Rep. Davis Statement on President Trump's 2020 State of the Union Address

Statement

Facts matter, the truth matters. But not with this President. Look as what he has done, not what he said at tonight's State of the Union address.

International Respect: False. The Truth: he has engaged in international blackmail to advance his own personal political prospects, has abandoned the multiparty nuclear agreement with Iran and the Paris climate agreement; has threatened to use nuclear weapons and has deployed dangerous new nuclear weapons; has demonstrated disrespect for international law and international norms; has engaged in arbitrary and short-sighted military action without regard for potential consequences or a vision of a long-term, sustainable future; he has engaged in a trade war costing farmers, ranchers, consumers and tax payers billions of dollars.

Economy working for all classes, genders, and races, a blue collar boom: False. The Truth: Wages for many workers will be going up in 2020, but not because of President Trump's economic policies. According to the National Employment Law Center "On January 1, 2020 (December 31, 2019 in New York) the minimum wage will increase in 21 states and 26 cities and counties. In 17 of those jurisdictions, the minimum wage will reach or surpass $15 per hour. Later in 2020, four more states and 23 additional localities will also raise their minimum wages--15 of them to $15 or more."

Trump $1.5 trillion tax cut overwhelmingly benefited the wealthy and corporations and did not create a significant increase in GDP. In fact, by most measures it slowed growth and increased inequality. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy "White households in the highest-earning 1 percent receive 23.7 percent of the law's total tax cuts, far more than the 13.8 percentage share that the bottom 60 percent of households of all races receive."

Black workers continue to face systematically higher unemployment rates, fewer job opportunities, lower pay, poorer benefits, and greater job instability and Black families own much less wealth than whites, and the gap has only widened in recent years.

Contrary to the President's claim, there were fewer than 11,000 new manufacturing establishments since President Trump took office and the bulk of these -- more than 8,000 -- employ five people or fewer.

Pledge to Protect Pre-existing Conditions Coverage, Medicare, Social Security and Reduce Prescription Drug Prices: False. The Truth: Trump administration is right now in court seeking to end preexisting condition coverage, and is using the explosion in the deficit and the national debt resulting from his tax cuts as the excuse to cut to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in his 2020 budget. Price of prescription drugs have not gone down since January 2017. In the first six months of 2019 more than 3,400 drugs increased their prices an average of 10.5% and 41 drugs boosted prices more than 100%.

Tonight, President Trump continued his attacks on the climate, on the undocumented and on a woman's right to choose. What else has he done? Well, tonight, February 4, 2020, the start of Black History Month, he gave Rush Limbaugh the nation's highest award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Enough said, and that's the Truth.

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