- 2014
State of
the Union « Republican Responses to the State
of the Union Address
Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-WA)
2014 Republican Address to the Nation
[DEMOCRACY IN ACTION Transcript/Video]
Tonight we honor America – a nation that has witnessed the greatest rise of freedom and opportunity our world has ever seen.
A nation where we are not defined by our limits, but by our potential.
And a nation where a girl who worked at the McDonald’s Drive-Thru to help pay for college can be with you from the United States Capitol.
But the most important moments right now aren’t happening here.
They’re not in the Oval Office or in the House Chamber.
They’re in your homes.
Kissing your kids goodnight…
Figuring out how to pay the bills…
Getting ready for tomorrow’s doctor’s visit…
Waiting to hear from those you love serving in Afghanistan, or searching for that big job interview.
After all, ‘We the People’ have been the foundation of America since her earliest days – people from all walks of life, and from all corners of the world – people who come to America because here, no challenge is too great and no dream too big.
That’s the genius of America.
Tonight the President made more promises that sound good, but won’t solve the problems actually facing Americans.
We want you to have a better life. The President wants that too.
But we part ways when it comes to how to make that happen.
So tonight I’d like to share a more hopeful, Republican vision…
One that empowers you, not the government…
It’s one that champions free markets – and trusts people to make their own decisions, not a government that decides for you.
It helps working families rise above the limits of poverty and protects our most vulnerable.
And it’s one where Washington plays by the same rules that you do.
It’s a vision that is fair and offers the promise of a better future for every American.
If you would had told me as a little girl that I would one day put my hand on the Bible and be sworn in as the 200th woman to serve in the House of Representatives, I wouldn't have thought it possible.
I grew up working at my family’s orchard and fruit stand in Kettle Falls, a small town in Eastern Washington - getting up before dawn with my brother to pick apples.
My dad drove a school bus and my mom worked as a part-time bookkeeper.
They taught me to work hard, help others, and always, always dream for more.
So, when I showed my 4H animals at the county fair, my parents used to say to me, “Cathy, you need to save this money so you can go to college one day!”
And so I did – I saved, I worked hard, and I became the first in my family to graduate from college.
The chance to go from my Washington to this one was unexpected.
I came to Congress to help empower people, not politicians;
To grow the working middle class, not the government;
And to ensure that everyone in this country can find a job.
Because a job is so much more than just a paycheck –
It gives us purpose, dignity, and the foundation to build a future.
I was single when I was elected – but it wasn’t long before I met Brian, a retired Navy commander, and now we have three beautiful children, one who was born just eight weeks ago.
Like all parents, we have high hopes and dreams for our children, but we also know what it’s like to face challenges.
Three days after our son was born, Cole, we got news no parent expects.
Cole was diagnosed with Down syndrome.
The doctors told us he could have endless complications, heart defects, even early Alzheimer’s.
They told us all the problems.
But when we looked at our son, we saw only possibilities.
We saw a gift from God.
And today we see a 6-year old boy who dances to Bruce Springsteen; who reads above grade level; and who is the best big brother in the world.
We see all the things he can do, not those he can’t.
And Cole, and his sisters, Grace and Brynn, have only made me more determined to see the potential in every human life – that whether we are born with an extra twenty-first chromosome or without a dollar to our name – we are not defined by our limits, but by our potential.
Because our mission – not only as Republicans, but as Americans, is to once again to ensure that we are not bound by where we come from, but empowered by what we can become.
That is the gap Republicans are working to close.
It’s the gap we all face: between where you are and where you want to be.
The President talks a lot about income inequality.
But the real gap we face today is one of opportunity inequality.
And with this Administration’s policies, that gap has become far too wide.
We see this gap growing every single day.
We see it in our neighbors who are struggling to find jobs…
A husband who’s now working just part-time…
A child who drops out of college because she can’t afford tuition…
Or parents who are outliving their life’s savings.
Last month, more Americans stopped looking for a job than found one. Too many people are falling further and further behind because, right now, the President’s policies are making people’s lives harder.
Republicans have plans to close the gap…
Plans that will focus on jobs first without more spending, government bailouts, and red tape…
Every day, we’re working to expand our economy, one manufacturing job, nursing degree and small business at a time.
