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Rep. Kelly Responds to State of the Union Address

January 20, 2015

WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA) – a member of the House Ways and Means Committee – issued the following statement tonight in response to President Obama’s 2015 State of the Union Address.

“Tonight President Obama had a real opportunity to join America’s new Congress on common ground and commit to working with us on serious solutions that most Americans want. Unfortunately, the president blew this opportunity. Instead of addressing the members of Congress that sat in front of him, he seemed to be addressing a Congress that no longer exists. While the president certainly spoke loud and clear, he seemed to forget how America spoke last November.

“Last year, after President Obama rightly claimed that his policies were ‘on the ballot,’ the American people overwhelmingly rejected those policies by ending his party’s control of the Senate. After six years of the Obama administration’s failed, out-of-touch leadership, Americans elected a new Congress that shares their top priorities: making the economy stronger and paving the way for new jobs with better pay for hardworking families and individuals. Sadly, the proposals in tonight’s speech ignore those priorities and represent a step backward. Simply put, America did not elect this new unified Congress to raise taxes or give more power to Washington.

“In particular, President Obama’s ‘plan’ to increase taxes by $320 billion is both unrealistic and unserious. If he were truly serious about this idea, then he would have proposed it during his first six years in office, especially when his party controlled both chambers of Congress. Instead of higher taxes and an inevitably slower economy, hardworking Americans deserve commonsense, pro-growth tax reform that makes our nation’s tax code fairer and simpler with lower rates. My colleagues and I on the Ways and Means committee are already at the table, ready to work with the president to get there.

“Going forward, Americans expect the president to work with Congress as it is, not as he wishes it to be, and to put the nation’s priorities ahead of scoring political points with his base. He can begin by supporting thepopular, bipartisanpieces of legislation already passed by the House – and eventually the Senate – that will improve economic opportunities for the families and individuals who need them most.”

NOTE: According to the most recent Department of Labor unemployment report, 8.7 million Americans remain out of work. The unemployment rate for those without jobs and those involuntarily working part-time stands at 11.2 percent. The national labor force participation rate has fallen to 62.7 percent, the lowest level since 1978, which means 92.8 million Americans are currently out of the workforce.

 

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