Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
President Obama: Good morning everybody.
Bonjour.
That's the extent of my French.
(laughter)
Few places in the world warm the heart like
Paris in the spring.
This morning we're going to do our best with
Washington in the winter.
France is America's oldest ally and in recent years
we've deepened our alliance and today
on behalf of the American people, and Michelle,
and myself it is a great honor to welcome my friend
President Hollande and his delegation for their first
state visit to the United State, in fact the first
state visit by a French president
in nearly 20 years.
Yesterday at Monticello we reflected on the values
that we share, the ideals at the heart
of our alliance.
Here under the red, white, and blue and the blue,
white, and red we declare our devotion once more
to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
(applause)
For more than two centuries we've not only
proclaimed our ideals, our citizens have bled
to preserve them, from a field in Yorktown
to the beaches of Normandy to the mountains of Afghanistan.
And today we are honored to be joined
by two extraordinary men who were there those historic days
70 years ago.
I ask them to stand, proud veterans
of d-day who are here in attendance today.
(applause)
So it's no exaggeration that we stand here because
of each other, we owe our freedom to each other.
Of course we Americans also thank our French
friends for so much else, this capital city designed
by L'Enfant, our Statue of Liberty a gift from
France, and something many Americans are especially
grateful for New Orleans and the French Quarter.
(laughter)
Mr. President, like generations before
us we now have the task, not simply to preserve our
enduring alliance but to make it new for our time.
No one nation can meet today's challenges alone
or seize its opportunities.
More nations must step up and meet the
responsibilities of leadership and that
is what the United States and France are doing together.
To our French friends, I say let's do even more
together for the security that our citizens deserve,
for the prosperity that they seek, and for the
dignity of people around the world who seek what
we declared two centuries ago, those unalienable
rights, those sacred rights of man.
President Hollande, members of the French
delegation, we are honored to have you here as one
of our strongest allies and closest friends,
welcome to the United States.
Bienvenue, mes amis.
(applause)
President Hollande (as interpreted):
Mr. President, dear Barack, dear Michelle,
ladies and gentlemen, it's cold in Washington.
(laughter)
You're right, but it's a beautiful day, great day
for America and France.
And I will speak in French because I am obliged
to do that for my country.
We are received here, my delegation, as myself
as friends, and I am particularly
touched by this reception by the President
of the United States.
We are always united by a common history,
from Yorktown to the beaches of Normandy, as you said
so rightly, each of our countries knows what
it owes to the other, it's freedom.
Yesterday we were in Monticello,
Thomas Jefferson's residence, a great American statesman,
once Ambassador to France, remains one of the most
beautiful symbols of the ties that united us.
This afternoon, at the Arlington Cemetery,
I shall award the Legion d'honneur, the highest
French distinction to the American unknown solider.
And I shall present American veterans who
fought in the Second World War, with an award
and I'd like to pay tribute to these men.
(applause)
Thus doing, I wish to demonstrate the fact that
France will never forget the spirit of sacrifice
shown by these American soldiers, nameless heroes
who left their homes to liberate
my country and your.
We shall pay tribute to them during the
celebrations that will take place in France
to commemorate the 70th anniversary
of the Normandy landing.
And I hope, Barack, that you will join
me on June 6, 2014, 70 years after D-day landing.
Our two countries hold universal values, values
that inspired Eleanor Roosevelt and Rene Cassin
to write together the universal declaration
of human rights.
We stand together to fight terrorism today still
France and the United States stand side
by side to make these values prevail.
We stand together with the United States to address
threats of the proliferation of weapons
of mass destruction and chemical weapons, together
to solve the crises faced by the Middle East,
together to support Africa's development, and
together to fight global warming
and climate change.
(applause)
Today we stand united and we have built
a model of friendship.
A friendship that is the best recipe for a better
world, a world such as the one that
was dreamt by Thomas Jefferson and Lafayette.
It is not just about friendship, it is about
an alliance that will enable us to make this world
a better place, a safer place,
a more humane place.
Thank you.
(applause)
Mr. President, I am proud to stand here.
You are this great man
of the United States of America and
you represent the United States of America,
a country where everything
is possible for who wants it, a country devoted
to freedom and equality.
Long live the United States,
long live France, long live
the Franco-American friendship.
(applause)