February 5

1861  B. B. Brooks born in  Bernardston, Massachusetts.  A short biography is provided for him elsewhere on this site.

1876  John Henry "Doc" Holliday moved to Cheyenne, where he worked at the Bella Union as a dealer.

1917   The Punitivie Expedition: U.S. complete its withdrawal from Mexico. February 5, 1917.

The smile on the soldier to the left's face was likely quite genuine.  The 6th and the 16th Infantry crossing back into the United States.

U.S forces complete their withdrawal from Mexico.  The Punitive Expedition was over, although the official end would come two days later, on February 7.

And it happened, in terms of military withdrawals, in record time.  The US had been deep into Mexico just a week prior.  Now, it was out.

Note, there were big headlines going in, coming out was still on the front page, but not nearly as big in the headlines. 

Was it a success?

Not in terms of its expressed aims.  Pancho Villa remained not only at large, but resurgent. Commanding a handful of men the prior year when he raided Columbus New Mexico in a reprisal for Woodrow Wilson granting Constitutionalist troops transit across southern Texas to attack him, he now had many more men and had resumed being an effective commander in the field.  His forces had resumed combat in Chihuahua with some success and it was far from certain that the Constitutionalist, who ratified the new Mexican Constitution on this very day, would defeat him, let alone defeat him and Emiliano Zapata who was fighting in the south.

Nor was it a success in terms of our relationship with Mexico, although that was strained beforehand.

American relations with Mexico had been very poor throughout the Mexican Revolution, in no small part because the United States had failed to reign in its diplomatic representation in Mexico after Modero had taken power, which helped lead to his being overthrown in a  coup by Huerta.  Modero would have been a seemingly natural ally to the United States but American representation in Mexico City failed to appreciate that and actually felt the opposite way, which was assessed to be the case by the Mexican military.  That helped lead to Modero's overthrow and death, and in turn that helped lead to the ongoing Mexican Revolution and American intervention in Mexico, although the naive Modero was complicit in his own demise in that he left the defeated professional Mexican army, including its officer crops,  intact.  Modero hadn't won the allegiance of the Mexican federal army, he'd defeated, with the likes of men like the radical Carranza, the populist Villa and the agrarian Zapata, amongst many others.

Those men wouldn't stand by and allow Gen. Huerta to impose a military dictatorship on Mexico, but that doesn't mean that they agreed with one another on the future course of Mexico either. And, ironically, in spite of being complicit in Modero's overthrow, the Untied States wasn't keen on Huerta either and took action to prevent his being supplied as he fought against his numerous opponents. That did not engender love for the United States amongst all of them, however.

The blundering that got rolling early on continued under Wilson who favored Carranza, after the defeat of Huerta and rebellion of Villa and Zapata, even though Carranza never liked the United States.  Granting railroad transit across Texas so that Constitutionalist forces could attack Villa was a huge and odd mistake that lead directly to the raid at Columbus.  Committing American forces to Mexico was perhaps then inevitable, but no Mexican leader could be seen to be supporting an American presence in Mexico and Carranza genuinely disliked the US.  Villa, who had lived in the US, ironically likely did not have any strong dislike for us, but he did dislike Wilson's role in nearly leading to his defeat and his odd and mercurial personality did not cause him to recoil from being responsible for the death of foreigners.  At any rate, American intervention in Mexico in pursuit of Villa nearly lead to a war between the Constitutionalist and the United States even though the Constitutionalist had not been able to fully defeat Villa and Zapata and were then engaged in war against them.  After war nearly broke out, it was only avoided by the United States ceasing to advance further into Mexico and cooler heads on both sides avoiding outright hostilities against one another.

Mexican American relations would be forever changed and stressed.  The United States regarded Mexico as a potential adversary as late as early World War Two, and not without good reasons as the Mexican government was heavily leftist and not democratic. The new radical Mexican governments took to oppressing sections of the Mexican population and they, and we use the plural advisedly, flirted with the extreme left periodically.  It was not by accident that when Stalin's assassins tracked Trotsky down, they found him in Mexico.

Those facts would lead to ongoing war in Mexico for years as various Mexican movements attempted to overthrow the Mexican government, all without success.

Which is not to say that the central players in Mexico had happy ends themselves.

Zapata was assassinated by the Mexican government, still under arms and having never surrendered, in 1919, bringing to a close his agrarian movement until modern times, when Zapataistas revived in Mexico on his old domain. 

 Zapata in 1915

Flag of the Zapatista Army of Liberation, a Mexican movement inspired by the legacy of Emiliano Zapata.

Carranza, whom we have dealt with at length, was overthrown by Alvaro Obregon, his most successful general, in 1920.

 Alvaro Obregon.

