romney supporter. president obama and mitt romney are zeroing in on key voting blocks. later the troop will speak to troops at fort stewart in georgia and signing an executive order to protect veterans using the gi bill. meanwhile mitt romney is focusing on young voters speaking to graduating seniors at a college in ohio. glen, being a denison of the white house, i go to you first. the white house has put forward very clear and deliberate messaging this week that i think has put republicans on the defensive, whether that is student loan extensions, violence against women act. now the president is continuing to appeal to the military and veterans in the country. do you think the strategy works? and how do you think the republicans should best respond to it? >> i think it does work, sort of in the ala cart sense. it's funny, in 2008 i spent a lot of time talking to obama campaign officials who ripped mark penn, the strategist for the obama campaign for doing the slice and dice of the electorate

of the cynical way with narrowly targeted approaches. these are more substantive proposals. the one today is important. we are talking about, for instance, with military families, 800,000 veterans in places like virginia. these people vote in higher numbers than most people. so i think this is very clearly targeted campaign. the question is, and i think this is what you'll hear from the romney folks, how does this cohere into a presidency? >> phil, answering for team romney, if you may, it seems like or there is always the danger -- we've talked about the bracketed approach that romney has been taking the the president. that it looks like he's nipping at his heels. do you feel he's in danger of being -- >> i think the question is quickly nipping at mitt romney's heels. this has been an incoherent messaging week for the president. they came out with a student loan proposal that was intended to provide.

it turns out that romney supports the proposal and they've got an argument of tax and spending on their hands. >> violence against women, you can't argue that republicans were put into an uncomfortable position on that. >> the bigger point is the obama campaign has been all over the map all week long on a variety of issues. on the substance of the executive order, transparency, helping military families, terrific. if it's a strategic approach of winning the young vote, the reality is that young voters are registering as republicans in swing states as much as democrats because they want a future where they can have jobs. that's the key issue going on here. >> can you explain to me exactly what mitt romney's policies are on all these things? he's responding to what the president is doing. at least the president is laying out specific policies. the romney folks have him yet to get up and make these big economic speeches that they keep saying he's going to make. where is his list? it's difficult to nail him down on the specifics. >> casey, governor romney laid

out a specific prescription for growing the economy. in the course of the primary, as we shift to the general -- >> phil, he has laid now the the best case scenario very broad strokes. romney himself said i'm not going to get specific during the general. >> governor romney has got a specific plan for growing the economy which he has been through ad nauseum in the context of the campaign. there will be more additions and elements of that in the fall. by the flip token, can you tell me what the obama re-election rationale is? this is a campaign flopping all over the place trying to find a message. tell me the argument for re-election for the president. >> the republicans see this as a line in the sand in terms of where we go and the american social compact and where it survives or is systematically dismantl dismantled. i'm not a surrogate for the white house. ezra, i want to focus on the

surrogate question. vice president biden talking about the president's skill in dealing with osama bin laden and pushing forward the notion of social security strength. do you think biden is a good surrogate for the president and do you think foreign policy is a good area for mitt rom know play ball on. >> as far as i can tell, biden is among the most experienced of the senators on foreign policy. that's why they chose him because obama's experience on foreign policy when he ran for president the first time was somewhat lacking. he's always had something very few democrats don't which is an appropriate level of continued sense. >> democrats don't -- i don't want to say weak on foreign policy. they were always scared somebody would come back and say you don't know what you're talking about, you're being weak. biden was the only one capable on going toe to toe with people like giuliani. i remember one clip that went

viral and he repeats something giuliani said that day and looks at the camera and says "seriously" and walks on. he's comfortable there and comfortable making the case for obama's foreign policy, particularly with the killing of bin laden and other element that is would be tougher for obama to make because it would look like bragging. >> why do they inject bin laden's death? >> they're trying to politicize an issue that's an american issue. >> phil, in all honesty, you can't tell me if we had a republican in office, on the one-year anniversary of the killing of bin laden, everybody wouldn't be trumpeting that as a major achievement. >> with a heaping spoonful of sarcasm there. >> in terms of foreign policy, i think more than the specific

