Hultgren Responds To President Obama's State Of The Union Address

Statement

U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren (IL-14) tonight released the following response to President Obama's State of the Union address.

"I had high hopes for the President's speech tonight -- that he would put the country and the American people ahead of his own reelection and his liberal base; but unfortunately his priority tonight was divisive rhetoric, rather than working across the aisle for a better America," said Hultgren. "Moreover, the President once again decided to chase straw men. The efforts of the House Republicans are not, as he suggests, acts of obstruction, but rather we are remaining true to the principles of smaller government, less spending, and lower taxes, which are fundamentally incompatible with the taxing, spending, borrowing, and government-growing policies of his administration.

"It is also deeply disingenuous for the President to claim that he supports American energy, just days after he rejected a pipeline that would have immediately created at least 20,000 good-paying jobs for hard-working Americans, and had the support of groups across the ideological spectrum. Like this speech, the President's decision on the Keystone XL pipeline put his liberal base and his reelection efforts before the interests of the American people.

"In addition, I was astounded to hear the President imply that Congress has attacked our nation's investment in basic scientific research. Nothing could be further from the truth -- I, along with many of my colleagues, have fought for robust funding for basic scientific research and high-energy physics. In contrast, it is the President and his Administration that have chosen to emphasize politically-motivated research and government boondoggles, such as the loan guarantees to Solyndra; the money wasted on that green crusade could have instead funded Fermilab's Tevatron for the next thousand years.

"I am also disappointed by what the President did not say. After 1,000 days of outrageous inaction, I had hoped that he would call on the Senate to do their duty and pass a budget. A budget is not only a statement of principles and a governing document, it also forces us to make tough choices about our priorities and what we can and cannot afford. The Senate's refusal to pass a budget, and the President's refusal to call them to account, once again shows his commitment to politics over governing."

Rep. Hultgren's guest for the State of the Union address was Marine Corporal William Becker, of Sycamore. Corporal Becker served two tours of duty in Afghanistan and has recently completed his four year enlistment in the Marine Corps.

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