奥巴马每日发言At Graduation Of Columbus...(2009-03-06)

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT GRADUATION OF COLUMBUS POLICE DIVISION'S 114TH CLASS

Aladdin Shrine 1 Center
Columbus, Ohio

10:53 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  Please, everybody have a seat.  Thank you so much.

Well, what a wonderful reception.  Thank you very much.  I want to begin by thanking Mayor Coleman, Director Brown, and the entire Columbus police force for inviting 2 me to be a part of this ceremony.  It is a great honor and a privilege to stand with the men and women of this police academy's 114th graduating class.  (Applause.)  You have studied hard, you have trained tirelessly, and there is no longer any doubt that you will be employed as officers of the law when you leave here today.  (Applause.)

I also want to just very quickly acknowledge one of the finest governors in the country, who's been just dealing 3 with all kinds of stuff and doing it with grace and aplomb 4 and never breaks a sweat, but is working hard on behalf of his constituency -- Ted 5 Strickland.  (Applause.)  The Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder 6.  (Applause.)

I came out here with a number of members of the Ohio congressional delegation 7, but I want to make a special note of my former colleague when I was in the Senate who is just as passionate 8 about working people as anybody in the country, Sherrod Brown.  Give Sherrod a big round of applause.  (Applause.)

This city of Columbus needs the courage and the commitment of this graduating class to keep it safe, to make sure that people have the protection that they need.  This economy needs your employment to keep it running.  Just this morning we learned that we lost another 651,000 jobs throughout the country in the month of February alone, which brings the total number of jobs lost in this recession to an astounding 9 4.4 million.

Four point four million jobs.  I don't need to tell the people of this state what statistics like this mean, because so many of you have been watching jobs disappear long before this recession hit.  And I don't need to tell this graduating class what it's like to know that your job might be next, because up until a few weeks ago, that is precisely 10 the future that this class faced -– a future that millions of Americans still face right now.

Well, that is not a future I accept for the United States of America.  (Applause.)  That is why I signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law.  (Applause.)

Now there were those -- there were those who argued that our recovery plan was unwise and unnecessary.  They opposed the very notion that government has a role in ending the cycle of job loss at the heart of this recession.  There are those who believe that all we can do is repeat the very same policies that led us here in the first place.

But I also know that this country has never responded to a crisis by sitting on the sidelines and hoping for the best.  I know that throughout our history, we have met every great challenge with bold action and big ideas.  That's what's fueled a shared and lasting 11 prosperity.  And I know that at this defining moment for America we have a responsibility to ourselves and to our children to do it once again.  We have a responsibility to act, and that's what I intend to do as President of the United States of America.  (Applause.)

So for those who still doubt the wisdom of our recovery plan, I ask them to talk to the teachers who are still able to teach our children because we passed this plan.  I ask them to talk to the nurses who are still able to care for our sick, and the firefighters and first responders who will still be able to keep our communities safe.  I ask them to come to Ohio and meet the 25 men and women who will soon be protecting the streets of Columbus because we passed this plan.  (Applause.)  I look at these young men and women, I look into their eyes and I see their badges today and I know we did the right thing.

These jobs and the jobs of so many other police officers and teachers and firefighters all across Ohio will now be saved because of this recovery plan -– a plan that will also create jobs in every corner of this state.  Last week, we announced that Ohio would receive $128 million that will put people to work renovating 12 and rebuilding affordable 13 housing.  (Applause.)  On Tuesday -- on Tuesday I announced that we'd be sending another $935 million to Ohio that will create jobs rebuilding our roads, our bridges, and our highways.  (Applause.)  And yesterday, Vice 14 President Biden announced $180 million for this state that will go towards expanding mass transit 15 and buying fuel-efficient buses -– money that will be putting people to work, getting people to work.  (Applause.)