English subtitles for clip: File:President Obama Speaks on the Resurgence of the American Auto Industry.webm

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The President:
How's it going, UAW?

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(applause)

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It is good to be with
some autoworkers today!

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(applause)

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All right.

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Everybody have a
seat, get comfortable.

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Go ahead and get comfortable.

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I'm going to talk
for a little bit.

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(applause)

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First of all, I want to say
thank you to one of the finest

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leaders that we have
in labor -- Bob King.

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Give it up for Bob.

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(applause)

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I want to thank the
International Executive

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Board and all of you for
having me here today.

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It is a great honor.

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I brought along somebody who is
proving to be one of the finest

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Secretaries of Transportation
in our history -- Ray LaHood

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is in the house.

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Give Ray a big
round of applause.

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(applause)

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It is always an honor to spend
time with folks who represent

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the working men and
women of America.

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(applause)

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It's unions like yours that
fought for jobs and opportunity

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for generations of
American workers.

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It's unions like yours that
helped build the arsenal of

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democracy that defeated
fascism and won World War II.

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It's unions like yours that
forged the American middle

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class -- that great
engine of prosperity,

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the greatest that the
world has ever known.

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So you guys helped to
write the American story.

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And today, you're busy
writing a proud new chapter.

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You are reminding us that no
matter how tough times get,

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Americans are tougher.

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(applause)

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No matter how many punches
we take, we don't give up.

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We get up.

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We fight back.

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We move forward.

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We come out the other side
stronger than before.

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That's what you've shown us.

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(applause)

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You're showing us what's
possible in America.

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So I'm here to tell you one
thing today: You make me proud.

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(applause)

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You make me proud.

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Take a minute and think about
what you and the workers and the

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families that you represent
have fought through.

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A few years ago, nearly one in
five autoworkers were handed a

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pink slip -- one in five.

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Four hundred thousand jobs
across this industry vanished

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the year before I took office.

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And then as the financial
crisis hit with its full force,

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America faced a hard and
once unimaginable reality,

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that two of the Big 3 automakers
-- GM and Chrysler -- were on

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the brink of liquidation.

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The heartbeat of American
manufacturing was flat-lining

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and we had to make a choice.

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With the economy in complete
free fall there were no private

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investors or companies out there
willing to take a chance on the

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auto industry.

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Nobody was lining up
to give you guys loans.

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Anyone in the financial
sector can tell you that.

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So we could have kept giving
billions of dollars of taxpayer

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dollars to automakers without
demanding the real changes or

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accountability in return
that were needed -- that

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was one option.

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But that wouldn't have solved
anything in the long term.

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Sooner or later we would
have run out of money.

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We could have just kicked
the problem down the road.

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The other option was to do
absolutely nothing and let

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these companies fail.

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And you will recall there were
some politicians who said we

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should do that.

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Audience:
Booo --

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The President:
Some even said we should
"let Detroit go bankrupt."

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Audience:
Booo --

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The President:
You remember that?

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(applause)

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You know.

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(laughter)

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Think about what that choice
would have meant for this

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country, if we had
turned our backs on you,

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if America had
thrown in the towel,

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if GM and Chrysler
had gone under.

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The suppliers, the distributors
that get their business from

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these companies, they
would have died off.

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Then even Ford could
have gone down as well.

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Production shut down.

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Factories shuttered.

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Once-proud companies chopped
up and sold off for scraps.

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And all of you, the men and
women who built these companies

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with your own hands, would
have been hung out to dry.

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More than one million Americans
across the country would have

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lost their jobs in the middle of
the worst economic crisis since

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the Great Depression.

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In communities
across the Midwest,

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it would have been
another Great Depression.

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And then think about all the
people who depend on you.

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Not just your families,
but the schoolteachers,

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the small business owners, the
server in the diner who knows

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your order, the bartender who's
waiting for you to get off.

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(laughter)

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That's right.

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(applause)

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Their livelihoods
were at stake as well.

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And you know what
was else at stake?

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How many of you who've worked
the assembly line had a father

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or a grandfather or a mother
who worked on that same line?

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(applause)

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How many of you have sons and
daughters who said, you know,

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Mom, Dad, I'd like to
work at the plant, too?

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(applause)

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These jobs are worth more
than just a paycheck.

