First, we stand united with people around the world who've been targeted by terrorists – from a school in Pakistan to the streets of Paris. We will continue to hunt down terrorists and dismantle their networks, and we reserve the right to act unilaterally, as we've done relentlessly since I took office to take out terrorists who pose a direct threat to us and our allies.
9.41 (02.38) Obama with a shout-out to Scott Kelly, astronaut and a guest of his tonight: "In two months, to prepare us for those missions, Scott Kelly will begin a year-long stay in space. Good luck, Captain – and make sure to Instagram it."
Scott Kelly (on the right)
9.38 (02.38) Sustained applause from Democrats as Obama promotes infrastructure initiatives, and takes a swipe at Republicans over the Keystone pipeline.
21st century businesses need 21st century infrastructure – modern ports, stronger bridges, faster trains and the fastest internet. Democrats and Republicans used to agree on this. So let's set our sights higher than a single oil pipeline. Let's pass a bipartisan infrastructure plan that could create more than thirty times as many jobs per year, and make this country stronger for decades to come.
9.33 (02.33) Halftime break: We would never endorse such a thing, but while most Americans might grab a beer for the big game, here in Washington the State of the Union is seen as the perfect drinking event. Don't believe me? Google "SOTU drinking game".
Not everyone is in the spirit though.
9.30 (02.30) Obama issues a challenge to Republicans who oppose him on the minimum wage
And to everyone in this Congress who still refuses to raise the minimum wage, I say this: If you truly believe you could work full-time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, go try it. If not, vote to give millions of the hardest-working people in America a raise.
9.25 (02.25) Obama now hitting on what appears to be a major theme of the address: middle class economics
That's what middle-class economics is – the idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. We don't just want everyone to share in America's success – we want everyone to contribute to our success.
9.21 (02.21) As Obama goes heavy on economic successes, Peter Foster suggests a music break.
You've got it, Pete.
9.18 (02.18) Obama now telling the story of a young couple, Rebekah and Ben Erler, who persevered through the depths of the financial crisis.
"It is amazing," Rebekah wrote, "what you can bounce back from when you have to…we are a strong, tight-knit family who has made it through some very, very hard times."
We are a strong, tight-knit family who has made it through some very, very hard times.
America, Rebekah and Ben's story is our story. They represent the millions who have worked hard, and scrimped, and sacrificed, and retooled. You are the reason I ran for this office. You're the people I was thinking of six years ago today, in the darkest months of the crisis, when I stood on the steps of this Capitol and promised we would rebuild our economy on a new foundation. And it's been your effort and resilience that has made it possible for our country to emerge stronger.
9.15 (02.15) Anyone who had three minutes in their When Will Obama Say "The State of the Union is Strong" pool, please come forward to collect your prize.
9.10 (02.10) Mr Obama is introduced by Speaker John Boehner and opens his remarks.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, my fellow Americans:
We are fifteen years into this new century. Fifteen years that dawned with terror touching our shores; that unfolded with a new generation fighting two long and costly wars; that saw a vicious recession spread across our nation and the world. It has been, and still is, a hard time for many.
But tonight, we turn the page.
Tonight, after a breakthrough year for America, our economy is growing and creating jobs at the fastest pace since 1999. Our unemployment rate is now lower than it was before the financial crisis. More of our kids are graduating than ever before; more of our people are insured than ever before; we are as free from the grip of foreign oil as we've been in almost 30 years.
21.06 (02.06) Here we go- Obama was just introduced and is slowly but surely making his way up to the front while shaking hands with camera-hungry members of Congress. Eliot Engel, featured earlier as a notorious "aisle hog" shakes the president's hand. CNN reports that he claimed that seat some 12 hours ago.
21.05 (02.00) As we wait for Mr Obama to work his way up to the podium, Raf Sanchez has been tweeting from the Capitol about what we can expect from the speech.
21.00 (02.00) We're now waiting on those eight famous words from the Sargeant at Arms: "Mr Speaker, the President of the United States."
20.55 (01.55) Obama's cabinet is now filing in. Michelle Obama is already in her box, and the Supreme Court justices have entered as well. Protocol states that the justices are to sit impassively and not show preference to one policy or another, but conservative justice Samuel Alito has had trouble keeping a straight face in the past.
20.54 (01.54) Some five minutes before the address is set to begin, the White House has released an advance copy of the transcript HERE on medium.com for those who would like to follow along.
20.51 (01.51) Mr Obama has recieved some last minute advice from a top Republican. Here's Peter Foster.
Paul Ryan, the Republican Congressman, budget-wonk (Chairman of House Budget Committee to give him his proper title) and former running mate of Mitt Romney in 2012 has warned the president not to crow too hard about the US economic recovery.
Calling for "less posturing, less partisanship and less picking of fights with Republicans", Mr Ryan said that 45m Americans remain in poverty and the middle classes are being starved of opportunity. "There's a long way to go," Mr Ryan told CNN, "we shouldn't be doing some victory lap in Washington."
We can expect to hear a lot of this from Republicans tonight who will be trying to downplay the economic revival as polls and consumer confidence surveys start to show ordinary Americans feeing good about the economy again – something that on balance will not help Republicans retake the White House in 2016.
20.46 (01.46) The state of the union address typically runs for just over an hour, and even the most attentive viewers may have a difficult time focusing on the speech for all that time. Fortunately, there is entertainment to be found just over the president's shoulders. On his right, Vice-President Joe Biden, who sometimes seems to forget where he is...