issues, what foreign policy does for obama -- this was a problem he had in 2008, it establishes him as fundamentally presidential. if you look what happened in terms of the bifurcation of the obama campaign, the west wing has been totally scooped out, the political folks scooped out and shipped to chicago. the folks representing in the west wing are people more conversant with foreign policy. jay carney was chosen as white house press secretary because of his foreign policy chops. this is the image they want to project. >> it's true. the tale of two cities, a campaign fumbling for a grip and message traction over the last couple weeks since the ann romney encounter a couple weeks ago. i agree with your assessment in terms of being a presidential stature level issue, foreign policy could serve that purpose for the president. on the flip side, he's going on jimmy fallon and in some measure demeaning the office of the president in a way that we can argue about whether that's an appropriate strategy or not. that's a divergent tale that

doesn't show up in any coherent focus. >> this is my political nilism -- >> i'm just a nilist in general. >> it's so subjective. i look at the clear politics average of polling. for the last couple months obama has been three to six points ahead of mitt romney. polls come out. some are better, some are worse. it's been very, very steady. i tend to think most of the election will be decided by the economy. there's no evidence that they're having trouble reaching people. there's no leveled there's a reaction on the ann romney stuff, on the etch a sketch stuff. these things that obsess us in washington don't matter to most americans. >> kasie, i want to bring you in here. if you're talking about spreading the message, joe biden is a good attack dog for president obama. it is the classic good cop, bad cop thing. nobody can walk through it or

walk on or whatever it was like joe biden. >> or step in it. >> or step in it. >> good point. >> keep in mind that mitt romney doesn't have anybody yet to step in it or attack on his behalf. >> he has chris christie who could probably step in it quite well. >> keep in mind, that's a role that traditionally vice presidential candidates have always played. he's going to have to decide what the best timing is as far as picking his vice presidential nominee. some folks have picked them early and lost the pop by the fall. his timing on that will decide, a, when we actually get that big push for him and b, when he finally gets somebody who can go out there on the attack without having to bring the negatives down on the candidate himself. >> we shall see. chris christie, we're waiting. stakes is high. how president romney could be a transformational moment in u.s. politics. that's next on "now." [ male announcer ] this is lois.

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mitt romney have visions of what they want to accomplish in office, there will be limits on what they can actually do. ezra klein writes if romney gets the opportunity, he may have a better chance of pushing his agenda drew congress. i'll read it. if romney win it is election, it's almost a sure bet that republicans win control of both the house and the senate. the gop agenda is the vieian budget. all can be passed through budget reconciliation which is to say all that can be made immune to the filibuster. when folks talk about this election, especially young

people, they don't understand the stakes. we talked about what this election is about. ezra, i thought your piece was great insofar as we're talking about who is going to be a transformational president. romney has ability to do a lot more with a republican-held congress than obama. the changes would be drastic. >> the point i'd make is one thing we don't do well when we talk about the race for the white house, is we don't talk about congress. what a president is going to be able to do is going to depend on the type of congress he has. obama is in almost any of the scenarios i consider plausible going to have a republican house, very likely a republican senate because democrats are defending so many more senate seats than republicans are. if romney wins, it's difficult to see a world where republicans don't hold the house and taking back the senate. if that happens, given how much of their agenda is simply budget and tax issues, they can put the entire ryan budget into budget reconciliation. they can pass it on a party line vote in the senate with 51

republicans. the fact that democrats -- the fact they don't have a filibuster-proof majority wouldn't matter. that means in practical terms, not because of who he is or what he wants, much like when obama came in and had six democratic votes in the senate, he could do a lot more than a president coming in in a mixed situation. >> it's worth mentioning right now behind me in that building right now, house speaker john boehner is speaking on the house floor about the gop student loan interest. the bill would keep it at 3.4% and prevent it from doubling when the current rate expires on july. what democrats don't like is how the republicans want to pay for it. they're proposing to offset the $6 billion cost by taking money from the president's health care law. the white house has called this politically motivated and say they will veto it should it get that far. nothing ever gets done in this congress without a nasty fight,

glenn. >> thank god from a politico perspective. i agree with ezra in terms of the transformational issue. two things i'd like to add to that. the first is there is a human speed bump up on the hill by the name of charles schumer on the senate side -- >> known to the parole tart as chuck shumables. >> chuckles, who will make it his life's mission to imitate what mitch mcconnell has done in the last three years, obstruct. we are kind of in the age of overreach. this ryan budget up on the hill among a lot of republicans on the record for supporting it, they're not doing it enthusiastically. when the messaging hammer hits them, things might change. >> one of the things someone said to me was that what they had been doing over the last couple years was learning how to take tough votes. at this point all of them have voted for the ryan budget and taken the cost of voting for the ryan budget so many times, they're used to it.

