Political

Obama Arrives in Washington, D.C.

Jan 6, 2009

President-elect Barack Obama left Chicago and arrived in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, sixteen days before he will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. \”I choked up a little bit,\” he admitted to reporters, as he left behind the city that he first arrived at in 1985 as a young community organizer.

The Obamas came to the capital early so their daughters could start classes today. This morning, President-elect Obama and Michelle helped their two daughters, Malia and Sasha, get ready for their first day of school.

President-elect Obama then headed to Capitol Hill, where he met individually with both Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to discuss the economic stimulus package that\’s expected to be one of the first priorities of the new Congress. In a brief statement to the press before his meeting with Speaker Pelosi, President-elect Obama explained:

The reason we are here today is because the people can\’t wait. We have an extraordinary economic challenge ahead of us. We are expecting a sobering job report at the end of the week. The speaker and her staff have been extraordinarily helpful in working with our team so we can shape an economic investment and recovery plan that will start to put people back to work.

Later in the day, President-elect Obama held a meeting with his top economic advisors at the Presidential transition team office in Washington D.C., including Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner.

Dan McSwain reported:

“Not only do we need to act boldly, swiftly and with sufficient magnitude to make a difference, but we also have to do things in a new way,” President-elect Obama said.

In his meeting, President-elect Obama underscored the importance of his proposed American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan to create jobs and spur the type of lasting economic change that our country needs.

President-elect Obama also noted that he is “confident” that legislation dealing with his economic plan will maintain “unprecedented transparency.”

“Not only will Congress tell exactly what’s in the bill, but we’re exploring steps, for example, like putting on a website very detailed information about what kind of projects are taking place,” President-elect Obama said.