A Sizzling Way To Celebrate Cinco De Mayo
president obama:hello, everbody. viva! goodevening, everyone. buenas noches. michelle and i are so honored towelcome you to the white house. and you all broughtoutstanding weather, so we thank you for that. (laughter) thank you. i know that a lot of you wouldrather be watching tonight's game -- the spurs against"los suns" from phoenix. (applause)
tonight is another one of ourgreat events here at the white house celebrating latinoculture in america, including our concert some ofyou might have attended that we had during hispanicheritage month on the south lawn -- fiesta latina. and malia and sasha willprobably never forget playing drums with shelia e. michelle, on the other hand,would prefer to forget the sight of me tryingto dance with thalia.
i didn't think i was that bad. mrs. obama:you were okay. president obama:but there will be no --there will be no repeat performances tonight. audience:awwww -- president obama:we gather to mark aday that's become as celebrated here in the unitedstates as it is in mexico. and we're honored to be joinedby mexico's interior secretary, fernando gomez mont andhis lovely wife gloria.
please give them abig round of applause. it's good to see you again. and a great friend to me andthe united states -- ambassador arturo sarukhan and hiswonderful wife veronica, who are also here. now, the events of this date inhistory are well-known -- how nearly 150 years ago,at the battle of puebla, a band of mexican patriots facedoff against a massive european army and won a victory thatinspires the world to this day.
less well-known isthat general zaragoza, who led those patriots, wasborn in what is now the town of goliad in texas. in fact, you can go theretoday -- are you from there? audience member:yes. president obama:you can visit his birthplace. it's a historical landmark. it includes a 10-foot tallstatue of the general, presented by the people ofmexico and preserved by the
people of the united states. so the glory of this day isshared by both of our countries. and so is our pride in thelasting contributions that hispanics have made to americathroughout our history, including the men and womenwho join us here tonight. we're joined by dedicatedmembers of congress and members of the congressionalhispanic caucus, as well as some of their staffs. this includes senatorbob menendez --
hey, bob. representative xavierbecerra -- where is xavier? there he is, back there. chairwoman nydiavelazquez. where's nydia? we're joined by outstandingmembers of my cabinet, including secretary oflabor hilda solis -- hilda! as well as secretary of homelandsecurity napolitano is here. and although she's down --although he's down on the gulf
helping to lead ourresponse to the oil spill, i want to acknowledge myoutstanding interior secretary, ken salazar. we're joined by hispanicamericans serving at every level of my government. and i'm proud that we'venominated more latinos to senior positions than anyadministration in history -- -- not just becausethey're latino, but because they're thebest people for the job.
and i should note that many ofthose appointments are latinas -- "wise latinas," undoubtedly. and although she'snot here tonight, i think we should give a littleround of applause to our first latina on the supremecourt --sonia sotomayor. we're also joined byleaders from every segment of american society. and i especially want to welcomethose of you serving on the commission to explore thecreation of a new museum in
washington to celebrate thehistory of latinos in america. and i look forward to seeing theresults of the commission's hard work and to the day when we openthe doors on a new national museum of the american latino. tonight's performers area wonderful example of how latin culture has shaped andstrengthened the fabric of america. so i want to say thank you tomaru and the montero dance company, alongwith javier cortes. thank you very much.
before i came out i waslistening to you guys inside. you sounded really good. now, by celebrating the storyof hispanics in america, we're really celebratingthe larger story of america. after all, the dreams of mexicanamericans and all latinos are the same dreams asany other american. it's why, in the face of anunprecedented economic crisis, we took bold action to getour economy growing again, creating jobs again and laying thefoundation for lasting prosperity.