they're committed to it even if they don't think it's a smart political strategy. >> maybe a republican president affords them more room to sort of dissent within -- >> i think anything will get tripled down. >> it's a lot easier to shoot from the weeds and be a dissenter than it is to push something unpopular when you're in the majority. >> remember what it was like when the democrats were trying to do a health care reform. they wanted a public option. what the house democrats initially wrote is nowhere near what we actually wrote with even though democrats controlled both houses and obama signed the bill. >> i sense from republicans in the house more frustration in the sense that transformational change would not be something that would be a disqualifying perspective to hold going into a new congress with a republican president. frankly, if the election is about big, big directional questions in this country and it's framed up around essentially a structural reform conservatism verses a liberal

approach, i believe that's a pathway for romney to be elected, for republicans to maintain the majorities. i subscribe to your thesis that that provides for a platform around spending entitlements and that's actually needed. >> isn't that man-made fatigue? >> the overreach thing is a big deal. i also think the charles "chuckles" schumer point is relevant. look what's happening in some of the congressional races, whether it's altmire and crist, where you have a moderate democrat getting unseated to a much more liberal candidate, you wonder whether there will be a mere rod reaction on the left to what's happened on the right. democrats tired of taking it on the chin of four years of a republican-held jose, look, we're going to move further to the left. as we know, historically the right moved much farther right

than the left has moved left. i wonder if you have a republican president and a strong republican congress, where that leaves those in congress who are to the left? >> i hope this election results in a significant mandate for change led by mitt romney. >> wasn't the last election a mandate for change? >> the answer is yes, it was. we're coming up on probably the fourth change election cycle of the last seven or eight in recent modern political history. the long and the short of it is that romney is a leader, is a strong leader, who is decisive, but knows how to lead. i think that's one of the key missing elements here, that you've had very little ability from the white house to work -- to move any kind of ragsal program forward in the congress. meanwhile the house republicans have been doing their work and seeing it go nowhere. >> what i would say is romney is a politician who is somewhat uniquely mistrusted by his own base. that is going to give him in a funny way less running room than an obama or george w. bush would

have. when you talk about something like the public option, one thing obama was able to do with democrats, he was comfortable enough that he wouldn't be primary challenged, wouldn't face a serious liberal result. hehad good enough relations with pelosi and reid to say i'm going to go back on some things liberals want to get this through. this is something mcconnell and others have implied, that romney if elected, given how much better republicans are at primarirying their own and how much left trust he is going to have to hugh to the republican majority. >> and establish his conservative bon feed des even when he's in office. we'll find out what happens. maybe we won't. after the break, some are calling him the president whisperer. is former president bill clinton the secret weapon for president obama? that's a rhetorical question. we'll discuss next. if you're one of those folks who gets heartburn and then treats day after day...

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suppose they had been captured or killed. the downside would have been horrible for him, but he reasoned. i cannot in good conscience do nothing. he took the harder and the more honorable path. and the one that produced in my opinion the best result. >> that was a new ad today from president obama's re-election campaign making use of a key weapon in their arsenal, bill clinton. we are going to see more of bubba on this campaign trail, are we not, kasey hunt? >> just a little bit. i don't know if you can have a little bit of bill clinton. >> and the door in the floor opens up and we never see you again. we mean this in a complimentary -- we miss the guy. he is a potent weapon, as i said earlier, for the obama campaign, not just in terms of

fund-raising but in messaging and especially to blue collar swing state, independent white workers. >> that's where obama is facing problems, where the democrats had problems in 2010 with the white working class folks in states like wisconsin, minnesota, places like that. bill clinton can speak to them. it's significant he can step out there considering the history between the clintons and obamas and the fact the two men have been competitive that they're willing to bury the hatchet in this way as they face down 2012. >> phil, we know a pupew poll h the president up like 65%. does the gop cringe when they are out on the campaign trail and say mitt romney is an extremist. >> i didn't hear the president say mitt romney was an extre extremist. i think they should have jimmy carter speaking for this campaign because the environment

