wave of change has washed across the middle east and north africa, from tunis to cairo to tripoli. a year ago, gadhafi was one of the world s longest-serving dictators. a murderer with american blood on his hands. today he is gone. and in syria, i have no doubt that the assad regime will soon discover that the forces of change cannot be reversed, and that human dignity cannot be denied. [ applause ] how this incredible transformation will end remains uncertain. but we have a huge stake in the outcome. and while it s ultimately up to the people to reach it, to
that s the lesson we ve learned from our actions abroad over the last few years. ending the the iraq war has allowed us to strike decisive blows against our enemies. from pakistan to yemen, the al qaeda operatives who remain are scrambling, knowing that they can t escape the reach of the united states of america. [ applause ] from this position of strength, we ve begun to wind down the war in afghanistan. 10,000 of our troops have come home. 23,000 more will leave by the end of this summer. this transition to afghan lead will continue, and we will build an enduring partnership with afghanistan, so that it is never again a source of attacks against america. [ applause ] as the tide of war recedes, a
an idea that has bipartisan sport, at least outside of washington. some of what s broken has to do with the way congress does its business these days. a simple majority is no longer enough to get anything, even routine business, passed through the senate. neither party has been blamed. now both parties should put an end to it. for starters, i ask them to pass a simple rule that all judicial and public nominations receive a simple umor down vote within 90 days. the executive branch also needs to change. too often, it s inefficient, outdated, and remote. that s why i have asked this congress to grant me the authority to consolidate the federal bureaucracy so our government is leaner, quicker, and more responsive to the needs of the american people. finally, none of this can happen unless we also lower the temperature in this town. we need to end the notion that the two parties must be locked in a perpetual campaign of mutual destruction. that politics is about clinging to ridge
routine business, passed through the senate. neither party has been blameless in these tactics. now both parties should put an end to it. for starters, i asked the senate to pass a simple rule that all judicial and public service nominations receive a simple up or down vote within 90 days. [ applause ] the executive branch also needs to change. too often it s inefficient, outdated, and remote. that s why i ve asked this congress to grant me the authority to consolidate the federal bureaucracy so that our government is leaner, quicker, and more responsive to the needs of the american people. finally, none of this can happen unless we also lower the temperature in this town. we need to end the notion that the two parties must be locked in a perpetual campaign of mutual destruction, that politics is about clinging to rigid ideaologisologies instead building consensus around common sense ideas. i m a democrat, but i believe what republican abraham lincoln believed the governmen
learned from actions add provide over the last few years. ending the iraq war has allowed us to strike decisive blows against our enemies. the al-qaeda operatives that remain are scrambling knowing they can t escape the reach of the united states of america. [ applause ] from this position of strength we ve begun to wind down the war in afghanistan. 10,000 of our troops have come home, 23,000 more will leave by the end of this summer. this transition to afghan lead will continue and we will build and enduring partnership with afghanistan so it s never again a source of attacks against america. [ applause ] as the tide of war recedes, a wave of change across middle