reSee.it - Tweets Saved By @Shem_Infinite
@Shem_Infinite - Shem Horne
While you are waiting for President Trumps joint address to Congress tomorrow night, watch this five hour compilation video of all his Congressional addresses from his first term. The last State of Union address is one of his all time greatest speeches. Timestamps below: https://t.co/NxNrkpsBm3
Video Transcript AI Summary
Fellow Americans, tonight I deliver a message of unity and strength from my heart. A new chapter of American greatness is beginning. A new national pride is sweeping across our nation, with a surge of optimism placing impossible dreams within our grasp.
Our allies will find that America is once again ready to lead. All nations, friend or foe, will find that America is strong, proud, and free. It's time to put America first, to bring back dying industries, care for our veterans, rebuild our infrastructure, stop the drug epidemic, and revive our neglected inner cities. We will keep our promises to the American people and truly make America great again.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Mister speaker, mister vice president, members of congress, the first lady of The United States. And citizen of South America, tonight, as we mark the conclusion of our celebration of Black History Month, we are reminded of our nation's path towards civil rights and the work that still remains to be done. Recent threats Recent threats targeting Jewish community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as last week's shooting in Kansas City remind us that while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms. Each American generation passes the torch of truth, liberty, justice in an unbroken chain all the way down to the present.
That torch is now in our hands, and we will use it to light up the world. I am here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength, and it is a message deeply delivered from my heart. A new chapter. Of American greatness is now beginning. A new national pride is sweeping across our nation, and a new surge of optimism is placing impossible dreams firmly within our grasp.
What we are witnessing today is the renewal of the American spirit. Our allies will find that America is once again ready to lead. All the nations of the world, friend or foe, will find that America is strong, America is proud, and America is free. In nine years, the United States will celebrate the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of our founding. Two hundred and fifty years since the day we declared our independence.
It will be one of the great milestones in the history of the world. But what will America look like as we reach our two hundred and fiftieth year? What kind of country will we leave for our children? I will not allow the mistakes of recent decades past to define the course of our future. For too long, we've watched our middle class shrink as we've exported our jobs and wealth to foreign countries.
We financed and built one global project after another, but ignored the fates of our children in the inner cities of Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit, and so many other places throughout our land. We've defended the borders of other nations while leaving our own borders wide open for anyone to cross and for drugs to pour in at a now unprecedented rate. And we've spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseas while our infrastructure at home has so badly crumbled. Then in 02/2016, the earth shifted beneath our feet. The rebellion started as a quiet protest spoken by families of all colors and creeds, families who just wanted a fair shot for their children and a fair hearing for their concerns.
But then the quiet voices became a loud chorus as thousands of citizens now spoke out together from cities small and large all across our country. Finally, the chorus became an earthquake, and the people turned out by the tens of millions, and they were all united by one very simple but crucial demand, that America must put its own citizens first. Because only then can we truly make America great again. Dying industries will come roaring back to life. Heroic veterans will get the care they so desperately need.
Our military will be given the resources its brave warriors so richly deserve. Crumbling infrastructure will be replaced with new roads, bridges, tunnels, airports, and railways gleaming across a very, very beautiful land. Our terrible drug epidemic will slow down and ultimately stop, and our neglected inner cities will see a rebirth of hope, safety, and opportunity. Above all else, we will keep our promises to the American people. Thank you.
It's been a little over a month since my inauguration, and I wanna take this moment to update the nation on the progress I've made in keeping those promises. Since my election, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, General Motors, Sprint, Softbank, Lockheed, Intel, Walmart, and many others have announced that they will invest billions and billions of dollars in The United States and will create tens of thousands of new American jobs. The stock market has gained almost $3,000,000,000,000 in value since the election on November 8, a record. We've saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars by bringing down the price of fantastic, and it is a fantastic, new f 35 jet fighter, and we'll be saving billions more on contracts all across our government. We have placed a hiring freeze on non military and non essential federal workers.
We have begun to drain the swamp of government corruption by imposing a five year ban on lobbying by executive branch officials and a lifetime ban. Thank you. Thank you. And a lifetime ban on becoming lobbyists for a foreign government. We have undertaken a historic effort to massively reduce job crushing regulations, creating a deregulation task force inside of every government agency.
And we're imposing a new rule which mandates that for every one new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated. We're going to stop the regulations that threaten the future and livelihood of our great coal miners. We have cleared the way for the construction of the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines. Thereby creating tens of thousands of jobs. And I've issued a new directive that new American pipelines be made with American steel.
We have withdrawn The United States from the job killing Trans Pacific Partnership. And with the help of prime minister Justin Trudeau, we have formed a council with our neighbors in Canada to help ensure that women entrepreneurs have access to the networks, markets, and capital they need to start a business and live out their financial dreams. To protect our citizens, I have directed the Department of Justice to form a task force on reducing violent crime. I have further ordered the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, along with the Department of State and the Director of National Intelligence, to coordinate an aggressive strategy to dismantle the criminal cartels that have spread all across our nation. We will stop the drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth, and we will expand treatment for those who have become so badly addicted.
At the same time, my administration has answered the pleas of the American people for immigration enforcement and border security. By finally enforcing our immigration laws, we will raise wages, help the unemployed, save billions and billions of dollars, and make our communities safer for everyone. We want all Americans to succeed, but that can't happen in an environment of lawless chaos. We must restore integrity and the rule of law at our borders. For that reason, we will soon begin the construction of a great, great wall along our southern border.
As we speak tonight, we are removing gang members, drug dealers, and criminals that threaten our communities and prey on our very innocent citizens. Bad ones are going out as I speak and as I promised throughout the campaign. To any in congress who do not believe we should enforce our laws, I would ask you this one question. What would you say to the American family that loses their jobs, their income, or their loved one because America refused to uphold its laws and defend its borders. Our obligation is to serve, protect, and defend the citizens of The United States.
We are also taking strong measures to protect our nation from radical Islamic terrorism. According to data provided by the Department of Justice, the vast majority of individuals convicted of terrorism and terrorism related offenses since nine eleven came here from outside of our country. We have seen the attacks at home, from Boston to San Bernardino to the Pentagon, and, yes, even the World Trade Center. We have seen the attacks in France, in Belgium, in Germany, and all over the world. It is not compassionate, but reckless to allow uncontrolled entry from places where proper vetting cannot occur.
Those given the high honor of admission to The United States should support this country and love its people and its values. We cannot allow a beachhead of terrorism to form inside America. We cannot allow our nation to become a sanctuary for extremists. That is why my administration has been working on improved vetting procedures, and we will shortly take new steps to keep our nation safe and to keep those out who will do us harm. As promised, I directed the Department of Defense to develop a plan to demolish and destroy ISIS, a network of lawless savages that have slaughtered Muslims and Christians and men and women and children of all faiths and all beliefs.
We will work with our allies, including our friends and allies in the Muslim world, to extinguish this vile enemy from our planet. I have also imposed new sanctions on entities and individuals who support Iran's ballistic missile program and reaffirmed our unbreakable alliance with the state of Israel. Finally, I have kept my promise to appoint a justice to the United States Supreme Court from my list of 20 judges who will defend our constitution. I am greatly honored to have Maureen Scalia with us in the gallery tonight. Thank you, Maureen.
Her late great husband, Antonin Scalia, will forever be a symbol of American justice. To fill his seat, we have chosen judge Neil Gorsuch, a man of incredible skill and deep devotion to the law. He was confirmed unanimously by the Court of Appeals, and I am asking the Senate to swiftly approve his nomination. Tonight, as I outline the next steps we must take as a country, we must honestly acknowledge the circumstances we inherited. 94,000,000 Americans are out of the labor force.
Over 43,000,000 people are now living in poverty, and over 43,000,000 Americans are on food stamps. More than one in five people in their prime working years are not working. We have the worst financial recovery in sixty five years. In the last eight years, the past administration has put on more new debt than nearly all of the other presidents combined. We've lost more than one fourth of our manufacturing jobs since NAFTA was approved, and we've lost 60,000 factories since China joined the World Trade Organization in 02/2001.
Our trade deficit in goods with the world last year was nearly $800,000,000,000, And overseas, we have inherited a series of tragic foreign policy disasters. Solving these and so many other pressing problems will require us to work past the differences of party. It will require us to tap into the American spirit that has overcome every challenge throughout our long and storied history. But to accomplish our goals at home and abroad, we must restart the engine of the American economy, making it easier for companies to do business in The United States and much, much harder for companies to leave our country. Right now, American companies are taxed at one of the highest rates anywhere in the world.
My economic team is developing historic tax reform that will reduce the tax rate on our companies so they can compete and thrive anywhere and with anyone. It will be a big, big cut. At the same time, we will provide massive tax relief for the middle class. We must create a level playing field for American companies and our workers. Have to do it.
Currently, when we ship products out of America, many other countries make us pay very high tariffs and taxes. But when foreign companies ship their products into America, we charge them nothing or almost nothing. I just met with officials and workers from a great American company, Harley Davidson. In fact, they proudly displayed five of their magnificent motorcycles made in The USA on the front lawn of the White House. And they wanted me to ride one, and I said, no.
Thank you. At our meeting, I asked them, how are you doing? How is business? They said that it's good. I asked them further, how are you doing with other countries, mainly international sales?
They told me without even complaining because they have been so mistreated for so long that they've become used to it, that it's very hard to do business with other countries because they tax our goods at such a high rate. They said that in the case of another country, they tax their motorcycles at 100%. They weren't even asking for a change, but I am. I believe. I believe strongly in free trade, but it also has to be fair trade.
It's been a long time since we had fair trade. The first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, warned that the abandonment of the protective policy by the American government will produce want and ruin among our people. Lincoln was right, and it's time we heeded his advice and his words. I am not going to let America and its great companies and workers be taken advantage of us any longer. They have taken advantage of our country.
No longer. I'm going to bring back millions of jobs. Protecting our workers also means reforming our system of legal immigration. The current outdated system depresses wages for our poorest workers and puts great pressure on taxpayers. Nations around the world like Canada, Australia, and many others have a merit based immigration system.
It's a basic principle that those seeking to enter a country ought to be able to support themselves financially. Yet in America, we do not enforce this rule, straining the very public resources that our poorest citizens rely upon. According to the National Academy of Sciences, our current immigration system costs American taxpayers many billions of dollars a year. Switching away from this current system of lower skilled immigration and instead adopting a merit based system, we will have so many more benefits. It will save countless dollars, raise workers' wages, and help struggling families, including immigrant families, enter the middle class.
And they will do it quickly, and they will be very, very happy indeed. I believe that real and positive immigration reform is possible as long as we focus on the following goals, to improve jobs and wages for Americans, to strengthen our nation's security, and to restore respect for our loss. If we are guided by the well-being of American citizens, then I believe Republicans and Democrats can work together to achieve an outcome that has eluded our country for decades. Another Republican president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, initiated the last truly great national infrastructure program, the building of the Interstate Highway System.
The time has come for a new program of national rebuilding. America has spent approximately $6,000,000,000,000 in The Middle East, all the while our infrastructure at home is crumbling. With this $6,000,000,000,000, we could have rebuilt our country twice and maybe even three times if we had people who had the ability to negotiate. To launch our national rebuilding, I will be asking congress to approve legislation that produces a $1,000,000,000,000 investment in infrastructure of The United States financed through both public and private capital, creating millions of new jobs. This effort will be guided by two core principles, buy American and hire American.
Tonight, I am also calling on this congress to repeal and replace Obamacare. With reforms that expand choice, increase access, lower costs, and at the same time provide better health care. Mandating every American to buy government approved health insurance was never the right solution for our country. The way to make health insurance available to everyone is to lower the cost of health insurance, and that is what we are going to do. Obamacare premiums nationwide have increased by double and triple digits.
As an example, Arizona went up a 16% last year alone. Governor Matt Bevin of Kentucky just said Obamacare is failing in his state, the state of Kentucky, and it's unsustainable and collapsing. One third of the counties have only one insurer, and they're losing them fast. They are losing them so fast. They're leaving, and many Americans have no choice at all.
There's no choice left. Remember when you were told that you could keep your doctor and keep your plan. We now know that all of those promises have been totally broken. Obamacare is collapsing, and we must act decisively to protect all Americans. Action is not a choice.
It is a necessity. So I am calling on all Democrats and Republicans in Congress to work with us to save Americans from this imploding Obamacare disaster. Here are the principles that should guide congress as we move to create a better health care system for all Americans. First, we should ensure that Americans with preexisting conditions have access to coverage and that we have a stable transition for Americans currently enrolled in the health care exchanges. Secondly, we should help Americans purchase their own coverage through the use of tax credits and expanded health savings accounts.
