Special Report:Global Financial Crisis
Special Report: Barack Obama: The 44th U.S.
President
by Liu Hong, Hu Fang
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (Chinese media) -- U.S. President Barack
Obama vowed on Tuesday that his nation would emerge stronger from the current
economic crisis, a rare move aimed to comfort the recession-weary American
people.
In his first address to a joint session of Congress,
Obama said the weight of the current crisis "will not determine the destiny of
this nation."
"While our economy may be weakened and our confidence
shaken, though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I
want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover," he
stressed.
"And the United States of America will emerge
stronger than before," the president insisted.
MORE OPTIMISTIC
TONE
The speech came a week after Obama signed a stimulus
bill of 787 billion dollars and two days before Congress receives a summary of
his 2010 budget.
The address touched lightly on foreign policy, so
Obama could focus largely on the nation's economic and fiscal crisis, according
to the White House officials.
Obama called on Americans to "pull together" and
"take responsibility for our future."
"Now is the time to jump-start job creation, restart
lending, and invest in areas like energy, health care, and education that will
grow our economy, even as we make hard choices to bring our deficit down," he
said. "That is what my economic agenda is designed to do, and that's what I'd
like to talk to you about tonight."
Obama struck a more optimistic tone than he has in
recent days by laying out a "game plan" to beat the financial crisis.
Wall Street plunged Monday with the Dow Jones average
and the SP 500 index dropping to a 12-year-low on concerns about dim
economic outlook.
But the market rallied Tuesday after Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled that nationalization of major banks was not at
hand.
Unlike the more formal State of Union speeches
delivered later in a presidency, Obama did not go into great details on
questions such as whether major banks will be nationalized.
He assured the Americans that the country could work
through the current crisis, the most severe one since the Great Depression in
1930s.
"The answers to our problems don't lie beyond our
reach. They exist 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," said Obama.
"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," the president noted.
Special Report:Global Financial Crisis
Special Report: Barack Obama: The 44th U.S.
President
SWIFT
ACTIONS
In the address, Obama noted his administration is
moving swiftly and aggressively to break this destructive cycle of the credit
market, restore confidence, and re-start lending.
"We are creating a new lending fund that represents
the largest effort ever to help provide auto loans, college loans, and small
business loans to the consumers and entrepreneurs who keep this economy
running," said Obama.
"Second, we have launched a housing plan that will
help responsible families facing the threat of foreclosure lower their monthly
payments and re-finance their mortgages," he said.
Obama has already committed 275 billion dollars to
strengthening the housing market. Of that, 75 billions are aimed at preventing
foreclosures.
Third, the U.S. government will "act with the full
force" to ensure that the major banks that Americans depend on have enough
confidence and enough money to lend even in more difficult times, said the new
president.
"I will not spend a single penny for the purpose of
rewarding a single Wall Street executive, but I will do whatever it takes to
help the small business that can't pay its workers or the family that has saved
and still can't get a mortgage," said Obama.
He acknowledged that reviving the stricken U.S.
economy will cost more than the trillions of dollars already committed.
"While the cost of action will be great, I can assure
you that the cost of inaction will be far greater, for it could result in an
economy that sputters along for not months or years, but perhaps a decade," he
said.
He called on Congress to move quickly on legislation
to overhaul outdated regulations on the nation's financial markets.
"I ask this Congress to join me in doing whatever
proves necessary," Obama said. "Because we cannot consign our nation to an
open-ended recession."
"To ensure that a crisis of this magnitude never
happens again, I ask Congress to move quickly on legislation that will finally
reform our outdated regulatory system," he added.
Though deep partisan fault lines are quickly
reemerging, Obama is receiving strong reviews for this first full month in
office.
A new Washington Post-ABC News survey found 68
percent of the public approves of Obama's job performance, while a Gallup poll,
also out on Tuesday, showed his approval rating falling to 59 percent.
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