Sept. 15 / Administration of , 2009

Senate. That’s why he is—he was a great Sena- Thank you very much, . I love tor when he was a Republican; he’s going to be you, and I love Arlen Specter. I appreciate you a even better Senator now that he’s a Demo- guys. Thank you. crat. And that’s why you are all going to work just as hard as you can to make sure that he NOTE: The President spoke at 4:08 p.m. at the gets reelected and is continuing to help me Convention Center. In his re- move this country forward. marks, he referred to David L. Cohen, execu- tive vice president, Comcast Corporation.

Remarks at a Reception for Senator Arlen Specter in Philadelphia September 15, 2009

Thank you so much, everybody. Please have a student loan or a home loan, but banks a seat. Thank you. It was, first of all, wonderful weren’t lending money to each other. to meet all of you as we were taking pictures. And at that point, I think there was a sense And I want to say that I am so pleased to be that in the absence of effective Government here not only because of Arlen’s outstanding action, we could end up being in a real disas- track record, but because, like me, he married ter. And so we determined that we had to up in life. [Laughter] We are both lawyers. We move boldly and swiftly to turn this around. both appreciate the Constitution. We’re both And we put together—after consulting with fighters, and sometimes people count us out. the best economists in the country from all So although we come from different parts of walks of life and all parties, we decided that we the country, we have this bond, this thread. needed to put together a recovery package And as Arlen, I think, has mentioned, one of that would have a variety of elements. It would the most important bonds is, we’re basically a provide tax cuts to businesses and individuals. couple of kids who somehow got dis- It would provide support for States that were placed—[laughter]—him in Philadelphia and seeing their budgets plummet. It would pro- me in Honolulu. vide help to individuals who were being laid I want to make sure that I give a word of off. And it would start building the kind of in- thanks to Bob Casey, who is one of the finest frastructure that would move America into the people I know, has just been a great friend to 21st century. me—and his entire family obviously is just leg- And there’s been a little bit of a selective endary here in Pennsylvania. So please give memory about—a little historical revision- Bob Casey a big round of applause. And I want ism—about the situation that we were in. But to thank David Cohen for being such a great even then, even as scared as people were, supporter of mine, a great supporter of Ar- there were some in Washington who decided len’s. And I suspect that David is in the middle that this is a political opportunity, this is ideo- of just about every civic activity that takes logical, that we should fight this and perpetu- place in Philadelphia, and he does it with just a ate the kind of gridlock that has caused us so lot of class and always a smile on his face. So many problems in the past. thank you, David, for all your help. I’m pleased that I had a partner in Arlen You know, if you’d think back to where we Specter in getting that recovery package done, were 8 months ago, it’s hard to imagine. When because it displayed all the traits that I think I was sworn into office, we were in the midst makes him such an exceptional Senator. Obvi- of the worst recession since the Great Depres- ously, the first, independence; he is somebody sion. And a lot of economists—both left and who has always fought for the people who sent right—thought that we might be plunging into him to Washington and not just party; a terrific a . We were shedding 700,000 intellect, being able to follow all the argu- jobs a month. Credit was almost entirely fro- ments about how to structure a plan that had zen. Not only could you not get a bank loan or the best chance of being effective; toughness,

