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It's a story that hasn't made me the most conventional candidate. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper. He does not say health care or the economy. Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime - by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. For instance, in the United States, rules on charitable giving have made it harder for Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation.
And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort. Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise - that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend. But what the people heard instead - people of every creed and color, from every walk of life - is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. Many Gulf States have enjoyed great wealth as a consequence of oil, and some are beginning to focus it on broader development.
I'd been inspired by the civil rights movement - by all the clear-eyed, straight-backed, courageous young people who'd boarded buses and traveled down South to march and sit at lunch counters, and lay down their lives in some cases for freedom. And it's around this time that some pastors I was working with came up to me and asked if I was a member of a church. More recently, tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations. This same story can be told by people from South Africa to South Asia; from Eastern Europe to Indonesia. No matter where it takes hold, government of the people and by the people sets a single standard for all who hold power: you must maintain your power through consent, not coercion; you must respect the rights of minorities, and participate with a spirit of tolerance and compromise; you must place the interests of your people and the legitimate workings of the political process above your party. It's a faith in other people, and it's what brought me here today.
The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren't simply controversial. And then another one. Make no mistake: we do not want to keep our troops in Afghanistan. That is why I ordered the removal of our combat brigades by next August. I am emphasizing such investments within my country.
In a sense, what brought me to Chicago in the first place was a hunger for some sort of meaning in my life. What we have already achieved gives us hope - the audacity to hope - for what we can and must achieve tomorrow. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work. There need not be contradiction between development and tradition.
Thank you, and God bless America.