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Grades 4-6

Obama's Big Speech

President Barack Obama spoke before Congress, his Cabinet, Supreme Court justices and millions of TV viewers on February 24. Obama's speech lasted for 52 minutes. He focused on America's weak economy. He described a $787 billion economic stimulus plan that is intended to get the country back on track.

"I want every American to know this," Obama said. "We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before."

Although Obama was hopeful about the future, he said that the road to recovery will be long. Obama asked lawmakers to work together to do everything in their power to help Americans. "The time to take charge of our future is here," he said.

Obama mentioned Ty'Sheoma Bethea, a middle school student from Dillon, South Carolina. She sat next to First Lady Michelle Obama during the speech. Ty'Sheoma wrote a letter to lawmakers asking for help for her school. The President read a sentence from her letter to his audience: "We are not quitters," she wrote.

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