Text of President Barack Obama's speech to the Congress

Text of President Barack ObamaBarack Obama's speech to the Congress:

Madame Speaker, Mr Vice-President, Members of Congress, and the First Lady of the United States - I have come here tonight not only to address the men and women in this great chamber, but to speak frankly and directly to the men and women who sent us here.

I know that for many Americans watching right now, the state of our economy is a concern that rises above all others - and rightly so.

If you have not been personally affected by this recession, you probably know someone who has – a friend, a neighbour; a member of your family.

You do not need to hear another list of statistics to know that our economy is in crisis, because you live it every day.

It is the worry you wake up with and the source of sleepless nights. It is the job you thought you'd retire from but now have lost; the business you built your dreams upon that is now hanging by a thread; the college acceptance letter your child had to put back in the envelope. The impact of this recession is real, and it is everywhere.

But while our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken, and though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, 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 weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation. The answers to our problems do not 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.

Those qualities that have made America the greatest force of progress and prosperity in human history we still possess in ample measure.

What is required now is for this country to pull together, confront the challenges we face, and take responsibility for our future once more.

Now, if we are honest with ourselves, we would all admit that for too long, we have not always met these responsibilities – as a government or as a people.

I say this not to lay blame or look backwards, but because it is only by understanding how we arrived at this moment that we'll be able to lift ourselves out of this predicament.

The fact is, our economy did not fall into decline overnight. Nor did all of our problems begin when the housing market collapsed or the stock market sank.

We have known for decades that our survival depends on finding new sources of energy. Yet we import more oil today than ever before.

The cost of healthcare 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, and though all these challenges went unsolved, we still managed to spend more money and pile up more debt, both as individuals and through our government, than ever before.

In other words, we have lived through an era where too often, short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity - where we failed to look beyond the next payment, the next quarter, or the next election.

A surplus became an excuse to transfer wealth to the wealthy instead of an opportunity to invest in our future.

Regulations were gutted for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market.

People bought homes they knew they couldn't afford from banks and lenders who pushed those bad loans anyway.

And all the while, critical debates and difficult decisions were put off for some other time on some other day. Well that day of reckoning has arrived, and the time to take charge of our future is here.

Now is the time to act boldly and wisely – to not only revive this economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity.

Now is the time to jumpstart job creation, re-start lending, and invest in areas like energy, healthcare, and education that will grow our economy, even as we make hard choices to bring our deficit down.

That is what my economic agenda is designed to do, and that is what I would like to talk to you about tonight.

It is an agenda that begins with jobs.

As soon as I took office, I asked this Congress to send me a recovery plan by President's Day that would put people back to work and put money in their pockets.

Not because I believe in bigger government – I don't.

Not because I am not mindful of the massive debt we have inherited – I am.

I called for action because the failure to do so would have cost more jobs and caused more hardships.

In fact, a failure to act would have worsened our long-term deficit by assuring weak economic growth for years.

That is why I pushed for quick action, and tonight, I am grateful that this Congress delivered, and I am pleased to say that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is now law.

Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs. More than 90 per cent of these jobs will be in the private sector – jobs rebuilding our roads and bridges, constructing wind turbines and solar panels, laying broadband and expanding mass transit.

Because of this plan, there are teachers who can now keep their jobs and educate our kids.

Healthcare professionals can continue caring for our sick. There are 57 police officers who are still on the streets of Minneapolis tonight because this plan prevented the layoffs their department was about to make.

Because of this plan, 95 per cent of working households in America will receive a tax cut – a tax cut that you will see in your payslips beginning on April 1.

Because of this plan, families who are struggling to pay tuition costs will receive a $2,500 tax credit for four years of college, and Americans who have lost their jobs in this recession will be able to receive extended unemployment benefits and continued healthcare coverage to help them weather this storm.

I know there are some in this chamber and watching at home who are sceptical of whether this plan will work. I understand that scepticism.

