English subtitles for clip: File:2011-10-01 President Obama's Weekly Address.ogv

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The President:
Hello, everyone.

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It's been almost three weeks
since I sent the American Jobs

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Act to Congress -- three weeks
since I sent them a bill that

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would put people back
to work and put money in

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people's pockets.

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This jobs bill is
fully paid for.

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This jobs bill contains
the kinds of proposals that

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Democrats and Republicans
have supported in the past.

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And now I want it back.

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It's time for Congress to get
its act together and to pass

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this jobs bill so I
can sign it into law.

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Some Republicans in Congress
have said that they agree with

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certain parts of this jobs bill.

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If so, it's time for them
to tell me what those

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proposals are.

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And if they're opposed
to this jobs bill,

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I'd like to know what
exactly they're against.

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Are they against putting
teachers and police officers and

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firefighters back on the job?

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Are they against hiring
construction workers to rebuild

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our roads and
bridges and schools?

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Are they against giving tax cuts
to virtually every worker and

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small business in America?

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Economists from across the
political spectrum have said

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that this jobs bill would boost
the economy and spur hiring.

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Why would you be against that?

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Especially at a time when so
many Americans are struggling

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and out of work.

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This isn't just about
what I think is right.

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It's not just about what a group
of economists think is right.

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This is about what the
American people want.

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Everywhere I go, they tell
me they want action on jobs.

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Every day, I get letters from
Americans who expect Washington

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to do something about
the problems we face.

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Destiny Wheeler is a 16-year-old
from Georgia who wants to go

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to college.

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She wrote to me saying,
"Now-a-days it is hard to see

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myself pushing forward and
putting my family in a better

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position, especially since the
economy is rough and my starting

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situation is so poor.

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Yet, the American Jobs Act gives
me hope that I might start to

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receive a better education, that
one day job opportunities will

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open for me to grasp, and that
one day my personal American

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Dream will be reached."

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Destiny needs us to
pass this jobs bill.

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Alice Johnson is a
Oregon native who,

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along with her husband, has
been looking for a job for

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about two years.

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She writes, "I have faithfully
applied for work every week...

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Of the hundreds of
applications I have put in,

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I received interview
requests for about 10...

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I too, am sick of all the
fighting in Washington, D.C.

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Please tell the Republicans
that people are hurting and are

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hungry and need help,
pass the jobs bill."

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Alice Johnson needs our help.

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Cathleen Dixon sent me pictures
of the aging bridge she drives

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under when she takes her kids
to school in Chicago every day.

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She worries about their
safety, and writes,

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"I am angry that in this country
of vast resources we claim that

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we cannot maintain
basic infrastructure.

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How can we ever hope to preserve
or regain our stature in this

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world if we cannot find the
will to protect our people and

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take care of our basic needs?"

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I also heard from Kim Faber, who
told me about the small carpet

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business her husband
owns in New Jersey.

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"We hang on by a
shoestring," she writes.

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"My husband worries every day
about if checks might bounce,

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he uses our home loan to put
money in the business so they

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will be covered.

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Please pass this jobs bill!

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This is the job creating
we need right now.

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It breaks my husband's heart
when he has to let people go.

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Pass the bill!"

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Kim said it best: Pass the bill.

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I know one Republican was quoted
as saying that their party

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shouldn't pass this jobs bill
because it would give me a win.

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This isn't about giving me a
win, and it's not about them.

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This is about Destiny
Wheeler and Alice Johnson.

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It's about Cathleen
Dixon's children,

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and the Fabers' family business.

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These are the people
who need a win,

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and I will be fighting for
this jobs bill every day on

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their behalf.

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If anyone watching
feels the same way,

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don't be shy about letting
your Congressman know.

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It is time for the
politics to end.

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Let's pass this jobs bill.