Washington, DC – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following comments Tuesday night following the President’s State of the Union Address:

“Well first we welcome the President to the Capitol. I always enjoy the State of the Union, and I was pleased to see that he has adjusted his rhetoric considerably since last year. He seems to be advocating more centrist policies that I think will be approved by the vast majority of the American people.

“I like the fact that he is calling for us to lower the corporate tax rate in the United States which is definitely hindering our international competitiveness.

“I like the fact that he wants to do something about spending. However, freezing government spending for five years at the increased levels of the last two years is really not enough.  We need to reduce domestic spending substantially. And I hope the President will work with us to achieve that.

“But overall it sounds to me like the President’s changed the tone and the rhetoric from the first two years. And I think that’s an appropriate adjustment in the wake of last year’s election when the American people said basically they wanted to go in a different direction.”

###