Here in Washington, we have all seen how quickly good intentions can turn into broken promises and wasteful spending, and with a plan of this scale comes enormous responsibility to get it right.

That is why I have asked Joe BidenJoe Biden [the vice-president] to lead a tough and unprecedented oversight effort – because nobody messes with Joe.

I have told each member of my cabinet as well as mayors and governors across the country that they will be held accountable by me and the American people for every dollar they spend.

I have appointed a proven and aggressive inspector-general to ferret out any and all cases of waste and fraud.

And we have created a new website called recovery.gov so that every American can find out how and where their money is being spent.

So the recovery plan we passed is the first step in getting our economy back on track.

But it is just the first step.

Because even if we manage this plan flawlessly, there will be no real recovery unless we clean up the credit crisis that has severely weakened our financial system.

I want to speak plainly and candidly about this issue tonight, because every American should know that it directly affects you and your family's well-being.

You should also know that the money you have deposited in banks across the country is safe, your insurance is secure, and you can rely on the continued operation of our financial system. That is not the source of concern.

The concern is that if we do not re-start lending in this country, our recovery will be choked off before it even begins.

The flow of credit is the lifeblood of our economy. The ability to get a loan is how you finance the purchase of everything from a home to a car to a college education, how stores stock their shelves, farms buy equipment, and businesses make payroll.

But credit has stopped flowing the way it should.

Too many bad loans from the housing crisis have made their way onto the books of too many banks.

With so much debt and so little confidence, these banks are now fearful of lending out any more money to households, to businesses, or to each other.

When there is no lending, families cannot afford to buy homes or cars. Therefore businesses are forced to make layoffs.

Our economy suffers even more, and credit dries up even further. That is why this administration is moving swiftly and aggressively to break this destructive cycle, restore confidence, and re-start lending.

We will do so in several ways. First, 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.

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.

It's a plan that won't help speculators or that neighbour down the street who bought a house he could never hope to afford, but it will help millions of Americans who are struggling with declining home values – Americans who will now be able to take advantage of the lower interest rates that this plan has already helped bring about. In fact, the average family who re-finances today can save nearly $2000 per year on their mortgage.

Third, we will act with the full force of the federal government to ensure that the major banks that Americans depend on have enough confidence and enough money to lend even in more difficult times.

And when we learn that a major bank has serious problems, we will hold accountable those responsible, force the necessary adjustments, provide the support to clean up their balance sheets, and assure the continuity of a strong, viable institution that can serve our people and our economy.

I understand that on any given day, Wall Street may be more comforted by an approach that gives banks bailouts with no strings attached, and that holds nobody accountable for their reckless decisions. But such an approach won't solve the problem. And our goal is to quicken the day when we re-start lending to the American people and American business and end this crisis once and for all.

I intend to hold these banks fully accountable for the assistance they receive, and this time, they will have to clearly demonstrate how taxpayer dollars result in more lending for the American taxpayer. This time, CEOs won't be able to use taxpayer money to pad their paycheques or buy fancy drapes or disappear on a private jet. Those days are over.

Still, this plan will require significant resources from the federal government – and yes, probably more than we've already set aside.

But 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. That would be worse for our deficit, worse for business, worse for you, and worse for the next generation. And I refuse to let that happen.

I understand that when the last administration asked this Congress to provide assistance for struggling banks, Democrats and Republicans alike were infuriated by the mismanagement and results that followed. So were the American taxpayers. So was I.

So I know how unpopular it is to be seen as helping banks right now, especially when everyone is suffering in part from their bad decisions. I promise you – I get it.

But I also know that in a time of crisis, we cannot afford to govern out of anger, or yield to the politics of the moment. My job – our job – is to solve the problem. Our job is to govern with a sense of responsibility. 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.

That's what this is about. It's not about helping banks – it's about helping people.

Because when credit is available again, that young family can finally buy a new home. And then some company will hire workers to build it. And then those workers will have money to spend, and if they can get a loan too, maybe they'll finally buy that car, or open their own business.

