 Admiral Kearney, Sergeant J. Hall, Commander Slice, freedom shipmates, good afternoon. It is my honor and pleasure to introduce the Vice President of the United States, so please give a warm welcome and allow a freedom welcome to your Vice President, Vice President Biden. Thank you very much, Captain. Captain, Sergeant Affair Blair Hall and all of the crew of this new most versatile ship, I think, in the Navy, and your brothers and sisters who came aboard. I asked where, in fact, your competitors were. They said, in the back, in the back. So it's nice to see you all here. You know, America's commitment to leadership, by example, is embodied in every one of you assembled on this ship. The sailors of the USS Freedom and the Fitzgerald. Sailors in the finest Navy the world has ever known. That's not hyperbole. I'm not here as Vice President to boast. It literally is true. This is the finest Navy in the history of the world. You are the finest warriors that have ever been produced in the history of the world. And there has never, ever, ever been a generation of warriors or soldiers, sailors, Marines, a Coast Guard in the history of the world that is as competent as the United States military. And, again, there's press here. That's not hyperbole. That's just a flat, straight fact. I know firsthand I have a couple sons in the military. If you forgive me, one son is Navy, but the other son is Army, spent a year in Iraq. So, but he still likes you guys a lot, too, you know? And the truth of the matter is that I'm as proud of you as I am as proud of them. You're part of, here in Singapore, you're part of what, as the President has announced, is our policy, our foreign policy of rebalancing through the Asia Pacific. A region with remarkable economic promise, but also genuine uncertainty and potential risk. Singapore has been an economic powerhouse in the Southeast Asia for decades. But, in part, it's because they know, and continue to know, their economic growth depends on the security of this region, the security that you provide and the United States military has been providing in the Pacific for over 60 years. They know that the U.S. military presence is a force for peace and stability. As I said when I was in China and India and everywhere I go in the region, I've flown over 700,000 miles since becoming Vice President, visiting other countries. And I state unabashedly and without apology, we are a Pacific power. America is a resident Pacific power, and we will remain so. And the reason why we're able to remain so is because of all of you assembled before me. The truth of the matter is, our resident power status is the reason why this area of the world has been able to grow and be stable. It's been a long time. Today is the 60th anniversary of armistice today and in the war in Korea. We celebrate the heroic sacrifices of American men and women during that God-awful campaign and along with our allied troops in the Korean War. But the threat from North Korea continues today, as I speak. And as I speak, there seems to be a new dawning in the region on the part of our, not just our allies, our traditional allies of South Korea and Japan, but also on the part of Russia and China of what a destabilizing force the government in North Korea is. We're open. We're open to genuine talks, but not the continuation of this routine we've seen from the North of provocation and then reward for bad behavior. There's only one path forward for Korea, North Korea. They can choose that path to a better life, but only as a non-nuclear state. Looking forward, we've decided, in the rebalancing through the long review by the Pentagon, we've decided that 60% of our naval forces will be deployed to the Pacific Fleet by 2020. Our mere presence in the Pacific is in and of itself the basis upon which stability of the region is built. And it enables us to be increasingly able to confront a range of challenges to both security and economic growth. Freedom of navigation, unimpeded lawful commerce, and peaceful resolution of territorial disputes. You are the glue. It's not again, not hyperbole. You are the glue that holds all of this together. You're the ones ensuring this partnership remains effective in meeting the challenges of the 21st century. From countering North Korea's nuclear program to building up ties and trade and investment that generate jobs back home to promoting democracy and human rights, you do it all, but you don't do it alone. As the poet John Milton once said, those also serve who only stand and wait. So we owe. We owe your spouses. We owe your children for the incredible sacrifices they make. Your absence of birthdays and births, weddings and funerals, the absence of your touch, just as you walk out the door. We owe them. We owe them as much as we owe you. That's the reason why my wife, Jill Biden and Michelle Obama travel all over the country in the case of my wife, all over the world, talking to military families. You only make up 1% of the nation's entire population, but you are warranted the gratitude and thanks of 100% of our population. We only have, and I've been saying this for years, we only have one truly sacred obligations of government. We have many obligations to the poor, to the disadvantaged, to our children, to the elderly, but only one truly sacred obligation. And that is to equip those who we send to war and into battle and into space that need be occupied, care for their families while they're gone and care for their needs and your needs when you're home. That's the only truly sacred obligation we have. You still have 60,000 brothers and sisters in harm's way in Afghanistan and in many other parts of the world. As I said, you're part of one important, incredible family, a family that America owes every bit of their fealty too. So I came for two reasons. One, to demonstrate that this ship, one of the newest additions to the United States Navy is an incredible and increasing part of our neighbors, our Navy's capacity. And two, to let the world know how proud we are of you and let you know how much you contribute to the economic and physical security of this region of the world. We owe you, may God bless America and may God protect our troops. Thanks for the cast. Thank you all very, very much. Thank you. Thank you.