Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress,

my fellow Americans:

We are 15 years into this new century.

Fifteen years that dawned with terror touching

our shores; that unfolded with a new generation fighting

two long and costly wars; that saw a vicious

recession spread across our nation and the world.

It has been, and still is, a hard time for many.

But tonight, we turn the page.

Tonight, after a breakthrough year

for America, our economy is growing and creating

jobs at the fastest pace since 1999.

(applause)

Our unemployment rate is now

lower than it was before the financial crisis.

More of our kids are graduating

than ever before.

More of our people are insured than ever before.

(applause)

And we are as free from the grip

of foreign oil as we've been in almost 30 years.

(applause)

Tonight, for the first time since 9/11,

our combat mission in Afghanistan is over.

(applause)

Six years ago, nearly 180,000

American troops served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Today, fewer than 15,000 remain.

And we salute the courage and sacrifice of every man

and woman in this 9/11 Generation who has

served to keep us safe.

(applause)

We are humbled and grateful for your service.

(applause)

America, for all that we have endured;

for all the grit and hard work required to come back;

for all the tasks that lie ahead, know this:

The shadow of crisis has passed, and the

State of the Union is strong.

(applause)

At this moment -- with a growing economy,

shrinking deficits, bustling industry, booming energy

production -- we have risen from recession

freer to write our own future than any other

nation on Earth.

It's now up to us to choose who we want

to be over the next 15 years and for decades to come.

Will we accept an economy where only a few

of us do spectacularly well?

Or will we commit ourselves to an economy

that generates rising incomes and chances

for everyone who makes the effort?

(applause)

Will we approach the world fearful and reactive,

dragged into costly conflicts that strain

our military and set back our standing?

Or will we lead wisely, using all elements

of our power to defeat new threats and protect

our planet?

Will we allow ourselves to be sorted into factions

and turned against one another?

Or will we recapture the sense of common purpose

that has always propelled America forward?

In two weeks, I will send this Congress a budget

filled with ideas that are practical, not partisan.

And in the months ahead, I'll crisscross the

country making a case for those ideas.

So tonight, I want to focus less on a checklist

of proposals, and focus more on the values

at stake in the choices before us.

It begins with our economy.

Seven years ago, Rebekah and Ben Erler

of Minneapolis were newlyweds.

(laughter)

She waited tables.

He worked construction.

Their first child, Jack, was on the way.

They were young and in love in America.

And it doesn't get much better than that.

"If only we had known," Rebekah wrote to me last

spring, "what was about to happen to the housing

and construction market."

As the crisis worsened, Ben's business dried up,

so he took what jobs he could find, even if they

kept him on the road for long stretches of time.

Rebekah took out student loans and enrolled

in community college, and retrained for a new career.

They sacrificed for each other.

And slowly, it paid off.

They bought their first home.

They had a second son, Henry.

Rebekah got a better job and then a raise.

Ben is back in construction -- and

home for dinner every night.

"It is amazing," Rebekah wrote, "what you can

bounce back from when you have to...we are a strong,

tight-knit family who has made it through some

very, very hard times."

"We are a strong, tight-knit family who

has made it through some very, very hard times."

America, Rebekah and Ben's story is our story.

They represent the millions who have worked

hard and scrimped, and sacrificed and retooled.

You are the reason that I ran for this office.

You are the people I was thinking of six years

ago today, in the darkest months of the crisis,

when I stood on the steps of this Capitol and promised

we would rebuild our economy on a new foundation.

And it has been your resilience, your effort

that has made it possible for our country

to emerge stronger.

We believed we could reverse the tide

of outsourcing and draw new jobs to our shores.

And over the past five years, our businesses

have created more than 11 million new jobs.

(applause)

We believed we could reduce our dependence

on foreign oil and protect our planet.

And today, America is number one in oil and gas.

America is number one in wind power.

Every three weeks, we bring online as much

solar power as we did in all of 2008.

(applause)

And thanks to lower gas prices

and higher fuel standards, the typical family

this year should save about $750 at the pump.

