Weekly Address: President Obama – Standing with Orlando

June 18, 2016 JanF Editors' Choice, From the White House 16

The President’s Weekly Address post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

From the White House – Weekly Address

In this week’s address, President Obama reflected on his visit with the families of the victims of the Orlando terrorist attack. He reiterated that we will always stand with those impacted by the Orlando attack – and we will do everything in our power to stop homegrown terrorism attacks and ultimately destroy ISIL. With Father’s Day coming up, the President emphasized the responsibilities we have to each other – particularly to our children. Too often, events like these have been followed by silence and inaction. President Obama said in order for us to raise our children in a more loving, safer world, we must speak up for it. Whether it’s speaking up about the risks guns pose to our communities, or why tolerance and equality matter, our children need to hear us respond to these events and lead our lives with love.

Transcript: Weekly Address: Standing with Orlando

Remarks of President Barack Obama as Delivered
Weekly Address, The White House, ​June 18, 2016

It’s been less than a week since the deadliest mass shooting in American history. And foremost in all of our minds has been the loss and the grief felt by the people of Orlando, especially our friends who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. I visited with the families of many of the victims on Thursday. And one thing I told them is that they’re not alone. The American people, and people all over the world, are standing with them – and we always will.

The investigation is ongoing, but we know that the killer was an angry and disturbed individual who took in extremist information and propaganda over the internet, and became radicalized. During his killing spree, he pledged allegiance to ISIL, a group that’s called on people around the world to attack innocent civilians.

We are and we will keep doing everything in our power to stop these kinds of attacks, and to ultimately destroy ISIL. The extraordinary people in our intelligence, military, homeland security, and law enforcement communities have already prevented many attacks, saved many lives, and we won’t let up.

Alongside the stories of bravery and healing and coming together over the past week, we’ve also seen a renewed focus on reducing gun violence. As I said a few days ago, being tough on terrorism requires more than talk. Being tough on terrorism, particularly the sorts of homegrown terrorism that we’ve seen now in Orlando and San Bernardino, means making it harder for people who want to kill Americans to get their hands on assault weapons that are capable of killing dozens of innocents as quickly as possible. That’s something I’ll continue to talk about in the weeks ahead.

It’s also part of something that I’ve been thinking a lot about this week – and that’s the responsibilities we have to each other. That’s certainly true with Father’s Day upon us.

I grew up without my father around. While I wonder what my life would have been like if he had been a greater presence, I’ve also tried extra hard to be a good dad for my own daughters. Like all dads, I worry about my girls’ safety all the time. Especially when we see preventable violence in places our sons and daughters go every day – their schools and houses of worship, movie theaters, nightclubs, as they get older. It’s unconscionable that we allow easy access to weapons of war in these places – and then, even after we see parents grieve for their children, the fact that we as a country do nothing to prevent the next heartbreak makes no sense.

So this past week, I’ve also thought a lot about dads and moms around the country who’ve had to explain to their children what happened in Orlando. Time and again, we’ve observed moments of silence for victims of terror and gun violence. Too often, those moments have been followed by months of silence. By inaction that is simply inexcusable. If we’re going to raise our kids in a safer, more loving world, we need to speak up for it. We need our kids to hear us speak up about the risks guns pose to our communities, and against a status quo that doesn’t make sense. They need to hear us say these things even when those who disagree are loud and are powerful. We need our kids to hear from us why tolerance and equality matter – about the times their absence has scarred our history and how greater understanding will better the future they will inherit. We need our kids to hear our words – and also see us live our own lives with love.

And we can’t forget our responsibility to remind our kids of the role models whose light shines through in times of darkness. The police and first responders, the lifesaving bystanders and blood donors. Those who comfort mourners and visit the wounded. The victims whose last acts on this earth helped others to safety. They’re not just role models for our kids – their actions are examples for all of us.

To be a parent is to come to realize not everything is in our control. But as parents, we should remember there’s one responsibility that’s always in our power to fulfill: our obligation to give our children unconditional love and support; to show them the difference between right and wrong; to teach them to love, not to hate; and to appreciate our differences not as something to fear, but as a great gift to cherish.