1402 Administration of Barack Obama, 2009 / Sept. 15 being able to put up with a awful lot of grief in than it has ever been. And if you’re a conserva- the midst of what was a eventually pretty acri- tive, then you should know that the only thing monious debate; and integrity, willingness to that is going to allow us to close the structural stand for what he believed in. deficit that we have that is piling on debt for our Because of Arlen, we were able to get that children and our grandchildren is if we are able recovery package passed. Because the recovery to bend the cost curve and reduce the cost of package passed, we are now seeing that this health care inflation over the next 20, 30 years. economy has pulled itself back from the brink. If we don’t do that, there’s no way for us to bal- The financial markets are working again. The ance our budget. There’s so much at stake in stock market has recovered a lot of its value, fixing our health care system. which means people’s 401(k)s have recovered a Now, this is before we start getting into for- lot of their value. Banks aren’t lending as much eign policy and the decisions we’re going to as we’d like, but at least things are functioning. have to make in terms of how we project our We saw this month, for the first time in 3 years, power effectively. How do we balance diploma- manufacturing actually ticking up, consumer cy and our military might in an intelligent way confidence is up. We are not out of the woods, so that we’re serving the national security inter- but we’ve pulled back from the abyss. ests of the American people? How do we make Now, the challenge for us is figuring out how sure that we preserve our civil liberties even in do we create an economy that doesn’t go the midst of going aggressively after those who through these wild boom and bust cycles. How would try to do us harm? How do we affirm our can we create sustained growth? How can we constitutional values at a time when the country make sure that we’ve laid the foundations for a is becoming more diverse? That can lead to in- competitive America in the 21st century, just credible dynamism. That’s always been a source like the foundation was laid for the “American of strength for America, but it can also lead to Century,” the 20th century? contentiousness and conflict and strife. And in that process, there are going to be On each and every one of these questions, some critical decisions that we’re going to have the Presidency can only take you so far. I’ve got to make. Are we willing to invest in the educa- a clear sense of where we need to go, and I’m tion of our young people so that we can develop absolutely convinced that if we make the right the science and engineering and technology and decisions right now and we battle through some mathematical skills that keep us at the cutting difficult choices and we’re willing to make some edge? We’re not going to get that for free. It’s sacrifices, that we are going to be able to lay not just going to be a matter of money; it’s also that foundation for the next generation. going to be a matter of reform. But we’ve got to But the President can’t do it alone. Every sin- have a sense of urgency about how we pick up gle issue that I just mentioned, I’ve got to have the pace in our schools. We’re going to have to effective, tough partners with integrity and vi- have an entirely new approach to energy, not sion, who feel accountable not to special inter- just because of climate change and the environ- ests in Washington but feel accountable to the ment, not just because of our addiction to for- folks who sent him there. That’s the kind of eign oil that ends up having us send billions of Senator you’ve got in Bob Casey. That’s the dollars overseas, but also because it is putting us kind of Senator that you have had for many at a huge competitive disadvantage. years and you need to continue to have in Arlen We’re going to have to fix our health care sys- Specter. tem. We’re in the midst of a major debate about And that’s why I’m here today. I’m here to- health care. And if you are a liberal, then you’re day because I’m going to need all of you to re- concerned about making sure that 30 million double your efforts in the months to come to American citizens get coverage. If you’re mod- fight for Arlen, because he’s fighting for you, erate and not all that interested in politics, you and he’s fighting for what’s right. And it’s not should still be concerned about the fact that going to be easy. It’s not easy because we live in your health care is less secure and less stable a polarized environment, and politics has

1403 Sept. 15 / Administration of Barack Obama, 2009 become sport, and it’s hard to sustain complex that all of you work as hard as you can. If you arguments about why we have to make choices do, then I’m absolutely confident that we’re that don’t always seem real attractive on the going to get through these tough times and surface. And so that creates political vulnera- brighter days are going to be ahead not just for bilities for all of us. And all of you who know Pennsylvania, but for the of better, who know why it’s so important for us America. to make these tough decisions, you’ve got to So thank you so much for being here, every- make sure that you support somebody who’s body. God bless you. Thank you. got the savvy and the intelligence and the te- nacity to actually get things done. NOTE: The President spoke at 5:26 p.m. at the That’s who Arlen Specter is. I’m proud to Pennsylvania Convention Center. In his re- call him a friend. I am glad that he is in the marks, he referred to David L. Cohen, execu- Senate. And I’m going to keep on needing him tive vice president, Comcast Corp. in the Senate in the years to come. So I hope

Remarks Following a Meeting With Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada and an Exchange With Reporters September 16, 2009

President Obama. Hello, everybody. Prime and the situation with Iran and the potential Minister Harper and I have just had an excel- development of weapons and how we respond lent conversation, reiterating the extraordinary to the potential development of nuclear weap- friendship and bond between the American ons in Iran. and the Canadian people. We discussed both So overall, I just want to again publicly our bilateral relationship on issues of energy, thank Prime Minister Harper for being an out- our borders, issues of trade, and how we can standing partner to the United States. We ap- continue to strengthen the already excellent preciate his excellent work. We very much ap- relations that we have. preciate the Canadian people. And we are We also have discussed a range of interna- looking forward to seeing them next week in tional issues. Obviously, we’ve been partnering both the United Nations context and the G– with Canada on improving the global econo- 20. my. We both agree that although we are not Prime Minister Harper. Well, thank you out of the woods yet, that we have seen signs very much, Mr. President. First of all, Barack, of stability and that both Canada and the Unit- let me just say I really appreciate—this is our ed States are on the path to positive economic seventh time, I think, in some form or another growth. We both agree that coordination still we’ve had a chance to discuss some of these is- sues, and we appreciate your time and, of needs to continue at the international level course, both your and your country’s alliance, and are looking forward to the G–20, where neighborliness, and friendship. It’s our most we can both discuss how to sustain efforts to important relationship in the world. We’re al- kick-start the economy, but also make sure ways delighted to sit down and talk. that we’re starting to look at exit strategies and what a sustainable growth model would be [At this point, Prime Minister Harper spoke in long term. French, and no translation was provided.] We had discussions about some of the inter- national threats that continue to exist out Once again, we discussed three major sub- there. We discussed climate change and prep- jects, as I indicated we would yesterday. First arations for the Copenhagen conference, Af- of all, the economy, the recovery is happening, ghanistan and the need for us to move forward but it is fragile, and we really must redouble in a clear direction over the next several years, our efforts to apply stimulus measures, get

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