I Am Empowered - I am the National Urban League

NEW YORK (January 25, 2011) -- The vision for winning the future President Obama presented in tonight’s State of the Union address embraced several concepts included in the National Urban League’s Jobs Rebuild America plan, Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, said tonight.
 
“Clean energy, infrastructure development and broadband technology hold enormous potential for economic development and job creation, and I was encouraged to hear the President focus on these vital sectors,” Morial said.  “Investments in urban communities will awaken the long underutilized economic potential of cities and communities across the country and revitalize the economy as a whole”.
 
Elimination of tax loopholes, which would allow a reduction in tax rates was among the recommendations of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Debt Reduction Task Force, of which Morial was a member.
 
“We applaud the President for his foresight in recognizing that we need to prepare our workforce for the jobs of the future and to be able to compete with the rest of the world,” Morial said. “Revolutions in technology truly have changed the world and global competition for jobs is, as he says, very real.  That is why the National Urban League believes it is more urgent than ever that we target our limited resources to those youth and adults who have been disproportionately impacted by the recession - especially in our urban communities - by adopting the NUL’s proposals on summer jobs, reforming our workforce development system, and enacting the Urban Youth Empowerment Program.”
 
The President’s broad message is one of hope for the future and unity as a nation, Morial said.
 
“President Obama has challenged us all to be a part of the solution,” Morial said. “We look forward to working with him to refine these concepts into specific proposals. With a practical approach that invites every American to be a contributing member of a vibrant economy, we can ‘win the future.’”
 
Morial urged Americans to show support for the Urban League Jobs Rebuild America plan by going to www.iamempowered.com and signing the Empowerment Pledge.

Thank you for watching the State of the Union Address and joining the discussion after with Marc Morial and the National Urban League’s Policy Institute (NULPI)  as we analysed what it means for Urban America in the areas of jobs, education, health and housing.

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