To me, fatherhood means being there. So in the days ahead, let’s be there for each other. Let’s be there for our families, and for those that are hurting. Let’s come together in our communities and as a country. And let’s never forget how much good we can achieve simply by loving one another.

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there, and have a great weekend.

Bolding added.

~

16 Comments

  1. President Obama:

    If we’re going to raise our kids in a safer, more loving world, we need to speak up for it. We need our kids to hear us speak up about the risks guns pose to our communities, and against a status quo that doesn’t make sense. They need to hear us say these things even when those who disagree are loud and are powerful. We need our kids to hear from us why tolerance and equality matter – about the times their absence has scarred our history and how greater understanding will better the future they will inherit.

    Tolerance and equality matters. In the end, the haters will lose and we will win.

  2. President Obama and his family are visiting two national parks this weekend. Here is the president at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico:

    FACT SHEET: Obama Administration Recognizes the 100th Anniversary and Economic Benefits of America’s National Parks

    As America celebrates the 100th anniversary of the creation of our national park system this year, the President and the First Family are traveling to Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico and Yosemite National Park in California.

    The President has taken unprecedented action to invest in America’s natural resources, to protect our public lands and to help ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to experience our nation’s unparalleled national parks, monuments, forests and other public lands. It’s the right thing to do for our environment and for our economy.

    Like parks across the country, Carlsbad and Yosemite are important economic drivers in their communities. In fact, our national parks, forests and other public lands and waters attract visitors from all over the world, fueling local economies and supporting an estimated $646 billion national outdoor economy. In 2015, more than 305 million people visited America’s national parks – setting an all-time record – with visitors spending $16.9 billion in nearby local communities.

    The President understands that we have the responsibility to protect our natural and cultural heritage for future generations, in no small part because conservation and outdoor recreation drive our economy. Studies have shown that every dollar invested in the National Park Service generates $10 for the economy through visitor spending, and those national parks, monuments and other protected public lands help contribute to local communities by supporting jobs, boosting tourism, and attracting new businesses and residents who believe that easy outdoor access improves their quality of life.

    More at the link.

    • USA Today: 30 visits and counting: Obama uses presidency to promote national parks

      As he takes his family on a Father’s Day weekend of hiking and sightseeing, President Obama is demonstrating that his most important legacy on national parks may be less about his policies and budget proposals and more about Obama personally.

      Obama has visited 30 national parks during his presidency, lending the spotlight of his office to a National Parks Service campaign to encourage Americans to “Find Your Park.”

      Since 2009, the president’s park visits include some of America’s best-known and most-visited natural wonders: Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and the Everglades. Others are among the 23 national monuments he’s dedicated during his presidency, like the Cesar Chavez National Monument in California and the Pullman National Monument in Chicago. […]

      Obama’s trips are different, in part because his trips are so high profile and because of the sense of awe and passion that he brings to his visits, said Theresa Pierno, president of the National Parks Conservation Association, an independent parks advocacy group.

      “What he’s doing is unique, and I do think it’s having an impact,” she said. “And going with his kids and his family makes it cool again.”

  3. An email from Vice President Biden:

    Today, Vice President Joe Biden sent this message to people who, in the wake of the tragic attack in Orlando, signed a We the People petition calling on the government to ban AR-15-type assault weapons from civilian ownership. As he says below, “The President and I agree with you. Assault weapons and high-capacity magazines should be banned from civilian ownership.”

    If you agree, sign up to join the conversation on the assault weapons ban.

    Over the past few years, we’ve watched as new horrific shootings have replaced previous ones as the deadliest in our nation’s history.

    We’ve waged campaign after campaign to turn our grief into action — each time thinking maybe, just maybe, this will be the one that breaks through. This will be the one that gets through to Congress, which must ultimately act. We’ve used phrases like Now is the Time. Stop Gun Violence. Enough is Enough.

    Folks, enough has been enough for a long time.

