminal. He is an extremist.

But he will, when I speak, be nameless.

And to others, I implore you: speak the names of those who were lost, rather than the name of the man who took them.

He may have sought notoriety, but we in New Zealand will give him nothing. Not even his name.

Mr Speaker, we will also look at the role social media played and what steps we can take, including on the international stage, and in unison with our partners.

There is no question that ideas and language of division and hate have existed for decades, but their form of distribution, the tools of organisation, they are new.

We cannot simply sit back and accept that these platforms just exist and that what is said on them is not the responsibility of the place where they are published.

They are the publisher. Not just the postman.

There cannot be a case of all profit, no responsibility.

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This of course doesn't take away the responsibility we too must show as a nation, to confront racism, violence and extremism.

I don't have all of the answers now, but we must collectively find them. And we must act.

Mr Speaker, we are deeply grateful for all messages of sympathy, support and solidarity that we are receiving from our friends all around the world.

And we are grateful to the global Muslim community who have stood with us, and we stand with them.

Mr Speaker, I acknowledge that we too also stand with Christchurch, in a devastating blow that this has been to their recovery.

I acknowledge every member of this House that has stood alongside their Muslim community but especially those in Canterbury as we acknowledge this double grief.

As I conclude, I acknowledge there are many stories that will have struck all of us since March 15.

One I wish to mention, is that of Hati Mohemmed Daoud Nabi.

He was the 71-year-old man who opened the door at the Al-Noor mosque and uttered the words "Hello brother, welcome". His final words.

Of course, he had no idea of the hate that sat behind the door, but his welcome tells us so much — that he was a member of a faith that welcomed all its members, that showed openness, and care.

I have said many times Mr Speaker, we are a nation of 200 ethnicities, 160 languages.

We open our doors to others and say welcome.

And the only thing that must change after the events of Friday is that this same door must close on all of those who espouse hate and fear.

Yes, the person who committed these acts was not from here. He was not raised here.

Why we chose not to share the gunman's 'manifesto'

He did not find his ideology here, but that is not to say that those very same views do not live here.

I know that as a nation, we wish to provide every comfort we can to our Muslim community in this darkest of times.

And we are. The mountain of flowers around the country that lie at the doors of mosques, the spontaneous song outside the gates.

These are ways of expressing an outpouring of love and empathy. But we wish to do more.

We wish for every member of our communities to also feel safe.

Safety means being free from the fear of violence.

But it also means being free from the fear of those sentiments of racism and hate, that create a place where violence can flourish.

And every single one of us has the power to change that.

Mr Speaker, on Friday it will be a week since the attack.

Members of the Muslim community will gather for worship on that day.

Let us acknowledge their grief as they do.

Let's support them as they gather again for worship.

We are one, they are us.

Tatau tatau, Al salam Alaikum, Weh Rahmat Allah, Weh Barakaatuh.

Tony Burke: 'Penny just uttered the words, 'Say black instead of gay and hear how it sounds.'', Marriage Amendment Bill speech - 2017

5 December 2017, Parliament House, Canberra, Australia

There would be no greater contrast than me speaking immediately after the member for Melbourne. While his electorate had the highest 'yes' vote in the country, mine had the second highest 'no' vote in the country.

A few things have astonished me since then—first of all, the number of people who were surprised that that was the case. I have always had the understanding that, in my electorate, the opinion polls are roughly the reverse of what they are nationally. Secondly, I was astonished by the number of people who have said, as a democratic principle, I was obliged to break an election commitment as a result of the postal ballot. It's the first time I've ever heard the breaking of an election commitment being described as a democratic principle, but that's how a number of people have sought to put it.

Last time this issue was raised in the Parliament, I did vote no. Last time this issue was raised in the Parliament, I did not speak. In fact, in the many hours of debate we've had on marriage equality, this is the first time I've come to the dispatch box. When we first dealt with a marriage equality bill, there had been a resolution that the member for Melbourne just referred to in his speech, where we were told, and it was resolved, that we should consult with our electorates and, having consulted, we should vote accordingly. That meant a very different thing in my part of Sydney to what it meant in many parts of Australia. But, after that vote had taken place, we had a discussion within the cabinet room about marriage equality, and different people were putting their views as to why they'd voted particular ways.

I've checked with Senator Penny Wong that she's okay with me saying this. I would never give up something that was said in the cabinet room, but, only yesterday, she let me know that she is okay with it being repeated. At the end of that discussion in the cabinet room, where different people had put different views, we were about to move to the next item on the agenda and, in a very soft, gentle but clearly audible voice, Penny just uttered the words, 'Say black instead of gay and hear how it sounds.'

I can't think of a single sentence that has had a deeper effect on me than the words that Penny Wong said in the cabinet room—'Say black instead of gay and hear how it sounds'—not only because of the emotion of hearing those words but also because, when you think about my electorate, my part of Sydney does know discrimination.

The people in my part of Sydney don't know terribly well the discrimination that this legislation seeks to fix, but they know discrimination. When discrimination on the basis of race is happening, including from some prominent people at the other end of this building, my electorate gets targeted full-on. When there's discrimination against people on the basis of their faith, my electorate gets targeted absolutely.

They need someone who will fight discrimination and will win. They don't need someone who will run some sort of argument that some forms of discrimination are okay and others aren't. If I'm going to be true to the needs of my electorate, of my part of Sydney, of my neighbours and of that little three-kilometre circle that I've lived inside all my life, where most of the rest of the people have travelled around the world to be there, they need someone who will fight discrimination fearlessly because, on national polls, in my part of Sydney, the people who get discriminated against are never in the majority. So, if I'm willing to defend them as minorities, I can't pick and choose.

Within my part of Sydney, there are census figures which can't be true. In my suburb of Punchbowl, there are something like 4,000 coupled households and yet only eight identify as same-sex. You look at the statistics around the rest of the country and you think, 'What could that mean?' It means a whole lot of people move out, it means a whole lot of people just don't identify and it also means a lot of people, no doubt, find themselves in terribly unhappy heterosexual relationships.

It would manifest itself in a number of ways. But, ultimately, it also means that there are young people in my part of Sydney who, on top of the religious discrimination and on top of the discrimination on the basis of their race and ethnic origin, cop this one too. For heaven's sake, I'm not going to leave them on their own. We can't have a situation where there is a credible argument that says, 'Because you represent a multicultural community, there is a form of discrimination that you must endorse.' I can't be party to that.

On the amendments that have been put forward and that have been flagged: I indicated before any amendments were proposed in any way that I would be opposing them. That includes amendments that the member for Melbourne will put, which will come from one direction, and the amendments that the member for Warringah will put, which come from another. I indicated that I would oppose them for a very simple principle: if this House approves marriage equality in a different form to the Senate we run a very real likelihood that we will get a dispute between the houses, and where we are dealing with conscience votes we have no way of resolving that.

If we go through the entire process that the postal ballot was about and we get to the end of this year—after the public have been forced through what they've been forced through and after the affected community have gone through what they've gone through—and we still don't get it done, the Australian people will have every right to be deeply frustrated and sick to death of this place. There will be some amendments that will have a level of merit, I have no doubt, from one side or the other, but to contemplate this not getting done I think is truly unthinkable.

It's also the case that some of the amendments that have been put to me by some people locally, who I deeply respect, are amendments that defend principles which I agree with. They are principles which I do not believe are in the slightest way put at risk by this legislation. This legislation is not the first time that the Marriage Act has presented different definitions to those of the Christian faith, or the Buddhist faith or the Muslim faith.

In fact, for the entire history of this act, it has never been an exact match to any form of religious marriage. Therefore, I don't for the life of me see how people will suddenly be able to stop observing their religious beliefs. I don't see how charities will suddenly have a problem when they already have a view of marriage that doesn't match the Marriage Act. I can't for the life of me see how these problems will arise and, therefore, I can only form the view that there are some people, whether they are inside the Parliament or without it and have been part of the 'no' lobby, are simply trying to play a game of messaging. I don't see why the Parliament should be part of that.

So, if we ended up with a clear question and I thought there were a threat to people being able to preach their religion in their temples, in their synagogues, in their prayer rooms or in their mosques—if I thought that was going to be at threat—then I would support legislation that dealt with that. If there is ever legislation that puts that at threat, I'll be speaking pretty loudly against it. This legislation doesn't; it absolutely doesn't. It is disingenuous for people in this House, who deal with legislation as the core business of what we do, to pretend for a minute that those issues are at threat.

I have always been conscious of the fact that the forms of discrimination and hate speech that I have dedicated most of my political career to opposing are forms of discrimination I will never experience. I'll never know what it's like to travel on the train and be abused by a stranger for what I wear. I'll never know what it's like to be in the playground and to be pushed around by other kids because of the colour of my skin. Nor will I know in my life what it's like to be considered different from other people, and less than other people, because of who I love.

But how can I defend the person who gets abused on the train and defend the child in the school playground, and not also defend the person who is discriminated against on the basis of who they love?

My electorate, my part of Sydney, needs someone who can. My part of Sydney needs someone who can fight discrimination fearlessly and win.

I'll be voting yes. There will be plenty of people in my electorate who are disappointed by that, but no-one will be surprised and no-one will see it as anything other than me being completely consistent with the person who presented to them and who they chose to elect.

Donald Trump: 'By the way, just a question, did President Obama ever come to a Jamboree?', 19th Boy Scout Jamboree - 2017

24 July 2017, West Virginia, USA

TRUMP: Thank you, everybody. Thank you very much. I am thrilled to be here. Thrilled.
(APPLAUSE)
And if you think that was an easy trip, you’re wrong. But I am thrilled.
(LAUGHTER)
19th Boy Scout Jamboree, wow, and to address such a tremendous group. Boy, you have a lot of people here. The press will say it’s about 200 people.
(LAUGHTER)
It looks like about 45,000 people. You set a record today.
(APPLAUSE)
You set a record. That’s a great honor, believe me.
Tonight we put aside all of the policy fights in Washington, D.C. you’ve been hearing about with the fake news and all of that. We’re going to put that…
(APPLAUSE)
We’re going to put that aside. And instead we’re going to talk about success, about how all of you amazing young Scouts can achieve your dreams, what to think of, what I’ve been thinking about. You want to achieve your dreams, I said, who the hell wants to speak about politics when I’m in front of the Boy Scouts? Right?
(APPLAUSE)
There are many great honors that come with the job of being president of the United States. But looking out at this incredible gathering of mostly young patriots. Mostly young. I’m especially proud to speak to you as the honorary president of the Boy Scouts of America.
(APPLAUSE)
CROWD: USA! USA! USA!
TRUMP: You are the young people of character, integrity who will serve as leaders of our communities and uphold the sacred values of our nation.
I want to thank Boy Scouts President Randall Stephenson, chief Scout executive Michael Surbaugh, Jamboree Chairman Ralph de la Vega and the thousands of volunteers who made this a life-changing experience for all of you. And when they asked me to be here, I said absolutely yes.
(APPLAUSE)
Finally — and we can’t forgot these people — I especially want to salute the moms and the dads and troop leaders who are here tonight.
(APPLAUSE) Thank you for making scouting possible. Thank you, mom and dad, troop leaders.
When you volunteer for the Boy Scouts you are not only shaping young lives, you are shaping the future of America.
(APPLAUSE)
The United States has no better citizens than its Boy Scouts.
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No better.
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The values, traditions and skills you learn here will serve you throughout your lives. And just as importantly, they will serve your families, your cities, and in the future and in the present will serve your country.
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The Scouts believe in putting America first.
(APPLAUSE)
You know, I go to Washington and I see all these politicians, and I see the swamp, and it’s not a good place. In fact, today, I said we ought to change it from the word “swamp” to the word “cesspool” or perhaps to the word “sewer.”
(APPLAUSE)
But it’s not good. Not good. And I see what’s going on. And believe me, I’d much rather be with you, that I can tell you.
(APPLAUSE)
I’ll tell you the reason that I love this, and the reason that I really wanted to be here, is because as president, I rely on former Boy Scouts every single day. And so do the American people.
It’s amazing how many Boy Scouts we have at the highest level of our great government. Many of my top advisers in the White House were Scouts. Ten members of my cabinet were Scouts. Can you believe that? Ten.
(APPLAUSE)
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is not only a Boy Scout, he is your former national president.
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The vice president of the United States, Mike Pence — a good guy — was a Scout, and it meant so much to him.
(APPLAUSE)
Some of you here tonight might even have camped out in this yard when Mike was the governor of Indiana, but the scouting was very, very important.
And by the way, where are our Indiana scouts tonight?
(APPLAUSE)
I wonder if the television cameras will follow you? They don’t doing that when they see these massive crowds. They don’t like doing that.
Hi, folks.
(APPLAUSE)
There’s a lot of love in this big, beautiful place. A lot of love. And a lot of love for our country. And a lot of love for our country.
Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke is here tonight.
Come here, Ryan.
(APPLAUSE)
Ryan is an Eagle Scout from Big Sky Country in Montana.
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Pretty good.
And by the way, he is doing a fantastic job. He makes sure that we leave our national parks and federal lands better than we found them in the best scouting tradition.
So thank you very much, Ryan.
(APPLAUSE)
Secretary of Energy Rick Perry of Texas, an Eagle Scout from the great state.
(APPLAUSE)
The first time he came to the National Jamboree was in 1964. He was very young then. And Rick told me just a little while ago, it totally changed his life.
So, Rick, thank you very much for being here. And we’re doing — we’re doing a lot with energy.
(APPLAUSE) And very soon, Rick, we will be an energy exporter. Isn’t that nice? An energy exporter.
(APPLAUSE)
In other words, we’ll be selling our energy instead of buying it from everybody all over the globe. So that’s good.
(APPLAUSE)
We will be energy dominant.
And I’ll tell you what, the folks in West Virginia who were so nice to me, boy, have we kept our promise. We are going on and on. So we love West Virginia. We want to thank you.
Where’s West Virginia by the way?
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you.
Secretary Tom Price is also here today. Dr. Price still lives the Scout oath, helping to keep millions of Americans strong and healthy as our secretary of Health and Human Services. And he’s doing a great job. And hopefully he’s going to gets the votes tomorrow to start our path toward killing this horrible thing known as Obamacare that’s really hurting us.
(APPLAUSE)
CROWD: USA! USA! USA!
TRUMP: By the way, are you going to get the votes? He better get them. He better get them. Oh, he better. Otherwise I’ll say, “Tom, you’re fired.” I’ll get somebody.
(APPLAUSE)
He better get Senator Capito to vote for it. He better get the other senators to vote for it. It’s time.
You know, after seven years of saying repeal and replace Obamacare we have a chance to now do it. They better do it. Hopefully they’ll do it.
As we can see just by looking at our government, in America, Scouts lead the way. And another thing I’ve noticed — and I’ve noticed it all my life — there is a tremendous spirit with being a Scout, more so than almost anything I can think of. So whatever is going on, keep doing it. It’s incredible to watch, believe me.
(APPLAUSE)
Each of these leaders will tell that you their road to American success — and you have to understand — their American success, and they are a great, great story, was paved with the patriotic American values and traditions they learned in the Boy Scouts. And some day, many years from now, when you look back on all of the adventures in your lives you will be able to say the same, I got my start as a Scout, just like these incredibly great people that are doing such a good job for our country. So that’s going to happen.
(APPLAUSE)
Boy Scout values are American values. And great Boy Scouts become great, great Americans.
(APPLAUSE)
As the Scout law says, a scout is trustworthy, loyal — we could use some more loyalty I will tell that you that.
(CROWD CHANTING)
That was very impressive. You’ve heard that before. But here you learn the rewards of hard work and perseverance, never, ever give up. Never quit. Persevere. Never, ever quit. You learn the satisfaction of building a roaring campfire, reaching a mountain summit or earning a merit badge after mastering a certain skill. There’s no better feeling than an achievement that you’ve earned with your own sweat, tears, resolve, hard work. There’s nothing like it. Do you agree with that?
(APPLAUSE)
I’m waving to people back there so small I can’t even see them. Man, this is a lot of people. Turn those cameras back there, please. That is so incredible.
By the way, what do you think the chances are that this incredible massive crowd, record setting, is going to be shown on television tonight? One percent or zero?
(APPLAUSE)
The fake media will say, “President Trump spoke” — you know what is — “President Trump spoke before a small crowd of Boy Scouts today.” That’s some — that is some crowd. Fake media. Fake news.
Thank you. And I’m honored by that. By the way, all of you people that can’t even see you, so thank you. I hope you can hear.
Through scouting you also learned to believe in yourself — so important — to have confidence in your ability and to take responsibility for your own life. When you face down new challenges — and you will have plenty of them — develop talents you never thought possible, and lead your teammates through daring trials, you discover that you can handle anything. And you learn it by being a Scout. It’s great.
(APPLAUSE) You can do anything. You can be anything you want to be. But in order to succeed, you must find out what you love to do. You have to find your passion, no matter what they tell you. If you don’t — I love you too. I don’t know. Nice guy.
(APPLAUSE)
Hey, what am I going to do? He sounds like a nice person. He — he, he, he. I do. I do love you.
(CROWD CHANTING)
By the way, just a question, did President Obama ever come to a Jamboree?
(APPLAUSE)
And we’ll be back. We’ll be back. The answer is no. But we’ll be back.
In life, in order to be successful — and you people are well on the road to success — you have to find out what makes you excited, what makes you want to get up each morning and go to work? You have to find it. If you love what you do and dedicate yourself to your work, then you will gain momentum? And look, you have to. You need the word “momentum.” You will gain that momentum. And each success will create another success. The word “momentum.”
I’ll tell you a story that’s very interesting for me. When I was young there was a man named William Levitt. You have some here. You have some in different states. Anybody ever hear of Levittown?
(APPLAUSE)
And he was a very successful man, became unbelievable — he was a home builder, became an unbelievable success, and got more and more successful. And he’d build homes, and at night he’d go to these major sites with teams of people, and he’d scour the sites for nails, and sawdust and small pieces of wood, and they cleaned the site, so when the workers came in the next morning, the sites would be spotless and clean, and he did it properly. And he did this for 20 years, and then he was offered a lot of money for his company, and he sold his company, for a tremendous amount of money, at the time especially. This is a long time ago. Sold his company for a tremendous amount of money.
And he went out and bought a big yacht, and he had a very interesting life. I won’t go any more than that, because you’re Boy Scouts so I’m not going to tell you what he did.
(CROWD CHANTING)
Should I tell you? Should I tell you?
(APPLAUSE)
You’re Boy Scouts, but you know life. You know life.
So look at you. Who would think this is the Boy Scouts, right? So he had a very, very interesting life, and the company that bought his company was a big conglomerate, and they didn’t know anything about building homes, and they didn’t know anything about picking up the nails and the sawdust and selling it, and the scraps of wood. This was a big conglomerate based in New York City.
And after about a 10-year period, there were losing a lot with it. It didn’t mean anything to them. And they couldn’t sell it. So they called William Levitt up, and they said, would you like to buy back your company, and he said, yes, I would. He so badly wanted it. He got bored with this life of yachts, and sailing, and all of the things he did in the south of France and other places. You won’t get bored, right? You know, truthfully, you’re workers. You’ll get bored too, believe me. Of course having a few good years like that isn’t so bad.
But what happened is he bought back his company, and he bought back a lot of empty land, and he worked hard at getting zoning, and he worked hard on starting to develop, and in the end he failed, and he failed badly, lost all of his money. He went personally bankrupt, and he was now much older. And I saw him at a cocktail party. And it was very sad because the hottest people in New York were at this party. It was the party of Steve Ross — Steve Ross, who was one of the great people. He came up and discovered, really founded Time Warner, and he was a great guy. He had a lot of successful people at the party.
And I was doing well, so I got invited to the party. I was very young. And I go in, but I’m in the real estate business, and I see a hundred people, some of whom I recognize, and they’re big in the entertainment business.
And I see sitting in the corner was a little old man who was all by himself. Nobody was talking to him. I immediately recognized that that man was the once great William Levitt, of Levittown, and I immediately went over. I wanted to talk to him more than the Hollywood, show business, communications people.
So I went over and talked to him, and I said, “Mr. Levitt, I’m Donald Trump.” He said, “I know.” I said, “Mr. Levitt, how are you doing?” He goes, “Not well, not well at all.” And I knew that. But he said, “Not well at all.” And he explained what was happening and how bad it’s been and how hard it’s been. And I said, “What exactly happened? Why did this happen to you? You’re one of the greats ever in our industry. Why did this happen to you?”
And he said, “Donald, I lost my momentum. I lost my momentum.” A word you never hear when you’re talking about success when some of these guys that never made 10 cents, they’re on television giving you things about how you’re going to be successful, and the only thing they ever did was a book and a tape. But I tell you — I’ll tell you, it was very sad, and I never forgot that moment.
And I thought about it, and it’s exactly true. He lost his momentum, meaning he took this period of time off, long, years, and then when he got back, he didn’t have that same momentum.
In life, I always tell this to people, you have to know whether or not you continue to have the momentum. And if you don’t have it, that’s OK. Because you’re going to go on, and you’re going to learn and you’re going to do things that are great. But you have to know about the word “momentum.”
But the big thing, never quit, never give up; do something you love. When you do something you love as a Scout, I see that you love it. But when you do something that you love, you’ll never fail. What you’re going to do is give it a shot again and again and again. You’re ultimately going to be successful.
And remember this, you’re not working. Because when you’re doing something that you love, like I do — of course I love my business, but this is a little bit different. Who thought this was going to happen. We’re, you know, having a good time. We’re doing a good job.
(APPLAUSE)
Doing a good job. But when you do something that you love, remember this, it’s not work. So you’ll work 24/7. You’re going to work all the time. And at the end of the year you’re not really working. You don’t think of it as work. When you’re not doing something that you like or when you’re forced into do something that you really don’t like, that’s called work, and it’s hard work, and tedious work.
So as much as you can do something that you love, work hard and never ever give up, and you’re going to be tremendously successful, tremendously successful.
(APPLAUSE)
Now, with that, I have to tell you our economy is doing great. Our stock market has picked up since the election, November 8th — do we remember that day? Was that a beautiful day?
(APPLAUSE)
What a day.
Do you remember that famous night on television, November 8th where they said, these dishonest people, where they said, there is no path to victory for Donald Trump. They forgot about the forgotten people.
By the way, they’re not forgetting about the forgotten people anymore. They’re going crazy trying to figure it out, but I told them, far too late; it’s far too late.
But you remember that incredible night with the maps, and the Republicans are red and the Democrats are blue, and that map was so red it was unbelievable. And they didn’t know what to say.
(APPLAUSE) And you know, we have a tremendous disadvantage in the Electoral College. Popular vote is much easier. We have — because New York, California, Illinois, you have to practically run the East Coast. And we did. We won Florida. We won South Carolina. We won North Carolina. We won Pennsylvania.
(APPLAUSE)
We won and won. So when they said, there is no way to victory; there is no way to 270. You know I went to Maine four times because it’s one vote, and we won. We won. One vote. I went there because I kept hearing we’re at 269. But then Wisconsin came in. Many, many years. Michigan came in.
(APPLAUSE)
So — and we worked hard there. You know, my opponent didn’t work hard there, because she was told…
(BOOING)
She was told she was going to win Michigan, and I said, well, wait a minute. The car industry is moving to Mexico. Why is she going to move — she’s there. Why are they allowing it to move? And by the way, do you see those car industry — do you see what’s happening? They’re coming back to Michigan. They’re coming back to Ohio. They’re starting to peel back in.
(APPLAUSE)
And we go to Wisconsin, now, Wisconsin hadn’t been won in many, many years by a Republican. But we go to Wisconsin, and we had tremendous crowds. And I’d leave these massive crowds, I’d say, why are we going to lose this state?
The polls, that’s also fake news. They’re fake polls. But the polls are saying — but we won Wisconsin.
(APPLAUSE)
So I have to tell you, what we did, in all fairness, is an unbelievable tribute to you and all of the other millions and millions of people that came out and voted for make America great again.
(APPLAUSE)
And I’ll tell you what, we are indeed making America great again.
CROWD: USA! USA! USA!
TRUMP: And I’ll tell you what, we are indeed making America great again. What’s going on is incredible.
(APPLAUSE)
We had the best jobs report in 16 years. The stock market on a daily basis is hitting an all-time high.
We’re going to be bringing back very soon trillions of dollars from companies that can’t get their money back into this country, and that money is going to be used to help rebuild America. We’re doing things that nobody ever thought was possible, and we’ve just started. It’s just the beginning, believe me.
(APPLAUSE)
You know, in the Boy Scouts you learn right from wrong, correct? You learn to contribute to your communities, to take pride in your nation, and to seek out opportunities to serve. You pledge to help other people at all times.
(APPLAUSE)
In the Scout oath, you pledge on your honor to do your best and to do your duty to God and your country.
(APPLAUSE)
And by the way, under the Trump administration you’ll be saying “Merry Christmas” again when you go shopping, believe me.
(APPLAUSE)
Merry Christmas.
They’ve been downplaying that little beautiful phrase. You’re going to be saying “Merry Christmas” again, folks.
(APPLAUSE)
But the words “duty,” “country” and “God” are beautiful words. In other words, basically what you’re doing is you’re pledging to be a great American patriot.
(APPLAUSE)
For more than a century that is exactly what our Boy Scouts have been. Last year you gave more than 15 million hours of service to helping people in your communities. Incredible. That’s an incredible stat.
(APPLAUSE)
All of you here tonight will contribute more than 100,000 hours of service by the end of this Jamboree — 100,000.
(APPLAUSE)
When natural disaster strikes, when people face hardship, when the beauty and glory of our outdoor spaces must be restored and taken care of, America turns to the Boy Scouts because we know that the Boy Scouts never ever, ever let us down.
(APPLAUSE)
Just like you know you can count on me, we know we can count on you, because we know the values that you live by.
(APPLAUSE)
Your values are the same values that have always kept America strong, proud and free.
And by the way, do you see the billions and billions and billions of additional money that we’re putting back into our military? Billions of dollars.
(APPLAUSE)
New planes, new ships, great equipment for our people that are so great to us. We love our vets. We love our soldiers. And we love our police, by the way.
(APPLAUSE)
Firemen, police. We love our police. Those are all special people. Uniformed services.
Two days ago I traveled to Norfolk, Virginia to commission an American aircraft carrier into the fleet of the United States Navy.
(APPLAUSE)
It’s the newest, largest and most advanced aircraft carrier anywhere in the world, and it’s named for an Eagle Scout — the USS Gerald R. Ford.
(APPLAUSE)
Everywhere it sails that great Scout’s name will be feared and revered, because that ship will be a symbol of American power, prestige and strength.
(APPLAUSE)
Our nation honors President Gerald R. Ford today because he lived his life the scouting way. Boy Scouts celebrate American patriots, especially the brave members of our Armed Forces. Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
American hearts are warmed every year when we read about Boy Scouts placing thousands and thousands of flags next to veterans’ grave sites all across the country. By honoring our heroes, you help to ensure that their memory never, ever dies. You should take great pride in the example you set for every citizen of our country to follow.
(APPLAUSE)
Generations of American Boy Scouts have sworn the same oath and lived according to the same law. You inherit a noble American tradition. And as you embark on your lives, never cease to be proud of you who you are and the principles you hold dear and stand by. Wear your values as your badge of honor. What you’ve done few have done before you. What you’ve done is incredible. What you’ve done is admired by all. So I want to congratulate you, Boy Scouts.
(APPLAUSE)
Let your scouting oath guide your path from this day forward. Remember your duty, honor your history, take care of the people God put into your life, and love and cherish your great country.
(APPLAUSE)
You are very special people. You’re special in the lives of America. You’re special to me. But if you do what we say, I promise you that you will live scouting’s adventure every single day of your life, and you will win, win, win, and help people in doing so.
(APPLAUSE)
Your lives will have meaning, and purpose and joy. You will become leaders, and you will inspire others to achieve the dreams they once thought were totally impossible. Things that you said could never, ever happen are already happening for you. And if you do these things, and if you refuse to give in to doubt or to fear, then you will help to make America great again, you will be proud of yourself, be proud of the uniform you wear, and be proud of the country you love.
(APPLAUSE)
CROWD: USA! USA! USA!
TRUMP: And never, ever forget, America is proud of you.
(APPLAUSE)
This is a very, very special occasion for me. I’ve known so many Scouts over the years. Winners. I’ve known so many great people. They’ve been taught so well, and they love the heritage. But this is very special for me.
And I just want to end by saying, very importantly, God bless you. God bless the Boy Scouts. God Bless the United States of America. Go out, have a great time in life, compete, and go out and show me that there is nobody, nobody like a Boy Scout.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you very much, everybody. (APPLAUSE)
Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you very much
(APPLAUSE)

Narendra Modi: 'We will be 100% successful', Madison Square Garden speech - 2014

28 September 2014, Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USA

Bharat Mata ki... [the crowd cheers and completes the slogan: “... Jai!”.

To my dear brothers and sisters settled in America. To all the distinguished and strong members of the American democracy present here, to all the brothers and sisters in India watching today’s event via Internet and TV, and those who couldn’t make it inside the event and are outside; I welcome and acknowledge them.

And a very, very happy Navratri to all of you. Navratri’s festival is a festival to worship power. It is a festival of purging evil. It is a festival to increase your dedication and strength.

On such a pious occasion, I’ve had the chance to meet all of you, and for that I’m very privileged. That my countrymen who having settled here, thousands of miles away from India, have increased India’s honor and pride. Because there was a time when India was known as the land of snakes and snake charmers.

If it wasn’t for you, if it wasn’t for India’s youth today, it wasn’t for what you did in the IT sector, then perhaps even today, India would have been perceived as the land of snakes and snake charmers.

A few years ago I was in Taiwan. Back then I wasn’t a chief minister and I had an interpreter with me. After a few days, we got acquainted and he asked me one day, “If you don’t mind, may I ask you a question?” I said, “Yes, I won’t mind, please go ahead.” He asked again, “Are you sure you won’t mind?” I said, “No, I won’t. Please go ahead.” He was still hesitant. And then he said, “I’ve heard that India is a land of black magic, snakes and snake charmers, that people play around with snakes; Is this all true?’

I replied, “No, not anymore. Our nation has developed a lot since then. Our ancestors used to play with the snake, but today we play with the mouse.” And our youth today move the world with their mouse!

All of you, through your behavior, through your heritage, through your capability, have earned a lot of respect in America. Through your medium, you’ve presented a unique, powerful image of India to not just America, but also to the people of the rest of the world who are settled in America, and in other parts of the world.

India recently had elections. Many of you didn’t get the opportunity to participate in the elections, but all of you probably didn’t sleep when the results were declared. Not a single one of you would have been able to sleep that night. The celebrations that followed in India were nothing compared to the celebrations by Indians around the world.

And many of you did participate in these elections. People gave their time. I couldn’t even meet them and say thanks. But today, I thank you all personally. I thank you that you came and stayed in the villages of India for months, and made a large contribution to a historic election victory in India.

After 30 years, for the first time, a government was formed with a full majority. These election results couldn’t be believed by any political pundit in India. All opinion-makers were unsuccessful in their opinions. The poor, uneducated people in the villages of India made the opinion for the opinion-makers. The poorest of the poor’s belief in Indian democracy and its democratic system was proven by this election result.

But to win the election is not the ultimate goal. It’s not a program to sit on the top. To win the election is a responsibility. And since I’ve taken charge, I haven’t taken a vacation for even 15 minutes. And I assure you, that the responsibility and the mandate you and the Indians have given me, we will never do anything that will make you look down.

Optimism and Hope

In our country today, there is an atmosphere of optimism and hope. The people of India want change. The way the world is going through various economic crises, every poor person looking at this asks, “How long will we live like this?” He wants change.

And my dear countrymen, I assure you, to change India’s economic situation, to create a competent public system, to increase every person’s quality of life, the government you’ve chosen will leave no stone unturned. I know this very well, that in the hearts of all of you sitting here, you have a lot of expectations from India. Even in the hearts of Indian citizens, there are a lot of expectations from the existing government. But, I can assure you that this government will be 100% successful in meeting your hopes and expectations.

When I was the CM [Chief Minister] of Gujarat, I said once publicly that whoever wants to come to India, come to India soon. Don’t be late! Back then, I didn’t know how I was to be responsible for making this actually happen. But look today: Every Indian settled in America for however long a time feels that one foot should be kept in India always.

