Local United States Representative Phil Gingrey (R-GA) and Tom Graves (R-Ranger) issued the following responses to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address to the nation last night.

Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-GA) today issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s State of the Union address:

“Following his State of the Union address, it is my genuine hope that President Obama will put action behind his words and work with Congress for meaningful solutions to the serious problems facing this nation. Simply put, we can no longer afford to perpetuate insincere rhetoric,” Gingrey said.

“President Obama has delivered countless promises about cutting spending, boosting the economy, and improving our health care system,” Gingrey continued. “Instead, we have witnessed a burgeoning deficit, a skyrocketing unemployment rate, and a government takeover of our health care system. The American people deserve better.

“My Republican colleagues and I have already begun to bring about initiatives that Americans have called for, like budget and spending cuts to reduce the deficit, policies for less government control and more economic stability, and meaningful health care reform.

“I am pleased President Obama is willing to look at our ideas to bring down health care costs, including medical malpractice reform to rein in frivolous lawsuits. The HEALTH Act, a bipartisan measure which I authored and introduced this week specifically addresses medical liability reform, in order to stop wasteful spending within our health care system and ensure better outcomes for patients.”

“I am determined to continue fighting for the American people, and hope that the President will exemplify leadership by extending a hand to Congress and by working together to generate real solutions for our nation. We will no longer stand for empty rhetoric and unwanted policies; rather we will demand to see action and cooperation in order to implement the types of reform of which this country is in dire need.”

Congressman Tom Graves (R-Ranger) today issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s State of the Union address:

“Jobs, competitiveness and bipartisanship. These themes are always welcome from our president. However, as we learned over the last two years, his words are based on an agenda that grows government — not private-sector jobs.

“To date, President Obama’s grow-government policies have driven up our debt and deficits, but had little effect on our unemployment rate, which remains above 9 percent across America, and above 10 percent in Georgia. To-night we saw a continuation of some of the same spending themes, but now, the president, in an effort to retool his administration’s image, brought some conservative concepts like ‘spending cuts’ and ‘tax breaks’ to the table.

“The question I have for the president is this: When it comes to spending cuts, is this just political talk for the next election, or genuine leadership for the next generation? If our sights are set on the next generation, then our actions on spending must be clear and conclusive. Here’s why:

“Today, our national debt is $14 trillion. At this pace, our country will owe $1 trillion per year, in interest alone, by the end of this decade. It’s chilling to know that our government is borrowing so much from our kids and grand-kids that, unless we immediately reform spending, we may never be able to pay them back.

“If the president and Congress truly intend to put an end to this fiscal recklessness, then we must do more than make some itemized spending cuts — we must enact genuine spending reform.

“Genuine reform means putting in strict spending caps that are in line with federal revenues.

“Reform means selling off a significant portion of our federal assets, and then using that revenue for debt reduction.

“It also means enforcing mandatory spending cuts until a balanced budget is achieved.

“Put in the simplest terms, those of us in Congress must cut up President Obama’s maxed out credit cards and put strict limitations on his yearly allowance. You see, the high notes of a speech and applause lines won’t bring jobs to Georgia. Ending big government’s drag on the private sector will.

“If we succeed, then spending cuts, caps, balanced budgets and fiscal discipline might mean less funding for certain programs, but, by securing our financial solvency, we ensure the survival of our free society, and fulfill our patriotic duty to pass the torch of freedom to our future generations.”