On Tuesday, January 28th, President Obama took over primetime television to deliver the State of the Union Address for 2014. He touched on a few main subjects, talking about the changes he wants to make and progress he hopes to see.

Though not emphasized in his speech an overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws could be one of his biggest accomplishments during his second term if he is able to get it past Congress. He faces the opposition of the Republicans who signaled they might accept a way to obtain legal status but not citizenship.

Obama plans on increasing federal contract worker’s wage to $10.10 an hour. This will only be for a limited time until Congress passes the act. His goal is to raise all wages to this amount. Last year during the State of the Union Obama proposed the wage increase but it was opposed due to its potential to hurt businesses and stifle job creation.

Congress does support Obama’s attempt to curb climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency is working on creating regulations that limit coal-fired power plants, the nation’s largest source of carbon pollution. This will have a major impact on cutting carbon pollution but faces opposition from the energy industry. A draft of the plan is due June 1st while the final decision will be made by June of next year.

American withdrawal from Afghanistan is likely to happen this year. If the Afghan government will sign a security pact, Obama says that U.S. is prepared to send a small group of people on two missions to train, advise, and assist the Afghan security forces, and will sustain counterterrorism efforts against Al Qaeda.

“Together with our allies, we will complete our mission there by the end of the year, and America’s longest war will finally be over” Obama said.

Obama presented two ways to combat the savings crisis that has plagued the nation. First, he has order the Treasury to create a new government-backed retirement account to encourage people to save. He also proposed automatic enrollment in retirement accounts. He needs the approval of Congress for the automatic enrollment, but can create new Treasury accounts himself.

Obama also talked about the economy, the environment, and education, encouraging other political leaders to take a stand: “To every mayor, governor, and state legislator in America, I say, you don’t have to wait for Congress to act; Americans will support you if you take this on”.

Though Obama spoke about many objectives that he has for this year, he left his colleagues with this expectation: “Let’s make this a year of action. That’s what most Americans want, for all of us in this chamber to focus on their lives, their hopes, their aspirations”.