Barack Obama speech to joint session of Congress, February 2009 Barack Obama speech to joint session of Congress, February 2009 The 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, gave his first public address before a joint session of the United States Congress on Tuesday, February 24, 2009. Similar to 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. Presiding over this joint session was the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi. Accompanying the Speaker of the House was the President of the United States Senate, Joe Biden, the Vice President
Barack Obama presidential eligibility litigation to prevent the inauguration of Barack Obama on the grounds that Obama was not a natural born citizen based on allegations that Obama was born in Kenya. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove dismissed the suit because of a lack of subject matter jurisdiction, stating that Mr. Essek's grievance was the generalized grievance of a voter, not a specific injury that would have granted him standing to sue. On January 20, 2009, Attorney Mario Apuzzo filed a lawsuit in federal court, on behalf of Charles Kerchner and other plaintiffs, suing President-Elect Barack Obama, the United States Congress, Dick Cheney, and