Obama Makes Jobs Top US Priority

World | January 28, 2010, Thursday // 09:25
Bulgaria: Obama Makes Jobs Top US Priority With US Vice President Joe Biden looking on (right) US President Barack Obama (C) delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, USA, 27 January 2010. Photo by EPA/BGNES

US President Barack Obama has said in his first State of the Union address that creating jobs must be the nation's number one focus.

Obama accepted Americans were "hurting" and that his election pledge of change had not come quickly enough.

He defended his healthcare reform efforts and bank bailout policy, but said there would be a spending freeze from 2011 to tackle the budget deficit.

Bob McDonnell, for the Republicans, criticised the expansion of government.

The Virginia governor said the federal government was "simply trying to do too much".

Obama was given the traditional warm welcome by all sides of Congress and received several standing ovations.

He opened his address by saying the US had to "answer history's call".

On the issue of employment, Obama said: "People are out of work. They are hurting. They need our help. And I want a jobs bill on my desk without delay.

"Jobs must be our number one focus in 2010."

On the economy, Obama said he had taken office a year ago "amid two wars, an economy rocked by severe recession, a financial system on the verge of collapse, and a government deeply in debt".

"The devastation remains," he said. "One in 10 Americans still cannot find work. Many businesses have shuttered. Home values have declined. Small towns and rural communities have been hit especially hard. For those who had already known poverty, life has become that much harder.

"I know the anxieties that are out there right now. They're not new. These struggles are the reason I ran for president."

He said he would insist on the new jobs bill. "The House has passed a jobs bill... as the first order of business this year, I urge the Senate to do the same."

Obama defended the controversial bank bailouts, saying they were necessary to save the economy.

"When I ran for president, I promised I wouldn't just do what was popular - I would do what was necessary," he said.

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