DeLauro Remarks on State of the Union Address

Applauds President Obama's Focus on Middle Class, JobCreation

WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) releasedthe following statement tonight in reaction to President Obama's State of theUnion address. She is the senior Democrat on the subcommittee responsible forfunding the departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services.DeLauro was accompanied to the speech by Carlos Soto, brother of Victoria Soto,who lost her life in the Sandy Hook attack.

"Together with his Inaugural address, President Obama hasoutlined a forward thinking vision of how to grow the economy, put the middleclass back on solid footing, and ensure a more fair society. Tonight the focuswas on the number one issue facing America: creating jobs and rebuilding athriving middle class.

"As the author of the Paycheck Fairness Act, it was criticalto hear the President talk about the need to ensure equal pay for equal work.June marks the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, yet women still make only77 cents to a man's dollar. That must end and I will continue to fight to makethe wage gap a thing of the past.

"I was particularly glad to see the President emphasize theneed innovative infrastructure investment and incentivizing manufacturing askey ways to create jobs here at home—and not overseas—to better compete in theglobal economy. I have long championed the creation of a NationalInfrastructure Bank and tax relief for small manufacturers that invest in theircompanies and employees. The President made clear tonight that we must takethese steps to strengthen our economic recovery and I urge my colleagues inCongress to do so expeditiously.

"I also applaud the President for addressing the criticalneed for early childhood education, which we know pays off over the longterm. I look forward to working with the President to ensure that earlychildhood investment builds off of the best early childhood programs that existtoday.

"Finally, I was pleased to see the President announce thatmore than half our troops will return home from Afghanistan within a year.After more than a decade of war, I believe the safe redeployment of all ourbrave men and women from Afghanistan should be completed as soon as possible.

"And of course the shadow of Sandy Hook hung over tonight'sspeech. I was honored to have Carlos Soto with me tonight and urge mycolleagues to come together and pass commonsense legislation so that no morefamilies have to go through what the families in Newtown, Tucson, Aurora,Blacksburg, and countless other places have gone through."