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<\/p>\nWashington, DC…I might begin my saying that, to the best of our knowledge \u2014 it goes back a long way \u2014 this is the first such swearing-in that we\u2019ve ever had in the great Oval Office. So that\u2019s a pretty big honor right there. That\u2019s pretty good. Now, they may find something back 100 years ago, I don\u2019t know. But we looked and we couldn\u2019t find it. So \u2014 Please, sit down. Please.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Secretary Nielsen, thank you very much. I really appreciate it. And I am truly thrilled to welcome the five newest members of our great American family. That\u2019s what you are \u2014 an American family. Thank you. (Applause.)<\/p>\n
You are now official United States citizens. You have just earned the most prized possession anywhere in the world. We know that. There is no higher honor or greater privilege than becoming an American citizen. Our whole nation embraces you with open arms and joyful hearts. And I know that you will treasure this day forever. And it\u2019s my honor to be with you, and we\u2019ll say that.<\/p>\n
Each of you worked hard for this moment. You followed the rules, upheld our laws, and contributed to the strength and success and vitality of our nation. Now each of you stands here today, before your proud and beaming families \u2014 look at those families, huh? \u2014 in the Oval Office of the White House. A very special place. I look, and sometimes they say, \u201cWow, this is it.\u201d Right? The Oval Office. So, congratulations.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d like to share a few brief words about each of our new citizens.<\/p>\n
Estabraq Adel Al Sayyad came with her husband to the United States \u2014 please. That\u2019s a good idea. I wasn\u2019t going to do that, but I like that. Please. (Laughter.) That\u2019s very nice. With her husband to the United States from Iraq in 2013. She is the proud mother of two children and is expecting a third. Since coming to America, she has become a teacher\u2019s assistant in our public schools \u2014 doing a fantastic job, I might add \u2014 preparing the next generation of young Americans to make the most of this magnificent country that she, too, now enjoys. And I want to just congratulate you, Estabraq. Thank you. (Applause.)<\/p>\n
Matthew Hemsley is from the United Kingdom. Thank you, Matthew. He is an Anglican pastor who came to the United States in 2006 and earned a master\u2019s degree from Gordon Conwell Seminary in North Carolina. A fine place. His grandmother was an American citizen whose ancestors first came to North America in 1637 \u2014 that means you beat us \u2014 (laughter) \u2014 you beat all of us \u2014 as part of the Plymouth Colony. Now the Hemsley family history to the United States is renewed, and the next chapter of their American story begins. Matthew, it\u2019s an honor. Great luck. Great luck. (Applause.)<\/p>\n
Yook Young Choi is from South Korea and came to the United States in 1992 to pursue a master\u2019s degree. She earned a PhD from the University of Maryland and is now a professor at Azusa Pacific University. Her husband teaches statistics at George Mason, and \u2014 it\u2019s a great school too, by the way \u2014 and they are proud parents of two sons. I want to congratulate you, and you\u2019re going to have a great time. Great time. Thank you very much. We really appreciate it. (Applause.) Appreciate you being a member of the family. Thank you.<\/p>\n
Robert Castle is from Jamaica, and he immigrated to the United States in 2009 as the husband of a then-active duty service member of the United States Army. Robert is a warehouse supervisor \u2014 a strong guy, a smart guy \u2014 and they have a beautiful four-year-old son who was born here in the United States. Robert, congratulations. Thank you. (Applause.)<\/p>\n
Marcelo Ramos Ramirez is from Bolivia and has a beautiful, lawful permanent resident of the United States, and has been since 2013. He is the co-owner of a staffing company with his son Marcio. The business is thriving. He\u2019s doing really well. And it\u2019s expanding in all different ways. He says, \u201cI know that in the [United States] you can achieve anything that you want, and I am a perfect example.\u201d In another words, he\u2019s making a lot of money. (Laughter.) Marcelo, thank you very much. (Applause.)<\/p>\n
You\u2019re all at the beginning of a new and extraordinary adventure. With the rights and freedoms you enjoy as Americans, there is nothing you cannot achieve.<\/p>\n
But citizenship is also a profound responsibility. Each year, over 700,000 new Americans take the oath and allegiance, and inherit a legacy of liberty and justice that generations of Americans fought and died to secure.<\/p>\n
By taking this oath, you have forged a sacred bond with this nation, its traditions, its culture, and its values. This heritage is now yours to protect, promote, and pass down to the next generation and to the next wave of newcomers to our shores. Our history is now your history. Our traditions are now your traditions. And our Constitution is now yours to safeguard, celebrate, and cherish.<\/p>\n
As Americans, and American citizens, we are bound together in love, and loyalty, and friendship, and affection. We must look out for each other, care for each other, and always act in the best interests of our nation and all citizens living here today. We love each other. We\u2019re proud of each other.<\/p>\n
The beauty and majesty of citizenship is that it draws no distinctions of race, or class, or faith, or gender or background. No matter where our story begins, whether we are the first generation or the tenth generation, we are all equal. We are one team and one people proudly saluting one great American flag.<\/p>\n
Again, I want to congratulate you and welcome you to the family. It\u2019s a family. It\u2019s a beautiful family. It\u2019s a family doing very well. We\u2019re setting records economically. Our economy is the hottest in the world, and it\u2019s continuing, and continuing upward.<\/p>\n
Our unemployment is the best it\u2019s been in more than 50 years. And for certain individuals, it\u2019s the best it\u2019s ever been, historically. It will probably soon be now for everybody. It\u2019s an honor to have you. God bless you. God bless America. Congratulations. (Applause.) Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington, DC…I might begin my saying that, to the best of our knowledge \u2014 it goes back a long way \u2014 this is the first such swearing-in that we\u2019ve ever had in the great Oval Office. So that\u2019s a pretty big honor right there. That\u2019s pretty good. Now, they may find something back 100 years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/whitehouselogo200.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=73358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=73358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=73358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=73358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}