President Barack Obama, in a sobering yet optimistic address to the U.S. Congress, said the economy is a mess and families are struggling more every day, but reassured Americans that under his measured leadership, the nation will eventually prosper.

“While our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken; though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before,” Obama said.

Obama said his administration is creating a new lending fund “that represents the largest effort ever to help provide auto loans, college loans, and small business loans to the consumers and entrepreneurs who keep this economy running.”

The President has also created a housing plan he said “will help responsible families facing the threat of foreclosure lower their monthly payments and re-finance their mortgages."

Obama’s historic first address to Congress on Tuesday comes days after he formally created the White House Office on Urban Policy to confront an unprecedented range of poverty, jobs and housing initiatives for disenfranchised black and Latino communities during the worst national economy since the Great Depression of the 1930s. 

The goal of the ambitious initiative is to develop a strategy for metropolitan America and to ensure that all federal dollars targeted to urban areas are effectively spent on the highest-impact programs. Obama has the money to support his urban affairs agenda based on a $787 billion stimulus package approved by Congress.

Dr. Alana Hackshaw, senior research and policy analyst for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, told BlackAmericaWeb.com Tuesday that she welcomes Obama’s initiatives for people of color.

“For years, urban communities have not received the attention and resources required to renew and flourish,” Hackshaw said. “We know that a majority of African-Americans reside in urban areas. With the establishment of the White House Office of Urban Affairs, President Barack Obama has created a critical resource for growth and renewal in our urban centers.”

Hackshaw said the key for success will be to create an effective framework that facilitates the necessary coordination and cooperation among federal agencies responsible for urban policies.

“This, along with some of the appropriations that will come out of the White House stimulus package, represents a major step forward for many in African-American urban neighborhoods,” she said.

Five weeks into his tenure, Obama on Tuesday night addressed an enthusiastic Democratic congressional majority and a Republican minority at the U.S. Capitol.

"The answers to our problems don't lie beyond our reach,” Obama said. “They exist in our laboratories and universities, in our fields and our factories, in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth.

"What is required now is for this country to pull together,” he said, “confront boldly the challenges we face and take responsibility for our future once more."

Obama also talked about the importance of reducing an estimated $1.3 trillion budget deficit and said the budget request he sends to Congress on Thursday will slash the deficit by at least half by the end of his term in 2013.

Charles D. Ellison, senior fellow and chief advisor for the Center for New Politics and Policy at the University of Denver, told BlackAmericaWeb.com Tuesday that Obama’s address to Congress and his leadership since his inauguration supports several national polls that show most Americans approve of Obama’s vision for the nation.

"Despite the massive challenges faced by the new president, he's maintained quite a bit of composure and ease over the past month - a quality that makes him rather strong and solid as commander-in-chief,” Ellison said.

But black conservative Tara Wall, senior editor at The .....

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