Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Like America, the Statue of Liberty doesn’t stand still. His feet are literally walking on a broken chain. He is on the march. And he literally moves. Built to swing back and forth against the fury of storms, it will stand the test of time because storms will always come. He rolls a few inches, but doesn’t fall into the waterfall below. An engineering marvel.
The Statue of Liberty is also a symbol of our nation’s spirit, a spirit shaped by the forces that unite us and the forces that divide us. However, through the thick and thin, we have weathered it all. A nation of pioneers and explorers, dreamers and doers, ancestors native to this land, ancestors who came by force. A nation of immigrants who came to build a better life. A nation that holds the torch of the most powerful idea in the history of the world: that we are all, we are all created equal. We all deserve to be treated with dignity, fairness and justice. This democracy must be protected, defined, and established in every possible way: our rights, our freedom, our dreams. But we know that the ideas of America, our institutions, our people, the values that underpin them, are constantly being tested.
The debate about power and the exercise of power continues. It’s about whether we lead by example or by example. We either show the courage to stand up to the abuse of power, or we accept it. After 50 years in the middle of it all, I know that believing in the ideals of America means respecting the institutions that govern a free society — the presidency, Congress, the judiciary, a free and independent press. Institutions that are rooted — not just expressing the timeless words, they — echo the words of the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be manifest.” It is rooted in the timeless words of the Constitution: “We the People.” The system of separation of powers, checks and balances — it may not be perfect, but it has sustained our democracy for nearly 250 years, longer than any other country in history that has attempted such a bold experiment.
In the past four years, our democracy has held fast. And every day I have kept my commitment as president to all Americans, during one of the most difficult times in our nation’s history. I had a good colleague in Vice President Kamala Harris. It has been the honor of my life to see the resilience of our essential workers in the face of a once-a-year pandemic, the courage of our service workers and first responders who protect us, the determination of those lawyers standing up to protect our rights and ours. opportunity.
Instead of losing their jobs because of the economic crisis we inherited, millions of Americans have the dignity of a job. Millions of entrepreneurs and businesses, creating new businesses and industries, hiring American workers, using American products. And together, we’ve ushered in a new era of American opportunity: one of the greatest infrastructure innovations in our entire history, from new roads, bridges, clean water, high-speed Internet easy for all americans.
