Rep. Gerry Connolly released the following statement reacting to Obama's State of the Union address.
President Obama has striven valiantly to turn our economy around against very steep odds and he’s had a lot of success to show for it. We’ve created 3.2 million new jobs under his watch with 22 straight months of job growth and more than $2 trillion in deficit reduction.
Tonight, he made a commitment to the American people that he will continue to push to grow our economy to ensure that all Americans, today and in the future, will be able to share the American dream.
President Obama has received no help and no credit from the other side, who continue to put politics ahead of policy. His hand has been bitten repeatedly by those who proclaim their most important goal is his defeat, yet still he reaches out, in the spirit of bipartisanship, for the good of our nation and all of us who are proud to be Americans.
I was proud to hear our President call for Congress to put aside partisan bickering for the sake of our country, to make sure everyone plays by the same rules and to strive to reclaim American values. I was heartened to hear President Obama say he will work with all in Congress, even those who vow to defeat him, but he will fight vigorously against partisan obstructionism and any effort to return to the failed policies that upended our economy in 2008.
I support President Obama’s plan to expand the educational opportunities for Americans to learn the skills needed to thrive it our vibrant technology industries. I applaud his proposals to nurture and increase the manufacturing sector to make the products of the future export those products across the globe. And I embrace his call to expand clean energy sources while making sure our nation has the energy resources it needs to move forward.
We are fortunate to have a President who understands the economic challenges we face, who knows what needs to be done to turn our economy around, and has provided Congress and the nation with a blueprint to return prosperity to all Americans.
Here's the statement that Rep. Scott Rigell sent out after the State of the Union.
ReplyDelete"I appreciate the respect and tribute President Obama paid to our troops. Our men and women in uniform sacrifice so much in defending our freedom, and I was grateful the President acknowledged that.
"We heard the President talk of the need to come together, yet some of his remarks pitted one group of Americans against another. I think that is counterproductive and divides, rather than unites, America.
"The President spoke of energy tonight, which is a top priority of mine. He said he is directing his Administration to open more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources. Though encouraging, it does not match up with Secretary Salazar’s recent decision to prohibit the exploration of energy off Virginia’s coast, a decision which is holding back job creation in our District. I hope that the President’s speech results in a reversal of that decision.
"The President also renewed his commitment to bringing jobs to America — while suggesting that Congress was being obstructionist in this effort. Obviously, I take issue with that given that nearly 30 jobs bills have been passed by the House of Representatives and are sitting, unacted upon, in the U.S. Senate. I would have liked for him to call out the fact that the Senate hasn’t passed a budget for America in 1,000 days. I would also have liked for him to acknowledge that his decision to shut down the Keystone XL pipeline project will indeed slow our recovery.
"Regarding tax reform, the President and I agree on the need to close loopholes, end subsidies and make our entire tax code flatter and fairer."