We have plans to improve our education and training systems so you have the choice to determine where your kids go to school…so college is affordable…and skills training is modernized.
And yes, it’s time to honor our history of legal immigration. We’re working on a step-by-step solution to immigration reform by first securing our borders and making sure America will always attract the best, brightest, and hardest working from around the world.
And with too many Americans living paycheck to paycheck, we have solutions to help you take home more of your pay – through lower taxes, cheaper energy costs, and affordable health care.
Not long ago I got a letter from Bette in Spokane, who hoped the President’s health care law would save her money – but found out instead that her premiums were going up nearly $700 a month.
We've all talked to too many people who've received cancellation notices they didn't expect or who can no longer see the doctors they always have.
No. We shouldn’t go back to the way things were, but this law is not working. Republicans believe health care choices should be yours, not the government’s.
And that whether you’re a boy with Down syndrome or a woman with breast cancer … you can find coverage and a doctor who will treat you.
So we hope the President will join us in a year of real action – by empowering people – not by making their lives harder with unprecedented spending, higher taxes, and fewer jobs.
As Republicans, we advance these plans every day because we believe in a government that trusts people and doesn’t limit where you finish because of where you started.
That is what we stand for – it's for an America that is every bit as compassionate as it is exceptional.
If we’re successful…
Years from now our children will say that we rebuilt the American Dream.
We built a working middle class that could take in anyone, and a workforce that could take on the world.
Whether you’re a girl in Kettle Falls or a boy from Brooklyn, our children should be able to say that we closed the gap.
Our plan is one that dreams big for everyone and turns its back on no one.
The President said many things tonight.
But now, I ask him to listen to you – for the true state of the union lies in your heart and in your home.
Tomorrow, I’ll watch my son Cole get on the school bus; others will wait in the doctor’s office or interview for that first job.
Some of us will celebrate new beginnings…
Others will face great challenges…
But all of us will wake up and do what is uniquely American…
We will look forward to the boundless potential that lies ahead.
We will give thanks to the brave men and women who have answered America’s call to freedom, like Sgt. Jacob Hess from Spokane, who recently gave his life to protect all of ours.
So, tonight, I simply offer a prayer…
A prayer for Sgt. Hess’s family, your family, and for our larger American family.
That, with the guidance of God, we may prove ourselves worthy of His blessings of life … liberty … and the pursuit of happiness.
For when we embrace these gifts, we are each doing our part to form a more perfect union.
May God guide you and our President, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)
Tea Party Response to State of the
Union
Good evening. I'm Senator Mike Lee. In the few minutes I
have tonight, I'd like to speak especially to those Americans who may
feel they've been forgotten by both political parties. Those
individuals and families who work hard, play by the rules, balance
their budgets, honor the golden rule and don't understand why their
government in Washington can't do the same.
You're probably as frustrated as I am about an ever-growing
government that somehow thinks its okay to lie to, spy on, and even
target its own citizens. Many hard-working Americans are
discouraged and wondering what, if anything, can be done.
I believe we need to do what Americans have always done. Come
together and press for positive change. Protesting against
dysfunctional government is a great American tradition going back to
the original Tea Party in Boston about 240 years ago. Americans
have a natural instinct to stand up an speak out when they know
something's wrong. In 1773 Americans had simply had it with the
London-based national government that had become too big, too expensive
and far too intrusive.
It's important to note, however, that had the founding generation
stopped at just protesting against the kind of government Americans did
not want, the Boston Tea Party would have been little more than a
footnote in history. At most it would have been remembered as
just one more futile protest against an abusive national
government.
Fortunately for all of us, those early patriots moved on from Boston
and moved past their protest against the government they didn't
want. They marched forward on a road toward the kind of
government they did want. It took them 14 long years to get from
Boston to Philadelphia where they created our Constitution, the kind of
government they did want. In America, the test of any political
movement is not what that
movement is against, but what it's for. The founders
made a point at Boston Harbor, but they made history in Philadelphia’s
Independence Hall.
Unfortunately in recent years, we've had no choice but to engage in
a number of protests against our current president's
Washington-centered agenda. As Americans, we must always be
willing to fight the Boston-type battles, boldly calling out a bad
policy whenever we see it. But we must do so with an eye toward
Philadelphia, maintaining a positive focus on the kind of nation we
want to be and become.