But it must be the plan they want, not the plan forced on them by our government. Thirdly, we should give our state governors the resources and flexibility they need with Medicaid to make sure no one is left out. Fourth, we should implement legal reforms that protect patients and doctors from unnecessary costs that drive up the price of insurance and work to bring down the artificially high price of drugs and bring them down immediately. And finally, the time has come to give Americans the freedom to purchase health insurance across state lines, which will create a truly competitive national marketplace that will bring cost way down and provide far better care. So important.
Everything that is broken in our country can be fixed. Every problem can be solved, and every hurting family can find healing and hope. Our citizens deserve this and so much more. So why not join forces and finally get the job done and get it done right? On this and so many other things, Democrats and Republicans should get together and unite for the good of our country and for the good of the American people.
My administration wants to work with members of both parties to make childcare accessible and affordable to help ensure new parents that they have paid family leave. To invest in women's health and to promote clean air and clean water, and to rebuild our military and our infrastructure. True love for our people requires us to find common ground, to advance the common good, and to cooperate on behalf of every American child who deserves a much brighter future. An incredible young woman is with us this evening who should serve as an inspiration to us all. Today is rare disease day, and joining us in the gallery is a rare disease survivor, Megan Crowley.
Megan. Megan was diagnosed with Pompe disease, a rare and serious illness, when she was 15 old. She was not expected to live past five. On receiving this news, Megan's dad, John, fought with everything he had to save the life of his precious child. He founded a company to look for a cure and helped develop the drug that saved Megan's life.
Today, she is 20 years old and a sophomore at Notre Dame. Megan's story is about the unbounded power of a father's love for a daughter. But our slow and burdensome approval process at the Food and Drug Administration keeps too many advances, like the one that saved Megan's life, from reaching those in need. If we slash the restraints, not just at the FDA, but across our government, then we will be blessed with far more miracles just like Megan. In fact, our children will grow up in a nation of miracles.
But to achieve this future, we must enrich the mind and the souls of every American child. Education is the civil rights issue of our time. I am calling upon members of both parties to pass an education bill that funds school choice for disadvantaged youth, including millions of African American and Latino children. These families should be free to choose the public, private, charter, magnet, religious, or homeschool that is right for them. Joining us tonight in the gallery is a remarkable woman, Denisha Merriweather.
As a young girl, Denisha struggled in school and failed third grade twice. But then she was able to enroll in a private center for learning, great learning center, with the help of a tax credit and a scholarship program. Today, she is the first in her family to graduate not just from high school, but from college. Later this year, she will get her master's degree in social work. We want all children to be able to break the cycle of poverty just like Denisha.
But to break the cycle of poverty, we must also break the cycle of violence. The murder rate in 02/2015 experienced its largest single year increase in nearly half a century. In Chicago, more than 4,000 people were shot last year alone, and the murder rate so far this year has been even higher. This is not acceptable in our society. Every American child should be able to grow up in a safe community, to attend a great school, and to have access to a high paying job.
But to create this future, we must work with, not against not against, the men and women of law enforcement. We must build bridges of cooperation and trust, not drive the wedge of disunity and dis and really, it's what it is, division. It's pure, unadulterated division. We have to unify. Police and sheriffs are members of our community.
They're friends and neighbors, they're mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, and they leave behind loved ones every day who worry about whether or not they'll come home safe and sound. We must support the incredible men and women of law enforcement. And we must support the victims of crime. I have ordered the Department of Homeland Security to create an office to serve American victims. The office is called VOICE, Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement.
We are providing a voice to those who have been ignored by our media and silenced by special interests. Joining us joining us in the audience tonight are four very brave Americans whose government failed them. Their names are Jamil Shaw, Susan Oliver, Jenna Oliver, and Jessica Davis. Jamil's seventeen year old son was viciously murdered by an illegal immigrant gang member who had just been released from prison. Jamil Shore junior was an incredible young man with unlimited potential who was getting ready to go to college where he would have excelled as a great college quarterback.
But he never got the chance. His father, who is in the audience tonight, has become a very good friend of mine. Jamil, thank you. Thank you. Also with us are Susan Oliver and Jessica Davis.
Their husbands, deputy sheriff Danny Oliver and detective Michael Davis, were slain in the line of duty in California. They were pillars of their community. These brave men were viciously gunned down by an illegal immigrant with a criminal record, and two prior deportations should have never been in our country. Sitting with Susan is her daughter, Jenna. Jenna, I want you to know that your father was a hero and that tonight, you have the love of an entire country supporting you and praying for you.
To Jamil, Jenna, Susan, and Jessica, I want you to know that we will never stop fighting for justice. Your loved ones will never ever be forgotten. We will always honor their memory. Finally, to keep America safe, we must provide the men and women of the United States military with the tools they need to prevent war. If they must, they have to fight, and they only have to win.
I am sending congress a budget that rebuilds the military, eliminates the defense sequester. And calls for one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history. My budget will also increase funding for our veterans. Our veterans have delivered for this nation, and now we must deliver for them. The challenges we face as a nation are great, but our people are even greater.
And none are greater or braver than those who fight for America in uniform. We are blessed to be joined tonight by Corinne Owens, the widow of US Navy Special Operator, Senior Chief William Ryan Owens. Ryan died as he lived, a warrior and a hero, battling against terrorism and securing our nation. I just spoke to our great general Mattis just now who reconfirmed that, and I quote, Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemy. Ryan's legacy is etched into eternity.
Thank you. And Ryan is looking down right now. You know that. And he's very happy because I think he just broke a record. For as the bible teaches us, there is no greater act of love than to lay down one's life for one's friends.
Ryan laid down his life for his friends, for his country, and for our freedom, And we will never forget Ryan. To those allies who wonder what kind of a friend America will be, look no further than the heroes who wear our uniform. Our foreign policy calls for a direct, robust, and meaningful engagement with the world. It is American leadership based on vital security interests that we share with our allies all across the globe. We strongly support NATO, an alliance forged through the bonds of two world wars that dethroned fascism and a cold war and defeated communism.
But our partners must meet their financial obligations. And now, based on our very strong and frank discussions, they are beginning to do just that. In fact, I can tell you the money is pouring in. Very nice. Very nice.
We expect our partners, whether in NATO, the Middle East, or in The Pacific, to take a direct and meaningful role in both strategic and military operations and pay their fair share of the cost. Have to do that. We will respect historic institutions, but we will respect the foreign rights of all nations, and they have to respect our rights as a nation also. Free nations are the best vehicle for expressing the will of the people, and America respects the right of all nations to chart their own path. My job is not to represent the world.
My job is to represent The United States Of America. But we know that America is better off when there is less conflict, not more. We must learn from the mistakes of the past. We have seen the war and the destruction that have ravaged and raged throughout the world, all across the world. The only long term solution for these humanitarian disasters, in many cases, is to create the conditions where displaced persons can safely return home and begin the long, long process of rebuilding.
America is willing to find new friends and to forge new partnerships where shared interests align. We want harmony and stability, not war and conflict. We want peace wherever peace can be found. America is friends today with former enemies. Some of our closest allies decades ago fought on the opposite tie side of of these terrible, terrible wars.
This history should give us all faith in the possibilities for a better world. Hopefully, the 200 and fiftieth year for America will see a world that is more peaceful, more just, and more free. On our one hundredth anniversary in 1876, citizens from across our nation came to Philadelphia to celebrate America's centennial. At that celebration, the country's builders and artists and inventors showed off their wonderful creations. Alexander Graham Bell displayed his telephone for the first time.
Remington unveiled the first typewriter. An early attempt was made at electric light. Thomas Edison showed an automatic telegraph and an electric pen. Imagine the wonders our country could know in America's two hundred and fiftieth year. Think of the marvels we can achieve if we simply set free the dreams of our people.
Cures to the illnesses that have always plagued us are not too much to hope. American footprints on distant worlds are not too big a dream. Millions lifted from welfare to work is not too much to expect. And streets where mothers are safe from fear, schools where children learn in peace, and jobs where Americans prosper and grow are not too much to ask. When we have all of this, we will have made America greater than ever before.
For all Americans, this is our vision. This is our mission. But we can only get there together. We are one people with one destiny. We all bleed the same blood.
We all salute the same great American flag. And we all are made by the same God. When we fulfill this vision, when we celebrate our two hundred and fifty years of glorious freedom, we will look back on tonight as when this new chapter of American greatness began. The time for small thinking is over. The time for trivial fights is behind us.
We just need the courage to share the dreams that fill our hearts, the bravery to express the hopes that serve our souls, and the confidence to turn those hopes and those dreams into action. From now on, America will be empowered by our aspirations, not burdened by our fears. Inspired by the future, not bound by failures of the past, and guided by a vision, not blinded by our doubts. I am asking all citizens to embrace this renewal of the American spirit. I am asking all members of congress to join me in dreaming big and bold and daring things for our country.
I am asking everyone watching tonight to seize this moment, believe in yourselves, believe in your future, and believe once more in America. Thank you. God bless you, and God bless The United States. Mister speaker, mister vice president, members of congress, the first lady of The United States, and my fellow Americans. Less than one year has passed since I first stood at this podium in this majestic chamber to speak on behalf of the American people and to address their concerns, their hopes, and their dreams.
That night, our new administration had already taken very swift action. A new tide of optimism was already sweeping across our land. Each day since, we have gone forward with a clear vision and a righteous mission, to make America great again for all Americans. Over the last year, we have made incredible progress and achieved extraordinary success. We have faced challenges we expected and others we could never have imagined.
We have shared in the heights of victory and the pains of hardship. We have endured floods and fires and storms. But through it all, we have seen the beauty of America's soul and the steel in America's spine. Each test has forged new American heroes to remind us who we are and show us what we can be. We saw the volunteers of the Cajun Navy racing to the rescue with their fishing boats to save people in the aftermath of a totally devastating hurricane.
We saw strangers shielding strangers from a hail of gunfire on the Las Vegas Strip. We heard tales of Americans like Coast Guard Petty Officer Ashley Leppard who is here tonight in the gallery with Melania. Ashley was aboard one of the first helicopters on the scene in Houston during the hurricane Harvey. Through eighteen hours of wind and rain, Ashley braved live power lines and deep water to help save more than 40 lives. Ashley, we all thank you.
Thank you very much. We heard about Americans like firefighter David Dahlberg. He's here with us also. David faced down walls of flame to rescue almost 60 children trapped at a California summer camp threatened by those devastating wildfires. To everyone still recovering in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, everywhere, we are with you, we love you, and we always will pull through together, always.
Thank you to David and the brave people of California. Thank you very much, David. Great job. Some trials over the past year touched this chamber very personally. With us tonight is one of the toughest people ever to serve in this house.
A guy who took a bullet, almost died and was back to work three and a half months later. The legend from Louisiana congressman Steve Scillies. I think they like you, Steve. We're incredibly grateful for the heroic efforts of the Capitol Police officers, the Alexandria Police, and the doctors, nurses, and paramedics who saved his life and the lives of many others some in this room. And the aftermath, yes.
In the aftermath of that terrible shooting, we came together not as Republicans or Democrats, but as representatives of the people. But it is not enough to come together only in times of tragedy. Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people. This is really the key. These are the people we were elected to serve.
Thank you. Over the last year, the world has seen what we always knew, that no people on earth are so fearless or daring or determined as Americans. If there is a mountain, we climb it. If there's a frontier, we cross it. If there's a challenge, we tame it.
If there's an opportunity, we seize it. So let's begin tonight by recognizing that the state of our union is strong because our people are strong. And together, we are building a safe, strong, and proud America. Since the election, we have created 2,400,000 new jobs including including 200,000 new jobs in manufacturing alone. Tremendous numbers.
After years and years of wage stagnation, we are finally seeing rising wages. Unemployment claims have hit a forty five year low. And something I'm very proud of, African American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded. And Hispanic American unemployment has also reached the lowest levels in history. Small business confidence is at an all time high.
The stock market has smashed one record after another, gaining $8,000,000,000,000 and more in value in just this short period of time. The great news the great news for Americans, four zero one k retirement pension and college savings accounts have gone through the roof. And just as I promised the American people from this podium eleven months ago, We enacted the biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history. Our massive tax cuts provide tremendous relief for the middle class and small business. To lower tax rates for hardworking Americans, we nearly doubled the standard deduction for everyone.
Now the first twenty four thousand dollars earned by a married couple is completely tax free. We also doubled the child tax credit. A typical family of four making $75,000 will see their tax bill reduced by $2,000 slashing their tax bill in half. In April, this will be the last time you will ever file under the old and very broken system and millions of Americans will have more take home pay starting next month. A lot more.
We eliminated an especially cruel tax that fell mostly on Americans making less than $50,000 a year forcing them to pay tremendous penalties simply because they couldn't afford government ordered health plans. We repealed the core of the disastrous Obama Care, the individual mandate is now gone. We slashed the business tax rate from 35% all the way down to 21% so American companies can compete and win against anyone else anywhere in the world. These changes alone are estimated to increase average family income by more than $4,000. A lot of money.
