U.S. Relations With the People's Republic of China (2009)

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 7, 2009

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT THE NATIONAL MEDAL OF SCIENCE AND NATIONAL MEDAL OF TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION CEREMONY

East Room

1:52 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much.  Thank you.  Everyone please have a seat.  Before I begin the ceremony to introduce these extraordinary innovators, let me just mention a few people who are in the audience today.  First of all, we've got some outstanding members of my Cabinet:  Secretary Locke, Secretary Sebelius, Secretary Chu, and Administrator Jackson.  We are very grateful for all the outstanding work they're doing.

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Today, we face more complex challenges than generations past.  A medical system that holds the promise of unlocking new cures -- attached to a health care system that has the potential to bankrupt families and businesses.  A system of energy that powers our economy but endangers our planet.  Threats to our security that seek to exploit the very interconnectedness and openness that's so essential to our prosperity.  And challenges in a global marketplace which link the trader on Wall Street to the homeowner on Main Street, and the office worker in America to the factory worker in China -- we all share an opportunity, but we also all share in crisis.

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END
2:17 P.M. EDT