President Obama just finished his State of the Union address.
I Tweeted his remarks about Myanmar and wanted to share them here as well:
1. Obama: “I saw the power of hope last year in Rangoon – when Aung San Suu Kyi welcomed an American President into the home…”
— Newley Purnell (@newley) February 13, 2013
2. Obama “…where she had been imprisoned for years; when thousands of Burmese lined the streets, waving American flags…”
— Newley Purnell (@newley) February 13, 2013
3. Obama: “…including a man who said, ‘There is justice and law in the United States. I want our country to be like that.’” #SOTU
— Newley Purnell (@newley) February 13, 2013
Here’s the rest of the passage, for context. You can find the full text and a video of the speech on the New York Times’s site.
We also know that progress in the most impoverished parts of our world enriches us all. In many places, people live on little more than a dollar a day. So the United States will join with our allies to eradicate such extreme poverty in the next two decades: by connecting more people to the global economy and empowering women; by giving our young and brightest minds new opportunities to serve and helping communities to feed, power, and educate themselves; by saving the world’s children from preventable deaths; and by realizing the promise of an AIDS-free generation.
Above all, America must remain a beacon to all who seek freedom during this period of historic change. I saw the power of hope last year in Rangoon – when Aung San Suu Kyi welcomed an American President into the home where she had been imprisoned for years; when thousands of Burmese lined the streets, waving American flags, including a man who said, “There is justice and law in the United States. I want our country to be like that.”
In defense of freedom, we will remain the anchor of strong alliances from the Americas to Africa; from Europe to Asia. In the Middle East, we will stand with citizens as they demand their universal rights, and support stable transitions to democracy. The process will be messy, and we cannot presume to dictate the course of change in countries like Egypt; but we can – and will – insist on respect for the fundamental rights of all people. We will keep the pressure on a Syrian regime that has murdered its own people, and support opposition leaders that respect the rights of every Syrian. And we will stand steadfast with Israel in pursuit of security and a lasting peace. These are the messages I will deliver when I travel to the Middle East next month.