My dear countrymen, all of the world is convinced that the 21st Century is the Asian century. Many world leaders have said so. Some say it’s the Asian century; some say it’s the Indian century. And it’s not just lightly said. India has the potential. It has the credibility. And now, it has a unique combination. Imagine, today India is the world’s youngest nation. And also the nation with the world’s most ancient civilization. It’s a unique combination! Sixty-five percent of the population today in India is less than 35 years of age. Any nation with that capability, with that kind of resource, whose fingers have the capability to connect to the world through computers, a nation whose youth through its capabilities is able to determine its future, that nation doesn’t need to look back.

There is no reason to be disappointed, friends! I can say with full confidence, say that this nation will move ahead at a very high speed, with the strength of its youth!

India has three things today which are not possessed by any other nation. Our responsibility is to recognize these three strengths and to present it to the world, to unite these strengths and mobilize them and move ahead.

When 1.25 billion people give their blessings, that is the blessings of God himself. The face of the public is the face of God.

Those three strengths that India can feel proud of, and on the basis of which India can move forward, are:

Number one, democracy: This is our biggest strength. I was watching when, during these elections, in the peak heat of May, a poor person with almost no clothes on would come to listen to the election speeches, with the hope that this is the democratic system through which he will be able to fulfill his dreams and hopes. In India, democracy isn’t just a convenience or system; it is a strong belief!

The second strength is the “demographic dividend.” A country which has greater than 65% of its population as youth, what more does such a nation need or require?

The third strength that we have is demand. The whole world’s eyes are on India, because they know that India is a nation of 1.25 billion people and therefore has big demand.

No other nation has these three strengths. And on the basis of these strengths, India will conquer new heights; this is my firm belief. America is the oldest democracy in the world; India is the world’s largest democracy. People from all over the world are settled in USA. And Indians are settled throughout the world!

Make Development a Mass Revolution

There is no corner of the world where you won’t find an Indian, and there is no city in USA where people of other parts of the world aren’t settled. These are such similar things! And that’s why, my brothers and sisters, India in the coming days—.

It has been my firm belief that governments aren’t able to drive progress. Governments are capable of issuing laws and schemes like building roads, hospitals, schools. They have budget limitations. There is progress only when there is public participation. By sad fate till now, governments have taken sole charge of development. This government will work with the 1.25 billion people of the nation for its progress.

We have another problem in the nation: If the nation wishes to progress, then it’s the responsibility of the government to push for good governance. And even you. You all have complaints, like, “Sir, such-and-such happened when I got off at the airport...” “We went to get a visa, but I don’t know...” I may live thousands of miles away from you, but I still know your pain! I know your pain. And that’s why, my brothers and sisters, it’s our job that we have to make development a mass revolution.

And when I talk about a mass revolution, we know the history of our nation. The British used to rule India. Before that, India was ruled by others. For around 1,200 years, India was a slave. But if you look at our history, at every point, there was some or the other great soul who came and sacrificed his life for the nation.

Take the names of all the Sikh gurus; all of them made such sacrifices for the nation. Such sacrifices! Look at Bhagat Singh’s sacrifice! Even today, the Sikh soldiers at our border are ready to lay down their lives for this nation. In every generation, great men have made sacrifices for this nation. But they would sacrifice themselves, be led to the gallows, or become a target of the bullets of foreign invaders, and perish. But then another would come and do something and perish again. And then a third would come. The numbers of those who died would never decrease. But each would come alone, fight with all he had for his nation, and die in the process. He would get his few friends and start the revolution.

But what did Mahatma Gandhi do? He made freedom a mass revolution! If someone wears khadi,[2] he wears it for freedom. If someone teaches a young kid, it’s also for freedom. If someone feeds somebody who’s hungry, it’s for freedom. If someone sweeps or cleans, it’s for freedom. He gave every person a direction and a mission based on his own capabilities. And every Indian started feeling that they too are fighting for freedom. This was the biggest contribution of Mahatma Gandhi. In the fight for freedom, to give to all of India and in every Indian’s heart, the pride of contributing to the nation; he gave a new strength to India’s revolution by doing this.

Brothers and sisters, freedom was a mass revolution; just like that, development has to be a mass revolution. India’s 1.25 billion people should feel that if they are teaching children, they are actually serving the nation and doing a job better than the PM of India. A public worker, while cleaning, does a good job. Why? Because he is working for the pride of his nation and feels that there shouldn’t be garbage and pollution around; and that is a service to the nation. A doctor who serves a poor, sick family does so with full dedication, because even that poor family’s life is valuable to the nation. So that doctor too is serving the nation.

My work is to make development a mass revolution and to make 1.25 billion citizen a part of this mass revolution. And whoever does whatever for work, does so for the nation and with the nation’s pride, and never does anything that will hurt the nation. This feeling awakens me!

And I’m confident that once more, that day will come when every Indian in every corner will feel that we have to take the country forward. And the strength of the 1.25 billion people is my strength and confidence on which we will make 21st Century the century for India.

Our Youth Will Lead the World

By 2020, there will be a global demand for a large workforce, because in other nations by then, they won’t have any youth, just old people. They won’t have anyone available for work! We will by then be able to supply a workforce for the whole world. Today there is a high demand in the nursing sector globally, so if we send trained nurses to work in those nations; it’s a big help for them. Today there is a high demand for teachers globally. It’s hard to find math and science teachers. Can’t India export a teacher? A country with such a quantity of youth, by increasing their quality and employing them worldwide, India has the capability of influencing and leading the world.

The world will have to acknowledge India’s youth talent, my brothers and sisters! All of you have done the same since you came to America, you’ve made such progress! And don’t we eat the same grain and drink the same water as you all? So if you can do it, why can’t we do it? Of course we can.

Look at the nation’s talent! In Ahmedabad, if you wish to travel one kilometer in an auto-rickshaw, it costs around 10 rupees. Look at India’s talent: We travelled 650 million kilometers to Mars! And it was all with indigenous technology, made in small workshops, which was assimilated to make this happen. In Ahmedabad, if you wish to travel one kilometer in an auto-rickshaw, it costs around 10 rupees. In our journey to Mars, we only spent 7 rupees per km! If this doesn’t show the talent and strength of our youth, then what does?

Not only this: India is the world’s first nation that succeeded in reaching Mars on its first attempt. So America and India are not only talking with each other on Earth, but also on Mars now. On Sept. 22, America reached Mars. On Sept. 24, India was there too. Not only this: India reached Mars at a budget less than a Hollywood film’s budget!

A nation with such strength and talent can achieve new heights, and for that purpose, we have taken up a task which is skill development. If our youth has the talent and has the opportunity to work, then it has the power to create a modern India.

So that’s why we have given skill development a priority. We have even created a separate ministry for it, since we formed the new government. And we are going to involve other nations and their experiences in this project too. We are going to invite them to join us in skill development. We are going to invite the world’s leading universities involved in skill development to join us. We want a specific kind of skill development, which produces two kinds of results: 1) skill development that creates people who can become job creators; 2) to create a highly skilled youth, which matches all expectations for such a job.

A few years back in India, we nationalized our banking system. This was done with the purpose that every poor and backward person should benefit from India’s large financial and economic system. But despite that, there are today more than 50% people in India who don’t have a bank account; and because of that, they are forced to take a loan from a money lender. And we all know how these loan sharks rob such poor people. My friends from the Bohra Samaj[3] sitting here know it well. The poor person, not being able to pay back the loan, comes to a point where under the heavy debt burden, he commits suicide.

Shouldn’t the nation’s money benefit these poor? Is the national currency only for the rich?

So that’s why we launched the “PM Jan Dhan” [public banking] plan as soon as we came into office. And I can say with great pride today: What’s the proof of a government working? In just two weeks, the bank employees went house to house to open bank accounts for around 40 million people. Have you ever thought a bank employee would be coming to your home? A postal worker comes, but a bank employee never does.

Things can change, people can be motivated! And results can be obtained. And we had said that you could open a bank account with a zero balance—but look at our citizens’ confidence and honesty, they deposited 15 million rupees in the bank, despite what Modi said! This is living proof of how even a poor person can participate and wants to participate in his country’s progress.

‘Make in India’

India has great potential. I have just launched another program and invite the world and all of you sitting here to join me. And my program is “Make in India.” If today you need human resources, effective governance, and low-cost production, then there is no better place than India. People would earlier come to make in India, but used to say, “There is so much red tape and bureaucracy.” So today, I tell you: Those days are over. Everything will be accessible online, with an online “Make in India” campaign, which will allow you to stay in touch with your government. You can now share your application, opinions, suggestions, and thoughts with the Indian government online. And the youth here who want to do something for their country, the older people who were the first Indian generation to settle in America, I request them to go to my website—mygov.in—and share their suggestions and thoughts with me there. Come join me!

We all wish to change India’s destiny. Using technology, we can display and preach our strength to everyone. And we can also use technology to make contributions to our progress.

The governments before us used to boast about the many, many laws they made. You know, that’s all you heard in the elections. I’ve started a different line of work. I’ve taken up the mandate of eliminating all the useless laws that were made in the past. If any common man would enter this web of old, archaic laws, he would never be able to get out. I’ve established a special committee of people who are tasked with removing such laws. And if even one law can be eliminated, I’ll be the happiest man. Good governance should be easy, effective, and should be for the benefit and progress of the people of the country.

You must have read in the newspapers that these days in Delhi, government officials get to work on time. Now tell me, is this news? But this was the news in our country, as if it was a big deal! Such news items would get me very upset. Isn’t going to work on time a responsibility? Is this news? But such was the situation.

I’ve started a program: a program of cleanliness. I know all of you must love it. People usually think a PM should do big things, and not be involved in such petty things as cleanliness, but I’ve decided to do this. I’ve decided to build toilets. Sometimes people ask me, “Modiji, tell us about a big vision.” I tell them, “Look brother, I’ve come here by selling tea.”

I am a very small man. a very common man. My childhood was an average one. And since I’m a common man, that’s why I enjoy doing common things for the common people. But since I’m common, I also wish to do great things for the common man.

Now look at the state of the Ganges. Don’t all of you here desire to take your parents one day to the Ganges for the holy bath? It’s everyone’s desire. But then when you read how polluted the Ganges is, you think otherwise. Tell me brothers, shouldn’t our Ganges be pure and clean? [The crowd cheers, “Yes!”] Shouldn’t every Indian participate in cleaning up the Ganges? [“Yes!”]. Won’t you people here help me clean the Ganges? [“Yes!”] You promise? [“Yes!”]

Brothers and sisters, we have spent tens of millions of rupees so far on this issue. When I took up this task, people used to chide me and say, “Modiji, why are you bothering with such unsolvable issues?” If my job was to only solve easy problems, people would never have elected me the PM of India. They have elected me to solve difficult problems. And I share the devotion my 1.25 billion people have towards the Ganges.

And cleaning the Ganges isn’t just a matter of devotion and faith. It’s fully related to the global climate and environmental crisis. More than that, if you look along the banks of the Ganges in states like Uttarakhand or Uttar Pradesh or Bihar or West Bengal, around 40% of the population there depends on the Mother Ganga for their livelihood. If the Ganges becomes clean and pure again, then those 40% people, which include farmers, small manufacturers, will benefit from it. So from that standpoint, it’s a big economic agenda.

Repay Our Debt to Mahatma Gandhi

In 2019, it will be 150 years to Mahatma Gandhi’s birth. Mahatma Gandhi gave us freedom. What did we give Mahatma Gandhi? Tell me, shouldn’t every Indian ask that question to himself or not? [“Yes!”] The Gandhi that gave us freedom, what did we give back to that Gandhi? If you happen to meet Gandhi one day, will you be able to answer him?

And that’s why, by 2019, let all Indians imagine that by then, [we will have] all the things that were dear to Gandhi. Which were, first, India’s freedom; and second, cleanliness. Gandhiji never compromised on cleanliness. He was very stubborn about it.

Again, Gandhiji gave us freedom. He freed Mother India from the chains of slavery. Can’t we free Mother India from pollution? In 2019, when we celebrate 150 years since Gandhiji’s birth, can’t we give a gift of a clean India for the feet of Gandhi? The great soul that gave us freedom, can’t we give that great soul this in return? [“Yes!”] Yes or no? [“Yes!”] If 1.25 billion people of India decide not to cause pollution, then no external force in the world can make India dirty and filthy.

In 2022, we will celebrate 75 years of Indian Independence. In Indian culture, a 75th birthday is a big deal and an occasion to celebrate. So how should we celebrate India’s 75th birthday? Why don’t we start preparing for it now?

I have a dream. And with your blessings, that dream will be fulfilled: that by 2022, when India celebrates 75 years of independence, by then there shouldn’t be a single family in India that doesn’t have its own home to live in. These are small things and issues I’m sharing with you, but it’s these small issues that are going to change India’s destiny. And let’s work together in changing its destiny.

Next year, 2015, is an important year. All of you here are non-resident Indians. Just like you, there was a M.K. Gandhi who was a non-resident Indian. Mahatma Gandhi came back to India in January 1915. January 2015 will be 100 years since Gandhi returned to India. The 8th and 9th of January in India are celebrated to commemorate non-resident Indians. Many of you come to participate in that. This time, in 2015, it will be celebrated in Ahmedabad, because it’s going to be a century since Mahatma Gandhi returned to India. Mahatma Gandhi went abroad, became a barrister, became financially affluent, but chose instead to live and work for India. So my prayer to all of you is to come and pay back the debt you owe to your motherland and country by helping it progress.

Addressed to Indians in America

There are some things I want to share with you. Since I’ve become a PM, there are a few things that I’ve come to hear, and keeping those in mind, I want to say a few things.

First, PIO [Person of Indian Origin] card holders have lots of visa issues. I’ve decided that all PIO card holders will be given lifetime visas. Happy? [“Yes!”]

Second, those non-resident Indians who stay in India for a long time have to go to the police station often. We have decided that they will no longer have to go to the police station. I’ve also come to hear that because of the difference in the PIO and OCI [Overseas Citizenship of India] schemes, there are many difficulties that Indians abroad have to face. Especially, when the spouse isn’t of Indian origin, there are added difficulties. If anyone gets married here, he’s in deep trouble! My friends, I have some good news for you. Within a few months, we will merge the PIO and OCI schemes into a single scheme. We will introduce a new, simplified scheme within a few months.

The third thing is.... U.S. Nationals who want to come work in India will get long-term visa.

Fourth, we will provide Electronic Travel Authorization and Visa on Arrival for American tourists coming to India, to make it easier for them. To facilitate these things quickly—because there is a large number of Indians in the USA who travel very frequently to India, causing a load on the small outsourcing visa services—we have decided to increase the number of outsourcing services, to make it easier and faster for you to obtain a visa.

So these are the things I’ve decided on, after long-term contemplation on your problems, before coming here.

For you to come here in such large numbers on the pious festival of Navrati—and I [looking at his watch] am talking and talking—I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

You’ve given me a lot of love. Perhaps... I’ve noticed at least since the past 15 years. perhaps no other Indian leader has received such affection. I’m very grateful to you all, and I promise to repay this debt. I will repay this debt by creating the India of your dreams. Let’s work together to serve Mother India. Let’s do what we can for our fellow Indians, for our country. The country where we were born and raised, the country that taught us to be what we are today. With this desire, I want to once again thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.

Bharat Mata Ki... [The crowd yells, “... Jai!’]
Bharat Mata Ki... [“... Jai!”]
Clench both your fists and repeat again! I’m the one on fasts ... not you!
Bharat Mata Ki... [“... Jai!”]
Bharat Mata Ki... [“... Jai!”]
Bharat Mata Ki... [“... Jai!”]

Thank you!

Translated from Hindi by Avneet Thapar. “Jai Hind.”

भारत माता की 'जय'!

अमेरिका में बसे हुए मेरे प्‍यारे भाईयों और बहनों!

आज इस समारोह में विशेष रूप से उपस्थित अमेरिका की राजनीति के सभी श्रेष्‍ठ महानुभाव और भारत में भी टीवी और इंटरनेट के माध्‍यम से कार्यक्रम को देख रहे सभी भाईयों-बहनों!

आज कई लोग इस सभागृह में पहुंच नहीं पाएं है, वो बाहर खड़े हैं, उनका भी मैं स्‍मरण करता हूं। आप सब को नवरात्रि की बहुत-बहुत शुभकामनाएं!

नवरात्रि का पर्व, ये शक्ति उपासना का पर्व है। नवरात्रि का पर्व शुद्धिकरण का पर्व है। नवरात्रि का पर्व समर्पण भाव को अधिक तीव्र बनाने का पर्व है। ऐसे पावन पर्व पर मुझे आप सबसे मिलने का अवसर मिला है, मैं बहुत भाग्‍यशाली हूं कि मेरे देशवासी, जिन्‍होंने हजारों मील दूर यहां रहकर के भारत की इज्‍जत को बढ़ाया है। भारत की आन-बान-शान को बढ़ाया है। वरना एक जमाना था, हमारे देश को सांप-सपेरों वालों का देश माना जाता था। अगर आप न होते, हमारे देश की युवा पीढ़ी न होती, Information Technology के क्षेत्र में आप लोगों ने जो कमाल करके दिखाया है, वो न होता तो आज भी दुनिया शायद हमें सांप-सपेरों का ही देश मानती।

मैं कुछ वर्ष पहले ताइवान गया, तब तो मैं मुख्‍यमंत्री नहीं था, प्रधानमंत्री नहीं था। एक Interpreter मेरे साथ था। कुछ दिन साथ रहने के बाद परिचय हो गया। एक दिन वो मुझे पूछता है कि आपको अगर बुरा न लगे तो मैं आपको एक सवाल पूछना चाहता हूं। मैंने कहा मुझे बुरा नहीं लगेगा, पूछिए क्‍या पूछना चाहते हैं। उसने बोला, आपको बुरा नहीं लगेगा न! मैंने कहा नहीं लगेगा, पूछिए क्‍या पूछना चाहते हैं। फिर भी वो झिझक रहा था। फिर उसने कहा कि मैंने सुना है कि भारत में तो काला जादू होता है, Black Magic होता है। सांप-सपेरे का देश है। लोग सांप को ही खेल करते रहते हैं, यही है क्‍या? मैंने कहा नहीं! हमारे देश का अब बहुत Devaluation हो गया है। मैंने कहा हमारे पूर्वज तो सांप के साथ खेलते थे, लेकिन हम Mouse के साथ खेलते हैं। हमारे नौजवान Mouse को घुमाते हैं, सारी दुनिया को डुलाते हैं।

आप सबने अपने व्‍यवहार के द्वारा, अपने संस्‍कारों के द्वारा, अपनी क्षमता के द्वारा अमेरिका के अंदर बहुत इज्‍जत कमाई है। आपके माध्‍यम से, न सिर्फ अमेरिका में, बल्कि अमेरिका में बसने वाले और देशों के लोगों के कारण भी, दुनिया में भी भारत के लिए एक सकारात्‍मक पहचान बनाने में आपकी बहुत बड़ी अहम भूमिका रही है। भारत में अभी-अभी चुनाव हुए। आपमें से बहुत लोग होंगे जिनको चुनाव में मतदान करने का सौभाग्‍य नहीं मिला। लेकिन आप सभी होंगे, जिस दिन नतीजे आए होंगे, आप सोये नहीं होंगे।

यहां एक भी व्‍यक्ति ऐसा नहीं होगा जो उस रात सो पाया होगा। जितना जश्‍न हिन्‍दुस्‍तान मना रहा था, उससे भी कई गुणा ज्‍यादा जश्‍न दुनिया भर में फैला हुआ भारतीय समाज मना रहा था। आपमें से बहुत सारे लोग भारत के चुनाव अभियान के साथ जुड़े थे, वो आए थे, अपना समय दिया था। मैं उनको मिल कर Thanks भी नहीं कह पाया था। आज, मैं सबको Thanks कहता हूं, रूबरू आकर कहता हूं कि आप आए, हिन्‍दुस्‍तान के गांवों में महीनों तक रहे। भारत के लोकतंत्र में एक अभूतपूर्व विजय की घटना घटी। इसे चरितार्थ करने में आपका योगदान रहा।

30 साल के बाद! आप लोग 30 साल के बाद से परिचित हैं। 30 साल के बाद भारत में पूर्ण बहुमत के साथ सरकार बनी। ये चुनाव नतीजे, हिन्‍दुस्‍तान के किसी Political पंडित के गले ये परिणाम नहीं उतरते थे। Opinion Makers भी Opinion बनाने में असफल रहे। हिन्‍दुस्‍तान के गांव, गरीब, अनपढ़ लोगों ने Opinion Maker का Opinion बना दिया। गरीब से गरीब व्‍यक्ति की भी लोकतंत्र में कितनी निष्‍ठा है, लोकतंत्र में उसकी कितनी अहमियत है, इसका उदाहरण, ये भारत के चुनाव ने बताया है। लेकिन चुनाव जीतना, वो सिर्फ पद ग्रहण नहीं होता। चुनाव जीतना, वो किसी कुर्सी पर विराजने का कार्यक्रम नहीं होता। चुनाव जीतना, एक जिम्‍मेदारी होती है।

जब से मैंने इस कार्य का दायित्‍व संभाला है, 15 मिनट भी vacation नहीं लिया। हम एक भी vacation नहीं लेंगे और मैं आपको विश्‍वास दिलाता हूं। हिंदुस्‍तान में आपने मुझे जो दायित्‍व दिया है, देशवासियों ने जो दायित्‍व दिया है, हम ऐसा कभी कुछ भी नहीं करेंगे, जिनके कारण आपको नीचा देखने की नौबत आए। हमारे देश में एक ऐसा उमंग और उत्‍साह का माहौल है। देश के लोग बदलाव चाहते हैं। देश बदलाव चाहता है। विश्‍व जिस प्रकार से आर्थिक गतिविधियों से आगे बढ़ रहा है, भारत का गरीब से गरीब व्‍यक्ति भी कहने लगा है, कब तक ऐसे जियेंगे। बदलाव चाहता है, और मेरे सारे देशवासियों, मैं आपको विश्‍वास दिलाता हूं, भारत की आर्थिक स्थिति को बदलने में, भारत के सामाजिक जीवन में सामर्थ देने में, भारत के व्‍यक्तिगत जीवन में quality of life के लिए आपने जिस सरकार को चुनाव है, वह कोई कमी रखेगी।

मैं इस बात को भली-भांति जानता हूं कि यहां बैठे हुए आप सब के मन में भी भारत के लिए वर्तमान सरकार से अनेक-अनेक अपेक्षाएं हैं। भारत के नागरिकों के मन में भी भारत के लिए वर्तमान सरकार से अनेक-अनेक अपेक्षाएं हैं। लेकिन मैं विश्‍वास से कह सकता हूं, ये सरकार अपने कार्यकाल के दरम्यान जन सामान्‍य की आशा-आकांक्षाओं को पूर्ण करने में शत-प्रतिशत सफल होगी।

जब मैं गुजरात का मुख्‍यमंत्री था तो एक बार मैंने एक कार्यक्रम में कहा था, मैंने कहा- जिसको हिंदुस्‍तान वापस आना है, जल्‍दी आइए, देर मत कीजिए।तब मुझे पता नहीं था कि ये दायित्‍व मेरे जिम्‍मे आपने वाला है लेकिन अब यहां रहने वाला हर व्‍यक्ति, कितने ही सालों से अमेरिका में बसा हो अब उसको भी लगने लगा है, एक पैर तो हिंदुस्‍तान में रखना ही चाहिए। मेरे प्‍यारे देशवासियों, सारा विश्‍व इस बात में convince है कि 21वीं सदी एशिया की सदी हैं। अमेरिका के भी गणमान्‍य राजनेताओं ने पब्लिकली ये कहा है कि 21वीं सदी, कोई कहता है एशिया की सदी है, कोई कहता है हिंदुस्‍तान की सदी है।

ऐसे ही नहीं कहा जाता है, भारत के पास वो सामर्थ्‍य है, वो संभावनाएं है, और अब संजोग भी है। इसलिए आप कल्‍पना कीजिए, आज हिंदुस्‍तान दुनिया का सबसे नौजवान देश है। दुनिया की सबसे पुरातन संस्‍कृति वाला देश और दुनिया का सबसे नौजवान देश। एक ऐसा अद्भुत मिलन है, ऐसा अद्भुत संयोग पैदा हुआ है, आज भारत में 65% population 35 age group से नीचे है। 35 से कम आयु के 65% जिस देश के पास नौजवान हो, जिसके पास ऐसी सामर्थ्‍यवान भुजाएं हों, जिसकी अंगुलियों में कंप्‍यूटर के माध्‍यम से दुनिया से जुड़ने की ताकत पड़ी हो, जिस देश का नौजवान अपने सामर्थ से अपना भविष्‍य बनाने के लिए कृत संकल्‍प हो, उस देश को पीछे मुड़कर के देखने की आवश्‍यकता नहीं है।

निराशा का कोई काम नहीं है साथियों। मैं बहुत विश्‍वास के साथ कहता हूं, ये देश बहुत तेज गति से आगे बढ़ने वाला है। इन नौजवानों के सामर्थ से आगे बढ़ने वाला है। भारत के पास तीन ऐसी चीजें हैं आज जो दुनिया के किसी भी देश के पास नहीं है। लेकिन हमारा दायित्‍व बनता है कि हमारी इन तीन शक्तियों को हम पहचानें। हमारी इन तीन शक्तियों को विश्‍व के सामने प्रस्‍तुत करें। हमारी इन तीन शक्तियों को एक-दूसरे के साथ जोड़कर के mobilise करें, तीव्र गति से आगे बढ़े।

वो तीन चीजें हैं, जब सवा सौ करोड़ देशवासियों ने आर्शीवाद दे दिया तो वो ईश्‍वर का ही आर्शीवाद होता है। जनता जनार्दन ईश्‍वर का रूप होता है। जनता जनार्दन वो भगवान का रूप होता है और जब जनता जनार्दन का आर्शीवाद होता है तो वह स्‍वयं परमात्‍मा का आर्शीवाद होता है। वो तीन चीजें, जिसके लिए भारत गर्व कर सकता है और जिसके आधार पर भारत आगे बढ़ सकता है।

एक डेमोक्रेसी, लोकतंत्र। ये हमारी सबसे बड़ी ताकत है, सबसे बड़ी पूंजी है। मैं देख रहा था, जब चुनाव अभियान, मई महीने की भयंकर गर्मी। बदन पर कपड़े ना हो, ऐसा गरीब व्‍यक्ति भी जनसभाओं में सुनने के लिए पहुंचाता था, उस आशा के साथ पहुंचता था। यही लोकतंत्र है, जिस लोकतंत्र के माध्‍यम से आशा आकाक्षाओं को पूर्व करता है। भारत में लोकतंत्र सिर्फ व्‍यवस्‍था नहीं है। भारत में लोकतंत्र आस्‍था है। आस्‍था है, विश्‍वास है।

दूसरी ताकत है Demographic Dividend. जिस देश के पास 35 से कम उम्र के 65 प्रतिशत नौजवान हों, इससे बड़ा इस देश को और क्‍या चाहिए! इससे बड़ी क्‍या सम्‍पदा हो सकती है! और तीसरी बात, demand. पूरा विश्‍व भारत की तरफ नज़र कर रहा है। क्‍यों! क्‍योंकि उसे मालूम है सवा सौ करोड़ का देश है, बहुत बड़ा बाजार है, बहुत ज्‍यादा demand है। ये तीनों चीज़ें किसी एक देश के पास हो, ऐसा आज दुनिया में कहीं नहीं है। इसी सामर्थ्‍य के आधार पर, इसी शक्ति के भरोसे भारत नई ऊंचाईयों को पार करेगा, ये मेरा विश्‍वास है।

अमेरिका दुनिया का सबसे पुराना लोकतंत्र है। भारत दुनिया का सबसे बड़ा लोकतंत्र है। सारी दुनिया के लोग अमेरिका में आ करके बसे हैं और भारत के लोग सारी दुनिया में जा करके बसे हैं। दुनिया का कोई कोना नहीं होगा जहां आपको भारतीय न मिले। अमेरिका का कोई शहर ऐसा नहीं है जहां दुनिया का कोई नागरिक न मिले। कितनी मिली-जुली बातें हैं! और इसलिए भाईयों-बहनों! भारत आने वाले दिनों में ……मेरा स्‍पष्‍ट मत रहा है कि सरकारें विकास नहीं कर पाती है। सरकार ज्‍यादा से ज्‍यादा अपनी स्‍कीम लागू कर सकती है। रोड बना लेगी, अस्‍पताल बना लेगी, स्‍कूल बना लेगी। उसकी बजट की सीमाएं होती हैं। विकास तब होता है जब जन-भागीदारी होती है। दुर्भाग्‍य से अब तक हमारे देश में सरकारों ने development का ठेका लिया था। हमने, development की जिम्‍मेदारी, मिलजुल कर सवा सौ करोड़ देशवासी और सरकार मिल करके करेंगे, ये रास्‍ता हमने अपनाया।

हमारे देश में एक और दिक्‍कत है.. और अगर देश को प्रगति करनी है तो सरकार का दायित्‍व बनता है- Good Governance. आप लोग भी.. आपकी क्‍या शिकायत होती होगी- यही न कि साहब, airport पर उतरे थे.. ऐसा हुआ; Visa लेने गए थे.. पता नहीं । भले ही मैं हज़ारों मील दूर रहता हूं आपसे, लेकिन आपके दर्द को भी भलीभांति जानता हूं। आपकी पीड़ा को मैं भलीभांति जानता हूं और इसलिए भाईयो-बहनों! हमारी ये कोशिश है कि हम विकास को एक जन-आंदोलन बनाएं और जब मैं विकास को जन-आंदोलन बनाने की बात कहता हूं….!

हम लोग आज़ादी के इतिहास से भलीभांति परिचित हैं। अंग्रेज़ लोग हमारे देश में शासन करते थे, उसके पहले कई लोगों ने हमारे देश पर शासन किया। करीब हज़ार 12 सौ साल तक हम गुलाम रहे, लेकिन अगर इतिहास देखेंगे, हर समय कोई न कोई ऐसा महापुरूष मिला है, जिसने देश के लिए बलिदान दिया है। आप सिक्‍ख परम्‍परा के सभी गुरूओं के नाम लो, एक के बाद एक! देश के लिए कितना बलिदान! भगत सिंह त‍क उस परम्‍परा को देखिए। आज भी सीमा पर हमारे सरदार देश के लिए जीने-मरने को तैयार होते हैं।

हर युग में, हर युग में महापुरूषों ने देश के लिए बलिदान दिए हैं। लेकिन! वो बलिदान देते थे, फांसी पर चढ़ जाते थे, विदेशियों की गोलियों का शिकार हो जाते थे। फिर कोई नया पैदा होता था, फिर वो कुछ करता था, फिर वो खत्‍म होता था, फिर कोई तीसरा पैदा होता था। मरने वालों की संख्‍या कम नहीं थी, लेकिन वो अकेला आता था देश के लिए जी-जान से लड़ जाता था, शहीद हो जाता था। पांच-पचास अपने यार-दोस्‍तों की टोली ले करके लड़ पड़ता था। लेकिन महात्‍मा गांधी जी ने क्‍या किया!

