2009 Barack Obama speech to a joint session of Congress

February 2009 Barack Obama speech to a joint session of Congress
	Full video of the speech as published by the White House
Date	February 24, 2009
Time	9:00 p.m. EST
Duration	51 minutes
Venue	House Chamber, United States Capitol
Location	Washington, D.C.
Coordinates	38°53′23″N 77°00′32″W
Type	Unofficial State of the Union Address
Participants	Barack Obama; Joe Biden; Nancy Pelosi;
Footage	C-SPAN
Previous	2008 State of the Union Address
Next	2010 State of the Union Address
Website	Full text by Archives.gov

Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, addressed a joint session of the United States Congress on Tuesday, February 24, 2009, at 9:00 p.m. EST. It was his first public address before a joint session. Like a State of the Union Address, it was delivered before the 111th United States Congress in the Chamber of the United States House of Representatives in the United States Capitol.^[1] Presiding over this joint session was the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, accompanied by Joe Biden, the vice president in his capacity as the president of the Senate.

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During his speech, President Obama discussed the recently passed $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 as well as the Troubled Assets Relief Program, the state of the economy, and the future of the country.^[2]

Attorney General Eric Holder was the designated survivor and did not attend the address in order to maintain a continuity of government. He was sequestered at a secret secure location for the duration of the event.^[3]

Republican response