[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio]
Thank you, Chancellor Merkel, for your leadership, your friendship, and
the example of your life -- from a child of the East to the leader of a
free and united Germany.
As I’ve said, Angela and I don’t exactly look like previous German and
American leaders. But the fact that we can stand here today, along
the fault line where a city was divided, speaks to an eternal truth:
No wall can stand against the yearning of justice, the yearnings for
freedom, the yearnings for peace that burns in the human heart.
Mayor Wowereit, distinguished guests, and especially the people of Berlin and of Germany -- thank you for this extraordinarily warm welcome. In fact, it's so warm and I feel so good that I'm actually going to take off my jacket, and anybody else who wants to, feel free to. We can be a little more informal among friends.
As your Chancellor mentioned, five years ago I had the privilege to
address this city as senator. Today, I'm proud to return as President
of the United States. And I bring with me the enduring
friendship of the American people, as well as my wife, Michelle, and Malia and Sasha. You may notice that they're not here.
The last thing they want to do is to listen to another speech from me. So they're out experiencing the beauty and the history of
Berlin. And this history speaks to us today.
Here, for thousands of years, the people of this land have journeyed
from tribe to principality to nation-state; through Reformation and
Enlightenment, renowned as a “land of poets and thinkers,” among them
Immanuel Kant, who taught us that freedom is the “unoriginated
birthright of man, and it belongs to him by force of his humanity.”
Here, for two centuries, this gate stood tall as the world around it
convulsed -- through the rise and fall of empires; through revolutions
and republics; art and music and science that reflected the height of
human endeavor, but also war and carnage that exposed the depths of
man’s cruelty to man.
It was here that Berliners carved out an island of democracy against the
greatest of odds. As has already been mentioned, they were supported by
an airlift of hope, and we are so honored to be joined by Colonel
Halvorsen, 92 years old -- the original “candy bomber.” We could not be
prouder of him. I hope I look that good, by the way, when I'm 92.
During that time, a Marshall Plan seeded a miracle, and a North Atlantic
Alliance protected our people. And those in the neighborhoods and
nations to the East drew strength from the knowledge that freedom was
possible here, in Berlin -- that the waves of crackdowns and
suppressions might therefore someday be overcome.
Today, 60 years after they rose up against oppression, we remember the
East German heroes of June 17th. When the wall finally came down,
it was their dreams that were fulfilled. Their strength and their
passion, their enduring example remind us that for all the power of
militaries, for all the authority of governments, it is citizens who
choose whether to be defined by a wall, or whether to tear it down.
And we’re now surrounded by the symbols of a Germany reborn. A rebuilt Reichstag and its glistening glass dome. An American embassy back at its historic home on Pariser Platz. And this square itself, once a desolate no man’s land, is now open to all. So while I am not the first American President to come to this gate, I am proud to stand on its Eastern side to pay tribute to the past.
For throughout all this history, the fate of this city came down to a
simple question: Will we live free or in chains? Under governments
that uphold our universal rights, or regimes that suppress them? In
open societies that respect the sanctity of the individual and our free
will, or in closed societies that suffocate the soul?
As free peoples, we stated our convictions long ago. As Americans, we
believe that “all men are created equal” with the right to life and
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And as Germans, you declared in
your Basic Law that “the dignity of man is inviolable.”
Around the world, nations have pledged themselves to a Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, which recognizes the inherent dignity and
rights of all members of our human family.
And this is what was at stake here in Berlin all those years. And
because courageous crowds climbed atop that wall, because corrupt
dictatorships gave way to new democracies, because millions across this
continent now breathe the fresh air of freedom, we can say, here in
Berlin, here in Europe -- our values won. Openness won.
Tolerance won. And freedom won here in Berlin.
And yet, more than two decades after that triumph, we must acknowledge
that there can, at times, be a complacency among our Western
democracies. Today, people often come together in places like this to
remember history -- not to make it. After all, we face no concrete
walls, no barbed wire. There are no tanks poised across a border.
There are no visits to fallout shelters. And so sometimes there can be
a sense that the great challenges have somehow passed. And that brings
with it a temptation to turn inward -- to think of our own pursuits, and
not the sweep of history; to believe that we’ve settled history’s
accounts, that we can simply enjoy the fruits won by our forebears.
But I come here today, Berlin, to say complacency is not the character
of great nations. Today’s threats are not as stark as they were half a
century ago, but the struggle for freedom and security and human dignity
-- that struggle goes on. And I’ve come here, to this city of hope,
because the tests of our time demand the same fighting spirit that
defined Berlin a half-century ago.
Chancellor Merkel mentioned that we mark the anniversary of President
John F. Kennedy’s stirring defense of freedom, embodied in the people of
this great city. His pledge of solidarity -- “Ich bin ein Berliner” --
echoes through the ages. But that’s not all that he said
that day. Less remembered is the challenge that he issued to the crowd
before him: “Let me ask you,” he said to those Berliners, “let me ask
you to lift your eyes beyond the dangers of today” and “beyond the
freedom of merely this city.” Look, he said, “to the day of peace with
justice, beyond yourselves and ourselves to all mankind.”