Today, Americans know in their hearts that something's wrong.
Much of what's wrong relates to the sense that the ‘American Dream’ is
falling out of reach for far too many of us. We're facing an
inequality crisis — one to which the President has paid lip-service,
but seems uninterested in truly confronting or correcting.
This inequality crisis presents itself in three principal forms.
- Immobility among the poor, who are being trapped in poverty by big
government programs;
- Insecurity in the middle class, where families are struggling just
to get ahead, and they can't seem to do much more than that;
- And cronyist privilege at the top, where political and economic
insiders twist the immense power of the federal government to profit at
the expense of everyone else.
To be fair, President Obama and his party did not create all of
these problems. The Republican establishment in Washington can be
just as out of touch as the Democratic establishment. However,
tonight, as on numerous occasions as of late, the President's lofty
rhetoric ignored the fact that his administration continues to leave
poor and middle class families further behind, while he and his allies
insist that the real problem is inequality itself.
But where does this new inequality come from? From government
— every time it takes rights and opportunities away from the American
people and gives them instead to politicians, bureaucrats, and special
interests.
Inequality, real inequality, is trapping poor children in failing
schools to benefit bureaucrats and union bosses. It's penalizing
low-income parents for getting married or getting better jobs.
It's guaranteeing insurance companies taxpayer bailouts if ObamaCare
cuts into their profits. Inequality is blocking thousands of
middle class jobs in the energy industry as a favor to partisan donors
and radical environmental activists. Inequality is denying viable
unborn children any protection under the law, while exempting
unsanitary late-term abortion clinics from basic safety
standards. It's denying citizens their right to define marriage
in their states as traditionally or as broadly as their diverse values
dictate. It's the federal government hurting rural communities,
especially in the West, by controlling and mismanaging public
lands. It's changing laws without congressional approval, and
spying on American citizens without constitutional authority.
And of course, ObamaCare all by itself is an inequality godzilla that has robbed working families of their insurance, their doctors, their wages, and their jobs. Many Americans are now seeing why some of us fought so hard to stop this train wreck over the last four years.
Government-driven inequality is the reason why, as hard working
American families across the country struggle to make ends meet, six of
the ten wealthiest counties in America are now suburbs of Washington,
DC.
Throughout the last five years, President Obama has promised an
economy for the middle class, but all he’s delivered is an economy for
the middle-men. And tonight his party cheered as he asked for
more of the same, as if the solution to inequality were, well, more
inequality.
Critics might push back and argue that my own party has been part of
the problem, too often joining the Democrats to rig our economy to
benefit the well-connected at the expense of the disconnected. I
know because I'm one of those critics.
But I'm speaking to you tonight because I think maybe, just maybe
that's finally starting to change. As a nation we are once again
at a critical turning point. Now, as in 1773, Americans have had
it with our out of touch national government. But if all we do is
protest, our Boston Tea Party moment will occupy little more than a
footnote in our history.
Hopefully our leaders, reformers and citizens, will join the journey
from Boston to Philadelphia, from protest to progress. Together
we can march forward and take the road that leads to the kind of
government we do want.
We have a new generation of leaders in Washington with positive,
innovative ideas
– thoughtful policy reforms to, as my friend Senator Ted Cruz says
–“Make D.C. listen.” Reforms to help poor families work their way
into
the middle class, to help middle-class families start to get ahead, and
to level the playing field and put corporate and political insiders
back to work for the rest of us.
Conservative reformers like Senator Marco Rubio, Congressman Paul
Ryan and Congressman Jim Jordan are working on new welfare reform ideas
to help underprivileged families escape poverty. Senator Rand
Paul and I are working with some of the most liberal Democrats in
Congress to reform the federal criminal justice system to help keep
violent predators behind bars while creating opportunities for
reformed, non-violent offenders to return to the families and
neighborhoods that so desperately need them. Senator John Cornyn
has legislation that would empower states to improve K through 12
education across the country. Senator Tim Scott has reforms to
improve our job-training programs. And, I've introduced a bill to
modernize higher education, making it more accessible and more
affordable for lower income and non-traditional students.
