Manchin Statement on President Obama's Speech to Joint Session of Congress

Statement

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) released the following statement after the President's speech to a joint session of Congress tonight.

"While I applaud the President's focus on job creation, investing in infrastructure and making our tax system more fair by eliminating corporate giveaways, I have serious questions about the level of spending that President Obama proposed, as well as the actual effectiveness some of these policies will have when it comes to creating jobs and restoring confidence in our economy.

"Looking forward, I will spend the coming days evaluating this proposal more closely, and will work hard with my Democratic and Republican colleagues to pass a commonsense agenda that creates jobs, restores confidence and rebuilds our great nation -- without adding to our exploding debts and deficits. This nation cannot afford to take on one more dollar of debt, and I will not support any plan that adds to our crushing debt.

"I have made it clear that we must invest in rebuilding America, but the President's strategy of spending hundreds of billions more in taxpayer dollars to create jobs forces us to ask: What will be different this time? If spending money could fix our jobs problem, it would have been solved long ago -- because we've sure done our share of spending.

"In the very important area of regulatory reform, I urge the President to take a more aggressive stance in the days and months ahead. Federal regulations -- like those put in place by the EPA -- have needlessly hurt job creation and they must be addressed if we are to create the kind of confidence that will spur investment and create jobs."

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