While on his right is Speaker of the House John Boehner and his eye-catching skin tone:
20.43 (01.43) Back to the Republican reponse- last year Rand Paul, the Kentucky senator and likely 2016 presidential candidate, was criticised for giving a rebuttal to the State of the Union not on behalf of the Republican Party, nor even the Tea Party, but on behalf of, well, Rand Paul.
It was largely perceived as an act of shameless self-promotion, so Paul learned his lesson and this year he-- wait, just kidding. He's doing it again.
21.33 (01.33) Raf Sanchez with an update from his perch in the press gallery:
The House of Representatives is starting to fill up 30 minutes out from the beginning of Obama's speech.
We're still waiting for the Senate to make their traditional procession across the Capitol to the lower chamber. Many of the seats in Michelle Obama's box are still unfilled, including the one where the First Lady herself will sit.
Right in the front row, at the foot of the podium from where Obama will speak, are empty chairs waiting for members of the cabinet and the Supreme Court.
21.30 (01.30) The show isn't over when Obama stops speaking. Republicans will have a chance to give the traditional "response" to the president's remarks.
Iowa's Joni Ernst has been tapped for the honour just two weeks into her Senate career. She burst onto the political scene last year with a dark horse (but ultimately successful) Senate campaign best remembered for an advert in which she boasted of her proficiency in hog castration. We'll have to wait and see if she can make Obama "squeal."
21.22 (01.22) While he may have been tempted to stick with climbing markets and falling unemployment, there are now reports that Mr Obama will wade into the murkier territory of race relations in the US. He has been accused by police of not defending them adequately, and by minority groups for not taking a strong enough stand on race issues. It will be interesting to see whether he treads lightly during that portion of the speech.
20.14 (01.14) Peter Foster will be with us all night contributing insight into the significance of the president's address. Here he sets the stage for the speech, which will begin in 45 minutes.
President Barack Obama will exhort America to "turn the page" on a twenty-first century whose opening decades have been weighed down by war, terrorism and economic crisis.
Buoyed by his best approval ratings in 18 months, Mr Obama will use his annual State of the Union to strike an upbeat note, countering claims that he is a lame-duck president and calling on America to seize a fulcrum moment in its recent history.
"We are fifteen years into this new century. Fifteen years that dawned with terror touching our shores; that unfolded with a new generation fighting two long and costly wars; that saw a vicious recession spread across our nation and the world. It has been, and still is, a hard time for many," Mr Obama is due to say, according to advance excerpts of his speech.
"But tonight, we turn the page," the president will add, citing America's economic recovery and energy boom as reasons why Americans can look forward to a brighter future. "It's now up to us to choose who we want to be over the next fifteen years, and for decades to come."
20.08 (01.08) Another peculiar State of the Union tradition is the ominously named "designated survivor". That's a member of the Cabinet who does not attend the speech so that if something unthinkable happens - like a terrorist attack that kills the President, Vice President and the rest of the Cabinet - someone is in place to take charge of the country.
The designated survivor spends the evening surrounded by Secret Service and with America's nuclear codes close at hand, so that if they are called on to serve they're ready.
Meet tonight's designated survivor, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.
Photo: AP
Sadly none of my sources were in the room when Obama explained to Foxx that he was tonight's designated survivor. But it probably went something like this:
20.01 (01.01) The State of the Union has its own peculiar traditions and its own vernacular.
My favourite term is "aisle hog" - a member of Congress who lunges into the aisle to get a handshake with the President as he walks into the House chamber.
Here's Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat, caught in the act.
19.55 (00.55) Raf Sanchez will be watching the address up close tonight from the House of Representatives press gallery. He was able to get his hands on some early excerpts of tonight's speech.
The White House has released some excerpts of the speech that Mr Obama will deliver in an hour's time.
He will try to convince the American people that America is at a turning point after a decade and a half of terrorism, war and economic crisis.
"It has been, and still is, a hard time for many," he will say. But tonight, we turn the page."
His rosier picture of America will match the experience of some Americans. The economy is gaining strength, unemployment is falling, and gas prices are low.
But for many people across this country, the economic recovery is on paper only. Wages remain essentially stagnant as the cost of living rises and globalisation disrupts many traditional US ways of economic life. More than 13 years after 9/11 the US is still facing a terrorist threat at home and abroad.
We'll have to see the full speech to gauge how well Obama does in convincing the American public that a new chapter is beginning.
19.45 (00.45) Last year Mr Obama came into the State of the Union with among the lowest approval ratings of his presidency. He struck a defiant tone, but Republicans said he was a lame duck and only getting lamer. Now, buoyed by cheap petrol and an improving economy, Obama's approval is at an 18-month high of roughly 50 per cent. While miles from the support he garnered early in his presidency, the administration is arguing that tonight's speech will help ignite a "fourth quarter" resurgence.
19.35 (00.35) After the landslide midterm elections, the Congress Mr Obama will be addressing tonight includes more Republican than any in eighty years. For the first time in his presidency, Republicans control both the House and Senate.
While the reception from Mr Obama's political opponents may not be warm, we doubt there will be any outbursts like this one, from Republican congressman Joe Wilson in 2009.
19.31 (00.31) It's a big night here in Washington. The Senate and the House of Representatives, joined by the Cabinet, the Supreme Court and America's top generals will gather on Capitol Hill to hear the President lay out his agenda for the coming year.
It's the setting where the President tells an audience of millions where the country is going and what they can expect their government to do over the next 12 months.
19.30 EST / (00.30 GMT) Good evening and welcome to our live coverage as President Barack Obama delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, fulfilling his constitutional duty to "from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union".
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