Small businesses have also received a massive tax cut and can now deduct 20% of their business income. Here tonight are Steve Staub and Sandy Keplinger of Staub manufacturing a small beautiful business in Ohio. They've just finished the best year in their twenty year history. Because of tax reform, they are handing out raises, hiring an additional 14 people, and expanding into the building next door. Good feeling.
One of Staub's employees, Corey Adams, is also with us tonight. Corey is an all American worker. He supported himself through high school, lost his job during the two thousand and eight recession, and was later hired by Staub where he trained to become a welder. Like many hardworking Americans, Corey plans to invest his tax cut raise into his new home and his two daughters education. Corey, please stand.
And he's a great welder. I was told that by the man that owns that company that's doing so well. So congratulations Corey. Since we passed tax cuts roughly 3,000,000 workers have already gotten tax cut bonuses. Many of them thousands and thousands of dollars per worker and it's getting more every month, every week.
Apple has just announced it plans to invest a total of $350,000,000,000 in America and hire another 20,000 workers. And just a little while ago, ExxonMobil announced a $50,000,000,000 investment in The United States. Just a little while ago. This in fact is our new American moment. There has never been a better time to start living the American dream.
So to every citizen watching at home tonight, no matter where you've been or where you've come from, this is your time. If you work hard, if you believe in yourself, if you believe in America, then you can dream anything, you can be anything, and together we can achieve absolutely anything. Tonight, I wanna talk about what kind of future we're going to have and what kind of a nation we're going to be. All of us together as one team, one people, and one American family can do anything. We all share the same home, the same heart, the same destiny, and the same great American flag.
Together we are rediscovering the American way. In America, we know that faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, are the center of American life. The motto is in God we trust. And we celebrate our police, our military, and our amazing veterans as heroes who deserve our total and unwavering support. Here tonight is Preston Sharp, a 12 year old boy from Reading, California, who noticed that veterans graves were not marked with flags on Veterans Day.
He decided all by himself to change that and started a movement that has now placed 40,000 flags at the graves of our great heroes. Preston, a job well done. Young patriots like Preston teach all of us about our civic duty as Americans. And I met Preston a little while ago, and he is something very special that I can tell you. Great future.
Thank you very much for all you've done, Preston. Thank you very much. Preston's reverence for those who have served our nation reminds us of why we salute our flag, why we put our hands on our hearts for the pledge of allegiance, and why we proudly stand for the national anthem. Americans love their country and they deserve a government that shows them the same love and loyalty in return. For the last year, we have sought to restore the bonds of trust between our citizens and their government.
Working with the senate, we are appointing judges who will interpret the constitution as written, including a great new supreme court justice and more circuit court judges than any new administration in the history of our country. We are totally defending our second amendment and have taken historic actions to protect religious liberty. And we are serving our brave veterans, including giving our veterans choice in their health care decisions. Last year congress also passed and I signed the landmark VA Accountability Act. Since its passage, my administration has already removed more than 1,500 VA employees who failed to give our veterans the care they deserve.
And we are hiring talented people who love our vets as much as we do. And I will not stop until our veterans are properly taken care of, which has been my promise to them from the very beginning of this great journey. All Americans deserve accountability and respect, and that's what we are giving to our wonderful heroes, our veterans. Thank you. So tonight, I call on congress to empower every cabinet secretary with the authority to reward good workers and to remove federal employees who undermine the public trust or fail the American people.
In our drive to make Washington accountable, we have eliminated more regulations in our first year than any administration in the history of our country. We have ended the war on American energy, and we have ended the war on beautiful clean coal. We are now very proudly an exporter of energy to the world. In Detroit, I halted government mandates that crippled America's great, beautiful auto workers so that we can get Motor City revving its engines again, and that's what's happening. Many car companies are now building and expanding plants in The United States, something we haven't seen for decades.
Chrysler is moving a major plant from Mexico to Michigan. Toyota and Mazda are opening up a plant in Alabama, a big one, and we haven't seen this in a long time. It's all coming back. Very soon, auto plants and other plants will be opening up all over our country. This is all news Americans are totally unaccustomed to hearing.
For many years, companies and jobs were only leaving us. But now, they are roaring back. They're coming back. They wanna be where the action is. They wanna be in The United States Of America.
That's where they wanna be. Exciting progress is happening every single day. To speed access to breakthrough cures and affordable generic drugs, last year the FDA approved more new and generic drugs and medical devices than ever before in our country's history. We also believe that patients with terminal conditions, terminal illness should have access to experimental treatment immediately that could potentially save their lives. People who are terminally ill should not have to go from country to country to seek a cure.
I want to give them a chance right here at home. It's time for congress to give these wonderful, incredible Americans the right to try. One of my greatest priorities is to reduce the price of prescription drugs. In many other countries, these drugs cost far less than what we pay in The United States and it's very, very unfair. That is why I've directed my administration to make fixing the injustice of high drug prices one of my top priorities for the year.
And prices will come down substantially. Watch. America has also finally turned the page on decades of unfair trade deals that sacrificed our prosperity and shipped away our companies, our jobs, and our wealth. Our nation has lost its wealth, but we're getting it back so fast. The era of economic surrender is totally over.
From now on, we expect trading relationships to be fair and very importantly reciprocal. We will work to fix bad trade deals and negotiate new ones, and they'll be good ones, but they'll be fair. And we will protect American workers and American intellectual property through strong enforcement of our trade rules. Industries, it is also time to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. America is a nation of builders.
We built the Empire State Building in just one year. Isn't it a disgrace that it can now take ten years just to get a minor permit approved for the building of a simple road? I am asking both parties to come together to give us safe, fast, reliable, and modern infrastructure that our economy needs and our people deserve. Tonight, I'm calling on congress to produce a bill that generates at least $1,500,000,000,000 for the new infrastructure investment that our country so desperately needs. Every federal dollar should be leveraged by partnering with state and local governments and where appropriate tapping into private sector investment to permanently fix the infrastructure deficit and we can do it.
Any bill must also streamline the permitting and approval process, getting it down to no more than two years and perhaps even one. Together, we can reclaim our great building heritage. We will build gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways, and waterways all across our land. And we will do it with American heart, American hands, and American grit. We want every American to know the dignity of a hard day's work.
We want every child to be safe in their home at night and we want every citizen to be proud of this land that we all love so much. We can lift our citizens from welfare to work, from dependence to independence, and from poverty to prosperity. As tax cuts create new jobs, let's invest in workforce development and let's invest in job training, we need so badly. Let's open great vocational schools so our future workers can learn a craft and realize their full potential. And let's support working families by supporting paid family leave.
As America regains its strength, opportunity must be extended to all citizens. That is why this year, we will embark on reforming our prisons to help former inmates who have served their time get a second chance at life. Struggling communities, immigrant communities, will also be helped by immigration policies that focus on the best interests of American workers and American families. For decades, open borders have allowed drugs and gangs to pour into our most vulnerable communities. They've allowed millions of low wage workers to compete for jobs and wages against the poorest Americans.
Most tragically, they have caused the loss of many innocent lives. Here tonight are two fathers and two mothers, Evelyn Rodriguez, Freddie Cuevas, Elizabeth Alvarado, and Robert Mickens. Their two teenage daughters, Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens, were close friends on Long Island. But in September 2016, on the eve of Nisa's sixteenth birthday, such a happy time it should have been, neither of them came home. These two precious girls were brutally murdered while walking together in their hometown.
Six members of the savage MS thirteen gang have been charged with Kayla and Nieces murders. Many of these gang members took advantage of glaring loopholes in our laws to enter the country as illegal, unaccompanied alien minors and wound up in Kayla and Nieces High School. Evelyn, Elizabeth, Freddie, Robert, tonight everyone in this chamber is praying for you. Everyone in America is grieving for you. Please stand.
Thank you very much. I want you to know that 320,000,000 hearts are right now breaking for you. We love you. Thank you. While we cannot imagine the depths of that kind of sorrow, we can make sure that other families never have to endure this kind of pain.
Tonight, I am calling on congress to finally close the deadly loopholes that have allowed MS thirteen and other criminal gangs to break into our country. We have proposed new legislation that will fix our immigration laws and support our ICE and border patrol agents. These are great people. These are great, great people that work so hard in the midst of such danger so that this can never happen again. The United States is a compassionate nation.
We are proud that we do more than any other country anywhere in the world to help the needy, the struggling, and the underprivileged all over the world. But as president of The United States, my highest loyalty, my greatest compassion, my constant concern is for America's children, America's struggling workers, and America's forgotten communities. I want our youth to grow up to achieve great things. I want our poor to have their chance to rise. So tonight, I am extending an open hand to work with members of both parties, Democrats and Republicans, to protect our citizens of every background, color, religion, and creed.
My duty and the sacred duty of every elected official in this chamber is to defend Americans, to protect their safety, their families, their communities, and their right to the American dream. Because Americans are dreamers too. Here tonight is one leader in the effort to defend our country, Homeland Security Investigation Special Agent Celestino Martinez. He goes by DJ and CJ. He said call me either one.
So we'll call you CJ. Sir, fifteen years in the air force before becoming an ICE agent and spending the last fifteen years fighting gang violence and getting dangerous criminals off of our streets. Tough job. At one point, MS 13 leaders ordered CJ's murder and they wanted it to happen quickly. But he did not cave to threats or to fear.
Last May, he commanded an operation to track down gang members on Long Island. His team has arrested nearly 400 including more than 220 MS 13 gang members. And I have to tell you what the border patrol and ICE have done. We have sent thousands and thousands and thousands of m s thirteen horrible people out of this country or into our prisons. So I just want to congratulate you CJ.
You're a brave guy. Thank you very much. And I asked CJ, what's the secret? He said, we're just tougher than they are. And I like that answer.
Now let's get congress to send you and all of the people in this great chamber have to do it. We have no choice. CJ we're gonna send you reinforcements and we're gonna send them to you quickly. It's what you need. Over the next few weeks, the House and Senate will be voting on an immigration reform package.
In recent months, my administration has met extensively with both Democrats and Republicans to craft a bipartisan approach to immigration reform. Based on these discussions, we presented Congress with a detailed proposal that should be supported by both parties as a fair compromise. One where nobody gets everything they want, but where our country gets the critical reforms it needs and must have. Here are the four pillars of our plan. The first pillar of our framework generously offers a path to citizenship for 1,800,000 illegal immigrants who were brought here by their parents at a young age.
That covers almost three times more people than the previous administration covered. Under our plan, those who meet education and work requirements and show good moral character will be able to become full citizens of The United States over a twelve year period. The second pillar fully secures the border. That means building a great wall on the southern border and it means hiring more heroes like CJ to keep our communities safe. Crucially, plan closes the terrible loopholes exploited by criminals and terrorists to enter our country, and it finally ends the horrible and dangerous practice of catch and release.
The third pillar ends the Visa Lottery, a program that randomly hands out green cards without any regard for skill, merit, or the safety of American people. It's time to begin moving toward a merit based immigration system. One that admits people who are skilled, who wanna work, who will contribute to our society, and who will love and respect our country. The fourth and final pillar protects the nuclear family by ending chain migration. Under the current broken system, a single immigrant can bring in virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives.
Under our plan, we focus on the immediate family by limiting sponsorships to spouses and minor children. This vital reform is necessary not just for our economy, but for our security and for the future of America. In recent weeks, two terrorist attacks in New York were made possible by the visa lottery and chain migration. In the age of terrorism, these programs present risks we can just no longer afford. It's time to reform these outdated immigration rules and finally bring our immigration system into the twenty first century.
These four pillars represent a down the middle compromise and one that will create a safe, modern, and lawful immigration system. For over thirty years, Washington has tried and failed to solve this problem. This congress can be the one that finally makes it happen. Most importantly, these four pillars will produce legislation that fulfills my ironclad pledge to sign a bill that puts America First. So let's come together, set politics aside, and finally get the job done.
These reforms will also support our response to the terrible crisis of opioid and drug addiction. Never before has it been like it is now. It is terrible. We have to do something about it. In 2016, we lost sixty four thousand Americans to drug overdoses.
One hundred and seventy four deaths per day, seven per hour. We must get much tougher on drug dealers and pushers if we are going to succeed in stopping this scourge. My administration is committed to fighting the drug epidemic and helping get treatment for those in need, for those who have been so terribly hurt. The struggle will be long and it will be difficult, but as Americans always do, in the end, we will succeed. We will prevail.
As we have seen tonight the most difficult challenges bring out the best in America. We see a vivid expression of this truth in the story of the Hauletz family of New Mexico. Ryan Hauletz is 27 years old, an officer with the Albuquerque Police Department. He's here tonight with his wife, Rebecca. Thank you, Ryan.
