Following President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, local Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-8) issued his response on Wednesday.
While the congressman is a Republican and the president a Democrat, Fitzpatrick said he hopes both parties can work together to help keep America successful.
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“I hope that last night’s rhetoric translates in to real outreach and cooperation,” Fitzpatrick said.
Read the text of Fitzpatrick’s statement:
“Earlier this week, our nation recognized Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – a time of service in our communities, aimed at helping those in need and advancing the common causes that make our neighborhoods and nation great.
In his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, Dr. King famously noted that his dream for equality was a dream deeply rooted in the American dream: The quintessential American idea that if you work hard and play by the rules there is no limit to your opportunity to succeed.
For millions of families throughout our nation, the American dream has been a beacon leading to a better life and the driving force behind social and economic success.
Sadly, today, too many hardworking people feel that dream is slipping out of reach. The beacon seems distant and faint, and with it come new roadblocks to prosperity and personal achievement.
It is the common task of each member of this Congress to work to restore the equality of opportunity that makes us great through principled and pragmatic governance. Power does not flow from Capitol Hill to Main Street; it is my goal to empower those I represent to reach their potential free from government burdens.
In his State of the Union, the president talked about working “together.” While we may disagree greatly on the steps to get there, the goals laid out in the address provide valuable targets for real, bipartisan achievement in the coming year. From investing in our roads and bridges to ensuring workers keep more of their hard earned money; there is room for agreement on both the left and right – from the Congress to the White House.
Rejecting political spectacle, it is my sincere hope that the president is prepared to work with the House and Senate – and members of all stripes – to advance the common goals that unite us. Something we saw glimmers of last night.
A reinvestment in our nation’s infrastructure is required to position our economy for 21st century success. There bipartisan agreement deeply rooted in both chambers in the form of the Partnership to Build America Act which provides an innovative way for our nation to restructure our tax code, bring corporate earnings back from abroad, and finance hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure projects with no new appropriated costs. This is an idea supported by conservatives, liberals and, most importantly, the American people.
Likewise, the goal of tax reform has wide support among both parties and both branches.
It’s clear that allowing small businesses and their workers keep and utilize more of what they earned can strengthen families, communities and our economy. It is equally clear, however, that there are deep differences in what makes for a successful reform of our burdensome tax code.In his six State of the Unions, the president has outlined six different plans to raise taxes on some portion of the population. While these proposals certainly represent changes to our current tax code, these aren’t the substantive, bipartisan reforms that the American people are begging for. Without fixing the broken tax code we are just compounding the problem, and without cutting spending we aren’t giving Americans the confidence that their money is being spent wisely.
In previous years, the president has agreed on the need to lower the corporate tax rate – the highest in the industrialized world. Let’s tackle that. Let’s build momentum on bipartisan compromise and use that to begin the discussion about tax reform that unleashes our Main Street economy and allows us to invest in our priorities without adding more layers to an already complicated system.
It’s easy to identify the areas of disagreement, especially after an address like the State of the Union – but it is more important to find areas of agreement, especially ones that go above and beyond what we may hear in lofty, often politically tinted speeches.
As a member of the bipartisan group No Labels, I understand that there are a handful of issues that transcend ideological divisions and, by clearly identifying them, we can allow members to work together toward common ends.
That’s the idea behind our National Strategic Agenda, a bipartisan plan centered on four common goals:
· Creating 25 million jobs in the next decade
· Securing Medicare and Social Security for another 75 years
· Balancing the federal budget by 2030, and
· Making America energy independent by 2035.Last night the President said: “A better politics is one where we debate without demonizing each other; where we talk issues, and values, and principles, and facts, rather than “gotcha” moments, or trivial gaffes, or fake controversies that have nothing to do with people’s daily lives.”
I couldn’t agree more. And I hope that last night’s rhetoric translates in to real outreach and cooperation.
Working together around shared objectives is how our nation has always succeeded; it’s no different today. That’s why it is my sincere hope we can make 2015 a year – not of political finger pointing and electioneering – but of progress toward accomplishing the things that unite us and growing the American dream for every family.”