महात्‍मा गांधी जी ने आज़ादी को जन-आंदोलन बना दिया। कोई खादी पहनता है, तो आज़ादी के लिए पहनता है, कोई किसी बच्‍चे को पढ़ाता है तो आज़ादी के लिए पढ़ाता है, कोई किसी भूखे को खाना खिलाता है तो आज़ादी के लिए खिलाता है, कोई सफाई करता है, झाडू लगाता है तो आज़ादी के लिए। उन्‍होंने हर व्‍यक्ति को उसकी क्षमता के अनुसार, ये दिशा दी, ये सामर्थ्‍य दिया और हर हिन्‍दुस्‍तानी को लगने लगा कि मैं भी आज़ादी की लड़ाई लड़ रहा हूं। ये महात्‍मा गांधी का सबसे बड़ा contribution था।

आज़ादी की जंग में पूरे हिन्‍दुस्‍तान को, हर नागरिक को अपने काम के माध्‍यम से ही.. ये मैं देश के लिए करता हूं ये भाव जगा करके आज़ादी के आंदोलन को एक नई ताकत दी थी। भाईयों-बहनों! जिस प्रकार से आज़ादी का आंदोलन एक जन-आंदोलन था, वैसे ही विकास.. ये जन-आंदोलन बनना जरूरी है। हिन्‍दुस्‍तान के सवा सौ करोड़ देशवासियों को लगना चाहिए कि मैं बच्‍चों को अच्‍छी तरह शिक्षा देता हूं, मैं भले ही शिक्षक हूं, मैं देश की सेवा कर रहा हूं, मैं प्रधानमंत्री से भी अच्‍छा काम कर रहा हूं। एक सफाई करने वाला सफाई कर्मचारी होगा, वो अच्‍छी सफाई करता है, क्‍यों! क्योंकि मेरे देश के शान बान के लिए काम करता हूं। यहां गंदगी नहीं होनी चाहिए। यह देश सेवा होगी। एक डाक्‍टर भी गरीब परिवार के मरीज की सेवा करेगा, और सेवाभाव से करेगा। गरीब की जिंदगी भी मूल्‍यवान होती है और वह डॉक्‍टर भी राष्‍ट्रभक्ति के लिए काम करता है।

मेरी कोशिश यह है कि विकास एक जन आंदोलन बने। सवा सौ करोड़ देशवासी, ये विकास के जन आंदोलन का हिस्‍सा बने। और हर कोई, जो भी करता है, मैं देश के लिए करूं। मैं ऐसा कोई काम नहीं करूंगा, जिसके कारण मेरे देश को नुकसान हो, ये भाव मुझे जगाना है। और मुझे विश्‍वास है और मुझे विश्‍वास है कि फिर एक बार वो दिन आए। फिर एक बार माहौल बना है, हर कोने में हिन्दुस्तानी को लगता है कि अब देश को आगे ले जाना है। इसी सवा सौ करोड़ देशवासियों की इच्‍छाशक्ति, यही मेरा संबल है, यही मेरी ताकत है। इसी पर मेरा भरोसा है, जिसके कारण 21वीं सदी का नेतृत्‍व हिंदुस्‍तान के करने की पूरी संभावना है।

हमारे नौजवान, आने वाले दिनों में, आप लोग जो पढ़ते होंगे, उनको पता होगा, 2020 के समय आते-आते दुनिया में इतनी बड़ी मात्रा में वर्ककोर्स की जरूरत पड़ने वाली है। इनके यहां सब बूढ़े-बूढ़े सब लोग होंगे। दुनिया के पास काम करने वाले लोग नहीं होंगे। हम पूरी दुनिया को workforce supply कर पाएंगे। आज पूरे विश्‍व को नर्सिंग क्षेत्र में इतनी मांग है। अगर भारत से हम नर्सिंग की training करके दुनिया में भेजें तो उनके लिए बहुत बड़ा उपकार है। आज विश्‍व को teachers की मांग है। Maths और Science के teachers नहीं मिलते। क्‍या भारत ये teachers export नहीं कर सकता है। जिस देश के पास नौजवान हो, वह नौजवानों की क्षमता बढ़ा करके, विश्‍व में जिस प्रकार के manpower की जरूरत है, भारत अपनी युवा शक्ति के माध्‍यम से दुनिया में छा जाने की ताकत रखता है। दुनिया में जगह बनाने की ताकत रखता है।

भारत के नौजवानों का talent, दुनिया को उसका लोहा मानना पड़ेगा मेरे भाइयों-बहनों। आप लोगों ने यहां आकर के क्‍या कमाल नहीं किया है। आखिरकर जो अनाज खाकर के आप आए हैं, जो पानी पीकर के आप आए हैं, वही तो अनाज-पानी हम भी तो खा रहे हैं। अगर आप कर सकते हैं तो हम क्‍यों नहीं कर सकते? हम भी कर सकते हैं। talent देखिए इस देश की।

आपको अहमदाबाद में अगर एक किलोमीटर ऑटो रिक्‍शा में जाना है तो करीब 10 रुपये खर्च होते हैं। एक किलोमीटर अगर ऑटो रिक्‍शा में जाना है तो 10 रुपए खर्च होते हैं। भारत के talent का कमाल देखिए 650 million किलोमीटर, 65 करोड़ किलोमीटर Mars की यात्रा की हमने और सारा Indigenous, छोटे-छोटे कारखानों में पुर्जें बने थे, उसको इकट्ठा करके Mars का प्रयोग किया गया। अहमदाबाद में 1 किलोमीटर ऑटो रिक्‍शा में जाना है तो 10 रुपये लगते हैं, हमें मार्स पर पहुंचने में सिर्फ 7 रुपये लगे एक किलोमीटर पर। 7 रुपये में 1 किलोमीटर, यह हमारी talent नहीं है तो क्‍या है। यह हमारे नौजवानों का सामर्थ्‍य नहीं है तो क्‍या है? इतना ही नहीं, दुनिया में हिंदुस्‍तान पहला देश है जो पहले ही प्रयास में Mars पर पहुंचने में सफल हुआ है।

अमेरिका और भारत सिर्फ नीचे ही बात कर रहे हैं, ऐसा नहीं है, Mars में भी बात कर रहे हैं। 22 तारीख को अमेरिका पहुंचा, 24 को हम पहुंच गए और इतना ही नहीं, हॉलीवुड की फिल्‍म बनाने का जितना बजट होता है, उससे कम बजट में Mars पर पहुंच गया।

जिसके पास ये talent हो, जिस देश के पास ये सामर्थ्‍य हो, वह देश कई नई ऊंचाइयों को पार कर सकता है और उसको पार करने के लिए हमने एक बीड़ा उठाया है, Skill Development। हमारे नौजवानों में, उसके हाथ में हुनर हो, काम करने का अवसर हो, तो एक आधुनिक हिंदुस्‍तान खड़ा करने की उसकी ताकत होती है। इसलिए Skill Development पर हमने बल दिया है। नई सरकार बनने के बाद Skill Development के लिए अलग ministry बना दी गई है। और पूरी शक्ति और हम इसमें दुनिया के देशों के अनुभव को भी share करने वाले हैं। हम उनको निमंत्रण देने वाले है, आइए, Skill Development में हमारे साथ जुडि़ये। विश्‍व की Skill Universities हैं, आए, हमारे साथ जुड़े। हम इस प्रकार का Skill Development करना चाहते हैं, जिसमें हमारे दो इरादे है। एक वो Skill Development जो लोग तैयार होकर के Job Creator बने, दूसरा वो जिनकी Job Creator बनने की संभावना नहीं है, पर Job पाने के लिए पहली पसंद में पसंद हो जाए, उस प्रकार का वो नौजवान तैयार हो।

हमारे यहां कुछ वर्षों पहले बैंकों का राष्‍ट्रीयकरण हुआ था, Nationalisation हुआ था बैंकों का। इस इरादे से हुआ था कि गरीब से गरीब व्‍यक्ति को, भारत की जो मुख्‍य धारा है आर्थिक, बैंकिंग क्षेत्र, Financial क्षेत्र, उसका उन्‍हें सदभाग्‍य मिला और बहुत बड़ा राजनीतिक एजेंडा बन गया था। जो लोग 70’s के इतिहास के कालखंड को जानते होंगे, उनको मालूम होगा। देखिए हुआ क्‍या, इतनी सारी बैंक होने के बाद भी भारत में 50% परिवार ऐसे हैं, जिनका बेचारों को बैंक में खाता ही नहीं है और उसके कारण वह साहूकार से ब्‍याज पर पैसे लेता है। गरीब आदमी को साहूकार कैसे लूटता है, आपको मालूम है।

मेरे गौरा समाज के लोग यहां बैठे है, उनको पता है। क्‍या सरकारी खजाना गरीबों की भलाई के लिए नहीं उपयोग होना चाहिए? क्‍या सरकारी खजाना सिर्फ अमीरों के लिए होना चाहिए। इसलिए हमने एक आते ही प्रधानमंत्री जनधन योजना को लांच किया और मैं आज बड़े गर्व के साथ कहता हूं। सरकार चलती है, इसका सबूत क्‍या है? सिर्फ दो सप्‍ताह के भीतर भीतर 4 करोड़ परिवारों के खाते खोलने में ये बैंक वाले घर-घर गए थे। आपने कभी सोचा है कि बैंक वाला आपके घर आए। पोस्‍ट वाला तो आता है बेचारा, बैंक वाला कभी नहीं आता है। स्थिति बदली जा सकती है, लोगों को Motivate किया जा सकता है और परिणाम प्राप्‍त किया जा सकता है।

हमने यह कहा था कि zero-balance से account खोला जाएगा। लेकिन मेरे देश के नागरिकों की ईमानदारी देखिए! मोदी ने भले ही कहा कि जीरो बैलेंस से अकांउट खोलूंगा लेकिन इन नागरिकों ने 15 सौ करोड़ रुपया बैंक में जमा करवाया। अब मुद्दा इस बात का है कि गरीब से गरीब व्‍यक्ति भी देश के विकास में अपनी भागीदारी को किस प्रकार से करता है उसका ये जीता-जागता उदाहरण है। यही चीज़ें हैं जो बदलाव लाती है।

भारत के पास बहुत संभावनाएं हैं। मैंने अभी एक कार्यक्रम launch किया है और पूरे विश्‍व को निमंत्रण देता हूं, मैं यहां बैठे हुए आपको भी निमंत्रण देता हूं। मेरा निमंत्रण इस बात के लिए है- Make In India. अगर आज, आपको Human Recourses चाहिए, आपको Effective Governance चाहिए, अगर आपको Low Cost Production चाहिए तो भारत से बड़ी कोई अवसर की जगह नहीं हो सकती भाईयों! हम इस पर बल दे रहे हैं और ‘Make in India’ के लिए…..!

आखिरकार बाहर से आते समय लोग क्‍या कहते है.. कि साहब, आते तो हैं लेकिन सरकार में इतने धक्‍के खाने पड़ते हैं, इधर जाएं, उधर जाएं। अब मैं आपको कहता हूं- वो दिन चले गए। Online सारी व्‍यवस्‍था है और इस ‘Make In India’ Campaign से तो आप अपने मोबाइल फोन से सरकार के साथ जुड़ सकते हैं, यहां तक उसको Develop किया है। आप अपना application, अपनी बातें, अपनी requirement मोबाइल फोन के जरिए भारत सरकार को दे सकते है।

यहां जो नौजवान हैं, जो देश के लिए कुछ करना चाहते हैं, यहां जो पहली पीढ़ी के लोग हैं, जो बुर्जुग लोग हैं, जिनके मन में है कि देश के लिए कुछ करना है उनसे मैं आग्रह करता हूं कि मेरी एक Website है- www.mygov.in उसमें मैंने आपके सुझावों के लिए, आप अगर जुड़ना चाहते हैं, उसके लिए बहुत अच्‍छी व्‍यवस्‍था रखी है। मैं चाहता हूं कि आज इसको आज, यहां से जाने के बाद आप चेक किजिए और देखिए कि आप कहां मेरे साथ जुड़ सकते हैं। आप आईये। भारत का भाग्‍य बदलने के लिए हम सब की इच्‍छा है। आप उसके साथ जुडि़ए। Technology का सर्वाधिक प्रयोग करके हम अपनी ताकत का परिचय कर सकते हैं, हम अपनी ताकत का Contribution भी कर सकते हैं।

‘Make in India’, ease of business. हमारे यहां पहली जो सरकारें थी वे इस बात का गर्व करती थीं कि हमने ये कानून बनाया, हमने वो कानून बनाया, हमने फलाना कानून बनाया, हमने ढिकाना कानून बनाया। आपने पूरे चुनाव के Campaign में देखा होगा, यही बातें चलती थीं। हमने ये कानून बनाया, हमने वो कानून बनाया। मैंने काम दूसरा शुरू किया है। मैंने, कानून जितने पुराने हैं, बेकार कानून हैं, सबको खत्‍म करने का काम शुरू किया है। इतने out-dated कानून! ऐसा कानूनों का जाल! कोई भी व्‍यक्ति बेचारा एक बार अंदर गया तो बाहर नहीं निकल सकता। मैंने Specially Expert लोगों की कमेटी बनाई है, उनको कहा है- निकालो! अगर हर दिन एक कानून मैं खत्‍म कर सकता हू्ं तो मुझे सबसे ज्‍यादा आनंद होगा।

अगर Good Governance की बात मैं बात करता हूं तो Governance easy हो, effective हो और Governance जन-सामान्‍य की आशाओं, आकांक्षाओं की पूर्ति लिए होना चाहिए, उस पर हम बल दे रहे हैं।

आपने अखबारों में पढ़ा होगा। अखबारों में छपता था कि आजकल दिल्‍ली में सरकारी अफसर समय पर दफ्तर पहुंचते हैं। अब मुझे बताइये भइया, कि ये कोई न्‍यूज़ है क्‍या! लेकिन हमारे देश में ये खबर थी सरकारी अफसर समय पर दफ्तर जाते हैं। ये समाचार मुझे इतनी पीड़ा देते थे कि क्‍या समय पर जाना जिम्‍मेदारी नहीं है क्‍या? ये कोई खबर होती है क्‍या! लेकिन हालात ऐसे बने हुए थे।

इन दिनों मैंने एक अभियान चलाया है- सफाई का अभियान। मैं जानता हूं आपको, सबको ये प्रिय होगा। लोगों को लगेगा कि प्रधानमंत्री को तो कितने बड़े-बड़े काम करने चाहिए। ये काम कोई प्रधानमंत्री के करने के काम हैं! भाईयों मैं नहीं जानता कि करने वाले काम हैं या नहीं लेकिन मैंने तय किया है कि टॉयलेट बनाने का काम करुंगा।

कभी-कभी लोग मुझसे पूछते हैं- मोदी जी बड़ा vision बताओ ना! बड़ा vision! मैंने उनको कहा देखिए, मैं चाय बेचते-बेचते यहां आया हूं। मैं एक बहुत ही छोटा इंसान हूं। मैं बहुत ही सामान्य इंसान हूं। मेरा बचपन भी ऐसा ही बीता है और छोटा हूं इसलिए मेरा मन भी छोटे-छोटे काम करने में लगता है। छोटे-छोटे लोगों के लिए काम करने में मेरा मन लगता है। लेकिन छोटा हूं इसलिए छोटे-छोटे लोगों के लिए बड़े-बड़े काम करने का इरादा रखता हूं।

अब देखिए हमारे देश में, गंगा.. आप मुझे बताइए आप में से कोई ऐसा होगा जिसके मन की यह इच्छा नहीं होगी कि अपने मां-बाप को कभी न कभी तो गंगा स्नान के लिए ले जाए। हर एक के मन की यह इच्छा रही होगी। लेकिन जब पढ़ता है कि गंगा इतनी मैली हो गई है, उसको लगता है कि……!

आप मुझे बताइए भैया, हमारी गंगा शुद्ध होनी चाहिए कि नहीं होनी चाहिए गंगा? गंगा साफ होनी चाहिए कि नहीं होनी चाहिए। सफाई में सारे देशवासियों को मदद करनी चाहिए कि नहीं करनी चाहिए। आप लोगों के भी गंगा सफाई में मेरी मदद करनी है कि नहीं करनी है। पक्का करोगो?

भाइयों-बहनों, हजारों करोड़ रुपए अब तक खर्च हो चुके हैं। मैंने जब ये बात उठाई तो लोग कहते हैं मोदी जी आप अपने आप को मार रहे हो। ऐसी चीजों को क्यों हाथ लगाते हो? अगर सरल चीजों को हाथ लगाना होता तो लोग मुझे प्रधानमंत्री नहीं बनाते। मुश्किल कार्यों को तो हाथ लगाने के लिए ही तो मुझे बनाया है। मेरी सवा सौ करोड़ देशवासियों की गंगा के प्रति जो आस्था है, उस आस्था में मेरी भी आस्था है और गंगा की सफाई, ये आस्था से जुड़ा हुआ विषय तक सीमित नहीं है।

आज दुनिया में climate को लेकर जितनी चिंता होती है, पर्यावरण को लेकर के जितनी चिंता होती है, उस दृष्टि से भी गंगा की सफाई आवश्यक है। इतना ही नहीं, गंगा के किनारे की जो आवस्था है, उत्तराखंड हो, उत्तर प्रदेश है, बिहार हो, बंगाल हो। करीब-करीब भारत की 40 प्रतिशत जनसंख्या की आर्थिक गतिविधि ये गंगा मैया पर निर्भर है। अगर वह गंगा फिर से प्राणवान बनती है, सामर्थवान बनती है, तो मेरे सारे 40 प्रतिशत जनसंख्या वहां का किसान होगा, वहां का कारीगर होगा, उनकी जिदंगी में बदलाव आएगा और इसलिए यह एक बहुत बड़ा economic agenda भी है ये।

150 वर्ष हो रहे हैं महात्मा गांधी को, 2019 में महात्मा गांधी की 150वीं जयंती आ रही है। महात्मा गांधी ने हमें आजादी दी, हमने महात्मा गांधी क्या दिया। मुझे बताइए, ये सवाल हमें, हर हिंदुस्तानी को पूछना चाहिए कि नहीं पूछना चाहिए। जिस गांधी ने हमें आजादी दी, उस गांधी को हमने क्या दिया। कभी गांधी मिल जाएंगे, जब पूछेंगे तो जवाब कुछ दे पाएंगे क्या? और इसलिए 2019 में जब महात्मा गांधी के 150 वर्ष पूरे हों, तब पूरा भारत ये संकल्प करे, हम महात्मा गांधी को जो सबसे प्रिय जो चीजें थी, वह दें।

एक उनको प्रिय था हिंदुस्तान की आजादी और दूसरा उनको प्रिय था सफाई। गांधी जी स्वच्छता में कभी Compromise नहीं करते थे। बड़े अडिग रहते थे। गांधीजी ने हमें आजादी दिलाई थी। भारत मां को गुलामी की जंजीरों से मुक्त किया। क्या भारत मां को गंदगी से मुक्त करना, यह हमारी जिम्मेवारी है या नहीं है। क्या हम 2019 में जब गांधीजी की 150 वीं जयंती आए, तब महात्मा गांधी के चरणों में स्वच्छ-साफ हिंदुस्तान उनके चरणों में दे सकते हैं कि नहीं दे सकते हैं? जिस महापुरुष ने हमें आजादी दी, उस महापुरुष को हम ये दे सकते हैं कि नहीं दे सकते हैं? देना चाहिए कि नहीं देना चाहिए? ये जिम्मेदारी उठानी चाहिए कि नहीं उठानी चाहिए? अगर एक बार सवा सौ करोड़ देशवासी तय कर लें कि मैं गंदगी नहीं करुंगा, तो दुनिया की कोई ताकत नहीं है जो हिंदुस्तान को गंदा कर सकती है।

सन 2022 में हमारी आजादी के 75 साल होंगे। हमारे यहां जब 75 साल होते हैं जीवन में, बड़ा महत्व होता है। भारत की परंपरा में 75 साल बड़े महत्वपूर्ण माने जाते हैं। आजादी के 75 साल कैसे मनाएं जाए। अभी से तैयारी क्यों न करें? हमारे मन में एक सपना है और आप सबके आशीर्वाद से वह सपना पूरा होगा। मेरे मन में सपना है, मेरे मन में सपना है कि 2022 में, जब भारत के 75 साल हो तब तक हमारे देश में कोई परिवार ऐसा न हो, जिसके पास रहने के लिए अपना घर न हो। ये ऐसी छोटी-छोटी बातें मैं आपसे बता रहा हूं, लेकिन यही छोटी-छोटी बातें हैं, जो भारत का भाग्य बदलने वाली हैं और भाग्य बदलने के काम में हम सब मिल कर के जुड़े हैं।

2015, अगला वर्ष, बड़ा महत्वपूर्ण वर्ष है। आप सब प्रवासी भारतीय हैं, क्योंकि आप भारत से बाहर आए हैं, आपकी तरह एक M K Gandhi भी थे, मोहनदास करमचंद गांधी। ये भी प्रवासी भारतीय थे। महात्मा गांधी जनवरी 1915 में भारत वापस आए थे। जनवरी 2015 गांधी के भारत आने के 100 साल हो रहे हैं। 8-9 जनवरी, हिंदुस्तान में प्रवासी भारतीय दिवस मनाया जाता है। आप में से कई लोग उसमें आते हैं। इस बार प्रवासी भारतीय दिवस अहमदाबाद में होने वाला है। महात्मा गांधी के भारत आने को शताब्दी हो रही है, इसलिए हर प्रवासी भारतीय, जो कि हिंदुस्तान से बाहर गया है…… महात्मा गांधी, विदेश गए, बैरिस्टर बने, सुख-वैभव की पूरी संभावनाएं थीं। लेकिन देश के लिए जीना पसंद किया।

मैं आपसे अनुरोध करता हूं, उन सबसे प्रेरणा लेकर के आइए, हम भी अपने वतन का, अपनी मातृभूमि का, जिस धरती पर जन्म लिया, उसका कर्ज चुकाने के लिए अपनी तरफ से कोई न कोई प्रयास करें। अपने हिसाब से कोई न कोई कोशिश करें।

कुछ बातें मुझे कहनी हैं आप लोगों से , प्रधानमंत्री बनने के बाद कुछ बातें मेरे मन में आई हैं, उसको ध्यान में रखते हुए कुछ बातें मैं कहना चाहता हूं। एक तो PIO card holder जो हैं, उनकी visa की कुछ समस्याएं हैं। हमने निर्णय लिया है, PIO card holder को आजीवन visa दिया जाएगा। खुश?

उससे भी आगे जो लंबे समय तक हिंदुस्तान रहते हैं, उनको पुलिस थाने जाना पड़ता है। अब उनको पुलिस थाने जाना नहीं पड़ेगा। उसी प्रकार से मुझे बताया गया कि PIO तथा OCI स्कीमों के प्रावधानों में फर्क होने के कारण भारतीय मूल के लोगों को कठिनाइयों का सामना करना पड़ता है। विशेषकर Spouse के भारतीय मूल के न होने पर, कठिनाई और बढ़ जाती है। किसी ने यहां शादी कर ली बेचारा मुसीबत में फंस जाता है। मेरे साथियों मैं आपको खुशखबरी देता हूं कि कुछ ही महीनों में हम PIO तथा OCI schemes मिलाकर के एक बना देते हैं। एक नई scheme, जो कठिनाइयां हैं उनको दूर करके एक नई स्‍कीम आने वाले कुछ ही महीनों में, उसको हम तैयार कर देंगे।

तीसरी बात है.. अभी इंतजार कीजिए, मैं बोल रहा हूं। अमेरिका में हमारे दूतावास और consulate, भारत में पर्यटन की इच्‍छा से आने वाले US Nationals के लिए हम long term visa प्रदान करेंगे। चौथी बात, बिना किसी कठिनाई के अमेरिकी टूरिस्‍ट भारत की यात्रा कर सके, इसके लिए हमने ‘Electronic Travel authorisation’ तथा ‘Visa on arrival’ की सुविधा को बहुत ही निकट भविष्‍य में इसको भी लागू कर देंगे।

इन चीजों को सुनिश्चित करने के लिए सेवाओं की speed भी बढ़े। यहां भारतीयों की संख्या भी बहुत है। अब धन की इतनी मात्रा है कि हर छोटे-मोटे काम में लोग आते जाते रहते हैं। और जो outsourcing service है, वह कम पड़ जाती है, और इसलिए हमने कहा है कि जो outsourcing services हैं, उसका दायरा बढ़ाया जाएगा ताकि आपका ज्यादा समय न जाए, ज्यादा कठिनाइयां न हों और सरलता से आपको visa प्राप्त हो। यह साफ-साफ हमने कहा है। और मुझे विश्वास है कि आपकी जो कठिनाइयां मेरे ध्यान में आई थी, मैंने यहां से आने से पहले ही इस विषय में विस्तार से निर्णय करके इन चीजों को पूरा किया है।

आप इतनी बड़ी संख्या में आए, नवरात्रि के पवित्र त्योहार पर आए। और मैं भी बोलता ही चला जा रहा हूं। घड़ी की ओर नहीं देख रहा हूं।

मैं हृदय से आप सबका बहुत आभारी हूं। आपने मुझे बहुत प्यार दिया है। शायद, शायद मैं पिछले 15 साल से देख रहा हूं, शायद इतना प्यार हिन्दुस्तान के किसी राजनेता को नहीं मिला। मैं आपका बहुत आभारी हूं। मैं, मैं ये कर्ज चुकाउंगा। ये कर्ज चुकाउंगा। आपके सपनों का भारत बना करके कर्ज चुकाउंगा।

हम मिल कर के, हम सब मिल कर के भारत मां की सेवा करें, हमसे जो हो सके, हमारे देशवासियों के लिए करें। अपने वतन के लिए करें। जिस धरती पर जन्म लिया, जिस स्कूल में हमने शिक्षा पाई, इसमें जो हो सकता है, करें। इसी एक अपेक्षा के साथ फिर एक बार हृदय से बहुत बहुत धन्यवाद।

भारत माता की जय, भारत माता की जय, भारत माता की जय

बहुत बहुत धन्यवाद।

Mitch Landrieu: 'It is self-evident that these men did not fight for the United States of America, They fought against it', Address on The Lost Cause of the Confederacy - 2017

19 May 2017, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

New Orleans Mayor Landrieu delivered speech just hours before workers removed a statue of Robert E Lee. That made the fourth Confederate statue to be removed in recent weeks.

Thank you for coming.

The soul of our beloved City is deeply rooted in a history that has evolved over thousands of years; rooted in a diverse people who have been here together every step of the way – for both good and for ill.

It is a history that holds in its heart the stories of Native Americans: the Choctaw, Houma Nation, the Chitimacha. Of Hernando de Soto, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, the Acadians, the Islenos, the enslaved people from Senegambia, Free People of Color, the Haitians, the Germans, both the empires of Francexii and Spain. The Italians, the Irish, the Cubans, the south and central Americans, the Vietnamese and so many more.

You see: New Orleans is truly a city of many nations, a melting pot, a bubbling cauldron of many cultures.

There is no other place quite like it in the world that so eloquently exemplifies the uniquely American motto: e pluribus unum — out of many we are one.

But there are also other truths about our city that we must confront. New Orleans was America’s largest slave market: a port where hundreds of thousands of souls were brought, sold and shipped up the Mississippi River to lives of forced labor of misery of rape, of torture.

America was the place where nearly 4,000 of our fellow citizens were lynched, 540 alone in Louisiana; where the courts enshrined ‘separate but equal’; where Freedom riders coming to New Orleans were beaten to a bloody pulp.

So when people say to me that the monuments in question are history, well what I just described is real history as well, and it is the searing truth.

And it immediately begs the questions: why there are no slave ship monuments, no prominent markers on public land to remember the lynchings or the slave blocks; nothing to remember this long chapter of our lives; the pain, the sacrifice, the shame … all of it happening on the soil of New Orleans.

So for those self-appointed defenders of history and the monuments, they are eerily silent on what amounts to this historical malfeasance, a lie by omission.

There is a difference between remembrance of history and reverence of it. For America and New Orleans, it has been a long, winding road, marked by great tragedy and great triumph. But we cannot be afraid of our truth.

As President George W. Bush said at the dedication ceremony for the National Museum of African American History & Culture, “A great nation does not hide its history. It faces its flaws and corrects them.”

So today I want to speak about why we chose to remove these four monuments to the Lost Cause of the Confederacy, but also how and why this process can move us towards healing and understanding of each other.

So, let’s start with the facts.

The historic record is clear: the Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and P.G.T. Beauregard statues were not erected just to honor these men, but as part of the movement which became known as The Cult of the Lost Cause. This ‘cult’ had one goal — through monuments and through other means — to rewrite history to hide the truth, which is that the Confederacy was on the wrong side of humanity.

First erected over 166 years after the founding of our city and 19 years after the end of the Civil War, the monuments that we took down were meant to rebrand the history of our city and the ideals of a defeated Confederacy.

It is self-evident that these men did not fight for the United States of America, They fought against it. They may have been warriors, but in this cause they were not patriots.

These statues are not just stone and metal. They are not just innocent remembrances of a benign history. These monuments purposefully celebrate a fictional, sanitized Confederacy; ignoring the death, ignoring the enslavement, and the terror that it actually stood for.

After the Civil War, these statues were a part of that terrorism as much as a burning cross on someone’s lawn; they were erected purposefully to send a strong message to all who walked in their shadows about who was still in charge in this city.

Should you have further doubt about the true goals of the Confederacy, in the very weeks before the war broke out, the Vice President of the Confederacy, Alexander Stephens, made it clear that the Confederate cause was about maintaining slavery and white supremacy.

He said in his now famous ‘Cornerstone speech’ that the Confederacy’s “cornerstone rests upon the great truth, that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery — subordination to the superior race — is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.”

Now, with these shocking words still ringing in your ears, I want to try to gently peel from your hands the grip on a false narrative of our history that I think weakens us and make straight a wrong turn we made many years ago so we can more closely connect with integrity to the founding principles of our nation and forge a clearer and straighter path toward a better city and more perfect union.

Last year, President Barack Obama echoed these sentiments about the need to contextualize and remember all of our history. He recalled a piece of stone, a slave auction block engraved with a marker commemorating a single moment in 1830 when Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay stood and spoke from it.

President Obama said, “Consider what this artifact tells us about history … on a stone where day after day for years, men and women … bound and bought and sold and bid like cattle on a stone worn down by the tragedy of over a thousand bare feet. For a long time the only thing we considered important, the singular thing we once chose to commemorate as history with a plaque were the unmemorable speeches of two powerful men.”

A piece of stone – one stone. Both stories were history. One story told. One story forgotten or maybe even purposefully ignored.

As clear as it is for me today … for a long time, even though I grew up in one of New Orleans’ most diverse neighborhoods, even with my family’s long proud history of fighting for civil rights … I must have passed by those monuments a million times without giving them a second thought.

So I am not judging anybody, I am not judging people. We all take our own journey on race. I just hope people listen like I did when my dear friend Wynton Marsalis helped me see the truth. He asked me to think about all the people who have left New Orleans because of our exclusionary attitudes.

Another friend asked me to consider these four monuments from the perspective of an African American mother or father trying to explain to their fifth grade daughter who Robert E. Lee is and why he stands atop of our beautiful city. Can you do it?

Can you look into that young girl’s eyes and convince her that Robert E. Lee is there to encourage her? Do you think she will feel inspired and hopeful by that story? Do these monuments help her see a future with limitless potential? Have you ever thought that if her potential is limited, yours and mine are too?

We all know the answer to these very simple questions.

When you look into this child’s eyes is the moment when the searing truth comes into focus for us. This is the moment when we know what is right and what we must do. We can’t walk away from this truth.

And I knew that taking down the monuments was going to be tough, but you elected me to do the right thing, not the easy thing and this is what that looks like. So relocating these Confederate monuments is not about taking something away from someone else. This is not about politics, this is not about blame or retaliation. This is not a naïve quest to solve all our problems at once.

This is, however, about showing the whole world that we as a city and as a people are able to acknowledge, understand, reconcile and, most importantly, choose a better future for ourselves, making straight what has been crooked and making right what was wrong.

Otherwise, we will continue to pay a price with discord, with division, and yes, with violence.

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To literally put the confederacy on a pedestal in our most prominent places of honor is an inaccurate recitation of our full past, it is an affront to our present, and it is a bad prescription for our future.

History cannot be changed. It cannot be moved like a statue. What is done is done. The Civil War is over, and the Confederacy lost and we are better for it. Surely we are far enough removed from this dark time to acknowledge that the cause of the Confederacy was wrong.

And in the second decade of the 21st century, asking African Americans — or anyone else — to drive by property that they own; occupied by reverential statues of men who fought to destroy the country and deny that person’s humanity seems perverse and absurd.

Centuries-old wounds are still raw because they never healed right in the first place.

Here is the essential truth: we are better together than we are apart. Indivisibility is our essence. Isn’t this the gift that the people of New Orleans have given to the world?

We radiate beauty and grace in our food, in our music, in our architecture, in our joy of life, in our celebration of death; in everything that we do. We gave the world this funky thing called jazz; the most uniquely American art form that is developed across the ages from different cultures.

