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What makes a lot of sense is that, while people are incarcerated, give them the tools they need to be able to have a productive, lucrative living when they leave so they can provide for their families and break that cycle of recidivism.
The United States is a strong and ardent ally of Israel. The fact of the matter is that friends can disagree. I think what's important is that world leaders are able to sit down with one another, have frank conversations and move forward.
Some people might have different ideas about what progress looks like, and some are cynical and place their short-term political interests ahead of what is good for our country. But many of them aren't cynical and try hard to do their best.
I've had people say to me, 'Well, I enjoy going to the firing range and using the assault weapons.' But the pleasure derived from that compared to the horrendous damage that it can do, we believe that the damage warrants banning assault weapons.
What are we going to do to make sure people get the skills they need if they are incarcerated so that when they are released to hit the ground running? And what are we all going to do to give people who've earned a second chance, a second chance?
I was very lucky - I grew up with two parents who loved each other and gave me unconditional love. They set high expectations for me, and they gave me an infinite amount of support. So I stand on their shoulders; I follow their example in every way.
Let's figure out ways of keeping our children out of the juvenile justice system and in the classroom so that they'll thrive. Because if you're in the juvenile justice system, the chances of your going into the adult penal system are greatly increased.
The ADA was a landmark civil rights legislation. It was a bill of rights for persons with disabilities, a formal acknowledgement that Americans with disabilities are Americans first and that they're entitled to the same rights and freedoms as everybody else.
I vividly remember early on in my career when I was eight months pregnant, working literally around the clock, and worrying that each trip to the restroom or my need to catch the occasional catnap was causing my colleagues to question whether I could keep up.
I still vividly remember the moment I let go of an embrace with my daughter on her college campus - that, in her opinion, probably lasted far too long. I left the most precious thing in my life in the care of an institution, and that's a very hard thing to do.
The American people want change. They don't want the same old health care system that's not affordable, that doesn't offer coverage to everybody, that keeps escalating in cost. And what we've seen from the Republicans is, really, a desire to have the status quo.
People are struggling. They're trying to make ends meet, and they're looking for Washington to deliver for them. And they don't feel that that's been happening as quickly as it should. We share that frustration. There's no one more frustrated than President Obama.
I finally said, 'I don't care if you're the first person in your family to be a lawyer.' Everybody thought what I was doing was really exciting, but it was not moving me one bit. And that's when I decided to join city government in Chicago, and that changed my life.
As we try to compete in this global marketplace, we need to rebuild our infrastructure. We need to rebuild our schools. We need to make sure that teachers and first responders and veterans who are coming home from serving our country so proudly have jobs waiting for them.
Throughout the health-insurance reform process, we have had a frequent and consistent dialogue with the business community - small, medium, and large - to analyze and evaluate the impact that reform would have on them. It has been a very instructive and productive dialogue.
There are certain things that Americans expect their government to do. Our infrastructure is vitally important. Putting people back to work with construction is important. Our roads, our bridges, our sewers, our waterways, our dams - this is what makes our country so special.
Those self-evident principles of life and liberty, pursuit of happiness, they're not self-executing. They require each of us to get engaged. And what Barack Obama is really concerned about is to ensure that the American people appreciate their power to influence the democracy.
We do have to ask ourselves as a culture, what do we want to be? You know, what are our founding values? And if we are a society where everybody should have that fair shot and get a second chance, then we should take the necessary steps to implement that and make it a reality.
I moderated a panel focusing just on women and the specific challenges that women entrepreneurs face. And we found that around the world, the challenges are the same, whether it is gaining access to capital, risk-taking, or the ability to expand beyond a small business and grow.
We need to be investing in manufacturing and small businesses. We need to be creating a workforce where Americans can compete in a global marketplace because they have the necessary skills. And we need fairness, and we need a sustainable, strong economy that's durable for the future.
My theory is this: Rather than having commentaries from the cheap seats, get involved and see what you can do. What can you do around your own community, within your own family, to try to improve race relations in our country? I think this is a responsibility that we all have as citizens.
When you are in local government, you are on the ground, and you are looking into the eyes and hearts of the people you are there to serve. It teaches you to listen; it teaches you to be expansive in the people with whom you talk to, and I think that that engagement gives you political judgment.
Do you want to get rid of the rules of the road? Do you want to let everybody just do whatever they want to do? Or do you want to really look out for the consumer, look out for the American people, and figure out ways to create and foster an environment where companies want to double down on America?
With women composing nearly half the American workforce and increasingly serving as the primary breadwinner for families, we can't afford to treat pregnant women differently than their counterparts, especially when slight job modifications could help them stay in the workforce at no risk to their health.