Obregon had served Carranza well, after having missed the initial stages of the revolution, but he grew into a political adversary starting in the very period we're discussing.  Carranza never favored the radical turn the Mexican Constitution took in 1917, favoring instead a preservation of the 1857 constitution.  Obregon was a full radical.  After that, he went into retirement, but in 1920 he through his considerable weight behind a revolution against Carranza, which succeeded.  In May 1920 Carranza himself died in an ambush, a victim of ongoing Mexican revolution.

Obregon then lead the country for a while and then stepped down upon the election of Plutarco Elías Calles.  However, during Obregon's administration the Mexican government, which had already become hostile to religion with the 1917 Constitution, adopted on this same day (see earlier post) started to become more repressive of the Catholic Church.  Calles would accelerate this which would lead to the Cristero War, which the Mexican government put down.  After that, Obregon ran for the presidency of Mexico again, in 1928, but was assassinated very soon after taking office by José de León, a Mexican who had sympathies toward the Cristeros.

Villa as he's commonly remembered.

Villa, upon whom our story has been focused, remained in rebellion until Carranza was assassinated.  Following that, he was able to negotiate peace with the Mexican government.  He then went into retirement on a hacienda that was provided to him in Chihuahua and was even allowed to retain a small private army made up of his loyalist.  This would ultimatley not save him, however, as he was assassinated in 1923 in Parral.  The assault on Villa was obviously well planned and its never been proven who did it but suspicion is strong that the act at least had the tacit approval of the Mexican government as Villa was making sounds of running for the presidency.

The revolution consumed itself even while becoming "institutionalized"     The victors may have called themselves "constitutionalist", but in practice power often changed hands with those hands being bloody.  By any objective standard, the Mexican Revolution itself would become a failure.  Ironically, perhaps, the American support of Carranza, which had never been appreciated by Carranza, was a small aid in bringing to power a force that would have little respect for democracy.  Mexico would not overcome this for decades.

With the U.S. Army came hundreds of refugees.  Some, like the residents of Colonia Dublan, had strong roots in the United States and feared living under Villa's forces for good reasons.  Many, however, were Mexicans who feared the fate of Chihuahua under a resurgent Villa.  Again, ironically, the United States would be reforming its immigration laws on this very day, creating real border controls on the southern border for the very first time.

Mexican refugees crossing into the United States in 1915.

That border itself would be hostile to a degree at least until the 1940s.  During World War One the United States was compelled to guard the border militarily; stationing cavalry regiments all along the border.  Pershing had wanted American cavalry in France to serve in the AEF, which shipping restrictions prevented, but that did not mean that the cavalry was idle during the Great War.  A shortage of available manpower along the border during the same period required Texas to deploy its State Guard, a militia separate and apart from the Federalized National Guard, made up of men who were ineligible to serve in World War One due to age, situation or ailments.  The Army would continue to patrol the border to some extent all the way into the 1940s.  Indeed, the border situation would see some violence all the way through the Great War and after, with occasional U.S. small interventions lasting all the way through the teens and into the early 1920s.

1917 vintage recruiting poster aimed at border service.

All of which is not to say that there were not some small, but significant, successes associated with the Punitive Expedition.  For one thing, crossing into Mexico in 1916 was likely simply inevitable. The raid on Columbus could not be ignored.  Irrespective of Carranza's refusal to sanction it, moreover, the United States, which had a very small military establishment, had shown that it could rapidly mobilize an effective field force any time it wanted to.  It was not that Mexico was a military threat to the United States, but Mexican forces that may have thought the US could be ignored no longer thought that.  Mexico was not an unarmed nation by any means and the United States during peacetime relied upon an Army made up of a small professional corps and a large amateur militia.  It had shown that its system was sufficient such that it was able to rapidly mobilize both.

The expedition itself, moreover, was the first large assembly of American arms since the Spanish American War. The mobilization had shown what, and who, worked well and what, and who, did not.  While it can't really be regarded as a "success" per se, this would prove to be hugely important almost immediately in 1917 as it became obvious the United States was headed toward entering the enormous First World War.  An entire series of weapons were experimented with, many of which were new. The National Guard had been mobilized and much of it remained under arms.  The Punitive Expedition into Mexico likely shortened American mobilization in 1917 by months and lead to it being clear that John J. Pershing could command the American Expeditionary Force that would come into existence.

So how have we done reporting on the Punitive Expedition in "real time", and in general?  Let us know. We're only somewhat satisfied with our effort, which of course was an effort to learn as well.  There were a lot of things we wanted to report on and missed. Some we may still, and some we likely won't.

As this entire blog is a sort of research platform for a book, we may continue to do a little real time as well, but most likely not like we were.  We aren't, for example, going to report on the US in World War One the way we have on the Punitive Expedition, as that's more or less outside of our focus.  But we will a little, and of course we'll continue to focus on this era, at least until we get our book written. . . which is taking forever.

  1917  President Wilson's Veto of the Immigration Act overturned.

 

On this date in 1917 Woodrow Wilson's veto of the Immigration Bill was overturned and the Immigration Act of 1917 became law. The act is remembered for its sweeping exclusionary provisions.