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They're a source of pride.

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They're a ticket to a
middle-class life that make it

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possible for you to own a home
and raise kids and maybe send

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them -- yes -- to college.

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(applause)

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Give you a chance to retire with
some dignity and some respect.

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These companies are worth more
than just the cars they build.

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They're a symbol of American
innovation and know-how.

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They're the source of
our manufacturing might.

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If that's not worth fighting
for, what's worth fighting for?

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(applause)

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So, no, we were not going to
take a knee and do nothing.

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We were not going to give up on
your jobs and your families and

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your communities.

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So in exchange for help, we
demanded responsibility.

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We said to the auto industry,
you're going to have to truly

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change, not just pretend
like you're changing.

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And thanks to outstanding
leadership like Bob King,

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we were able to get labor
and management to settle

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their differences.

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(applause)

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We got the industry to
retool and restructure,

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and everybody involved
made sacrifices.

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Everybody had some
skin in the game.

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And it wasn't popular.

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And it wasn't what I
ran for President to do.

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That wasn't originally what I
thought I was going to be doing

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as President.

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(laughter)

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But you know what, I did run to
make the tough calls and do the

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right things -- no matter
what the politics were.

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(applause)

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And I want you to know,
you know why I knew this

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rescue would succeed?

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Audience Member:
How did you do it?

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(laughter)

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The President:
You want to know?

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It wasn't because of
anything the government did.

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It wasn't just because of
anything management did.

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It was because I
believed in you.

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I placed my bet on
the American worker.

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(applause)

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And I'll make that bet
any day of the week.

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(applause)

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And now, three years later
-- three years later,

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that bet is paying off --
not just paying off for you,

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it's paying off for America.

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Three years later, the American
auto industry is back.

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(applause)

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GM is back on top as the
number-one automaker in

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the world --

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(applause)

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-- highest profits in
its 100-year history.

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Chrysler is growing faster
in America than any other

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car company.

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(applause)

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Ford is investing billions
in American plants,

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American factories -- plans
to bring thousands of jobs

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back to America.

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(applause)

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All told, the entire industry
has added more than 200,000 new

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jobs over the past two and a
half years -- 200,000 new jobs.

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And here's the best part --
you're not just building cars

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again; you're
building better cars.

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(applause)

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After three decades of inaction,
we're gradually putting in place

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the toughest fuel economy
standards in history for

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our cars and pickups.

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That means the cars you build
will average nearly 55 miles per

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gallon by the middle of the
next decade -- almost double

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what they get today.

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(applause)

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That means folks, every
time they fill up,

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they're going to
be saving money.

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They'll have to fill up every
two weeks instead of every week.

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That saves the typical
family more than $8,000

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at the pump over time.

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That means we'll cut our
oil consumption by more

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than 2 million barrels a day.

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That means we have to import
less oil while we're selling

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more cars all around the world.

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(applause)

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Thanks to the bipartisan trade
agreement I signed into law --

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with you in mind, working with
you -- there will soon be new

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cars in the streets of South
Korea imported from Detroit and

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from Toledo and from Chicago.

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(applause)

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And today -- I talked about
this at the State of the Union,

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we are doing it today -- I am
creating a Trade Enforcement

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Unit that will bring the full
resources of the federal

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government to bear
on investigations,

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and we're going to counter any
unfair trading practices around

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the world, including by
countries like China.

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(applause)

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America has the best
workers in the world.

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When the playing field is
level, nobody will beat us.

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And we're going to make sure
that playing field is level.

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(applause)

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Because America always wins when
the playing field is level.

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And because everyone came
together and worked together,

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the most high-tech,
fuel-efficient,

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good-looking cars in the world
are once again designed and

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engineered and forged and
built -- not in Europe,

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not in Asia -- right here in
the United States of America.

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(applause)

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I've seen it myself.
I've seen it myself.

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I've seen it at Chrysler's
Jefferson North Plant in

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Detroit, where a new
shift of more than 1,000

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workers came on two years ago,
another 1,000 slated to come on

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next year.

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I've seen it in my hometown
at Ford's Chicago Assembly --

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(applause)

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-- where workers are building a
new Explorer and selling it to

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dozens of countries
around the world.

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Audience Member:
I'm buying one, too.