Last year, Ryan was on duty when he saw a pregnant homeless woman preparing to inject heroin. When Ryan told her she was going to harm her unborn child, she began to weep. She told him she didn't know where to turn but badly wanted a safe home for her baby. In that moment, Brian said he felt God speak to him. You will do it because you can.
He heard those words. He took out a picture of his wife and their four kids. Then he went home to tell his wife, Rebecca. In an instant, she agreed to adopt. The Haulettes named their new daughter, Hope.
Ryan and Rebecca, you embody the goodness of our nation. Thank you. Thank you Ryan and Rebecca. As we rebuild America's strength and confidence at home we are also restoring our strength and standing abroad. Around the world, we face rogue regimes, terrorist groups, and rivals like China and Russia that challenge our interests, our economy, and our values.
In confronting these horrible dangers, we know that weakness is the surest path to conflict, and unmatched power is the surest means to our true and great defense. For this reason, I am asking Congress to end the dangerous defense sequester and fully fund our great military. As part of our defense, we must modernize and rebuild our nuclear arsenal. Hopefully never having to use it, but making it so strong and so powerful that it will deter any acts of aggression by any other nation or anyone else. Perhaps someday in the future, there will be a magical moment when the countries of the world will get together to eliminate their nuclear weapons.
Unfortunately, we are not there yet, sadly. Last year, I also pledged that we would work with our allies to extinguish ISIS from the face of the earth. One year later, I am proud to report that the coalition to defeat ISIS has liberated very close to 100% of the territory just recently held by these killers in Iraq and in Syria and in other locations as well. But there is much more work to be done. We will continue our fight until ISIS is defeated.
Army Staff Sergeant Justin Peck is here tonight. Near Raqqa Last November, Justin and his comrade chief petty officer Kenton Stacy were on a mission to clear buildings that ISIS had rigged with explosive so that civilians could return to that city hopefully soon and hopefully safely. Clearing the Second Floor of a vital hospital, Kenton Stacy was severely wounded by an explosion. Immediately, Justin bounded into the booby trapped and unbelievably dangerous and unsafe building and found Kenton, but in very, very bad shape. He applied pressure to the wound and inserted a tube to reopen an airway.
He then performed CPR for twenty straight minutes during the ground transport and maintained artificial respiration through two and a half hours and through emergency surgery. Kenton Stacy would have died if it were not for Justin's selfless love for his fellow warrior. Tonight, Kenton is recovering in Texas. Rocca is liberated, and Justin is wearing his new bronze star with a v for valor. Staff sergeant Peck, all of America's leadership.
Terrorists who do things like place bombs in civilian hospitals are evil. When possible, we have no choice but to annihilate them. When necessary, we must be able to detain and question them. But we must be clear, terrorists are not merely criminals. They are unlawful enemy combatants.
And when captured overseas, they should be treated like the terrorists they are. In the past, we have foolishly released hundreds and hundreds of dangerous terrorists only to meet them again on the battlefield, including the ISIS leader, al Baghdadi, who we captured, who we had, who we released. So today, I'm keeping another promise. I just signed, prior to walking in, an order directing secretary Mattis, is doing a great job. Thank you.
To reexamine our military detention policy and to keep open the detention facilities in Guantanamo Bay. I am asking congress to ensure that in the fight against ISIS and Al Qaeda, we continue to have all necessary power to detain terrorists wherever we chase them down, wherever we find them. And in many cases, for them, it will now be Guantanamo Bay. At the same time, as of a few months ago, our warriors in Afghanistan have new rules of engagement. Along with their heroic Afghan partners, our military is no longer undermined by artificial timelines, and we no longer tell our enemies our plans.
Last month I also took an action endorsed unanimously by the US Senate just months before. I recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Shortly afterwards, dozens of countries voted in the United Nations General Assembly against America's sovereign right to make this decision. In 2016, American taxpayers generously sent those same countries more than $20,000,000,000 in aid. That is why tonight I am asking congress to pass legislation to help ensure American foreign assistance dollars always serve American interests and only go to friends of America, not enemies of America.
As we strengthen friendships all around the world we are also restoring clarity about our adversaries. When the people of Iran rose up against the crimes of their corrupt dictatorship, I did not stay silent. America stands with the people of Iran in their courageous struggle for freedom. I am asking congress to address the fundamental flaws in the terrible Iran nuclear deal. My administration has also imposed tough sanctions on the communist and socialist dictatorships in Cuba and Venezuela.
But no regime has oppressed its own citizens more totally or brutally than the cruel dictatorship in North Korea. North Korea's reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could very soon threaten our homeland. We are waging a campaign of maximum pressure to prevent that from ever happening. Past experience has taught us that complacency and concessions only invite aggression and provocation. I will not repeat the mistakes of past administrations that got us into this very dangerous position.
We need only look at the depraved character of the North Korean regime to understand the nature of the nuclear threat it could pose to America and to our allies. Otto Warmbier was a hardworking student at the University of Virginia and a great student he was. On his way to study abroad in Asia, Otto joined a tour to North Korea. At its conclusion, this wonderful young man was arrested and charged with crimes against the state. After a shameful trial, the dictatorship sentenced Otto to fifteen years of hard labor before returning him to America Last June, Horribly Injured and on the verge of death.
He passed away just days after his return. Otto's wonderful parents, Fred and Cindy Warmbier are here with us tonight along with Otto's brother and sister Austin and Greta. Please. Incredible people. You are powerful witnesses to a menace that threatens our world and your strength truly inspires us all.
Thank you very much. Thank you. Tonight, we pledge to honor Otto's memory with total American resolve. Thank you. Finally, we are joined by one more witness to the ominous nature of this regime.
His name is mister g Seung ho. In 1996, Seung ho was a starving boy in North Korea. One day he tried to steal coal from a railroad car to barter for a few scraps of food, which were very hard to get. In the process, he passed out on the train tracks exhausted from hunger. He woke up as a train ran over his limbs.
He then endured multiple amputations without anything to dull the pain or the hurt. His brother and sister gave what little food they had to help him recover and ate dirt themselves permanently stunting their own growth. Later, he was tortured by North Korean authorities after returning from a brief visit to China. His tormentors wanted to know if he'd met any Christians. He had and he resolved after that to be free.
Sung Ho traveled thousands of miles on crutches all across China and Southeast Asia to freedom. Most of his family followed. His father was caught trying to escape and was tortured to death. Today, he lives in Seoul where he rescues other defectors and broadcasts into North Korea what the regime fears most, the truth. Today, he has a new leg, but Seung Ho, I understand you still keep those old crutches as a reminder of how far you've come.
Your great sacrifice is an inspiration to us all. Please. Thank you. Seung Ho's story is a testament to the yearning of every human soul to live in freedom. It was that same yearning for freedom that nearly two hundred and fifty years ago gave birth to a special place called America.
It was a small cluster of colonies caught between a great ocean and a vast wilderness. It was home to an incredible people with a revolutionary idea that they could rule themselves, that they could chart their own destiny, and that together they could light up the entire world. That is what our country has always been about. That is what Americans have always stood for, always strived for, and always done. Atop the dome of this capital stands the Statue Of Freedom.
She stands tall and dignified among the monuments to our ancestors who fought and lived and died to protect her. Monuments to Washington and Jefferson and Lincoln and King. Memorials to the heroes of Yorktown and Saratoga. To young Americans who shed their blood on the shores of Normandy and the fields beyond and others who went down in the waters of the Pacific and the skies all over Asia. And freedom stands tall over one more monument.
This one, This capital. This living monument. This is the monument to the American people. We're a people whose heroes live not only in the past, but all around us defending hope, pride, and defending the American way. They work in every trade.
They sacrifice to raise a family. They care for our children at home. They defend our flag abroad, and they are strong moms and brave kids. They are firefighters and police officers and border agents, medics and marines. But above all else, they are Americans.
And this capital, this city, this nation belongs entirely to them. Our task is to respect them, to listen to them, to serve them, to protect them, and to always be worthy of them. Americans fill the world with art and music. They push the bounds of science and discovery, and they forever remind us of what we should never ever forget. The people dreamed this country.
The people built this country, and it's the people who are making America great again. As long as we are proud of who we are and what we are fighting for, there is nothing we cannot achieve. As long as we have confidence in our values, faith in our citizens, and trust in our God, we will never fail. Our families will thrive. Our people will prosper, and our nation will forever be safe and strong and proud and mighty and free.
Thank you, and God bless America. Good night. Madam speaker, mister vice president, members of congress, the first lady of The United States. And my fellow Americans, we meet tonight at a moment of unlimited potential. As we begin a new congress, I stand here ready to work with you to achieve historic breakthroughs for all Americans.
Millions of our fellow citizens are watching us now gathered in this great chamber, hoping that we will govern not as two parties, but as one nation. The agenda I will lay out this evening is not a Republican agenda or a Democrat agenda. It's the agenda of the American people. Many of us have campaigned on the same core promises to defend American jobs and demand fair trade for American workers, to rebuild and revitalize our nation's infrastructure, to reduce the price of health care and prescription drugs, to create an immigration system that is safe, lawful, modern, and secure, and to pursue a foreign policy that puts America's interest first. There is a new opportunity in American politics if only we have the courage together to seize it.
Victory is not winning for our party. Victory is winning for our country. This year, America will recognize two important anniversaries that show us the majesty of America's mission and the power of American pride. In June, we marked seventy five years since the start of what general Dwight D. Eisenhower called the great crusade, the allied liberation of Europe in World War two.
On d day, June '6 '19 '40 '4, '15 thousand young American men jumped from the sky and 60,000 more stormed in from the sea to save our civilization from tyranny. Here with us tonight are three of those incredible heroes, private first class Joseph Reilly, staff sergeant Irving Locker, and Sergeant Herman Zaitchen. Please. Gentlemen, we salute you. In 02/2019, we also celebrate 50 since brave young pilots flew a quarter of a million miles through space to plant the American flag on the face of the moon.
Half a century later, we are joined by one of the Apollo eleven astronauts who planted that flag, Buzz Aldrin. Thank you, Buzz. This year, American astronauts will go back to space on American rockets. In the twentieth century, America saved freedom, transformed science, redefined the middle class. And when you get down to it, there's nothing anywhere in the world that can compete with America.
Now we must step boldly and bravely into the next chapter of this great American adventure, and we must create a new standard of living for the twenty first century. An amazing quality of life for all of our citizens is within reach. We can make our communities safer, our families stronger, our culture richer, our faith deeper, and our middle class bigger and more prosperous than ever before. But we must reject the politics of revenge, resistance, and retribution, and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise, and the common good. Together, we can break decades of political stalemate.
We can bridge old divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions, and unlock the extraordinary promise of America's future. The decision is ours to make. We must choose between greatness or gridlock, results or resistance, vision or vengeance, incredible progress or pointless destruction. Tonight, I ask you to choose greatness. Over the last two years, my administration has moved with urgency and historic speed to confront problems neglected by leaders of both parties over many decades.
In just over two years since the election, we have launched an unprecedented economic boom, a boom that has rarely been seen before. There's been nothing like it. We have created 5,300,000 new jobs and importantly added 600,000 new manufacturing jobs, something which almost everyone said was impossible to do. But the fact is we are just getting started. Wages are rising at the fastest pace in decades and growing for blue collar workers who I promise to fight for, they're growing faster than anyone else thought possible.
Nearly 5,000,000 Americans have been lifted off food stamps. The US economy is growing almost twice as fast today as when I took office, and we are considered far and away the hottest economy anywhere in the world, not even close. Unemployment has reached the lowest rate in over half a century. African American, Hispanic American, and Asian American unemployment have all reached their lowest levels ever recorded. Unemployment for Americans with disabilities has also reached an all time low.
More people are working now than at any time in the history of our country. 157,000,000 people at work. We passed a massive tax cut for working families and doubled the child tax credit. We virtually ended the estate tax or death tax, as it is often called, on small businesses for ranches and also for family farms. We eliminated the very unpopular Obamacare individual mandate penalty.
And to give critically ill patients access to lifesaving cures, we passed, very importantly, right to try. My administration has cut more regulations in a short period of time than any other administration during its entire tenure. Companies are coming back to our country in large numbers, Thanks to our historic reductions in taxes and regulations. And we have unleashed a revolution in American energy. The United States is now the number one producer of oil and natural gas anywhere in the world.
And now, for the first time in sixty five years, we are a net exporter of energy. After twenty four months of rapid progress, our economy is the envy of the world. Our military is the most powerful on earth by far, and America America is again winning each and every day. Members of congress, the state of our union is strong. That sounds so good.
