Now, two years later, though, we're in a different place.  In part because of the economic plan that my recovery board helped shape, the economy is now growing again.  Over the last year, businesses have added more than a million jobs.  The pace of hiring and growth is picking up, and that's encouraging news.  But at the same time, while businesses are adding jobs, millions of people are still out there looking for work.  And even here in Schenectady, as well as GE is doing, I know everybody here knows a neighbor or friend or relative who’s still out of work. 

So it’s not -- it’s a great thing that the economy is growing, but it’s not growing fast enough yet to make up for the damage that was done by the recession.

The past two years were about pulling our economy back from the brink.  The next two years, our job now, is putting our economy into overdrive（超速转动） .  Our job is to do everything we can to ensure that businesses can take root and folks can find good jobs and America is leading the global competition that will determine our success in the 21st century.

And so now, to help fulfill this new mission, I’m assembling a new group of business leaders and outside advisors.  And I am so proud and pleased that Jeff has agreed to chair this panel -- my Council on Jobs and Competitiveness -- because we think GE has something to teach businesses all across America.  (Applause.)

Now, I hope you don't mind, I’m going to brag about your boss for a second here.  Jeff is somebody who brings a wealth of experience to the table.  He is one of the nation’s most respected and admired business leaders, and that's a reputation he earned over 10 years at the helm of this company.  In the coming days, we’ll be announcing the business leaders, the labor leaders, the economists and others who will join with Jeff to help guide us into that overdrive mode.

I know this council will be an important asset（资产，优点） as we seek to do everything we can to spur hiring and ensure our nation can compete with anybody on the planet.  That means spurring innovation in growing industries like clean energy manufacturing, the kind of stuff that's being done right here at this plant; ensuring our economy isn’t held back by crumbling（破碎的） roads and broken-down infrastructure.

It means educating and training our people.  I just had a chance to meet one of the guys here at the plant who had been trained at Hudson Valley, which I had an opportunity to visit a while back.  And that's an example of the kind of partnerships that we’ve got to duplicate（复制，重复） all across the country.

Schenectady offers that kind of example.  Hudson Valley Community College created a program so students could earn a paycheck and have their tuition covered while training for jobs at this plant.  That’s helping folks find good work; it’s helping GE fill high-skill positions; it’s making this whole region more competitive.

So ultimately winning this global competition comes down to living up to the promise of places like this.  Here in Schenectady, you’re heirs to a great tradition of innovation and enterprise:  the pioneering work of Edison that made the entire modern age possible -- the tungsten（钨） filaments（细丝，灯丝） that still light our homes; the x-rays that diagnose disease; now the advanced batteries and renewable energy sources that hold so much promise for the future.

In these pioneering efforts, we see what America is all about.  We see what has in our past allowed us to not only weather rough storms but reach brighter days.  And it’s got to remind us that we’ve got those same strengths.  This is America.  We still have that spirit of invention, and that sense of optimism, that belief that if we work hard and we give it our all, that anything is possible in this country.

The future belongs to us.  And you at this plant, you are showing us the way forward.  So thank you so much, everybody.  God bless you.  And God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)