in which president obama is governing really representing the carter years. we're dealing with carter 2.0 in a lot of ways. but to your question about bill clinton -- >> yes, please, to that question. >> president clinton has pursued an active role in the democratic party, does a lot of good things through his foundation, i'm sure he'll help raise money. at the end of the day people are not voting for president bill clinton. they're voting on the economic record of barack obama. the bottom line on that one is there's a lot of work to do and a big case to be made. bill clinton can be out in the narrative and be part of the surrogate stream and probably help energize and make the left field good about them sells. i don't think it's going to have a measurable impact on the outcome of the election. >> but that voice, that voice. it's like question haves yea. >> a warm brandy. >> that warm fuzzy feeling. >> i fear what we'll see is an election between bush and

clinton, that we'll have -- >> george w. >> rob portman will be mitt romney's vice president. you'll have bill clinton running around. barack obama is going to say we should go back to the policies of clinton. mitt romney arguing they should go back to the policies of bush. you are looking where president obama and the first lady are set to speak to troops in a few minutes. that's all ahead on "now." uncer) most life insurance companies

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they say, okay, we'll -- we won't allow it to double, but we're going to take the money from women's health. it should be no surprise to anyone because they have an ongoing assault on women's health. >> this is the latest plank in the so-called war on women.

entirely created, entirely created by my colleagues across the aisle for political gain. >> this week, the frosty relationship between republicans and democrats became, if it was possible, even colder. there is no sign of the ice thawing any time soon. you guys were making like chirping, squawking noises when we watched john boehner and nancy pelosi on the floor of congress. the knives are out. glenn, we talked about this during the break. john boehner is -- i thought is as angry this week as i have seen him in a very long time. >> he did this. have you ever seen anybody do that? >> i do it ton show frequently, but i'm not an elected member of congress. >> yeah. he's gone from dean martin to the incredible hulk. >> really, yesterday -- obama, the white house threatened to veto legislation if the spending cuts were below the limits agreed to last summer which was

fair. it's a deal. >> boehner's response was blah, blah, blah. this represents a new low in terms of relationships between democrats and republicans in both the white house and congress. >> boehner has some housekeeping to do internally as usual. when john boehner is making a speech and he's getting emotional and talking about barack obama, three-quarters of the time it has to do with him doing internal housekeeping. he's still -- particularly if he loses -- kasie probably knows better than me -- eight to 12 seats is probably the estimate. he's back in the business he's been in for a year and a half of proving himself to the right in his own house. this has to do with internal politics. >> we look at the to-do list which is massive in terms of the significance of the legislation and complexity around it. we have the push tax cuts expiring. the payroll tax holiday ends, expanded unemployment insurance benefits and, of course, the triggers go into place. >> and the debt ceiling.

>> and the debt ceiling. this really means -- you look at the tenor now, it will only get handled in the lame duck session of congress or they punt to 2013. >> i think they'll have to punt. they don't have the capacity to do tax reform that quickly. what's going to happen with the debt ceiling is anybody's guess. are they going to need alternative cuts if they do that? there's a big question. i'm writing an article now trying to figure out what happens inside the republican party, internal republican party politics if mitt romney loses the election by two points? do these guys say we have $7.50 trillion of expiring provisions. we need to do eight months of governing or are there intern pressures where boehner and mcconnell who is in cycle in 2014, mcconnell is up form re-election, have to move further to the right. if that happens, i don't know how you resolve these things. if we can't resolve them, we'll have a double-dip recession. >> that is a good question. phil, if romney isn't elected.

what does that mean for the republican caucus given your best guess? >> this is in the broad category of all hypothetical categories. i don't think there's going to be a lack of backbone to try to force some of the structural change we need to see in this country. what you're going to see is a lame duck session that i think will produce a variety of different things, some of which ezra touched on. it's a real shame and it's really unfortunate and speaks to the broader problems in our democracy and the need, i think, for one side to substantially prevail in this election over the other in order to bring about a transformational measure of change because it should not work this way, and these frosty relations are an unbelievably tense and unproductive high. >> kasie, we know how bad the last debt debacle was for not only the president, but generally speaking, congress. these will certainly be talking points leading into november and the fact that congress is unable to deal with them. you've got to wonder how that