It barred the entry of people with undesirable characteristics, in the view of the drafts, which included alcoholics, anarchists, contract laborers, criminals and convicts, epileptics, the feebleminded, "idiots", "illiterates" over 16 years of age, "imbeciles", "insane persons", "paupers", "persons afflicted with contagious disease", "persons being mentally or physically defective", "persons with constitutional psychopathic inferiority", "political radicals", "polygamists", "prostitutes" and "vagrants".

The most controversial part of the bill, in people's memories, was the creation of the "Asiatic Barred Zone" which banned immigration from much of Asia and the Pacific, excluding Japan and the Philippines.  

Interestingly, Mexican temporary labor was excluded, although they were ineligible for permanent immigration.   A per capita tax was imposed on immigrants, but again Mexican temporary laborers were excluded.

World War One era Liberty Bond poster somewhat ironically using immigrants in its pitch.

1920  As a window into the  Spanish Flu, we note that Ernestine Strelesky lost her life, and that of her unborn child, in Sheridan due to the epidemic.

1924  Joseph M. Carey, Governor from 1911 to 1915, and member of the Republican and Progressive parties, died.in Cheyenne.

Tuesday, February 5, 1924. Joseph M. Carey passes away. Burying Wilson, Enjoining Tepot Dome.

Today In Wyoming's History: February 5: 1924  Joseph M. Carey, Governor from 1911 to 1915, and member of the Republican and Progressive parties, died.in Cheyenne.

Carey was born in Delaware in 1845 and came to Wyoming after being appointed United States Attorney for the Territory of Wyoming in 1869.  He was still in his twenties at the time.  In 1871 he became an Associated Justice for the Territorial Wyoming Supreme Court, still at an absurdly young age.  He became mayor of Cheyenne in 1880.  Following statehood, he became a Senator in 1890. In 1895 he was not reelected by the legislature, which elected Senators at the time, due to his opposition to free silver, an opposition which was economically correct.  He was elected Governor in 1910 and served until 1915, joining the Progressive Party with Progressives bolted from the Republican Party.

Staying true to his Progressive views, he endorsed Woodrow Wilson during the 1916 election.  He was a supporter of Prohibition.

In addition to being a lawyer and politicians, he was a rancher, with large ranching interest in Central Wyoming.  In many ways, he's is representative of an era in Wyoming when people could come from out of state and become central in many aspects of the state's economic and political life.

In 1959, he was inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame.

The Winter Olympics concluded.    France, Norway and Finland tied for gold medals.

Mexican rebels retreated from Vera Cruz as Federals won a victory at  Córdoba.

1927  Meadowlark designated state bird.

1937  Franklin Roosevelt proposes his court packing scheme.  The plan went over like a lead balloon, and nobody has ever attempted it since.

Basically, Roosevelt attempted to take advantage of the fact that the Constitution does not set the actual number of Supreme Court Justices.  Frustrated with the Supreme Court overturning New Deal legislation on Constitutional grounds, Roosevelt attempted to add sufficient numbers of justices to have a reliable court, which required exceeding the customary nine justices.  The plan was not well received.  It has been noted, however that the Court seemed to be somewhat more conciliatory to New Deal legislation thereafter.

1943  The Legislature passes a bill denying American citizens interned at Heart Mountain  Relocation Camp the right to vote.

While the legislation seems shocking in retrospect, although probably not as shocking as internment, there was somewhat of a basis for the concept in that the Heart Mountain internees were involuntarily residents of Wyoming and therefore not residents.  In hindsight, if attempted today, it seems clear that this result would no longer be regarded as legitimate, but internment would also no longer be regarded as legitimate.

1946   William Evers starts his term as Warden of the State Penitentiary.

1963  Barnum Brown, discover of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, who worked for a time as a paleontologist in Wyoming, died.

Brown in Montana.

1990 Edgar Jacob Herschler died in Cheyenne.  Herschler was from Kemmerer and had been Marine Raider in World War Two prior to being elected governor in 1975.

2018  Emergency sirens were accidentally tripped and sounded as part of what was to have been a silent drill in Natrona County.  While there was no overreaction, coming just about a month after a false alarm of a North Korean nuclear strike in Hawaii, it was a bit disconcerting.

2019  President Trump delivered his second State of the Union Address, which was delayed due to the dispute between Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and President Trump over funding for a proposed border wall with Mexico that had resulted in the shut down of the Federal government for a record period of time.

