“President George W. Bush, in his State of the Union address tonight, professed his desire to put aside partisan differences and work across Party lines to tackle the serious foreign and domestic issues that now confront the nation. I share this objective and am therefore encouraged that the President is now speaking about reaching across the aisle. I hope this bipartisanship will extend to the debate over the proposals outlined in tonight’s speech.
One of the greatest problems facing our country and one of the greatest burdens on workers and business is rising health care costs and the increasing ranks of the uninsured. I am, however, very skeptical that the proposals he discussed tonight would actually help this crisis. It is my sincere hope that we can quickly provide long overdue health care relief for workers, the uninsured, and small businesses.
In the President’s last State of the Union address, he said that America is ‘addicted to oil.’ Since that address, the President has not followed through with sound policies to remedy the addiction. I agree that we must rely more on alternative fuels and hybrid technology. We need a real increase in fuel efficiency standards and a real investment in alternative fuels to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, create more jobs through innovation, and protect our environment.
On global warming, there is a consensus that action must be taken to address this growing problem and that action should include a reduction in global warming pollution – especially carbon emissions. It is disappointing that while groups as divergent as corporate executives, environmentalists, and evangelicals can agree on this issue, the President still refuses to take real action.
Tonight’s State of the Union address is the fourth such address since the invasion of Iraq. Unfortunately, not much has changed over the course of those four addresses.
Two years ago, in his 2005 State of the Union, President Bush talked of increasing the training and role of Iraqi forces – rhetoric reminiscent of language he has used in recent weeks. In 2005, he said:
‘…we will increasingly focus our efforts on helping prepare more capable Iraqi security forces -- forces with skilled officers and an effective command structure. As those forces become more self-reliant and take on greater security responsibilities, America and its coalition partners will increasingly be in a supporting role. In the end, Iraqis must be able to defend their own country -- and we will help that proud, new nation secure its liberty.’
This begs the question: what has happened in the two intervening years? But more importantly, what is the path forward to accomplish this long overdue goal? I don’t think that 20,000 additional U.S. troops and an escalation of the war in Iraq is the answer.
The President should heed the advice of Republicans and Democrats in the Congress -- and of the American people. He should reject an escalation and look for a new direction.
For the past three weeks, I have participated in hearings of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. These fruitful hearings were a much needed change from previous years and should be the start of discussions of a new way forward in Iraq. The President and our policy in Iraq can greatly benefit from the advice and advisement of the Congress and the experts that appeared before the Committee.
Again, I hope that the President’s words tonight of working across the aisle are reflected in his actions. The people of Pennsylvania and of the United States need real solutions to the problems they face every day and to the security challenges we face at home and abroad.”