affects voters going into the booths on election day. >> sure. you have to remember what glenn was saying, john boehner is in an extremely difficult position, pressure from the right within his own caucus and the presidential nominee, the head of his own party, trying to make moves to the center to try to win over independent, swing, other types of voters he needs for the fall. in the case of the student loan reform, the interest rate situation, the house budget assumed that that was going to expire, that the interest rates were going to go up. they included that money in there. romney folks talked to the boehner folks on the hill essentially saying we can't just hand this to the president. we have to make sure we diffuse this issue. boehner is going to have to deal with issue after issue after issue. >> unemployment insurance. you can see another political football game over that as well. >> sure. that's the thing we have today with this executive order is another example. obviously it doesn't involve congress because it is an executive order. i think that's one of the reasons you're seeing these

pushes from the white house, because they are small things they can win on because it puts the republicans in a tough spot. >> we talked about this a little bit a few minutes ago. in terms of how the democrats play ball on this, i want to draw your attention to a, quote, wednesday from representative mike ross of arkansas who is a blue dog retiring from congress. in sive vicks class in high school you learn there are 435 members of congress and every one of them can lose in the next election. now we're down to less than 100 who can ever get beat in a general election. the democrats run to their corner, the republicans run to their corner and as a result the country is being run by the extremes. ezra, respond, please. >> to some degree it's true. it is important to say that the evidence we, the political science evidence we have is the country is being run by one extreme a bit more than the other. asymmetric polarization, due to the unusual success republican haves had primarying, you've seen republicans go further to the right than democrats have

gone to the left. nonetheless you've seen them both go further to their respective corners. here is a live look at george's fort stewart where president obama and the first lady will speak to the troops. we'll bring it to you live. that is coming up next on "now." this at&t 4g network is fast. hey, heard any updates on the game? i think it's final seconds, ohh, shoots a three, game over. so two seconds ago... hey mr. and mrs. harris, where's kevin? say hi kevin. mom, put me down. put...the phone...down. hey guys. did you hear... the choys had their baby? so 29 seconds ago. well we should get them a gift. [ choys ] thanks for the gift! [ amy and rob ] you're welcome! you're welcome! [ male announcer ] get it fast with at&t. the nation's largest 4g network. covering 2000 more 4g cities and towns than verizon. at&t. ♪ how long since you worried about flakes? since before jeans were this skinny. not since us three got a haircut. not since my first twenty-ninth birthday.

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and all in real time. which makes it just like having your own trading floor, right at your fingertips. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. try our easy-to-use scottrader streaming quotes. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. the president and first lady are in georgia right now, both set to speak to troops and their families at ft. stewart. president obama will then sign a new executive order protecting veterans in being targeted by schools taking advantage of their federal education benefits. mike viqueira is at the white house with more on this executive order. mike, it is great to see you. >> reporter: welcome back to our fair city. >> thank you. we're having great some great weather. we were talking about the move on the president's part whether

for political optics or not. i think it's worth mentioning the efforts the president has made thus far reaching out to veterans and taking into consideration veteran's issues as they come home. in november 2011 he passed the veterans tax credit bill, march 6th, housing relief to help veterans and service members. the first lady has been taking up veterans issues as one of her number one talking points. >> reporter: that's right. as well as dr. jill biden has joined her in that. tangentially you can make the argument that this troop and virtually all the trips over the next six months will have obvious political motives, whether tank jenningsly, obvious. i heard you talking about the student loan bim on the house, the president's last tour of three swing states. it also has something to do with the demographic that vaulted the president into office, young

family, women, mothers, trying to get an education, trying to better the lot of their families as well. the president is going to sign this executive order today. they call them diploma mills t for-profit colleges. the white house identified this practice they called misleading marketing to gis and these colleges trying to draw in former members of the military, not taking care of their needs, if they have special needs, post-traumatic stress disorder is one specifically cited by the white house in their fact sheet, trying to draw them in with expensive institutional loans as opposed to taking advantage of the gi bill and the federal loans and the lower rates and benefits afforded to veterans. many of those benefits that have been added most 9/11, post afghanistan, post iraq. he's at ft. stewart, georgia. that's the home of the army's third infantry division. we'll see pictures coming in

very shortly. the president and first lady, a very solemn visit to the so-called warrior walk at ft. stewart, a tree planted for every fallen soldier from that military facility, some 300 planted on the warrior walk. the president laid a coin at the base of one those trees, the first lady a flag. a very solemn occasion, consistent with what the president and first lady have talked about over the course of the last year, several years, as a matter of fact. we'll be hearing from the president shortly, alex. >> of course, mike, this comes almost a year to the date of the killing of sew sam ma bin laden. the combat troops have left iraq and of course we have a drawdown scheduled for 2013 in afghanistan. i wonder what you make of that timing in terms of highlighting the president's record on foreign policy. >> reporter: it's also consistent. if you want to look at it with the jaundiced political eye like the vice president was saying yesterday. >> i look at all of it with a jaundiced political eye.

