President Donald Trump made a plea for unity in the State of the Union, but unity was not the response from Congressional Democrats, including Pennsylvania’s Sen. Bob Casey.
Following Tuesday’s address, Casey released a statement commenting on what he called missed opportunities on the part of the president.
“The President should have pledged tonight ‘no more shutdowns’ and committed to taking additional steps to help the 820,000 federal employees recover from the adverse impact of his government shutdown,” Casey said.
“He also missed an opportunity to speak to America’s middle class families who are struggling to make ends meet. He could have committed to a substantial tax cut for those families,” the Democratic senator said. “He could have talked to working parents about a comprehensive agenda for their children — investing in education, safeguarding their healthcare, rebuilding their schools and protecting them from violence.
“Unfortunately, he used his platform tonight to reinforce the same talking points and to double down on his corporate agenda,” said Casey.
Conversely, U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, a Republican, was pleased with what he heard.
“President Trump delivered a State of the Union address that celebrated America’s achievements over the past two years and outlined a policy agenda moving forward,” Thompson said. “Thanks in part to historic tax reform, we have a strong economy and more than 7 million job openings nationally. We must continue to support policies that will expand opportunities for all Americans.”
He added, “Congress needs the courage to tackle some of the greatest challenges facing our country in a bipartisan manner. This includes improving our outdated infrastructure, protecting American workers, providing a check against the high costs of healthcare and prescription drugs, securing our borders, and fixing our broken immigration system.”
Thompson echoed the call for unity.
“It is clear that this country is stronger when we work together,” he said.
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., praised most of Trump’s address.
“The economy is the best it’s been in decades. Economic growth has accelerated, unemployment has dropped to record lows, middle-class wages are rising, and for the first time there are more job openings than there are people looking for a job,” Toomey said. “This is largely due to our historic tax reform and deregulatory efforts of the past two years. The president was right to underscore the significance of our progress.”
He continued, saying Trump made a “reasonable case for enhancing security at our southern border.
“The obvious, necessary solution to our budget impasse is a compromise that improves border security — including physical barriers where requested by Customs and Border Protection — and delivers on some Democrat priorities, too,” Toomey said. “I hope Speaker Pelosi will come to the table and finally negotiate in good faith.”
However, Toomey disagreed with the president’s position on tariffs.
“On trade, I continue to believe that the administration is taking us down the wrong path,” the Republican senator said. “Tariffs on products imported into the United States are taxes, paid by American consumers, that harm American families and workers.
“Congress must reassert its constitutional responsibility on trade, not cede even more to the executive branch. China does engage in the egregious theft of intellectual property. The administration’s negotiations with China should focus on ending this practice,” he stated.
Finally, he lauded Trump’s comments on health care.
“He is right to urge Congress to adopt reforms that will make health care more affordable and available to more Americans,” Toomey said. “And he is right to set the ambitious goals of ending HIV/AIDS and childhood cancer. I look forward to working with the president and my colleagues to achieve these goals.”
