Statement of the Hon. Rosa L. DeLauro - President's State of the Union Address

Statement of the Hon. Rosa L. DeLauro

President's State of the Union Address

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) released the following statement in advance of President Bush's State of the Union address tonight.

"This evening, President Bush hoped to convince the American people that the state of our union is strong. As he has for the past five years, he did so by touching on issues on which Americans look to their president for leadership - health insurance, gas prices, and war. But with his Administration plagued by scandal and corruption, a disastrous roll-out of the Medicare prescription drug benefit, ongoing fallout from Hurricane Katrina, and little progress in Iraq, Americans are also looking for something else from President Bush: a new direction.

"Unfortunately, he did not give them one. President Bush revealed once again the extent to which he fails to grasp the economic and moral implications of his policies. While insisting our economy is strong, he casts a blind eye on the consequences of his unaffordable tax cuts for the wealthy: exploding budget deficits, falling personal savings and declining wages. Indeed, more and more are left to wonder if the benefits of those tax cuts will ever reach their families.

"On issue after issue, President Bush urges patience and resolve where what is needed is leadership and bold reforms. And nowhere is the need for a change in direction clearer than Iraq, where our troops continue to do a magnificent job in the face of impossible odds. Milestone after milestone in Iraq has passed—elections, a constitution—but there has been frustratingly little to give the American people any sign that the president's policies are improving the situation there. Americans are ready for a new policy that paves the way for Iraqi self-governance while significantly reducing U.S. troop presence there by the end of the year.

"On those issues that the president did offer proposals, he revealed how out of step his priorities are with the American public's. Not only would his proposal to expand Health Savings Accounts fail to insure more Americans, most experts believe it would further exacerbate a health care crisis that has only deepened during his time in office. Prescription drug costs continue to soar as our most vulnerable seniors are left struggling with his industry-written Medicare-prescription drug plan. And coming on the heels of an energy bill that provided $12 billion dollars in handouts to oil companies bringing in record profits but nothing for families facing skyrocketing gas prices, the president's renewed call for investments in alternative energy sources rings hollow.

"After five years, the American people have made up their minds: they want a new direction for our country that makes America more secure and more competitive. They want their president to be as bold about reform as he is about pursuing his agenda. And most of all, they want him to show he is on their side - listening and working to make opportunity real for all Americans. Tonight's speech did not make that case."

http://www.house.gov/delauro/press/2006/January/state_union_response_1_31_06.html