>> reporter: so do i. i just try to hide it. the whole back to the future t slam vice president made on romney yesterday in terms of his view of foreign policy, a cold war mentality. there's also that tangential link with what the president is doing today. you're right alex. >> let's talk about the military vote. that's certainly a vote the president wants to get before november. he's visited not but a few forts, bases recently. this would seem to be a continuation of that temperature. >> it's an opportunity as we are doing right now to talk about foreign policy. i think it's an opportunity that the white house invites us, the media and others to look at what the president has done in foreign policy. a foreign policy when you look at the polling from nbc news, the "wall street journal" and others where the president enjoys a slight advantage over mitt romney in any event. we see them walking out here. certainly that is something that the white house is not discouraging people from looking at at this point as well. alex. >> let's go live to the first

lady and the president's comments at first stewart in hinesville, georgia. [ cheers and applause ] hello ft. stewart! we are beyond thrilled, beyond thrilled to be with all of you today. and before i get started, there's just one thing i want to

say, and that is whoowa. did i do that right? i want to start by thanking start marshal for that kind introduction and sharing his story with us today. i want to thank all of you, our men and women in uniform, our veterans and your extraordinary families. absolutely. for the families! yes. [ cheers and applause ] one of my greatest privileges as first lady has been meeting folks like you on bases in communities all across this country. and i always say this, but i can never say it enough. i am in awe of you. i'm in awe of how many of you signed up to defend our country in a time of war serving hero heroically through deployment after deployment.

i'm in awe of your families, the spouses who run their households all alone, the kids who step up at home and succeed at school and stay strong through all the challenges they face. with their service, they make your service possible. and i'm also in awe of our veterans because -- because i know your service doesn't end when you hang up your uniform. so many of you, your whole life is a tour of duty. as you become leaders in our communities and continue to give back to our country, you keep serving. and like so many americans, the more i've learned about the sacrifices you all make, the more i wanted to find a way to express my gratitude, and that's mott just with words, but with action. and that's why last year jill biden and i started joining

forces. it's a nationwide campaign to recognize, honor and support our veterans, our troops and our military families. i have to tell you, we had barely even finished announcing this campaign when we were inundated with offers to help. so many people wanted to step up and show their appreciation that we hardly knew where to begin. in our first year alone, more than 1,600 businesses hired more than 60,000 veterans and they pledged to hire at least 170,000 more in the coming years. [ cheers and applause ] national associations of doctors and nurses representing millions of health professionals are working to improve treatment for post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries. we've had tv shows like "extreme makeover home edition," "sesame

street," organizations like nascar and disney. they're working to share the stories of our military families with the rest of the country. these are just a few examples out of thousands all across the country. if i can leave you with just one message today, i want you all to know that america does have your backs, and we are just getting started. we are going to keep at this. we're going to keep on working every day to serve all of you as well as you have served this country. and the man who has been leading the way is standing right next to me. [ cheers and applause ] and ladies, i think he's kind of cute. [ cheers and applause ]

he was fighting for all of you long before he ever became president. he's made veterans employment a national priority with tax breaks for businesses that hire veterans and wounded warriors. he's working to end the outrage of veterans homelessness once and for all. he championed the post 9/11 gi bill which has helped more than half a million veterans and military families go to college. and today with this new effort to ensure that you all get the education you've earned, that story continues. so please join me in welcoming your strongest advocate, your commander in chief and our president, my husband, barack obama. [ cheers and applause ]

