Remarks of Michelle Obama: Roundtable Discussion with Pennsylvania Military Spouses
Allentown, PA | September 24, 2008
I'm delighted to be here today with Jill. She's my partner on this campaign, she's a proud military mom, and she's a strong supporter of military families across Delaware. I know I can speak for both of us when I say, it's a pleasure to be here today with all of you.
And thank you, General Lenhardt, for the years of service you have given to our country - most recently, as the legendary Sergeant-at-Arms for the U.S. Senate. Thank you for being here today.
We're also joined by three women from right here in the Allentown region. Today, we'll talk about issues that they know very well because they live these issues every day. They are Carol Reese, Kathleen Miller, and Jill Slivka. Thank you all for joining us today and sharing your stories.
It's an honor to visit a state that has sent so many of its sons and daughters, husbands and wives, and mothers and fathers to protect our nation in the military.
Today, 4,000 troops from the Pennsylvania Army National Guard's Stryker Brigade are mobilizing for duty in Iraq. They are among the 19,000 National Guard personnel who live throughout the state... many of whom have been deployed since September 11th. And more than 1 million veterans call Pennsylvania home.
I know that, today, we're all thinking about the troops, as we talk about the families that they are thinking about every day.
These roundtables are one of my favorite things to do on the campaign trail. I treasure these opportunities to hear your stories, about your lives, your families, and the unique challenges you face every day.
One thing that is very clear from these conversations is the pride that families like yours feel. Pride in your country, pride in your family, and pride in the service that you and your loved ones are giving to the United States.
Your pride is well-deserved. I'm honored to be here with all of you. And Barack and I, and all Americans, are so grateful for the sacrifices you make every day to serve our country.
The women up here with me each have their own perspective on the issues that matter most to their lives, whether it's a more efficient VA system or TRICARE; a better education for their children; or more predictable deployments, so units have time to retrain and re-equip, and families have time to reconnect.
But all of these folks have some fundamental things in common. They all know what it's like to balance work with raising their kids while their spouses are away. And they are united in a vision we all share: of a system that does more to support its military families, both when a spouse is deployed, and long after he or she returns.
And everyone on this stage and everyone in this room share something else as well. We've all been touched by the economic crisis that our nation is facing. And I know that all of you are feeling the effects every day.
You're feeling it when you pay for gas and groceries. You feel it when you worry about how you'll afford college for your kids and retirement for yourselves, because we all know that incomes aren't keeping up with rising costs. You're lucky if your income is standing still.
And you feel it when you wonder if you'll still have your job this time next year. So many people throughout the Lehigh Valley have lost their jobs. People who spent years working in manufacturing and retail and transportation. And you feel it when you worry about whether you'll be able to pay the mortgage this month. Because in just the past few months, more than 10,000 families across Pennsylvania went to their mailboxes and found foreclosure notices on their homes.
Most of all, you feel it when you tuck your kids in at night and wonder what kind of world we're going to be leaving for them. That's a thought I know all of us carry in our hearts every day.
And all of these challenges are even harder for military spouses. You become everything while your spouse is away. You're Mom and Dad. You're in charge of the checkbook. You're looking after your in-laws. You're making dinner and helping with homework. You're doling out discipline. And when the bills keep piling up, and that list of chores seems endless, you find yourself with yet another job: worrying late into the night.
As Barack and I have traveled to every corner of this country during the past 19 months, we've heard from so many military spouses who are working hard to do it all without the support they deserve.
And if there's one thing I've learned from these roundtables, it's that when our military goes to war, their families go with them.
And I know that your marriages face unique challenges. Your spouses may be deployed for months at a time, in the toughest conditions imaginable. They may come home with problems you're simply not equipped to deal with, and there can be a stigma attached to asking for help. Or they come home, life is good, but there's a readjustment period, and as soon as you get back to where you were before, the bags are packed for another deployment.
But what has also struck me in my conversations with military spouses is how you all take care of each other. Barack and I can see how the military really is like a family. You fill in where services fail, from baby-sitting to untangling bureaucracies to delivering bad news. Even if you aren't trained for it or prepared for it, you do it. You have to.
I'll never forget a moment from one of these roundtables, when a young mother started pouring out how overwhelmed she felt. We all sat there together and listened to her. And when she finished, another woman stood up and said, "I don't know you. But when you leave here, you will have my phone number. And you will be able to call me anytime. You've got the support of this friend right here."
That's the kind of strength that we see from military spouses across the country every day. They're doing everything that's asked of them and more. And they're not asking for much in return. They're not asking for Washington to solve all their problems. They're just asking for Washington to understand the challenges that their families face, as part of their extraordinary commitment to our country.
Well, Barack understands it. His life was shaped by the sacred contract our country makes with the men and women who serve.
Barack's grandfather enlisted after Pearl Harbor. He marched in Patton's Army. Barack's grandmother worked on a bomber assembly line while her husband was away. And Barack's mother was born at Fort Leavenworth.
When his grandfather returned to America, our country rewarded his service with the opportunity to go to college on the GI Bill. He was able to buy his first home with a loan from the Federal Housing Administration, and move his family west, all the way to Hawaii, where he and Barack's grandmother helped raise him.
And today, Barack is determined to lead America to make that same commitment to military families so other families can have the opportunities that his family did.
That's why, when he arrived in the Senate, Barack sought a seat on the Veterans Affairs Committee. He led a bipartisan effort to improve care at Walter Reed, because recovering servicemen should go to the front of the line, and they shouldn't have to fight to get there. He helped pass laws that gave family members health care and a year of job protection, so they never have to choose between caring for a loved one and keeping a job.
Now these issues are at stake in this election. So on November 4th, we have a choice to make.
And when I look at the two candidates and their plans for America, when I think about all the military families I've met across the country, and the kind of help they could use right now and when I think about the future we all want to create for our children the choice is clear.
Barack is the only candidate in this race who wants to create a 21st century VA that offers world-class care and rejects the idea that we should only treat combat injuries, but not those sustained in training or on the deck of an aircraft carrier. And Barack is the only candidate who has a record of strong support for efforts to improve mental health care for service members and veterans.
He's the only candidate who has been a consistent supporter of Senator Webb's 21st Century GI Bill so that service members can share their benefits with their families, and more people can achieve the American Dream. Because all of our troops should get the same opportunity that Barack's grandfather had: an affordable college education.
And Barack is the only candidate in this election who has put the middle class at the heart of his economic plan. He wants to give a tax cut to 95 percent of all working Americans, reward companies that create jobs here in America, and ensure that women are paid fairly for our work.
Barack is the only candidate who will expand the Family and Medical Leave Act to cover reserve families, so that when a reservist is called up, their spouse can take time off work to get their family's affairs in order.
And he's is the only candidate with a plan to responsibly end the war in Iraq and bring our troops home, so we can rebuild our military and start investing the $10 billion we're spending each month in Iraq right here at home.
In the end, Barack is the only candidate determined to change Washington, so that instead of just talking about family values, we actually have policies that value families.
That's the idea at the core of my husband's campaign. That we're all in this together.
Today, I've brought along copies of a blueprint describing the Obama-Biden to support military families. It's also a resource guide of the services available to you here in Pennsylvania—to help you find a job, or get the health care or family support you need.
If Barack has the honor of serving as our President, and I have the privilege of serving as your First Lady, I'm going to keep having these conversations with you... and bringing your stories home to him. Because the Commander-in-Chief doesn't only need to know how to lead the military. He also needs to understand what war does to military families, and what he can do to help your families stay healthy and strong.
That's why I'm here today. Thank you for joining me.
