Obama Praises German Chancellor for “Appropriate Honor” in Joint-Address to Congress

Sunlen Miller and Ann Compton Report:

President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel sat down in the Oval Office this morning in advance of Merkel's address to a joint session of Congress, which the President dubbed as the "main reason she is here."

Merkel will be the first German Chancellor in fifty years to address Congress, and the first Chancellor ever to address a joint session of Congress.

"I think a very appropriate honor that has been bestowed on Chancellor Merkel," Obama said with the Chancellor sitting by his side, ‘"we are very pleased that she is going to be here to spread her view of what's taking place in the world and what challenges we face to members of Congress and the American people.

The President congratulated Merkel on her recent re-election and the formation of a new government and called her "an extraordinarily strong ally on a whole host of international issues."

"We appreciate the sacrifices of German soldiers in Afghanistan and our common work there to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan and to create the environment in which the Afghan people themselves can provide for their own security."

The two leaders in addition discussed climate change in advance of the upcoming climate change summit in Copenhagen next month.

"The United States, Germany, and countries around the world I think are all beginning to recognize why it is so important that we work in common in order to stem the potential catastrophe that could result if we continue to see global warming continuing unabated," the President said.

Merkel spoke just briefly and said they also discussed Iran and the world economic situation. 

"I wanted to use this opportunity today also to express our gratitude, my gratitude, to the American people for the support that the American people have given us throughout the process leading up to German reunification," Merkel said, " and I think it something that I would like to later on say it very clearly also in my speech to both houses of Congress.  And let me tell you that this is something that we, the Germans, shall never forget."

-Sunlen Miller and Ann Compton