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The President:
There you go.

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(laughter)

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I've seen it at GM's
Lordstown plant in Ohio --

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(applause)

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-- where workers got their jobs
back to build the Chevy Cobalt,

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and at GM's Hamtramck
plant in Detroit --

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(applause)

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-- where I got to get inside a
brand-new Chevy Volt fresh off

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the line -- even though
Secret Service wouldn't

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let me drive it.

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(laughter)

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But I liked sitting in it.

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(laughter)

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It was nice.

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I'll bet it drives real good.

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(laughter)

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And five years from now when
I'm not President anymore,

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I'll buy one and
drive it myself.

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(applause)

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Yes, that's right.

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Audience (chanting):
Four more years! Four more years!

252
00:14:45,533 --> 00:14:49,733
The President:
I know our bet was a
good one because I had

253
00:14:49,734 --> 00:14:52,564
seen it pay off firsthand.

254
00:14:52,567 --> 00:14:53,667
But here's the thing.

255
00:14:53,667 --> 00:14:57,167
You don't have to
take my word for it.

256
00:14:57,166 --> 00:14:59,296
Ask the Chrysler
workers near Kokomo --

257
00:14:59,300 --> 00:15:01,430
(applause)

258
00:15:01,433 --> 00:15:04,763
-- who were brought on to make
sure the newest high-tech

259
00:15:04,767 --> 00:15:08,697
transmissions and fuel-efficient
engines are made in America.

260
00:15:08,700 --> 00:15:11,530
Or ask the GM workers in
Spring Hill, Tennessee,

261
00:15:11,533 --> 00:15:13,733
whose jobs were saved
from being sent abroad.

262
00:15:13,734 --> 00:15:14,764
(applause)

263
00:15:14,767 --> 00:15:19,167
Ask the Ford workers in Kansas
City coming on to make the F-150

264
00:15:19,166 --> 00:15:24,066
-- America's best-selling truck,
a more fuel-efficient truck.

265
00:15:24,066 --> 00:15:26,166
(applause)

266
00:15:26,166 --> 00:15:28,866
And you ask all the suppliers
who are expanding and hiring,

267
00:15:28,867 --> 00:15:31,197
and the communities
that rely on them,

268
00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:33,800
if America's investment
in you was a good bet.

269
00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:34,930
They'll tell you
the right answer.

270
00:15:37,300 --> 00:15:40,900
And who knows, maybe the
naysayers would finally come

271
00:15:40,900 --> 00:15:44,470
around and say that standing by
America's workers was the right

272
00:15:44,467 --> 00:15:45,297
thing to do.

273
00:15:45,300 --> 00:15:47,570
(applause)

274
00:15:47,567 --> 00:15:53,067
Because, I've got to admit, it's
been funny to watch some of

275
00:15:53,066 --> 00:15:57,266
these folks completely try to
rewrite history now that you're

276
00:15:57,266 --> 00:15:58,396
back on your feet.

277
00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:04,500
(applause)

278
00:16:04,500 --> 00:16:08,400
The same folks who said, if we
went forward with our plan to

279
00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:10,230
rescue Detroit, "you
can kiss the American

280
00:16:10,233 --> 00:16:13,363
automotive industry goodbye."

281
00:16:13,367 --> 00:16:15,597
Now they're saying, we
were right all along.

282
00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:22,130
(laughter)

283
00:16:22,133 --> 00:16:24,603
Or you've got
folks saying, well,

284
00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:27,230
the real problem is -- what we
really disagreed with was the

285
00:16:27,233 --> 00:16:31,603
workers, they all made out like
bandits -- that saving the auto

286
00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:34,030
industry was just about
paying back the unions.

287
00:16:36,300 --> 00:16:37,100
Really?

288
00:16:37,100 --> 00:16:38,930
(laughter)

289
00:16:38,934 --> 00:16:41,734
I mean, even by the
standards of this town,

290
00:16:41,734 --> 00:16:43,034
that's a load of you know what.

291
00:16:43,033 --> 00:16:52,833
(laughter)

292
00:16:52,834 --> 00:16:58,064
About 700,000 retirees had to
make sacrifices on their health

293
00:16:58,066 --> 00:17:00,566
care benefits that
they had earned.

