DeLauro Reaction to State of the Union Address

WASHINGTON, DC--Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) released the following statement tonight in reaction to President Obama’s State of the Union address. She is the senior Democrat on the subcommittee responsible for funding the departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services.

“Tonight President Obama laid out a bold vision for how we can grow our economy and ensure the success of America’s middle-class families. The number one economic issue facing workers today is that jobs do not pay enough to live on. The President’s plans for a simpler, fairer tax code; investing in biomedical research; making higher education as universal as high school; rebuilding our roads, bridges and railways; and long-overdue reforms to our broken immigration system would all go a long way towards reversing the reality that Americans have had to get by on increasingly smaller paychecks.

“For years I have been fighting for a comprehensive agenda to address the economic issues facing women and their families. Tonight I was pleased to hear the President talk about the profound impact those policies would have on Americans struggling to get by. Paid sick days, paid family leave, and equal pay should be a given for all workers. I will be reintroducing legislation dealing with each of those policies in the coming weeks and months.

“But President Obama’s proposals on trade would set those struggling families further back. They would ship good-paying jobs out of America. I oppose granting Fast Track authority, a procedure that is designed to limit public scrutiny, to limit congress’s ability to debate and amend the negotiated text, and gives up Congressional constitutional authority to carefully review the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and make changes if necessary to protect American workers and consumers. The proposed TPP agreement would have a devastating impact on American jobs and wages.

“In the last 20 years, Connecticut has lost over 96,000 manufacturing jobs, due in large part to trade agreements that fail to protect American workers. Instead, working class families are forced to compete in an international race to the bottom. In Vietnam, one of the countries we would partner with under the TPP, the minimum wage is just 56 cents an hour. Congress should preserve its constitutional authority over trade agreements, and fight to ensure that our trade policies support the American middle class and keep our jobs here.

“I am not opposed to trade. For many years I have worked with my colleagues to normalize our relationship with Cuba. Our policy for the last 50 years has clearly been ineffective and done nothing to remove the Castro regime. The efforts President Obama highlighted tonight, beginning with Alan Gross’s release, are important first steps. The time has come for Congress to end the embargo and I will continue to fight to end this policy.”

DeLauro’s guest to the speech was John Barto, Vice President and General Manager of the now-closed Ansonia Specialty Metals.


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