Sheldon's Statement on President's State of the Union Address

Statement

U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) issued the following statement following President Obama's State of the Union address:

"President Obama sent a signal to Rhode Islanders that he is focused on growing our economy and putting Americans back to work, and laid out his vision for ensuring long-term American prosperity.

"With too many Rhode Islanders still out of work, last week I called on President Obama to articulate his strong support for our manufacturing industry, as well as increase efforts to keep good jobs here in America.

"Tonight, the president did just that in discussing the need to help American businesses compete in the global economy, and I look forward to working with him to help Rhode Island manufacturers grow and prosper. As a first step in that effort, I'll fight to advance the Offshoring Prevention Act, which I introduced today to end a tax provision that rewards companies for moving factories overseas.

"I've also long argued that we should be working to rebuild our crumbling roads, bridges, and water systems now while we need the jobs, so I was also pleased to hear the president call for increased investment in our nation's infrastructure. We'll need to fix up these things eventually -- doing it now will be less expensive and will help address our unemployment crisis at a crucial time.

"Finally, the president's call for unity is something we can all rally behind in these tough times. As we work to restore prosperity in Rhode Island and across the country, it's important that we set aside partisanship and focus on rebuilding our economy."

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