Think about second lines, think about Mardi Gras, think about muffaletta, think about the Saints, gumbo, red beans and rice. By God, just think. All we hold dear is created by throwing everything in the pot; creating, producing something better; everything a product of our historic diversity.

We are proof that out of many we are one — and better for it! Out of many we are one — and we really do love it!

And yet, we still seem to find so many excuses for not doing the right thing. Again, remember President Bush’s words, “A great nation does not hide its history. It faces its flaws and corrects them.”

We forget, we deny how much we really depend on each other, how much we need each other. We justify our silence and inaction by manufacturing noble causes that marinate in historical denial. We still find a way to say “wait, not so fast.”

But like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “wait has almost always meant never.”

We can’t wait any longer. We need to change. And we need to change now. No more waiting. This is not just about statues, this is about our attitudes and behavior as well. If we take these statues down and don’t change to become a more open and inclusive society this would have all been in vain.

While some have driven by these monuments every day and either revered their beauty or failed to see them at all, many of our neighbors and fellow Americans see them very clearly. Many are painfully aware of the long shadows their presence casts, not only literally but figuratively. And they clearly receive the message that the Confederacy and the cult of the lost cause intended to deliver.

Earlier this week, as the cult of the lost cause statue of P.G.T Beauregard came down, world renowned musician Terence Blanchard stood watch, his wife Robin and their two beautiful daughters at their side.

Terence went to a high school on the edge of City Park named after one of America’s greatest heroes and patriots, John F. Kennedy. But to get there he had to pass by this monument to a man who fought to deny him his humanity.

He said, “I’ve never looked at them as a source of pride … it’s always made me feel as if they were put there by people who don’t respect us. This is something I never thought I’d see in my lifetime. It’s a sign that the world is changing.”

Yes, Terence, it is, and it is long overdue.

Now is the time to send a new message to the next generation of New Orleanians who can follow in Terence and Robin’s remarkable footsteps.

A message about the future, about the next 300 years and beyond; let us not miss this opportunity New Orleans and let us help the rest of the country do the same. Because now is the time for choosing. Now is the time to actually make this the City we always should have been, had we gotten it right in the first place.

We should stop for a moment and ask ourselves — at this point in our history, after Katrina, after Rita, after Ike, after Gustav, after the national recession, after the BP oil catastrophe and after the tornado — if presented with the opportunity to build monuments that told our story or to curate these particular spaces … would these monuments be what we want the world to see? Is this really our story?

We have not erased history; we are becoming part of the city’s history by righting the wrong image these monuments represent and crafting a better, more complete future for all our children and for future generations.

And unlike when these Confederate monuments were first erected as symbols of white supremacy, we now have a chance to create not only new symbols, but to do it together, as one people.

In our blessed land we all come to the table of democracy as equals.

We have to reaffirm our commitment to a future where each citizen is guaranteed the uniquely American gifts of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

That is what really makes America great and today it is more important than ever to hold fast to these values and together say a self-evident truth that out of many we are one. That is why today we reclaim these spaces for the United States of America.

Because we are one nation, not two; indivisible with liberty and justice for all, not some. We all are part of one nation, all pledging allegiance to one flag, the flag of the United States of America. And New Orleanians are in, all of the way.

It is in this union and in this truth that real patriotism is rooted and flourishes.

Instead of revering a 4-year brief historical aberration that was called the Confederacy we can celebrate all 300 years of our rich, diverse history as a place named New Orleans and set the tone for the next 300 years.

After decades of public debate, of anger, of anxiety, of anticipation, of humiliation and of frustration. After public hearings and approvals from three separate community led commissions. After two robust public hearings and a 6-1 vote by the duly elected New Orleans City Council. After review by 13 different federal and state judges. The full weight of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government has been brought to bear and the monuments in accordance with the law have been removed.

So now is the time to come together and heal and focus on our larger task. Not only building new symbols, but making this city a beautiful manifestation of what is possible and what we as a people can become.

Let us remember what the once exiled, imprisoned and now universally loved  Nelson Mandela and what he said after the fall of apartheid. “If the pain has often been unbearable and the revelations shocking to all of us, it  is because they indeed bring us the beginnings of a common understanding of what happened and a steady restoration of the nation’s humanity.”

So before we part let us again state the truth clearly.

The Confederacy was on the wrong side of history and humanity. It sought to tear apart our nation and subjugate our fellow Americans to slavery. This is the history we should never forget and one that we should never again put on a pedestal to be revered.

As a community, we must recognize the significance of removing New Orleans’ Confederate monuments. It is our acknowledgment that now is the time to take stock of, and then move past, a painful part of our history. Anything less would render generations of courageous struggle and soul-searching a truly lost cause.

Anything less would fall short of the immortal words of our greatest President Abraham Lincoln, who with an open heart and clarity of purpose calls on us today to unite as one people when he said:

“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to do all which may achieve and cherish: a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

Thank you.

Nancy Polosi: 'This president has appointed so many people from Goldman Sachs to high positions that there's nobody left to listen to Hillary's speeches', Gridiron Club dinner - 2017

4 March 2017, Gridiron Club, Washington DC, USA

This is a part transcript. Speakola has been unable to find a full transcript.

I know that the rituals of the Gridiron can be formal, so I want to greet them in a way they're more familiar with: Nasdrovia!

Speaking of … we were told that Jeff Sessions intended to be here tonight, but I understand he had to recuse himself. Excuse! Excuse!

[To Pence] Does the president know you're here, laughing it up with the enemies of the American people?

It's okay, Mr. Vice President, people here can keep a secret. This isn't the White House.

[Here are few more of Pelosi's best zingers]

'Urgent matter'

I am sorry the president couldn't join us. I understand that he is in the Situation Room, monitoring an urgent matter that demands his full attention: "Saturday Night Live.

'Period drama'

This White House has more drama among rich people than a Jane Austen novel. In fact, I'm told the Secret Service code names for President Trump and Bannon are "Pride" and "Prejudice."

'Drain the swamp'

This president has appointed so many people from Goldman Sachs to high positions that there's nobody left to listen to Hillary's speeches.

'Love D.C.'

But don't you love D.C. in March? The sun starts to shine, and we can finally see all the emoluments. I'm sorry, the monuments.

'Self flagulation'

Vice President Pence recently mixed up the Israeli and Nicaraguan flags.

We've all used the wrong emoji before. But moving our embassy from Tel Aviv to Managua? That's going a little too far.

Don't worry. In the words of the ancient Hebrew proverb: "No problemo. Esta bien."

'The Oscar goes to'

The president is paranoid that Hollywood is against him — and you know everything's all about him. As for the Academy Awards, he thought the nominated films were all documentaries:

Fences was about his immigration policy.

Arrival was about his travel ban.

La La Land was about his first month in office.

And Hidden Figures was about his tax returns.

This is Joe Biden's Gridiron Club speech from 2016

Barack & Michelle Obama: 'One voice can change a room', Election eve rally - 2012

4 November 2012, Des Moines, Iowa, USA

MRS. OBAMA:  Thank you, guys.  Thanks so much.

AUDIENCE:  We love Michelle!  We love Michelle!

MRS. OBAMA:  (Laughter.)  And I love you.  I love you from the bottom of my heart.  And I am beyond thrilled to be here with all of you. 

But we have to give some love up for Bruce Springsteen.  I mean, gosh.  (Applause.)  For months, I have heard his songs played at our rallies.  But I have to say, there's nothing like seeing The Boss in person.  (Applause.)  Nothing like it.  He has just been tremendous.  He and his family and his team, they've just been amazing.  So we want to thank Bruce for everything that he's done for us. 

And more than anything else, I want to thank you all for being here tonight.  I mean, as you know this is a pretty emotional time for us, because this is the final event of my husband's final campaign.  (Applause.)  So this is the last time that he and I will be onstage together at a campaign rally.  And that's why we wanted to come here to Iowa tonight -- (applause)  -- because truly this is where it all began, right here.

And I have so many fond memories of this state -- the house parties in Sioux City and Cedar Rapids; celebrating Malia's birthday in Pella; and seeing my husband's face carved in butter. (Applause.)  Believe me, we still talk about that at Christmas.  (Laughter.) 

But I will never forget the kindness and warmth and love that you all showed me and my family, especially our girls.  That is truly what made the difference back in those early days when I wasn't so sure about this whole process; back when I was still wondering what it would mean for our girls and our family if Barack got the chance to serve as President. 

But the truth is while I had my worries and my fears, I also realized that this decision affected not only me as a wife and a mother, but as a voter, as an American.  And I started envisioning the kind of person that I wanted to lead our country. And I knew that I wanted a President with a steady character, with deep compassion and strong convictions.  I wanted a President who was smart.  (Applause.)  I wanted someone we could trust -- (applause) -- someone who would always, always tell us the truth even when it's hard.  (Applause.)  And I wanted a President driven not by politics or which way the wind is blowing, but by the struggles, hopes and dreams of all Americans. (Applause.)

And the more I thought about it, the more I knew in my heart that I was describing Barack.  I knew he could be that President. And for four years, that's exactly what he's done.  He has stayed true to himself, and with your help, he's worked day after day to make this country better, to move it forward.  He's rescued our economy from the brink of collapse and saved the auto industry.  (Applause.)  He's passed historic health reform -- (applause) -- ended the war in Iraq.  (Applause.)  He's fought so women get equal pay and students can afford college.  (Applause.)  He's fought for our seniors, so that they can retire with dignit;, and our veterans, so that they can give the benefits they earned and the respect they deserve.  (Applause.)  

For four years, Barack has been fighting to give every single one of us a fair shot at that great American Dream, no matter what we look like or where we come from or who we love.  (Applause.)  And for four years, we have all seen what I've seen for the past 23 years.  We've seen a man of honor and integrity who knows what he believes and stays true to his values.  (Applause.)  I'm so proud of my husband.  We have seen an honest man who knows the facts and always gives it to us straight.  We've seen a man whose strength and resolve to build a better tomorrow has never wavered, never. 

And that's why I am so thrilled to be here in Iowa tonight-- (applause) -- because long before most people even knew his name, you all saw what I saw.  So you did all this crazy stuff.  You showed up at campaign offices here in Des Moines and offices all over the state.  More importantly, you opened your homes.  You held caucus trainings.  You marched with us at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner.  (Applause.)  And then, on a cold January night, you stood up for Barack, because you knew that he would stand up for you.  (Applause.) 

And over these past four years, our family has been truly blessed -- truly blessed -- by all of the love and support and prayers that we have received from every corner of this country. And Barack has been truly blessed to have all of you by his side as we have worked together to bring that change we can believe in.

It is an honor and a privilege to serve this nation -- just know that.  And tomorrow, we get the chance to finish what we started here in Iowa.  (Applause.)  Tomorrow, all across this state, all across this country, we will line up and vote in libraries and community centers, in school gyms.  We're going to knock on doors until our fingers are numb.  We're going to make calls until our voices are hoarse.  (Applause.)  And we won't stop until every voice and every last vote is counted.  (Applause.) 

And we will do it.  We will do it, because while we have come so far, we know that there is so much more to do.  And what we really, truly know is that we cannot turn back now.  We need to keep moving this country forward.  (Applause.) 

So that means that we need to reelect the man who has been fighting for us every single day -- my husband, the love of my life -- the President of the United States Barack Obama.  (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Iowa!  (Applause.)  Tomorrow.  Tomorrow, Iowa.  Tomorrow, from the granite of New Hampshire to the Rockies of Colorado, from the coastlines of Florida to Virginia’s rolling hills, from the valleys of Ohio to these Iowa fields -- we will keep America moving forward.  (Applause.) 

I’ve come back to Iowa one more time to ask for your vote.  (Applause.)  I came back to ask you to help us finish what we’ve started.  (Applause.) Because this is where our movement for change began.  (Applause.)  Right here.  Right here. 

Right behind these bleachers is the building that was home to our Iowa headquarters in 2008.  (Applause.)  I was just inside, and it brought back a whole lot of memories.  This was where some of the first young people who joined our campaign set up shop, willing to work for little pay and less sleep because they believed that people who love their country can change it. 

This was where so many of you who shared that belief came to help.  When the heat didn’t work for the first week or so -- (laughter) -- some of you brought hats and gloves for the staff. These poor kids, they weren’t prepared.  (Laughter.)  When the walls inside were bare, one of you painted a mural to lift everybody’s spirits.  When we had a Steak Fry to march to, when we had a J-J Dinner to fire up -- (applause) -- you brought your neighbors and you made homemade signs.  When we had calls to make, teachers and nurses showed up after work, already bone-tired, but staying anyway, late into the night.

And you welcomed me and Michelle into your homes.  And you picked us up when we needed a lift.  And your faces gave me new hope for this country’s future, and your stories filled me with resolve to fight for you every single day I set foot in the Oval Office.  (Applause.)

You inspired us.  And I want to take this opportunity to say one thing to all the young people and not-so-young people who’ve given so much to this campaign over the years -- those of you who haven’t done this just for me, but for each other -- for a laid-off family member, for a sick child, for a fallen friend -- to all of you who’ve lived and breathed the hard work of change:  I want to thank you. 

You took this campaign and you made it your own.  And you organized yourselves, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, county by county, starting a movement that spread across the country -- (applause) -- a movement made up of young and old, and rich and poor, and black and white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, Democrats, Republicans, who believe we’ve all got something to contribute; that we all deserve a shot at our own American Dream.  (Applause.)

And when the cynics said we couldn’t, you said “Yes, we can.”

AUDIENCE:  Yes, we can!  (Applause.) 

THE PRESIDENT:  You said, “Yes, we can” -- and we did.  Against all odds, we did.  We didn’t know what challenges would come when we began this journey.  We didn’t know how deep the crisis would turn out.  But we knew we would get through those challenges the same way this nation always has -- with that determined, unconquerable American spirit that says no matter how bad the storm gets, no matter how tough times are, we’re all in this together.  We rise or fall as one nation and as one people. (Applause.)

That’s the spirit that’s carried us through the trials and tribulations of the last four years.  In 2008, we were in the middle of two wars and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  And today, our businesses have created nearly five and a half million new jobs.  (Applause.)  The American auto industry is back.  Home values are on the rise.  We’re less dependent on foreign oil than any time in the last 20 years.  We’ve doubled the production of clean energy.  Because of the service and sacrifice of our brave men and women in uniform, the war in Iraq is over.  The war in Afghanistan is ending.  Al Qaeda is on the run.  Osama bin Laden is dead.  (Applause.)

We’ve made real progress these past four years.  But, Iowa, we’re here tonight because we’ve got more work to do.  We’re not done yet on this journey.  We’ve got more road to travel.  As long as there’s a single American who wants a job but can’t find one; as long as there are families working harder but still falling behind; as long as there’s a child anywhere in Des Moines, anywhere in Iowa, anywhere in this country languishing in poverty, barred from opportunity -- our work isn’t done.  (Applause.)  Our fight for change goes on. 

Because we know this nation cannot succeed without a growing, thriving middle class and sturdy ladders for everybody who is willing to work to get into that middle class.  (Applause.)  Our fight goes on because America has always done best when everybody has got a fair shot, and everybody is doing their fair share, and everybody plays by the same rules.  The people of Iowa understand that.  That’s what we believe.  That’s why you elected me in 2008.  And, Iowa, that’s why I’m running for a second term as President of the United States.  (Applause.)

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  Now, the choice you make tomorrow -- and you understand this; Iowans, you guys pay attention -- (laughter and applause) -- the choice you make is not just between two candidates or parties.  It’s a choice between two different visions of America -- who we are; what we believe; what we care about.  It’s a choice between going back to the top-down policies that caused the mess we’ve been fighting our way out of for four years -- or moving forward to a future that’s built on a strong and growing middle class.

And, Iowa, you know me as well as anybody.  You’ve seen a lot of me these last six years.  (Laughter.)  And you know what, you may not agree with every decision I’ve made -- Michelle doesn’t.  (Laughter.)  There may be times where you’ve been frustrated at the pace of change.  I promise you, so have I.  But I tell you what, you know what I believe.  You know where I stand.  You know I tell the truth.  (Applause.)  You know I’ll fight for you and your families every single day, as hard as I know how.  (Applause.) 

And that’s why, when we talk about change, we know what real change looks like because we’ve fought for it.  We've got the scars to prove it.  I've got the gray hair to show it.  (Laughter.)  I wasn’t this gray when I first showed up in Iowa.  (Applause.)  And sometimes it’s been hard.  Sometimes it’s been frustrating.  We understand that.  But what we also know is that when we decide to make a difference, when Americans come together, determined to bring about change, nobody can stop us.  We cannot be stopped. 

And after all we've been through together, after all that we fought through together, we cannot give up on change now.  (Applause.) 

We know what real change looks like.  Change is a country where every American has a shot at a great education -- where we recruit new teachers, train new workers, bring down tuition, so that no one in this country is forced to give up the dream of a college education.  (Applause.)  

Change comes when we live up to this country’s legacy of innovation by investing in the next generation of technology and manufacturing.  Instead of subsidizing oil company profits, I want to support energy jobs of tomorrow.  And Iowa knows about clean energy and biodiesel and wind turbines that will free this country from the grip of foreign oil.  (Applause.)

I don’t want a tax code that rewards companies for creating jobs overseas; I want to reward companies that create jobs right here in America.  That’s what change is, Iowa.  (Applause.)
  
Change is turning the page on a decade of war so we can do some nation-building here at home -- repairing our roads and our bridges, making our schools state of the art; putting our veterans back to work -- because nobody who fights for this country’s freedom should have to fight for a job, or a roof over their heads when they come home.  (Applause.)  That's what we're fighting for.  That's why we're not done.  (Applause.)  

Change is a future where we reduce our deficit by asking the wealthiest Americans to go back to the tax rates they paid when Bill Clinton was in office.  (Applause.)  We’ll cut out spending we don't need.  But as long as I’m President, we're not going to turn Medicare into a voucher just to pay for another millionaire’s tax cut.  (Applause.)  We're not going to kick a kid off of Head Start just to pay for a millionaire’s tax cut.  (Applause.)  

Because our budget reflects our priorities and our values.  And we know what our future requires.  We know what real change is.  You helped teach me that, here in Iowa.  (Applause.)  And what we also know is that change isn't easy.  Remember, a lot of you showed up to town hall meetings back in 2007, 2008, and I used to talk about change.  But I also said I'm not just talking about changing presidents.  I'm not just talking about changing parties.  I'm talking about changing our politics.  (Applause.)  
I told you I ran because your voices had been shut out of our democracy for way too long by special interests and politicians who will do whatever it takes to keep things just the way they are.  And we've seen over the last four years, the status quo in Washington, they are powerful and they have fought us every step of the way. 

When we tried -- and succeeded in reforming our health care system, they spent millions trying to stop us.  When we tried -- and succeeded -- in reforming Wall Street, they spent millions to push us back.  And we kept on going.  But those were tough fights. 

And what the protectors of the status quo in Washington are counting on now is that you’ll get worn down by all the squabbling.  You’ll get fed up with the dysfunction.  You’ll give up on the change we’ve fought for.  You’ll walk away and leave them to make decisions that affect every American.  In other words, their bet is on cynicism.  But, Iowa, you taught me to bet on you.  (Applause.)  You taught me to bet on hope.  (Applause.)  
I’ll work with anybody, of any party, to move this country forward.  And if you want to break the gridlock in Congress, you’ll vote for leaders who feel the same way -- whether they’re Democrats, or Republicans, or independents -- the kind of Iowa leaders you’ve always had -- Tom and Christie Vilsack, and Tom Harkin, and Leonard Boswell and Bruce Braley, and my great friends, Tom Miller and Mike Fitzgerald.  (Applause.)  

But there’s some principles you got to fight for.  There are times where you’ve got to take a stand.  If the price of peace in Washington is cutting deals to kick students off of financial aid, or get rid of funding for Planned Parenthood, or let insurance companies discriminate against kids with preexisting conditions, or eliminate health care for millions on Medicaid who are poor, or elderly, or disabled -- I won't pay that price.  That's not a deal I will make.  (Applause.)  That’s not bipartisanship.  That’s not change.  That’s surrender to the same forces of the status quo that has squeezed middle-class families for way too long.

And, Iowa, I’m not ready to give up on the fight.  (Applause.)  I've got a lot more fight left in me.  (Applause.)  But to wage that fight on behalf of American families, I need you to still have some fight in you, too.  (Applause.)  

The folks at the top in this country, it turns out they don’t need another champion in Washington.  They’ll always have a seat at the table.  They’ll always have access and influence.  The people who need a champion are the Americans whose letters I read late at night after a long day in the office; the men and women I meet on the campaign trail every day. 

The laid-off furniture worker who’s retraining at the age of 55 for a new career at a community college -- she needs a champion.  The restaurant owner who needs a loan to expand -- he’s got great food but the bank turned him down -- he needs help.  He needs a champion.  The cooks and the waiters and cleaning staff, working overtime in a hotel in Des Moines or Vegas, trying to save enough to buy a first home or send their kid to college -- they need a champion.  (Applause.)  

The autoworker who was laid off, thought the plant would never reopen, and is now back on the job, filled with pride and dignity, building a great car, building America -- he needs a champion.  (Applause.)   The teacher in an overcrowded classroom with outdated schoolbooks, digging into her own pocket to buy school supplies, not always feeling like she’s got the support she needs, but showing up every day because she knows that this might be the day that she’s got a breakthrough and she makes a difference in one child’s life -- she needs a champion.  (Applause.)

All those kids in inner cities, small farm towns -- kids dreaming of becoming scientists or doctors, engineers or entrepreneurs, diplomats or even a President -- they need a champion in Washington, because the future will never have as many lobbyists as the status quo -- children don't have lobbyists the way oil companies or banks do.  But it’s the dreams of those children that will be our saving grace. 

That’s what we fight for.  That’s why I need you, Iowa.  To make sure their voices are heard.  To make sure your voices are heard.  (Applause.)  And that's why we’ve come too far to turn back now.  We’ve come too far to let our hearts grow faint.  Now is the time to keep pushing forward -- (applause) -- to educate all our kids, and train all our workers, and to create new jobs, and rebuild our roads, and bring back our troops, and care for our veterans, and broaden opportunity, and grow our middle class, and restore our democracy -- and make sure that no matter who you are, or where you come from, or how you started out, what you look like, who you love, what your last name is, here in America, you can make it if you try.  That's what we're fighting for.  (Applause.)

And, Iowa, after all the months of campaigning, after all the rallies, after the millions of dollars of ads, it all comes down to you.  It’s out of my hands now.  It’s in yours.  All of it depends on what you do when you step into that voting booth tomorrow.  It’s just a remarkable thing, the way our democracy works.  And at a certain point, all this effort and all these campaign rallies -- and then it just comes down to each of us, as citizens.  All of it depends on you bringing your friend, or your neighbor, your coworker, your mom, your dad, your wife, your husband to the polls. 

That's how our democracy is supposed to be.  The single most powerful force in our democracy is you.  Moving this country forward begins with you.  (Applause.)  Don’t ever let anybody tell you your voice doesn’t matter.  Don't let anybody tell you your voice can't make a difference.  It makes a difference. 

I got a powerful reminder of this myself on our last campaign.  Folks in Iowa, I know you may have heard this story but it was early in the primaries, and we were still way down in the polls.  I think this office had just finally gotten the heat turned on.  (Laughter.)  And at the time, I was still competing in South Carolina -- it was one of the early primary states.  And I really wanted the endorsement of a state representative down there.  I met her at some function where nobody knew me, nobody could pronounce my name.  They’re wondering, what’s he thinking? (Laughter.) 

So I asked her for her endorsement.  And she said, “I tell you what, Obama -- I will give you my endorsement if you come to my hometown of Greenwood, South Carolina.”  And I think I had a little bit of wine during dinner, because right away I said “okay.”  (Laughter.)

So it’s about a month later, and I'm traveling back to South Carolina.  And we flew in late -- I think we were coming from Iowa.  We had been campaigning non-stop, traveling all through towns and having town hall meetings and shaking hands.  And in between, I'm making phone calls, asking people for support.  And so we land in Greenwood, South Carolina, at around midnight.  We get to the hotel about 1 o’clock in the morning.  I am wiped out. I'm exhausted.  And I'm dragging my bags to my room.  Back then we didn’t fly on Air Force One.  (Laughter.)  And the accommodations were a little different.  (Laughter.)

And just as I'm about to walk into the room, one of my staf taps me on the shoulder to say, “Excuse me, Senator” --I was a senator back then.  “We're going to have to wake up and be on the road at 6:30 a.m. in the morning.”  And I said, “What?” (Laughter.)  “Why?”  “Well, you made this promise to go to Greenwood, and it’s several hours away.”  (Laughter.) 

And you know, Iowa, I try to keep my promises.  So a few hours later, I wake up -- and I'm feeling terrible.  I think a cold is coming on.  And I open up the curtains to try to get some light to wake me up, but it’s pouring down rain.  Terrible storm. And I take a shower and get some coffee, and I open up the newspaper and there’s a bad story about me in The New York Times. (Laughter.)  I was much more sensitive at that time to bad stories.  (Laughter.)  I've become more accustomed to these now.

And finally I get dressed, I go downstairs and I'm walking out to the car, and my umbrella blows open -- and I'm soaked.  So by the time I'm in the car I'm wet and I'm mad and I'm still kind of sleepy.  And it turns out that Greenwood is several hours away from everyplace else.  (Laughter.) 

And so we drive, and we drive, and we drive, and we drive.  And finally we get to Greenwood -- although you don't know you're in Greenwood right away because there are not a lot of tall buildings around.  And we pull up to a small field house, and I walked in, and I'm looking around.  I don't hear a lot going on. And the state representative said she was going to organize a little meeting for us, and we walked in and there are about 20 people there.  And they’re all kind of wet, too, and they don't look very excited to see me.  (Laughter.) 

But I'm running for President, so I do what I'm supposed to do -- and I'm shaking hands, I say, “How do you do?  Nice to meet you.”  And I'm making my way around the room, and suddenly I hear this voice cry out behind me:  “Fired up.”

AUDIENCE:  Ready to go!

THE PRESIDENT:  And I'm startled, and I don't know what’s going on.  But everybody in the room -- this is a small room -- they act like this is normal.  (Laughter.)  And when the voice says, “Fired up,” they all say, “Ready to go.”

And so once again, I hear the voice:  “Fired up.”  They say, “Fired up.”  They say, “Ready to go!”  “Ready to go!”

I look around, I turned behind me -- there’s this small woman.  She’s about 60 years old; looks like she just came from church -- she got a big church hat.  (Laughter.)  And she’s looking at me, kind of peering at me, and she’s grinning, smiling, looking happy.  Turns out she’s a city councilwoman from Greenwood -- who also moonlights as a private detective.  I'm not making this up.  (Laughter.)  This is true.  And it turns out she’s famous throughout the area.  When she goes to football games and when she goes to rallies and she goes to community events, she does this chant of hers.  She does it wherever she goes.  So for the next few minutes, she just keeps on saying “Fired up.”

AUDIENCE:  Ready to go!

THE PRESIDENT:  And everybody says “Fired up,” and she says she’s “Ready to go,” and everybody else says “Ready to go.”

And I’m thinking, this woman is showing me up.  (Laughter.) This is my meeting.  I’m running for President.  (Laughter.)  And she’s dominating the room.  And I look at my staff, and they just shrug their shoulders.  They don’t know what to do. 

So this goes on for a few minutes.  Now, here’s the thing, Iowa.  After a few minutes, I’m feeling kind of fired up.  (Laughter.)  I’m feeling like I’m ready to go.  (Laughter.)  So I start joining in the chant, and my staff starts joining in the chant.  And somehow I feel pretty good. 

And we go on to talk about the lives of the people in the room, and their families and their struggles and their hopes for their kids and their grandkids.  And we drive out and it’s still raining, but it doesn’t seem so bad.  And we go to our next stop, and for the rest of the day, even after we left Greenwood, even though we still weren’t getting any big crowds anyplace, even though people still couldn’t pronounce my name, I felt good.  (Laughter.)   

And I’d see my staff, and I’d say, “Are you fired up?”  They’d say, “We’re fired up.”  I’d say, “Are you ready to go?”  And they’d say, “We’re ready to go.”  (Applause.)

And we brought that to Iowa.  And during our rallies, this became a chant, and we’d have signs saying “Fired up, Ready to go.”  And the woman, her name was Edith Childs -- she became a celebrity, and she was written up in The Wall Street Journal -- (laughter) -- and folks did news stories on her.  And this became one of the anthems of our campaign back in 2008. 

Now, here’s the end of the story, though.  We knew we were coming back to Des Moines for the last campaign rally I’ll ever do for me.  And so we were getting kind of sentimental.  And we called up Edith Childs.  And we said, why don’t you come on up?  (Applause.)  No, no, listen to this.  We said, why don’t you come on up; we’ll fly you up from South Carolina and you can do this chant one more time, just for old good-time sake.  It’s like getting the band back together again.  (Laughter.) 

And you know what Edith said?  She said, I’d love to see you, but I think we can still win North Carolina, so I’m taking a crew into North Carolina to knock on doors on Election Day -- I don’t have time just to be talking about it.  (Applause.)  I’ve got to knock on some doors.  (Applause.)  I’ve got to turn out the vote.  (Applause.)  I’m still fired up, but I’ve got work to do.  (Applause.) 

And that shows you what one voice can do.  One voice can change a room.  And if it can change a room, it can change a city.  And if it can change a city, it can change a state.  And if it can change a state, it can change a nation.  (Applause.)  And if it can change a nation, it can change the world.  (Applause.) 

And, Iowa, in 2008, your voice changed the world.  And Edith Childs asked me to ask you that if you’re willing to still stand with me tomorrow, if you’re willing to get your friends and your neighbors and your coworkers to the polls tomorrow, if you’re willing to make sure we finish what we started, she’s pretty sure we’ll win Iowa.  (Applause.)  She’s pretty sure we’ll win this election.  (Applause.)  And she just had one question for you, and that is:  Are you fired up? 

AUDIENCE:  Ready to go! 

THE PRESIDENT:  Are you fired up?

AUDIENCE:  Ready to go!

THE PRESIDENT:  Are you fired up?

AUDIENCE:  Ready to go!

THE PRESIDENT:  Are you fired up?

AUDIENCE:  Ready to go!

THE PRESIDENT:  Iowa, tomorrow let’s remind the world just why it is the United States of America is the greatest nation on Earth.  (Applause.)

I love you.  (Applause.)  Let’s go vote.  Let’s keep moving forward.  God bless you.  And God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)

4 November 2012, Des Moines, Iowa, USA

Joe Biden: 'I've always had someone to lean on', accepting Presidential Medal of Freedom - 2016

12 January 2016, White House, Washington D.C., USA

(The Medal of Freedom is presented.)  (Applause.)
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Mr. President.  (Applause.)  Please, please, thank you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Please.  Thank you. 
 
Ricchetti, you're fired.  (Laughter.)  For the press, Ricchetti is my chief of staff.  (Laughter.)
 
I had no inkling.  I thought we were coming over, Michelle, to -- for you, Jill, and Barack and I and a couple of senior staff to toast one another and say what an incredible journey it’s been.
 
Mr. President, you got right the part about my leaning on Jill.  But I’ve also leaned on you and a lot of people in this room.  I look around the room, and I see great friends like Ted Kaufman, who has been -- has so much wisdom.  Guys like Mel Monzack.  I look around here and I’m startled.  I keep seeing people I don't expect.  Madam President, how are you?  Mr. President, look at my new boss over there.  (Laughter.) 
 
But you know, I get a lot of credit I don't deserve, to state the obvious and -- because I’ve always had somebody to lean on.  From back that time in 1972, when the accident happened, I leaned on -- and I mean this in literal sense; Chris knows this -- Dodd knows this, and Mel knows this, and Ted knows this -- I leaned on my sons Beau and Hunter.  And I continue to lean on Hunter who continues to in a bizarre kind of way raise me.  I mean I’ve leaned on them.
 
And, Mr. President, you observed early on that when either one of my boys would walk in the room, they’d walk up and say, Dad, what can I get you?  Dad, what do you need?  
 