President Kennedy was taken from us less than six months after he spoke
those words. And like so many who died in those decades of division, he
did not live to see Berlin united and free. Instead, he lives forever
as a young man in our memory. But his words are timeless because they
call upon us to care more about things than just our own self-comfort,
about our own city, about our own country. They demand that we embrace
the common endeavor of all humanity.
And if we lift our eyes, as President Kennedy called us to do, then
we’ll recognize that our work is not yet done. For we are not only
citizens of America or Germany -- we are also citizens of the world.
And our fates and fortunes are linked like never before.
We may no longer live in fear of global annihilation, but so long as
nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe. We may strike blows
against terrorist networks, but if we ignore the instability and
intolerance that fuels extremism, our own freedom will eventually be
endangered. We may enjoy a standard of living that is the envy of
the world, but so long as hundreds of millions endure the agony of an
empty stomach or the anguish of unemployment, we’re not truly
prosperous.
I say all this here, in the heart of Europe, because our shared past
shows that none of these challenges can be met unless we see ourselves
as part of something bigger than our own experience. Our alliance is
the foundation of global security. Our trade and our commerce is the
engine of our global economy. Our values call upon us to care about the
lives of people we will never meet. When Europe and America lead with
our hopes instead of our fears, we do things that no other nations can
do, no other nations will do. So we have to lift up our eyes today and
consider the day of peace with justice that our generation wants for
this world.
I'd suggest that peace with justice begins with the example we set here
at home, for we know from our own histories that intolerance breeds
injustice. Whether it's based on race, or religion, gender or
sexual orientation, we are stronger when all our people -- no matter who
they are or what they look like -- are granted opportunity, and when our
wives and our daughters have the same opportunities as our husbands and
our sons.
When we respect the faiths practiced in our churches and synagogues, our
mosques and our temples, we're more secure. When we welcome the
immigrant with his talents or her dreams, we are renewed.
When we stand up for our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters and treat
their love and their rights equally under the law, we defend our own
liberty as well. We are more free when all people can pursue their own
happiness. And as long as walls exist in our hearts to
separate us from those who don’t look like us, or think like us, or
worship as we do, then we're going to have to work harder, together, to
bring those walls of division down.
Peace with justice means free enterprise that unleashes the talents and
creativity that reside in each of us; in other models, direct economic
growth from the top down or relies solely on the resources extracted
from the earth. But we believe that real prosperity comes from our
most precious resource -- our people. And that’s why we choose to
invest in education, and science and research.
And now, as we emerge from recession, we must not avert our eyes from
the insult of widening inequality, or the pain of youth who are
unemployed. We have to build new ladders of opportunity in our own
societies that -- even as we pursue new trade and investment that fuels
growth across the Atlantic.
America will stand with Europe as you strengthen your union. And
we want to work with you to make sure that every person can enjoy the
dignity that comes from work -- whether they live in Chicago or
Cleveland or Belfast or Berlin, in Athens or Madrid, everybody deserves
opportunity. We have to have economies that are working for all
people, not just those at the very top.
Peace with justice means extending a hand to those who reach for freedom, wherever they live. Different peoples and cultures will follow their own path, but we must reject the lie that those who live in distant places don’t yearn for freedom and self-determination just like we do; that they don’t somehow yearn for dignity and rule of law just like we do. We cannot dictate the pace of change in places like the Arab world, but we must reject the excuse that we can do nothing to support it.
We cannot shrink from our role of advancing the values we believe in -- whether it's supporting Afghans as they take responsibility for their future, or working for an Israeli-Palestinian peace -- or engaging as we've done in Burma to help create space for brave people to emerge from decades of dictatorship. In this century, these are the citizens who long to join the free world. They are who you were. They deserve our support, for they too, in their own way, are citizens of Berlin. And we have to help them every day.
Peace with justice means pursuing the security of a world without nuclear weapons -- no matter how distant that dream may be. And so, as President, I've strengthened our efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, and reduced the number and role of America’s nuclear weapons. Because of the New START Treaty, we’re on track to cut American and Russian deployed nuclear warheads to their lowest levels since the 1950s.
But we have more work to do. So today, I’m announcing additional steps forward. After a comprehensive review, I’ve determined that we can ensure the security of America and our allies, and maintain a strong and credible strategic deterrent, while reducing our deployed strategic nuclear weapons by up to one-third. And I intend to seek negotiated cuts with Russia to move beyond Cold War nuclear postures.
At the same time, we’ll work with our NATO allies to seek bold
reductions in U.S. and Russian tactical weapons in Europe. And we can
forge a new international framework for peaceful nuclear power, and
reject the nuclear weaponization that North Korea and Iran may be
seeking.
America will host a summit in 2016 to continue our efforts to secure
nuclear materials around the world, and we will work to build support in
the United States to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty,
and call on all nations to begin negotiations on a treaty that ends the
production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons. These are
steps we can take to create a world of peace with justice.
