For us, they toiled in sweatshops, and settled the West, endured the lash of the whip, and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought, and died, in places like Concord, and Gettysburg,
Normandy, and Khe Sahn.
Time and again, these men and women struggled and sacrificed until their hands were raw, so that we might live a better life.
They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions, greater than all the differences of birth, or wealth, or faction.
THIS is the journey we continue today.
We remain the most prosperous powerful nation on Earth.
Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began.
Our minds are no less inventive.
Our goods and services no less needed than they were last week, or last month, or last year.
Our capacity remains undiminished, but our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions. . .that time has surely passed.