Congressman Tom Graves has a transportation reform bill to ensure that
our infrastructure dollars are invested in roads and bridges and not
wasted on bureaucrats and special interests. Congressman Mike
Pompeo introduced a bill to end all federal subsidies for the energy
industry. And others are working on proposals to do the same for
every industry so that business profits are won from customers, not
through political connections. After all, if we're going to
reform welfare, we really should start with corporate welfare.
One proposal that should directly help you and your family is a bill
I've introduced to simplify the tax code and provide relief from the
hidden double tax that Washington currently imposes on working parents,
especially moms and dads in the middle class.
When it comes to health care, we know that the best way to repeal
ObamaCare is to deliver better solutions. We can't just return to
the old system. Health care policy used to give too much power to
insurance companies. ObamaCare now gives far too much power to
government. We know that real reform will put health care dollars
and decisions where they belong
— in the hands of patients and families and their doctors and
nurses. So reformers in both the House and the Senate are hard at
work developing new patient-centered reforms to control health care
costs, ensure access to affordable coverage for all Americans and
provide extra helpf for the poor and the sick.
All of these proposals within this new conservative reform agenda,
along with many more to come, mark the road to Philadelphia.
These
principles and these policies will work
— and will put Americans back
to work. Not just by cutting big government, but by fixing
broken government. Not just by making government smaller but by
promoting bigger citizens, stronger families and more heroic
communities. Our goal should be an America where everyone has a fair
chance to pursue happiness - and find it. That’s what it looks like
when protest grows into reform.
So if you're one of those Americans that big government is leaving
behind, if you work hard, play by the rules, and teach your kids to do
the same, I want you to know that your family will not be forgotten
anymore. This new generation of reformers still has a long way to
go to win over our party in Washington and even further to go to earn
your trust.
I'm confident that our best days as a nation are ahead of us, not
because of government, but because within America's diverse society of
individuals, families, and neighborhoods and churches and businesses
and communities freedom doesn't mean you're on your own, freedom means
we're all in this together. I invite you to join us on the road
to a more prosperous America. Together we can create the kind of
government we do want and the kind of nation our children our children
and grandchildren deserve.
Thank you very much for your time. Good night and God bless.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
Response to State of the
Union
[DEMOCRACY IN ACTION Transcript/Video]
We solved these problems then by coming together, and by implementing the right ideas. We can do it again, but we must look beyond the current debate in Washington.
Let
me
say
from the outset, I'll work with the President, Democrats,
Independents and anyone else who wants to get people back to work and
alleviate poverty in our country.
That
said,
we
must first understand what caused the mass unemployment and
the poverty of the great recession. The housing bubble and
subsequent crash were caused by the Federal Reserve keeping interest
rates too low for too long. Too much government money was given
out to too many borrowers who could not afford the payments.
Banks were encouraged by government to lend money on houses with no
money down. The demand for houses went up and so did their
prices. But it was unsustainable. Millions of people lost
their jobs. If we don't understand the cause of joblessness,
we'll have trouble fixing it.
As
we
entered
into the great recession, Republicans and Democrats
misdiagnosed the problem as too little government so they gave us more
government in the form of bank bailouts and a government stimulus
plan. Nearly a trillion dollars later though, we find that
government doesn't create jobs very well. It turned out that it
cost nearly $400,000 per job created. Why? Because
government is inherently bad at picking winners and losers.
In
the
marketplace,
most small businesses fail. If government is to
send money to certain people to create businesses, they will more often
than not pick the wrong people and no jobs will be created. Think
of the half a billion dollars President Obama gave to Solyndra to build
solar panels. It turns out people didn't want to buy these solar
panels and the taxpayers lost that money. Think of the billions
spent on the war on poverty over many decades.
Every day though, someone through hard work does rise up out of poverty. Star Parker was one who escaped poverty, drugs and a hellish life. She described her story in Today's Christian Woman. She was 23 when she quit her job at the L.A. Times so she could go on welfare. By collecting $465 a month plus food stamps and by getting a part time job that paid cash under the table, she could rent a nice apartment and earn far more money than working an honest 40-hour week. Later she said she had no trouble dropping her daughter off at a government-funded day care center, selling some free medical vouchers to buy drugs and hanging out at the beach all afternoon.
