This is our history - from the Transcontinental Railroad to the Hoover Dam, to the dredging of our ports and building of our most historic bridges - our American ancestors prioritized growth and investment in our nation's infrastructure.

Cities can become the engines that fuel our nation's growth and prosperity, and they can be wide gateways for families to achieve their own American dream of prosperity.

In America we have a Declaration of Independence, but our history, our advancements, our global strength all point to an American declaration of interdependence.

As I review the great history of our nation, community organizers have been at the center of so many of our great social movements.

If we want a great nation, we have to change it ourselves.

My generation of Americans, the scions of daring dreamers, the children of the fearlessly faithful and the offspring of many of history's most audacious actors - we, together, drink deeply from wells of freedom, liberty and opportunity that we did not dig.