Williams Ekanem
In his State of The Union address to Americans Tuesday night, President Barack Obama supported the push to remove sit tight presidents saying " the United states of America stands with the people of Tunisia, and supports the democratic aspirations of all people."
Making a tacit reference to sit tight rulers on the African continent, Obama said " we see in Tunisia the desire to be free, where the will of the people proved more powerful than the writ of a dictator."
The United States President commended the untiring efforts of his countrymen to seek rule of law and democracy globally saying that "we must never forget that the things we've struggled for, and fought for, live in the hearts of people everywhere. And we must always remember that the Americans who have borne the greatest burden in this struggle are the men and women who serve our country."
Still on the African continent, Obama reflected on the just concluded referendum in Southern Sudan.
According to him, "recent events have shown us that what sets us apart must not just be our power -– it must also be the purpose behind it. In south Sudan -– with our assistance -– the people were finally able to vote for independence after years of war. Thousands lined up before dawn. People danced in the streets. One man who lost four of his brothers at war summed up the scene around him: "This was a battlefield for most of my life," he said. "Now we want to be free."
In the address which was titled" Win the Future" Obama made mention of the proposed immigration reforms saying it is in the best interest of the country.
This is because, according to him, "today, there are hundreds of thousands of students excelling in our schools who are not American citizens. Some are the children of undocumented workers, who had nothing to do with the actions of their parents. They grew up as Americans and pledge allegiance to our flag, and yet they live every day with the threat of deportation. Others come here from abroad to study in our colleges and universities. But as soon as they obtain advanced degrees, we send them back home to compete against us. It makes no sense."
"Now, I strongly believe that we should take on, once and for all, the issue of illegal immigration. And I am prepared to work with Republicans and Democrats to protect our borders, enforce our laws and address the millions of undocumented workers who are now living in the shadows. (Applause.) I know that debate will be difficult. I know it will take time. But tonight, let's agree to make that effort. And let's stop expelling talented, responsible young people who could be staffing our research labs or starting a new business, who could be further enriching this nation," the President added.
He enjoined both parties in the country to keep aside party loyalty and work in the best interest of the country.
Said him, "So now is the time to act, now is the time for both sides and both houses of Congress –- Democrats and Republicans -– to forge a principled compromise that gets the job done. If we make the hard choices now to rein in our deficits, we can make the investments we need to win the future.
Let me take this one step further. We shouldn't just give our people a government that's more affordable. We should give them a government that's more competent and more efficient. We can't win the future with a government of the past."
No comments:
Post a Comment