President Speaks to Joint-Session of Congress
NH REACT
New Hampshire Union Leader
Aoife Connors
Boston University Washington News Service
February 24, 2009
WASHINGTON—President Obama expressed confidence Tuesday night that the nation will weather the current crisis and end up economically healthier than before.
Speaking to a joint session of Congress, Obama said, “I want every American to know this: we will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.”
The President promised that “the weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation.” He said the answers to our problems lie “in our laboratories and universities, in our fields and our factories, in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on earth.”
He added that “what is required now is for this country to pull together, confront boldly the challenges we face and take responsibility for our future once more.”
Obama’s speech came only hours after Ben S. Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, told the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee that the recession could end this year, with 2010 being “a year of recovery.
Earlier in the day, Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H) invited Capt. Daniel McCarroll from Jaffery to attend the President’s address from the visitors’ gallery of the House of Representatives.
“I am honored to invite Capt. McCarroll to represent the New Hampshire National Guard at this important address before Congress,” Hodes said.
McCarroll, he said, led “the youngest group of soldiers the New Hampshire National Guard has ever deployed into a challenging area of southeast Baghdad.”
“This is a serious time in our nation’s history,” Hodes said. He added that he expected the President to address “how we will face down this economic crisis by making wise investments for the future but doing it in a fiscally responsible way.”
He added tjhat Obama was likely “to strike a serious tone to match the times but also a hopeful assessment of how America will get through this economic crisis.” This and the previous graph should be replaced with post-speech quotes.