What do we do to just rebuild and focus on creating a big and inclusive tent, where we're focusing on making sure every child gets that fair shot, that every woman gets to compete on a level playing field, that we are true to the core values of our country, and we're making sure that we honor those values?
Nondiscrimination has been the law of the land for over three decades, yet, in some workplaces, the standard for treatment of pregnant women has remained in the dark ages. Some are fired or demoted, with no hesitation, when a modest accommodation would allow them to continue to work and support their families.
The question is, does the punishment fit the crime? So we're not saying that we shouldn't punish people. We're not talking about a society that tolerates lawlessness. We should be very tough on people who are perpetuating violent crimes, for example. But we should make sure that it's tailored and not arbitrary.
When you're a member of a team, when I was member of a team, whether I ultimately agreed or disagreed, once a president makes a decision, everybody, in my opinion, has to go with that decision, or you shouldn't be a member of the team. Your reputation rises and falls with the person who's the leader of the team.
By 30, I was separated from my husband, and I clearly remember sitting in my lovely office with a magnificent view, staring at a very lucrative pay stub, and bursting into tears because I was just miserable. So I had to make a decision: Keep following my plan, or be honest with myself and search for my true passion.
Barack's mother was very important to him, but he spent a great deal of his life living in a different place. So, as all kids do, you always have a fantasy of what perfection would be. And my guess is that Michelle's childhood was his idea of perfection. It allowed him to anchor himself with her and with her family.
We have held forums here at the White House on workplace flexibility, and the first major bill signed into law by President Obama was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Lilly was here a few weeks ago because we were trying very hard to push paycheck fairness through the Congress. Unfortunately, we fell two votes short.
For me, having a daughter made me much more efficient and productive. I would wake up in the morning trying to figure out how to organize my day so that I could get home. The phone calls with friends, the lunches out with colleagues - all of that got scrapped so that I could be as efficient and productive as possible.
I don't play golf. I don't play basketball. I don't really like cards. I don't think anybody questions whether or not I have a role to play here. And so I think it is irrelevant whether the president wants to do that in some of his free time. What's really important is, when we have something to say, does he listen to us?
President Obama stands ready to work with everyone, because that's what the American people expect and deserve - not for the short term political advantages, but the long term health of our country. We don't spend time trying to figure out what's in the minds of Republicans, we try to keep our focus on the American people.
I just worry a lot. I'm a worrier. Michelle and Barack are really dear to me. I mean, I love them. And I don't want to see them get hurt. Just the nature of politics is hurtful. So every time they are hurt, I get hurt. It's a lot to ask of people, and it's a lot to see your friends go through. It's hard not to get emotional.
I know it may be hard to imagine given how broken and gridlocked our politics truly are, but from the White House to, yes, Congress, the government is filled with hard-working, idealistic public servants working incredibly hard on tough issues, trying to make people's lives better and move the country, and our world, forward.
I had a very good friend who was two years older than I was, and she was in law school, and she said, 'It's a great thing to do when you have no idea what you want to do.' And she was right. I learned a lot, I practiced law for 10 years. I've never looked back once I stopped practicing law, but it was a really good experience.
Equal pay, paid leave, paid sick days, workplace flexibility, and affordable childcare - everywhere I go around the United States, as I talk to working families, these are the issues they raise... We have over 43 million Americans who don't have a single day of sick leave, but everybody gets sick. Everybody's children get sick.
From day one, President Obama has made improving the quality of life for woman a top priority. It's why he created the White House Council on Women and Girls that I'm so proud to chair. Our directive was to look across the board at all of the federal agencies and determine what we could do to improve the quality of life for women and girls.
Women now make up approximately half of the workforce - very positive. Two-thirds of all families are either headed by a single-head of household or two working parents, and particularly in this economically challenging time, that second income is more important than ever. However, women are still only earning 75 percent of what men are earning.
Women spend 30 percent more time doing household chores. No surprise. But women also spend more time volunteering in their community. And if you add up all of the hours of non-leisure time, women are working more than men. So I thought that was very interesting, and I was surprised about the voluntarism piece, but when you think about it, it makes sense.
What we need to do together is to put in place the kind of - foster the kind of environment where businesses of all sizes - small, medium or large - want to invest, want to do the innovative things that our businesses here in America are known for doing, want to grow our economy and want to create the kind of jobs that will bring - reduce that unemployment rate.
Change is never fast enough to satisfy us. I still hear too many stories of women who go back to work too soon, but I do believe that we have been able to change the paradigm in attitudes towards family leave in that it's no longer a nice thing to do for women, it's a must do for competitiveness, and that's a big change over the last seven years. Changing it into an economic issue is a big sea change in the last seven years.