Congressman Scott Responds to the State of the Union Address

Congressman Scott Responds to the State of the Union Address

Washington, Feb 1 - Congressman David Scott released the following statement today in response to the President's State of the Union speech to Congress last night:

"Last night, while the President delivered his State of the Union address, our nation continued to look for much-needed leadership in several critical areas. Americans want bold and clear plans that will strengthen healthcare, meet our energy challenges, bolster the sagging economy, strengthen our military and benefits for veterans, and improve our foreign policy.

I, like many Americans, wanted to hear the President deliver some real solutions for the health care crisis in this country. It is shameful that in the most industrialized nation in the world more than 44 million Americans have no health insurance. In Georgia alone, thousands of families are struggling to meet skyrocketing health care costs and over 1.4 million people do not have any health insurance. I had also hoped to hear the President address the complexities of the new Medicare prescription drug program. Far too many seniors are having to go without their medications because the program has been plagued by glitches and is just too confusing. With the President's support, Congress can move quickly to extend the enrollment period for Medicare beneficiaries and to revisit some of the program's complexities.

Additionally, while our economy has experienced a slight upturn in the past year, many Georgians are not feeling the benefits of economic growth and are grappling with the loss of thousands of jobs in the manufacturing and transportation industries to Asian markets. Our president had an awesome opportunity before him to foster economic prosperity that reaches all Americans and creates good jobs at home. I was pleased to hear the President denounce our overdependence on oil and share his plans to keep America competitive while energizing private investment in technology for alternative fuel and transportation through tax incentives. The President must go further and also support pension relief for our ailing airlines.

Finally, while this administration has made the war on terror a top priority, the President must go beyond urging Americans to simply stay the course. Without question our military is the most powerful in the world. We can successfully fight any war, anywhere. However, our greatest military weakness lies in our inability to maintain peace post-conflict. I observed firsthand during my recent trip to the Middle East the extraordinary job our soldiers are doing in war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. But we must make our military stronger. Our troops are overextended, should be equipped with the latest technology, and deserve better services and benefits. We also cannot continue to go at this war on terror alone. We need to strengthen our diplomatic relationships with foreign nations so that American taxpayers are not bearing almost all the costs and casualties in stabilizing and rebuilding Iraq. At the same time we still need a clear and decisive measure of victory so that we can bring our troops home."

http://davidscott.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=39020