america was elected to congress he took an oath to defend the constitution is in the same hole in dhahran that one of our founding fallers, thomas jefferson -- the same holy koran that one of our founding fathers, thomas jefferson, had in his library. [applause] i have known isislam on three continents. that experience? my conviction that a partnership between america and islam must be based on what it is not what it is not. i consider part of my responsibility as president of the united states to fight against negative stereotypes of islam wherever they appear. [applause] but that same principle must apply to muslim perceptions of america. [applause] just as muslims do not fit a stereotype, america is not the crude stereotype of a self interested empire. the united states has been one of the greatest sources of progress that the world has ever known. we were born out of revolution against an empire. we were founded upon the idea that all are created equal. we have shed blood and struggled for centuries to give meaning to those words. within our borders and around the world, we are shaped