Obama Says We’re ‘Not as Divided as We Seem’ at Dallas Memorial

President Barack Obama speaking Dallas this afternoon to the community reeling from last week’s sniper attack, which killed five police officers, and the country said Americans must reject despair during these tough times.

“We turn on the TV or surf the internet and we can watch positions harden and lines drawn and people retreat to their respective corners,” Obama said. “Politicians calculate how to grab attention or avoid the fallout. We see all this and it’s hard not to think sometimes that the center won’t hold. And that things might get worse. I understand. I understand how Americans are feeling. But, Dallas, I’m here to say we must reject such despair.”

Obama continued, “I’m here to insist that we are not as divided as we seem. And I know that because I know America. I know how far we’ve come against impossible odds. I know we’ll make it because of what I’ve experienced in my own life. What I’ve seen of this country and its people, their goodness and decency as president of the United States.”

Obama began his remarks with scripture.

“Scripture tells us that in our sufferings, there is glory. Because we know that suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance, character. And character, hope. Sometimes the truths of these words are hard to see,” Obama said. “Right now those words test us. Because the people of Dallas, people across the country are suffering.”

Obama also spent time speaking about the fallen officers and details from their lives, including Lorne Ahrens who “the night before he died, he bought dinner for a homeless man,” Obama said before adding his two children still don’t understand what happened.

“These men and their families shared a commitment to something larger than themselves. They weren’t looking for their names to be up in lights. They’d tell you the pay was decent, but wouldn’t make you rich,” Obama said. “They could have told you about the stress and long shifts. They probably agree with chief brown when he said that cops don’t expect to hear the words ‘Thank you’ very often. Especially from those who need them the most. No. The reward comes in knowing that our entire way of life in America depends on the rule of law, that the maintenance of that law is a hard and daily labor, that in this country we don’t have soldiers in the streets or militias setting the rules.”

The president worked late into the night consulting Scripture to write his remarks for today, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters aboard Air Force One traveling to Dallas.

“These slain officers were the best among us,” former President George H.W Bush said at the memorial before naming each officer by name and some details about who they were. “Most of us imagine that if the moment called for it we would risk our lives to protect a spouse or a child. Those wearing the uniform assume that risk for the safety of strangers.”

Obama spent time speaking about the fallen officers and details from their lives, including Lorne Ahrens who “the night before he died, he bought dinner for a homeless man,” Obama said before adding his two children still don’t understand what happened.

“These men and their families shared a commitment to something larger than themselves. They weren’t looking for their names to be up in lights. They’d tell you the pay was decent, but wouldn’t make you rich,” Obama said. “They could have told you about the stress and long shifts. They probably agree with chief brown when he said that cops don’t expect to hear the words “Thank you” very often. Especially from those who need them the most. No. The reward comes in knowing that our entire way of life in America depends on the rule of law, that the maintenance of that law is a hard and daily labor, that in this country we don’t have soldiers in the streets or militias setting the rules.”

President George H.W. Bush spoke in advance of Obama.

Bush said that often “we judge other groups by their worst examples, while judging ourselves by our best intentions” and spoke of the need for unity and tolerance.

“This is the bridge across our nation’s deepest divisions. And it is not merely a matter of tolerance. But of learning from the struggles and stories of our fellow citizens and finding our better selves in the process,” Bush said. “At our best we know we have one country, one future, one destiny. We do not want the unity of grief, nor do we want the unity of fear. We want the unity of hope, affection, and high purpose.”

“To wage this battle against violence and separatism, today must be about unity,” Mayor Michael S. Rawlings said at the start of the program at Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. “Unity among faiths, unity among police and citizens, and, yes, unity among politicians. In recent days I’ve seen unity, even before that tragedy, when police and protesters mingled peacefully.”

The mayor spoke of unity bringing together the interfaith choir and former president G.W. Bush and current president Obama to speak at the service.

This is the 11th time Obama has traveled to a community in the wake of a mass shooting. His visit comes as racial tension across the country is mounting after the deaths of two black men at the hands of police: Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in suburban St. Paul, Minnesota.

Obama, who cut short a trip to Europe after the sniper attack, is expected to deliver a highly personal and emotional speech at a memorial service for the five slain police officers at the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center.

He is also expected to meet privately with the families of the fallen officers and those who were injured in the attack.

Additionally, former President George W. Bush is scheduled to deliver brief remarks at the service. Obama will also be accompanied by first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Jill Biden and former first lady Laura Bush.

Joining him on Air Force One — which touched down at Dallas Love Field at 12:15 p.m. local time — was Ted Cruz, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Reps. Marc Veasey and Eddie Bernice Johnson. Veasey and Johnson, both Democrats, are from districts in the Dallas area.

Cruz, R-Texas, a forceful critic of Obama, is flying on Air Force One at the president’s invitation — a sign of setting partisanship aside during a time of tragedy. Just last month, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., did the same when he traveled with Obama to Orlando to pay respects to those killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting.

Obama invited House Speaker Paul Ryan to fly on Air Force One to attend the service, but the Republican leader was unable to attend, his spokeswoman AshLee Strong said.