Congressional representatives from the region are reacting along party lines to President Obama’s last State of the Union address last night.
President Obama delivered his seventh and final State of the Union Address before a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik represent’s New York’s North Country, one of the largest districts geographically in the East and one of the most rural. The freshman Republican was generally critical of the speech, noting in particular the president’s regret over partisanship.
Obama: “It’s one of the few regrets of my presidency. That the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better.”
Stefanik: “He has not built effective relationships with Congress. There were a few items he did hit on that I look forward to working with both Democrats and Republicans on. Those are criminal justice reform, how we combat our heroin epidemic and dealing with the issue of college affordability. The president pointed out and referenced Speaker Paul Ryan’s commitment to combat poverty. Those are issues that we can work on together. But so much of this address was focused on the polarization today and issues upon which Americans have fundamental disagreements.”
On the other hand, Vermont’s Democratic House representative found the president’s speech “tremendous.” Congressman Peter Welch found it reflective and a stark contrast to the negative rhetoric in the current presidential campaign.
Obama: “For my final address to this chamber I want to focus on our future.”
Welch: “His making a reflective speech about the state of politics now really was absolutely essential. And we’ve got to step back and each of us as citizens or as elected officials reflect on the process by which we do politics. Second, as far as the initiatives go he’s not going to relent on that at all. And, you know, it was interesting to me really you saw a Congress that was listening much more than in effect demonstrating by ovation.”
Welch, who sponsored a bill authorizing military force against the self-proclaimed Islamic State, was particularly gratified to hear the president call on Congress to take action.
Obama: “If this Congress is serious about winning this war, and wants to send a message to our troops and the world, authorize the use of military force against ISIL. Take a vote.”
Welch: “What’s been happening in Congress is that instead of us doing our own jobs members of Congress are taking pot-shots at the president. And the president was calling us out. So I will continue to seek a vote and a debate on this question of how we should engage in the threat of ISIL.”
New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen is pleased that President Obama is calling for more civil public debate. She particularly appreciated the president’s spotlight on the heroin epidemic. “This is a national problem that has hit New Hampshire and northern New England especially hard. We have more deaths from drug abuse than we do from traffic accidents. And so we’ve got to do more to address it. We absolutely need more treatment. We need to recognize that addiction is a disease. And we need to couple all of this with mental health treatment. So there is a lot we can do and we’ve got to work to address this because we’ve got to look at this as a national emergency and treat it that way.”
In a statement. Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, said the president’s ability to “appeal to our better instincts” makes him a great leader.