    You know that. On Monday, in the wake of this latest, deadliest, mass shooting, you started this petition. You worked together, calling on your government to ban AR-15-type weapons from civilian ownership. In the days following, we have seen members of the United States Senate take and hold the floor, refusing to back down, refusing to concede that we might need to wait for an even bigger national tragedy to finally make some changes.

    To the creator and signers of this petition, I want to say this as plainly and clearly as possible: The President and I agree with you. Assault weapons and high-capacity magazines should be banned from civilian ownership.

    When a lone gunman walked into a Century movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, he carried a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 — a variation of the AR-15 rifle — modified to hold as many as 100 bullets. He used it to kill 12 people and injure 70.

    And when a lone gunman walked into a classroom at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, he carried a version of the AR-15. He used it — and several handguns — to kill 10 of his fellow students and injure nine.

    And when a lone gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, he carried a Bushmaster XM 15 — another version of the AR-15 — and multiple high-capacity magazines. He used it to kill 20 innocent children and six educators with 154 bullets in five minutes.

    A single person killed that many people in just a few minutes. Not in a war zone. Here in America — in a classroom.

    These weapons have been used to commit horrific acts. They’ve been called “the perfect killing machines.” They fire bullets at incredible speed that rip through bodies and cause devastating carnage, and can accommodate high-capacity magazines that allow them to effectively shoot up to 45 rounds per minute. We’ve seen their tragic results play out in our death tolls and in the thousands left wounded, struggling to recover.

    As we learned this week from the family of the gun’s inventor, he himself did not intend that this gun be used by civilians, only by our soldiers in combat — giving them an advantage over the AK-47. He didn’t own one himself. Here is what his family said:

    “We think he would have been horrified and sickened as anyone, if not more, by these events.”

    Right now, these weapons are on the shelves in gun shops around the country, completely legal for civilians to purchase. They can be purchased in a matter of mere minutes. That should not be so.

    Here’s a start: We should renew the assault weapons ban that Congress passed in 1994 — but which expired ten years later. That ban, which covered 19 specific assault-style weapons, was included in a comprehensive crime bill that folded together three pieces of legislation. I remember it well. I was Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time. I wrote much of the bill and led it through Congress — with the help of many others, especially Senator Feinstein on the assault weapons ban. I argued strongly in favor of banning these weapons. What’s more, 46 House Republicans voted for that ban in 1994. Forty-six.

    So what happened to that bill? To use a somewhat wonkish legislative term, it was “sunsetted.” That means that this bill came with an expiration date: Ten years after its passage, it would need to be renewed. Under President Bush and a Republican Congress, the bill lapsed. And it hasn’t been renewed since.

    But renewing the ban on assault weapons isn’t the only thing Congress should do to help prevent the tragedy of gun violence around the country.

    It could require that every buyer go through a background check before getting a gun — to make sure dangerous weapons don’t end up in the hands of criminals or other people who have long been prohibited from possessing them. It could prevent people who are suspected of having terrorist ties and can’t get on a plane from buying weapons of war — that’s just common sense. It could ensure that domestic abusers can’t go to the store to buy a gun — filling the kinds of gaps in the law that leave too many innocent victims dead. It could end the freeze on gun violence research, so our public health experts can collect data and facts that would inform strategies to deal with this epidemic. And it could give law enforcement officials the tools and resources the President requested in his budget proposal — so they can take dangerous criminals off the street and enforce our gun laws. Our Administration has done what it can. So have many cities, counties, and states.

    Now it’s up to Congress to do its job.

    They’ll have a good opportunity this Monday, when the Senate is set to vote on a number of different gun safety measures — votes that came about after that 15-hour filibuster, during which a series of Democratic senators refused to cede the floor. The measures they will vote on would address the fact that anyone on a terrorist watch list can still legally purchase guns and explosives. They will address the current background check requirements for prospective gun buyers.

    Ahead of those votes, we’d like to invite you to join a call on Monday at 1:00 pm ET for We the People signers with Valerie Jarrett on how we can continue to come together as citizens around this issue. Let us know you’ll be joining right here — and ask any questions you’ve got, or issues you’d like to hear raised on the call.