Quitting welfare was a big hurdle for her because she'd become so dependent on government and had lost a sense of who she was. So she wrote a letter the next day and told the county not to send her any more checks. "I was trusting God," she said, and within three months she got a good job at a food distribution company. Star Parker went on to become an nationally known author, speaker and ultimately a candidate for Congress.
I want Star Parker's story to be the rule, not the exception. I have an idea that will empower Americans and give them the opportunity to thrive. My plan is to create economic freedom zones in distressed areas all over the country, including my home state of Kentucky, which will leave more money in the hands of the people who earn it.
In economic freedom zones we'll cut income and business taxes to a single flat rate of 5-percent. We'll cut payroll taxes for employers and employees so folks will go home with more money in their paychecks. Burdensome, job-killing regulations will be removed, and business will expand. More money and more jobs will flow back to the areas that have suffered the most in this economic crisis. School choice will be expanded. Parents will receive an educational tax credit, because it's parents, not the government, who knows what's best for their kids. Economic freedom zones won't pick winners and losers. The money will go to businesses that consumers have already voted for.
The president's Promise Zones also address poverty, but his plan recycles worn-out ideas that haven't worked in the past. His idea is that we should make it easier to funnel federal dollars back to local governments. I think it would be better not to take the money from the businesses in the first place. We need real jobs created in the real world, not more empty government promises.
Under President Obama the percentage of people working is at it's lowest level since the days of Jimmy Carter. Roughly 11 million people are unemployed, and millions more have given up looking for work. Our debt has nearly doubled since President Obama entered office and is now over $17 trillion. Our credit rating has been downgraded. Spending continues at unsustainable levels and we're borrowing more than $1 million every minute.
But the numbers tell only half the story. Parents worry about their children growing up in a country where good jobs are few and far between. More than ever before Americans wonder how they'll afford to send their kids to college and what will happen if they lose their job.
I believe in an America where people are free to make their own decisions, helping each other as they help themselves, and I believe in an America with a strong safety net, but one that doesn't suffocate our resolve to better ourselves and our country.
The ticket to the middle class is not higher taxes on the very businesses that must create the jobs. A thriving middle class doesn't come from shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. Prosperity comes when more money is left in the private marketplace.
Families across America are worried. Good jobs are hard to find.
Mr. President, where are the jobs? You spent nearly a trillion
dollars on make-work government jobs and still joblessness confronts
the next generation. As a country, all of us together must ask
are we better off when we borrow money from China. Are we better
off when we print more money to pass around, hoping no one will notice
that the emperor has no clothes. The illusion wears thin.
It's time we choose another path. Government spending sounds
great, but what good is a welfare program that leaves people
embittered, resentful and trapped, unable to climb into the middle
class. What is the virtue in making people feel hopeless, like
they can build a good life in America any more. Hope and change
needs to be more than just a slogan.
Ronald
Reagan
once
said that to love our country is to love our countrymen,
and because we love them, we must provide them with the opportunities
to make them equal in fact and not just in theory. The war on
poverty failed. It has trapped us in multi-generational
dependency. The lesson should be that sending money to Washington
and expecting central planners to send it back in a way that creates
jobs is foolhardy.
Economic
growth
will
come when we lower taxes for everyone, especially people
who own businesses and create jobs.
If
we
allow
ourselves to succomb to the politics of envy, we miss the fact
that money and jobs flow to where they are welcome. If you punish
successful businessmen and women, their companies and the jobs these
companies create will go overseas. Lower taxes, less regulation
will entice money and jobs to return home.
Americans
want
opportunity.
A chance to work again. I fully believe
that most Americans hate the trap of government dependency but can't
break free because big government gives them no exit. I believe a
better tomorrow is around the corner if we can see beyond those who
entice us with the easy way out. Hard work and sweat invigorate
the spirit and provide a solace no government program will ever
achieve.
We
must
choose
a new way, a way that empowers the individual through
education and responsibility to earn a place alongside their fellow
Americans in the most prosperous nation ever conceived. America
has much greatness left in her. We must believe in ourselves,
believe in our founding documents, believe in our future, and then we
will thrive again.
