Washington, D.C. - Congressman Howard L. Berman released the following statement in response to President Barack Obama’s address to Congress this evening.

“No issue facing our nation right now is more urgent than job creation.  Californians are rightly asking ‘where are the jobs’ and due to the partisan bickering that has sadly become synonymous with Washington, efforts to answer these calls have stalled.  I was pleased to see President Obama take a definitive step tonight towards bringing this gridlock to an end and finally jump starting efforts to get the economy moving again.  In this same vein, I will be introducing two separate jobs bills in the coming weeks that are designed to increase the export of American made goods and in turn create new jobs here at home at no additional cost to taxpayers. 

“In our democracy however, it takes more than delivering speeches and introducing bills to get our economy back on track.  The Republican Majority here in the House must finally allow jobs proposals to move forward in Congress.  It has been nearly 250 days since Republicans took control, and since then they have been unable to pass even one single piece of jobs legislation.

“I am committed to doing what we can in Congress to promote job creation and put more money in the pockets of middle class families.”