Durbin Statement on President Obama's Address to Joint Session of Congress

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement following President Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress.

“Tonight’s speech, focused on the important things people care about across America and certainly across Illinois.”

“President Obama talked about jobs, and that’s something we’re all worried about. Millions of people have lost their jobs across the country and Congress passed an economic recovery bill that will get people back to work and give working families a tax cut to help pay the bills.”

“He also addressed the need to put banks back on good footing. Nobody loves bankers these days, but without credit we can’t make this economy move forward. The President focused on housing and mortgage foreclosures, which I think is an important element here. It’s really what started this decline and something we have to address honestly.”

“Then he talked about a vision about where America’s going to go and trying to make sure that we make the right budget decisions and invest in the right things for our future. And the three things are obvious; reduce our dependence on foreign oil, number one, reduce the cost of health care for businesses and families, and finally, make sure education is ready for the 21st century so our kids can learn.”

“There were some exciting concepts in the President’s speech tonight: moving America to the front of the pack again in terms of the number of college graduates, helping people pay for education. I mean that really is the kind of visionary look at America’s future that I think America’s been waiting for.”

Video of Durbin’s response can be viewed at:

http://democrats.senate.gov/av/durbin/022409durbin_post.mp4

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