Members of the Illinois General Assembly will hear from President Barack Obama today.
Obama is returning to Springfield nine years to the day after he was in Springfield to announce he was running for the nation's highest office.
It will be the first time a sitting President has addressed a joint session of the Illinois legislature since 1978.
Then-President Jimmy Carter said that, as a former Georgia state senator, he realized the "extreme importance" of state government.
"The difficulties of public service. The courage required to make decisions on controversial issues, because almost every issue that comes here is difficult to resolve," Carter said at that time.
Carter then spent about 20 minutes answering questions from legislators.
Presidents Herbert Hoover and William Howard Taft are also recorded as having addressed the Illinois General Assembly.
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