Thank you and God bless America.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Discurso Republicano Hacia la Nación
Text via Office of Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen/Video
Buenas noches.
Es un honor estar con ustedes después del discurso del Presidente.
Esta noche honramos a nuestra nación, una nación que ha sido testigo del mayor levantamiento de libertad y oportunidad que el mundo ha visto.
Una nación donde no somos definidos por nuestros límites sino por nuestro potencial.
Los momentos mas importantes no suceden aquí, ni en la Oficina del presidente, ni en el pleno de la Cámara, sino en cada uno de sus hogares.
Besando a sus hijos para darles las buenas noches.
Luchando para pagar las cuentas.
Preparándose para una visita médica o para esa entrevista de trabajo importante.
Esperando noticias de aquellos seres queridos que sirven en nuestras fuerzas armadas.
Nosotros, el pueblo, hemos sido la base de los Estados Unidos desde su comienzo- con personas de todas partes del mundo – personas que vienen a nuestro país porque aquí no hay retos ni sueños imposibles.
Eso es el espíritu de nuestro país y los Republicanos pensamos que lo podemos encontrar de nuevo.
Mi familia huyo de la tiranía en Cuba en busca de libertad, democracia, y oportunidad.
Si alguien me hubiera dicho de niña que un día yo pondría mi mano en la Biblia para ser la primera mujer hispana sirviendo en el Congreso, yo nunca lo hubiera creído.
Como muchos niños de familias inmigrantes, yo crecí pobre y mucho después, trabaje en el pequeño negocio de mis padres.
Mi padre y madre trabajaron duro, muchas horas, para un día poder fundar su propio negocio.
Cuando llegaron a esta gran nación, mi padre trabajó para un servicio de lavandería y mi madre en un hotel en Miami Beach, sirviendo postres en el restaurante del hotel.
Mis padres, me enseñaron a trabajar duro, ayudar a otros, y siempre soñar para lograr más.
Yo seguí sus consejos y trabajé duro para cumplir mis sueños.
Fui a la universidad y me hice maestra, tratando de ayudar a las personas en mi comunidad.
Después, me di cuenta que en un cargo público podía ayudar a más familias y a mi comunidad entera.
Esta noche, el presidente hizo más promesas que suenan bien pero no van a solucionar los problemas que nuestra nación enfrenta.
Yo quiero que usted tenga una vida mejor.
El presidente quiere eso también.
Pero nosotros discrepamos en cómo lograrlo.
Esta noche, quiero compartir la visión Republicana – una que le da el poder a usted, no al gobierno.
Es una visión que lucha por el mercado libre y confía en el individuo, no en el gobierno para tomar decisiones.
Una visión que ayuda a familias trabajadoras a superar la pobreza y ayuda a los más vulnerables.
Es una visión donde Washington deja de gastar dinero que no tiene y obedece las mismas reglas que ustedes.
Yo vine al Congreso para ayudar al pueblo, para ayudar a la clase media trabajadora, y asegurar que todos puedan conseguir empleo.
Porque un empleo es más que un salario, un empleo nos da un sentido de propósito, dignidad, y las herramientas para construir nuestro futuro.
Porque nuestra misión – no solo como Republicanos, sino como Americanos, es una vez más asegurar que las personas no sean limitadas por su pasado, sino que sean inspirados por lo que pueden ser.
Esa es la brecha que los Republicanos están trabajando para cerrar.
Es la brecha que todos enfrentamos: entre donde estás y donde quieres estar.
Esta noche, el presidente hablo mucho sobre la crisis de la falta de igualdad de ingresos.
Pero la crisis verdadera que enfrentamos es de la falta de igualdad de oportunidades y con las políticas de esta Administración, esa brecha, ha aumentado demasiado.
Por eso el primer paso en nuestra estrategia para cerrar esa brecha es asegurar empleos que pagan bien e individuos con habilidad para hacerlos.
El mes pasado, más personas dejaron de buscar trabajos y menos fueron contratados.
Nosotros esperamos que el Presidente se una a los Republicanos este año para tomar acción real.
Un año enfocado en empleos – sin más burocracia ni despilfarro del dinero.
