President Obama wrapped up his final State of the Union address with a forceful statement of confidence in the future of the United States.
"I believe in change because I believe in you," Obama said in his closing remarks, generating a standing ovation. "That’s why I stand here as confident as I have ever been that the State of our Union is strong."
Obama received about a dozen standing ovations during his address, but just a handful were fully bipartisan.
In addition to the standing ovation that greeted the entry of First Lady Michelle Obama, the other bipartisan applause moments came after his comments on cutting red tape and outdated regulations, when he announced Vice President Joe Biden would lead a cancer “moonshot” initiative and when he lauded the US military as the finest fighting force in the world.
Several more moments won big applause from the Democratic side of the chamber. Those included Obama's remarks on:
* Making college affordable
* Food stamps not causing the financial crisis
* Biden securing new resources for National Institutes of Health
* His administration's clean energy achievements
* The Islamic State not being representative of one of the world’s largest religions
* His request for new authorization to use military force
* Terrorists finding that Americans have long memories and the US reach has no limits
* His assertion that "we are on track to end the scourge of HIV/AIDS