that's good for all americans,including hispanics among whom the unemployment rate remainsunacceptably high and who are ready to go back to work. it's why, afternearly a century, we passed historichealth care reform, with the help of thecongressional hispanic caucus. and we're grateful to them. that's good for all americans. it's good for all americans,including the millions of
latinos who will finally getthe coverage they lack today, as well as the latino smallbusiness owners who will finally be able to providecoverage for their employees. and that allows them to join thechildren of legal immigrants who are finally able to get healthcare through the schip program, something that we did veryearly on in my administration. it's why we've madecollege more affordable, why we're reforming education. and that's good for allchildren, including latinos,
who instead of having thehighest dropout rate, deserve every chance to achievetheir god-given potential. so today reminds us that america'sdiversity is america's strength. that's why i spoke out against therecently passed law in arizona. make no mistake, ourimmigration system is broken. and after so many years in whichwashington has failed to meet its responsibilities, americansare right to be frustrated, including folksalong border states. but the answer isn't toundermine fundamental principles
that define us as a nation. we can't start singling outpeople because of who they look like, or how they talk,or how they dress. we can't turn law-abidingamerican citizens -- and law-abiding immigrants -- intosubjects of suspicion and abuse. we can't divide theamerican people that way. that's not the answer. that's not who we are as theunited states of america. and that's why i've instructedmy administration to closely
monitor the new law in arizona,to examine the civil rights and other implicationsthat it may have. that's why we have to closethe door on this kind of misconceived action by meetingour obligations here in washington. so i want to say it again, justin case anybody is confused. the way to fix our brokenimmigration system is through common-sense, comprehensiveimmigration reform. that means responsibilityfrom government to secure our borders, something we havedone and will continue to do.
it means responsibility frombusinesses that break the law by undermining american workers andexploiting undocumented workers -- they've got tobe held accountable. it means responsibility frompeople who are living here illegally. they've got to admit that theybroke the law, and pay taxes, and pay a penalty,and learn english, and get right before the law-- and then get in line and earn their citizenship. comprehensive reform -- that's howwe're going to solve this problem.
and i know there's been somecommentary over the last week since i talked about thisdifficult issue: well, is this politically smart to do? can you get republican votes? look, of course, it'sgoing to be tough. that's the truth. anybody who tells you it's goingto be easy or i can wave a magic wand and make it happen hasn't beenpaying attention how this town works. we need bipartisan support.
but it can be done. and it needs to be done. so i was pleased to see a strongproposal for comprehensive reform presented in the senatelast week -- and i was pleased that it was based on abipartisan framework. i want to begin work thisyear, and i want democrats and republicans to work with me --because we've got to stay true to who we are, a nation of lawsand a nation of immigrants. that's the spirit that i saw insome remarkable men and women
that i recently hosted righthere in the rose garden. they came from morethan a dozen countries. and even though theyweren't yet citizens, they had enlisted in theunited states military. and one woman wasnamed perla ramos, and she was born andraised in mexico. she came to the unitedstates shortly after 9/11. her husband was a u.s. marine, and she said, "a passionfor the military grew inside me."
in time, she joined herself-- enlisting in the navy. and she said, "i take pride inour flag and the history that forged this great nation and thehistory we write day by day." and as perla'scommander-in-chief, i took great pride in helpingto swear her in -- a daughter of mexico and one of ournewest american citizens. so she continues a greattradition of mexican americans serving in our military-- someone in whom both our nations cantake great pride.
so, today i want us to remember-- the united states and mexico are not simply neighbors, boundby geography and history. we're two societies that arewoven together by millions of family and friends, by commoninterests and a shared future. those are bonds thatare unbreakable. they're bonds of an aspirationalcommunity -- you and your mothers and fathers, andbrothers and sisters who struggled and sacrificed torealize the american dream. they're also bonds of commerceand trade that sustain millions
of jobs -- both in mexicoand in the united states. they're bonds that arerepresented in the trust and respect that i have forpresident calderon as we work together to create opportunityand prosperity for our peoples, and confront the drug cartelsand violence that threaten both our countries. it's the warmth that michellefelt on her recent trip to mexico -- her firstsolo trip as first lady. and it's the friendship andcooperation that we'll deepen
when we host president calderonand first lady margarita zavala for their state visit anddinner in a couple of weeks. that's the spirit thatall of you are putting on display today. so thank you for livingit in your own lives. thank you for sharingit with us tonight. have a wonderful party. you can be as noisy as you want. mrs. obama:we can hear you.
president obama:we can hear you, though. if it goes past a certainhour we'll kick you out. all right? thank you very much,everybody. god bless you.