Our country is vibrant, and our economy is thriving like never before. On Friday, it was announced that we added another 304,000 jobs last month alone, almost double the number expected. An economic miracle is taking place in The United States, and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics, or ridiculous partisan investigations. If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation. It just doesn't work that way.
We must be united at home to defeat our adversaries abroad. This new era of cooperation can start with finally confirming the more than 300 highly qualified nominees who are still stuck in the senate, in some cases, years and years waiting. Not right. The senate has failed to act on these nominations, which is unfair to the nominees and very unfair to our country. Now is the time for a bipartisan action.
Believe it or not, we have already proven that that's possible. In the last congress, both parties came together to pass unprecedented legislation to confront the opioid crisis, a sweeping new farm bill, historic VA reforms, and after four decades of rejection, we passed VA accountability so that we can finally terminate those who mistreat our wonderful veterans. And just weeks ago, both parties united for groundbreaking criminal justice reform. They said it couldn't be done. Last year, I heard through friends the story of Alice Johnson.
I was deeply moved. In 1997, Alice was sentenced to life in prison as a first time nonviolent drug offender. Over the next twenty two years, she became a prison minister, inspiring others to choose a better path. She had a big impact on that prison population and far beyond. Alice's story underscores the disparities and unfairness that can exist in criminal sentencing and the need to remedy this total injustice.
She served almost that twenty two years and had expected to be in prison for the remainder of her life. In June, I commuted Alice's sentence when I saw Alice's beautiful family greet her at the prison gates hugging and kissing and crying and laughing, I knew I did something right. Alice is with us tonight, and she is a terrific woman. Terrific. Alice, please.
Alice, thank you for reminding us that we always have the power to shape our own destiny. Thank you very much, Ellis. Thank you very much. Inspired by stories like Alice's, my administration worked closely with members of both parties to sign the First Step Act into law. Big deal.
A big deal. This legislation reformed sentencing laws that have wrongly and disproportionately harmed the African American community. The First Step Act gives nonviolent offenders the chance to reenter society as productive, law abiding citizens. Now states across the country are following our lead. America is a nation that believes in redemption.
We are also joined tonight by Matthew Charles from Tennessee. In 1996, at the age of 30, Matthew was sentenced to thirty five years for selling drugs and related offenses. Over the next two decades, he completed more than 30 bible studies, became a law clerk, and mentored many of his fellow inmates. Now Matthew is the very first person to be released from prison under the First Step Act. Matthew, please.
Thank you, Matthew. Welcome home. Now Republicans and Democrats must join forces again to confront an urgent national crisis. Congress has ten days left to pass a bill that will fund our government, protect our homeland, and secure our very dangerous southern border. Now is the time for congress to show the world that America is committed to ending illegal immigration and putting the ruthless coyotes, cartels, drug dealers, and human traffickers out of business.
As we speak, large organized caravans are on the march to The United States. We have just heard that Mexican cities, in order to remove the illegal immigrants from their communities, are getting trucks and buses to bring them up to our country in areas where there is little border protection. I have ordered another 3,750 troops to our southern border to prepare for this tremendous onslaught. This is a moral issue. The lawless state of our southern border is a threat to the safety, security, and financial well-being of all America.
We have a moral duty to create an immigration system that protects the lives and jobs of our citizens. This includes our obligation to the millions of immigrants living here today who followed the rules and respected our laws. Legal immigrants enrich our nation and strengthen our society in countless ways. I want people to come into our country in the largest numbers ever, but they have to come in legally. Tonight, I am asking you to defend our very dangerous southern border out of love and devotion to our fellow citizens and to our country.
No issue better illustrates the divide between America's working class and America's political class than illegal immigration. Wealthy politicians and donors push for open borders while living their lives behind walls and gates and guards. Meanwhile, working class Americans are left to pay the price for mass illegal immigration, reduced jobs, lower wages, overburdened schools, hospitals that are so crowded you can't get in, increased crime, and a depleted social safety net. Tolerance for illegal immigration is not compassionate. It is actually very cruel.
One in three women is sexually assaulted on the long journey north. Smugglers use migrant children as human pawns to exploit our laws and gain access to our country. Human traffickers and sex traffickers take advantage of the wide open areas between our ports of entry to smuggle thousands of young girls and women into The United States and to sell them into prostitution and modern day slavery. Tens of thousands of innocent Americans are killed by lethal drugs that cross our border and flood into our cities, including meth, heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl. The savage gang, MS thirteen, now operates in at least 20 different American states, and they almost all come through our southern border.
Just yesterday, an MS thirteen gang member was taken into custody for a fatal shooting on a subway platform in New York City. We are removing these gang members by the thousands. But until we secure our border, they're going to keep streaming right back in. Year after year, countless Americans are murdered by criminal illegal aliens. I've gotten to know many wonderful angel moms and dads and families.
No one should ever have to suffer the horrible heartache that they have had to endure. Here tonight is Deborah Bissell. Just three weeks ago, Deborah's parents, Gerald and Sharon, were burglarized and shot to death in their Reno, Nevada home by an illegal alien. They were in their eighties and are survived by four children, 11 grandchildren, and 20 great grandchildren. Also here tonight are Gerald and Sharon's granddaughter, Heather, and great granddaughter, Madison.
To Deborah Heather Madison, please stand. Few can understand your pain. Thank you, and thank you for being here. Thank you very much. I will never forget, and I will fight for the memory of Gerald and Cher that it should never happen again.
Not one more American life should be lost because our nation failed to control its very dangerous border. In the last two years, our brave ICE officers made 266,000 arrests of criminal aliens, including those charged or convicted of nearly 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 killings or murders. We are joined tonight by one of those law enforcement heroes, ICE special agent, Elvin Hernandez. When Elvin Thank you. When Elvin was a boy, he and his family legally immigrated to The United States from the Dominican Republic.
At the age of eight, Elvin told his dad he wanted to become a special agent. Today, he leads investigations into the scores of international sex trafficking. Alvin says that if I can make sure these young girls get their justice, I've really done my job. Thanks to his work and that of his incredible colleagues, more than 300 women and girls have been rescued from the horror of this terrible situation, and more than 1,500 sadistic traffickers have been put behind bars. Thank you, Oliver.
We will always support the brave men and women of law enforcement. And I pledge to you tonight that I will never abolish our heroes from ICE. Thank you. My administration has sent to congress a common sense proposal to end the crisis on the southern border. It includes humanitarian assistance, more law enforcement, drug detection at our ports, closing loopholes that enable child smuggling, and plans for a new physical barrier or wall to secure the vast areas between our ports of entry.
In the past, most of the people in this room voted for a wall, but the proper wall never got built. I will get it built. This is a smart, strategic, see through steel barrier, not just a simple concrete wall. It will be deployed in the areas identified by the border agents as having the greatest need, And these agents will tell you where walls go up, illegal crossings go way, way down. San Diego used to have the most illegal border crossings in our country.
In response, a strong security wall was put in place. This powerful barrier almost completely ended illegal crossings. The border city of El Paso, Texas used to have extremely high rates of violent crime, one of the highest in the entire country and considered one of our nation's most dangerous cities. Now, immediately upon its building, with a powerful barrier in place, El Paso is one of the safest cities in our country. Simply put, walls work and walls save lives.
So let's work together, compromise, and reach a deal that will truly make America safe. As we work to defend our people's safety, we must also ensure our economic resurgence continues at a rapid pace. No one has benefited more from our thriving economy than women who have filled 58% of the newly created jobs last year. You weren't supposed to do that. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. All Americans can be proud that we have more women in the workforce than ever before. Don't sit yet, you know, like this. And exactly one century after congress passed the constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote, we also have more women serving in congress than at any time before. That's great.
Really great. And congratulations. That's great. As part of our commitment to improving opportunity for women everywhere, this Thursday, we are launching the first ever government wide initiative focused on economic empowerment for women in developing countries to build on thank you. To build on our incredible economic success, one priority is paramount, reversing decades of calamitous trade policies so bad.
We are now making it clear to China that after years of targeting our industries and stealing our intellectual property, the theft of American jobs and wealth has come to an end. Therefore, we recently imposed tariffs on February of Chinese goods, and now our treasury is receiving billions and billions of dollars. But I don't blame China for taking advantage of us. I blame our leaders and representatives for allowing this travesty to happen. I have great respect for president Xi, and we are now working on a new trade deal with China.
But it must include real structural change to end unfair trade practices, reduce our chronic trade deficit, and protect American jobs. Another historic trade blunder was the catastrophe known as NAFTA. I have met the men and women of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Hampshire, and many other states whose dreams were shattered by the signing of NAFTA. For years, politicians promised them they would renegotiate for a better deal, but no one ever tried until now. Our new US Mexico Canada agreement, the USMCA, will replace NAFTA and deliver for American workers like they haven't had delivered to for a long time.
I hope you can pass the USMCA into law so that we can bring back our manufacturing jobs in even greater numbers, expand American agriculture, protect intellectual property, and ensure that more cars are proudly stamped with our four beautiful words, made in The USA. Tonight, I am also asking you to pass The United States Reciprocal Trade Act so that if another country places an unfair tariff on an American product, we can charge them the exact same tariff on the exact same product that they sell to us. Both parties should be able to unite for a great rebuilding of America's crumbling infrastructure. I know that congress is eager to pass an infrastructure bill, and I am eager to work with you on legislation to deliver new and important infrastructure investment, including investments in the cutting edge industries of the future. This is not an option.
This is a necessity. The next major priority for me and for all of us should be to lower the cost of health care and prescription drugs and to protect patients with preexisting conditions. Already as a result of my administration's efforts in 02/2018, drug prices experienced their single largest decline in forty six years. But we must do more. It's unacceptable that Americans pay vastly more than people in other countries for the exact same drugs often made in the exact same place.
This is wrong. This is unfair. And together, we will stop it, and we'll stop it fast. I am asking congress to pass legislation that finally takes on the problem of global freeloading and delivers fairness and price transparency for American patients. Finally.
We should also require drug companies, insurance companies, and hospitals to disclose real prices, to foster competition, and bring costs way down. No force in history has done more to advance the human condition than American freedom. In recent years In recent years, we have made remarkable progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Scientific breakthroughs have brought a once distant dream within reach. My budget will ask Democrats and Republicans to make the needed commitment to eliminate the HIV epidemic in The United States within ten years.
We have made incredible strides. Incredible. Together, we will defeat AIDS in America and beyond. Tonight, I am also asking you to join me in another fight that all Americans can get behind, the fight against childhood cancer. Joining Melania in the gallery this evening is a very brave 10 year old girl, Grace Eline.
Every birthday. Hi, Grace. Every birthday since she was four, Grace asked her friends to donate to Saint Jude's Children's Hospital. She did not know that one day she might be a patient herself. That's what happened.
Last year, Grace was diagnosed with brain cancer. Immediately, she began radiation treatment. At the same time, she rallied her community and raised more than $40,000 for the fight against cancer. When Grace completed treatment last fall, her doctors and nurses cheered. They loved her.
They still love her. With tears in their eyes as she hung up a poster that read last day of chemo. Thank you very much, Grace. You are a great inspiration to everyone in this room. Thank you very much.
Many childhood cancers have not seen new therapies in decades. My budget will ask congress for $500,000,000 over the next ten years to fund this critical life saving research. To help support working parents, the time has come to pass school choice for Americans' children. I am also proud to be the first president to include in my budget a plan for nationwide paid family leave so that every new parent has the chance to bond with their newborn child. There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child than the chilling displays our nation saw in recent days.
Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother's womb moments from birth. These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and their dreams with the world. And then we had the case of the governor of Virginia where he stated he would execute a baby after birth. To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother's womb. Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life.
And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth. All children, born and unborn, are made in the holy image of God. The final part of my agenda is to protect American security. Over the last two years, we have begun to fully rebuild the United States military with $700,000,000,000 last year and $716,000,000,000 this year. We are also getting other nations to pay their fair share.
Finally. For years, the United States was being treated very unfairly by friends of ours, members of NATO. But now we have secured, over the last couple of years, more than $100,000,000,000 of increase in defense spending from our NATO allies. They said it couldn't be done. As part of our military buildup, The United States is developing a state of the art missile defense system.
Under my administration, we will never apologize for advancing America's interests. For example, decades ago, The United States entered into a treaty with Russia in which we agreed to limit and reduce our missile capability. While we followed the agreement and the rules to the letter, Russia repeatedly violated its terms. It's been going on for many years. That is why I announced that The United States is officially withdrawing from the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty or INF Treaty.
Perhaps, We really have no choice. Perhaps we can negotiate a different agreement, adding China and others, Or perhaps we can't, in which case we will outspend and out innovate all others by far. As part of a bold new diplomacy, we continue our historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula. Our hostages have come home. Nuclear testing has stopped, and there has not been a missile launch in more than fifteen months.
