He made the final State of the Union address in Congress on January 12, 2016.
United States of America President Barack Obama in the last State of the Union address in Congress on Tuesday, January 12, remained upbeat in his assessment of how the much better America is today than when he came to office, for the first time some seven years ago. Obama who is serving his last term has just one year to go.
Sounding a positive balance sheet of his stewardship at the helm of the United States of America, Obama responded to his critics that "Anyone claiming that America's economy is in decline is peddling fiction.” He further told US lawmakers that the country has the "strongest, most durable economy in the world", BBC said.
"For my final address to this chamber, I don't want to talk just about the next year. I want to focus on the next five years, 10 years, and beyond," President Obama is quoted as having said and specified that, "I want to focus on our future." He focused on the need to tackle income inequality, use technology to combat climate change and maintain national security while not becoming mired in foreign conflicts. Mr Obama further called on voters and politicians to change the divisive tone of politics and to "change the system to reflect our better selves".
The major regrets of his presidency, Barack Obama said, were the fact that Republicans and Democrats had become more hostile towards each other. He stated that, "Our public life withers when only the most extreme voices get all the attention.” Advising the new aspirants to the post of President, he said, "When politicians insult Muslims, when a mosque is vandalised, or a kid bullied, that doesn't make us safer.”
On what he still has to do before the end of his term of office, Mr Obama said he wanted to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, achieve meaningful criminal justice reform, address rising tide of prescription drug abuse, authorise the use of military force against Islamic State (IS) and finally lift the embargo on Cuba. He also announced a new national cancer research initiative that Vice-President Joe Biden will be leading.
