Our first, our biggest priority was just capping the well.

I think the President -- the President has asked this team since the beginning of this incident to do everything humanly possible as aggressively as we can, to manage and deal with this emergency.

We're going to do everything in our power to protect our natural resources.

A republic, if you can keep it.

America's success has never been a given.

Politics has never been for the thinskinned or the faint of heart.

It coarsens our culture, and at its worst, it can send signals to the most extreme elements of our society that perhaps violence is a justifiable response.

When our Government is spoken of as some menacing, threatening foreign entity, it ignores the fact that in our democracy, Government is us.

That is what makes us different. That is what sets us apart.

I cherish that work as well.

I'm calling on leaders in both parties to resist these pressures.

You can disagree with a certain policy without demonizing the person who espouses it.

I'm just the President.

Now, look, I have a reputation for giving cable a hard time, so let's pick on Politico for a while.

Now, we can expect that these proposed changes will be met with heavy resistance from the special interests and their supporters in Congress.

When we don't pay close attention to the decisions made by our leaders; when we fail to educate ourselves about the major issues of the day; when we choose not to make our voices and opinions heard, that's when democracy breaks down.

Every special interest is entitled to justice, but not one is entitled to a vote in Congress, to a voice on the bench, or to representation in any public office.

Are people being nice?