And then Jill came along, and she saved our lives.  She -- no man deserves one great love, let alone two.  And -- but everybody knows here, I am Jill’s husband.  Everybody knows that I love her more than she loves me.  (Laughter.)  With good reason.  (Laughter.)  And she gave me the most precious gift, the love of my life, the life of my love, my daughter, Ashley.
 
And I continue to lean on the family.  Mr. President, you kidded me once.  You heard that the preparation for the two debates -- vice presidential debates that I had -- I only had two that Beau and Hunt would be the last people in the room.  And Beau would say, look at me, Dad.  Look at me.  Remember, remember home base.  Remember.  
 
And the Secret Service can tell you, Mr. President, that Beau and Hunt and Ashley continue to have to corral me.  We were at one of the national parks, and I was climbing up on top of a bridge to jump off the bridge with a bunch of young kids.  And I hear my sons yelling, Dad, get down.  Now!  (Laughter.)  And I just started laughing so hard I couldn’t stop.  And I said, I was just going to do a flip -- a full gainer off here.  
 
He said, Dad, the Secret Service doesn't want you up there.  Dad.  Look at me, Dad.  (Laughter.)  
 
So we've never figured out who the father is in this family.  (Laughter.) 
 
And, Mr. President, you know that with good reason there is no power in the vice presidency.  Matter of fact I just did for Nancy Pelosi’s daughter a reading of the Constitution.  You probably did one for her.  And they had me read the provisions relating to the vice presidency in the Constitution.  And there is no inherent power, nor should there be.
 
But, Mr. President, you have more than kept your commitment to me by saying that you wanted me to help govern.  The President’s line often -- other people don't hear it that often, but when someone would say, can you get Joe to do such and such.  He says, I don't do his schedule.  He doesn't do mine.  
 
Every single thing you've asked me to do, Mr. President, you have trusted me to do.  And that is -- that's a remarkable thing.  I don't think according to -- I see the President of Georgetown here, as well.  I don't think according to the presidential, vice presidential scholars that kind of relationship has existed. I mean, for real.  It’s all you, Mr. President.  It’s all you.
 
The reason why when you send me around the world, nothing gets -- as my mom would say, gets missed between the cup and the lip, it’s because they know when I speak, I speak for you.  
 
And it’s been easy, Mr. President, because we not only have the same political philosophy and ideology, I tell everybody -- and I’ve told them from the beginning.  And I’m not saying this to reciprocate.  I’ve never known a President and few people I’ve ever met my whole life -- I can count on less than one hand -- who have had the integrity and the decency and the sense of other people’s needs like you do.  
 
I know you were upset when I told the story about when Hunt and I were worried that Beau would have to -- that he would, as a matter of honor, decide he had to step down as attorney general while he was fighting his battle because he had aphasia.  He was losing his ability to speak, and he didn't want to ever be in a position where to him everything was about duty and honor. 
 
And I said, and he may resign.  I don't know I just have the feeling he may.  And Hunt and I had talked about this.  And I said, he doesn't have any other income, but we're all right because Hunt’s there, and I can sell the house.  
 
We were having a private lunch like we do once a week.  And this man got up, came over, grabbed me by the shoulders, looked me in the eye, and said, don't you sell that house.  You love that house.
 
I said, it’s no big deal, Mr. President.  He said, I’ll give you the money.  We’ll give you the money.  Promise me, promise me you won’t sell that house.
 
I remember when Ashley, Mr. President, we were in the Oval, and Ashley was in an elevator, and the elevator plummeted to the -- she was with a group of people -- I forget which building in Philadelphia, and it plummeted to the ground.  And immediately the Service was worried that she may have been badly hurt.  And I got up to take the call, and you didn't let up until you made sure your service followed through and made sure everything was all right.
 
But you know, Mr. President, we kid about both about marrying up.  We both did, that kind of thing.  But the truth of the matter is -- I said this to Michelle last night.  Michelle is the finest First Lady in my view that has ever served in the office.  There’s been other great First Ladies, but I really genuinely mean it.  (Applause.) 
 
When I got to meet Michelle’s brother, and he told me about how you guys were raised, and I got to know and love your mom, if your mom -- were your mom 15 years older, she could have been my mom.  Literally, the way you were raised, the way we were raised, there wasn’t any difference.  And I knew that this decision to join you, which was the greatest honor of my life, was the right decision on the night we had to go and accept the nomination, the formal -- we’d be nominated at the convention.  And Finnegan, who is now 18 years old, was then 10 years old.  And she came to me, and she said, Pop, is it okay if the room that we're in -- Finnegan, Maisy, and Naomi -- that we have the beds taken out.  And I said, why?  She said, maybe the Obama girls and your brothers’ children, maybe they would come down, all sleep together in sleeping bags.  (Laughter.)  And I give you my word as a Biden, I knew when I left to go to the convention, open that door, and saw them cuddled together, I knew this was the right decision.  I knew it was the right decision.  I really did.  Because, Mr. President, the same values set -- the same values set.
 
Folks, you know, I joke with my staff that I don't know why they pay them anything, because they get to advise me.  (Laughter.)  Let me explain what I mean by that.  As the President of the University of Delaware, where my heart resides, and my home campus of Delaware, as he can tell you, it's -- I get to give you advice.  I get to be the last guy in the room and give you advice on the most difficult decisions anyone has to make in the whole world.  But I get to walk out, and you make it all by yourself.  All by yourself.  
 
Harry Truman was right about the buck stopping at the desk.  And I've never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never once doubted, on these life and death decisions, I never once doubted that your judgement was flawed -- not once.  Not once.  
 
And we've disagreed, and we've argued, and we've raised our voices, one of which we made a deal we'd be completely open like brothers with one another.  But, Mr. President, I watched you under intense fire.  I will venture to say that no President in history has had as many novel crises land on his desk in all of history.  The Civil War was worse, the World War Two was worse, but, Mr. President, almost every one of the crises you faced was a case of first instance -- a case of first instance.  And I watched that prodigious mind and that heart as big as your head -- I've watched you.  I've watched how you've acted.
 
When you see a woman or man under intense pressure, you get a measure -- and you know that, Michelle, and your daughters know it, as well.  This is a remarkable man.  And I just hope that the asterisk in history that is attached to my name when they talk about this presidency is that I can say I was part of the journey of a remarkable man who did remarkable things for this country.  (Applause.)
 
You know, I can't let a comment go by without quoting an Irish poet.  (Laughter.)  Jill and I talk about why you were able to develop the way you developed and with the heart you have.  Michelle and I have talked about it.  I've confided in Michelle, I've gone to her for advice.  We've talked about this man.  You give me insight.  And I think it's because -- Mr. President, you gave me credit for having understanding other people's misery and suffering.  Mr. President, there is not one single, solitary ounce of entitlement in you, or Michelle, or your beautiful daughters -- and you girls are incredible, you really are.  That’s not hyperbole, you really are.  Not one ounce of entitlement.
 
And Seamus Heaney in one of his poems said -- (laughter) -- when you can find someone who says it better, use it.  He said, you carried your own burden and very soon, your symptoms of creeping privilege disappeared.  You carried your own burdens, and very soon, the creeping symptoms of privilege disappeared.
 
Mr. President, you have sometimes been like a lone wolf, but you carried yourself in a way that’s pretty remarkable.  The history of the journey -- your journey -- is something people are going to write about a long time, and I’m not being solicitous when I say this.  And you’re so fortunate, both of you, to have found each other because all that grounding, all that you have, made this guy totally whole.  And it’s pretty amazing.
 
Mr. President, this honor is not only well beyond what I deserve, but it’s a reflection on the extent and generosity of your spirit.  I don’t deserve this, but I know it came from the President’s heart.  There is a Talmudic saying that says, what comes from the heart, enters the heart.  Mr. President, you have creeped into our heart -- you and your whole family, including Mom -- and you occupy it.  It’s an amazing thing that happened.  I knew how smart you were.  I knew how honorable you were.  I knew how decent you were from the couple years we worked in the Senate, and I knew what you were capable of.  But I never fully expected that you’d occupy the Bidens’ heart, from Hunter, to Ashley, my sister, all of us.  All of us.
 
And Mr. President, I’m indebted to you.  I’m indebted to your friendship, I’m indebted to your family, and as I’ll tell you -- I’ll end on a humorous note.  We’re having a lunch -- lunches, and mostly it’s what’s ever in either one of our minds.  We’ll talk about family an awful lot.  And about six months in, President looks at me, he said, you know, Joe, you know what surprised me?  How we’ve become such good friends.  (Laughter.)  And I said, surprised you?  (Laughter.)
 
But that is candid Obama, and it’s real, and, Mr. President, you know as long as there’s a breath in me, I’ll be there for you, my whole family will be, and I know, I know it is reciprocal.  And I want to thank you all so very, very, very much.  All of you in here.  (Applause.)
 

Michelle Obama: 'I want our young people to know that they matter', last speech as First Lady - 2016

5 November 2016, White House, Washington D.C., USA

OBAMA: Hey! (Applause.) What’s going on? (Applause.) Thank you all so much. You guys, that’s a command — rest yourselves. (Laughter.) We’re almost at the end. (Laughter.) Hello, everyone. And, may I say for the last time officially, welcome to the White House. Yes! (Applause.) Well, we are beyond thrilled to have you all here to celebrate the 2017 National School Counselor of the Year, as well as all of our State Counselors of the Year. These are the fine women, and a few good men — (laughter) — one good man — who are on this stage, and they represent schools from across this country.

And I want to start by thanking Terri for that wonderful introduction and her right-on-the-spot remarks. I’m going to say a lot more about Terri in a few minutes, but first I want to take a moment to acknowledge a few people who are here.

First, our outstanding Secretary of Education, John King. (Applause.) As well as our former Education Secretary, Arne Duncan. (Applause.) I want to take this time to thank you both publicly for your dedication and leadership and friendship. We couldn’t do this without the support of the Department of Education under both of your leadership. So I’m grateful to you personally, and very proud of all that you’ve done for this country.

I also want to acknowledge a few other special guests we have in the audience. We’ve got a pretty awesome crew. As one of my staff said, “You roll pretty deep.” (Laughter.) I’m like, well, yeah, we have a few good friends. We have with us today Ted Allen, La La Anthony, Connie Britton, Andy Cohen — yeah, Andy Cohen is here — (laughter) — Carla Hall, Coach Jim Harbaugh and his beautiful wife, who’s a lot better looking than him — (laughter) — Lana Parrilla, my buddy Jay Pharoah, Kelly Rowland, Usher —

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Woo!

MRS. OBAMA: Keep it down. (Laughter.) Keep it together, ladies. Wale is here. And of course, Allison Williams and her mom are here.

And all these folks are here because they’re using their star power to inspire our young people. And I’m so grateful to all of you for stepping up in so many ways on so many occasions. I feel like I’ve pestered you over these years, asking time and time again, “Well, where are you going to be?” “I’m going to be in New York.” “Can you come? Can you come here? Can you do this? Can you take that? Can you ask for that? Can you come? Can we rap? Can we sing?” (Laughter.) So thank you all so much. It really means the world to this initiative to have such powerful, respected and admired individuals speaking on behalf of this issue. So congratulations on the work that you’ve done, and we’re going to keep working.

And today, I especially want to recognize all these — extraordinary leadership team that was behind Reach Higher from day one. And this isn’t on the script so they don’t know this. I want to take time to personally acknowledge a couple of people. Executive Director Eric Waldo. (Applause.) Where is Eric? He’s in the — you’ve got to step out. (Applause.) Eric is acting like he’s a ham, but he likes the spotlight. (Laughter.) He’s acting a little shy. I want to recognize our Deputy Director, Stephanie Sprow. Stephanie. (Applause.) And he’s really not going to like this because he tries to pretend like he doesn’t exist at all, but our Senior Advisor, Greg Darnieder. (Applause.) There you go. Greg has been a leader in education his entire life. I’ve known him since I was a little organizer person. And it’s just been just a joy to work with you all. These individuals, they are brilliant. They are creative. They have worked miracles with hardly any staff or budget to speak of — which is how we roll in the First Lady’s Office. (Laughter.) And I am so proud and so, so grateful to you all for everything that you’ve done. So let’s give them a round of applause. (Applause.)

And finally, I want to recognize all of you who are here in this audience. We have our educators, our leaders, our young people who have been with us since we launched Reach Higher back in 2014. Now, when we first came up with this idea, we had one clear goal in mind: We wanted to make higher education cool. We wanted to change the conversation around what it means and what it takes to be a success in this country. Because let’s be honest, if we’re always shining the spotlight on professional athletes or recording artists or Hollywood celebrities, if those are the only achievements we celebrate, then why would we ever think kids would see college as a priority?

So we decided to flip the script and shine a big, bright spotlight on all things educational. For example, we made College Signing Day a national event. We wanted to mimic all the drama and excitement traditionally reserved for those few amazing football and basketball players choosing their college and university teams. We wanted to focus that same level of energy and attention on kids going to college because of their academic achievements. Because as a nation, that’s where the spotlight should also be — on kids who work hard in school and do the right thing when no one is watching, many beating daunting odds.

Next, we launched Better Make Room. It’s a social media campaign to give young people the support and inspiration they need to actually complete higher education. And to really drive that message home, you may recall that I debuted my music career — (laughter) — rapping with Jay about getting some knowledge by going to college. (Laughter and applause.)

We are also very proud of all that this administration has done to make higher education more affordable. We doubled investments in Pell grants and college tax credits. We expanded income-based loan repayment options for tens of millions of students. We made it easier to apply for financial aid. We created a College Scorecard to help students make good decisions about higher education. And we provided new funding and support for school counselors. (Applause.) Altogether, we made in this administration the largest investment in higher education since the G.I. Bill. (Applause.) And today, the high school graduation rate is at a record high, and more young people than ever before are going to college.

And we know that school counselors like all of the folks standing with me on this stage have played a critical role in helping us get there. In fact, a recent study showed that students who met with a school counselor to talk about financial aid or college were three times more likely to attend college, and they were nearly seven times more likely to apply for financial aid.

So our school counselors are truly among the heroes of the Reach Higher story. And that’s why we created this event two years ago, because we thought that they should finally get some recognition. (Applause.) We wanted everyone to know about the difference that these phenomenal men and women have been making in the lives of our young people every day. And our 2017 School Counselor of the Year, Terri Tchorzynski, is a perfect example.

As you heard, Terri works at the Calhoun Area Career Center, a career and technical education school in Michigan. And here’s what Terri’s principal said about her in his letter of recommendation. He said, “Once she identifies a systemic need, she works tirelessly to address it.”

So when students at Terri’s school reported feeling unprepared to apply for higher education, Terri sprang into action to create a school-wide, top-to-bottom college-readiness effort. Under Terri’s leadership, more students than ever before attended workshops on resume writing, FAFSA completion — yes, I can now say FAFSA — (laughter) — and interview preparation. I can barely say it. (Laughter.) They did career and personal — personality assessments. They helped plan a special college week. And they organized a Military Day, hosting recruiters from all branches of our armed forces. And because of these efforts, today, 75 percent of Calhoun’s seniors now complete key college application steps, and Terri’s school has won state and national recognition.

And all of this is just one small part of what Terri does for her students each day. I can go on and on about all the time she spends one-on-one with students, helping them figure out their life path. Terri told us — as you heard, she told us about one of those students, so we reached out to Kyra. And here’s what Kyra had to say in her own words. Kyra wrote that “Mrs. Tchorzynski has helped me grow to love myself. She helped me with my doubts and insecurities.” She said, my life has changed “for the better in all aspects.” Kyra said, “She held my hand through my hardest times.” She said, “Mrs. Tchorzynski is my lifesaver.” That’s what Kyra said. (Laughter.)

And this is what each of you do every single day. You see the promise in each of your students. You believe in them even when they can’t believe in themselves, and you work tirelessly to help them be who they were truly meant to be. And you do it all in the face of some overwhelming challenges — tight budgets, impossible student- counselor ratios — yeah, amen — (laughter) — endless demands on your time.

You all come in early, you stay late. You reach into your own pockets — and see, we’ve got the amen corner. (Laughter.) You stick with students in their darkest moments, when they’re most anxious and afraid. And if anyone is dealing with a college [high school] senior or junior, you know what this feels like. These men and women show them that those kids matter; that they have something to offer; that no matter where they’re from or how much money their parents have, no matter what they look like or who they love or how they worship or what language they speak at home, they have a place in this country.

And as I end my time in the White House, I can think of no better message to send our young people in my last official remarks as First Lady. So for all the young people in this room and those who are watching, know that this country belongs to you — to all of you, from every background and walk of life. If you or your parents are immigrants, know that you are part of a proud American tradition — the infusion of new cultures, talents and ideas, generation after generation, that has made us the greatest country on earth.

If your family doesn’t have much money, I want you to remember that in this country, plenty of folks, including me and my husband — we started out with very little. But with a lot of hard work and a good education, anything is possible — even becoming President. That’s what the American Dream is all about. (Applause.)

If you are a person of faith, know that religious diversity is a great American tradition, too. In fact, that’s why people first came to this country — to worship freely. And whether you are Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh — these religions are teaching our young people about justice, and compassion, and honesty. So I want our young people to continue to learn and practice those values with pride. You see, our glorious diversity — our diversities of faiths and colors and creeds — that is not a threat to who we are, it makes us who we are. (Applause.) So the young people here and the young people out there: Do not ever let anyone make you feel like you don’t matter, or like you don’t have a place in our American story — because you do. And you have a right to be exactly who you are. But I also want to be very clear: This right isn’t just handed to you. No, this right has to be earned every single day. You cannot take your freedoms for granted. Just like generations who have come before you, you have to do your part to preserve and protect those freedoms. And that starts right now, when you’re young.

Right now, you need to be preparing yourself to add your voice to our national conversation. You need to prepare yourself to be informed and engaged as a citizen, to serve and to lead, to stand up for our proud American values and to honor them in your daily lives. And that means getting the best education possible so you can think critically, so you can express yourself clearly, so you can get a good job and support yourself and your family, so you can be a positive force in your communities.

And when you encounter obstacles — because I guarantee you, you will, and many of you already have — when you are struggling and you start thinking about giving up, I want you to remember something that my husband and I have talked about since we first started this journey nearly a decade ago, something that has carried us through every moment in this White House and every moment of our lives, and that is the power of hope — the belief that something better is always possible if you’re willing to work for it and fight for it.

It is our fundamental belief in the power of hope that has allowed us to rise above the voices of doubt and division, of anger and fear that we have faced in our own lives and in the life of this country. Our hope that if we work hard enough and believe in ourselves, then we can be whatever we dream, regardless of the limitations that others may place on us. The hope that when people see us for who we truly are, maybe, just maybe they, too, will be inspired to rise to their best possible selves.

That is the hope of students like Kyra who fight to discover their gifts and share them with the world. It’s the hope of school counselors like Terri and all these folks up here who guide those students every step of the way, refusing to give up on even a single young person. Shoot, it’s the hope of my — folks like my dad who got up every day to do his job at the city water plant; the hope that one day, his kids would go to college and have opportunities he never dreamed of.

That’s the kind of hope that every single one of us — politicians, parents, preachers — all of us need to be providing for our young people. Because that is what moves this country forward every single day — our hope for the future and the hard work that hope inspires.

So that’s my final message to young people as First Lady. It is simple. (Applause.) I want our young people to know that they matter, that they belong. So don’t be afraid — you hear me, young people? Don’t be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered. Empower yourselves with a good education, then get out there and use that education to build a country worthy of your boundless promise. Lead by example with hope, never fear. And know that I will be with you, rooting for you and working to support you for the rest of my life.

And that is true I know for every person who are here — is here today, and for educators and advocates all across this nation who get up every day and work their hearts out to lift up our young people. And I am so grateful to all of you for your passion and your dedication and all the hard work on behalf of our next generation. And I can think of no better way to end my time as First Lady than celebrating with all of you.

So I want to close today by simply saying thank you. Thank you for everything you do for our kids and for our country. Being your First Lady has been the greatest honor of my life, and I hope I’ve made you proud.

Dr A P J Abdul Kalam: 'My vision for India', IIT Hyderabad - 2011

25 May 2011, IIT Hyderabad, Sangareddy district, Telangana, India

I have three visions for India. In 3000 years of our history people from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. From Alexander onwards the Greeks, the Turks, the Moguls, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Dutch, all of them came and looted us, took over what was ours. Yet we have not done this to any other nation. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture and their history and tried to enforce our way of life on them. Why? Because we respect the freedom of others. That is why my FIRST VISION is that of FREEDOM. I believe that India got its first vision of this in 1857, when we started the war of Independence. It is this freedom that we must protect and nurture and build on. If we are not free, no one will respect us.

We have 10 percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our achievements are being globally recognised today. Yet we lack the self-confidence to see ourselves as a developed nation, self-reliant and self-assured. Isn’t this incorrect? MY SECOND VISION for India is DEVELOPMENT. For fifty years we have been a developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developed nation. We are among top five nations in the world in terms of GDP.

I have a THIRD VISION. India must stand up to the world. Because I believe that unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. Only strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand. My good fortune was to have worked with three great minds. Dr.Vikram Sarabhai, of the Dept. of Space, Professor Satish Dhawan, who succeeded him and Dr. Brahm Prakash, father of nuclear material. I was lucky to have worked with all three of them closely and consider this the great opportunity of my life.

I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year-old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India. For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim India is not an underdeveloped nation; it is a highly developed nation.

You say that our government is inefficient. You say that our laws are too old. You say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage. You say that the phones don’t work, the railways are a joke, the airline is the worst in the world, and mails never reach their destination. You say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits. You say, say and say. What do you do about it?

Dear Indians, I am echoing J.F.Kennedy’s words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians ……. “ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY.”

Related content: Narendra Modi, 'We will be 100% successful", speech at Madison Square Garden.

"To my dear brothers and sisters settled in America. To all the distinguished and strong members of the American democracy present here, to all the brothers and sisters in India watching today’s event via Internet and TV, and those who couldn’t make it inside the event and are outside; I welcome and acknowledge them."

Read transcript and listen to speech

Tony Blair: 'It's the chain reaction that terror brings with it', The case against terrorism - 2006

28 July 2006, Joint News conference, White House, Washington DC, USA

I don't think, actually, it's anything to do with a loss of American influence at all. I think -- we've got to go back and ask what changed policy, because policy has changed in the past few years. And what changed policy was September the 11th.

That changed policy, but actually, before September the 11th this global movement with a global ideology was already in being. September the 11th was the culmination of what they wanted to do. But, actually -- and this is probably where the policymakers, such as myself, were truly in error -- is that even before September the 11th, this was happening in all sorts of different ways in different countries.

I mean, in Algeria, for example, tens and tens of thousands of people lost their lives. This movement has grown, it is there, it will latch on to any cause that it possibly can and give it a dimension of terrorism and hatred.

You can see this. You can see it in Kashmir, for example. You can see it in Chechnya. You can see it in Palestine. Now, what is its purpose?

Its purpose is to promote its ideology based upon the perversion of Islam, and to use any methods at all, but particularly terrorism, to do that, because they know that the value of terrorism to them is -- as I was saying a moment or two ago, it's not simply the act of terror, it's the chain reaction that terror brings with it.

Terrorism brings the reprisal; the reprisal brings the additional hatred; the additional hatred breeds the additional terrorism, and so on. But in a small way, we lived through that in Northern Ireland over many, many decades.

Now, what happened after September the 11th -- and this explains, I think, the President's policy, but also the reason why I have taken the view, and still take the view that Britain and America should remain strong allies, shoulder-to-shoulder in fighting this battle, is that we are never going to succeed unless we understand they are going to fight hard. The reason why they are doing what they're doing in Iraq at the moment -- and, yes, it's really tough as a result of it -- is because they know that if, right in the center of the Middle East, in an Arab, Muslim country, you've got a non- sectarian democracy, in other words people weren't governed either by religious fanatics or secular dictators, you've got a genuine democracy of the people, how does their ideology flourish in such circumstances?

So they have imported the terrorism into that country, preyed on whatever reactionary elements there are to boost it. And that's why we have the issue there; that's why the Taliban are trying to come back in Afghanistan.

That is why, the moment it looked as if you could get progress in Israel and Palestine, it had to be stopped. That's the moment when, as they saw there was a problem in Gaza, so they realized, well, there's a possibility now we can set Lebanon against Israel.

Now, it's a global movement, it's a global ideology. And if there's any mistake that's ever made in these circumstances, it's if people are surprised that it's tough to fight, because you're up against an ideology that's prepared to use any means at all, including killing any number of wholly innocent people.

And I don't dispute part of the implication of your question at all, in the sense that you look at what is happening in the Middle East and what is happening in Iraq and Lebanon and Palestine, and, of course, there's a sense of shock and frustration and anger at what is happening, and grief at the loss of innocent lives.

But it is not a reason for walking away. It's a reason for staying the course, and staying it no matter how tough it is, because the alternative is actually letting this ideology grip a larger and larger number of people.

And it is going to be difficult. Look, we've got a problem even in our own Muslim communities in Europe, who will half-buy into some of the propaganda that's pushed at it -- the purpose of America is to suppress Islam, Britain has joined with America in the suppression of Islam. And one of the things we've got to stop doing is stop apologizing for our own positions.

Muslims in America, as far as I'm aware of, are free to worship; Muslims in Britain are free to worship. We are plural societies. It's nonsense, the propaganda is nonsense. And we're not going to defeat this ideology until we in the West go out with sufficient confidence in our own position and say, this is wrong.

It's not just wrong in its methods, it's wrong in its ideas, it's wrong in its ideology, it's wrong in every single wretched reactionary thing about it. And it will be a long struggle, I'm afraid. But there's no alternative but to stay the course with it. And we will.

Michelle Obama: 'I've seen the very best of the American spirit', DNC - 2012

4 September 2012, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Thank you so much, Elaine...we are so grateful for your family's service and sacrifice...and we will always have your back.

Over the past few years as First Lady, I have had the extraordinary privilege of traveling all across this country.

And everywhere I've gone, in the people I've met, and the stories I've heard, I have seen the very best of the American spirit.

I have seen it in the incredible kindness and warmth that people have shown me and my family, especially our girls.

I've seen it in teachers in a near-bankrupt school district who vowed to keep teaching without pay.

I've seen it in people who become heroes at a moment's notice, diving into harm's way to save others...flying across the country to put out a fire...driving for hours to bail out a flooded town.

And I've seen it in our men and women in uniform and our proud military families...in wounded warriors who tell me they're not just going to walk again, they're going to run, and they're going to run marathons...in the young man blinded by a bomb in Afghanistan who said, simply, "...I'd give my eyes 100 times again to have the chance to do what I have done and what I can still do."

Every day, the people I meet inspire me...every day, they make me proud...every day they remind me how blessed we are to live in the greatest nation on earth.

Serving as your First Lady is an honor and a privilege...but back when we first came together four years ago, I still had some concerns about this journey we'd begun.

While I believed deeply in my husband's vision for this country...and I was certain he would make an extraordinary President...like any mother, I was worried about what it would mean for our girls if he got that chance.

How would we keep them grounded under the glare of the national spotlight?

How would they feel being uprooted from their school, their friends, and the only home they'd ever known?

Our life before moving to Washington was filled with simple joys...Saturdays at soccer games, Sundays at grandma's house...and a date night for Barack and me was either dinner or a movie, because as an exhausted mom, I couldn't stay awake for both.

And the truth is, I loved the life we had built for our girls...I deeply loved the man I had built that life with...and I didn't want that to change if he became President.

I loved Barack just the way he was.

You see, even though back then Barack was a Senator and a presidential candidate...to me, he was still the guy who'd picked me up for our dates in a car that was so rusted out, I could actually see the pavement going by through a hole in the passenger side door...he was the guy whose proudest possession was a coffee table he'd found in a dumpster, and whose only pair of decent shoes was half a size too small.

But when Barack started telling me about his family – that's when I knew I had found a kindred spirit, someone whose values and upbringing were so much like mine.

You see, Barack and I were both raised by families who didn't have much in the way of money or material possessions but who had given us something far more valuable – their unconditional love, their unflinching sacrifice, and the chance to go places they had never imagined for themselves.

My father was a pump operator at the city water plant, and he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when my brother and I were young.

And even as a kid, I knew there were plenty of days when he was in pain...I knew there were plenty of mornings when it was a struggle for him to simply get out of bed.

But every morning, I watched my father wake up with a smile, grab his walker, prop himself up against the bathroom sink, and slowly shave and button his uniform.

And when he returned home after a long day's work, my brother and I would stand at the top of the stairs to our little apartment, patiently waiting to greet him...watching as he reached down to lift one leg, and then the other, to slowly climb his way into our arms.

But despite these challenges, my dad hardly ever missed a day of work...he and my mom were determined to give me and my brother the kind of education they could only dream of.

And when my brother and I finally made it to college, nearly all of our tuition came from student loans and grants.

But my dad still had to pay a tiny portion of that tuition himself.

And every semester, he was determined to pay that bill right on time, even taking out loans when he fell short.

He was so proud to be sending his kids to college...and he made sure we never missed a registration deadline because his check was late.

You see, for my dad, that's what it meant to be a man.

Like so many of us, that was the measure of his success in life – being able to earn a decent living that allowed him to support his family.

And as I got to know Barack, I realized that even though he'd grown up all the way across the country, he'd been brought up just like me.

Barack was raised by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills, and by grandparents who stepped in when she needed help.

Barack's grandmother started out as a secretary at a community bank...and she moved quickly up the ranks...but like so many women, she hit a glass ceiling.

And for years, men no more qualified than she was – men she had actually trained – were promoted up the ladder ahead of her, earning more and more money while Barack's family continued to scrape by.

But day after day, she kept on waking up at dawn to catch the bus...arriving at work before anyone else...giving her best without complaint or regret.

And she would often tell Barack, "So long as you kids do well, Bar, that's all that really matters."

Like so many American families, our families weren't asking for much.

They didn't begrudge anyone else's success or care that others had much more than they did...in fact, they admired it.

They simply believed in that fundamental American promise that, even if you don't start out with much, if you work hard and do what you're supposed to do, then you should be able to build a decent life for yourself and an even better life for your kids and grandkids.

That's how they raised us...that's what we learned from their example.

We learned about dignity and decency – that how hard you work matters more than how much you make...that helping others means more than just getting ahead yourself.

We learned about honesty and integrity – that the truth matters...that you don't take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules...and success doesn't count unless you earn it fair and square.

We learned about gratitude and humility – that so many people had a hand in our success, from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our school clean...and we were taught to value everyone's contribution and treat everyone with respect.

Those are the values Barack and I – and so many of you – are trying to pass on to our own children.

That's who we are.

And standing before you four years ago, I knew that I didn't want any of that to change if Barack became President.

Well, today, after so many struggles and triumphs and moments that have tested my husband in ways I never could have imagined, I have seen firsthand that being president doesn't change who you are – it reveals who you are.

You see, I've gotten to see up close and personal what being president really looks like.

And I've seen how the issues that come across a President's desk are always the hard ones – the problems where no amount of data or numbers will get you to the right answer...the judgment calls where the stakes are so high, and there is no margin for error.

And as President, you can get all kinds of advice from all kinds of people.

But at the end of the day, when it comes time to make that decision, as President, all you have to guide you are your values, and your vision, and the life experiences that make you who you are.

So when it comes to rebuilding our economy, Barack is thinking about folks like my dad and like his grandmother.

He's thinking about the pride that comes from a hard day's work.

That's why he signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to help women get equal pay for equal work.

That's why he cut taxes for working families and small businesses and fought to get the auto industry back on its feet.

That's how he brought our economy from the brink of collapse to creating jobs again – jobs you can raise a family on, good jobs right here in the United States of America.

When it comes to the health of our families, Barack refused to listen to all those folks who told him to leave health reform for another day, another president.

He didn't care whether it was the easy thing to do politically – that's not how he was raised – he cared that it was the right thing to do.

He did it because he believes that here in America, our grandparents should be able to afford their medicine...our kids should be able to see a doctor when they're sick...and no one in this country should ever go broke because of an accident or illness.

And he believes that women are more than capable of making our own choices about our bodies and our health care...that's what my husband stands for.

When it comes to giving our kids the education they deserve, Barack knows that like me and like so many of you, he never could've attended college without financial aid.

