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First, in California, immigrants are an integral part of who we are and what we have become. They have helped create the wealth and dynamism of this state from the very beginning.I recognize that under the Constitution, federal law is supreme and that Washington determines immigration policy. But as a state we can and have had a role to play. California has enacted several protective measures for the undocumented: the Trust Act, lawful driver’s licenses, basic employment rights and non-discriminatory access to higher education.We may be called upon to defend those laws, and defend them we will. And let me be clear: we will defend everybody – every man, woman and child – who has come here for a better life and has contributed to the well-being of our state.My second point relates to health care. More than any other state, California embraced the Affordable Care Act and over five million people now enjoy its benefits. But that coverage has come with tens of billions of federal dollars. Were any of that to be taken away, our state budget would be directly affected, possibly devastated. That is why I intend to join with other governors to do everything we can to protect the health care of our people.Third, our state is known the world over for the actions we have taken to encourage renewable energy and combat climate change.Whatever they do in Washington, they cannot change the facts. And these are the facts: the climate is changing, the temperatures are rising and so are the oceans. Natural habitats everywhere are under increasing stress. The world knows this.One hundred and ninety-four countries signed the Paris Agreement to control greenhouse gases. Our own voluntary agreement to accomplish the same goal – the ‘Under Two MOU’ – has 165 signatories, representing a billion people.We cannot fall back and give in to the climate deniers. The science is clear. The danger is real. We can do much on our own and we can join with others – other states and provinces and even countries, to stop the dangerous rise in climate pollution. And we will.Fourth is infrastructure. This is a topic where the President has stated his firm intention to build and build big. In his inaugural address, he said: ‘We will build new roads, and highways, and bridges, and airports, and tunnels, and railways all across our wonderful nation.’ And in this, we can all work together – here in Sacramento and in Washington as well. We have roads and tunnels and railroads and even a dam that the President could help us with. And that will create good-paying American jobs. As we face the hard journey ahead, we will have to summon, as Abraham Lincoln said, ‘the better angels of our nature.’Above all else, we have to live in the truth. We all have our opinions but for democracy to work, we have to trust each other. We have to strive to understand the facts and state them clearly as we argue our points of view. As Hugo Grotius, the famous Dutch jurist, said long ago: ‘Even God cannot cause two times two not to make four.’ When the science is clear or when our own eyes tell us that the seats in this chamber are filled or that the sun is shining, we must say so, not construct some alternate universe of non-facts that we find more pleasing.Along with truth, we must practice civility. Although we have disagreed - often along party lines - we have generally been civil to one another and avoided the rancor of Washington. I urge you to go even further and look for new ways to work beyond party and act as Californians first. Democrats are in the majority, but Republicans represent real Californians too. We went beyond party when we reformed workers’ compensation, when we created a rainy day fund and when we passed the water bond.Let us do that again and set an example for the rest of the country. And, in the process, we will earn the trust of the people of California. And then there is perseverance. It is not an accident that the sailing ship that brought my great-grandfather to America was named ‘Perseverance’. That is exactly what it took to endure the dangerous and uncertain months at sea, sailing from Germany to America. While we now face different challenges, make no mistake: the future is uncertain and dangers abound. Whether it is the threat to our budget, or to undocumented Californians, or to our efforts to combat climate change – or even more global threats such as a financial meltdown or a nuclear incident or terrorist attack – this is a time which calls out for courage and for perseverance. I promise you both. ■The above article is excerpted from Governor Brown’s State of the State Address delivered on 24 January 2017 in Sacramento, USA. For more information visit: www.gov.ca.gov.California was first referred to as the ‘Great Exception’ by journalist/historian Carey McWilliams (1905-1980) who assessed the state of California in 1949, looking back on one hundred years of its history and considering the reasons for the growth and productivity in this most populous and the most socially and geographically diverse state in the US.Pictured: Edmund G. Brown JrG7 MEMBER STATES 035