Congressman Benishek On The State Of The Union Address

Statement

Congressman Dan Benishek (MI-01) today made the following statement in regard to President Obama's State of the Union address to Congress:

"As a new Member of Congress, I was privileged to attend President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. The State of the Union is a brilliant display of America's democracy, and I was honored to be part of it. While I disagreed with President Obama on several of his ideas, I valued the opportunity to learn more about his proposals for our country.

Though the President stressed the need for more economic growth during his address, I believe our focus must involve free market principles that produce an environment in which business can flourish. I remain committed to supporting proposals in the 112th Congress that spur private sector job creation in Northern Michigan and across America.

What we cannot do is to rely on more federal spending to try to fix the economic problems our Nation is facing. We have tried that approach with an $814 billion "stimulus" that failed to generate the 3 million jobs the Administration promised. Instead, this spending spree only served to expand the national debt to a record $14 trillion.

My first priority, after job creation, is to support efforts to bring this reckless spending under control. That is why I voted to repeal the health care law and voted to cut Congress' own budget. People across Michigan and America have cut back on their household budgets, and I believe the federal government must do the same."

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