The Text of the speech:

Thank you very much.
Madam Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, the First Lady of the United States — and my fellow Americans. We meet tonight at a moment of unlimited potential.
As we begin a new Congress, I stand here ready to work with you to achieve historic breakthroughs for all Americans. Millions of our fellow citizens are watching us now gathered in this great chamber hoping that we will govern not as two parties but as one nation.
The agenda I will layout this evening is not a Republican agenda or a Democrat agenda, it’s the agenda of the American people. Many of us have campaigned on the same core promises to defend American jobs and demand fair trade for American workers.
To rebuild and revitalize our nation’s infrastructure, to reduce the price of health care and prescription drugs, to create an immigration system that is safe, lawful, modern, and secure and to pursue a foreign policy that puts America’s interests first. There is a new opportunity in American politics if only we have the courage together to seize it.
Victory is not winning for our party. Victory is winning for our country.
This year America will recognize two important anniversaries that show us the majesty of America’s mission and the power of American pride. In June, we mark 75 years since the start of what General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the great crusade, the allied liberation of Europe in World War II.
On D-Day, June 6th, 1944, 15,000 young American men jumped from the sky and 60,000 more stormed in from the sea to save our civilization from tyranny. Here with us tonight are three of those incredible heros. Private First Class Joseph Reilly, Staff Sergeant Irving Locker, and Sergeant Herman Zeitchik.
Gentlemen, we salute you. In 2019, we also celebrate 50 years since brave young pilots flew a quarter of a million miles through space to plant the American flag on the face of the moon. Half a century later, we are joined by one of the Apollo 11 astronauts who planted that flag, Buzz Aldrin.
Thank you, Buzz. This year, American astronauts will go back to space on American rockets.
In the 20th century, America saved freedom, transformed science, redefined the middle class, and when you get down to it, there's nothing anywhere in the world that can compete with America.
Now we must step boldly and bravely into the next chapter of this great American adventure, and we must create a new standard of living for the 21st century. An amazing quality of life for all of our citizens is within reach. We can make our community safer, our families stronger, our culture richer, our faith deeper, and our middle class bigger and more prosperous than ever before.
But we must reject the politics of revenge, resistance and retribution and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise, and the common good.
Together we can break decades of political stalemate. We can bridge all divisions,
We can bridge old divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions, and unlock the extraordinary promise of America's future. The decision is ours to make.
We must choose between greatness or gridlock, results or resistance, vision or vengeance, incredible progress or pointless destruction. Tonight, I ask you to choose greatness.
Over the last two years, my administration has moved with urgency and historic speed to confront problems neglected by leaders of both parties over many decades. In just over two years since the election, we have launched an unprecedented economic boom — a boom that has rarely been seen before. We have created 5.3 million new jobs and importantly added 600,000 new manufacturing jobs — something which almost everyone said was impossible to do, but the fact is, we are just getting started.
Wages are rising at the fastest pace in decades, and growing for blue collar workers, who I promised to fight for, they’re growing faster than anyone thought possible. Nearly 5 million Americans have been lifted off food stamps. The U.S. economy is growing almost twice as fast today as when I took office, and we are considered far and away the hottest economy anywhere in the world.
Unemployment has reached the lowest rate in over half a century. African-American, Hispanic-American and Asian-American unemployment have all reached their lowest levels ever recorded. Unemployment for Americans with disabilities has also reached an all-time low. More people are working now than at any time in our history — 157 million people at work.
We passed a massive tax cut for working families and doubled the child tax credit. We virtually ended the estate tax, or death tax as it has been often called, on small businesses, ranches, and family farms. We eliminated the very unpopular Obamacare individual mandate penalty — and to give critically ill patients access to life-saving cures,we passed, very importantly, “Right to Try.”
My administration has cut more regulations in a short period of time than any other administration during its entire tenure. Companies are coming back to our country in large numbers thanks to our historic reductions in taxes and regulations. And we have unleashed a revolution in American energy — the United States is now the number one producer of oil and natural gas anywhere in the world. And now, for the first time in 65 years, we are a net exporter of energy.
After 24 months of rapid progress, our economy is the envy of the world, our military is the most powerful on earth, by far, and America is again winning each and every day. Members of Congress: the State of our Union is strong.
('U.S.A' chant from audience)
That sounds so good.
Our country is vibrant and our economy is thriving like never before. On Friday, it was announced that we added another 304,000 jobs last month alone — almost double the number expected. An economic miracle is taking place in the United States — and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics or ridiculous partisan investigations. If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation. It just doesn’t work that way!
We must be united at home to defeat our adversaries abroad. This new era of cooperation can start with finally confirming the more than 300 highly qualified nominees who are still stuck in the Senate — in some cases years and years of waiting, not right. The Senate has failed to act on these nominations, which is unfair to the nominees and very unfair to our country. Now is the time for bipartisan action. Believe it or not, we have already proven that that’s possible.