294
00:17:00,567 --> 00:17:04,537
A lot of you saw hours reduced,
or pay or wages scaled back.

295
00:17:04,533 --> 00:17:06,263
You gave up some of
your rights as workers.

296
00:17:06,266 --> 00:17:09,896
Promises were made to you over
the years that you gave up for

297
00:17:09,900 --> 00:17:13,030
the sake and survival of this
industry -- its workers,

298
00:17:13,033 --> 00:17:14,403
their families.

299
00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:16,030
You want to talk
about sacrifice?

300
00:17:16,033 --> 00:17:17,163
You made sacrifices.

301
00:17:17,166 --> 00:17:19,096
(applause)

302
00:17:19,100 --> 00:17:26,070
This wasn't an easy thing to do.

303
00:17:26,066 --> 00:17:28,136
Let me tell you, I keep on
hearing these same folks talk

304
00:17:28,133 --> 00:17:30,533
about values all the time.

305
00:17:30,533 --> 00:17:31,263
You want to talk about values?

306
00:17:31,266 --> 00:17:32,696
Hard work -- that's a value.

307
00:17:32,700 --> 00:17:34,700
(applause)

308
00:17:34,700 --> 00:17:37,970
Looking out for one
another -- that's a value.

309
00:17:37,967 --> 00:17:39,737
The idea that we're
all in it together,

310
00:17:39,734 --> 00:17:42,004
and I'm my brother's keeper
and sister's keeper --

311
00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:42,800
that's a value.

312
00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:59,870
(applause)

313
00:17:59,867 --> 00:18:06,037
They're out there talking about
you like you're some special

314
00:18:06,033 --> 00:18:08,233
interest that needs
to be beaten down.

315
00:18:10,266 --> 00:18:16,766
Since when are hardworking men
and women who are putting in a

316
00:18:16,767 --> 00:18:18,437
hard day's work every
day -- since when are

317
00:18:18,433 --> 00:18:21,233
they special interests?

318
00:18:21,233 --> 00:18:25,033
Since when is the idea that
we look out for one another

319
00:18:25,033 --> 00:18:28,163
a bad thing?

320
00:18:28,166 --> 00:18:31,196
I remember my old friend, Ted
Kennedy -- he used to say,

321
00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:34,900
what is it about working men and
women they find so offensive?

322
00:18:34,900 --> 00:18:42,230
(laughter)

323
00:18:42,233 --> 00:18:45,763
This notion that we should have
let the auto industry die,

324
00:18:45,767 --> 00:18:49,667
that we should pursue
anti-worker policies in the

325
00:18:49,667 --> 00:18:54,037
hopes that unions like yours
will buckle and unravel --

326
00:18:54,033 --> 00:18:57,003
that's part of that same old
"you are on your own" philosophy

327
00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:59,630
that says we should just
leave everybody to fend

328
00:18:59,633 --> 00:19:03,433
for themselves; let
the most powerful do

329
00:19:03,433 --> 00:19:04,463
whatever they please.

330
00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:09,630
They think the best way to boost
the economy is to roll back the

331
00:19:09,633 --> 00:19:13,033
reforms we put into place
to prevent another crisis,

332
00:19:13,033 --> 00:19:15,833
to let Wall Street
write the rules again.

333
00:19:15,834 --> 00:19:18,634
They think the best way to help
families afford health care is

334
00:19:18,633 --> 00:19:21,603
to roll back the reforms we
passed that's already lowering

335
00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:23,230
costs for millions of Americans.

336
00:19:23,233 --> 00:19:24,163
(applause)

337
00:19:24,166 --> 00:19:26,496
They want to go back to the days
when insurance companies could

338
00:19:26,500 --> 00:19:30,770
deny your coverage or jack up
your rates whenever and however

339
00:19:30,767 --> 00:19:32,767
they pleased.

340
00:19:32,767 --> 00:19:35,397
They think we should keep
cutting taxes for those at the

341
00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:43,470
very top, for people like me,
even though we don't need it,

342
00:19:43,467 --> 00:19:46,897
just so they can keep
paying lower tax rates

343
00:19:46,900 --> 00:19:48,330
than their secretaries.

344
00:19:52,367 --> 00:19:54,767
Well, let me tell you something.

