(Newswire.net — January 13, 2016) — At the beginning of his speech, which lasted less than an hour, Obama acknowledged that the expectations from him, as the US president in his final mandate, are very low. But he has promised that he would not stop working on the realization of his political goals.
“And I will continue to work on all the things for which it is necessary to be done, repairing the immigration system, protecting our children from gun violence. Equal pay for equal work. Paid leave. Raising the minimum wage.”
Obama rejected criticism of the US economic policy and said that the United States is the strongest and most enduring of the world economy, which during his mandate created 14 million new jobs and halved the unemployment rate.
“Gas under $2 a gallon ain’t bad either”, he added followed by applause.
Obama also firmly rejected the rhetoric that enemies of the US are becoming stronger while America is weakening.
“The US is the most powerful country in the world. Period. No one is even close. We spend more on our military than the next eight nations combined. Our troops are the strongest fighting force in the history of the world. No nation attacks us directly or our allies because they know that’s the path to ruin”, Obama said, and added: “Surveys show our standing around the world is higher than when I was elected to this office, and when it comes to every important international issue, people of the world do not look to Beijing or Moscow to lead. They call us.”
When it comes to foreign policy, Obama said that the priority is to protect the American people and to deal with terrorism.
The US president said that Al Qaeda and the Islamic states are a major threat to the United States and called Congress to vote and allow the use of military force against ISIL.
“If you doubt America’s commitment, or mine, to see that justice is done, ask Osama.”
Obama also referred to those in the presidential election campaign who disparage Muslims and condemned the recent attacks on the Muslim shrine.
“When politicians insult Muslims, when a mosque is vandalized, or a kid is called names, that doesn’t make us safer. That’s not telling it like it is, it’s just wrong. It diminishes us in the eyes of the world. It makes it harder to achieve our goals”, he said.
During the speech, President Obama mentioned the other achievements of his foreign policy: stopping the spread of Ebola in West Africa, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba, the nuclear deal with Iran and more.
Obama has emphasized the fact that the two parties have poor relations and it is one of the things that he complained about during his presidency.
“It’s one of the few regrets of my presidency – that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better. I have no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I’ll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office.”
Obama ended his final speech with these words: “I believe in change because I believe in you, the American people. And that’s why I stand here, as confident as I have ever been, that the state of our Union is strong. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America”.