And believe it or not, when we were first married, our combined monthly student loan bills were actually higher than our mortgage.

We were so young, so in love, and so in debt.

That's why Barack has fought so hard to increase student aid and keep interest rates down, because he wants every young person to fulfill their promise and be able to attend college without a mountain of debt.

So in the end, for Barack, these issues aren't political – they're personal.

Because Barack knows what it means when a family struggles.

He knows what it means to want something more for your kids and grandkids.

Barack knows the American Dream because he's lived it...and he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are, or where we're from, or what we look like, or who we love.

And he believes that when you've worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity...you do not slam it shut behind you...you reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.

So when people ask me whether being in the White House has changed my husband, I can honestly say that when it comes to his character, and his convictions, and his heart, Barack Obama is still the same man I fell in love with all those years ago.

He's the same man who started his career by turning down high paying jobs and instead working in struggling neighborhoods where a steel plant had shut down, fighting to rebuild those communities and get folks back to work...because for Barack, success isn't about how much money you make, it's about the difference you make in people's lives.

He's the same man who, when our girls were first born, would anxiously check their cribs every few minutes to ensure they were still breathing, proudly showing them off to everyone we knew.

That's the man who sits down with me and our girls for dinner nearly every night, patiently answering their questions about issues in the news, and strategizing about middle school friendships.

That's the man I see in those quiet moments late at night, hunched over his desk, poring over the letters people have sent him.

The letter from the father struggling to pay his bills...from the woman dying of cancer whose insurance company won't cover her care...from the young person with so much promise but so few opportunities.

I see the concern in his eyes...and I hear the determination in his voice as he tells me, "You won't believe what these folks are going through, Michelle...it's not right. We've got to keep working to fix this. We've got so much more to do."

I see how those stories – our collection of struggles and hopes and dreams – I see how that's what drives Barack Obama every single day.

And I didn't think it was possible, but today, I love my husband even more than I did four years ago...even more than I did 23 years ago, when we first met.

I love that he's never forgotten how he started.

I love that we can trust Barack to do what he says he's going to do, even when it's hard – especially when it's hard.

I love that for Barack, there is no such thing as "us" and "them" – he doesn't care whether you're a Democrat, a Republican, or none of the above...he knows that we all love our country...and he's always ready to listen to good ideas...he's always looking for the very best in everyone he meets.

And I love that even in the toughest moments, when we're all sweating it – when we're worried that the bill won't pass, and it seems like all is lost – Barack never lets himself get distracted by the chatter and the noise.

Just like his grandmother, he just keeps getting up and moving forward...with patience and wisdom, and courage and grace.

And he reminds me that we are playing a long game here...and that change is hard, and change is slow, and it never happens all at once.

But eventually we get there, we always do.

We get there because of folks like my Dad...folks like Barack's grandmother...men and women who said to themselves, "I may not have a chance to fulfill my dreams, but maybe my children will...maybe my grandchildren will."

So many of us stand here tonight because of their sacrifice, and longing, and steadfast love...because time and again, they swallowed their fears and doubts and did what was hard.

So today, when the challenges we face start to seem overwhelming – or even impossible – let us never forget that doing the impossible is the history of this nation...it's who we are as Americans...it's how this country was built.

And if our parents and grandparents could toil and struggle for us...if they could raise beams of steel to the sky, send a man to the moon, and connect the world with the touch of a button...then surely we can keep on sacrificing and building for our own kids and grandkids.

And if so many brave men and women could wear our country's uniform and sacrifice their lives for our most fundamental rights...then surely we can do our part as citizens of this great democracy to exercise those rights...surely, we can get to the polls and make our voices heard on Election Day.

If farmers and blacksmiths could win independence from an empire...if immigrants could leave behind everything they knew for a better life on our shores...if women could be dragged to jail for seeking the vote...if a generation could defeat a depression, and define greatness for all time...if a young preacher could lift us to the mountaintop with his righteous dream...and if proud Americans can be who they are and boldly stand at the altar with who they love...then surely, surely we can give everyone in this country a fair chance at that great American Dream.

Because in the end, more than anything else, that is the story of this country – the story of unwavering hope grounded in unyielding struggle.

That is what has made my story, and Barack's story, and so many other American stories possible.

And I say all of this tonight not just as First Lady...and not just as a wife.

You see, at the end of the day, my most important title is still "mom-in-chief."

My daughters are still the heart of my heart and the center of my world.

But today, I have none of those worries from four years ago about whether Barack and I were doing what's best for our girls.

Because today, I know from experience that if I truly want to leave a better world for my daughters, and all our sons and daughters...if we want to give all our children a foundation for their dreams and opportunities worthy of their promise...if we want to give them that sense of limitless possibility – that belief that here in America, there is always something better out there if you're willing to work for it...then we must work like never before...and we must once again come together and stand together for the man we can trust to keep moving this great country forward...my husband, our President, President Barack Obama.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

Ban KI-moon: 'I also stand before you with deep concern', farewell address as UN Secretary-General - 2016

20 September 2016, United Nations, New York City, USA

I stand before you with gratitude for your support across the decade I have had the privilege to serve this great organization, the United Nations.

In taking the oath of office in December 2006, I pledged to work with you for “we the peoples”.

With the Charter as our guide, and the dedication of the staff, we have achieved much together.

I also stand before you with deep concern.

Gulfs of mistrust divide citizens from their leaders.  Extremists push people into camps of “us” and “them”.  The Earth assails us with rising seas, record heat and extreme storms.  And danger defines the days of many.

One hundred and thirty million people need life-saving assistance.  Tens of millions of them are children and young people — our next generation already at risk.

Yet after ten years in office, I am more convinced than ever that we have the power to end war, poverty and persecution.  We have the means to prevent conflict.  We have the potential to close the gap between rich and poor, and to make rights real in people’s lives.

With the Sustainable Development Goals, we have a manifesto for a better future.

With the Paris Agreement on climate change, we are tackling the defining challenge of our time.

We have no time to lose.  I urge you, leaders, to bring the Paris Agreement into force before the end of this year.  We need just 26 countries more, representing just 15 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions.

I ask you to help lead us to a world of low-carbon growth, increased resilience and greater opportunity and well-being for our children.

These great gains are threatened by grave security threats.

Armed conflicts have grown more protracted and complex.  Governance failures have pushed societies past the brink.  Radicalization has threatened social cohesion – precisely the response that violent extremists seek and welcome.

The tragic consequences are on brutal display from Yemen to Libya and Iraq, from Afghanistan to the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin.

In today’s world, the conflict in Syria is taking the greatest number of lives and sowing the widest instability.  There is no military solution.  Many groups have killed many innocents –but none more so than the Government of Syria, which continues to barrel bomb neighbourhoods and systematically torture thousands of detainees.  Powerful patrons that keep feeding the war machine also have blood on their hands.  Present in this Hall today are representatives of governments that have ignored, facilitated, funded, participated in or even planned and carried out atrocities inflicted by all sides of the Syria conflict against Syrian civilians.

Just when we think it cannot get any worse, the bar of depravity sinks lower. Yesterday’s sickening, savage, and apparently deliberate attack on a UN-Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid convoy is the latest example.

The United Nations has been forced to suspend aid convoys as a result of this outrage.

The humanitarians delivering life-saving aid were heroes. Those who bombed them were cowards.

Accountability for crimes such as these is essential.

I appeal to all those with influence to end the fighting and get talks started. A political transition is long overdue.  After so much violence and misrule, the future of Syria should not rest on the fate of a single man.

One year ago, Palestine proudly raised its flag at UN Headquarters.  Yet the prospects for a two-state solution are being lowered by the day.  All the while, the occupation grinds into its 50th year.

As a friend of both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, it pains me that this past decade has been ten years lost to peace.  Ten years lost to illegal settlement expansion.  Ten years lost to intra-Palestinian divide, growing polarization and hopelessness.

This is madness.  Replacing a two-state solution with a one-state construct would spell doom: denying Palestinians their freedom and rightful future, and pushing Israel further from its vision of a Jewish democracy towards greater global isolation.

On the Korean Peninsula, the fifth nuclear test by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has again threatened regional and international security.  Meanwhile, the people’s suffering and plight are worsening. I urge the leaders of the DPRK to change course and fulfil their obligations – to their own people and to the family of nations.

In Ukraine, the violence has caused an internal upheaval, renewed tensions across Europe and rekindled geopolitical rivalries.

In South Sudan, leaders have also betrayed their people.

Indeed, in too many places, we see leaders rewriting constitutions, manipulating elections and taking other desperate steps to cling to power.

Leaders must understand that holding office is a trust, granted by the people, not personal property.

My message to all is clear: serve your people.  Do not subvert democracy; do not pilfer your country’s resources; do not imprison and torture your critics.

Yesterday we made great progress in helping people find a haven from conflict and tyranny.

The New York Declaration on Refugees and Migrants points the way toward saving lives and protecting the rights of millions of people.  We all must meet those promises.

All too often, refugees and migrants face hatred.  Muslims in particular are being targeted by stereotyping and suspicion that have haunting echoes of the dark past.  I say to political leaders and candidates:  do not engage in the cynical and dangerous political math that says you add votes by dividing people and multiplying fear.  The world must stand up against lies and distortions of truth, and reject all forms of discrimination.

We must also address the factors that compel people to move.  That means investing in conflict prevention and engaging in patient diplomacy.  And as the demand for peacekeeping rises, we must continue strengthening peace operations to help countries secure and sustain peace.  I am encouraged that the General Assembly has endorsed the Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism, which can help us tackle the drivers of conflict.

In Myanmar, the transition has entered a promising new phase. In Sri Lanka, post-war healing efforts have deepened.  In both countries, true reconciliation rests on ensuring that all communities, minorities and majorities alike, are included in building a new union.

Next Monday, I will travel to Colombia for the signing of a peace agreement to end one of the world’s longest-running armed conflicts.  The United Nations will support the Colombian people every step of the way.

There is also encouraging movements towards an agreement on Cyprus.

Let us all support the progress and solutions that may now be at hand.

Allow me to briefly touch on a few other areas that I hope will long remain priorities of the United Nations.

I am proud that UN Women came to life during my tenure.  It is now our established champion of gender equality and empowerment, aiming for a “50-50 planet”.  I have appointed more women to senior positions at the United Nations than ever before — and I am proud to call myself a feminist.

Women hold up half the sky and are essential to meeting all our goals.

I have been saying that the least utilized resource in our world is the potential for women.

So we must do far more to end deep-seated discrimination and chronic violence against women, to advance their participation in decision-making, and to ensure that every girl gets the start in life she deserves.

I have been a proud defender of the rights of all people, regardless of ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation.

Our human rights machinery – along with the Human Rights up Front initiative — is placing human rights at the centre.  Human rights are the pillars of society — and the antidotes to violent extremism and civic despair.

We have deepened support for the Responsibility to Protect.  We have made inroads against the death penalty.  Landmark convictions by the International Criminal Court and other bodies have advanced accountability — but we still must do far more to prevent genocide and other atrocity crimes.

Civil society is essential for all of these efforts.

I ask all of you to join me today in saying “yes” to greater space for civil society and independent media, and “no” to cracking down on the freedoms of assembly and expression.

Continued progress will require new heights of solidarity.

Sometimes we are our own worst enemies.  Member States have still not agreed on a formula for reform of the Security Council — a continuing risk to its effectiveness and legitimacy.

In the same spirit, I want to put on the table today a major and much needed reform for fairnessand effectiveness in the United Nations.

Far too often, I have seen widely-supported proposals blocked, in the name of consensus, by a few or sometimes even just one country.

We see this being done by large and small countries alike.

Time and again, I have seen essential action and good ideas blocked in the Security Council. Blocked in the General Assembly.  Blocked in the budget process, blocked in the Conference on Disarmament and other bodies.

Is it fair in this complicated 21st century for any one country or few countries to yield such disproportionate power, and hold the world hostage on so many important issues?

Consensus should not be confused with unanimity.  The global public is right to ask whether this is how an organization in which we have invested so much hope and aspirations should function.

I propose, Mr. President, that you explore, with my successor, the establishment of a high-level panel to find practical solutions that will improve decision-making at the United Nations.

States must also respect the independence of the Secretariat, in accordance with the Charter.

When our reports say what needs to be said, Member States should not try and rewrite history.

When our human rights personnel act on behalf of the most vulnerable, Member States should not block their path.

When our humanitarian workers need to reach populations under siege, Member States should remove all obstacles.

And when our envoys and personnel raise difficult issues, Member States should not ostracize them or threaten to banish them from the country.

We must all be open and accountable to the people we serve.

There is one last measure of the change that has defined the past decade.

It is hard to believe, but when I took office, a smart phone like this had not even been introduced to the world.

Today it is a lifeline and, perhaps at times, the bane of our existence!

It is an indispensable part of our lives.

Our phones and social media have connected the world in ways that were unimaginable when I took office.  Yes, they have been abused by extremists and hate groups.  But they have also created a world of new communities and opportunities.

For me, it is all a reminder of the power of individuals to change the world.

After all, people power helped make the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development the most inclusive development process of our time.  People power mobilized millions to push leaders to take climate action.

People power is what I have seen in every corner of the world this past decade.

People like Rebecca Johnson, a nurse I met in Sierra Leone who contracted Ebola, recovered and then rushed and risked her life again to save her community.

People like Yusra Mardini, the Syrian teen swimmer who pushed her damaged refugee boat to safety and then went on to compete in the Rio Olympic Games.

And, of course, people like young Malala Yousafzai, who came to the United Nations and showed us all how one book, one pen and one person can make a difference.

A perfect world may be on the far horizon.

But a route to a better world, a safer world, a more just world, is in each and every one of us.

Ten years on, I know that working together, working united, we can get there. I count on your leadership and commitment.

Thank you very much.

Julian Leeser: 'It said simply - "I am sorry Sylvia, I just can't cope, love, John", maiden speech - 2016

14 September 2016, Parliament House, Canberra, Australia

As a child the sound of my mother's footsteps coming towards my bedroom to wake me in the morning was a reassuring feature of daily life.

Inevitably I was awake before she made the door; but the rhythm, the sound, and the intensity of her walk were unmistakable.

Each morning the moment would arrive when she'd fling the door open with that effervescent greeting "time to rise and shine".

Twenty years ago this month my mother approached my room to wake me, but it was with a very different sound, pace and tempo.

Seared on my mind from that night was the speed of her approach and her scream as she flung open the door of my bedroom, sobbing, "Dad's gone, Dad's gone."

I got up from my bed to comfort my mum, trying to calm her. I went down the hall to my father's office, where he worked late into the night for his clients.

There I found his pyjamas in a pile and on the glass-topped table in the hall, was a note, like so many of the notes from my father, written in red pen on the back of a used envelope.

It said simply -"I am sorry Sylvia, I just can't cope, love, John".

I felt a great emptiness ripping at my stomach. I went to the garage and saw the car was missing.

We called the Police and later they came round to tell us that they'd found my father's body at the bottom of The Gap at Watsons Bay.

There is a point in life when you are supposed to become a man.

As I stood on the veranda and watched the sun come up that morning, I knew my day had come.

My father loved music.

He played 2CH on the radio from the moment he woke up to the moment he went to bed. Easy listening music was the sound-track of my childhood.

But the day he died the music died with him, and it was years before I could listen to his music again without tearing up.

Over the past twenty years I have gone back over the week leading up to my father's death too many times - and I keep thinking back to the signs he was giving us.

Although we had always been a family that hugged each other, my father had started giving us all very long hugs.

My father prided himself on being a great car parker and yet the week before he died he didn't seem to care how he parked. In hindsight it's clear that something had changed.

I knew it but didn't say anything.

You ask yourself, what could I have done?

What should I have said? Could I have reached out in a way that I didn't? Could I have said, as we say now, "Are you OK?"

I reflect on my own conduct the night before my father died, when he asked if I could help him polish his shoes before he left for a dinner at my brother's school.

I remember as a self-absorbed 20 year old the petulance and rudeness with which I waived away the opportunity to help my father, a man who so often helped me, and not a day goes by that I don't regret it.

Suicide, they used to say, is a victimless crime, but they never count the loved ones left behind.

In the past 20 years we have changed our approach to suicide, depression and mental health.

 And while there has rightly been a focus on the mental health of adolescents and young people, we must remember that people suffering at other stages in their lives are equally important.

And sadly the number of older people taking their own lives is increasing - my own father was fifty five.

In these past 20 years, we have spent millions on mental health and suicide prevention. Every government has tried - but despite all the good will, it is a fight we are losing.

In my own electorate we have had more than 100 people take their own lives in the last eight years. And across Australia eight people die by suicide every day.

All this shows that government money alone will not solve this epidemic. Treating depression as purely a medical issue is not working.

Rather we need to rebuild caring communities where people know and notice the signs and acknowledge the people around them.

Where we ask "Are you OK?", or more directly "Are you contemplating suicide?"

And we need to create the conditions where those who are thinking about suicide feel comfortable enough to ask for help.

Through my work in this place, I want to help empower Australians to build a greater sense of community.

I have seen active engagement in community combat loneliness and enable people to see a world outside themselves.

In a society where people are more pressured and more isolated than ever before, active engagement in community fosters civility, courtesy and understanding, virtues that are too often undervalued and supplanted by anger.

There is a role for government in supporting organisations and individuals that reach out to the socially isolated in our community, even in the face of continued rejection.

And there is a role for government in fostering innovative solutions that address suicide prevention, depression and mental health – enabling communities to learn from what has worked and connecting those efforts across our country.

I want to acknowledge the Prime Minister's personal interest in suicide prevention and the leadership he and the Health Minister took in devising the National Suicide Prevention Strategy.

As a member of this House I want to do what I can to help pierce the loneliness, the desperation and the blackness that people who suffer depression feel.

During my time here I will always be an advocate for better mental health policy.

Dad

When I think of my father, mostly though I think not of the way that he died, but rather of the example set by the way that he lived.

My father John was an only child. His father was a pharmacist.

His mother and her family escaped Nazi Germany in 1936 for the freedom and sanctuary of Australia. My father was an accountant; he had his own practice at Parramatta.

As I child I would go with him to the office or visit clients in their homes, businesses and factories.

He knew their lives, their families and their ups and downs: when they succeeded and when they struggled, when they were failing, and when they were flourishing.

He was a friend they saw once a year to help them get their affairs in order and comply with the law.

But even more than that he was an advisor on how they could get on with and grow their businesses.

To the extent that I become an effective local member for Berowra, it will be because of dad's example of professionalism, trust and care in working for his clients - and the personal touch they loved him for. Dad was a man much involved in his community.

He sat on the board of our local Synagogue. He sat on a theatre board. He was involved in the school my brother and I attended.

Dad was hard working, diligent and prided himself on doing things properly, and by the book. He was quiet, unassuming, patient and slow to anger.

He had a husky voice that made him sound like Louis Armstrong.

He and my mother Sylvia gave me three great gifts: my life, my faith and my education.

My father instilled in my brother Lindsay and me an important set of values:

· Courtesy, civility and fair dealing with everyone with whom he interacted.

· The need to give back to the community and get involved; and

· A deep sense of faith and love of the joys of Judaism.

He gave us a strong sense, shared by all Jews, that our own story is part of a much larger story.

That we should be, in Jonathan Sacks' words, "true to our faith while being a blessing to others regardless of their faith".

While I don't always live up to my father's ideals, his are the fundamental values which have shaped my life.

There is a Jewish idea that one should bring joy or naches to one's parents. I hope that my election to this place would have brought as much naches to him as it does to my mother and the rest of my family.

Mum

It is to my mother Sylvia that I owe the greatest thanks for being here today. Her courage and her unconditional love for my brother Lindsay and me has sustained our family through celebrations and sorrows.

With her unshakable belief that anything was possible for her boys, she created a home filled with love, stability and opportunity.

Nothing has ever been - or will ever be - too much for her.

But of all her gifts to us, the enthusiasm for active citizenship, the patriotism she instilled in my brother and me, the fact that hopefully, we are happy, well rounded and grateful Australians, is her greatest contribution.

My mother Sylvia is a fifth generation Australian.

Her grandfather was a Gallipoli Anzac and rode in the charge of the Light Horse at Be'er Sheva.

Her mother, Barbara, who passed away last week aged 95, served as a nurse in the Australian Army during the Second World War.

Mum's father Sam served in the ill-fated 8th Division, was taken prisoner in Changi and survived the horrors of the Burma Railway.

The war left my grandfather with a stammer and a steely determination.

What kept him alive in those dark days was a dream to come home and start his own hardware business which he did after the war, employing many of his fellow former POWs too.

The prosperity that my grandfather created was due to his hard work and ingenuity in predicting the need for building supplies to meet a post-war building boom.

My mother's Anglo-Jewry gave her a particular take on being an Australian.

Fiercely patriotic about Australia and loyal to the Crown, she realised the historical peculiarity to be both Jewish and free.

And that had such an impact on me.

As I grew up towards the end of the Cold War, with its threat to freedom everywhere, my mother would constantly remind me of the responsibility that comes with the freedom we enjoy in Australia - to be thankful for it, and to preserve it whenever it's threatened here - because, as she would teach me, most people at most times in most places are not free.

As a child my mother read to me about Australia's history and explained how our own family's story fit into the broader Australian story.

A story of explorers, soldiers, farmers, shopkeepers and professionals, people willing to chance their arm, who carved out a nation in this physically isolated but socially tolerant land.

My contribution to this story will be influenced by the combination of my father's quiet virtues, and my mother's perhaps slightly less quiet, but always deeply patriotic, civic, virtues.

Constitution

It was that instilled sense of history and an early interest in politics, that prompted me to want to serve in this place.

And so around the time of my tenth birthday I asked my parents not for a BMX bike or a cricket bat but for a copy of the Australian Constitution.

I think the Latin term for such behaviour is Nerdus Maximus.

Our Constitution is unique and worthy of celebration.

It belongs to everyone. It was written and debated all over the country, led by that great generation of liberal and conservative barrister-parliamentarians.

 Americans and Canadians wrote their constitutions in secret. Modern constitutions tend to be written by legal academics.

But the Australian Constitution was written in the open across Australia, by Australians for Australian conditions: from the School of Arts at Tenterfield, to the Court House at Corowa; from the drawing rooms of Adelaide to the libraries of Hobart; in parliamentary chambers in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne; and of special significance for me, on the Hawkesbury River, in the Berowra electorate, on a paddle-steamer called the Lucinda where our first Prime Minister Sir Edmund Barton and our first Chief Justice Sir Samuel Griffith, drafted the judicial power of the Commonwealth.

The Australian Constitution has provided the basis for stable government and economic prosperity for over a century.

At a time when constitutional structures and political systems around the world are breaking down, Australia's constitutional achievement should be a source of enormous pride.

Our Constitution establishes our unique Australian democracy.

The Constitution matters as much for what it doesn't say as for what it does.

Our Constitution contains no symbolic language and no bill of rights. Its sparse legal language is its strength.

It has meant that only the most creative judges have been able to invent implied rights to frustrate the democratic will.

The Constitution has figured prominently in my career and contributions to the public debate.

As the youngest elected delegate at the 1998 Constitutional Convention, I remain a committed constitutional monarchist, like my friend and former employer the Member for Warringah, I see it as the best system of government of all the available alternatives.

In 2009 I worked with a broad cross-section of Australians to ensure the defeat of an Australian Bill of Rights because I believe in the capacity of the political process, to solve problems, and I'm against an American style judiciary which makes political rather than legal decisions because of their Bill of Rights.

In 2013, with the members for Goldstein and Mitchell and some senators from the other place I led a scrappy but successful insurgency against Labor's plans to have the Commonwealth intervene in local government.

In important public debates, in a time of increasing polarization of views we need people who can build consensus and find the middle ground.

And so in more recent times, I have worked with Indigenous leaders and constitutional conservatives to find a constitutional way to make better policy about, and due recognition of Indigenous Australians, while avoiding the downsides of inserting symbolic language into a technical document, which requires interpretation by judges.

Today the Constitution has an important role to play in the next chapter of Australia's unfinished economic reforms.

The next item on the reform agenda must be to address the inefficiencies in our federation.

The States and the Commonwealth should have more clearly delineated responsibilities and the finances to deliver them.

Instead, today we have a system of buck passing, duplication and inefficiency: a lopsided federation that the framers would not recognise.

Canberra should not have a monopoly on finance and policy.

It has become fashionable to think that whenever the states fail, Canberra will do a better job.

Pink bats, school halls and The Mersey Hospital demonstrate that service delivery is not always Canberra's forte.

Canberra collects too much tax, while every year the States come begging because they don't raise enough money to finance their own services.

Addressing this dissonance in our federation should deliver less red tape, less duplication, better roads, better schools and better hospitals designed and run to meet local needs.

It should also lead to greater policy innovation as competition between the States drives excellence.

I have had the privilege of working for two of Australia's great federalists High Court Justice Ian Callinan, who honours me with his presence today, and Professor Greg Craven.

I have 6 also spent several years thinking about federalism as the Vice President of the Samuel Griffith Society.

I am not the first person to seek to propose reform of the federation on a federalist model.

Coalition and Labor Politicians have pursued this option before.

But every time such solutions have been proposed, they have been undermined by short-term politicking.

Previous economic reforms had a greater chance of success when there was a cross-party consensus.

The same approach is needed to reform our federation today. We know the task is to deliver the States more of their own source revenue and to lighten Canberra's footprint in areas of policy for which it has little expertise.

What has been lacking is the political cooperation to make it happen.

I therefore propose to look for reform partners in all parties in this Parliament to establish a group to build consensus for reform of fiscal federalism.

Reform of this scale can be daunting and while we may not complete the task while we are in this place, nor are we free to desist from it.

Berowra

But by far my most important task is to serve the people of Berowra with the full measure of my devotion.

The electorate of Berowra was created in 1969. Running from the banks of the Hawkesbury River to the M2 motorway, the people of Berowra are community minded and self-reliant.

That is why there is a greater number of volunteers, people of faith and small business owners than in many other communities.

Despite its strengths, the Berowra community is one that faces major infrastructure challenges. Pennant Hills Road is one of the worst roads in Australia.

But now Liberal State and Federal governments are working with the private sector to deliver Northconnex, which will remove 5000 trucks from Pennant Hills Rd every day, improving air quality and reducing noise while completing the missing national transport link between the M1 and the M2.

It is not the only infrastructure issue we face. Other roads like New Line Rd need widening to take into account the growing population in the electorate and in surrounding areas.

And the undulating hills and the sparse population in the rural areas make mobile connectivity difficult.

But the Coalition's mobile blackspot program is starting to address this infrastructure challenge.

I wish to thank the people of Berowra for giving me the extraordinary opportunity to serve them. My first duty will always be to them.

I would like to thank the members of the Liberal Party in Berowra, and my friends and supporters beyond that organisation, for all their work to see me come into this place.

Many have travelled vast distances to be here today. The best way I can demonstrate my gratitude to them is through the quality of my service here.

In that, I hope to emulate the style of my three predecessors Philip Ruddock, who throughout his record term helped build an ethnically diverse country with strong secure borders; Harry Edwards, who was a leading economic thinker on microfinancing; and one of Australia's most distinguished lawyers, the first member for Berowra, Tom Hughes QC, who is here today.

I am also honoured that my friend Heather Henderson, the daughter of Sir Robert Menzies, is here today.

For six and a half years I had the privilege of running the Centre named after her father.

I acknowledge Tom Harley my Chairman at the Menzies Research Centre who is also here.

Sir Robert Menzies was a poor country boy from a one horse town, who by dint of his own hard work and intellect rose to lead his profession, his party and his nation.

Our task as Liberals is to create the conditions so the next generation's Sir Robert Menzies can rise and thrive.

I am conscious of the huge responsibility involved in being the Liberal Member for Berowra.

I will seek to carry on Sir Robert Menzies' traditions of policy and principle in all I do in this place.

Finally I wish to thank my wife Joanna.

If my parents gave me the foundations for a good and worthwhile life in years past, it's Joanna who anchors me in the present, and always points me forward with optimism to the future.

She is the reason more than any other than I am here. Joanna introduced me to Berowra. It was her home before it was mine. I could not have embarked on this journey without her.

She is smart, accomplished, beautiful and challenging and she has never lost faith in me.

She is, in fact, perfect in every way, except for that occasion 11 years ago, when her judgment clearly failed her and she decided to marry me. Joanna - I love you with all my heart.

Every new member comes into this place with life experiences from which they can draw strength.

I come here with the certain knowledge that no one lives a perfect life, that we all need help and community in good times and hard times.

But I draw strength from the example of my family.

I draw strength from my faith. I draw strength from Australia's traditions of service.

And I draw strength from our unique Australian story of progress – epitomized by the story of the individuals who persevered and wrote our Constitution.

Reform is never easy but the opportunity to participate in the public debate and be an advocate for the cause I believe in: a strong, free, confident and prosperous Australia is something that fills me with the greatest enthusiasm.

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Julian Leeser was a guest on episode 25 of the podcast

Hillary Clinton: 'This is a moment of reckoning for every Republican dismayed that the Party of Lincoln has become the Party of Trump'', anti-Trump Speech, Reno rally - 2016

25 August 2016, Reno, Nevada, USA

Thank you, Reno! It’s great to be back in Nevada…

My original plan for this visit was to focus on our agenda to help small businesses and entrepreneurs.

This week we proposed new steps to cut red tape and taxes, and make it easier for small businesses to get the credit they need to grow and hire.

Because I believe that in America, if you can dream it, you should be able to build it.

We’ll be talking a lot more about our economic plans in the days and weeks ahead.

But today, I want to address something I hear from Americans all over our country.

Everywhere I go, people tell me how concerned they are by the divisive rhetoric coming from my opponent in this election.

It’s like nothing we’ve heard before from a nominee for President of the United States.

From the start, Donald Trump has built his campaign on prejudice and paranoia.

He’s taking hate groups mainstream and helping a radical fringe take over one of America’s two major political parties.

His disregard for the values that make our country great is profoundly dangerous.

In just the past week, under the guise of “outreach” to African Americans, Trump has stood up in front of largely white audiences and described black communities in insulting and ignorant terms:

“Poverty. Rejection. Horrible education. No housing. No homes. No ownership.

Crime at levels nobody has seen… Right now, you walk down the street, you get shot.”

Those are his words.

Donald Trump misses so much.

He doesn’t see the success of black leaders in every field…

The vibrancy of black-owned businesses…Or the strength of the black church… He doesn’t see the excellence of historically black colleges and universities or the pride of black parents watching their children thrive…And he certainly doesn’t have any solutions to take on the reality of systemic racism and create more equity and opportunity in communities of color.

It takes a lot of nerve to ask people he’s ignored and mistreated for decades, “What do you have to lose?” The answer is everything!

Trump’s lack of knowledge or experience or solutions would be bad enough.

But what he’s doing here is more sinister.

Trump is reinforcing harmful stereotypes and offering a dog whistle to his most hateful supporters.

It’s a disturbing preview of what kind of President he’d be.

This is what I want to make clear today:

A man with a long history of racial discrimination, who traffics in dark conspiracy theories drawn from the pages of supermarket tabloids and the far reaches of the internet, should never run our government or command our military.

If he doesn’t respect all Americans, how can he serve all Americans?

Now, I know some people still want to give Trump the benefit of the doubt.

They hope that he will eventually reinvent himself – that there’s a kinder, gentler, more responsible Donald Trump waiting in the wings somewhere.

After all, it’s hard to believe anyone – let alone a nominee for President of the United States – could really believe all the things he says.

But the hard truth is, there’s no other Donald Trump. This is it.

Maya Angelou once said: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”

Well, throughout his career and this campaign, Donald Trump has shown us exactly who he is. We should believe him.

When Trump was getting his start in business, he was sued by the Justice Department for refusing to rent apartments to black and Latino tenants.

Their applications would be marked with a “C” – “C” for “colored” – and then rejected.

Three years later, the Justice Department took Trump back to court because he hadn’t changed.

The pattern continued through the decades.

State regulators fined one of Trump’s casinos for repeatedly removing black dealers from the floor. No wonder the turn-over rate for his minority employees was way above average.

And let’s not forget Trump first gained political prominence leading the charge for the so-called “Birthers.”

He promoted the racist lie that President Obama isn’t really an American citizen – part of a sustained effort to delegitimize America’s first black President.