    I encourage you to pay attention to Monday’s votes. Make yourselves aware. Use your voice. Make yourselves impossible to ignore.

    Because you’re not alone in recognizing the need to act — to take steps, consistent with the Second Amendment — that will keep our children and communities safe. Here’s who else agrees with you: The Department of Justice. Dozens of United States Senators. Faith leaders, law enforcement officials, and responsible businesses. Public health experts. And the vast majority of the American people, including the vast majority of gun owners in the country.

    If taking commonsense steps to reduce gun violence had the potential to save even one life, it would be worth doing. But it has the potential to save far more than that.

    You know that. And that is why you spoke up. That matters. But the fact is that we have three separate but equal branches of a government for a reason.

    And so, to speak directly to those members of Congress who, in the wake of this most recent, most horrific killing of our citizens, might be considering stepping up and getting this done once and for all, I’d like to remind you that this will not stop on its own. It will not stop. In the three and a half years since Newtown, there have been at least 1,002 mass shootings in this country. At least 1,135 people killed, and 3,953 wounded. That includes 49 killed and 53 wounded in Orlando.

    You know in your heart that this is the right thing to do. You know that by stepping up, your action has the potential to create a domino effect. Have the courage to do it.

    We have done it before. We can do it again.

    Finish this.

    Joe
    Vice President Joseph Biden
    The White House
    @VP

  4. A Message from Hillary Clinton on the anniversary of the Charleston massacre:

    Friends —

    One year ago today, our nation lost nine precious lives. They were mothers and fathers, students and coaches, pastors and choir members. They were men and women of faith, each filled with passion and love, and with so much left to give. For many, time has done little to dull the pain of their loss. I still remember my grief and confusion when I heard the news. But their deaths have not been in vain.

    “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things,” Scripture teaches us. “Love never fails.”

    On that evening in the “Mother Emanuel” AME Church, Clementa, Cynthia, Susie, Ethel, DePayne, Tywanza, Daniel, Sharonda and Myra lived out the lessons of their faith, like always — welcoming a stranger for prayer and fellowship, offering love without a second thought.

    Their spirit of love remained long after they were gone. In court, one by one, grieving parents and siblings looked at the young man who had taken so much from them and said, “I forgive you.” And the entire Charleston community — black and white, Christian, Muslim and Jewish, and so many others — came together to stand up to hate and bigotry, providing love to one another instead.

    Filled with that love, we have made progress. The Confederate flag that flew on the South Carolina State House grounds has been removed. Young people have called out for much-needed reforms to our criminal justice system. Mothers who lost their children to gun violence are channeling their grief into action and turning their mourning into a movement for common-sense gun reform.

    But we have much more to do.

    Another mass shooting, in Orlando, broke our hearts earlier this week. An average of 90 people a day are killed by gun violence in our country. This must stop. A good first step is closing the “Charleston Loophole” in our gun laws, which allows a person otherwise prohibited from buying a gun — such as a domestic abuser or other violent criminal — to buy one if a background check isn’t completed within three business days. This loophole allowed the alleged Charleston shooter to buy his gun despite his prior arrest record. How many more innocent people need to be cut down before we act and close this dangerous loophole?

    On that terrible evening and every day since, Americans across the country have joined our hearts with the people of Charleston and South Carolina. Millions of Americans are still walking with them — in grief, solidarity and determination.

    In the spirit of the Charleston Nine, let’s bridge our divides, fight for change and remember that love never fails.

    With solidarity and warm regards, I am

    Sincerely yours,

    Hillary Rodham Clinton

  5. From Cecilia Muñoz at the White House Celebrating 4 Years of DACA

    Four years ago today, I stood with my colleagues in the White House Rose Garden watching President Obama announce a new action to make our immigration policies smarter and more representative of our values as a nation.

    This action, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, establishes an avenue for young people who were brought to the United States as children to request temporary relief from deportation on a case-by-case basis if they can demonstrate that they meet several criteria.

    We knew standing there that DACA would be impactful, both for the people who would come forward, and for the rest of us who are their families, friends and neighbors.

    Even so, the impact DACA recipients have had on their families, communities, and our nation can only be described as extraordinary.

