Private Residence Potomac, Maryland

7:18 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you so much. Thank you, everybody. Everybody, please have a seat. Well, first of all, I just want to thank Jeff and Lora for the incredible hospitality and arranging great weather. And its just nice to be out with some trees and greenery - (laughter) -- and to be with a whole bunch of good friends.

There are a number of people that I want to acknowledge here today. Im going to start with Chris Van Hollen. Chris did a lot of work on this race - or on this event. But Chris also happens to be one of the most thoughtful and effective members of Congress that weve ever seen. And I always like working with Chris Van Hollen, and I think everybody else who knows him does, too. So just please give Chris a big round of applause. (Applause.)

On the list of thankless jobs, being chair of the DCCC I think ranks right up there. (Laughter.) Nobody is working harder, more tirelessly and more effectively than Steve Israel. Were glad Steve is here. (Applause.)

Weve got the pride of Maryland and one of our most critical leaders on a whole range of issues here as well -- Steny Hoyer -- thank you. Steny. (Applause.) The outstanding Elijah Cummings is in the house. (Applause.) The fabulous John Delaney is here. (Applause.) D.C.s own Eleanor Holmes Norton is in the house. (Applause.) Donna Edwards, whos now engaged, is here. (Applause.) Good job, Donna. I dont know if that was public, but you shouldnt have told me. (Laughter.) Dutch Ruppersberger is here. (Applause.) Dutch is doing great work on a whole range of issues. And the outstanding John Sarbanes is in the house. (Applause.)

And somebody who -- I have said this publicly before, I will say it again -- being the Speaker of the House or the Democratic Leader of the House Caucus is a tough job. And I dont think theres been somebody whos done it more effectively, whos tougher, who is smarter or has more compassion with respect to the people who sent us here than Nancy Pelosi. I want her back as Speaker. (Applause.) Im very proud of everything that shes done.

Her brother, Tommy, is here. Tommy is the former mayor of Baltimore. (Applause.) He maintains that he taught Nancy everything she knows, but I dont believe him. (Laughter.) And Nancy denies it.

But anyway, because we have a fairly intimate setting, Im not going to speak long because I want the chance to have a conversation with you and ask questions, or have you ask questions or give me advice. (Laughter.) But let me pick up off something Jeff said.

First of all, in five years it will no longer be called Obamacare, because when something is working theyre definitely not going to -- there will be a whole renaming process similar to National. (Laughter.) I dont know if it will be Reagancare, but it will definitely be -- it will be something different.

Im at the tail end of my fifth year in office, and that gives you some perspective. And so at times I think back to what the situation was when I first came into office and the progress that weve made. At a time when we were losing 800,000 jobs a month, weve now created over 9 million new jobs. The unemployment rate is as low as its been since before the Lehman Brothers crash and the financial crash. Weve restored trillions of dollars of wealth to families all across the country -- in housing, in 401(k)s.

We produce more energy than we ever have and import less oil than we ever have -- or than we have in a very long time -- and have doubled clean energy, reduced carbon emissions, doubled fuel efficiency standards on cars.

Our deficits have been cut by more than half. And in part because of the Affordable Care Act, health care inflation has actually gone up at the slowest rate in 50 years. College attendance is higher than its been in a very long time, and the dropout rate has actually gone down. The Latino dropout rate has been cut in half since the year 2000.

Manufacturing has come roaring back -- not just the auto industry that was on the brink of extinction when I came into office, but manufacturing across the board is starting to pick up for the first time since the 1990s. Were actually adding jobs.

And so when you look at are you better off now than you were when I came into office, the answer is pretty clear -- the answer is yes. (Applause.) Now, despite that, people feel anxious. They feel anxious about their own futures; they feel anxious about their childrens futures. And part of it is because what 2007, 2008 taught us is that in this global economy things can happen very fast that cut any kind of sense of stability for a lot of working families. Whats also true is, is that the trend lines over the last two decades have rewarded folks at the very top in extraordinary fashion, but the wages and incomes of ordinary folks have barely budged. And so for a country that was built -- whose central premise is that if you work hard and youre responsible, you can make it, for too many Americans there remains that sense of maybe thats not true for me, maybe thats not true for my child, maybe thats not true for our future.

And our entire task as a government, regardless of party, should be to focus on how do we restore for the American people that sense that if I work hard in this country, I can make it; that regardless of where I come from, what I look like, I can make it if I try. And in economic terms, the most important task for us is to restore that sense that the economy grows best when prosperity is broadly shared, when the middle class is growing and there are ladders into the middle class, and a sense of upward mobility and a sense of possibility in peoples lives.