If I had not been elected president of The United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea. Much work remains to be done, but my relationship with Kim Jong un is a good one. Chairman Kim and I will meet again on February in Vietnam. Two Weeks ago, The United States officially recognized the legitimate government of Venezuela and its new president, Juan Guida. We stand with the Venezuelan people in their noble quest for freedom, and we condemn the brutality of the Maduro regime whose socialist policies have turned that nation from being the wealthiest in South America into a state of abject poverty and despair.
Here in The United States, we are alarmed by the new calls to adopt socialism in our country. America was founded on liberty and independence and not government coercion, domination, and control. We are born free, and we will stay free. Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country. One of the most complex set of challenges we face and have for many years is in The Middle East.
Our approach is based on principle realism, not discredited theories that have failed for decades to yield progress. For this reason, my administration recognized the true capital of Israel and proudly opened the American Embassy in Jerusalem. Our brave troops have now been fighting in The Middle East for almost nineteen years. In Afghanistan and Iraq, nearly 7,000 American heroes have given their lives. More than fifty two thousand Americans have been badly wounded.
We have spent more than 7,000,000,000,000 in fighting wars in The Middle East. As a candidate for president, I loudly pledged a new approach. Great nations do not fight endless wars. When I took office, ISIS controlled more than 20,000 square miles in Iraq and Syria just two years ago. Today, we have liberated virtually all of the territory from the grip of these bloodthirsty monsters.
Now, as we work with our allies to destroy the remnants of ISIS, it is time to give our brave warriors in Syria a warm welcome home. I have also accelerated our negotiations to reach, if possible, a political settlement in Afghanistan. The opposing side is also very happy to be negotiating. Our troops have fought with unmatched valor, and thanks to their bravery, we are now able to pursue a possible political solution to this long and bloody conflict. In Afghanistan, my administration is holding constructive talks with a number of Afghan groups, including the Taliban.
As we make progress in these negotiations, we will be able to reduce our troops' presence and focus on counter terrorism, and we will indeed focus on counter terrorism. We do not know whether we'll achieve an agreement, but we do know that after two decades of war, the hour has come to at least try for peace, and the other side would like to do the same thing. It's time. Above all, friend and foe alike must never doubt this nation's power and will to defend our people. 18 ago, violent terrorists attacked the USS Cole, and last month, forces killed one of the leaders of that attack.
We are honored to be joined tonight by Tom Wiberley, whose son, Navy Seaman Craig Wiberle, was one of the 17 sailors we tragically lost. Tom, we vow to always remember the heroes of the USS Cole. Thank you, sir. My administration has acted decisively to confront the world's leading state sponsor of terror, the radical regime in Iran. It is a radical regime.
They do bad, bad things. To ensure this corrupt dictatorship never acquires nuclear weapons, I withdrew The United States from the disastrous Iran nuclear deal. And last fall, we put in place the toughest sanctions ever imposed by us on a country. We will not avert our eyes from a regime that chants death to America and threatens genocide against the Jewish people. We must never ignore the vile poison of antisemitism or those who spread its venomous creed.
With one voice, we must confront this hatred anywhere and everywhere it occurs. Just months ago, 11 Jewish Americans were viciously murdered in an anti Semitic attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. SWAT Officer Timothy Matson raced into the gunfire and was shot seven times chasing down the killer, and he was very successful. Timothy has just had his twelfth surgery, and he's going in for many more. But he made the trip to be here with us tonight.
Officer Matson, please. Thank you. We are forever grateful. Thank you very much. Tonight, we are also joined by Pittsburgh survivor, Judah Sammott.
He arrived at the synagogue as the massacre began. But not only did Judah narrowly escape death last fall, More than seven decades ago, he narrowly survived the Nazi concentration camps. Today is Judah's eighty first birthday. They wouldn't do that for me, Judah. Judah says he can still remember the exact moment nearly seventy five years ago after ten months in a concentration camp when he and his family were put on a train and told they were going to another camp.
Suddenly, the train screeched to a very strong halt. A soldier appeared. Judah's family braced for the absolute worst. Then his father cried out with joy, it's the Americans. It's the Americans.
Thank you. A second Holocaust survivor who is here tonight, Joshua Kaufman, was a prisoner at Dachau. He remembers watching through a hole in the wall of a cattle car as American soldiers rolled in with tanks. To me, Joshua recalls, the American soldiers were proof that God exists and they came down from the sky. They came down from heaven.
I began this evening by honoring three soldiers who fought on d day in the second World War. One of them was Herman Zajczyk, but there is more to Herman's story. A year after he stormed the beaches of Normandy, Herman was one of the American soldiers who helped liberate Dachau. He was one of the Americans who helped rescue Joshua from that hell on Earth. Almost seventy five years later, Herman and Joshua are both together in the gallery tonight, seated side by side here in the home of American freedom.
Herman and Joshua, your presence this evening is very much appreciated. Thank you very much. Thank you. When American soldiers set out beneath the dark skies over the English Channel in the early hours of d day nineteen forty four, they were just young men of 18 and 19 hurtling on fragile landing craft toward the most momentous battle in the history of war. They did not know if they would survive the hour.
They did not know if they would grow old. But they knew that America had to prevail. Their cause was this nation and generations yet unborn. Why did they do it? They did it for America.
They did it for us. Everything that has come since, our triumph over communism, our giant leaps of science and discovery, our unrivaled progress towards equality and justice. All of it is possible thanks to the blood and tears and courage and vision of the Americans who came before. Think of this capital. Think of this very chamber where lawmakers before you voted to end slavery, to build the railroads and the highways and defeat fascism, to secure civil rights, and to face down evil empires.
Here tonight, we have legislators from across this magnificent republic. You have come from the rocky shores of Maine and the volcanic peaks of Hawaii, from the snowy woods of Wisconsin and the red deserts of Arizona, from the green farms of Kentucky and the golden beaches of California. Together, we represent the most extraordinary nation in all of history. What will we do with this moment? How will we be remembered?
I ask the men and women of this congress, look at the opportunities before us. Our most thrilling achievements are still ahead. Our most exciting journeys still await. Our biggest victories are still to come. We have not yet begun to dream.
We must choose whether we are defined by our differences or whether we dare to transcend them. We must choose whether we squander our great inheritance or whether we proudly declare that we are Americans. We do the incredible. We defy the impossible. We conquer the unknown.
This is the time to reignite the American imagination. This is the time to search for the tallest summit and set our sights on the brightest star. This is the time to rekindle the bonds of love and loyalty and memory that link us together as citizens, as neighbors, as patriots. This is our future, our fate, and our choice to make. I am asking you to choose greatness.
No matter the trials we face, no matter the challenges to come, we must go forward together. We must keep America First in our hearts. We must keep freedom alive in our souls, and we must always keep faith in America's destiny. That one nation under God must be the hope and the promise and the light and the glory among all the nations of the world. Thank you.
God bless you, and god bless America. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Madam speaker, mister vice president, members of congress, the first lady of The United States. And my fellow citizens, three years ago, we launched the Great American Comeback. Tonight, I stand before you to share the incredible results. Jobs are booming, incomes are soaring, poverty is plummeting, crime is falling, confidence is surging, and our country is thriving and highly respected again.
America's enemies are on the run. America's fortunes are on the rise, and America's future is blazing bright. The years of economic decay are over. The days of our country being used, taken advantage of, and even scorned by other nations are long behind us. Gone to are the broken promises, jobless recoveries, tired platitudes, and constant excuses for the depletion of American wealth, power, and prestige.
In just three short years, we have shattered the mentality of American decline, and we have rejected the downsizing of Americans' destiny. We have totally rejected the downsizing. We are moving forward at a pace that was unimaginable just a short time ago, and we are never ever going back. I am thrilled to report to you tonight that our economy is the best it has ever been. Our military is completely rebuilt with its power being unmatched anywhere in the world, and it's not even close.
Our borders are secure. Our families are flourishing. Our values are renewed. Our pride is restored. And for all of these reasons, I say to the people of our great country and to the members of congress, the state of our union is stronger than ever before.
The vision I will lay out this evening demonstrates how we are building the world's most prosperous and inclusive society, one where every citizen can join in America's unparalleled success, and where every community can take part in America's extraordinary rise. From the instant I took office, I moved rapidly to revive The US economy, slashing a record number of job killing regulations, enacting historic and record setting tax cuts, and fighting for fair and reciprocal trade agreements. Our agenda is relentlessly pro worker, pro family, pro growth, and most of all, pro American. Thank you. We are advancing with unbridled optimism and lifting our citizens of every race, color, religion, and creed very, very high.
Since my election, we have created 7,000,000 new jobs, 5,000,000 more than government experts projected during the previous administration. The unemployment rate is the lowest in over half a century. And very incredibly, the average unemployment rate under my administration is lower than any administration in the history of our country. If we hadn't reversed the failed economic policies of the previous administration, the world would not now be witnessing this great economic success. The unemployment rate for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans has reached the lowest levels in history.
African American youth unemployment has reached an all time low. African American poverty has declined to the lowest rate ever recorded. The unemployment rate for women reached the lowest level in almost seventy years, and last year, women filled 72% of all new jobs added. The veterans unemployment rate dropped to a record low. The unemployment rate for disabled Americans has reached an all time low.
Workers without a high school diploma have achieved the lowest unemployment rate recorded in US history. A record number of young Americans are now employed. Under the last administration, more than 10,000,000 people were added to the food stamp rolls. Under my administration, 7,000,000 Americans have come off food stamps, and 10,000,000 people have been lifted off of welfare. In eight years under the last administration, over 300,000 working age people dropped out of the workforce.
In just three years of my administration, 3,500,000 people, working age people, have joined the workforce. Since my election, the net worth of the bottom half of wage earners has increased by 47%, three times faster than the increase for the top 1%. After decades of flat and falling incomes, wages are rising fast, and wonderfully, they are rising fastest for low income workers who have seen a 16% pay increase since my election. This is a blue collar boom. Real median household income is now at the highest level ever recorded.
Since my election, US stock markets have soared, 70% adding more than $12,000,000,000,000 to our nation's wealth, transcending anything anyone believed was possible. This is a record. It is something that every country in the world is looking up to. They admire. Consumer confidence has just reached amazing new highs.
All of those millions of people with four zero one k's and pensions are doing far better than they have ever done before with increases of sixty, seventy, 80, 90, and one hundred percent, and even more. Jobs and investments are pouring into 9,000 previously neglected neighborhoods, thanks to opportunity zones, a plan spearheaded by senator Tim Scott as part of our great Republican tax cuts. In other words, wealthy people and companies are pouring money into poor neighborhoods or areas that haven't seen investment in many decades, creating jobs, energy, and excitement. This is the first time that these deserving communities have seen anything like this. It's all working.
Opportunity zones are helping Americans like army veteran Tony Rankins from Cincinnati, Ohio. After struggling with drug addiction, Tony lost his job, his house, and his family. He was homeless, but then Tony found a construction company that invests in opportunity zones. He is now a top tradesman, drug free, reunited with his family, and he is here tonight. Tony, keep up the great work, Tony.
Thank you, Tony. Our roaring economy has, for the first time ever, given many former prisoners the ability to get a great job and a fresh start. This second chance at life is made possible because we passed landmark justice reform into law. Everybody said that criminal justice reform couldn't be done, but I got it done, and the people in this room got it done. Thanks to our bold regulatory reduction campaign, The United States has become the number one producer of oil and natural gas anywhere in the world by far.
With the tremendous progress we have made over the past three years, America is now energy independent, and energy jobs, like so many other elements of our country, are at a record high. We are doing numbers that no one would have thought possible just three years ago. Likewise, we are restoring our nation's manufacturing might even though predictions were, as you all know, that this could never ever be done. After losing 60,000 factories under the previous two administrations, America has now gained 12,000 new factories under my administration with thousands upon thousands of plants and factories being planned or being built. Companies are not leaving.
They are coming back to The USA. The fact is that everybody wants to be where the action is, and The United States Of America is indeed the place where the action is. One of the biggest promises I made to the American people was to replace the disastrous NAFTA trade deal. In fact, unfair trade is perhaps the single biggest reason that I decided to run for president. Following NAFTA's adoption, our nation lost one in four manufacturing jobs.
Many politicians came and went pledging to change or replace NAFTA, only to do so, and then absolutely nothing happened. But unlike so many who came before me, I keep my promises. We did our job. Six days ago, I replaced NAFTA and signed the brand new US Mexico Canada agreement into law. The USMCA will create nearly 100,000 new high paying American auto jobs and massively boost exports for our farmers, ranchers, and factory workers.
It will also bring trade with Mexico and Canada to a much higher level, but also to be a much greater degree of fairness and reciprocity. We will have that fairness and reciprocity. And I say that finally because it's been many, many years that we were treated fairly on trade. This is the first major trade deal in many years to earn the strong backing of America's labor unions. I also promised our citizens that I would impose tariffs to confront China's massive theft of America's jobs.
