Congressman Chris Collins Responds to President’s State of the Union

Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) issued the following video statement following President Obama’s State of the Union address.

You can watch the video statement here.

Transcript of Congressman Collins response:

“Hi, I’m Congressman Chris Collins and I want to take a moment to discuss the President’s State of the Union address.

For weeks now, President Obama has been talking about using a pen and a phone to get things done. But the American people don’t need a pen and a phone, they need jobs and a paycheck.  We need to focus on strengthening our economy.  There are 91.8 million Americans out of work and at the end of the day jobs are created by economic growth, not mandates from Washington.

Unfortunately, President Obama did not talk about plans for economic growth, like fundamental tax reform, energy independence, or significant changes to ObamaCare.  We could immediately bolster our nation’s economy by changing ObamaCare’s definition of a full-time work week from 30 hours back to the traditional 40.  And we could repeal the medical device tax, which is hurting American manufactures. But we didn’t hear any of these solutions from the President. Instead, we heard more “big government knows best” solutions that are paid for by borrowing more money from China.

The American people want the checks and balances that come with divided government.  But they also want Washington to roll up its sleeves and actually get something done.

Thankfully, Congress has started to get the message.  We recently passed a responsible spending bill, which will help restore Congress to regular order, and are poised to pass a bipartisan Farm Bill.

But we cannot do it alone.  We need President Obama to work with Congress to address our nation’s addiction to deficits and debt, so we can begin to move our country toward a balanced budget. We need President Obama to work with Congress to reform Social Security and Medicare, to ensure they are solvent and give Americans confidence in their retirement future. And we need the President to work with Congress to get rid of Common Core, and put an end to the federal government telling local schools how and what to teach. 

Sadly, nothing in President Obama’s address indicates he has gotten the message that government works better when we work together. We need a President who will work with Congress, not around Congress.

Thank you for listening, and as always, please continue to reach out to me to share your comments and concerns.”