In the last Congress, both parties came together to pass unprecedented legislation to confront the opioid crisis, a sweeping new Farm Bill, historic V.A. reforms, and after four decades of rejection, we passed V.A. accountability so that we can finally terminate those who mistreat our wonderful veterans. And just weeks ago, both parties united for groundbreaking criminal justice reform. They said it couldn’t be done.
Last year, I heard through friends the story of Alice Johnson. I was deeply moved. In 1997, Alice was sentenced to life in prison as a first-time non-violent drug offender. Over the next 22 years, she became a prison minister, inspiring others to choose a better path. She had a big impact on that prison population — and far beyond. Alice’s story underscores the disparities and unfairness that can exist in criminal sentencing — and the need to remedy this total injustice. She served almost that 22 years and had expected to be in prison for the remainder of her life.
In June, I commuted Alice’s sentence — when I saw Alice's beautiful family greet her at the prison gates, hugging and kissing and crying and laughing, I knew I did something right — Alice is here with us tonight and she is a terrific woman. Terrific. Alice please. Alice, thank you for reminding us that we always have the power to shape our own destiny. Thank you very much, Alice. Thank you very much. Inspired by stories like Alice’s, my administration worked closely with members of both parties to sign the First Step Act into law. Big deal, it’s a big deal.
This legislation reformed sentencing laws that have wrongly and disproportionately harmed the African-American community. The First Step Act gives non-violent offenders the chance to re-enter society as productive, law-abiding citizens. Now, states across the country are following our lead. America is a nation that believes in redemption.
We are also joined tonight by Matthew Charles from Tennessee. In 1996, at the age of 30, Matthew was sentenced to 35 years for selling drugs and related offenses. Over the next two decades, he completed more than 30 Bible studies, became a law clerk, and mentored many of his fellow inmates. Now, Matthew is the very first person to be released from prison under the First Step Act. Matthew please. Thank you Matthew. Welcome home.
Now, Republicans and Democrats must join forces again to confront an urgent national crisis. Congress has 10 days left to pass a bill that will fund our government, protect our homeland, and secure our very dangerous southern border.
Now is the time for Congress to show the world that America is committed to ending illegal immigration and putting the ruthless coyotes, cartels, drug dealers, and human traffickers out of business. As we speak, large, organized caravans are on the march to the United States.
We have just heard that Mexican cities, in order to remove the illegal immigrants from their communities, are getting trucks and buses to bring them up to our country in areas where there is little border protection. I have ordered another 3,750 troops to our southern border to prepare for the tremendous onslaught.
This is a moral issue. The lawless state of our southern border is a threat to the safety, security and financial well-being of all America. We have a moral duty to create an immigration system that protects the lives and jobs of our citizens. This includes our obligation to the millions of immigrants living here today, who followed the rules and respected our laws.
Legal immigrants enrich our nation and strengthen our society in countless ways. I want people to come into our country, in the largest numbers ever, but they have to come in legally. Tonight, I am asking you to defend our very dangerous southern border out of love and devotion to our fellow citizens and to our country.
No issue better illustrates the divide between America’s working class and America's political class than illegal immigration. Wealthy politicians and donors push for open borders while living their lives behind walls and gates and guards.
Meanwhile, working class Americans are left to pay the price for mass illegal immigration — reduced jobs, lower wages, overburdened schools, hospitals that are so crowded you can’t get in, increased crime, and a depleted social safety net.
Tolerance for illegal immigration is not compassionate — it is actually very cruel. One in three women is sexually assaulted on the long journey north. Smugglers use migrant children as human pawns to exploit our laws and gain access to our country. Human traffickers and sex traffickers take advantage of the wide open areas between our ports of entry to smuggle thousands of young girls and women into the United States and to sell them into prostitution and modern-day slavery.
Tens of thousands of innocent Americans are killed by lethal drugs that cross our border and flood into our cities — including meth, heroin, cocaine and fentanyl. The savage gang, MS-13, now operates in at least 20 different American states, and they almost all come through our southern border. Just yesterday, an MS-13 gang member was taken into custody for a fatal shooting on a subway platform in New York City. We are removing these gang members by the thousands, but until we secure our border they're going to keep streaming right back in.
Year after year, countless Americans are murdered by criminal illegal aliens. I’ve gotten to know many wonderful angel moms, and dads and families — no one should ever have to suffer the horrible heartache that they have had to endure.
Here tonight is Debra Bissell. Just three weeks ago, Debra’s parents, Gerald and Sharon, were burglarized and shot to death in their Reno, Nevada home by an illegal alien. They were in their eighties and are survived by 4 children, 11 grandchildren, and 20 great-grandchildren. Also here tonight are Gerald and Sharon’s granddaughter, Heather, and great-granddaughter Madison.
To Debra, Heather, Madison, please stand. Few can understand your pain. Thank you for being here. Thank you very much. I will never forget, and I will fight for the memory of Gerald and Sharon, that it should never happen again. Not one more American life should be lost because our nation failed to control its very dangerous border.