In 2015, Trump launched his own campaign for President with another racist lie. He described Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals.

And he accused the Mexican government of actively sending them across the border. None of that is true.

Oh, and by the way, Mexico’s not paying for his wall either.

If it ever gets built, you can be sure that American taxpayers will be stuck with the bill.

Since then, there’s been a steady stream of bigotry.

We all remember when Trump said a distinguished federal judge born in Indiana couldn’t be trusted to do his job because, quote, “He’s a Mexican.”

Think about that.

The man who today is the standard bearer of the Republican Party said a federal judge was incapable of doing his job solely because of his heritage.

Even the Republican Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, described that as “the textbook definition of a racist comment.”

To this day, he’s never apologized to Judge Curiel.

But for Trump, that’s just par for the course.

This is someone who retweets white supremacists online, like the user who goes by the name “white-genocide-TM.” Trump took this fringe bigot with a few dozen followers and spread his message to 11 million people.

His campaign famously posted an anti-Semitic image – a Star of David imposed over a sea of dollar bills – that first appeared on a white supremacist website.

The Trump campaign also selected a prominent white nationalist leader as a delegate in California. They only dropped him under pressure.

When asked in a nationally televised interview whether he would disavow the support of David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, Trump wouldn’t do it. Only later, again under mounting pressure, did he backtrack.

And when Trump was asked about anti-Semitic slurs and death threats coming from his supporters, he refused to condemn them.

Through it all, he has continued pushing discredited conspiracy theories with racist undertones.

Trump said thousands of American Muslims in New Jersey cheered the 9/11 attacks. They didn’t.

He suggested that Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the Kennedy assassination. Perhaps in Trump’s mind, because he was a Cuban immigrant, he must have had something to do with it. Of course there’s absolutely no evidence of that.

Just recently, Trump claimed President Obama founded ISIS. And then he repeated that nonsense over and over.

His latest paranoid fever dream is about my health. All I can say is, Donald, dream on.

This is what happens when you treat the National Enquirer like Gospel.

It’s what happens when you listen to the radio host Alex Jones, who claims that 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombings were inside jobs. He said the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre were child actors and no one was actually killed there.

Trump didn’t challenge those lies. He went on Jones’ show and said: “Your reputation is amazing. I will not let you down.”

This man wants to be President of the United States.

I’ve stood by President Obama’s side as he made the toughest decisions a Commander-in-Chief ever has to make.

In times of crisis, our country depends on steady leadership… clear thinking… and calm judgment… because one wrong move can mean the difference between life and death.

The last thing we need in the Situation Room is a loose cannon who can’t tell the difference between fact and fiction, and who buys so easily into racially-tinged rumors.

Someone detached from reality should never be in charge of making decisions that are as real as they come.

It’s another reason why Donald Trump is simply temperamentally unfit to be President of the United States.

Now, some people will say that his bluster and bigotry is just over-heated campaign rhetoric – an outrageous person saying outrageous things for attention.

But look at the policies Trump has proposed. They would put prejudice into practice.

And don’t be distracted by his latest attempts to muddy the waters.

He may have some new people putting new words in his mouth… but we know where he stands.

He would form a deportation force to round up millions of immigrants and kick them out of the country.

He’d abolish the bedrock constitutional principle that says if you’re born in the United States, you’re an American citizen. He says that children born in America to undocumented parents are, quote, “anchor babies” and should be deported.

Millions of them.

And he’d ban Muslims around the world – 1.5 billion men, women, and children –from entering our country just because of their religion.

Think about that for a minute. How would it actually work? People landing in U.S. airports would line up to get their passports stamped, just like they do now.

But in Trump’s America, when they step up to the counter, the immigration officer would ask every single person, “What is your religion?”

And then what?

What if someone says, “I’m a Christian,” but the agent doesn’t believe them.

Do they have to prove it? How would they do that?

Ever since the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, America has distinguished itself as a haven for people fleeing religious persecution.

Under Donald Trump, America would distinguish itself as the only country in the world to impose a religious test at the border.

Come to think of it, there actually may be one place that does that. It’s the so-called Islamic State. The territory ISIS controls. It would be a cruel irony if America followed its lead.

Don’t worry, some will say, as President, Trump will be surrounded by smart advisors who will rein in his worst impulses.

So when a tweet gets under his skin and he wants to retaliate with a cruise missile, maybe cooler heads will be there to convince him not to.

Maybe.

But look at who he’s put in charge of his campaign.

Trump likes to say he only hires the “best people.” But he’s had to fire so many campaign managers it’s like an episode of the Apprentice.

The latest shake-up was designed to – quote – “Let Trump be Trump.” To do that, he hired Stephen Bannon, the head of a right-wing website called Breitbart.com, as campaign CEO.

To give you a flavor of his work, here are a few headlines they’ve published:

“Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy.”

“Would You Rather Your Child Had Feminism or Cancer?”

“Gabby Giffords: The Gun Control Movement’s Human Shield”

“Hoist It High And Proud: The Confederate Flag Proclaims A Glorious Heritage.”

That one came shortly after the Charleston massacre, when Democrats and Republicans alike were doing everything they could to heal racial divides. Breitbart tried to enflame them further.

Just imagine – Donald Trump reading that and thinking: “this is what I need more of in my campaign.”

Bannon has nasty things to say about pretty much everyone.

This spring, he railed against Paul Ryan for, quote “rubbing his social-justice Catholicism in my nose every second.”

No wonder he’s gone to work for Trump – the only Presidential candidate ever to get into a public feud with the Pope.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, Breitbart embraces “ideas on the extremist fringe of the conservative right. Racist ideas.

Race-baiting ideas. Anti-Muslim and anti-Immigrant ideas –– all key tenets making up an emerging racist ideology known as the ‘Alt-Right.’”

Alt-Right is short for “Alternative Right.”

The Wall Street Journal describes it as a loosely organized movement, mostly online, that “rejects mainstream conservatism, promotes nationalism and views immigration and multiculturalism as threats to white identity.”

The de facto merger between Breitbart and the Trump Campaign represents a landmark achievement for the “Alt-Right.” A fringe element has effectively taken over the Republican Party.

This is part of a broader story -- the rising tide of hardline, right-wing nationalism around the world.

Just yesterday, one of Britain’s most prominent right-wing leaders, Nigel Farage, who stoked anti-immigrant sentiments to win the referendum on leaving the European Union, campaigned with Donald Trump in Mississippi.

Farage has called for a ban on the children of legal immigrants from public schools and health services, has said women are quote “worth less” than men, and supports scrapping laws that prevent employers from discriminating based on race -- that’s who Trump wants by his side.

The godfather of this global brand of extreme nationalism is Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In fact, Farage has appeared regularly on Russian propaganda programs.

Now he’s standing on the same stage as the Republican nominee.

Trump himself heaps praise on Putin and embrace pro-Russian policies.

He talks casually of abandoning our NATO allies, recognizing Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and of giving the Kremlin a free hand in Eastern Europe more generally.

American presidents from Truman to Reagan have rejected the kind of approach Trump is taking on Russia.

We should, too.

All of this adds up to something we’ve never seen before.

Of course there’s always been a paranoid fringe in our politics, steeped in racial resentment. But it’s never had the nominee of a major party stoking it, encouraging it, and giving it a national megaphone. Until now.

On David Duke’s radio show the other day, the mood was jubilant.

“We appear to have taken over the Republican Party,” one white supremacist said.

Duke laughed. There’s still more work to do, he said.

No one should have any illusions about what’s really going on here. The names may have changed… Racists now call themselves “racialists.” White supremacists now call themselves “white nationalists.” The paranoid fringe now calls itself “alt-right.” But the hate burns just as bright.

And now Trump is trying to rebrand himself as well. Don’t be fooled.

There’s an old Mexican proverb that says “Tell me with whom you walk, and I will tell you who you are.”

We know who Trump is. A few words on a teleprompter won’t change that.

He says he wants to “make America great again,” but his real message remains “Make America hate again.”

This isn’t just about one election. It’s about who we are as a nation.

It’s about the kind of example we want to set for our children and grandchildren.

Next time you watch Donald Trump rant on television, think about all the kids listening across our country. They hear a lot more than we think.

Parents and teachers are already worried about what they’re calling the “Trump Effect.”

Bullying and harassment are on the rise in our schools, especially targeting students of color, Muslims, and immigrants.

At a recent high school basketball game in Indiana, white students held up Trump signs and taunted Latino players on the opposing team with chants of “Build the wall!” and “Speak English.”

After a similar incident in Iowa, one frustrated school principal said, “They see it in a presidential campaign and now it's OK for everyone to say this.”

We wouldn’t tolerate that kind of behavior in our own homes. How can we stand for it from a candidate for president?

This is a moment of reckoning for every Republican dismayed that the Party of Lincoln has become the Party of Trump. It’s a moment of reckoning for all of us who love our country and believe that America is better than this.

Twenty years ago, when Bob Dole accepted the Republican nomination, he pointed to the exits and told any racists in the Party to get out.

The week after 9/11, George W. Bush went to a mosque and declared for everyone to hear that Muslims “love America just as much as I do.”

In 2008, John McCain told his own supporters they were wrong about the man he was trying to defeat. Senator McCain made sure they knew – Barack Obama is an American citizen and “a decent person.”

We need that kind of leadership again.

Every day, more Americans are standing up and saying “enough is enough” – including a lot of Republicans. I’m honored to have their support.

And I promise you this: with your help, I will be a President for Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. For those who vote for me and those who don't.

For all Americans.

Because I believe we are stronger together.

It’s a vision for the future rooted in our values and reflected in a rising generation of young people who are the most open, diverse, and connected we’ve ever seen.

Just look at our fabulous Olympic team.

Like Ibtihaj Muhammad, an African-American Muslim from New Jersey who won the bronze medal in fencing with grace and skill. Would she even have a place in Donald Trump’s America?

When I was growing up, Simone Manuel wouldn’t have been allowed to swim in the same public pool as Katie Ledecky. Now they’re winning Olympic medals as teammates.

So let’s keep moving forward together.

Let’s stand up against prejudice and paranoia.

Let’s prove once again, that America is great because is America is good.

Thank you, and may God bless the United States.

Khizr M. Khan: 'Donald Trump, you have sacrificed nothing and no one', DNC - 2016

28 July 2016, DNC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Tonight, we are honored to stand here as the parents of Capt. Humayun Khan, and as patriotic American Muslims with undivided loyalty to our country.

Like many immigrants, we came to this country empty-handed. We believed in American democracy — that with hard work and the goodness of this country, we could share in and contribute to its blessings.

We were blessed to raise our three sons in a nation where they were free to be themselves and follow their dreams.

Our son, Humayun, had dreams of being a military lawyer. But he put those dreams aside the day he sacrificed his life to save his fellow soldiers.

Hillary Clinton was right when she called my son "the best of America."

If it was up to Donald Trump, he never would have been in America.

Donald Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims. He disrespects other minorities, women, judges, even his own party leadership. He vows to build walls and ban us from this country.

Donald Trump, you are asking Americans to trust you with our future. Let me ask you: Have you even read the U.S. Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words "liberty" and "equal protection of law."

Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending America — you will see all faiths, genders, and ethnicities.

You have sacrificed nothing and no one.

We can't solve our problems by building walls and sowing division.

We are Stronger Together.

And we will keep getting stronger when Hillary Clinton becomes our next President.

Bill Clinton: "In the spring of 1971 I met a girl,", DNC - 2016

26 July 2016, Democratic National Convention, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

In the spring of 1971, I met a girl.

The first time I saw her we were, appropriately enough, in a class on political and civil rights. She had thick blond hair, big glasses, wore no makeup, and she had a sense of strength and self- possession that I found magnetic. After the class I followed her out, intending to introduce myself. I got close enough to touch her back, but I couldn’t do it. Somehow I knew this would not be just another tap on the shoulder, that I might be starting something I couldn’t stop.

And I saw her several more times in the next few days, but I still didn’t speak to her. Then one night I was in the law library talking to a classmate who wanted me to join the Yale Law Journal. He said it would guarantee me a job in a big firm or a clerkship with a federal judge. I really wasn’t interested, I just wanted to go home to Arkansas.

Then I saw the girl again, standing at the opposite end of that long room. Finally she was staring back at me, so I watched her. She closed her book, put it down and started walking toward me. She walked the whole length of the library, came up to me and said, look, if you’re going to keep staring at me…

…and now I’m staring back, we at least ought to know each other’s name. I’m Hillary Rodham, who are you?

I was so impressed and surprised that, whether you believe it or not, momentarily I was speechless.

Finally, I sort of blurted out my name and we exchanged a few words and then she went away.

Well, I didn’t join the Law Review, but I did leave that library with a whole new goal in mind.

A couple of days later, I saw her again. I remember, she was wearing a long, white, flowery skirt. And I went up to her and she said she was going to register for classes for the next term. And I said I’d go, too. And we stood in line and talked — you had to do that to register back then — and I thought I was doing pretty well until we got to the front of the line and the registrar looked up and said, Bill, what are you doing here, you registered morning?

I turned red and she laughed that big laugh of hers. And I thought, well, heck, since my cover’s been blown I just went ahead and asked her to take a walk down to the art museum.

We’ve been walking and talking and laughing together ever since.

And we’ve done it in good times and bad, through joy and heartbreak. We cried together this morning on the news that our good friend and a lot of your good friend, Mark Weiner, passed away early this morning.

We’ve built up a lifetime of memories. After the first month and that first walk, I actually drove her home to Park Ridge, Illinois…

…to meet her family and see the town where she grew up, a perfect example of post World War II middle-class America, street after street of nice houses, great schools, good parks, a big public swimming pool, and almost all white.

I really liked her family. Her crusty, conservative father, her rambunctious brothers, all extolling the virtues of rooting for the Bears and the Cuba.

And for the people from Illinois here, they even told me what “waiting for next year” meant.

It could be next year, guys.

Now, her mother was different. She was more liberal than the boys. And she had a childhood that made mine look like a piece of cake. She was easy to underestimate with her soft manner and she reminded me all over again of the truth of that old saying you should never judge a book by its covers. Knowing her was one of the greatest gifts Hillary ever gave me.

I learned that Hillary got her introduction to social justice through her Methodist youth minister, Don Jones. He took her downtown to Chicago to hear Dr. Martin Luther King speak and he remained her friend for the rest of his life. This will be the only campaign of hers he ever missed.

When she got to college, her support for civil rights, her opposition to the Vietnam War compelled her to change party, to become a Democrat.

And then between college and law school on a total lark she went alone to Alaska and spent some time sliming fish.

More to the point, by the time I met her she had already been involved in the law school’s legal services project and she had been influenced by Marian Wright Edelman.

She took a summer internship interviewing workers in migrant camps for Senator Walter Mondale’s subcommittee.

She had also begun working in the Yale New Haven Hospital to develop procedures to handle suspected child abuse cases. She got so involved in children’s issues that she actually took an extra year in law school working at the child studies center to learn what more could be done to improve the lives and the futures of poor children.

So she was already determined to figure out how to make things better.

Hillary opened my eyes to a whole new world of public service by private citizens. In the summer of 1972, she went to Dothan, Alabama to visit one of those segregated academies that then enrolled over half-a-million white kids in the South. The only way the economics worked is if they claimed federal tax exemptions to which they were not legally entitled. She got sent to prove they weren’t.

So she sauntered into one of these academies all by herself, pretending to be a housewife that had just moved to town and needed to find a school for her son. And they exchanged pleasantries and finally she said, look, let’s just get to the bottom line here, if I enroll my son in this school will he be in a segregated school, yes or know? And the guy said absolutely. She had him!

I’ve seen it a thousand times since. And she went back and her encounter was part of a report that gave Marian Marian Wright Edelman the ammunition she needed to keep working to force the Nixon administration to take those tax exemptions away and give our kids access to an equal education.

Then she went down to south Texas where she met…she met one of the nicest fellows I ever met, the wonderful union leader Franklin Garcia, and he helped her register Mexican- American voters. I think some of them are still around to vote for her in 2016.

Then in our last year in law school, Hillary kept up this work. She went to South Carolina to see why so many young…

…she went to South Carolina to see why so many young African- American boys, I mean, young teenagers, were being jailed for years with adults in men’s prisons. And she filed a report on that, which led to some changes, too. Always making things better. (APPLAUSE)

Now, meanwhile, let’s get back to business. I was trying to convince her to marry me.

I first proposed to her on a trip to Great Britain, the first time she had been overseas. And we were on the shoreline of this wonderful little lake, Lake Ennerdale. I asked her to marry me and she said I can’t do it.

So in 1974 I went home to teach in the law school and Hillary moved to Massachusetts to keep working on children’s issues. This time trying to figure out why so many kids counted in the Census weren’t enrolled in school. She found one of them sitting alone on her porch in a wheelchair. Once more, she filed a report about these kids, and that helped influence ultimately the Congress to adopt the proposition that children with disabilities, physical or otherwise, should have equal access to public education.

You saw the results of that last night when Anastasia Somoza talked.

She never made fun of people with disabilities; she tried to empower them based on their abilities.

So the second time I tried a different tack. I said I really want you to marry me, but you shouldn’t do it.

And she smiled and looked at me, like, what is this boy up to? She said that is not a very good sales pitch. I said I know, but it’s true. And I meant it, it was true.

I said I know most of the young Democrats our age who want to go into politics, they mean well and they speak well, but none of them is as good as you are at actually doing things to make positive changes in people’s lives. (APPLAUSE)

So I suggested she go home to Illinois or move to New York and look for a chance to run for office. She just laughed and said, are you out of you mind, nobody would ever vote for me.

So I finally got her to visit me in Arkansas.

And when she did, the people at the law school were so impressed they offered a teaching position. And she decided to take a huge chance. She moved to a strange place, more rural, more culturally conservative than anyplace she had ever been, where she knew good and well people would wonder what in the world she was like and whether they could or should accept her.

Didn’t take them long to find out what she was like. She loved her teaching and she got frustrated when one of her students said, well, what do you expect, I’m just from Arkansas. She said, don’t tell me that, you’re as smart as anybody, you’ve just got to believe in yourself and work hard and set high goals. She believed that anybody could make it.

She also started the first legal aid clinic in northwest Arkansas, providing legal aid services to poor people who couldn’t pay for them. And one day I was driving her to the airport to fly back to Chicago when we passed this little brick house that had a for sale sign on it. And she said, boy, that’s a pretty house. It had 1,100 square feet, an attic, fan and no air conditioner in hot Arkansas, and a screened-in porch.

Hillary commented on what a uniquely designed and beautiful house it was. So I took a big chance. I bought the house. My mortgage was $175 a month.

When she came back, I picked up her up and I said, you remember that house you liked? She said yeah. I said, while you were gone I bought it, you have to marry me now.

The third time was the charm.

We were married in that little house on October the 11th, 1975. I married my best friend. I was still in awe after more than four years of being around her at how smart and strong and loving and caring she was. And I really hoped that her choosing me and rejecting my advice to pursue her own career was a decision she would never regret.

A little over a year later we moved to Little Rock when I became attorney general and she joined the oldest law firm west of the Mississippi. Soon after, she started a group called the Arkansas Advocates for Families and Children.

It’s a group, as you can hear, is still active today.

In 1979, just after I became governor, I asked Hillary to chair a rural health committee to help expand health care to isolated farm and mountain areas. They recommended to do that partly by deploying trained nurse practitioners in places with no doctors to provide primary care they were trained to provide. It was a big deal then, highly controversial and very important.

And I got the feeling that what she did for the rest of her life she was doing there. She just went out and figured out what needed to be done and what made the most sense and what would help the most people. And then if it was controversial she’d just try to persuade people it was the right thing to do.

It wasn’t the only big thing that happened that spring my first year as governor. We found out we were going to be parents.

And time passed. On February 27th, 1980, 15 minutes after I got home from the National Governors Conference in Washington, Hillary’s water broke and off we went to the hospital. Chelsea was born just before midnight.

And it was the greatest moment of my life. The miracle of a new beginning. The hole it filled for me because my own father died before I was born, and the absolute conviction that my daughter had the best mother in the whole world.

For the next 17 years, through nursing school, Montessori, kindergarten, through T-ball, softball, soccer, volleyball and her passion for ballet, through sleepovers, summer camps, family vacations and Chelsea’s own very ambitious excursions, from Halloween parties in the neighborhood, to a Viennese waltz gala in the White House, Hillary first and foremost was a mother.

She became, as she often said, our family’s designated worrier, born with an extra responsibility gene. The truth is we rarely disagreed on parenting, although she did believe that I had gone a little over the top when I took a couple of days off with Chelsea to watch all six “Police Academy” movies back-to-back.

When Chelsea was 9 months old, I was defeated for reelection in the Reagan landslide. And I became overnight, I think, the youngest former governor in the history of the country. We only had two-year terms back then.

Hillary was great. Immediately she said, OK, what are we going to do? Here’s what we’re going to do, we’re going to get a house, you’re going to get a job, we’re going to enjoy being Chelsea’s parents. And if you really want to run again, you’ve got to go out and talk to people and figure out why you lost, tell people you got the message and show them you’ve still got good ideas.

I followed her advice. Within two days we had a house, I soon had a job. We had two fabulous years with Chelsea. And in 1982, I became the first governor in the history of our state to be elected, defeated and elected again.

I think my experience is it’s a pretty good thing to follow her advice. The rest of the decade sort of flew by as our lives settled into a rhythm of family and work and friends.

In 1983, Hillary chaired a committee to recommend new education standards for us as a part of and in response to a court order to equalize school funding and a report by a national expert that said our woefully underfunded schools were the worst in America.

Typical Hillary, she held listening tours in all 75 counties with our committee. She came up with really ambitious recommendations. For example, that we be the first state in America to require elementary counselors in every school because so many kids were having trouble at home and they needed it.

So I called the legislature into session hoping to pass the standards, pass a pay raise for teachers and raise the sales tax to pay for it all. I knew it would be hard to pass, but it got easier after Hillary testified before the education committee and the chairman, a plainspoken farmer, said looks to me like we elected the wrong Clinton.

Well, by the time I ran for president nine years later, the same expert who said that we had the worst schools in America said that our state was one of the two most improved states in America. And that’s because of those standards that Hillary developed.

Now, two years later, Hillary told me about a preschool program developed in Israel called HIPPY, Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters. The idea was to teach low-income parents, even those that couldn’t read, to be their children’s first teachers.

She said she thought it would work in Arkansas. I said that’s great, what are we going to do about it? She said, oh, I already did it. I called the woman who started the program in Israel, she’ll be here in about 10 days and help us get started.

Next thing you know I’m being dragged around to all these little preschool graduations. Now, keep in mind, this was before any state even had universal kindergarten and I’m being dragged to preschool graduations watching these poor parents with tears in their eyes because they never thought they’d be able to help their kids learn.

Now, 20 years of research has shown how well this program works to improve readiness for school and academic achievement. There are a lot of young adults in America who have no idea Hillary had anything to do with it who are enjoying better lives because they were in that program.

CLINTON: She did all this while being a full-time worker, a mother and enjoying our life. Why? Well, she’s insatiably curious, she’s a natural leader, she’s a good organizer, and she’s the best darn change-maker I ever met in my entire life.

Look, this is a really important point. This is a really important point for you to take out of this convention. If you believe in making change from the bottom up, if you believe the measure of change is how many people’s lives are better, you know it’s hard and some people think it’s boring. Speeches like this are fun.

Actually doing the work is hard. So people say, well, we need to change. She’s been around a long time, she sure has, and she’s sure been worth every single year she’s put into making people’s lives better.

I can tell you this. If you were sitting where I’m sitting and you heard what I have heard at every dinner conversation, every lunch conversation, on every lone walk, you would say this woman has never been satisfied with the status quo in anything. She always wants to move the ball forward. That is just who she is.

When I became president with a commitment to reform health care, Hillary was a natural to head the health care task force. You all know we failed because we couldn’t break a Senate filibuster. Hillary immediately went to work on solving the problems the bill sought to address one by one. The most important goal was to get more children with health insurance.

In 1997, Congress passed the Children’s Health Insurance Program, still an important part of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. It insures more than 8 million kids. There are a lot of other things in that bill that she got done piece by piece, pushing that rock up the hill.

In 1997, she also teamed with the House Minority Leader Tom DeLay, who maybe disliked me more than any of Newt Gingrich’s crowd. They worked on a bill together to increase adoptions of children under foster care. She wanted to do it because she knew that Tom DeLay, for all of our differences, was an adoptive parent and she honored him for doing that.

Now, the bill they worked on, which passed with an overwhelming bipartisan majority, led to a big increase in the adoption of children out of foster care, including non-infant kids and special-needs kids. It made life better because she’s a change-maker, that’s what she does.

Now, when you’re doing all this, real life doesn’t stop. 1997 was the year Chelsea finished high school and went to college. We were happy for her, but sad for us to see her go. I’ll never forget moving her into her dorm room at Stanford. It would have been a great little reality flick. There I was in a trance just staring out the window trying not to cry, and there was Hillary on her hands and knees desperately looking for one more drawer to put that liner paper in.

Finally, Chelsea took charge and told us ever so gently that it was time for us to go. So we closed a big chapter in the most important work of our lives. As you’ll see Thursday night when Chelsea speaks, Hillary’s done a pretty fine job of being a mother.

And as you saw last night, beyond a shadow of a doubt so has Michelle Obama.

Now, fast forward. In 1999, Congressman Charlie Rangel and other New York Democrats urged Hillary…

…urged Hillary to run for the seat of retiring Senator Pat Moynihan. We had always intended to go to New York after I left office and commute to Arkansas, but this had never occurred to either one of us. Hillary had never run for office before, but she decided to give it a try.

She began her campaign the way she always does new things, by listening and and learning. And after a tough battle, New York elected her to the seat once held by another outsider, Robert Kennedy.

And she didn’t let him down. Her early years were dominated by 9/11, by working to fund the recovery, then monitoring the health and providing compensation to victims and first and second responders. She and Senator Schumer were tireless and so were our House members.

In 2003, partly spurred on by what we were going through, she became the first senator in the history of New York ever to serve on the Armed Services Committee.

So she tried to make sure people on the battlefield had proper equipment. She tried to expand and did expand health care coverage to Reservists and members of the National Guard. She got longer family leave, working with Senator Dodd, for people caring for wounded service members.

And she worked for more extensive care for people with traumatic brain injury. She also served on a special Pentagon commission to propose changes necessary to meet our new security challenges. Newt Gingrich was on that commission, he told me what a good job she had done.

I say that because nobody who has seriously dealt with the men and women in today’s military believes they are a disaster. They are a national treasure of all races, all religions, all walks of life.

Now, meanwhile, she compiled a really solid record, totally progressive on economic and social issues. She voted for and against some proposed trade deals. She became the de facto economic development officer for the area of New York outside the ambit of New York City.

She worked for farmers, for winemakers, for small businesses and manufacturers, for upstate cities in rural areas who needed more ideas and more new investment to create good jobs, something we have to do again in small-town and rural America, in neighborhoods that have been left behind in our cities and Indian country and, yes, in coal country.

When she lost a hard-fought contest to President Obama in 2008, she worked for his election hard. But she hesitated to say yes when he asked her to join his Cabinet because she so loved being a senator from New York.

So like me, in a different context, he had to keep asking.

But as we all saw and heard from Madeleine Albright, it was worth the effort and worth the wait.

As secretary of state, she worked hard to get strong sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program. And in what The Wall Street Journal no less called a half-court shot at the buzzer, she got Russia and China to support them. Her team negotiated the New START Treaty with Russia to reduce nuclear weapons and reestablish inspections. And she got enough Republican support to get two-thirds of the Senate, the vote necessary to ratify the treaty.

She flew all night long from Cambodia to the Middle East to get a cease-fire that would avoid a full-out shooting war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza to protect the peace of the region.

She backed President Obama’s decision to go after Osama bin Laden.

She launched a team, this is really important today, she launched a team to fight back against terrorists online and built a new global counterterrorism effort.

We’ve got to win this battle in the mind field.

She put climate change at the center of our foreign policy.

She negotiated the first agreement ever — ever — where China and India officially committed to reduce their emissions. And as she had been doing since she went to Beijing in 1995 and said women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights…

…she worked to empower women and girls around the world and to make the same exact declaration on behalf of the LGBT community in America and around the world.

And nobody ever talks about this much, nobody ever talks about this much, but it’s important to me. She tripled the number of people with AIDS in poor countries whose lives are being saved with your tax dollars, most of them in Africa, going from 1.7 million lives to 5.1 million lives and it didn’t cost you any more money. She just bought available FDA-approved generic drugs, something we need to do for the American people more.

Now, you don’t know any of these people. You don’t know any of those 3.4 million people, but I’ll guarantee you they know you. They know you because they see you as thinking their lives matter. They know you and that’s one reason the approval of the United States was 20 points higher when she left the secretary of state’s office than when she took it.

Now, how does this square? How did this square with the things that you heard at the Republican convention? What’s the difference in what I told you and what they said? How do you square it? You can’t. One is real, the other is made up.

You just have to decide. You just have to decide which is which, my fellow Americans.

The real one had done more positive change-making before she was 30 than many public officials do in a lifetime in office.

The real one, if you saw her friend Betsy Ebeling vote for Illinois today…has friends from childhood through Arkansas, where she has not lived in more than 20 years, who have gone all across America at their own expense to fight for the person they know.

The real one has earned the loyalty, the respect and the fervent support of people who have worked with her in every stage of her life, including leaders around the world who know her to be able, straightforward and completely trustworthy.

The real one calls you when you’re sick, when your kid’s in trouble or when there’s a death in the family.

The real one repeatedly drew praise from prominent Republicans when she was a senator and secretary of state.

So what’s up with it? Well, if you win elections on the theory that government is always bad and will mess up a two-car parade…a real change-maker represents a real threat.

So your only option is to create a cartoon, a cartoon alternative, then run against the cartoon. Cartoons are two- dimensional, they’re easy to absorb. Life in the real world is complicated and real change is hard. And a lot of people even think it’s boring.

Good for you, because earlier today you nominated the real one.

Listen, we’ve got to get back on schedule. You guys calm down.

Look (INAUDIBLE) a long, full, blessed life, it really took off when I met and fell in love with that girl in the spring of 1971. When I was president, I worked hard to give you more peace and shared prosperity, to give you an America where nobody is invisible or counted out.

But for this time, Hillary is uniquely qualified to seize the opportunities and reduce the risks we face. And she is still the best darn change-maker I have ever known.

You could drop her into any trouble spot, pick one, come back in a month and somehow, some way she will have made it better. That is just who she is.

There are clear, achievable, affordable responses to our challenges. But we won’t get to them if America makes the wrong choice in this election. That’s why you should elect her. And you should elect her because she’ll never quit when the going gets tough. She’ll never quit on you.

She sent me in this primary to West Virginia where she knew we were going to lose, to look those coal miners in the eye and say I’m down here because Hillary sent me to tell you that if you really think you can get the economy back you had 50 years ago, have at it, vote for whoever you want to. But if she wins, she is coming back for you to take you along on the ride to America’s future.

And so I say to you, if you love this country, you’re working hard, you’re paying taxes and you’re obeying the law and you’d like to become a citizen, you should choose immigration reform over somebody that wants to send you back.

If you’re a Muslim and you love America and freedom and you hate terror, stay here and help us win and make a future together. We want you.

If you’re a young African American disillusioned and afraid, we saw in Dallas how great our police officers can be, help us build a future where nobody is afraid to walk outside, including the people that wear blue to protect our future.

Hillary will make us stronger together. You know it because she’s spent a lifetime doing it. I hope you will do it. I hope you will elect her. Those of us who have more yesterdays than tomorrows tend to care more about our children and grandchildren. The reason you should elect her is that in the greatest country on earth we have always been about tomorrow. You children and grandchildren will bless you forever if you do.

God bless you. Thank you.

Malcolm Turnbull: "The Labor Party ran some of the most systematic, well-funded lies ever peddled in Australia",Election night speech - 2016

3 July 2016, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Malcom Turnbull is current Prime Minister of Australia. More information at Museum of Australian Democracy entry.

My friends, I can report that based on the advice I have from the party officials, we can have every confidence that we will form a Coalition majority Government in the next Parliament.

