Category: June 2009

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Well, it is wonderful to see all these do-gooders in one room. (Laughter.) And it is always a dangerous thing trying to follow Geoffrey Canada. (Laughter.) But I thank you all for being here. Before we begin the subject of today’s gathering, I want to say a few words…

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. All right, everybody have a seat. Settle down. (Applause.) What a joy it is to see so many good friends, people who — it’s no exaggeration — without whom we would not be here. And there are just a lot of folks in this audience who took an early bet on…

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I am very pleased to have President Uribe here today with his delegation from Colombia. The relationship between the United States and Colombia has been extremely strong. We’ve had great cooperation on a whole range of issues, and President Uribe’s administration I think has, under very difficult circumstances, performed admirably on a…

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Hello, hello, hello. (Applause.) Hey! Good to see you. (Applause.) I’m waiting for FLOTUS here. FLOTUS always politics more than POTUS. MRS. OBAMA: No, you move too slow. (Laughter.) THE PRESIDENT: It is great to see everybody here today and they’re just — I’ve got a lot of friends in the…

THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. Since taking — excuse me — since taking office, my administration has mounted a sustained response to a historic economic crisis. But even as we take decisive action to repair the damage to our economy, we’re also working to build a new foundation for sustained and lasting economic growth. And…

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Willkommen. It’s my pleasure to welcome Chancellor Merkel to the White House. We had a very productive discussion in the Oval Office, and our meetings will continue this afternoon. Chancellor Merkel’s visit is the latest chapter in the long partnership between our two countries: the service of our men and women in uniform…

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Welcome to the White House. It’s my great honor to introduce the folks behind me here. But I just was telling the President on the way over, I like the state he represented — but I love the state he’s from. (Laughter.) Mr. President, I’m glad you brought Hawaii to the White…

THE PRESIDENT: Hey, guys. Good afternoon. Right now, the House of Representatives is moving towards a vote of historic proportions on a piece of legislation that will open the door to a new clean energy economy. For more than three decades, we’ve talked about our dependence on foreign oil. And for more than three decades,…

MRS. OBAMA: Well, thank you everybody. Thank you, Michael. I want to thank Colonel Laura Richardson, the Ft. McNair Base Commander, for her service and for helping make this day possible. It is so good to see all of you here. We said we’d do it, right? (Applause.) And we’re here. (Applause.) A little while…

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. We have just finished what I consider to be a very productive meeting on one of the most critical issues that I think this nation faces, and that is an immigration system that is broken and needs fixing. We have members of Congress from both chambers, from parties, who have participated…