A child's course in life should be determined not by the zip code she's born in, but by the strength of her work ethic and the scope of her dreams.

Our environment is too important to neglect and it's time for the federal government to focus on real solutions and live up to their promises.

In the midst of economic recovery and global upheaval, disasters like this remind us of the common humanity that we share.

Our intelligence agencies will continue to gather information about the intentions of governments - as opposed to ordinary citizens - around the world, in the same way that the intelligence services of every other nation does. We will not apologize simply because our services may be more effective.

The opportunity will not remain open indefinitely.

I'll be the first US president to not only visit Kenya and Ethiopia, but also to address the continent as a whole, building off the African summit that we did here which was historic and has, I think, deepened the kinds of already strong relationships that we have across the continent.

As you travel through the Middle East what keeps on striking home to me is how similar everyone is, and yet the degree to which we can find differences to fight wars over. It requires a great deal of empathy, I think, between various sides to overcome this history and live in peace.