Obama to Address U.S. Chamber of Commerce

In a gesture of goodwill following a fractious election season, President Obama has accepted an invitation to address the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The president will deliver a speech Feb. 7 to members of the nation's largest business federation to "discuss his commitment to growing the economy and making America more competitive, and the importance of working together to create jobs," White House spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki told The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the story.

During the election, the chamber facilitated corporate funding for Republican candidates and its president, Tom Donohue, leveled criticisms at Obama over financial reform legislation and the health care law. For his part, Obama attacked the chamber over reports, still unproven, that it was illegally using foreign money to buy pro-GOP ads.

The New York Times pointed out that "Obama's outreach to the group is part of a strategy for the second half of his term of emphasizing business-friendly policies."

It will be the president's first address to the chamber.

"We look forward to hosting the President next month to discuss jobs and the economy," Tom Collamore, the chamber's senior vice president of communications, said on the group's website. "This remains the top priority of the Chamber and the business community, and we're committed to working together to put Americans back to work."