And more Americans finish college than ever before. Our high school graduation rate has hit an all-time high. And today, our younger students have earned the highest math and reading scores on record. We believed we could prepare our kids for a more competitive world. And thanks to lower gas prices and higher fuel standards, the typical family this year should save $750 at the pump. Every three weeks, we bring online as much solar power as we did in all of 2008. And today, America is number one in oil and gas. We believed we could reduce our dependence on foreign oil and protect our planet. And over the past five years, our businesses have created more than 11 million new jobs. We believed we could reverse the tide of outsourcing, and draw new jobs to our shores. And it’s been your effort and resilience that has made it possible for our country to emerge stronger. You’re the people I was thinking of six years ago today, in the darkest months of the crisis, when I stood on the steps of this Capitol and promised we would rebuild our economy on a new foundation. You are the reason I ran for this office. They represent the millions who have worked hard, and scrimped, and sacrificed, and retooled. We are a strong, tight-knit family who has made it through some very, very hard times.Īmerica, Rebekah and Ben’s story is our story.
“It is amazing,” Rebekah wrote, “what you can bounce back from when you have to…we are a strong, tight-knit family who has made it through some very, very hard times.” Ben is back in construction – and home for dinner every night.
Rebekah got a better job, and then a raise. Rebekah took out student loans, enrolled in community college, and retrained for a new career. “If only we had known,” Rebekah wrote to me last spring, “what was about to happen to the housing and construction market.”Īs the crisis worsened, Ben’s business dried up, so he took what jobs he could find, even if they kept him on the road for long stretches of time. They were young and in love in America, and it doesn’t get much better than that.
Seven years ago, Rebekah and Ben Erler of Minneapolis were newlyweds. So tonight, I want to focus less on a checklist of proposals, and focus more on the values at stake in the choices before us. And in the months ahead, I’ll crisscross the country making a case for those ideas. In two weeks, I will send this Congress a budget filled with ideas that are practical, not partisan. Will we allow ourselves to be sorted into factions and turned against one another – or will we recapture the sense of common purpose that has always propelled America forward? Will we approach the world fearful and reactive, dragged into costly conflicts that strain our military and set back our standing? Or will we lead wisely, using all elements of our power to defeat new threats and protect our planet? Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well? Or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and chances for everyone who makes the effort? It’s now up to us to choose who we want to be over the next fifteen years, and for decades to come. The shadow of crisis has passed, and the State of the Union is strong.Īt this moment – with a growing economy, shrinking deficits, bustling industry, and booming energy production – we have risen from recession freer to write our own future than any other nation on Earth. We are humbled and grateful for your service.Īmerica, for all that we’ve endured for all the grit and hard work required to come back for all the tasks that lie ahead, know this: And we salute the courage and sacrifice of every man and woman in this 9/11 Generation who has served to keep us safe. Six years ago, nearly 180,000 American troops served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tonight, for the first time since 9/11, our combat mission in Afghanistan is over.
BLESS UNLEASHED CLASS FREE
More of our kids are graduating than ever before more of our people are insured than ever before we are as free from the grip of foreign oil as we’ve been in almost 30 years.
Our unemployment rate is now lower than it was before the financial crisis. Tonight, after a breakthrough year for America, our economy is growing and creating jobs at the fastest pace since 1999. It has been, and still is, a hard time for many. Fifteen years that dawned with terror touching our shores that unfolded with a new generation fighting two long and costly wars that saw a vicious recession spread across our nation and the world. We are fifteen years into this new century. Vice President, Members of Congress, my fellow Americans: President Obama delivers his State of the Union address.
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