English subtitles for clip: File:President Obama at Opening Plenary of Nuclear Security Summit.webm

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The President:
Good morning, everybody.

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I'd like to get started.

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Let me begin by thanking all of
you for your participation last night.

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I thought it was a very
important discussion.

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Before I begin, I want to take
this moment once again to

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acknowledge the terrible tragedy
that struck the Polish people this weekend.

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We are joined today by a
distinguished delegation from

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Poland, led by
Ambassador Kupiecki.

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Mr. Ambassador, all of us were
shocked and deeply saddened by

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the devastating loss of
President Kaczynski,

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the First Lady, and so many distinguished civilian and

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military leaders from your country.

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This was a loss, not just for
Poland, but for the world.

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As a close friend and ally, the
United States stands with Poland

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and Poles everywhere in
these very difficult days.

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As an international community,
I know that we will all rally

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around the Polish people,
who have shown extraordinary

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strength and resilience
throughout their history.

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So our hearts go
out to your people.

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Our thoughts and
prayers are with them.

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We join them in this
time of mourning.

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And so, if everybody is
agreeable, I would like to ask

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for a moment of silence to show
that solidarity and

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to honor those who were lost.

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(Pause for moment of silence)

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Thank you.

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It is my privilege to welcome
you to Washington and

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to formally convene
this historic summit.

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We represent 47 nations from
every region of the world,

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and I thank each of you
for being here.

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This is an unprecedented
gathering to address an unprecedented threat.

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Two decades after the end of the
Cold War, we face a cruel irony

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of history -- the risk of a
nuclear confrontation between

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nations has gone down, but the
risk of nuclear attack has gone up.

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Nuclear materials that could be
sold or stolen and fashioned

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into a nuclear weapon
exist in dozens of nations.

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Just the smallest amount of
plutonium --

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about the size of an apple

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-- could kill and
injure hundreds of thousands of innocent people.

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Terrorist networks such as al
Qaeda have tried to acquire the

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material for a nuclear weapon,
and if they ever succeeded,

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they would surely use it.

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Were they to do so, it would be
a catastrophe for the world --

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causing extraordinary loss of
life, and striking a major blow

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to global peace and stability.

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In short, it is increasingly
clear that the danger of

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nuclear terrorism is one of the greatest threats to global security --

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to our collective security.

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And that's why, one year ago
today in -- one year ago in Prague,

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I called for a new
international effort to secure

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all vulnerable nuclear materials
around the world in four years.

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This is one part of a broader,
comprehensive agenda that the

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United States is pursuing --
including reducing our nuclear

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arsenal and stopping the spread
of nuclear weapons -- an agenda

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that will bring us closer to our
ultimate goal of a world without nuclear weapons.

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Over the past year,
we've made progress.

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At the United Nations Security
Council last fall,

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we unanimously passed Resolution
1887 endorsing this

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comprehensive agenda, including
the goal of securing all nuclear materials.

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Last night, in closed session,
I believe we made further progress,

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pursuing a shared understanding of the grave threat to our people.

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And today, we have the
opportunity to take the next steps.

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We have the opportunity, as
individual nations, to take

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specific and concrete actions to
secure the nuclear materials in

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our countries and to prevent
illicit trafficking and smuggling.

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That will be our
focus this morning.

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We have the opportunity to
strengthen the International

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Atomic Energy Agency, the
IAEA, with the resources and

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authorities it needs to
meet its responsibilities.

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That will be our focus
at our working lunch.

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We have the opportunity, as an
international community, to

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deepen our cooperation and to
strengthen the institutions and

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partnerships that help prevent
nuclear materials from ever

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falling into the
hands of terrorists.

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And that will be our
focus this afternoon.

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And we have the opportunity, as
partners, to ensure that our

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progress is not a fleeting
moment, but part of a serious

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and sustained effort.

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And that's why I am so pleased
to announce that President Lee

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has agreed to host the next
Nuclear Security Summit in the

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Republic of Korea in two years.

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This reflects South Korea's
leadership, regionally and

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globally, and I thank President
Lee and the South Korean people

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for their willingness to
accept this responsibility.

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I'd ask President Lee
just to say a few words.

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President Lee: Thank you for
calling us, for supporting Korea

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to host next summit in 2012.

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I assure you I will do best to
make this summit a success.

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So I hope to see
all of you in Korea.

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Thank you.

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The President:
Thank you very much.

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(applause)

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So today is an opportunity --
not simply to talk, but to act.

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Not simply to make pledges, but
to make real progress on the

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security of our people.

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All this, in turn, requires
something else, which is

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something more fundamental.

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It will require a new mindset
-- that we summon the will, as

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nations and as partners, to do
what this moment in history demands.

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I believe strongly that the
problems of the 21st century

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cannot be solved by any one
nation acting in isolation.

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They must be solved by
all of us coming together.

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At the dawn of the nuclear age
that he helped to unleash,

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Albert Einstein said: "Now
everything has changed..."

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And he warned: "We are
drifting towards a catastrophe beyond comparison.

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We shall require a substantially
new manner of thinking if

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mankind is to survive."

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That truth endures today.

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For the sake of our common
security, for the sake of our

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survival, we cannot drift.

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We need a new manner of
thinking -- and action.

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That is the challenge before us.

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And I thank all of you for being
here to confront

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that challenge together, in partnership.

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And with that, I'm going to ask
that we take a few moments to

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allow the press to exit before our first session.