Investors will return to the market, and American families will see their retirement secured once more. Slowly, but surely, confidence will return, and our economy will recover.

So I ask this Congress to join me in doing whatever proves necessary. Because we cannot consign our nation to an open-ended recession.

And 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. It is time to put in place tough, new common-sense rules of the road so that our financial market rewards drive and innovation, and punishes short-cuts and abuse.

The recovery plan and the financial stability plan are the immediate steps we're taking to revive our economy in the short-term. But the only way to fully restore America's economic strength is to make the long-term investments that will lead to new jobs, new industries, and a renewed ability to compete with the rest of the world.

The only way this century will be another American century is if we confront at last the price of our dependence on oil and the high cost of healthcare; the schools that aren't preparing our children and the mountain of debt they stand to inherit. That is our responsibility.

In the next few days, I will submit a budget to Congress. So often, we have come to view these documents as simply numbers on a page or laundry lists of programs. I see this document differently. I see it as a vision for America – as a blueprint for our future.

My budget does not attempt to solve every problem or address every issue. It reflects the stark reality of what we've inherited – a trillion dollar deficit, a financial crisis, and a costly recession.

Given these realities, everyone in this chamber – Democrats and Republicans – will have to sacrifice some worthy priorities for which there are no dollars. And that includes me.

But that does not mean we can afford to ignore our long-term challenges. 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. History reminds us that at every moment of economic upheaval and transformation, this nation has responded with bold action and big ideas.

In the midst of civil war, we laid railroad tracks from one coast to another that spurred commerce and industry. From the turmoil of the Industrial Revolution came a system of public high schools that prepared our citizens for a new age.

In the wake of war and depression, the GI Bill sent a generation to college and created the largest middle-class in history.

And a twilight struggle for freedom led to a nation of highways, an American on the moon, and an explosion of technology that still shapes our world.

In each case, government didn't supplant private enterprise; it catalysed private enterprise. It created the conditions for thousands of entrepreneurs and new businesses to adapt and to thrive.

We are a nation that has seen promise amid peril, and claimed opportunity from ordeal. Now we must be that nation again.

That is why, even as it cuts back on the programs we don't need, the budget I submit will invest in the three areas that are absolutely critical to our economic future: energy, healthcare, and education.

It begins with energy.

We know the country that harnesses the power of clean, renewable energy will lead the 21st century.

And yet, it is China that has launched the largest effort in history to make their economy energy efficient. We invented solar technology, but we've fallen behind countries like Germany and Japan in producing it. New plug-in hybrids roll off our assembly lines, but they will run on batteries made in Korea.

Well I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders – and I know you don't either. It is time for America to lead again.

Thanks to our Following is the prepared speech given by Barack Obama, the US president, to congress:

Madame Speaker, Mr Vice-President, Members of Congress, and the First Lady of the United States - I have come here tonight not only to address the men and women in this great chamber, but to speak frankly and directly to the men and women who sent us here.

I know that for many Americans watching right now, the state of our economy is a concern that rises above all others - and rightly so.

If you have not been personally affected by this recession, you probably know someone who has – a friend, a neighbour; a member of your family.

You do not need to hear another list of statistics to know that our economy is in crisis, because you live it every day.

It is the worry you wake up with and the source of sleepless nights. It is the job you thought you'd retire from but now have lost; the business you built your dreams upon that is now hanging by a thread; the college acceptance letter your child had to put back in the envelope. The impact of this recession is real, and it is everywhere.

But while our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken, and though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, 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 weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation. The answers to our problems do not 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.

Those qualities that have made America the greatest force of progress and prosperity in human history we still possess in ample measure.

What is required now is for this country to pull together, confront the challenges we face, and take responsibility for our future once more.

Now, if we are honest with ourselves, we would all admit that for too long, we have not always met these responsibilities – as a government or as a people.

I say this not to lay blame or look backwards, but because it is only by understanding how we arrived at this moment that we'll be able to lift ourselves out of this predicament.

