Oregon Congressman Kurt Schrader issued the following statement after President Obama’s State of the Union Address:

“I really appreciated what the President said tonight. I think he hit exactly the right themes on making sure America continues to be the greatest country in the world through encouraging the innovation that creates jobs, now and into the future, and focusing on fiscal responsibility.

It’s obvious that encouraging innovation in education at every level is absolutely critical. Other nations are making those investments and graduating more math and science students. We need to make sure every generation of Americans is able to compete in an increasingly globalized economy.

I also strongly agree with the President that we need targeted investments to bring our infrastructure into the 21st Century. You cannot win the economic battles necessary when we’re dealing with a 19th and 20th Century infrastructure system that hasn’t been updated since the Eisenhower Administration. Better infrastructure puts Americans to work now and makes America more competitive in decades to come.

Tonight the President also proposed simplifying the tax system and reducing the barriers that stand between American businesses and economic success. I look forward to working with him to move that proposal forward.

Finally, I applaud the President’s commitment to reducing our deficit and getting our fiscal house in order. If we’re going to encourage business growth and market stability we must make the hard choices necessary to deal with our long-term debt issues.”