Rokita Responds to State of the Union Address

.S. Representative Todd Rokita (IN-04) issued the following statement after President Obama's last State of the Union address.

"While there are areas I agree with the President, there are also areas of tonight's State of the Union with which I strongly disagree. Over the past 7 years, I've learned that the President who lectured his co-equal branches of government and offered his latest sales pitch is not the President who acted yesterday or will act tomorrow. When he speaks about hope, bipartisanship, and togetherness it is just that - talk. It is too bad this rhetoric doesn't even come close to his actions," said Rokita.

ECONOMY

"The President asked that we preserve America's spirit of discovery and innovation. To do so, I urge the President get the government off the backs of entrepreneurs and job creators. The administration presides over thousands of new bureaucrats that are responsible for thousands of pages of new regulations. Only free markets, where Americans can innovate, will renew and expand that spirit."

CLIMATE CHANGE

"And, regardless of what the President believes, the energy of the future will not be found through government intervention driven by unproven science. It will be determined by the people utilizing a free market approach."

FOREIGN POLICY

The President spoke of America's leadership role in the world.

"This President has a failed foreign policy. Today our enemies don't fear us and our friends can't count on us. This is the result of his policies, spear-headed by his Secretary of States Hillary Clinton and John Kerry.

"As Vice Chairman of the House Budget Committee, I agree with the President that we cannot nation build everywhere we go. However, we must display strong global leadership and stand for American values. His claimed leadership is not found in the Iran deal, it is not found in empty red lines, and it is not found by bowing and kissing foreign leaders. Instead, it can be seen in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for example, whose address to Congress, in the same room, last year demonstrated a greater willingness to stand for the safety of his people on the global stage than President Obama has for Americans."

BETTER POLITICS

Finally, the President called for better politics with less division and a greater respect of one another's ideas.

"The President says that not everyone has to agree with him on everything, but after 5 years of trying to work with him, I can say that one must conceptually agree with his agenda in order to fit his definition of a "better politics." His call for unity is undermined by the fact that time and time again, the President has denounced those who do not subscribe to his ideological views on climate change, health care, illegal immigration, marriage, and many other issues."

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