The fact is, our economy did not fall into decline overnight. Nor did all of our problems begin when the housing market collapsed or the stock market sank.

We have known for decades that our survival depends on finding new sources of energy. Yet we import more oil today than ever before.

The cost of healthcare 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, and though all these challenges went unsolved, we still managed to spend more money and pile up more debt, both as individuals and through our government, than ever before.

In other words, we have lived through an era where too often, short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity - where we failed to look beyond the next payment, the next quarter, or the next election.

A surplus became an excuse to transfer wealth to the wealthy instead of an opportunity to invest in our future.

Regulations were gutted for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market.

People bought homes they knew they couldn't afford from banks and lenders who pushed those bad loans anyway.

And all the while, critical debates and difficult decisions were put off for some other time on some other day. Well that day of reckoning has arrived, and the time to take charge of our future is here.

Now is the time to act boldly and wisely – to not only revive this economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity.

Now is the time to jumpstart job creation, re-start lending, and invest in areas like energy, healthcare, and education that will grow our economy, even as we make hard choices to bring our deficit down.

That is what my economic agenda is designed to do, and that is what I would like to talk to you about tonight.

It is an agenda that begins with jobs.

As soon as I took office, I asked this Congress to send me a recovery plan by President's Day that would put people back to work and put money in their pockets.

Not because I believe in bigger government – I don't.

Not because I am not mindful of the massive debt we have inherited – I am.

I called for action because the failure to do so would have cost more jobs and caused more hardships.

In fact, a failure to act would have worsened our long-term deficit by assuring weak economic growth for years.

That is why I pushed for quick action, and tonight, I am grateful that this Congress delivered, and I am pleased to say that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is now law.

Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs. More than 90 per cent of these jobs will be in the private sector – jobs rebuilding our roads and bridges, constructing wind turbines and solar panels, laying broadband and expanding mass transit.

Because of this plan, there are teachers who can now keep their jobs and educate our kids.

Healthcare professionals can continue caring for our sick. There are 57 police officers who are still on the streets of Minneapolis tonight because this plan prevented the layoffs their department was about to make.

Because of this plan, 95 per cent of working households in America will receive a tax cut – a tax cut that you will see in your payslips beginning on April 1.

Because of this plan, families who are struggling to pay tuition costs will receive a $2,500 tax credit for four years of college, and Americans who have lost their jobs in this recession will be able to receive extended unemployment benefits and continued healthcare coverage to help them weather this storm.

I know there are some in this chamber and watching at home who are sceptical of whether this plan will work. I understand that scepticism.

Here in Washington, we have all seen how quickly good intentions can turn into broken promises and wasteful spending, and with a plan of this scale comes enormous responsibility to get it right.

That is why I have asked Joe Biden [the vice-president] to lead a tough and unprecedented oversight effort – because nobody messes with Joe.

I have told each member of my cabinet as well as mayors and governors across the country that they will be held accountable by me and the American people for every dollar they spend.

I have appointed a proven and aggressive inspector-general to ferret out any and all cases of waste and fraud.

And we have created a new website called recovery.gov so that every American can find out how and where their money is being spent.

So the recovery plan we passed is the first step in getting our economy back on track.

But it is just the first step.

Because even if we manage this plan flawlessly, there will be no real recovery unless we clean up the credit crisis that has severely weakened our financial system.

I want to speak plainly and candidly about this issue tonight, because every American should know that it directly affects you and your family's well-being.

You should also know that the money you have deposited in banks across the country is safe, your insurance is secure, and you can rely on the continued operation of our financial system. That is not the source of concern.

The concern is that if we do not re-start lending in this country, our recovery will be choked off before it even begins.

The flow of credit is the lifeblood of our economy. The ability to get a loan is how you finance the purchase of everything from a home to a car to a college education, how stores stock their shelves, farms buy equipment, and businesses make payroll.

But credit has stopped flowing the way it should.

Too many bad loans from the housing crisis have made their way onto the books...