In the last two years, our brave ICE officers made 266,000 arrests of criminal aliens, including those charged or convicted of nearly 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 killings or murders. We are joined tonight by one of those law enforcement heroes: ICE Special Agent Elvin Hernandez. When Elvin was a boy, he and his family legally immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic. At the age of eight, Elvin told his dad he wanted to become a Special Agent.
Today, he leads investigations into the scourge of international sex trafficking. Elvin says: “If I can make sure these young girls get their justice, I've really done my job.” Thanks to his work and that of his incredible colleagues,more than 300 women and girls have been rescued from the horror of this terrible situation and more than 1,500 sadistic traffickers have been put behind bars.
Special Agent Hernandez please stand. We will always support the brave men and women of law enforcement — and I pledge to you tonight that we will never abolish our heroes from ICE.
My administration has sent to Congress a commonsense proposal to end the crisis on the Southern Border.
It includes humanitarian assistance, more law enforcement, drug detection at our ports, closing loopholes that enable child smuggling, and plans for a new physical barrier, or wall, to secure the vast areas between our ports of entry. In the past, most of the people in this room voted for a wall. But the proper wall was never built. I will get it built.
This is a smart, strategic, see-through steel barrier — not just a simple concrete wall. It will be deployed in the areas identified by border agents as having the greatest need, and these agents will tell you, where walls go up, illegal crossings go way way down.
San Diego used to have the most illegal border crossings in our country. In response, a strong security wall was put in place. This powerful barrier almost completely ended illegal crossings.
The border city of El Paso, Texas, used to have extremely high rates of violent crime — one of the highest in the entire country, and considered one of our nation's most dangerous cities. Now, immediately upon its building, with a powerful barrier in place, El Paso is one of the safest cities in our country. Simply put, walls work and walls save lives. So let's work together, compromise, and reach a deal that will truly make America safe.
As we work to defend our people's safety, we must also ensure our economic resurgence continues at a rapid pace. No one has benefited more from our thriving economy than women, who have filled 58 percent of the newly created jobs last year.
(Women cheering in the crowd)
You weren’t supposed to do that. Thank you very much.
All Americans can be proud that we have more women in the workforce than ever before
(More women cheering and standing)
Don’t sit yet, you’re going to like this. And exactly one century after Congress passed the constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote, we also have more women serving in Congress than at any time before. That’s great. Really great. And congratulations.
As part of our commitment to improving opportunity for women everywhere, this Thursday we are launching the first ever government-wide initiative focused on economic empowerment for women in developing countries. To build on our incredible economic success, one priority is paramount — reversing decades of calamitous trade policies. So bad.
We are now making it clear to China that after years of targeting our industries, and stealing our intellectual property, the theft of American jobs and wealth has come to an end. Therefore, we recently imposed tariffs on $250 billion dollars of Chinese goods — and now our Treasury is receiving billions and billions of dollars.
But I don’t blame China for taking advantage of us — I blame our leaders and representatives for allowing this travesty to happen. I have great respect for President Xi, and we are now working on a new trade deal with China. But it must include real, structural change to end unfair trade practices, reduce our chronic trade deficit, and protect American jobs.
Another historic trade blunder was the catastrophe known as NAFTA. I have met the men and women of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Hampshire, and many other states whose dreams were shattered by the signing of NAFTA. For years, politicians promised them they would negotiate for a better deal. But no one ever tried — until now.
Our new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement — the U.S.M.C.A. — will replace NAFTA and deliver for American workers like they haven’t had delivered to in a long time. I hope you can pass the U.S.M.C.A. into law, so we can bring back our manufacturing jobs in even greater numbers, expanding American agriculture, protecting intellectual property, and ensuring that more cars are proudly stamped with the four beautiful words: Made in the USA.
Tonight, I am also asking you to pass the United States Reciprocal Trade Act, so that if another country places an unfair tariff on an American product, we can charge them the exact same tariff on the exact same product that they sell to us.
Both parties should be able to unite for a great rebuilding of America's crumbling infrastructure. I know that Congress is eager to pass an infrastructure bill — and I am eager to work with you on legislation to deliver new and important infrastructure investment, including investments in the cutting edge industries of the future. This is not an option. This is a necessity.
The next major priority for me, and for all of us, should be to lower the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs — and to protect patients with pre-existing conditions. Already, as a result of my administration’s efforts, in 2018 drug prices experienced their single largest decline in 46 years.
But we must do more. It’s unacceptable that Americans pay vastly more than people in other countries for the exact same drugs, often made in the exact same place. This is wrong, this is unfair, and together we will stop it. And we will stop it fast. I am asking Congress to pass legislation that finally takes on the problem of global freeloading and delivers fairness and price transparency for American patients. Finally.
We should also require drug companies, insurance companies, and hospitals to disclose real prices to foster competition and bring costs way down. No force in history has done more to advance the human condition than American freedom.