Peace with justice means refusing to condemn our children to a harsher, less hospitable planet. The effort to slow climate change requires bold action. And on this, Germany and Europe have led.
In the United States, we have recently doubled our renewable energy from clean sources like wind and solar power. We’re doubling fuel efficiency on our cars. Our dangerous carbon emissions have come down. But we know we have to do more -- and we will do more.
With a global middle class consuming more energy every day, this must now be an effort of all nations, not just some. For the grim alternative affects all nations -- more severe storms, more famine and floods, new waves of refugees, coastlines that vanish, oceans that rise. This is the future we must avert. This is the global threat of our time. And for the sake of future generations, our generation must move toward a global compact to confront a changing climate before it is too late. That is our job. That is our task. We have to get to work.
Peace with justice means meeting our moral obligations. And we have a moral obligation and a profound interest in helping lift the impoverished corners of the world. By promoting growth so we spare a child born today a lifetime of extreme poverty. By investing in agriculture, so we aren’t just sending food, but also teaching farmers to grow food. By strengthening public health, so we’re not just sending medicine, but training doctors and nurses who will help end the outrage of children dying from preventable diseases. Making sure that we do everything we can to realize the promise -- an achievable promise -- of the first AIDS-free generation. That is something that is possible if we feel a sufficient sense of urgency.
Our efforts have to be about more than just charity. They’re about new
models of empowering people -- to build institutions; to abandon the rot
of corruption; to create ties of trade, not just aid, both with the West
and among the nations they’re seeking to rise and increase their
capacity. Because when they succeed, we will be more successful as
well. Our fates are linked, and we cannot ignore those who are yearning
not only for freedom but also prosperity.
And finally, let’s remember that peace with justice depends on our
ability to sustain both the security of our societies and the openness
that defines them. Threats to freedom don’t merely come from the
outside. They can emerge from within -- from our own fears, from the
disengagement of our citizens.
For over a decade, America has been at war. Yet much has now changed
over the five years since I last spoke here in Berlin. The Iraq war is
now over. The Afghan war is coming to an end. Osama bin Laden is no
more. Our efforts against al Qaeda are evolving.
And given these changes, last month, I spoke about America’s efforts
against terrorism. And I drew inspiration from one of our founding
fathers, James Madison, who wrote, “No nation could preserve its freedom
in the midst of continual warfare.” James Madison is right -- which is
why, even as we remain vigilant about the threat of terrorism, we must
move beyond a mindset of perpetual war. And in America, that means
redoubling our efforts to close the prison at Guantanamo. It means
tightly controlling our use of new technologies like drones. It
means balancing the pursuit of security with the protection of privacy.
And I'm confident that that balance can be struck. I'm confident of
that, and I'm confident that working with Germany, we can keep each
other safe while at the same time maintaining those essential values for
which we fought for.
Our current programs are bound by the rule of law, and they're focused
on threats to our security -- not the communications of ordinary
persons. They help confront real dangers, and they keep people
safe here in the United States and here in Europe. But we must
accept the challenge that all of us in democratic governments face:
to listen to the voices who disagree with us; to have an open debate
about how we use our powers and how we must constrain them; and to
always remember that government exists to serve the power of the
individual, and not the other way around. That’s what makes us who
we are, and that’s what makes us different from those on the other side
of the wall.
That is how we'll stay true to our better history while reaching for the day of peace and justice that is to come. These are the beliefs that guide us, the values that inspire us, the principles that bind us together as free peoples who still believe the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. -- that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
And we should ask, should anyone ask if our generation has the courage to meet these tests? If anybody asks if President Kennedy's words ring true today, let them come to Berlin, for here they will find the people who emerged from the ruins of war to reap the blessings of peace; from the pain of division to the joy of reunification. And here, they will recall how people trapped behind a wall braved bullets, and jumped barbed wire, and dashed across minefields, and dug through tunnels, and leapt from buildings, and swam across the Spree to claim their most basic right of freedom.
The wall belongs to history. But we have history to make as well. And
the heroes that came before us now call to us to live up to those
highest ideals -- to care for the young people who can't find a job in
our own countries, and the girls who aren't allowed to go to school
overseas; to be vigilant in safeguarding our own freedoms, but also to
extend a hand to those who are reaching for freedom abroad.
This is the lesson of the ages. This is the spirit of Berlin. And the
greatest tribute that we can pay to those who came before us is by
carrying on their work to pursue peace and justice not only in our
countries but for all mankind.
Vielen Dank. God bless you. God bless the peoples of
Germany. And God bless the United States of America.
Thank you very much.
Book/CDs by Michael E. Eidenmuller, Published by
McGraw-Hill (2008)
Text, Audio, Image Source:
WhiteHouse.govAudio Note: AR-XE = American Rhetoric Extreme Enhancement
U.S. Copyright Status: Text, Audio, Image = Public domain.