It is my honor to be here, to stand on the shoulders of those who came before, to speak tonight as your Vice President.

In many ways this moment embodies our character as a nation.

It demonstrates who we are, even in dark times.

We not only dream, we do.

We not only see what has been, we see what can be.

We shoot for the moon and then we plant our flag on it.

We are undaunted in our belief that we shall overcome, that we will rise up.

This is American aspiration.

In the middle of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln saw a better future and built it with land grant colleges and the transcontinental railroad.

In the middle of the civil rights movement Dr. King fought for racial justice and economic justice.

American aspiration is what drove the women of this nation throughout history to demand equal rights and the authors of the Bill of Rights to claim freedoms that had rarely been written down before.

The will to do the work and then the wisdom to keep refining, keep tinkering, keep perfecting.

The same determination is being realized in America today.

I see it in the scientists who are transforming the future.

I see it in the parents who are nurturing generations to come, in the innovators and the educators, in everyone everywhere who is building a better life for themselves, their families, and their communities.

This, too, is American aspiration.