In recent years we have made remarkable progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Scientific breakthroughs have brought a once-distant dream within reach. My budget will ask Democrats and Republicans to make the needed commitment to eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States within 10 years. We have made incredible strides. Incredible. Together, we will defeat AIDS in America and beyond.
Tonight I am also asking you to join me in another fight that all Americans can get behind: the fight against childhood cancer. Joining Melania in the gallery this evening is a very brave 10 year old girl, Grace Eline. Hi Grace.
Every birthday since she was 4, Grace asked her friends to donate to St. Jude Children's Hospital. She did not know that one day she might be a patient herself. That’s what happened. Last year, Grace was diagnosed with brain cancer. Immediately, she began radiation treatment. At the same time, she rallied her community and raised more than $40,000 dollars for the fight against cancer.
When Grace completed treatment last fall, her doctors and nurses cheered, they love her, they still love her, with tears in their eyes as she hung up a poster that read: “Last day of chemo.” Thank you very much, Grace. You are a great inspiration to everyone in this room.
Many childhood cancers have not seen new therapies in decades. My budget will ask Congress for $500 million dollars over the next 10 years to fund this critical life-saving research.
To help support working parents, the time has come to pass school choice for America's children. I am also proud to be the first President to include in my budget a plan for nationwide paid family leave — so that every new parent has the chance to bond with their newborn child. There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child than the chilling displays our nation saw in recent days.
Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother's womb moments from birth. These are living, feeling, beautiful, babies who will never get the chance to share their love and their dreams with the world. And then, we had the case of the Governor of Virginia where he stated he would execute a baby after birth.
To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother's womb. Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life. And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth: all children — born and unborn — are made in the holy image of God.
The final part of my agenda is to protect American security. Over the last two years, we have begun to fully rebuild the United States Military — with $700 billion dollars last year and $716 billion dollars this year. We are also getting other nations to pay their fair share. Finally.
For years, the United States was being treated very unfairly by friends of ours. Members of NATO. But now we have secured more than $100 billion of increase in defense spending from NATO allies. They said it couldn’t be done. As part of our military build-up, the United States is developing a state-of-the-art missile defense system.
Under my Administration, we will never apologize for advancing America's interests. For example, decades ago the United States entered into a treaty with Russia in which we agreed to limit and reduce our missile capability. While we followed the agreement to the letter, Russia repeatedly violated its terms. It’s been going on for many years. That is why I announced that the United States is officially withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or I.N.F. Treaty. We really have no choice.
Perhaps we can negotiate a different agreement, adding China and others, or perhaps we can’t — in which case, we will outspend and out-innovate all others by far. As part of a bold new diplomacy, we continue our historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula. Our hostages have come home, nuclear testing has stopped, and there has not been a missile launch in more than 15 months.
If I had not been elected president of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea. Much work remains to be done, but my relationship with Kim Jong-un is a good one. Chairman Kim and I will meet again on February 27th and 28th in Vietnam.
Two weeks ago, the United States officially recognized the legitimate government of Venezuela, and its new interim president, Juan Guaido. We stand with the Venezuelan people in their noble quest for freedom — and we condemn the brutality of the Maduro regime, whose socialist policies have turned that nation from being the wealthiest in South America into a state of abject poverty and despair.
Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country. America was founded on liberty and independence — and not government coercion, domination and control. We are born free, and we will stay free. Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.
One of the most complex set of challenges we face, and have for many years, is in the Middle East. Our approach is based on principled realism — not discredited theories that have failed for decades to yield progress. For this reason, my Administration recognized the true capital of Israel — and proudly opened the American embassy in Jerusalem.
Our brave troops have now been fighting in the Middle East for almost 19 years. In Afghanistan and Iraq, nearly 7,000 American heroes have given their lives. More than 52,000 Americans have been badly wounded. We have spent more than seven trillion dollars in the Middle East.
As a candidate for president, I loudly pledged a new approach. Great nations do not fight endless wars. When I took office, ISIS controlled more than 20,000 square miles in Iraq and Syria. Just two years ago. Today, we have liberated virtually all of the territory from the grip of these bloodthirsty monsters. Now, as we work with our allies to destroy the remnants of ISIS, it is time to give our brave warriors in Syria a warm welcome home.
I have also accelerated our negotiations to reach a political settlement in Afghanistan. The opposing side is also very happy to be negotiating. Our troops have fought with unmatched valor — and thanks to their bravery, we are now able to pursue a possible political solution to this long and bloody conflict. In Afghanistan, my administration is holding constructive talks with a number of Afghan groups, including the Taliban.
