WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) issued the following statement in advance of the President’s State of the Union address tonight.

“I hope that the president today will set out goals for the country that can win broad bi-partisan support and achieve greater unity in the country. This is a moment to act in the public interest, both at home and abroad. Pursuit of ideological goals I hope will give way to pursuit of American goals.

“One challenge we face is how to strengthen Social Security in the coming decades, and Democrats are ready, willing and able to look at bipartisan ways to secure the most successful, efficient middle-class retirement program we have. But if the president insists on privatizing the system, exploding the deficit by an additional $2 trillion and cutting guaranteed benefits by more than 40 percent, he will fail to secure the support of not only Democrats, but an American public - two-thirds of which relies on the program for more than half of its retirement income. He would do better to draw on the example of President Ronald Reagan, who in 1983, when bankruptcy was only a year off, worked together on a bipartisan commission headed by Alan Greenspan to ensure Social Security would be solvent for generations.

“The successful elections this week were historic - the sight of so many millions of Iraqi people, especially women, exercising their right to vote touched every American, myself included. It was possible largely because of our armed forces that protected the polling places and encouraged the Iraqi people to exercise their newfound right to vote. We should not forget the 56 Americans who died in the previous week to make this possible.

“Now is the time to seize on that momentum and international goodwill by rebuilding international alliances, accelerating reconstruction and turning over peacekeeping responsibilities to the international community and Iraqi forces. I'm hoping that the president will make clear his plans for succeeding in Iraq and starting to bring home American troops. He needs to send a signal that America will not play the role of occupying force.

“The outcome of all these events will have significant implications for our country - both economic and moral. Shortly, he will introduce a budget that will impact the kind of opportunities American families will have for years, possibly decades, to come - prospects for affordable health care, a college education, and a clean environment .

“With so much at stake and the country so divided, the president has an opportunity and an obligation to reach across these lines and unite a nation. I would welcome that and look forward to working together.”