WASHINGTON (ABP) — In his first address to a joint session of Congress Feb. 24, President Obama focused squarely on the economic crisis that faces the United States and related problems with health care, education funding and fossil-fuel dependency.
“We have known for decades that our survival depends on finding new sources of energy, yet we import more oil today than ever before,” said Obama near the beginning of his 50-minute-long address. “The cost of health care eats up more and more of our savings each year, yet we keep delaying reform. Our children will compete for jobs in a global economy that too many of our schools do not prepare them for.”
In his first of what will be an annual speech to Congress — which isn’t referred to as a “State of the Union” report until the president has been in the office for a year — Obama largely steered clear of many of the controversial social issues that often marked the speeches of his predecessor.
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“I reject the view that says our problems will simply take care of themselves, that says government has no role in laying the foundation for our common prosperity, for history tells a different story,” Obama said. “History reminds us that, at every moment of economic upheaval and transformation, this nation has responded with bold action and big ideas.”
“That is why, even as it cuts back on programs we don’t need, the budget I submit will invest in the three areas that are absolutely critical to our economic future: energy, health care, and education.”
One of the few specific proposals Obama called for in the speech was designed to battle global warming. The president asked Congress for “legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America.” He also requested $15 billion to develop alternative energy sources, such as solar and wind power.
On health care, Obama praised Congress for expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), providing an estimated 11 million children with health coverage. The quip inspired one of the evening’s few partisan moments, when conservative Republicans — who largely opposed SCHIP expansion because they feared it would encourage some middle-class families to switch from private to public insurance — sat in stony silence while Democrats and moderate Republicans applauded.
Nonetheless, Obama demanded further government investment in health-care reform, saying it was overdue and necessary for economic progress.
“I suffer no illusions that this will be an easy process. Once again, it will be hard. But I also know that nearly a century after Teddy Roosevelt first called for reform, the cost of our health care has weighed down our economy and our conscience long enough. So let there be no doubt: health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year,” he said, to bipartisan applause.
On the issue of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama promised a significant reduction in American troops in the former country, and a commitment to fighting the war on terror in a way that upholds the nation’s ideals.
He reiterated his decision to close the controversial prison for terrorism suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as well as executive orders banning torture of detainees in U.S. custody.
Obama said he made those decisions: “because living our values doesn’t make us weaker. It makes us safer, and it makes us stronger. And that is why I can stand here tonight and say without exception or equivocation that the United States of America does not torture. We can make that commitment here tonight.”
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“Today in Washington, some are promising that government will rescue us from the economic storms raging all around us. Those of us who lived through Hurricane Katrina, we have our doubts,” said Jindal, a Roman Catholic, the nation’s first Indian-American governor and a favorite of many conservative Christians. “The strength of America is not found in our government. It is found in the compassionate hearts and the enterprising spirit of our citizens.”
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Robert Marus is managing editor and Washington bureau chief for Associated Baptist Press.
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