President Obama delivered his third State of the Union address on Jan.24 to a joint session of Congress. In his speech the president focused on American’s continuing recovery.

In his plan “Blue Print for an America Built to Last” Obama outlines his administration’s goals for a continuing recovery of the economy and middle class.

The President spoke on health care, clean energy, the economy, Iran and a host of issues.

On health care Obama spoke on the benefits of the Affordable Care Act he said, “I will not go back to the days when health insurance companies had unchecked power to cancel your policy, deny your coverage, or charge women differently than men.”

This is great because before the Affordable Care Act Insurance companies were able to drop your coverage due to pre-existing conditions. The benefits of the Affordable Care Act also extend to students; college students are now able to stay on their parent’s insurance coverage until the age of 26. In 2014 the Health Exchange will come online, this is an insurance pool that allows poor people to get coverage at a low rate. This is something I’m looking forward to, I have been uninsured for the past four years.

On Clean Energy the president said, “I’m directing my administration to allow the development of clean energy on enough public land to power 3 million homes.”

This is a way for us to start using our own energy. Obama states the goals of energy efficiency, oil and natural gas production, ending ‘big oil’ tax breaks and focus on renewable energy.

On education Obama said, “For less than 1 percent of what our nation spends on education each year, we’ve convinced nearly every state in the country to raise their standards for teaching and learning — the first time that’s happened in a generation.”

The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act invests more than $40 billion in Pell Grants for students. This bill did that by removing the middleman in the Pell Grant program, which allowed more money for students.