Congressman David B. McKinley, P.E., (R-WV) released a video response to President Obama’s final State of the Union speech. In the video he poses two fundamental questions:

1) Are Americans better off than they were seven years ago?  

2) Is America safer than it was seven years ago?

You can watch the full video here.

 Video Excerpts:

“At their kitchen tables, families across America are asking fundamental questions. Paraphrasing President Reagan: are they better off than they were seven years ago? Is the world safer today?

On the first question, most West Virginians would say no. While some people may be doing well, many more are struggling and frustrated.

Ask the families of the thousands of coal miners out of work due to the war on coal. Ask the single mom whose hours have been cut back because of Obamacare and is now working a second job.

…

On the second question – is the world safer? President Obama entered office with a promise to move beyond the bush years and reshape the world’s view of America. Seven years later?

Iraq and Afghanistan are still in the headlines, but now they’ve been joined by ISIS terrorizing parts of Syria and Iraq, instability in Libya, Egypt, and Yemen, North Korea testing new nuclear weapons, Russian aggression towards Ukraine, and Iranian missile tests and pursuit of nuclear weapons.

America’s foreign policy is a disaster.

…

We should never lose sight of the fundamentals that helped America become the greatest nation on earth: a healthy, vibrant economy, a strong national defense, and a smaller, more efficient government. These are the principles we are fighting for.

They directly impact those families sitting around their kitchen table. I’m not backing down in this fight. It’s too important for America.”

Rep. McKinley’s guest for the State of the Union was Ted Offutt from Fairmont, WV, who serves as the Director of the Marion County Day Report Center, an alternative sentencing and treatment program. Offutt was invited to highlight the importance of the work he and many other West Virginians are doing to fight the drug epidemic ravaging our communities.