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THE PRESIDENT: Don’t stop. Keep on going. Don’t stop. Stay fired up.

Are you fired up?

AUDIENCE: Fired up!

THE PRESIDENT: Are you ready to go?

AUDIENCE: Ready to go!

THE PRESIDENT: Fired up!

AUDIENCE: Fired up!

THE PRESIDENT: Ready to go?

AUDIENCE: Ready to go!

THE PRESIDENT: Fired up!

AUDIENCE: Fired up!

THE PRESIDENT: Ready to go!

AUDIENCE: Ready to go!

THE PRESIDENT: Fired up!

AUDIENCE: Fired up!

THE PRESIDENT: Ready to go.

— From remarks by the President to supporters and staff, January 23, 2013

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[We have to] ensure that in the years ahead we are welcoming the talents of all who can contribute to this country and that we’re living up to the basic American idea that you can make it here if you try. That’s the idea that gave hope to José Hernández. I want you to think about this story. José’s parents were migrant farm workers. And so, growing up, he was too. He was born in California, though he could have just as easily been born on the other side of the border, if it had been a different time of year, because his family moved around with the seasons. So two of his siblings were actually born in Mexico. So they traveled a lot, and José joined his parents picking cucumbers and strawberries. And he missed part of school when they returned to Mexico each winter. José didn’t learn English until he was 12 years old. But you know what, José was good at math and he liked math. And the nice thing is that math was the same in every school, and it’s the same in Spanish as it is in English. So José studied, and he studied hard. And one day, he’s standing in the fields, collecting sugar beets, and he heard on a transistor radio that a man named Franklin Chang-Diaz—a man with a surname like his—was going to be an astronaut for NASA. So José decided—right there in the field, he decided—well, I could be an astronaut, too. So José kept on studying, and he graduated high school. And he kept on studying, and he earned an engineering degree. And he kept on studying, and he earned a graduate degree. And he kept on working hard, and he ended up at a national laboratory, helping to develop a new kind of digital medical imaging system. And a few years later, he found himself more than 100 miles above the surface of the Earth, staring out of the window of the shuttle Discovery, and he was remembering the boy in the California fields with that crazy dream that in America everything is possible. Think about that. That’s the American Dream right there. That's what we’re fighting for.

President Obama on the need for comprehensive immigration reform

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"Speaking is difficult but I need to say something.

Gun violence is a big problem.

Too many people are dying.

Too many children.

We must do something.

It will be hard.

But the time is now.

You must act.

Be bold. Be courageous.

Americans are counting on you."

—Gabby Giffords at a Senate hearing on gun violence today

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Right now, there are brilliant students from all over the world sitting in classrooms at our top universities. They’re earning degrees in the fields of the future, like engineering and computer science. But once they finish school, once they earn that diploma, there’s a good chance they’ll have to leave our country. Think about that. Intel was started with the help of an immigrant who studied here and then stayed here. Instagram was started with the help of an immigrant who studied here and then stayed here. Right now in one of those classrooms, there’s a student wrestling with how to turn their big idea—their Intel or Instagram—into a big business. We’re giving them all the skills they need to figure that out, but then we’re going to turn around and tell them to start that business and create those jobs in China or India or Mexico or someplace else? That’s not how you grow new industries in America. That’s how you give new industries to our competitors. That’s why we need comprehensive immigration reform.

President Obama in Nevada today, laying out a four-part plan for comprehensive immigration reform

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Does your representative support President Obama's plan to reduce gun violence? Call and ask right now. 

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Never forget.

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President Obama named Denis McDonough to be his new Chief of Staff last week (after running down the Colonnade of the White House with McDonough's adorable children). 

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"By remaining vigilant against those who seek to perpetrate violence and murder, we honor those we lost during one of the darkest periods in human history. And we keep their memory alive for generations to come." —President Obama on International Holocaust Remembrance Day

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Photo of the day: Bo in the snow.

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The President's view on Monday.

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On the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we reaffirm its historic commitment to protect the health and reproductive freedom of women across this country and stand by its guiding principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters, and women should be able to make their own choices about their bodies and their health care. Today and every day, my Administration continues our efforts to reduce unintended pregnancies, support maternal and child health, and minimize the need for abortion. On this anniversary, we recommit ourselves to supporting women and families in the choices they make and redouble our efforts to promote safe and healthy communities.

President Obama on the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade

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"I want to take a look one more time. I'm not going to see this again." —President Obama pausing while leaving his second inaugural ceremony to look out onto the crowd on the National Mall 

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First dance.

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"Our journey is not complete." —President Obama