internationally his wisdom and capacity to build relationships has shaped our nation's response to the fall of the berlin wall and the iron curtain. to counter-terrorism, iraq, afghanistan. and for the past eight years he could not have been a more devoted or effective partner in the progress that we have made. he fought to make college more affordable and revitalize american manufacturing as the head of our middle-class task force. he suited up for our cancer moon shot, giving home to millions of americans touched by this disease. he led our efforts to combat gun violence, and he rooted out any possible misappropriations that might have occurred, and as a consequence, the recovery act worked as well as just about any large-scale stimulus project has ever worked in this country.