>> hello ft. stewart! it is good to be here at ft. stewart. first of all, how about the first lady, michelle obama. hooha! she is a tough act to follow. gentlemen -- for the gentlemen out there who are not yet married, let me just explain to you your goal is to improve your gene pool by marrying somebody who is superior to you. isn't that right, general? listen. as you just heard, when it comes to all of you, when it comes to our military, our veterans, your

families, michelle obama and jill biden have your back. they are working tirelessly to make sure that our military families are treated with the honor and respect and support that they deserve, and i could not be prouder of all the efforts that they've been making on their behalf. it's a privilege to hang out with some of america's finest. the dog-faced soldiers of the third infantry division, rock of the march. we have a lot of folks in the house. we have the raider brigade. we've got the spartan brigade. we've got the vanguard brigade. we've got the provider brigade. and we've got the falcon brigade. let me thank major general

abrams and his beautiful wife connie for welcoming us. abe is doing an incredible job carrying on his family's incredible legacy of service. give him a big round of applause. [ applause ] i want to thank command sergeant major ed watson and his beautiful wife sharon. i want to thank someone who has made it her life's mission to stand up for the financial security of you and your families, somebody who knows a little bit about military families and military service and actually is a homecoming for her because she spent over three years when they were posted down here, holly petraeus is in the house. i want you guys to give her a big round of applause. [ applause ]

most importantly, i want to thank all of you. i want to thank you for your service. i want to thank you for your sacrifice. i want to thank you for your unshakeable commitment to our country. you have worn the uniform with honor. you've performed heroically in some of the most dangerous places on earth. you have done everything that has been asked of you and more. and you have earned a special place in our nation's history. future generations will speak of your achievements they'll speak of how the third infantry divisions thunder run into bagdad signaled the end of a dictatorship and how you brought iraq back from the brink of civil war. they'll speak of you and your service in afghanistan and in the fight against al qaeda which you have put on the bath to

defeat. to the members of the special operations forces community, while the american people may never know the full extent of your service, they will surely speak of how you kept our country safe and strong and how you delivered justice to our enemies. so history will remember what you did. and so will we. we will remember the profound sacrifices that you've made in these wars. michelle and i just had a few moments at the warriors walk, paying tribute to 441 of your fallen comrades, men and women who gave their last full measure of devotion to keep our nation safe. we will remember them. we will honor them always. our thoughts and prayers also go out to the troops from ft. stewart who are serving so

bravely right now as we speak in afghanistan. i know many of you will be deploying there, too. you know you're going to be in our trouts and our prayers. your generation, the 9/11 generation has written one of the greatest chapters of military service that america has ever seen. i know for many of you a new chapter is unfolding. the war in iraq is over. the transition in afghanistan is under way. many of our troops are coming home, back to civilian life. as you return, i know you're looking for new jobs and new opportunities, new ways to serve this great country of ours. three years ago i made your

generation a promise. i said that when your tour comes to an end, when you see our flag, when you touch down on our soil, you'll be coming home to an american that will forever fight for you just as you fought for us. for me as president it's been a top priority. it's something i worked on as a senator when i served on the veterans affairs committee. it's something i continue to this day. since i took office, we've hired over 200,000 veterans to serve in the federal government. [ applause ] we've made it easier for veterans to access all sorts of employment services. you heard how michelle and jill

worked with businesses to secure tens of thousands of jobs for veterans and their families. with support from democrats and republicans we've put in place new tax credits for companies that hire veterans. we want every veteran who wants a job to get a job. that's the goal. those of you who want to pursue a higher education and earn new skills, you deserve that opportunity as well. like general abrams dad, my grandfather, the man who helped raise me, served in patton's army. when he came home, he went to school on the gi bill because america decided that every returning veteran of world war ii should be able to afford it.

we owe that same commitment to all of you. so as president i've made sure to champion the post 9/11 gi bill. with that bill and the tuition assistance program, last year we supported more than 550,000 veterans and 325,000 service members who are pursuing a higher education. because higher education is the clearest path to the middle class. that's progress. we've got more to do. we can't be satisfied with what we've already done. we've got more to do. we've got to make sure you've got every tool you need to make an informed decision when it comes to picking a school. that's why michelle and i are here today. right now it's not that easy. i've heard the stories. some of you guys can relate. you may have experienced it

yourselves. you go online to try and find the best school for military members or your spouses or other family members. you end up on a website that looks official. they ask you for your e-mail, they ask you for your phone number. they promise to link you up with a program that fits your goals. almost immediately after you've typed up that information, your phone starts ringing. your inbox starts filling up. you've never been more popular in your life. all these schools want you to enroll with them. it sounds good. every school and every business should be out there competing for your skills and your talent and your leadership. everything that you've shown in uniform. but as some of your comrades have discovered, sometimes you're dealing with folks who aren't interested in helping you. they're not interested in helping you find the best program. they are interested in getting