Rep. Lujan's Statement On The State Of The Union

Statement

Rep. Ben Ray Luján issued the following statement on President Obama's State of the Union address.

"Over the past year, I have traveled across our state and have witnessed first-hand both the great spirit of New Mexicans and the challenges that so many are facing in a difficult economic climate. Tonight, President Obama spoke of this spirit and these challenges. In the days ahead, we have the opportunity to renew our efforts to stand up for families, our communities, and our nation.

"Over the past year in Congress, we have made progress towards reversing eight years of putting banks and corporations ahead of people and have begun putting our families first. We've passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help get our economy back on track and to make broad investments in our future. We've given 95% of working families a tax cut and also cut taxes for small businesses, homebuyers, college students, and parents. We've taken on credit card companies by enacting a Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights to protect New Mexican families from abusive and predatory credit practices. And in the House, we've passed reforms to protect individuals from unfair insurance company practices such as denials based on pre-existing conditions and removed the anti-trust exemptions that insurance companies have enjoyed for too long. We've also passed legislation to create clean energy jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and save billions of dollars to consumers over the long term.

"In the year ahead, I hope to join with the President and my colleagues on the many important issues that remain to be addressed. We must continue to help create more American jobs by enacting the Jobs for Main Street Act that we passed in the House at the end of last year. We must ensure that credit will be extended to small businesses and entrepreneurs to create jobs, put people back to work and rebuild our economy. We must get to the President the House's plan to finally hold Wall Street accountable for engaging in the risky financial practices that jeopardized so many American families and lead to the bailout of the "too big to fail' banks. We must make legislation I cosponsored, PAYGO, or pay-as-you-go, into law to bring needed fiscal responsibility to Washington.

"From the conversations I've had across the 3rd District--with school teachers and doctors, seniors and those on active duty and our veterans--I know we share a commitment to renewing the promise of the American economy. By providing the necessary investments we need to create new jobs and move our economy forward, we can empower New Mexico to recover from these difficult times. I am encouraged by the President's vision tonight and I look forward to working with him, my colleagues, and fellow New Mexicans to address the challenges that lie ahead."

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