English subtitles for clip: File:West Wing Week- 11-16-12 or "That's Who We Are".webm

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Narrator:
Welcome to the West Wing Week,
your guide to everything that's

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happening at 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue.

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This week, the President invited
14 middle-class Americans to

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stand with him as he spoke on
next steps for our continued

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economic recovery; honored
Veterans Day with veteran

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service members and their
families at Arlington National

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Cemetery; held a news
conference in the East Room;

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and traveled to New York to
continue to work on recovery

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efforts from Hurricane Sandy.

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That's November 9th to November
15th or, "That's Who We Are."

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On Friday, the President spoke
to reporters in the East Room

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flanked by middle-class
Americans and urged House

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Republicans to support a
senate-passed bill that would

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prevent tax increases on
middle-class families and 97% of

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American small businesses
from taking effect at the end

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of the year.

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The President:
While there may be disagreement
in Congress over whether or not

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to raise taxes on folks making
over $250,000 a year, nobody,

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not Republicans, not Democrats,
want taxes to go up for folks

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making under $250,000 a year.

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So let's not wait.

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Even as we're negotiating
a broader deficit reduction

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package, let's extend the
middle-class tax cuts right now.

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(applause)

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Let's do that right now.

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(applause)

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I've got the pen, ready to
sign the bill, right away.

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(laughter)

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I'm ready to do it.

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(applause)

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I'm ready to do it.

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(applause)

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Narrator:
On Sunday, the President and
First Lady were joined by the

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Vice President and Dr. Biden to
honor Veterans Day at Arlington

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National Cemetery where the
President laid a wreath;

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addressed the gathering at
the memorial amphitheater;

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and traveled to Section 60 to
visit with families of service

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members killed in
Afghanistan and Iraq.

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The President:
Today, a proud nation
expresses our gratitude,

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but we do so mindful that
no ceremony or parade,

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no hug or handshake is enough
to truly honor that service.

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For that we must do more.

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For that we must commit this day
and every day to serving you as

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well as you've served us.

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So long after the battles end,
long after our heroes come home,

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we stay by their side.

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That's who we are.

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Narrator:
On Wednesday, the President
convened an East Room news

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conference where he pledged
to work with Democrats and

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Republicans to find a balanced
deficit reduction solution.

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He also repeated his view that
the plan should strengthen the

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middle class; help create
good private sector jobs;

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and ask those at the top of the
income scale to do their fair

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share to deal with our
deficit challenges.

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The President:
I've got one mandate.

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I've got a mandate to help
middle-class families and

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families that are working
hard to try to get in the

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middle class.

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That's my mandate.

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That's what the
American people said.

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They said, work really
hard to help us.

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Don't worry about
the politics of it;

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don't worry about
the party interests;

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don't worry about the
special interests;

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just work really hard to see
if you can help us get ahead

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because we're working really
hard out here and we're still

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struggling, a lot of us.

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That's my mandate.

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Narrator:
On Thursday, the President
traveled to Staten Island,

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New York, to meet with state
and local officials about the

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ongoing response and recovery
efforts for Hurricane Sandy.

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He thanked first responders
and comforted victims still

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struggling with the effects of
the superstorm that ravaged

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the region.

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The President:
Hey, young man,
what's your name?

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Andrew:
Andrew.

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The President:
Andrew, how old are you?

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Andrew:
Eight.

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The President:
Eight years old?

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All right.

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Well, the -- how
you doing in school?

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Doing pretty good?

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I'm proud of you, man.

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Narrator:
Back at the White House, Deputy
National Security Advisor Ben

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Rhodes gave us a preview of
the President's upcoming trip

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to Asia.

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Ben Rhodes:
The President's trip to Asia is
his first trip overseas since he

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was reelected as President
of the United States.

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And it's a huge opportunity for
us to extend one of his most

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important foreign
policy agendas,

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which is expanding
U.S. leadership in the

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Asia-Pacific region.

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We're beginning our trip
in Bangkok, Thailand.

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And Thailand is one of the
closest allies that we have in

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the region.

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And we really think that our
engagement with Asia begins and

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ends with our allies.

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So in Thailand we'll talk
about our security cooperation;

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our economic cooperation; and
the ways in which the American

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people and the Thai people
can build even closer bonds

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going forward.

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Then we're going to make history
as President Obama becomes the

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first U.S. President
to ever visit Burma.

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We're making this visit because
the Burmese people have made

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extraordinary progress towards
a transition to democracy.

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We've seen hundreds of political
prisoners released from prison.

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We've seen Aung San Suu
Kyi, the democracy icon,

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released from house arrest and
her party elected to parliament.

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And we've seen ceasefires
reached with many ethnic groups

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who have been fighting
insurgencies against the

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government for so many years.

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Yet there is still much more
work to be done in Burma.

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They're at the beginning of
their democratic transition;

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not the end.

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So the President will speak to
the Burmese people about the

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progress that we've seen and the
hope we have for their future as

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well as meeting with Aung
San Suu Kyi and Burma's

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President Thein Sein.

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Then we'll move on to Cambodia,
where he'll attend the East Asia

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Summit and meet with the
Association of Southeast

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Asian Nations.

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These two organizations are
critical to our engagement with

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all of Asia-Pacific nations so
we can build an agenda where we

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are working together to deal
with challenges like maritime

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security; energy cooperation;
deeper trade and investment that

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supports jobs and opportunity
at home and in the

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Asia-Pacific region.

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So we're going to make a lot
of progress on this trip.

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Hopefully we're going to also
eat a lot of good Thai food and

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Burmese food and Cambodian food,
something that I'm particularly

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excited about, but we're also
going to make some history as,

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again, President Obama is going
to be the first U.S. President

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to visit both Burma
and Cambodia,

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where I think he'll send a
strong message about America's

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interests, but also America's
values and our commitment to

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human rights in this incredibly
important part of the world.

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Thanks very much.

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Narrator:
To find out more information
on any of these topics or to see

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complete videos of these
events, go to WhiteHouse.gov.

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And thanks again for checking
out your West Wing Week.

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(helicopter whir)