Now, we know how to do it. Theres some long-term trends that are challenging -- globalization, technology. There are some jobs that arent coming back. But we know right now if we invest in education -- early childhood education, making college more affordable -- that will make a difference. We know that were going to have to transition to a clean energy economy. If were the ones at the forefront of that, that will position us well for the rest of the century. We know it has to happen. (Applause.)

We know that if we invest in research, then not only can we find cures for Alzheimers and Parkinsons, not only can we find new sources of energy, but we can also create entire new industries. We know it. We know that if we rebuild our infrastructure -- weve got $2 trillion worth of deferred maintenance right now that at some point is going to have to be rebuilt. Why not now, when theres still so many folks out of work, and that their ripple effects from rebuilding our roads and our bridges and our ports and our air traffic control systems would allow businesses to move products and employees faster and make sure more dynamic and competitive. We know that.

And we know we can do all this without raising the deficit, because the economy would grow faster and because weve got a tax system that too often rewards folks at the very top who dont need it, when, in fact, we could have a tax system thats made for a more competitive America.

So the problem is not that we lack solutions -- tested solutions, ones that if you pulled the average economist they say, yeah, thats a good idea. The problem we have is very simple. Weve got one party in Congress right now that has been captured by ideologues whose core premise is no -- who fundamentally believe that the problem is government; who dont believe that we as a community, as a country have any serious role to play in giving people a hand up; whose budget reflects an interest in cutting back commitments to the most vulnerable and freeing the most powerful from any constraints; and whose principal focus at any given point in the day is trying to figure out how can they make people sufficiently cynical, sufficiently angry, sufficiently suspicious that they can win the next election.

I hate to be blunt about it, but thats the play. And, by the way, when I say a party has been captured, its because I actually want an effective, serious, patriotic, capable, sober-minded Republican Party. And weve had that in the past. I come from the land of Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln thought infrastructure was a pretty good idea. Thats part of why we got a Intercontinental Railroad system.

Teddy Roosevelt thought conservation was a pretty smart thing. Thats why we got the national parks.

Dwight Eisenhower thought it made sense for us to invest in science and education. And thats part of the reason why we produced so many engineers and scientists in the 50s and 60s.

So this is -- I constantly try to remind people that whats going on right now is not a debate between traditional Democratic and Republican values. Yes, there are folks who shade more to the conservative side, more to the liberal side. Yes, we can have a legitimate debate about does every government program work. The answer, by the way, is no. Yes, we could reform government and streamline it and update it so that it is capable to meet the concerns of the 21st century and it can be more customer-friendly. And yes, we do have to worry about issues like long-term debt -- although the primary source of long-term debt is health care costs, and if we can help drive those down well be just fine.

But thats not the debate thats taking place right now. The debate were having right now is about, what, Benghazi? Obamacare? And it becomes this endless loop. Its not serious. Its not speaking to the real concerns that people have.

So let me just close by saying this. These midterms are critical. And if you look at where we stand on issues, the public is on our side on almost all of them. Thats part of the thing that I know must drive Steve crazy, because he keeps on looking at the polling. Minimum wage -- majority of the people agree with us. Comprehensive immigration reform -- people agree with us; they know that immigration is going to help drive this economy forward. Equal pay for equal work -- there should be no debate about it.

On issue after issue, people believe what we believe. But what they dont really believe at this point is that government can get anything done. And theyve been persuaded in part because of how its presented that its the fault of both parties -- Democrats are just as unreasonable as Republicans, and that must be why nothing works. Well, you know what, when Nancy Pelosi was Speaker, we got a lot done and it made a big difference to the people and it helped folks.

And so if we are to push back against the cynicism that is always good for Republicans -- because it means folks dont vote -- then weve got to win these midterms. And weve got to be serious about it. We have to have the same sense of urgency that we do when presidential candidates are at the top of the ballot. We turn out during presidential elections; we dont in midterms. Our voters do not. And thats why an event like this is so important. We know how to turn folks out. Weve got to make sure that weve got the resources to do it.

And I have to close by saying this: Despite the current frustrations when it comes to Washington, weve got the best cards when it comes to our future. Theres no other country I would rather be. We got the best workers, the best universities, the best scientists, the most dynamic economy. Were blessed by this incredible natural bounty. We have got everything it takes to pass on to our children and our grandchildren an America that is greater than the one we live in now. But weve got to seize the moment, and to do that weve got to have a Congress that functions. And to have a Congress that functions, weve got to make sure that Democrats are making progress in this midterm.

So thank you for being here. Weve got a lot of work to do. (Applause.)

END 7:33 P.M. EDT