Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
It is good to be in L.A.! (Applause.) It is colder in D.C. at the moment, colder in Chicago,
and 70-degree weather is something to be thankful for.
And it is great to be at DreamWorks Animation. I would like to work here. (Laughter.) I have
asked Jeffrey. The only concern I had was the lights were kind of dim in the offices
and -- (laughter) -- I'm pretty sure I'd fall asleep. But there's a natural connection between
me and DreamWorks. I don't know if you know this, but my ears were one of the inspirations
for "Shrek." (Laughter.) That's true. True story.
Mellody was being very modest when she said she had a front-row seat. Mellody was one
of my earliest supporters back when nobody could pronounce my name. And her and John
Rogers at Arial Capital helped to co-chair some of my first fundraisers. And they'd have
to drag some straggly group in, kicking and screaming, and write a check and listen to
this young senator who had a lot of ideas but not necessarily any realistic prospects
to win. And she went through a lot of ups and downs with me and my career and is just
a great, great friend. So I want to thank her publicly for all the support that she's
given us. (Applause.)
We've got some folks here who are fighting for the people of Southern California every
single day and I just want to acknowledge them. We've got the Mayor of Glendale, Dave
Weaver. (Applause.) We've got three of your outstanding members of Congress -- Brad Sherman,
Adam Schiff, Karen Bass. They are all doing a great job. (Applause.)
I want to thank all of you for being here. And I want to thank your CEO, Jeffrey Katzenberg,
for inviting me. (Applause.) Jeffrey, like Mellody, has been a friend and a supporter
through thick and thin. And I think his place in the entertainment industry is legendary
-- I don't need to puff him up too much. (Laughter.) He has a healthy sense of self. (Laughter.)
But he is a great friend and somebody whose counsel and advice I value. And I'm incredibly
grateful to be here at this wonderful institution that he helped to build.
And I've come here today because this is one of America's economic engines. Not just DreamWorks,
but this whole cluster of companies that generations have grown up knowing -- Disney and Warner
and Universal and others. When you think about it, what finance is to New York, what the
auto industry is to the Midwest, what technology is to Northern California, entertainment is
to this part of the country.
And most of us have spent a lot of time thinking about our favorite movies or TV shows, but
we don't often think about the entire infrastructure and industry behind the scenes. Hundreds of
thousands of middle-class jobs -- they're not always on the marquee -- jobs for electricians,
and carpenters, and sound mixers, and makeup artists, and designers, and animators depend
on this incredible industry here in southern California.
Entertainment is one of America's biggest exports. And every day, you sell a product
that's made in America to the rest of the world. Every time somebody buys movie tickets,
or DVDs, or distribution rights to a film, some of that money goes back to the local
economy right here.
And believe it or not, entertainment is part of our American diplomacy. It's part of what
makes us exceptional, part of what makes us such a world power. You can go anywhere on
the planet and you'll see a kid wearing a "Madagascar" T-shirt. (Laughter.) You can
say, "May the Force be with you" -- they know what you're talking about. (Laughter.)
Hundreds of millions of people may never set foot in the United States, but thanks to you,
they've experienced a small part of what makes our country special. They've learned something
about our values. We have shaped a world culture through you.
And the stories that we tell transmit values and ideals about tolerance and diversity and
overcoming adversity, and creativity that are part of our DNA. And as a consequence
of what you've done, you helped shape the world's culture in a way that has made the
world better.
They might not know the Gettysburg Address, but if they're watching some old movie, maybe
"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," or "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," or "Will and Grace" and
"Modern Family," they've had a front-row seat to our march towards progress, even if their
own nations haven't made that progress yet. And young people in countries all around the
world suddenly make a connection and have an affinity to people who don't look like
them and maybe originally they might have been fearful of, and now suddenly they say,
oh, this person is like me -- which is one of the powers of art, but that's what you
transmit.
And that is a remarkable legacy. Now, it's also a big responsibility. When it comes to
issues like gun violence, we've got to make sure that we're not glorifying it, because
the stories you tell shape our children's outlook and their lives. Earlier this year,
leaders from this town sat down with Vice President Biden to talk about what Hollywood
could do to help keep our kids safe. This was in the wake of Sandy Hook. And those conversations
need to continue. The stories we tell matter. And you tell stories more powerfully than
anybody else on the Earth.
But I want to make clear, even as we think long and hard about the messages we send,
we should never waver from our commitment to the freedom that allows us to tell those
stories so well. Protecting our First Amendment rights are vital to who we are. And it's also
good business, because in the global race for jobs and industries, the thing we do better
than anybody else is creativity. That's something that can't be copied. It's one of the reasons
why even with new markets and new technologies, there's still no better place to make movies
and television and music than right here in the United States.
Entertainment is one of the bright spots of our economy. The gap between what we can do
and what other countries can do is enormous.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Woo!
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, that's worth cheering for. (Applause.) And that means that we've
got to do what it takes to make sure that this industry, and every great American industry,
keeps that competitive edge so that more folks can find career paths like many of you have,
and get good middle-class jobs that allow you to support a family and get ahead.