(applause)

We believed we could prepare our kids for

a more competitive world.

And today, our younger students have earned the

highest math and reading scores on record.

Our high school graduation rate has

hit an all-time high.

More Americans finish college than ever before.

(applause)

We believed that sensible regulations could

prevent another crisis, shield families from ruin,

and encourage fair competition.

Today, we have new tools to stop taxpayer-funded

bailouts, and a new consumer watchdog

to protect us from predatory lending and abusive

credit card practices.

And in the past year alone, about 10 million

uninsured Americans finally gained

the security of health coverage.

(applause)

At every step, we were told our goals were

misguided or too ambitious; that

we would crush jobs and explode deficits.

Instead, we've seen the fastest economic growth

in over a decade, our deficits cut

by two-thirds, a stock market that has doubled,

and health care inflation at its lowest rate

in 50 years.

(applause)

This is good news, people.

(laughter)

(applause)

So the verdict is clear.

Middle-class economics works.

Expanding opportunity works.

And these policies will continue to work as long

as politics don't get in the way.

We can't slow down businesses or put our

economy at risk with government shutdowns

or fiscal showdowns.

We can't put the security of families at risk

by taking away their health insurance, or unraveling

the new rules on Wall Street, or refighting

past battles on immigration when we've

got to fix a broken system.

And if a bill comes to my desk that tries

to do any of these things, I will veto it.

It will have earned my veto.

(applause)

Today, thanks to a growing economy, the recovery

is touching more and more lives.

Wages are finally starting to rise again.

We know that more small business owners

plan to raise their employees' pay than

at any time since 2007.

But here's the thing: Those of us here tonight,

we need to set our sights higher than just making

sure government doesn't screw things up;

that government doesn't halt the progress we're making.

We need to do more than just do no harm.

Tonight, together, let's do more to restore

the link between hard work and growing opportunity

for every American.

(applause)

Because families like Rebekah's still

need our help.

She and Ben are working as hard as ever,

but they've had to forego vacations and a new car

so that they can pay off student loans and save for retirement.

Friday night pizza, that's a big splurge.

Basic childcare for Jack and Henry costs more than

their mortgage, and almost as much as a year at the

University of Minnesota.

Like millions of hardworking Americans,

Rebekah isn't asking for a handout, but she

is asking that we look for more ways to help

families get ahead.

And in fact, at every moment of economic

change throughout our history, this country

has taken bold action to adapt to new circumstances

and to make sure everyone gets a fair shot.

We set up worker protections,

Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid to protect

ourselves from the harshest adversity.

We gave our citizens schools and colleges,

infrastructure and the Internet -- tools they

needed to go as far as their effort and their

dreams will take them.

That's what middle-class economics is --

the idea that this country does best when everyone gets

their fair shot, everyone does their fair share,

everyone plays by the same set of rules.

(applause)

We don't just want everyone to share

in America's success, we want everyone

to contribute to our success.

(applause)

So what does middle-class economics require

in our time?

First, middle-class economics means helping

working families feel more secure in a world

of constant change.

That means helping folks afford childcare, college,

health care, a home, retirement.

And my budget will address each of these issues,

lowering the taxes of working families

and putting thousands of dollars back into

their pockets each year.

(applause)

Here's one example.

During World War II, when men like

my grandfather went off to war, having women like my grandmother

in the workforce was a national security priority

-- so this country provided universal childcare.

In today's economy, when having both parents in the

workforce is an economic necessity

for many families, we need affordable, high-quality

childcare more than ever.

(applause)

It's not a nice-to-have -- it's a must-have.

So it's time we stop treating childcare

as a side issue, or as a women's issue, and treat

it like the national economic priority that

it is for all of us.

(applause)

And that's why my plan will make quality

childcare more available and more affordable for

every middle-class and low-income family with

young children in America -- by creating more slots

and a new tax cut of up to $3,000 per child,

per year.

(applause)

Here's another example.

Today, we are the only advanced country

on Earth that doesn't guarantee paid sick leave

or paid maternity leave to our workers.