Cada día, trabajamos para expandir nuestra economía, con trabajos de fábrica, enfermeria, y pequeños negocio.
Esperamos que se una a nosotros en preservar programas fuertes y seguros para los más vulnerables en nuestro país, para que esos programas importantes estén allí para los más necesitados.
Queremos mejorar sus vidas con políticas conservadores que empoderen individuos – pero no con impuestos altos, el despilfarro de dinero, regulaciones nuevas, y menos empleos.
Y no hay nada que te empodere más que una educación, porque todos nuestros niños merecen una oportunidad.
Usted, no el gobierno, debe de poder decidir dónde van a la escuela.
Debemos dar más oportunidades para que todos sean educados o entrenados.
Hoy, recién graduados de la universidad tienen deudas que no pueden pagar después de sus carreras educacionales.
Tenemos una estrategia para proveer las habilidades necesarias para cumplir con las demandas de una economía moderna.
Sea un trabajo nuevo o una educación buena, estos son los pasos para cerrar la brecha.
Necesitamos proteger a los pequeños negocios que proveen la mayoría de los empleos, para asegurar que ellos no sean abrumados con nuevos impuestos y regulaciones.
Tambien, es tiempo de honrar nuestra historia de inmigración legal.
Para hacer esto, tenemos que arreglar nuestro sistema roto de inmigración con una solución permanente, que asegure que nuestro país siempre atraerá los mejores, más brillantes y más trabajadores de todas partes del mundo.
Pero cerrando la brecha no para ahí.
Ahora, 3 de cada 4 individuos viven de cheque a cheque.
Tenemos que eliminar un código de impuestos lleno de evasiones y limosnas para corporaciones grandes y reemplazarlo con uno que lo proteja a usted con menos impuestos, más simples y justos.
Necesitamos un sistema de cuidado de salud que funcione para todos en nuestro país.
No uno donde su plan de cuidado de salud es cancelado, primas suben, y reducen beneficios.
He hablado con muchas personas que tenían esperanzas que esta nueva ley de cuidado de salud les iba a ahorrar dinero pero han encontrado que sus primas subieron y sus beneficios bajaron.
Ellos se sienten engañados cuando reciben ese informe de cancelación o cuando ya no pueden escoger el médico que conocen y confían.
Tenemos que empezar por asegurar que, las opciones de su cuidado de salud sean suyas, no del gobierno.
Los Republicanos queremos una estrategia de sentido común a las reformas de cuidado de salud que reducen los costos y aseguran que no importa su condición medica, pueda encontrar cobertura y un médico que le atienda.
Como Republicanos, impulsamos estos planes todos los días porque creemos en un gobierno que confía en el pueblo y no limita los logros que puedas alcanzar.
Creemos en un país que es compasivo y excepcional.
Si lo logramos, en el futuro, nuestros hijos van a decir que reconstruimos el sueño Americano; construimos una clase media que podría ayudar a cualquier persona, un equipo de trabajo que podría enfrentar cualquier reto del mundo y que cerramos la brecha.
Nuestro plan es uno de sueños grandes para todos y que no le da la espalda a nadie.
El presidente dijo muchas cosas esta noche.
Pero ahora, le pedimos que le escuche, porque el verdadero Estado de la Unión está en sus casas y en sus corazones.
Mañana, algunos de nosotros nos despertaremos a celebrar nuevos comienzos; otros enfrentarán grandes retos; pero todos nos levantaremos para hacer lo que es Americano: esperamos el potencial sin límite que hay en el futuro.
Demos gracias a los valientes hombres y mujeres que han contestado la llamada a la libertad de nuestro país, como el Cabo Christian Armando Guzman Rivera de Miami, quien dio su vida para proteger las de nosotros.
Esta noche, ofrezco una oración para la familia de Christian y para cada familia que ha hecho el mayor sacrificio
Que, con la ayuda de Dios, recibamos sus bendiciones de vida, libertad, y la búsqueda de felicidad.
Porque cuando aceptamos estos regalos, todos estamos haciendo nuestra parte para formar una unión más perfecta.
Buenas noches, que Dios los guie y a nuestro presidente, y que Dios siga bendiciendo a los Estados Unidos de América.
Copyright © 2014 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in
Action.
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