Thank you very much.
We have just an extraordinary panel here today, so I'm going to try to move as quickly as possible to get to the main attractions. I want to thank, first of all, the President of Carnegie Mellon University. Thank you so much, President Cohon for your outstanding leadership of this outstanding institution. We also have a couple of outstanding local leaders here: the Mayor of Pittsburgh, Luke Ravenstahl &ndashl where's; where did he go? – Mister Mayor? He was here; he might have slipped out, `cause he's got potholes to fill. And the Allegheny County Executive, Dan Onorato, thank you so much – both of you – for taking the time to be here.
In a few minutes, we'll open up this discussion about the changes that America must make to compete in the global economy. And I'm honored to be joined by leaders from government and the grassroots, from business and labor, from academia and the non-profit sector. Because for America to succeed, we'll have to join together to harness the energy and ingenuity of the American people. And this morning I'd like to talk about how we're going to do just that.
For the last three weeks, I've been traveling around the country, talking about how we can change our economy so that it works for the American people. And I've also been listening. I met with parents in Wisconsin who struggled to afford groceries to let their family eat decently, or the gas that takes them to and from work. I've talked to a man in Missouri who's wife works two jobs and whose arthritis costs $1,500-a-week to treat. I've heard from a student in Minnesota whose done everything that's been asked of her but worries that she won't be able to take her final tests because she's maxed out on her student loans.
Stories like this can be found all across the country, because far too many Americans are working hard and doing their part, but still can't keep pace. It's time for us to recognize that these individual stories connect to a larger American story. All of us have a stake in our common prosperity. When people are struggling on Main Street, that pain trickles up to Wall Street. And just as we have to provide relief to Americans who are struggling, we also have to recognize that we're failing to put ourselves in a position to compete effectively in the global economy.
Our country faces challenges to our leadership in this young century. Our children will grow up facing competition from their counterparts in Beijing and Bangalore. If we don't change course, there's no guarantee that the American Dream will be there for my daughters, or your sons, as it was there for us. America risks falling behind. If we were made dependent on oil from dictators, we'll endanger our security, imperil our planet, pay more at the pump, and sit on the sidelines while the jobs of the future are created abroad.
If we can't give every child in America the chance to get a world-class education, we'll cripple their ability to make a living in a knowledge-based economy, and watch China and India move ahead in the race for the 21st Century. If we can't control sky-rocketing health-care costs, we'll confront a mounting moral crisis, and a major anchor on the ability of American business to compete.
And if we don't rebuild our crumbling roads, bridges, and electrical grids, we'll see our standard of living suffer while we leave our communities less safe from terror and natural disaster. If we don't invest and encourage innovation, we concede America's historic role as the engine of growth and progress and discovery for the entire world.
These challenges are real. How we deal with them will shape the prosperity of every single American and the future of America's leadership in the 21st Century. Now it falls to us to look at these problems and see the possibilities embedded within them. It falls to us to do what generations of Americans have done before, and remake the world-as-it-should-be.
My opponent in this campaign has served this country with honor and I look forward to debating him on these issues, because we have a very different view of the choices that America needs to make. He has supported, and would continue, an agenda that I believe has failed to keep pace with the challenges of the 21st Century. I'm convinced that we must move in a new direction.
If we have the courage to commit to change, the American people can not just seize, but shape the opportunities of the global economy. Together, we can author our own story. Together, we can pursue a 21st Century leadership agenda that's focused on five areas: energy, education, health care, infrastructure, and innovation.