Whitehouse Issues Statement on State of the Union Address

Statement

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) issued the following statement on President Biden's State of the Union Address before a joint session of Congress tonight:

"Tonight, the President delivered a hopeful, clear-eyed report. I appreciated his salute to the bravery and grit of the Ukrainian people standing up against a brutal and corrupt dictator. I share the President's pride in the strength of the transatlantic alliance, and in America's global leadership in this moment of great challenge. Together, we are holding Putin and his oligarchs to account, from leveling punishing sanctions to accelerating the seizure of Putin and his cronies' ill-gotten assets.

"In the first year of President Biden's presidency, our economy grew at the fastest rate in four decades, and we added jobs at the fastest rate in our history. But the President is right that too many Americans aren't reaping the benefits of that recovery, and that COVID has taken a tremendous toll. I applaud President Biden's plan to tackle supply chain issues, cut costs on essentials like child care and prescription drugs, and crack down on corporate profiteering and tax dodging. I am pleased with his call for action to guide us away from climate catastrophe and onto a path of safety--a path powered by zero-carbon energy, to free American consumers from price shocks and the world from aggressive and corrupt petro-dictators. And I am glad the President will redouble efforts to address mental health issues and the opioid crisis, which are priorities of mine in the Senate.

"Finally, I am thrilled with the President's pledge to take on corporate and special interest corruption by shining the light of transparency on money in politics. As the leader of the fight for the DISCLOSE Act for over a decade, I know Americans are fed up with corporations and big-money donors using billions of dollars of dark money to rig the system in their favor. The President is right -- it's past time to end special interest control of our democracy."

Source