It is a very, very close count. It is a very close count, as you know. And right now, right now, right now nearly 30% of the votes are yet to be counted. The pre-poll will continue to be counted until 2am.

But I don’t suggest we should wait around for that. And then the commissioner advises us there will be no more carding tomorrow or on Monday and they will count the postal votes on Tuesday.

And we may, the final results in terms of seats may not be known until then. So we will have a wait a few days. But as my distinguished predecessor, mentor, former boss John Howard well remembers ...

We have seen this before in 1998. And this is an experience not unknown in the parliamentary history of the Liberal Party. And of course the really critical thing is this, my friends — the values that we have and the policies that we brought to this election meet the challenges of our times.

The Labor Party, the Labor Party ran some of the most systematic, well-funded lies ever peddled in Australia.

We have never, the mass ranks of the union movement and all of their millions of dollars, telling vulnerable Australians that Medicare was going to be privatised or sold, frightening people in their bed and even today, even as voters went to the polls, as you would have seen in the press, there were text messages being sent to thousands of people across Australia saying that Medicare was about to be privatised by the Liberal Party.

And the message, the message, the SMS message came from Medicare. It said it came from Medicare. An extraordinary act of dishonesty. No doubt the police will investigate. But this is, but this is the scale of the challenge we faced. And regrettably more than a few people were misled. There’s no doubt about that.

But, the circumstances of Australia cannot be changed by a lying campaign from the Labor Party. The challenges, the fact that we live in times of rapid economic change, of enormous opportunity, enormous challenges, a time when we need to be innovative, when we need to be competitive, when we need to be able to seize those opportunities, those times are there.

No politician can give a speech, can write a policy, can send a message and change the reality of the circumstances in which we live and the policies that will enable us to meet those times with success.

And they are the values of our parties because they are the values of freedom, of business, of enterprise and entrepreneurship. And the alternative, the idea, the idea, the idea that the answer to Australia’s economic challenges, as Labor would have it, Labor with the second lowest primary vote in its history, but Labor would say that the answer is more debt, more deficit and higher taxes.

Seriously. Seriously. So, my friends, I’m sure that as the results are refined and come in over the next few days with all of the counting, we will be able to form that majority government. But, let me say this, let me say this without any fear of contradiction.

The Labor Party has no capacity in this parliament to form a stable majority government. That is a fact. Now, I want to thank the millions of Australians who have placed their trust in us, in our party, in our policies, in our candidates. I want to thank them for believing in the policies that we brought to this election.

And we will continue to deserve that trust, and seek to deliver those policies because they are the right ones for our times, because the alternative, my friends, is that we just fall off the back of the pack of leading nations. That is where Labor would have us. That is where Labor would have us.

Higher debt, higher deficits, higher taxes. That’s their formula and that’s a formula for failure. Now, I want to thank all of my colleagues, all of my parliamentary colleagues, my cabinet, I wants to thank Barnaby Joyce, the Deputy PM, the Leader of the National Party, I want to thank my own Deputy, Julie Bishop, the Foreign Minister.

Nobody covered more miles than her. The Treasurer and all the other cabinet ministers and all of my parliamentary colleagues, I want to thank all of our candidates right across the …

(Applause interrupts)

want to thank all of our candidates right across the country and I want to give a shout out to Julia Banks in Chisholm in Victoria for her extraordinary efforts.

I want to acknowledge the great work and leadership shown by the Federal campaign direct, Tony Nutt, and our whole campaign team, and all the Liberal and National Party workers in every electorate and every polling booth often having to stand up to intimidation and threats in there.

I want to thank every single one of them. I want to thank my own team. I want to thank them, thank them for the team and the Prime Minister’s Office for the remarkable work they’ve done over this long campaign.

And then, above all, I want to thank Lucy and my family who, apart from the youngest ones, are here tonight. I want to thank them so much, because, as you all know, as you all know; this political business is a challenging one.

And you cannot do it without the love and the commitment and the passion and the loyalty and the support of your family and I salute you, Lucy. My children, their partners for all of the love and support you’ve given me.

Now, I want to also address a matter that I know has been raised earlier today or this evening about the calling of the double-dissolution election. Let me remind everybody of why that occurred.

That was not a political tactic. It was not designed to remove senators or get a new Senate because new senators are better than old senators or whatever.

It was simply this. We need to restore the rule of law to the construction industry. At the moment the CFMEU has over 100 officials before the courts on more than 1,000 charges of breaching industrial law or agreements.

There is a culture of thuggery and intimidation, and bullying in the construction sector, which John Howard recognised years ago and set up the ABCC.

Bill Shorten and Julia Gillard abolished it. The Hayden royal commission investigated again and made it perfectly clear that the same problems were there, only worse.

And we had no choice — we did have a choice — we could have walked away and said it was all too hard and we weren’t committed to our principles of cleaning up the construction industry and ensuring the rule of law applied. We could have done that.

I don’t think that’s consistent with the values and the principles we share and our party have or I have or the alternative was to take the matter to a double-dissolution so you could present it to a joint sitting. That is the only alternative we had.

For those that say we shouldn’t have called a double-dissolution election are saying we should have just let the CFMEU with getting on with doing what they like and never challenge them. And that is not in Australia’s interests. It’s not right. It’s weak.

We have to stand up for what is right to restore the rule of law in an industry that employs over a million Australians.

So the hour is late. And I don’t expect us to be waiting till 2am, until the final pre-polls are counted. But, as I said, based on the advice I have from our officials and advisers and strategists within the party, I am confident that we will be able to form a majority government.

And certainly, certainly we are the only parties that have the ability or the possibility of doing that. All will depend on the counting.

And we await the completion of that. In the meantime, I want to say to all Australians those that voted for us, those that voted for other parties or candidates, this is a time when we must come together.

We must stick together. We face enormous challenges. We face, we face challenges in a rapidly evolving global economy that we do not anticipate that will surprise us, the opportunities will surprise us, but so will the headwinds.

We need have a common purpose. We need to have a commitment to the economic plan that sets us up for success. We have that plan and we will in Government be seeking the support of all Australians, all members of the parliament, to the program that alone can deliver us success in the years ahead.

Because it is a program, a policy, a plan that is based on what is best in us, that is based on our confidence, optimism, on our courage, on our entrepreneurship, the alternative is hiding under the doona and pretending the world is not what it is.

It’s form of political escapism that you can only continue for as long as you can keep on running up more and more debt. We have got to stop that. This is a time for clear-eyed assessment of our challenges, our opportunities and a plan that enables us to meet them.

We have that plan. All Australians we will seek their support, their commitment to support us in Government, all of us, we will reach out to unite Australians with that common purpose of ensuring that we can compete, that we can succeed, because without that, my friends, there is a road to debt, to deficit, to higher taxes, to stagnation.

That is what our opponents offered. They offered it under the guise of some scare campaigns, so dishonest. But yet in some quarters so effective, that they boasted about it how skilfully they had lied and how effectively they had deceived.

A pretty shameful episode in Australian political history.

Well, the election is over. Only the counting remains. And now is the time to unite in Australia’s aid, in Australia’s service to ensure that we can have truly the very best years for our country ahead of us. Thank you all very much.

Donald Trump: "Our convention occurs at a moment of crisis for our nation", Republican National Convention - 2016

21 July 2016, Republican National Convention, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Friends, delegates and fellow Americans: I humbly and gratefully accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Who would have believed that when we started this journey on June 16, last year, we — I say we because we are a team — would have received almost 14 million votes, the most in the history of the Republican party?

And that the Republican Party would get 60 percent more votes than it received eight years ago. Who would have believed it? The Democrats on the other hand, received 20 percent fewer votes than they got four years ago, not so good.

Together, we will lead our party back to the White House, and we will lead our country back to safety, prosperity, and peace. We will be a country of generosity and warmth. But we will also be a country of law and order.

Our convention occurs at a moment of crisis for our nation. The attacks on our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life. Any politician who does not grasp this danger is not fit to lead our country.

Americans watching this address tonight have seen the recent images of violence in our streets and the chaos in our communities. Many have witnessed this violence personally. Some have even been its victims.

I have a message for all of you: The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon — and I mean very soon come to an end. Beginning on January 20th 2017, safety will be restored.

The most basic duty of government is to defend the lives of its citizens. Any government that fails to do so is a government unworthy to lead.

It is finally time for a straightforward assessment of the state of our nation. I will present the facts plainly and honestly. We cannot afford to be so politically correct anymore.

So if you want to hear the corporate spin, the carefully-crafted lies, and the media myths — the Democrats are holding their convention next week. Go there.

But here, at our convention, there will be no lies. We will honor the American people with the truth, and nothing else.

These are the facts:

Decades of progress made in bringing down crime are now being reversed by this administration's rollback of criminal enforcement.

Homicides last year increased by 17% in America's fifty largest cities. That's the largest increase in 25 years.

In our nation's capital, killings have risen by 50 percent. They are up nearly 60 percent in nearby Baltimore.

In the president's hometown of Chicago, more than 2,000 have been the victims of shootings this year alone. And almost 4,000 have been killed in the Chicago area since he took office.

The number of police officers killed in the line of duty has risen by almost 50 percent compared to this point last year.

Nearly 180,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records, ordered deported from our country, are tonight roaming free to threaten peaceful citizens.

The number of new illegal immigrant families who have crossed the border so far this year already exceeds the entire total of 2015.

They are being released by the tens of thousands into our communities with no regard for the impact on public safety or resources.

One such border-crosser was released and made his way to Nebraska. There, he ended the life of an innocent young girl named Sarah Root. She was 21 years old and was killed the day after graduating from college with a 4.0 grade point average. Her killer was then released a second time, and he is now a fugitive from the law. I've met Sarah's beautiful family. But to this administration, their amazing daughter was just one more American life that wasn't worth protecting. One more child to sacrifice on the altar of open borders.

What about our economy? Again, I will tell you the plain facts that have been edited out of your nightly news and your morning newspaper:

Nearly four in 10 African-American children are living in poverty, while 58% of African-American youth are now not employed.

2 million more Latinos are in poverty today than when the president took his oath of office eight years ago.

Another 14 million people have left the workforce entirely.

Household incomes are down more than $4,000 since the year 2000. That is 16 years ago.

Our trade deficit in goods reached — think of this — our trade deficit is $800 hundred billion dollars. Think of that. $800 billion last year alone. We will fix that.

The budget is no better. President Obama has almost doubled our national debt to more than $19 trillion, and growing.

Yet, what do we have to show for it? Our roads and bridges are falling apart, our airports are in third world condition, and 43 million Americans are on food stamps.

Now let us consider the state of affairs abroad. Not only have our citizens endured domestic disaster, but they have lived through one international humiliation after another. One after another.

We all remember the images of our sailors being forced to their knees by their Iranian captors at gunpoint. This was just prior to the signing of the Iran deal, which gave back to Iran $150 billion and gave us absolutely nothing. It will go down in history as one of the worst deals ever negotiated.

Another humiliation came when President Obama drew a red line in Syria and the whole world knew it meant absolutely nothing.

In Libya, our consulate, the symbol of American prestige around the globe was brought down in flames.

America is far less safe and the world is far less stable than when Obama made the decision to put Hillary Clinton in charge of America's foreign policy. I am certain it is a decision he truly regrets.

Her bad instincts and her bad judgment, something pointed out by Bernie Sanders are what caused the disasters unfolding today. Let's review the record.

In 2009, pre-Hillary, ISIS was not even on the map. Libya was stable. Egypt was peaceful. Iraq had seen a big reduction in violence. Iran was being choked by sanctions. Syria was somewhat under control.

After four years of Hillary Clinton, what do we have? ISIS has spread across the region and the entire world. Libya is in ruins, and our ambassador and his staff were left helpless to die at the hands of savage killers. Egypt was turned over to the radical Muslim Brotherhood, forcing the military to retake control. Iraq is in chaos. Iran is on the path to nuclear weapons. Syria is engulfed in a civil war and a refugee crisis that now threatens the West. After 15 years of wars in the Middle East, after trillions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost, the situation is worse than it has ever been before.

This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: Death, destruction and terrorism and weakness.

But Hillary Clinton's legacy does not have to be America's legacy. The problems we face now — poverty and violence at home, war and destruction abroad — will last only as long as we continue relying on the same politicians who created them. A change in leadership is required to produce a change in outcomes.

Tonight, I will share with you for action for America. The most important difference between our plan and that of our opponents, is that our plan will put America first. Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo.

As long as we are led by politicians who will not put America first, then we can be assured that other nations will not treat America with respect. The respect that we deserve. The American people will come first once again.

First, my plan will begin with safety at home which means safe neighborhoods, secure borders, and protection from terrorism. There can be no prosperity without law and order.

On the economy, I will outline reforms to add millions of new jobs and trillions in new wealth that can be used to rebuild America.

A number of these reforms that I will outline tonight will be opposed by some of our nation's most powerful special interests. That is because these interests have rigged our political and economic system for their exclusive benefit. Believe me. It is for their benefit. For their benefit.

Big business, elite media and major donors are lining up behind the campaign of my opponent because they know she will keep our rigged system in place. They are throwing money at her because they have total control over every single thing she does. She is their puppet, and they pull the strings. That is why Hillary Clinton's message is that things will never change. Never ever.

My message is that things have to change and they have to change right now. Every day I wake up determined to deliver a better life for the people all across this nation that had been ignored, neglected and abandoned.

I have visited the laid-off factory workers, and the communities crushed by our horrible and unfair trade deals. These are the forgotten men and women of our country, and they are forgotten, but they will not be forgotten long. These are people who work hard but no longer have a voice. I am your voice.

I have embraced crying mothers who have lost their children because our politicians put their personal agendas before the national good.

I have no patience for injustice. No tolerance for government incompetence. When innocent people suffer, because our political system lacks the will, or the courage, or the basic decency to enforce our laws, or worse still, has sold out to some corporate lobbyist for cash I am not able to look the other way. And I won't look the other way.

And when a Secretary of State illegally stores her emails on a private server, deletes 33,000 of them so the authorities can't see her crime, puts our country at risk, lies about it in every different form and faces no no consequence — I know that corruption has reached a level like never ever before in our country.

When the FBI director says that the Secretary of State was "extremely careless" and "negligent" in handling our classified secrets, I also know that these terms are minor compared to what she actually did. They were just used to save her from facing justice for her terrible, terrible crimes.

In fact, her single greatest accomplishment may be committing such an egregious crime and getting away with it, especially when others who have been far less have paid so dearly.

When that same Secretary of State rakes in millions of dollars trading access and favors to special interests and foreign powers, I know the time for action has come.

I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people that cannot defend themselves.

Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it. I have seen firsthand how the system is rigged against our citizens, just like it was rigged against Bernie Sanders. He never had a chance.

But his supporters will join our movement, because we will fix his biggest issue: Trade deals that strip our country of jobs and the distribution of wealth in the country.

Millions of Democrats will join our movement, because we are going to fix the system so it works fairly and justly for each and every American.

In this cause, I am proud to have at my side the next Vice President of the United States: Governor Mike Pence of Indiana. And a great guy. We will bring the same economic success to America that Mike brought Indiana, which is amazing. He is a man of character and accomplishment. He is the right man for the job.

The first task for our new administration will be to liberate our citizens from the crime and terrorism and lawlessness that threatens their — our communities.

America was shocked to its core when our police officers in Dallas were so brutally executed. Immediately after Dallas, we have seen continued threats and violence against our law enforcement officials. Law officers have been shot or killed in recent days in Georgia, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas, Michigan and Tennessee.

On Sunday, more police were gunned down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Three were killed, and three were very badly injured. An attack on law enforcement is an attack on all Americans.

I have a message to every last person threatening the peace on our streets and the safety of our police: When I take the oath of office next year, I will restore law and order to our country.

I will work with, and appoint, the best prosecutors and law enforcement officials in the country to get the job properly done. In this race for the White House, I am the law and order candidate.

The irresponsible rhetoric of our president, who has used the pulpit of the presidency to divide us by race and color, has made America a more dangerous environment than frankly, I have ever seen and anybody in this room has ever watched or seeing.

This administration has failed America's inner cities. Remember, it has failed America's inner cities. It's failed them on education. It's failed them on jobs. It's failed them on crime. It's failed them in every way and on every single level.

When I am president, I will work to ensure that all of our kids are treated equally, and protected equally. Every action I take, I will ask myself: Does this make life better for young Americans in Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, and Ferguson who have really come in every way, have the same right to live out their dreams as any other child in America?

To make life safe in America, we must also address the growing threats from outside the country. We are going to defeat the barbarians of ISIS. And we are going to defeat them bad.

Once again, France is the victim of brutal Islamic terrorism. Men, women and children viciously mowed down. Lives ruined. Families ripped apart. A nation in mourning. The damage and devastation that can be inflicted by Islamic radicals has been proven over and over. At the World Trade Center, at an office party in San Bernardino, at the Boston Marathon, and a military recruiting center in Chattanooga, Tennessee. And many other locations.

Only weeks ago, in Orlando, Florida, 49 wonderful Americans were savagely murdered by an Islamic terrorist. This time, the terrorist targeted LGBTQ community.

No good. And we're going to stop it. As your president, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology. Believe me. And I have to say as a Republican, it is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just said. Thank you.

To protect us from terrorism, we need to focus on three things.

We must have the best, absolutely the best, gathering of intelligence anywhere in the world. The best.

We must abandon the failed policy of nation- building and regime change that Hillary Clinton pushed in Iraq, Libya, in Egypt, and Syria.

Instead, we must work with all of our allies who share our goal of destroying ISIS and stamping out Islamic terrorism and doing it now, doing it quickly. We're going to win. We're going to win fast. This includes working with our greatest ally in the region, the state of Israel.

Recently I have said that NATO was obsolete. Because it did not properly cover terror. And also that many of the member countries were not paying their fair share. As usual, the United States has been picking up the cost. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that NATO will be setting up a new program in order to combat terrorism. A true step in the right direction.

Lastly, and very importantly, we must immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place. We don't want them in our country.

My opponent has called for a radical 550 percent increase — think of this, this is not believable, but this is what is happening — a 550 percent increase in Syrian refugees on top of existing massive refugee flows coming into our country already under the leadership of president Obama.

She proposes this despite the fact that there's no way to screen these refugees in order to find out who they are or where they come from. I only want to admit individuals into our country who will support our values and love our people. Anyone who endorses violence, hatred or oppression is not welcome in our country and never ever will be.

Decades of record immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment for our citizens, especially for African-American and Latino workers. We are going to have an immigration system that works, but one that works for the American people.

On Monday, we heard from three parents whose children were killed by illegal immigrants Mary Ann Mendoza, Sabine Durden, and my friend Jamiel Shaw. They are just three brave representatives of many thousands who have suffered so greatly.

Of all my travels in this country, nothing has affected me more, nothing even close than the time I have spent with the mothers and fathers who have lost their children to violence spilling across our borders, which we can solve. We have to solve it. These families have no special interests to represent them. There are no demonstrators to protect them and none too protest on their behalf.

My opponent will never meet with them, or share in their pain. Believe me. Instead, my opponent wants sanctuary cities. But where was sanctuary for Kate Steinle? Where was sanctuary for the children of Mary Ann, Sabine and Jamiel? Is so sad to even be talking about this. We can solve it so quickly. Where was sanctuary for all the other Americans who have been so brutally murdered, and who have suffered so horribly? These wounded American families have been alone. But they are not alone any longer.

Tonight, this candidate and this whole nation stand in their corner to support them, to send them our love, and to pledge in their honor that we will save countless more families from suffering the same awful fate.

We are going to build a great border wall to stop illegal immigration, to stop the gangs and the violence, and to stop the drugs from pouring into our communities.

I have been honored to receive the endorsement of America's Border Patrol agents, and will work directly with them to protect the integrity of our lawful, lawful, immigration system.

By ending catch-and-release on the border, we will stop the cycle of human smuggling and violence. Illegal border crossings will go down. We will stop it. It will not be happening very much anymore. Believe me.

Peace will be restored by enforcing the rules for the millions who overstay their visas, our laws will finally receive the respect they deserve.

Tonight, I want every American whose demands for immigration security have been denied and every politician who has denied them to listen very closely to the words I am about to say: On on January 20 of 2017, the day I take the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced.

We are going to be considerate and compassionate to everyone. But my greatest compassion will be for our own struggling citizens.

My plan is the exact opposite of the radical and dangerous immigration policy of Hillary Clinton. Americans want relief from uncontrolled immigration. Which is what we have now. Communities want relief. Yet Hillary Clinton is proposing mass amnesty, mass immigration, and mass lawlessness.

Her plan will overwhelm your schools and hospitals, further reduce your jobs and wages, and make it harder for recent immigrants to escape from the tremendous cycle of poverty they are going through right now and make it almost impossible for them to join the middle class.

I have a different vision for our workers. It begins with a new, fair trade policy that protects our jobs and stands up to countries that cheat — of which there are many.

It's been a signature message of my campaign from day one, and it will be a signature feature of my presidency from the moment I take the oath of office. I have made billions of dollars in business making deals. Now I'm going to make our country rich again. Using the greatest businesspeople of the world, I'm going to turn our bad trade agreements into great trade agreements.

America has lost nearly-one third of its manufacturing jobs since 1997, following the enactment of disastrous trade deals supported by bill and Hillary Clinton. Remember, it was Bill Clinton who signed NAFTA, one of the worst economic deals ever made by our country. Or frankly, any other country. Never ever again.

I am going to bring our jobs back our jobs to Ohio and Pennsylvania and New York and Michigan and all of America and I am not going to let companies move to other countries, firing their employees along the way, without consequences. Not going to happen anymore.

My opponent, on the other hand, has supported virtually every trade agreement that has been destroying our middle class. She supported NAFTA, and she supported China's entrance into the world trade organization. Another one of her husband's colossal mistakes and disasters. She supported the job killing trade deal with South Korea. She she supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership which will not only destroy our manufacturing but it will make America subject to the rulings of foreign governments. And it is not going to happen.

I pledge to never sign any trade agreement that hurts our workers, or that diminishes our freedom and Independence. We will never ever sign bad trade deals. America first again. American first.

Instead, I will make individual deals with individual countries. No longer will we enter into these massive transactions with many countries that are thousands of pages long and which no one from our country even reads or understands. We are going to enforce all trade violations against any country that cheats. This includes stopping China's outrageous theft of intellectual property, along with their illegal product dumping, and their devastating currency manipulation. They are the greatest that ever came about, they are the greatest currently manipulators ever.

Our horrible trade agreements with China, and many others, will be totally renegotiated. That includes renegotiating NAFTA to get a much better deal for America and will walk away if we don't get that kind of a deal. Our country is going to start building and making things again.

Next comes the reform of our tax laws, regulations and energy rules. While Hillary Clinton plans a massive, and I mean massive, tax increase, I have proposed the largest tax reduction of any candidate who has run for president this year, Democrat or Republican. Middle-income Americans will experience profound relief, and taxes will be greatly simplified for everyone. I mean everyone.

America is one of the highest-taxed nations in the world. Reducing taxes will cause new companies and new jobs to come roaring back into our country. Believe me. It will happen and it will happen fast.

Then we are going to deal with the issue of regulation, one of the greatest job killers of them all. Excessive regulation is costing our country as much as $2 trillion a year, and we will end and it very quickly.

We are going to lift the restrictions on the production of American energy. This will produce more than $20 trillion in job-creating economic activity over the next four decades.

My opponent, on the other hand, wants to put the great miners and steelworkers of our country out of work and out of business. That will never happen with Donald J trump as president. Our steelworkers and are miners are going back to work again.

With these new economic policies, trillions of dollars will start flowing into our country. This new wealth will improve the quality of life for all Americans. We will build the roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, and the railways of our tomorrow. This, in turn, will create millions of more jobs.

We will rescue kids from failing schools by helping their parents send them to a safe school of their choice. My opponent would rather protect education bureaucrats than serve American children. That is what she is doing and that is what she has done.

We will repeal and replace disastrous Obamacare. You will be able to choose your own doctor again.

And we will fix TSA at the airports, which is a total disaster. Thank you.

We are going to work with all of our students who are drowning in debt to take the pressure off these young people just starting out in their adult lives. Tremendous problems.

We will completely rebuild our depleted military. And the countries that we protecting at a massive cost to us will be asked to pay their fair share.

We will take care of our great veterans like they have never been taken care of before. My just-released 10 point plan has received tremendous better support. We will guarantee those who serve this country will be able to visit the doctor or hospital of their choice without waiting five days in a line and dying.

My opponent dismissed the VA scandal, one more sign of how out of touch she really is.

We are going to ask every department head and government to provide a list of wasteful spending projects that we can eliminate in my first 100 days. The politicians have talked about this for years, but I'm going to do it.

We are also going to appoint justices to the United States Supreme Court who will uphold our laws and our constitution. The replacement of our beloved Justice Scalia will be a person of similar views, principles and judicial philosophies. Very important. This will be one of the most important issues decided by this election.

My opponent wants to essentially abolish the 2nd Amendment. I, on the other hand, received the early and strong endorsement of the National Rifle Association. And will protect the right of all Americans to keep their families safe.

At this moment, I would like to thank the evangelical community because, I will tell you what, the support they have given me — and I'm not sure I totally deserve it — has been so amazing. And has been such a big reason I'm here tonight. They have much to contribute to our policies.

Yet our laws prevent you from speaking your mind from your own pulpits. An amendment, pushed by Lyndon Johnson, many years ago, threatens religious institutions with a loss of their tax-exempt status if they openly advocate their political views. Their voice has been taken away. I will work hard to repeal that language and to protect free speech for all Americans.

We can accomplish these great things and so much more. All we need to do is start believing in ourselves a in our country again. Start believing. It is time to show the whole world that America is back, bigger and better and stronger than ever before.

In this journey, I'm so lucky to have at my side my wife Melania and my wonderful children Don, Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany, and Barron: You will always be my greatest source of pride and joy. And by the way, Melania and Ivanka, did they do a job?

My dad, Fred Trump, was the smartest and hardest working man I ever knew. I wonder sometimes what he'd say if he were here to see this tonight. It's because of him that I learned, from my youngest age, to respect the dignity of work and the dignity of working people.

He was a guy most comfortable in the company of bricklayers, carpenters, and electricians and I have a lot of that in me also. I love those people.

Then there's my mother, Mary. She was strong, but also warm and fair-minded. She was a truly great mother. She was also one of the most honest and charitable people I have ever known, and a great, great judge of character. She could pick them out from anywhere.

To my sisters, Mary Anne and Elizabeth, my brother Robert and my late brother Fred, I will always give you my love. You are most special to me. I have loved my life in business.

But now, my sole and exclusive mission is to go to work for our country, to go to work for you. It is time to deliver a victory for the American people. We don't win anymore, but we are going to start winning again. But to do that, we must break free from the petty politics of the past.

America is a nation of believers, dreamers, and strivers that is being led by a group of censors, critics, and cynics. Remember: All of the people telling you you can't have the country you want, are the same people, that would not stand, I mean they said Trump does not have a chance of being here tonight, not a chance, the same people. We love defeating those people, don't we? Love it.

No longer can we rely on those same people. In the media and politics who, will say anything to keep a rigged system in place. Instead, we must choose to believe in America.

History is watching us now. It's we don't have much time. We don't have much time. It's waiting to see if we will rise to the occasion, and if we will show the whole world that America is still free and independent and strong.

I am asking for your support tonight so that I can be year champion in the White House. And I will be a champion.Your champion.

My opponent asks her supporters to recite a three-word loyalty pledge. It reads: "I'm with her."

I choose to recite a different pledge. My pledge reads: "I'm with you the American people."

I am your voice. So to every parent who dreams for their child, and every child who dreams for their future, I say these words to you tonight: I'm with you, and I will fight for you, and I will win for you.

To all Americans tonight, in all our cities and towns, I make this promise:

We will make America strong again.

We will make America proud again.

We will make America safe again.

And we will make America great again!

God bless you and goodnight! I love you!

Jo Cox: 'Our communities have been deeply enhanced by immigration', maiden speech - 2015

Jo Cox was murdered on 16 June 2016, while campaigning on the street . Her accused killer, Thomas Mair, gave his name as "Death to traitors, freedom for Britain" at his first court appearance.

3 June 2015, House of Commons, London, United Kingdom

Thank you, Mr Speaker; it is a great privilege to be called to make my maiden speech in this most important of debates, and I congratulate many others who have made outstanding maiden speeches today.

I am sure that many right hon. and hon. Members will claim that their constituencies consist of two halves or numerous parochial parts; I am another in that respect, and Batley and Spen is very much that kind of constituency. It is a joy to represent such a diverse community.

Batley and Spen is a gathering of typically independent, no-nonsense and proud Yorkshire towns and villages. Our communities have been deeply enhanced by immigration, be it of Irish Catholics across the constituency or of Muslims from Gujarat in India or from Pakistan, principally from Kashmir. While we celebrate our diversity, what surprises me time and time again as I travel round the constituency is that we are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.

My constituency is also home to Fox’s Biscuits and Lion Confectionery, so I am sure you will not think it an indulgence, Mr Speaker, if I describe Batley and Spen as a constituency with an industrial heart wrapped in a very rich and pleasant Yorkshire landscape—geographical, historical and cultural.

The spirit of non-conformity is as prevalent now in my part of west Yorkshire as it was in the time of my two immediate predecessors, Mike Wood and Elizabeth Peacock. They were both known for offering their own brand of independent, non-conformist service, albeit in very different ways. I intend to maintain that established tradition in my own unique style.

Of course, Batley is a town that has sent Labour MPs to this place for the best part of a hundred years. One of them, Dr Broughton, is of course famously credited with bringing down a Government, so I respectfully put the right hon. Members on the Front Bench opposite on notice. The Spen valley has a far more chequered political history, alternately sending Labour and Conservative MPs here to Westminster for much of the 20th century. Nothing made me prouder on 8 May than to be sent to this place with an increased Labour majority, proving again that in my neck of the woods non-conformity is what we do best.

As I have already alluded to, we make things in Batley and Spen; we do so now, just as we did historically. Batley and Spen has a high proportion of people working in manufacturing, and we can boast the full range of industries, including high-skilled, precision engineering. We manufacture all sorts, from beds to biscuits, and from carpets to lathes. We also have some of the best fish and chips in the country, and some of the best curries in the world.

However, what many of our businesses are lacking is confidence: confidence to expand; confidence to borrow; confidence to grow; and the confidence to fuel a real economic recovery that benefits everybody, offering decent jobs, paying decent wages and bridging the skills gap. Key to changing that situation is a fundamental shift in attitude towards regional economic regeneration. It is time to give city and county regions the powers and resources they need to promote growth, and I will happily work with all of those who are genuinely committed to building an economic powerhouse in the north. This agenda has to have at its centre a commitment to connect towns and villages in constituencies like mine to thriving city hubs, and to deliver a financial offer in the forthcoming July Budget that gives this worthy goal a real chance of success. Yorkshire folk are not fools: talk about devolving power to cities and regions, while simultaneously stripping them of the resources to deliver and subjecting northern councils such as Kirklees to the harshest of cuts, is not compatible with a worthy commitment to building a northern powerhouse to drive growth and prosperity.

Businesses in my constituency want help to address the skills mismatch at local level which leaves employers with staff shortages and young people without jobs. They want access to reliable sources of finance, including a network of local banks. They want to connect to a regional infrastructure that works for them, not rail price hikes of more than 126% and endless delays to key ransport projects such as the electrification of the line from Manchester to Leeds. Many businesses in Yorkshire want the security and stability of Britain’s continued membership of the European Union, a cause I look forward to championing passionately in this place and elsewhere.

The key question is: will the Government’s actions match their northern powerhouse rhetoric? HS2 is not the only acid test. There are two bigger challenges. First, will the Government really devolve all the powers and decisions that could and should be taken locally and regionally? My test will be this: if there is a compelling reason for this to be a national decision then so be it; if not, it should be devolved. Secondly, will the Government really take the whole range of their decisions—on transport, research and development, planning, education and skills—in the interests of rebalancing the economy and growing the north?

I am Batley and Spen born and bred, and I could not be prouder of that. I am proud that I was made in Yorkshire and I am proud of the things we make in Yorkshire. Britain should be proud of that, too. I look forward to representing the great people of Batley and Spen here over the next five years.