    More at the link.

  6. In the News: Judge Weighs Newtown Families’ Lawsuit Against AR-15 Maker

    On Monday, a judge will hear arguments about whether the case has legal merit to proceed to trial. That decision is expected to take months.

    The plaintiffs argue that the AR-15, a modified version of a gun used by the military in Vietnam, never should have been marketed and sold to civilians.

    “Now it wasn’t meant to be designed to kill innocent civilians, but the weapon doesn’t know that,” said Josh Koskoff, a lawyer representing the Sandy Hook victims. “And so arming civilians with a weapon whose specific use is to kill people — when gun companies know that people kill people — is negligent.”

  7. Commentary from Reuters: Frederic Lemieux Sandy Hook didn’t change our gun laws. Orlando might.

    When Omar Mateen killed at least 49 people and wounded more than 50 others early Sunday at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, the victims were not a random group of people sharing the same physical space. They were all part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

    With this, the Orlando massacre could prove to be a turning point in the gun-control debate. Mateen may have cemented an alliance between gun-regulation advocacy groups and the well-organized LGBT social movement. It could catalyze the mobilization of a united front that expands the political and social reach critical for passing meaningful gun regulations.

    The author suggests that the mass shooting may “shift the burden of proof about the necessity for stronger gun-control regulation.”

    Orlando fits the pattern of Islamic State-inspired shootings that seek to spread fear and portray the U.S. government’s counterterrorism strategy as ineffective. In addition, Islamic State has pointed out to possible recruits that they should take advantage of the Second Amendment right to bear arms, which a majority of Americans view as a fundamental constitutional pillar.

    Yet, this right to bear arms could pose a serious national-security vulnerability because it provides violent extremists the same legal protections that American citizens enjoy. The result? The lack of tough gun regulations makes it easier for Islamic State recruits to kill Americans at home or stage mass shootings abroad with assault-type weapons bought legally.

    After the attacks in San Bernardino and Orlando, the public could press Congress to acknowledge that weak firearm regulation is a serious breach in the protection of the homeland against domestic and foreign aggressors. […]

    Public calls to regulate firearms for national-security reasons and possibly save more American lives – despite Second Amendment rights — should not come as a surprise.

    To improve homeland security, the argument goes, U.S. citizens would be better protected if more restrictive background checks were performed and if people were required to prove “good character.”

  8. In the News: Republicans should worry about losing the House

    Maybe voters will distinguish between Donald Trump and other Republicans, rejecting him but not them. Maybe Republican voters will come to the polls to vote for a third-party presidential candidate, such as Libertarian Gary Johnson, and then vote for Republican congressmen while they are there.

    Public polling on the congressional races is still sparse. The most recent numbers come from Ipsos/Reuters, which found the Democrats with an 11-point lead nationally. That could be a sign that Trump is pulling Republican congressional candidates down with him.

    Republicans should also consider that their optimistic take on the House sounds a lot like what they said in 2005 and 2006 as their political fortunes declined during President George W. Bush’s second term. Then, too, the district lines and voters’ preference for incumbents were supposed to keep Republicans in control of Congress. In late May of 2006, the respected political analyst Stu Rothenberg projected that Democrats were likely to gain 8 to 12 seats, leaving Republicans in charge of the House. They ended up winning 31 seats, picking up the House and further surpassing expectations by taking control of the Senate, too.

  9. Commentary from Timothy Egan, New York Times: A Week for All Time

    [A century from now, people will remember] a week that gave us a scary peek into the heart of American darkness, how the civil ties that bind a nation of people from all nations could be shredded. The blood from the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, no less a battlefield than Shiloh or Bull Run, was not yet dry when Trump was congratulating himself — a sleep-deprived narcissist on a morning me high. The worst mass shooting in American history was not about the murder of everyday people; it was about him: “Appreciate the congrats for being right.”

    They will hang their heads in sorrow at the time when the man leading the party of Lincoln suggested that a sitting president was a traitor, somehow sympathetic to Islamic nihilists who slaughter innocent Americans. Trump implied it. Then he banned a newspaper for its headline about it.