Our strategy has worked. Days ago, we signed the groundbreaking new agreement with China that will defend our workers, protect our intellectual property, bring billions and billions of dollars into our treasury, and open vast new markets for products made and grown right here in The USA. For decades, China has taken advantage of The United States. Now we have changed that. But at the same time, we have perhaps the best relationship we've ever had with China, including with president Xi.
They respect what we've done because, quite frankly, they could never really believe that they were able to get away with what they were doing year after year, decade after decade, without someone in our country stepping up and saying that's enough. Now we want to rebuild our country, and that's exactly what we're doing. We are rebuilding our country. As we restore American leadership throughout the world, we are once again standing up for freedom in our hemisphere. That's why my administration reversed the failing policies of the previous administration on Cuba.
We are supporting the hopes of Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans to restore democracy, The United States is leading a 59 nation diplomatic coalition against the socialist dictator of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro. Maduro is an illegitimate ruler, a tyrant who brutalizes his people, but Maduro's grip on tyranny will be smashed and broken. Here this evening is a very brave man who carries with him the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of all Venezuelans. Joining us in the gallery is the true and legitimate president of Venezuela, Juan Guaido. Mister president, please take this message back to your family.
Thank you, mister president. Great honor. Thank you very much. Please take this message back that all Americans are united with the Venezuelan people in their righteous struggle for freedom. Thank you very much, mister president.
Thank you very much. Socialism destroys nations, but always remember, freedom unifies the soul. To safeguard American liberty, we have invested a record breaking $2,200,000,000,000 in the United States military. We have purchased the finest planes, missiles, rockets, ships, and every other form of military equipment, and it's all made right here in The USA. We are also getting our allies, finally, to help pay their fair share.
I have raised contributions from other NATO members by more than $400,000,000,000, and the number of allies meeting their minimum obligations has more than doubled. And just weeks ago, for the first time since president Truman established the Air Force, more than seventy years earlier, we created a brand new branch of the United States Armed Forces. It's called the Space Force. Very important. In the gallery tonight, have a young gentleman, what he wants so badly.
13 years old, Ian Launfeh. He's an eighth grader from Arizona. Ian, please stand up. Ian has always dreamed of going to space. He was the first in his class and among the youngest at an aviation academy.
He aspires to go to the Air Force Academy, and then he has his eye on the Space Force. As Ian says, most people look up at space. I want to look down on the world. But sitting behind Ian tonight is his greatest hero of them all. Charles McGee was born in Cleveland, Ohio 1 century ago.
Charles is one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen, the first black fighter pilots, and he also happens to be Ian's great grandfather. Incredible story. After more than 130 combat missions in World War two, He came back home to a country still struggling for civil rights and went on to serve America in Korea and Vietnam. On December 7, Charles celebrated his one hundredth birthday. A few weeks ago, I signed a bill promoting Charles McGee to brigadier general.
And earlier today, I pinned the stars on his shoulders in the Oval Office. General McGee, our nation salutes you. Thank you, sir. From the pilgrims to the founders, from the soldiers at Valley Forge to the marchers at Selma, and from president Lincoln to the reverend Martin Luther King, Americans have always rejected limits on our children's future. Members of congress, we must never forget that the only victories that matter in Washington are victories that deliver for the American people.
The people are the heart of our country. Their dreams are the soul of our country, and their love is what powers and sustains our country. We must always remember that our job is to put America First. The next step forward in building an inclusive society is making sure that every young American gets a great education and the opportunity to achieve the American dream. Yet for too long, countless American children have been trapped in failing government schools.
To rescue these students, eighteen states have created school choice in the form of opportunity scholarships. The programs are so popular that tens of thousands of students remain on a waiting list. One of those students is Janiyah Davis, a fourth grader from Philadelphia. Janiyah's mom, Stephanie, is a single parent. She would do anything to give her daughter a better future.
But last year, that future was put further out of reach when Pennsylvania's governor vetoed legislation to expand school choice to 50,000 children. Janiyah and Stephanie are in the gallery. Stephanie, thank you so much for being here with your beautiful daughter. Thank you very much. But, Janae, I have some good news for you because I am pleased to inform you that your long wait is over.
I can proudly announce tonight that an opportunity scholarship has become available. It's going to you, and you will soon be heading to the school of your choice. Now I call on congress to give 1,000,000 American children the same opportunity Janiyah has just received. Pass the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunities Act because no parent should be forced to send their child to a failing government school. Every young person should have a safe and secure environment in which to learn and to grow.
For this reason, our magnificent first lady has launched the Be Best initiative to advance a safe, healthy, supportive, and drug free life for the next generation online, in school, and in our communities. Thank you, Melania, for your extraordinary love and profound care for America's children. Thank you very much. My administration is determined to give our citizens the opportunities they need, regardless of age or background. Through our pledge to American workers, over 400 companies will also provide new jobs and education opportunities to almost 15,000,000 Americans.
My budget also contains an exciting vision for our nation's high schools. Tonight, I ask congress to support our students and back my plan to offer vocational and technical education in every single high school in America. To expand equal opportunity, I am also proud that we achieved record and permanent funding for our nation's historically black colleges and universities. A good life for American families also requires the most affordable, innovative, and high quality health care system on Earth. Before I took office, health insurance premiums had more than doubled in just five years.
I moved quickly to provide affordable alternatives. Our new plans are up to 60% less expensive and better. I've also made an ironclad pledge to American families, we will always protect patients with preexisting conditions. And we will always protect your Medicare, and we will always protect your Social Security. Always.
The American patient should never be blindsided by medical bills. That is why I signed an executive order requiring price transparency. Many experts believe that transparency, which will go into full effect at the beginning of next year, will be even bigger than health care reform. It will save families massive amounts of money for substantially better care. But as we work to improve Americans' health care, there are those who want to take away your health care, take away your doctor, and abolish private insurance entirely.
132 lawmakers in this room have endorsed legislation to impose a socialist takeover of our health care system, wiping out the private health insurance plans of 180,000,000 very happy Americans. To those watching at home tonight, I want you to know, we will never let socialism destroy American health care. Over 130 legislators in this chamber have endorsed legislation that would bankrupt our nation by providing free taxpayer funded health care to millions of illegal aliens, forcing taxpayers to subsidize free care for anyone in the world who unlawfully crosses our borders. These proposals would raid the Medicare benefits of our seniors and that our seniors depend on, while acting as a powerful lure for illegal immigration. That is what is happening in California and other states.
Their systems are totally out of control, costing taxpayers vast and unaffordable amounts of money. If forcing American taxpayers to provide unlimited free health care to illegal aliens sounds fair to you, then stand with the radical left. But if you believe that we should defend American patients and American seniors, then stand with me and pass legislation to prohibit free government health care for illegal aliens. This will be a tremendous boon to our already very strongly guarded southern border, where as we speak, a long, tall, and very powerful wall is being built. We have now completed over 100 miles and have over 500 miles fully completed in a very short period of time.
Early next year, we will have substantially more than 500 miles completed. My administration is also taking on the big pharmaceutical companies. We have approved a record number of affordable generic drugs, and medicines are being approved by the FDA at a faster clip than ever before. And I was pleased to announce last year that for the first time in fifty one years, the cost of prescription drugs actually went down. And working together, congress can reduce drug prices substantially from current levels.
I've been speaking to senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa and others in congress in order to get something on drug pricing done and done quickly and properly. I'm calling for bipartisan legislation that achieves the goal of dramatically lowering prescription drug prices. Get a bill on my desk, and I will sign it into law immediately. With unyielding commitment, we are curbing the opioid epidemic. Drug overdose deaths declined for the first time in nearly thirty years.
Among the states hardest hit, Ohio is down 22%, Pennsylvania is down 18%. Wisconsin is down 10%. And we will not quit until we have beaten the opioid epidemic once and for all. Protecting Americans' health also means fighting infectious diseases. We are coordinating with the Chinese government and working closely together on the coronavirus outbreak in China.
My administration will take all necessary steps to safeguard our citizens from this threat. We have launched ambitious new initiatives to substantially improve care for Americans with kidney disease, Alzheimer's, and those struggling with mental health. And because congress were so good as to fund my request, new cures for childhood cancer, and we will eradicate the AIDS epidemic in America by the end of this decade. Almost every American family knows the pain when a loved one is diagnosed with a serious illness. Here tonight is a special man, beloved by millions of Americans who just received a stage four advanced cancer diagnosis.
This is not good news, but what is good news is that he is the greatest fighter and winner that you will ever meet. Rush Limbaugh, thank you for your decades of tireless devotion to our country. And, Rush, in recognition of all that you have done for our nation, the millions of people a day that you speak to and that you inspire, and all of the incredible work that you have done for charity. I am proud to announce tonight that you will be receiving our country's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I will now ask the first lady of The United States to present you with the honor, please.
Rush and Catherine, congratulations. Thank you, Catherine. As we pray for all who are sick, we know that America is constantly achieving new medical breakthroughs. In 2017, doctors at Saint Luke's Hospital in Kansas City delivered one of the earliest premature babies ever to survive. Born at just twenty one weeks and six days, and weighing less than a pound, Ellie Schneider was a born fighter.
Through the skill of her doctors and the prayers of her parents, little Ellie kept on winning the battle of life. Today, Ellie is a strong, healthy two year old girl sitting with her amazing mother, Robin, in the gallery. Ellie and Robin, we are glad to have you with us tonight. Valerie reminds us that every child is a miracle of life. And thanks to modern medical wonders, fifty percent of very premature babies delivered at the hospital where Ellie was born now survive.
It's an incredible thing. Thank you very much. Our goal should be to ensure that every baby has the best chance to thrive and grow just like Ellie. That is why I'm asking congress to provide an additional $50,000,000 to fund neonatal research for America's youngest patients. That is why I'm also calling upon members of congress here tonight to pass legislation finally banning the late term abortion of babies.
Whether we are Republican, Democrat, or Independent, surely we must all agree that every human life is a sacred gift from God as we support America's moms and dads I was recently proud to sign the law providing new parents in the federal workforce paid family leave, serving as a model for the rest of the country. Now I call on congress to pass the bipartisan Advancing Support for Working Families Act, extending family leave to mothers and fathers all across our nation. 40,000,000 American families have an average $2,200 extra thanks to our child tax credit. I've also overseen historic funding increases for high quality childcare, enabling 17 states to help more children, many of which have reduced or eliminated their waitlists altogether. And I sent congress a plan with a vision to further expand access to high quality childcare and urge you to act immediately.
To protect the environment days ago, I announced that The United States will join the 1,000,000,000,000 Trees Initiative, an ambitious effort to bring together government and private sector to plant new trees in America and all around the world. We must also rebuild America's infrastructure. I ask you to pass senator John Barrasso's highway bill to invest in new roads, bridges, and tunnels all across our land. I'm also committed to ensuring that every citizen can have access to high speed Internet, including and especially in rural America. A better tomorrow for all Americans also requires us to keep America safe.
That means supporting the men and women of law enforcement at every level, including our nation's heroic ICE officers. Last year, our brave ICE officers arrested more than 120,000 criminal aliens charged with nearly 10,000 burglaries, 5,000 sexual assaults, 45,000 violent assaults, and 2,000 murders. Tragically, there are many cities in America where radical politicians have chosen to provide sanctuary for these criminal illegal aliens. In sanctuary cities, local officials order police to release dangerous criminal aliens to prey upon the public instead of handing them over to ICE to be safely removed. Just twenty nine days ago, a criminal alien freed by the sanctuary city of New York was charged with the brutal rape and murder of a 92 year old woman.
The killer had been previously arrested for assault, but under New York sanctuary policies, he was set free. If the city had honored ICE's detainer request, his victim would still be alive today. The state of California passed an outrageous law declaring their whole state to be a sanctuary for criminal illegal immigrants. A very terrible sanctuary with catastrophic results. Here is just one tragic example.
In December 2018, California police detained an illegal alien with five prior arrests, including convictions for robbery and assault. But as required by California's sanctuary law, local authorities released him. Days later, the criminal alien went on a gruesome spree of deadly violence. He viciously shot one man going about his daily work. He approached a woman sitting in her car and shot her in the arm and in the chest.
He walked into a convenience store and wildly fired his weapon. He hijacked a truck and smashed into vehicles, critically injuring innocent victims. One of the victims is a terrible, terrible situation. Died 51 year old American named Rocky Jones. Rocky was at a gas station when this vile criminal fired eight bullets at him from close range, murdering him in cold blood.
Rocky left behind a devoted family, including his brothers, who loved him more than anything else in the world. One of his grieving brothers is here with us tonight. Jody, would you please stand? Jody. Thank you.