Nothing is more important than that right now. And as Mellody mentioned, when I came
into office, we were going through a severe crisis. Five years later, America has largely
fought our way back. We've made the tough choices required not just to help the economy
recover, but to rebuild it on a new foundation for stronger, more durable economic growth.
We refocused on manufacturing and exports, and today, our businesses sell more goods
and services made in this country to the rest of the world than ever before. Our manufacturers
are adding jobs for the first time since the 1990s, led by an American auto industry that's
come roaring back. American cars are really good now. (Laughter.)
We decided to reverse our dependence on foreign oil. So today, we generate more renewable
energy than ever -- doubled our renewable energy -- more natural gas than anybody. For
the first time in nearly 20 years, America now produces more of our own oil than we buy
from other countries. It's good news. (Applause.)
When I took office, America invested far less than countries like China did in wireless
infrastructure and we've now narrowed that gap, and we have helped companies unleash
jobs and innovation and become a booming app economy that's created hundreds of thousands
of jobs. Six years ago, only 5 percent of the world's smartphones ran on American operating
systems. Today, more than 80 percent do. (Applause.)
And, yes, we decided to fix a broken health care system. (Applause.) And it's interesting
-- I was talking to some of the studio execs here, and I said, look, the rollout of the
new health care marketplace was rough and nobody was more frustrated about the problems
with our website than I am. And yet, here in Southern California and here across this
state, there are thousands of people every single day who are getting health care for
the first time -- for the first time -- because of this. (Applause.) And, by the way, the
website is continually working better, so check it out. (Laughter.)
But as a country, we're now poised to gain health coverage for millions of Americans,
starting on January 1st, and that includes more than 350,000 here in California who have
already signed up. And thanks in part to the Affordable Care Act, health care costs are
growing at the slowest rate in 50 years. Employer-based health care costs are growing at about one-third
the rate of a decade ago. And that means that if the studios here or your employers aren't
having to spend as much on health care, they can hire more folks and reinvest more in the
business, and come up with those cool technologies that -- I don't exactly understand how they
work, but -- (laughter) -- were really neat to look at. (Laughter.)
And, by the way, we've done all this while bringing down our deficits. (Applause.) After
years of trillion-dollar deficits, we reined in spending. You would think sometimes listening
to folks in Washington that we haven't made any progress on that front. We wound down
two wars. We changed a tax code that was too skewed towards the wealthiest Americans at
the expense of the middle class. You add it all up, we've cut our deficits by more than
half, and they continue to go down faster than any time since World War II. (Applause.)
So all told, our businesses created 7.8 million new jobs over the past 44 months. America
has gone farther, recovered faster than most other industrialized nations. But, as Mellody
said, we've got more work to do. The stock market is doing great, corporate profits soaring,
but too many Americans aren't sharing in that success. And everybody here who works at DreamWorks
-- a really good place to work. I'm going to ask Jeff if maybe I can work here. (Applause.)
But all of you have friends and family and neighbors who aren't as lucky. And you know
there are still a lot of folks who are struggling out there. And my top priority is making sure
that this country remains a country where everybody who is willing to work hard can
get ahead.
And we'd be a lot further along without some of the dysfunction and obstruction we've seen
in Washington. (Applause.) We would be a lot further along if we could just get folks to act with some sense -- (laughter)
-- if we didn't have one wing of one party that was a little less obsessed with repealing
health care for 40 million people, more concerned with making sure the law works. If they hadn't
spent 40 votes trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, they might have actually taken some
votes on rebuilding our infrastructure, or instituting early childhood education for
young people across this country, or investing more money in basic research that helps to
create the amazing technologies that many of you utilize. Any of the serious proposals
I've put forward that would be creating jobs right now, they could have been taking votes
on that.
Instead of rooting for failure, or refighting old battles, Republicans in Congress need
to work with us to improve those things about the Affordable Care Act that aren't working
as well as they should, and implement policies to strengthen the middle class and create
jobs. (Applause.)
A couple of weeks ago, House Republican leaders handed out a piece of paper to their members
and on the top it said, "Agenda 2014." I'm not making this up. Below that, it was blank.
(Laughter.) It was a blank sheet of paper -- nothing to create jobs or grow the economy
or strengthen the middle class.
And I've put forward my plans to create new jobs and even the odds for the middle class.
And I've put forward plans that gives some Republicans some of the things that they want
in exchange for ideas that will create good jobs right now. And so far, they won't consider
them.
Some people have heard me say my list of top five movies -- "The Godfather," one and two,
have to be on it. But it turns out Marlon Brando had it easy, because when it comes
to Congress, there's no such thing as an "offer they can't refuse." (Laughter.) I mean, I
just keep on coming back. (Laughter.) I'm going to keep on trying, though. (Laughter.)
I am, because we've got no choice. (Applause.)