As we make progress in these negotiations, we will be able to reduce our troops presence and focus on counter-terrorism. And we will indeed focus on counter-terrorism. We do not know whether we will achieve an agreement — but we do know that after two decades of war, the hour has come to at least try for peace. And the other side would like to do the same thing. It’s time.
Above all, friend and foe alike must never doubt this nation's power and will to defend our people. 18 years ago, violent terrorists attacked the USS Cole — and last month American forces killed one of the leaders of that attack. We are honored to be joined tonight by Tom Wibberley, whose son, Navy Seaman Craig Wibberley, was one of the 17 sailors we tragically lost. Tom, we vow to always remember the heroes of the USS Cole.
My administration has acted decisively to confront the world's leading state sponsor of terror, the radical regime in Iran. It is a radical regime. They do bad, bad things.
To ensure this corrupt dictatorship never acquires nuclear weapons, I withdrew the United States from the disastrous Iran nuclear deal. And last fall, we put in place the toughest sanctions ever imposed on a country. We will not avert our eyes from a regime that chants “death to America” and threatens genocide against the Jewish people.
We must never ignore the vile poison of anti-semitism, or those who spread its venomous creed. With one voice, we must confront this hatred anywhere and everywhere it occurs. Just months ago, 11 Jewish-Americans were viciously murdered in an anti-semitic attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
SWAT Officer Timothy Matson raced into the gunfire and was shot seven times chasing down the killer. And he was very successful. Timothy has just had his 12th surgery — and he’s going in for many more — but he made the trip to be here with us tonight. Officer Matson, please. Thank you. We are forever grateful.
Tonight we are also joined by Pittsburgh survivor Judah Samet. He arrived at the synagogue as the massacre began. But not only did Judah narrowly escape death last fall — more than 7 decades ago, he narrowly survived the Nazi concentration camps. Today is Judah’s 81st birthday.
(Crowd sings “Happy Birthday”)
They wouldn’t do that for me, Judah.
Judah says he can still remember the exact moment, nearly 75 years ago, after 10 months in a concentration camp, when he and his family were put on a train, and told they were going to another camp. Suddenly the train screeched to a very strong halt. A soldier appeared. Judah’s family braced for the worst. Then, his father cried out with joy: “It’s the Americans. It’s the Americans.”
A second Holocaust survivor who is here tonight, Joshua Kaufman, was a prisoner at Dachau concentration camp. He remembers watching through a hole in the wall of a cattle car as American soldiers rolled in with tanks. “To me,” Joshua recalls, “the American soldiers were proof that God exists, and they came down from the sky. They came down from heaven.”
I began this evening by honoring three soldiers who fought on D-Day in the second World War. One of them was Herman Zeitchik. But there is more to Herman's story.
A year after he stormed the beaches of Normandy, Herman was one of those American Soldiers who helped liberate Dachau. He was one of the Americans who helped rescue Joshua from that hell on earth. Almost 75 years later, Herman and Joshua are both together in the gallery tonight — seated side-by-side, here in the home of American freedom.
Herman and Joshua: your presence this evening is very much appreciated, thank you very much. Thank you.
When American soldiers set out beneath the dark skies over the English Channel in the early hours of D-Day, 1944, they were just young men of 18 and 19, hurtling on fragile landing craft toward the most momentous battle in the history of war. They did not know if they would survive the hour. They did not know if they would grow old. But they knew that America had to prevail. Their cause was this nation, and generations yet unborn.
Why did they do it? They did it for America — they did it for us.
Everything that has come since — our triumph over communism, our giant leaps of science and discovery, our unrivaled progress toward equality and justice — all of it is possible thanks to the blood and tears and courage and vision of the Americans who came before.
Think of this Capitol — think of this very chamber, where lawmakers before you voted to end slavery, to build the railroads and the highways, and defeat fascism, to secure civil rights, and to face down evil empires.
Here tonight we have legislators from across this magnificent republic. You have come from the rocky shores of Maine and the volcanic peaks of Hawaii. From the snowy woods of Wisconsin and the red deserts of Arizona. From the green farms of Kentucky and the golden beaches of California.
Together, we represent the most extraordinary nation in all of history. What will we do with this moment? How will we be remembered?
I ask the men and women of this Congress: Look at the opportunities before us. Our most thrilling achievements are still ahead. Our most exciting journeys still await. Our biggest victories are still to come. We have not yet begun to dream.
We must choose whether we are defined by our differences — or whether we dare to transcend them. We must choose whether we squander our inheritance — or whether we proudly declare that we are Americans: We do the incredible. We defy the impossible. We conquer the unknown.
This is the time to re-ignite the American imagination. This is the time to search for the tallest summit, and set our sights on the brightest star. This is the time to rekindle the bonds of love and loyalty and memory that link us together as citizens, as neighbors, as patriots. This is our future — our fate — and our choice to make.
I am asking you to choose greatness. No matter the trials we face, no matter the challenges to come, we must go forward together.
We must keep America first in our hearts. We must keep freedom alive in our souls. And we must always keep faith in America’s destiny — that one nation, under God, must be the hope and the promise and the light and the glory among all the nations of the world.
Thank you. God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you very much.

2020  The United States Senate voted, on nearly strict party lines, to acquit President Trump in his impeachment trial.  Only Utah Senator Mitt Romney crossed party lines and voted to convict on one count, but not both.  Both of Wyoming's Senators voted to acquit.