Tonight is one of the nights I look forward to every year: the President's State of the Union address. This is the night when the President of the United States gathers both houses of Congress, the Supreme Court, and his Cabinet to share his view of where America stands today, his vision for where we can go in the future, and his road map for how we get there.
When I was in Congress--no matter who was President or whether my party was in the majority or minority--I always welcomed the opportunity to hear the President's vision for the next 12 months. And now, as Secretary of Transportation, I look forward to it just as much as ever.
I'll be listening tonight with an ear focused on what President Obama has to say about our nation's transportation system and how it fits into his blueprint for an American economy that's built to last.
This Administration stands on a solid record of service to the American people. American manufacturing is creating jobs for the first time since the late 1990s. The American auto industry is coming back. We've repaired tens of thousands of miles of roadways and runways, and we've added highway lanes and transit lines to help keep our economy moving. Under President Obama's leadership and thanks to actions he has taken, our economy is growing again and has added 3.2 million private sector jobs during the last 22 months.
But the President has been clear that we need to do more. We need to do more to upgrade our nation's aging infrastructure so goods and people can get where they need to go more safely and more efficiently. We need to do more to put our friends and neighbors back to work.
And tonight, President Obama will lay out his plan to ensure an economy built on revitalized American manufacturing, built on the skills of American workers, and built on American values--an economy built to last.
I'm excited to hear it, and I hope you'll tune in. And if you do watch at home, I urge you to check out the enhanced webcast on www.whitehouse.gov. It will feature some terrific graphics, data, and stats to support the President's message.
In fact, at DOT we're so excited about the enhanced broadcast that we're going to stream it right here on this blog. It all kicks off at 9 pm (EST).
I look forward to it. Thanks for the post and the live stream later.
~Aileen
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Posted by: Aileen Marshall | January 24, 2012 at 06:22 PM