345
00:19:54,767 --> 00:19:57,637
Not to put too fine a point
on it -- they're wrong.

346
00:19:57,633 --> 00:19:59,703
(laughter)

347
00:19:59,700 --> 00:20:00,600
They are wrong.

348
00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:01,470
(applause)

349
00:20:01,467 --> 00:20:04,337
That's the philosophy that
got us into this mess.

350
00:20:04,333 --> 00:20:06,533
We can't afford
to go back to it.

351
00:20:06,533 --> 00:20:07,633
Not now.

352
00:20:07,633 --> 00:20:09,803
We've got a lot of work to do.

353
00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:11,870
We've got a long way to go
before everybody who wants a

354
00:20:11,867 --> 00:20:14,597
good job can get a good job.

355
00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:17,330
We've got a long way to go
before middle-class Americans

356
00:20:17,333 --> 00:20:20,303
fully regain that sense of
security that's been slipping

357
00:20:20,300 --> 00:20:22,670
away since long before
this recession hit.

358
00:20:25,500 --> 00:20:33,030
But you know what, we've got
something to show -- all of

359
00:20:33,033 --> 00:20:37,733
you show what's possible
when we pull together.

360
00:20:37,734 --> 00:20:40,234
Over the last two years, our
businesses have added about

361
00:20:40,233 --> 00:20:42,433
3.7 million new jobs.

362
00:20:42,433 --> 00:20:46,163
Manufacturing is coming back for
the first time since the 1990s.

363
00:20:46,166 --> 00:20:48,866
Companies are bringing
jobs back from overseas.

364
00:20:48,867 --> 00:20:49,497
(applause)

365
00:20:49,500 --> 00:20:51,630
The economy is getting stronger.

366
00:20:51,633 --> 00:20:53,863
The recovery is speeding up.

367
00:20:53,867 --> 00:20:56,737
Now is the time to keep
our foot on the gas,

368
00:20:56,734 --> 00:20:58,104
not put on the brakes.

369
00:20:58,100 --> 00:21:01,800
And I'm not going to settle for
a country where just a few do

370
00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:05,170
really well and everybody
else is struggling to get by.

371
00:21:05,166 --> 00:21:19,736
(applause)

372
00:21:19,734 --> 00:21:23,134
We're fighting for an economy
where everybody gets a fair

373
00:21:23,133 --> 00:21:27,533
shot, where everybody
does their fair share,

374
00:21:27,533 --> 00:21:29,963
where everybody plays by
the same set of rules.

375
00:21:32,633 --> 00:21:35,233
We're not going to go back
to an economy that's all

376
00:21:35,233 --> 00:21:38,133
about outsourcing and bad
debt and phony profits.

377
00:21:40,166 --> 00:21:43,436
We're fighting for an economy
that's built to last,

378
00:21:43,433 --> 00:21:46,203
that's built on things
like education and energy

379
00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:49,170
and manufacturing.

380
00:21:49,166 --> 00:21:51,796
Making things, not just buying
things -- making things that the

381
00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:54,900
rest of the world wants to buy.

382
00:21:54,900 --> 00:21:57,730
And restoring the values that
made this country great: hard

383
00:21:57,734 --> 00:22:04,204
work and fair play, the chance
to make it if you really try,

384
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,830
the responsibility to reach back
and help somebody else make it,

385
00:22:07,834 --> 00:22:11,834
too -- not just you.

386
00:22:11,834 --> 00:22:14,534
That's who we are.

387
00:22:14,533 --> 00:22:15,703
That's what we believe in.

388
00:22:15,700 --> 00:22:17,870
(applause)

389
00:22:17,867 --> 00:22:20,467
Audience Member:
(inaudible)

390
00:22:20,467 --> 00:22:26,597
(applause)

391
00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:29,230
The President:
I was telling you I visited
Chrysler's Jefferson North

392
00:22:29,233 --> 00:22:31,003
Plant in Detroit about
a year and a half ago.

393
00:22:32,266 --> 00:22:37,536
Now, the day I visited,
some of the employees

394
00:22:37,533 --> 00:22:41,263
had won the lottery.

395
00:22:41,266 --> 00:22:42,896
Not kidding.

396
00:22:42,900 --> 00:22:45,100
They had won the lottery.

