I Do Have An Obligation To Make

When I Read History, I [see] What Typically Happens To Presidents And The Other Party During Tumultuous Times And How People React When The Economy Is Collapsing And They're Losing Their Homes, Losing Their Pensions - It Sort Of Tracks, What Ended Up Happening, Because Some Of That Is Human Nature.

In The First Two Years, When I Had A Strong Majority In The House And The Senate, We Were As Productive As Any Administration Has Been Since The '60s. I Mean, We Got A Lot Done.

But At A Time When Our Discourse Has Become So Sharply Polarized - At A Time When We Are Far Too Eager To Lay The Blame For All That Ails The World At The Feet Of Those Who Think Differently Than We Do - It's Important For Us To Pause For A Moment And Make Sure That We Are Talking With Each Other In A Way That Heals, Not A Way That Wounds.

One Of The Most Durable And Destructive Legacies Of Discrimination Is The Way We've Internalized A Sense Of Limitation; How So Many In Our Community Have Come To Expect So Little From The World And From Themselves.

Congress Has Become So Dysfunctional That More And More Of A Burden Is Placed On The Agencies To Fill In The Gaps. And The Gaps Get Bigger And Bigger Because They're Not Constantly Refreshed And Tweaked.