Obama delivers speech before embarking on inaugural train journey

Source: Xinhua | 01-18-2009 09:59

PHILADELPHIA, the United States, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President-elect Barack Obama delivered a speech here on Saturday before embarking on a "whistle stop" train journey to Washington, calling on fellow Americans to carry on the spirit of the American revolution and deal with today's challenges with courage and confidence.

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama speaks at a ceremony for  his whistle stop train trip at the train station in  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania January 17, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Faced with unprecedented challenges such as the financial crisis, two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the global climate change, the nation needs "the same perseverance and idealism that our founders displayed," Obama told more than 200 supporters at an indoor invitation-only event in the North Waiting Room of the 30thStreet Station.

America needs "a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives -- independence from ideology and small thinking, independence from prejudice and bigotry, independence from selfishness," said the president-elect.

Editor:Du Xiaodan