By RFD Radio/WFMB

WASHINGTON – As President Barack Obama leaves Pennsylvania Avenue, his former U.S. Senate colleague is singing his praises.

On the Senate floor, Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois credited Obama with taking on the recession head on shortly after his Presidency began.

In particular, Durbin cited the President’s support of the auto industry.

“Our friends across the aisle said ‘Let the auto industry die,’ the Obama administration said ‘No Way,’ “Durbin said. “They decided to place their bets on American manufacturing and American workers instead.”

Durbin said the U.S. had lost two million jobs in the previous four months before Obama was sworn in and the country’s top four banks had lost half of their value in the previous year.

“There was an urgent danger that not only the American economy would collapse but the economy of the Western world was teetering in the balance,” Durbin said.

Durbin also credited Obama with reducing predatory lending practices, something often linked to the foreclosure crisis early in his tenure.