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Tuesday, March 19
The Indiana Daily Student

Obama to visit Elkart June 1

President Obama will be coming to Elkhart, the first city he visited as the president, June 1, according to a press release from Inside Indiana Business. He last spoke in the northern Indiana city 
in 2009.

Northern Indiana and the city of Elkhart in particular were important points in the 2008 election eight years ago, according to the release, since Elkhart County had the highest unemployment rate in the United States at the time.

“Just three weeks into my presidency, I made a promise to Elkhart, Indiana,” Obama wrote in a public email published on the White House’s website. “Folks there had been hit harder by the recession than almost anywhere else in America.”

The employment rate was nearly 20 percent at the time, he wrote in his email, and he made the city’s citizens a promise that “If we worked together, we could pull (this) community and this country out of the depths of 
recession.”

He said in the email he wants to return to Elkhart to emphasize the progress that not only Elkhart, but the country as a whole has made in coming out of a deep economic recession.

He said in his note that the U.S. isn’t completely in the clear, but that Elkhart is a great model for many American cities.

“The story of Elkhart’s recovery is the story of America’s recovery,” he wrote.

The speech will be broadcast through a live stream, which will be available through the White House’s website.

“Today, thanks to the hard work of people in Elkhart and in communities across the country, America has recovered from a crisis,” Obama wrote in his email.

Anicka Slachta

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