    He wasn’t finished, this 70-year-old with the temperament of a 7-year-old. He made no rousing call for unity and courage, no plea for a partisan pause. He said the president must resign, as if it wasn’t an assault rifle easily obtained by a New York-born fanatic that killed 49 people, but the American commander in chief. He compared the nation to a terminally ill patient. All is lost. For good measure, he suggested that our soldiers were thieves. […]

    The American public, for once, seems to get him. While Republican Party leaders cower or remain silent, voters by a 2-1 margin in polls conducted this week disapprove of the way Trump acted in a crisis. He’s disliked by nearly 70 percent of the people, which only makes you wonder about the other 30 percent. […]

    In this week of trial and tragedy, Trump showed us how he would govern — by fear, by intimidation, by lies, by turning American against American, by exhibiting all the empathy of a sociopath. Seal this week. Put it in a time capsule. Teach it. History will remember. But come November, will we?

  10. You are certainly back with a blast Jan – oodles of news – thank you

  11. President Obama speaking from Yosemite:

    raw video

    (Slide ahead to 12:30 to see the natural beauty he was speaking in front of)

  12. More on the president’s trip:

    Medium Join the First Family on a summer trip to the great American outdoors

    The president speaks to National Geographic about conservation:

    Americans should embrace their national parks as symbols of the planet’s beauty and history—and help protect them from the ravages of climate change, President Barack Obama said Saturday during an exclusive interview with National Geographic in Yosemite National Park.

    Strolling through a forested stretch of Yosemite’s lush valley, below towering granite cliffs and North America’s tallest waterfall, the president spoke wistfully about how parks can inspire young minds, bring families together and be a reminder of the need to respond to climate change. The Hawaii-born president recounted one of his favorite childhood memories—a trip to the mainland with his mother and grandmother when he was 11 that included a trip to Yellowstone National Park—and said he was envious of nature-lover Teddy Roosevelt, who frequently disappeared into the woods during his presidency more than a century ago, and became a leader in protecting America’s wild places.

  13. Juneteenth statements:

    President Barack Obama:

    Just outside the Oval Office hangs a painting depicting the night of December 31, 1862. In it, African-American men, women, and children crowd around a single pocket watch, waiting for the clock to strike midnight and the Emancipation Proclamation to take effect. As the slaves huddle anxiously in the dimly lit room, we can sense how even two more minutes seems like an eternity to wait for one’s freedom. But the slaves of Galveston, Texas, had to wait more than two years after Lincoln’s decree and two months after Appomattox to receive word that they were free at last.

    Today we commemorate the anniversary of that delayed but welcome news. Decades of collective action would follow as equality and justice for African-Americans advanced slowly, frustratingly, gradually, on our nation’s journey toward a more perfect union. On this Juneteenth, we remember that struggle as we reflect on how far we’ve come as a country. The slaves of Galveston knew their freedom was only a first step, just as the bloodied foot soldiers who crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge 100 years later knew they had to keep marching.

    Juneteenth is a time to recommit ourselves to the work that remains undone. We remember that even in the darkest hours, there is cause to hope for tomorrow’s light. Today, no matter our race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation, we recommit ourselves to working to free modern-day slaves around the world and to honoring in our own time the efforts of those who fought so hard to steer our country truer to our highest ideals.

    ~

    Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton:

    “One hundred and fifty-three years ago, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. It took two more years for the men, women, and children who lived their lives in bondage in Galveston, Texas, to learn that the Civil War was over—and they were free at last. Today, we celebrate and honor those who fought to end the grotesque institution of slavery, and we recommit ourselves to the work that remains.

    Our country’s long struggle with racism is far from over. More than half a century after Rosa Parks sat and Dr. King marched and John Lewis bled—more than a century and a half after slavery was outlawed—race still plays a significant role in determining who gets ahead in America and who gets left behind. We need to face that reality, and fix it.

    America is stronger together. When all people can share in the promise of our country. When every child has the chance to live up to his or her God-given potential. When we lift each other up. And when we all come together to build a more perfect union.”

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