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President Obama: I would like to begin today by telling you about
an American named Chris Stevens. Chris was born in a town
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called Grass Valley, California, the son of a lawyer and a
musician. As a young man, Chris joined the Peace Corps
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and taught English in Morocco. And he came to love
and respect the people of North Africa and the Middle East
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He would carry that commitment throughout his life.
As a diplomat, he worked from Egypt to Syria,
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from Saudi Arabia to Libya. He was known
for walking the streets of the cities where he worked
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tasting the local food, meeting as many people as he could,
speaking Arabic, listening with a broad smile.
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Chris went to Benghazi in the early days of the Libyan
revolution, arriving on a cargo ship.
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As America’s representative, he helped the Libyan
people as they coped with violent conflict,
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cared for the wounded, and crafted a vision for the future
in which the rights of all Libyans would be respected.
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And after the revolution, he supported the birth of a
new democracy, as Libyans held elections, and built
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new institutions, and began to move forward after
decades of dictatorship. Chris Stevens loved his work.
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Chris Stevens loved his work. He took pride in
the country he served, and he saw dignity in the
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people that he met. And two weeks ago,
he traveled to Benghazi to review plans to establish
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a new cultural center and modernize a hospital.
That’s when America’s compound came under attack.
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Along with three of his colleagues,
Chris was killed in the city
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that he helped to save. He was 52 years old.
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Today, we must reaffirm that our future will be determined
by people like Chris Stevens and not by his killers.
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Today, we must declare that this violence and
intolerance has no place among our United Nations.
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And I promise you this: Long after the killers are
brought to justice, Chris Stevens’ legacy will live
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on in the lives that he touched — in the tens of
thousands who marched against violence
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through the streets of Benghazi; in the Libyans
who changed their Facebook photo to one of Chris;
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in the signs that read, simply, "Chris Stevens was
a friend to all Libyans." They should give us hope.
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They should remind us that so long as we work for it,
justice will be done, that history is on our side,
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and that a rising tide of liberty will never be reversed.