Jody, our hearts weep for your loss, and we will not rest until you have justice. Senator Tom Tillis has introduced legislation to allow Americans like Jody to sue sanctuary cities and states when a loved one is hurt or killed as a result of these deadly practices. I ask congress to pass the Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act immediately. The United States Of America should be a sanctuary for law abiding Americans, not criminal aliens. In the last three years, ICE has arrested over 5,000 wicked human traffickers, and I have signed nine pieces of legislation to stamp out the menace of human trafficking domestically and all around the globe.
My administration has undertaken an unprecedented effort to secure the southern border of The United States. Before I came into office, if you showed up illegally on our southern border and were arrested, you were simply released and allowed into our country, never to be seen again. My administration has ended catch and release. If you come illegally, you will now be promptly removed from our country. Very importantly, we entered into historic cooperation agreements with the governments of Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.
As a result of our unprecedented efforts, illegal crossings are down 75% since May, dropping eight straight months in a row. And as the wall rapidly goes up, drug seizures rise, and the border crossings are going down and going down very rapidly. Last year, I traveled to the border in Texas and met chief patrol agent Raul Ortiz. Over the last twenty four months, agent Ortiz and his team have seized more than 200,000 pounds of poisonous narcotics, arrested more than 3,000 human smugglers, and rescued more than 2,000 migrants. Days ago, agent Ortiz was promoted to deputy chief of border patrol, and he joins us tonight.
Chief Ortiz, please stand. A grateful nation thanks you and all of the heroes of border patrol and ICE. Thank you very much. Thank you. To build on these historic gains, we are working on legislation to replace our outdated and randomized immigration system with one based on merit, welcoming those who follow the rules, contribute to our economy, support themselves financially, and uphold our values.
With every action, my administration is restoring the rule of law and reasserting the culture of American freedom. Working with senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, thank you Mitch, and his colleagues in the senate, We have confirmed a record number of 187 new federal judges to uphold our constitution as written. This includes two brilliant new Supreme Court justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Thank you. And we have many in the pipeline.
My administration is also defending religious liberty, and that includes the constitutional right to pray in public schools. In America, we don't punish prayer. We don't tear down crosses. We don't ban symbols of faith. We don't muzzle preachers and pastors.
In America, we celebrate faith. We cherish religion. We lift our voices in prayer, and we raise our sights to the glory of God. Just as we believe in the First Amendment, we also believe in another constitutional right that is under siege all across our country. So long as I am president, I will always protect your second amendment right to keep and bear arms.
In reaffirming our heritage as a free nation, we must remember that America has always been a frontier nation. Now we must embrace the next frontier. America's manifest destiny in the stars. I am asking congress to fully fund the Artemis program to ensure that the next man and the first woman on the moon will be American astronauts using this as a launching pad to ensure that America is the first nation to plant its flag on Mars. My administration is also strongly defending our national security and combating radical Islamic terrorism.
Last week, I announced a groundbreaking plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Recognizing that all past attempts have failed, we must be determined and creative in order to stabilize the region and give millions of young people the chance to realize a better future. Three years ago, the barbarians of ISIS held over 20,000 square miles of territory in Iraq and Syria. Today, the ISIS territorial caliphate has been 100% destroyed, and the founder and leader of ISIS, the bloodthirsty killer known as al Baghdadi, is dead. We are joined this evening by Carl and Marsha Mueller.
After graduating from college, their beautiful daughter, Kyla, became a humanitarian aid worker. She once wrote, some people find God in church. Some people find God in nature. Some people find God in love. I find God in suffering.
I've known for some time what my life's work is, using my hands as tools to relieve suffering. In 02/2013, while caring for suffering civilians in Syria, Kayla was kidnapped, tortured, and enslaved by ISIS and kept as a prisoner of al Baghdadi himself. After more than five hundred horrifying days of captivity, al Baghdadi murdered young beautiful Kayla. She was just 26 years old. On the night that US Special Forces operations ended al Baghdadi's miserable life, The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, received a call in the situation room.
He was told that the brave men of the elite Special Forces team that so perfectly carried out the operation had given their mission a name, Task Force eight fourteen. It was a reference to a special day, August 14, Kayla's birthday. Carl and Marsha, America's warriors never forgot Kayla, and neither will we. Every day, America's men and women in uniform demonstrate the infinite depth of love that dwells in the human heart. One of these American heroes was Army Staff Sergeant Christopher Haake.
On his second deployment to Iraq in 02/2008, Sergeant Haake wrote a letter to his one year old son, Gage. I will be with you again, he wrote to Gage. I will teach you to ride your first bike, build your first sandbox, watch you play sports, and see you have kids also. I love you, son. Take care of your mother.
I am always with you, daddy. On Easter Sunday of two thousand eight, Chris was out on patrol in Baghdad when his Bradley Fighting Vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. That night, he made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Sergeant Haake now rests in eternal glory in Arlington, And his wife, Kelly, is in the gallery tonight joined by their son, who is now a 13 year old and doing very, very well. To Kelly and Gage, Chris will live in our hearts forever.
He is looking down on you now. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you both very much. The terrorist responsible for killing sergeant Haik was Qaseem Soleimani, who provided the deadly roadside bomb that took Chris' life.
Soleimani was the Iranian regime's most ruthless butcher, a monster who murdered or wounded thousands of American service members in Iraq. As the world's top terrorist, Soleimani orchestrated the deaths of countless men, women, and children. He directed the December assault and went on to assault US forces in Iraq, was actively planning new attacks when we hit them very hard. And that's why last month, at my direction, the US military executed a flawless precision strike that killed Soleimani and terminated his evil reign of terror forever. Our message to the terrorists is clear, you will never escape American justice.
If you attack our citizens, you forfeit your life. In recent months, we have seen proud Iranians raise their voices against their oppressive rulers. The Iranian regime must abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons, stop spreading terror, death, and destruction, and start working for the good of its own people. Because of our powerful sanctions, the Iranian economy is doing very, very poorly. We can help them make a very good and short time recovery.
It can all go very quickly, but perhaps they are too proud or too foolish to ask for that help. We are here. Let's see which road they choose. It is totally up to them. As we defend American lives, we are working to end America's wars in The Middle East.
In Afghanistan, the determination and valor of our war fighters has allowed us to make tremendous progress, and peace talks are now underway. I am not looking to kill hundreds of thousands of people in Afghanistan, many of them totally innocent. It is also not our function to serve other nations as law enforcement agencies. These are warfighters that we have, the best in the world, and they either want to fight to win or not fight at all. We are working to finally end America's longest war and bring our troops back home.
War places a heavy burden on our nation's extraordinary military families, especially spouses like Amy Williams from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and her two children, six year old Alyanna and three year old Rowan. Amy works full time and volunteers countless hours helping other military families. For the past seven months, she has done it all while her husband, sergeant first class Townsend Williams, is in Afghanistan on his fourth deployment in The Middle East. Amy's kids haven't seen their father's face in many months. Amy, your family's sacrifice makes it possible for all of our families to live in safety and in peace, and we wanna thank you.
Thank you, Amy. But, Amy, there is one more thing. Tonight, we have a very special surprise. I am thrilled to inform you that your husband is back from deployment. He is here with us tonight, and we couldn't keep him waiting any longer.
Welcome home, sergeant Williams. Thank you very much. As the world bears witness tonight, America is a land of heroes. This is a place where greatness is born, where destinies are forged, and where legends come to life. This is the home of Thomas Edison and Teddy Roosevelt, of many great generals including Washington, Pershing, Patton, and MacArthur.
This is the home of Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Amelia Earhart, Harriet Tubman, the Wright Brothers, Neil Armstrong, and so many more. This is the country where children learn names like Wyatt Earp, Davy Crockett, and Annie Oakley. This is the place where the pilgrims landed at Plymouth and where Texas patriots made their last stand at the Alamo. The beautiful, beautiful Alamo. The American nation was carved out of the vast frontier by the toughest, strongest, fiercest, and most determined men and women ever to walk on the face of the earth.
Our ancestors braved the unknown, tamed the wilderness, settled the wild West, lifted millions from poverty, disease, and hunger, vanquished tyranny and fascism, ushered the world to new heights of science and medicine, laid down the railroads, dug out the canals, raised up the skyscrapers, and ladies and gentlemen, our ancestors built the most exceptional republic ever to exist in all of human history, and we are making it greater than ever before. This is our glorious and magnificent inheritance. We are Americans. We are pioneers. We are the pathfinders.
We settled the new world. We built the modern world, and we changed history forever by embracing the eternal truth that everyone is made equal by the hand of almighty god. America is the place where anything can happen. America is the place where anyone can rise. And here, on this land, on this soil, on this continent, the most incredible dreams come true.
This nation is our canvas, and this country is our masterpiece. We look at tomorrow and see unlimited frontiers just waiting to be explored. Our brightest discoveries are not yet known. Our most thrilling stories are not yet told. Our grandest journeys are not yet made.
The American age, the American epic, the American adventure has only just begun. Our spirit is still young. The sun is still rising. God's grace is still shining. And my fellow Americans, the best is yet to come.
Thank you. God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you very much.
reSee.it AI Summary
Michael Cohen's attempt to set up a deal by randomly emailing incorrect Russian email addresses is a humorous anecdote mentioned in the Mueller report. Despite the left's perception of him as a mastermind, this incident raises doubts about his capabilities.
@Shem_Infinite - Shem Horne
One of my favorite stories about Michael Cohen is how once he just started emailing random (incorrect) Russian email addresses to try to set up a deal lol. This is from page 74 of the Mueller report. This is the guy the left thinks is a mastermind about to take down Trump.
@Shem_Infinite - Shem Horne
Source: https://www.scribd.com/document/406904220/Word-searchable-Mueller-Report-Redacted-Vol-I#from_embed
Word-Searchable Mueller Report Redacted Vol I | PDF | Wiki Leaks | Donald Trump
Word-searchable Mueller Report Redacted Vol I - Free ebook download as PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read book online for free. Word-searchable Mueller Report Volume I (Criminal Conspiracy) -- Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller’s Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election
scribd.com
@Shem_Infinite - Shem Horne
I have video evidence that the Special Counsel might be interested in. It shows a group of people conspiring to overturn the results of our Presidential election by using faithless electors. H/T: @almostjingo
Video Transcript AI Summary
Republican members of the Electoral College, we urge you to vote your conscience on December 19th. The Electoral College was created to prevent an unfit candidate from becoming president. Just 36 conscientious Republican electors could make a difference. We are not asking you to vote for Hillary Clinton, but to choose someone highly qualified and competent for the job. By doing so, you can give the House of Representatives the option to select a qualified candidate. We stand with you in support and solidarity with conservatives, independents, and liberals. The American people trust that your voice speaks for us all. You have the opportunity to go down in history as an American hero who changed the course of history. Unite for America.
Full Transcript
Speaker 0: Republican members of the Electoral College, this message is for you. As you know, our founding fathers built the Electoral College to safeguard the American people from the dangers of a demagogue and to ensure that the presidency only goes to someone who is, to an imminent degree, endowed with the requisite qualifications.
Speaker 1: An eminent degree. Someone who is highly qualified for the job.
Speaker 0: The electoral college was created Specifically, to prevent an unfit candidate from becoming president. There are 538 members of the electoral college. You
Speaker 1: And just 36 other conscientious Republican electors could make a difference.
Speaker 2: By voting your conscience on December 19th.
Speaker 0: And thereby shaping the future of our nation.
Speaker 2: I'm not asking you to vote for Hillary Clinton.
Speaker 1: I'm not asking you to vote for Hillary Clinton.
Speaker 0: I'm not asking you to vote for Hillary Clinton.
Speaker 3: As you know, the constitution gives electors the right to vote for any eligible person.
Speaker 0: Any eligible person, no matter which party they belong to.
Speaker 1: But it should certainly be someone you consider especially competent Especially competent to serve as president of the United States of America.
Speaker 4: By voting your conscience, you and other brave Republican electors can give the House of Representatives the option to select a qualified candidate for the presidency. I stand with you.
Speaker 0: I stand with you. I stand with you. I stand with you in support and solidarity with conservatives, independents, and liberals.
Speaker 2: And all citizens of the United States.
Speaker 0: The American people trust that your voice speaks for us all.
Speaker 2: And that you you will make yourself heard through the constitutional responsibility granted to you by Alexander Hamilton himself.
Speaker 3: What is evident is that Donald Trump lacks more than the qualifications of the president.
Speaker 1: He lacks the necessary stability.
Speaker 0: And clearly the respect for the constitution of our great nation. You have position The authority and the opportunity to go down in the books as an American hero.
Speaker 4: Who changed the course of history.
Speaker 3: And you have my respect. You have my respect.
Speaker 1: You have my respect.
Speaker 2: Fear patriotism. And service
Speaker 0: to the American people. Unite for America.