397
00:22:45,100 --> 00:22:48,830
Now, you might think that after
that they'd all be kicking back

398
00:22:48,834 --> 00:22:49,764
and retiring.

399
00:22:49,767 --> 00:22:51,737
(laughter)

400
00:22:51,734 --> 00:22:53,764
And no one would
fault them for that.

401
00:22:53,767 --> 00:22:55,097
Building cars is tough work.

402
00:22:57,133 --> 00:22:59,903
But that's not what they did.

403
00:22:59,900 --> 00:23:00,970
The guy who bought --

404
00:23:00,967 --> 00:23:01,667
Audience Member:
What did they do?

405
00:23:01,667 --> 00:23:02,537
The President:
Funny you ask.

406
00:23:02,533 --> 00:23:10,803
(laughter)

407
00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:14,530
The guy who bought
the winning ticket,

408
00:23:14,533 --> 00:23:17,703
he was a proud UAW member
who worked on the line.

409
00:23:17,700 --> 00:23:21,730
So he used some of his winnings
to buy his wife the car that he

410
00:23:21,734 --> 00:23:24,604
builds because he's
really proud of his work.

411
00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:30,800
(applause)

412
00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:33,970
Then he bought brand new
American flags for his

413
00:23:33,967 --> 00:23:36,197
hometown because he's
proud of his country.

414
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:42,130
(applause)

415
00:23:42,133 --> 00:23:45,263
And he and the other winners are
still clocking in at that plant

416
00:23:45,266 --> 00:23:49,436
today, because they're proud
of the part they and their

417
00:23:49,433 --> 00:23:53,763
coworkers play in
America's comeback.

418
00:23:53,767 --> 00:23:57,867
See, that's what
America is about.

419
00:23:57,867 --> 00:24:00,437
America is not just
looking out for yourself.

420
00:24:00,433 --> 00:24:02,433
It's not just about greed.

421
00:24:02,433 --> 00:24:08,863
It's not just about trying to
climb to the very top and keep

422
00:24:08,867 --> 00:24:10,967
everybody else down.

423
00:24:10,967 --> 00:24:13,097
When our assembly
lines grind to a halt,

424
00:24:13,100 --> 00:24:16,730
we work together and we
get them going again.

425
00:24:16,734 --> 00:24:20,964
When somebody else falters,
we try to give them a hand up,

426
00:24:20,967 --> 00:24:24,137
because we know we're
all in it together.

427
00:24:24,133 --> 00:24:27,203
I got my start standing with
working folks who'd lost their

428
00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:32,930
jobs, folks who had lost their
hope because the steel plants

429
00:24:32,934 --> 00:24:34,404
had closed down.

430
00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:37,470
I didn't like the idea that
they didn't have anybody

431
00:24:37,467 --> 00:24:40,197
fighting for them.

432
00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:43,830
The same reason I got into this
business is the same reason I'm

433
00:24:43,834 --> 00:24:46,634
here today.

434
00:24:46,633 --> 00:24:52,603
I'm driven by that same belief
that everybody -- everybody --

435
00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:54,300
should deserve a chance.

436
00:24:54,300 --> 00:24:55,030
(applause)

437
00:24:55,033 --> 00:24:58,963
So I promise you this: As long
as you've got an ounce of fight

438
00:24:58,967 --> 00:25:01,897
left in you, I'll have a
ton of fight left in me.

439
00:25:01,900 --> 00:25:05,130
(applause)

440
00:25:05,133 --> 00:25:10,133
We're going to keep on fighting
to make our economy stronger;

441
00:25:10,133 --> 00:25:13,163
to put our friends and
neighbors back to work faster;

442
00:25:13,166 --> 00:25:16,136
to give our children
even more opportunity;

443
00:25:16,133 --> 00:25:19,633
to make sure that the United
States of America remains the

444
00:25:19,633 --> 00:25:20,933
greatest nation on Earth.

445
00:25:20,934 --> 00:25:22,234
(applause)

446
00:25:22,233 --> 00:25:24,203
Thank you, UAW.

447
00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:29,400
I love you. God bless you.
God bless the work you do.

448
00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:31,770
God bless the United
States of America.

449
00:25:31,767 --> 00:25:32,397
(applause)