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[Pages S875-S876]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATE OF THE UNION MESSAGE
Mr. McCONNELL. Last night, the President shared a hopeful vision of a
bright future for our country. In part, he reminded us that the future
is bright because of the big steps we have taken together in the past 2
years to move the Nation forward--steps such as historic tax reform
that has helped middle-class families across America keep more of what
they earn; the regulatory reforms that have amped up our economy and
fueled job creation; the landmark legislation we passed to combat the
opioid epidemic; the long-needed investment in our Armed Forces that
gives our servicemembers the tools and training they need to keep us
safe.
As I mentioned yesterday, some of these accomplishments were
delivered by Republicans alone, but the lion's share of them were
bicameral and bipartisan. They combined the ideas and priorities of
both sides of the aisle and both Chambers of Congress. So even though I
know our Democratic colleagues' first instinct these days is to
reflexively criticize anything President Trump says or does, I hope
they took some pride in the strong state of our Union which the
President described.
This great country belongs to all of us, and it is going to take all
of us to keep moving forward. As the President put it, ``cooperation,
compromise, and the common good.''
Last night, the President highlighted, in particular, the national
challenges he sees as most urgent and as top priorities for his
administration this year. Tackling them will require that same
bipartisan spirit in Congress. He restated the administration's
commitment to addressing the humanitarian and security crisis at our
Nation's southern border, to fighting on behalf of American workers and
job creators, to rebuilding America's infrastructure, and to helping
simplify families' budgets by lowering the cost of healthcare and
prescription drugs. On these and other challenges, the American people
deserve the full attention of a fully functioning Congress. They
deserve a Democratic Party that puts the public interest ahead of
political spite and comes to the table to negotiate necessary
compromises.
Well, it will not be long before we will see if this institution can
rise to the occasion. The next deadline for appropriations will arrive
in a little over a week, and Members in both Chambers will need to
prove we can move past making points and start actually making a
difference.
Throughout the coming year, if we are serious about advancing
meaningful policy, this basic requirement will remain the same--good-
faith efforts between a Democratic-controlled House and a Republican-
controlled Senate and President Trump's administration.
Another challenge the President mentioned is the ongoing obstruction
of his nominations to the executive branch and the Federal courts. He
was absolutely right about that. To a historic degree, Senate Democrats
have slow-walked well-qualified nominees, gumming up committee
consideration and burning weeks of valuable time on the floor. As I
have said time and
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again, this mindless obstruction is unacceptable.
So I was encouraged the President took an opportunity last night to
highlight for the Nation exactly what we are up against in this regard.
We are into the third year of his Presidency--the third year--and the
American people deserve a fully functioning and fully staffed Federal
Government after 3 years. It is time for their elected representatives
to be part of the solution.
I know several of our colleagues are discussing ways to help the
Senate better fulfill its duty in this area. I hope there will be
cooperation from the other side of the aisle to identify and advance a
durable and fair solution.
President Trump offered a clear picture of the ways in which our
policies are delivering significant results to families across America
and the urgent challenges we still need to confront together. He
offered us a powerful reminder that America's strength and goodness are
inextricably linked with our commitment to individual liberty and free
enterprise and that we can never allow the United States of America to
dim our light by sliding into the failures of socialism. Socialism has
failed everywhere it has been tried, and we are not going to try it in
this country. We need to do right now what we need to in order to move
forward together.
The brief Democratic response showed us one potential way forward.
Our colleagues across the aisle could simply deny the facts in front of
us about the progress that has taken place--progress which middle-class
families all across America can tangibly feel--and use the same, tired,
forgettable cliches to divide our Nation along political lines, but the
President offered a chance to walk together, unified, along a higher
road. Both the tone and the substance of his speech would strike any
fair observer as reasonable and thoroughly bipartisan.
Once again, the only way this divided Congress will be able to choose
greatness and deliver significant legislation to the American people is
by focusing on, as President Trump put it, ``cooperation, compromise,
and the common good.''
That will need to be our motto moving forward. The Nation we love
deserves no less. The American people will be watching us.
____________________
