Adam Smith, Suzan DelBene Respond to President's State of the Union Speech

Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA9) and Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA1) both responded to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.

Smith, who lives in Bellevue and represents the 9th Congressional District, addressed the president's economic priorities.

“The most pressing challenges our country faces are creating jobs and charting a responsible path towards fiscal security.  This starts with Congress eliminating sequestration, but it also includes passing long-term federal budgets that lift the crippling uncertainty destined to devastate our economy. 

“Tonight, the President laid out the right steps to move towards economic certainty by taking a balanced approach of increasing revenues and reducing spending, making it clear that we cannot simply cut our way to prosperity.  As the President highlighted, it is critical that we make investments in education and clean energy, as well as comprehensive reforms to our immigration system that ensures that bright minds and driven workers are coming to our country to expand job opportunities and strengthen the economy.

“The time is now for Congress to make difficult choices and find long-term solutions that provide economic stability and reduce our national deficits.  We must agree to solutions that eliminate the threat of sequestration, and provides the federal government, and the economy, with the certainty they need to move forward.  I will work with the President and my colleagues in Congress to provide new job opportunities and immediate economic growth while finding long-term solutions to our fiscal situation."

DelBene, who lives in Medina and represents the 1st Congressional District, issued a statement Tuesday night, addressing the president's statements on the economy and immigration:

Tonight, the President laid out an agenda focused on creating jobs and building an economy that works for everyone.

Delivering results on this agenda with policies that reflect our shared values of fairness and equality is why I ran for Congress. So I am encouraged that the President shares my belief that strong economic growth is achieved when all working families have the opportunity to succeed. His focus on investments in education, basic research and infrastructure are priorities I share. He is right to push for bold initiatives to make America a global leader in clean energy and ensure we have a vibrant manufacturing sector. Making our nation a magnet for innovation and good jobs is critical to having a thriving middle-class.

I am encouraged by the President’s strong call for Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Creating an earned path to citizenship for those here and working is a policy that makes economic sense and is the right thing to do. Reform must also support the workforce needs of our local employers, including long-term and seasonal agricultural workers, as well as highly trained technical workers. 

It is of critical importance that we address our nation’s fiscal problems with a balanced approach to reduce our long-term deficit and build the foundation for a growing economy. A balanced approach must include making federal spending more efficient and reforming our tax code. We must not balance our budget on the backs of seniors and working families. 

There’s a lot of work to do and I look forward to doing my part to move our economy forward. I hope that House leadership is willing to end the hyper-partisanship and brinksmanship that’s caused so much gridlock. We should focus instead on making progress on bipartisan solutions that will encourage innovation, create jobs and grow our economy.