On January 27, President Barack Obama gave an hour-and-10-minute State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress, his first since he took office last year, in the House Chamber of the Capitol, in Washington, D.C. The early part of his speech covered, as expected, such urgent national concerns as the economic crisis and recovery, climate change and "clean energy," education, health insurance reform, "restoring the public trust," homeland security, terrorism, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and American troops and veterans.
Late in the speech, after citing America's commitment to assisting in the recovery and rebuilding of Haiti following the earthquake, Obama mentioned a like dedication to "helping developing countries fight HIV/AIDS." Moving on to discussion of equality and "civil rights violations and employment discrimination," the President noted that, "We finally strengthened our laws to protect against crimes driven by hate" and affirmed that, "This year, I will work with Congress and our military to repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are," familiarly known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