The American people agree with us that jobs, growing the economy should be our number-one
priority. And we've got to make some investments to make that happen. And we've got to give
a better bargain to the middle class and everybody who is working to join the middle class. And
that means building on those cornerstones of what makes for a strong middle class -- good
jobs, a good education, a home of your own, health care when you get sick, a secure retirement
even if you're not rich. So we can help manufacturers bring more jobs back to America by investing
in American clean-energy technology, and putting people to work building roads and bridges
and schools and high-speed broadband networks that attract businesses from around the world.
We can prepare our children and our workers for the global competition that they'll face
-- expanding high-quality preschool education, redesigning our high schools, investing in
community colleges and job training, and tackling rising college costs, so that young people
can afford it. We can help responsible homeowners afford a mortgage or refinancing at today's
low rates, help build a rock-solid housing system for decades to come, instead of boom
and bust.
We can bring the promise of a secure retirement back to reach for middle-class families, finding
new ways to make it easier for workers to save, and strengthening Social Security, and
getting immigration reform done so that undocumented workers are paying their fair share of taxes,
but they're not living in the shadows -- (applause) -- and we're attracting the best and the brightest
from all around the world.
As I was getting a tour of DreamWorks, I didn't ask, but just looking at faces, I could tell
there were some folks who are here not because they were born here, but because they want
to be here and they bring extraordinary talents to the United States. And that's part of what
makes America special. And that's part of what, by the way, makes California special,
because it's always been this magnet of dreamers and strivers. And people coming from every
direction saying to themselves, you know, if I work hard there I can have my piece of
the American Dream.
We're going to continue to make progress on all those fronts. And, yes, we are going to
continue to implement the health care law. The product is good. People want it. And we
should not live in a country where people are going bankrupt just because they get sick.
And anybody who is going to keep on pushing against that, they will meet my resistance,
because I am willing to fix any problems that there are, but I'm not going to abandon people
to make sure that they've got health insurance in this country. That is not something we're
going to do. (Applause.) And the good news is, as I said, thousands of Californians are
already signing up.
I read a really powerful story over the weekend I just want to mention about uninsured folks
in Kentucky who are signing up in droves in one of the poorest counties in the country.
Some of them can't imagine what having health insurance would be like. And you read these
stories and you realize how important it is for folks in Kentucky -- a state, by the way,
that did not vote for me -- (laughter) -- and if Kentucky can do it, than every state should
be able to do it.
We should be able to expand Medicaid all across the country. There are millions of people
who, right now, even under the law, may not get health care that they deserve because
their governors have refused to do it just for political reasons -- expanding Medicaid.
Fortunately, California, obviously, is not one of them. But this is a fight that we're
going to keep fighting, because it's worth fighting. And that's what Mellody referred
to.
It's true. I'm not an ideological guy, but there are some things I really believe in.
And part of what I believe in is that the essence of this country, what makes this place
special, is this idea that Hollywood is glorified and held up, but I actually think it's true
that here, more than anyplace else, no matter what you look like, where you come from, what
your last name is, who you love, you should be able to make it if you're willing to work
hard. That's what I believe. (Applause.)
And there's certain values that make that a reality. I have my critics, obviously, but
since were here in Hollywood, I want to think about something that the late, great Chicago
film critic, Robert [Roger] Ebert said -- and I was fortunate to get to know Roger Ebert
and was always inspired by how he handled some really tough stuff. "Kindness," he wrote,
"covers all of my political beliefs." Kindness covers all of my political beliefs.
And when I think about what I'm fighting for, what gets me up every single day, that captures
it just about as much as anything. Kindness; empathy -- that sense that I have a stake
in your success; that I'm going to make sure, just because Malia and Sasha are doing well,
that's not enough -- I want your kids to do well also. And I'm willing to help to build
good schools so that they get a great education, even if mine are already getting a great education.
And I'm going to invest in infrastructure and building things like the Golden Gate Bridge
and the Hoover Dam and the Internet -- (laughter) -- because I'm investing for the next generation,
not just this one. And that's what binds us together, and that's how we've always moved
forward, based on the idea that we have a stake in each other's success. And that's
what drives me. And that's what will continue to drive me.
I believe that every kid should have opportunity. I believe our daughters should have the same
opportunities as our sons. I believe that Jeffrey's kids should be able to aspire to
whatever they can dream of, but I also want to make sure that the person who's cleaning
up Jeffrey's office, that their kid has that same possibility.
And we may have different ideas and different policies on how to do things, but that shouldn't
negate that that core vision is what we're fighting for, and we should be able to sit
down together and to keep dreaming and keep working, and to make sure that the American
Dream that's been described here in Southern California is sustained for generations to
come.
And what's stopping us is not policy details; it's not technical issues. It's to summon
the courage to put politics aside once in a while and remember that we've got more in
common than our politics would suggest. And as long as I've got the privilege of serving
as your President, that's what I'm going to keep on making sure that I do -- to put politics
aside once in a while and work on your behalf. (Applause.)
So, thank you, DreamWorks, for what you do. (Applause.) Thank you, Jeffrey, for your hospitality.
God bless you. God bless America. (Applause.) Can't wait to see your next movie. (Applause.)