Climate change
We, the people, still believe
that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all
posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing
that the failure to do so would betray our children and future
generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science,
but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling
drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy
sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist
this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the
technology that will power new jobs and new industries — we must claim
its promise. That is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our
national treasure our forests and waterways; our croplands and
snow-capped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to
our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers
once declared.
Gay rights and anti-discrimination
Our journey is not complete
until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under
the law — for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we
commit to one another must be equal as well.
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We, the people, declare today
that the most evident of truths — that all of us are created equal — is
the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through
Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men
and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall,
to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King
proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the
freedom of every soul on Earth.
Equal pay for women
It is now
our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our
journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can
earn a living equal to their efforts.
Immigration
Our journey is not complete
until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants
who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young
students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than
expelled from our country.
Gun control
Our journey is not complete
until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of
Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for,
and cherished, and always safe from harm.
Foreign policy
We will defend our people and
uphold our values through strength of arms and rule of law. We will
show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations
peacefully — not because we are naive about the dangers we face, but
because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear. America
will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe;
and we will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to manage
crisis abroad, for no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than
its most powerful nation. We will support democracy from Asia to Africa;
from the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and our
conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom.
Partisan gridlock
Being true to our founding
documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life; it does
not mean we will all define liberty in exactly the same way, or follow
the same precise path to happiness. Progress does not compel us to
settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time —
but it does require us to act in our time.
For now decisions are upon
us, and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for
principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling
as reasoned debate.
Income equality
For we, the people,
understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very
well and a growing many barely make it. We believe that America’s
prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class.
We know that America thrives when every person can find independence and
pride in their work; when the wages of honest labour liberate families
from the brink of hardship. We are true to our creed when a little girl
born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to
succeed as anybody else, because she is an American, she is free, and
she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own
We, the people, still believe
that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity. We
must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the
size of our deficit. But we reject the belief that America must choose
between caring for the generation that built this country and investing
in the generation that will build its future. For we remember the
lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty, and
parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn. We do not
believe that in this country, freedom is reserved for the lucky, or
happiness for the few.
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