Washington, DC -- Representative Kenny Marchant (R-TX) released the following statement this evening following the President's State of the Union Address.

“This evening, President Bush delivered his seventh and final State of the Union speech to Congress and the American people.

“President Bush reminded all Americans and the world that the state of our union and our democracy remain strong. In recent months our economy has slowed, however, together President Bush and House leadership worked cooperatively to forge a stimulus package that will help bolster our economy. What this has shown is that Democrats and Republicans can work together for the betterment of our nation. This bipartisan achievement should set us on a path to end the partisan gridlock, which has stifled many of President Bush’s initiatives.

“With the completion of tonight’s speech, he joined Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton in being the only presidents to have made seven or more State of the Union addresses. Much like these four previous presidencies, the United States faces great challenges. Just as Roosevelt courageously defeated Hitler, Eisenhower constructed our nation’s infrastructure and rebuilt our national defense, and Reagan toppled the Soviet Union and combated economic recessions, President George W. Bush and the United States face similar, if not even greater challenges,” Marchant said.

Throughout his two terms, President Bush has laid out many important initiatives to better our nation; unfortunately, Democrats have left much unfinished business.

“With our economy experiencing troubled times, the economic stimulus package that will be introduced on the House floor tomorrow will save American businesses approximately $50 billion. This near-term incentive will be targeted and temporary and will allow American small businesses and manufacturers the ability to buy new equipment and deduct an additional 50 percent of the cost of their investments in 2008. If this incentive is coupled with a long-term permanent extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, our nation will immensely benefit from these pro-growth tax policies.

“Tonight, the President unveiled new initiatives for his last year in office: new and continued support for veterans and their families, funding Pell grants to assist underprivileged children and underperforming schools, and ensuring our nation remains free of terrorist attacks. Neither the war on terror nor the war on illegal immigration is over, but we are winning on both fronts. I was pleased to hear President Bush reaffirm his commitment to defeating terrorism world-wide and dealing with the illegal immigration crisis at home.

“The strength of our nation is as strong as the will of every soldier fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world for the freedoms we all enjoy. We have much work to do in ensuring these freedoms are not threatened. With continued bipartisan success, we will surely form a more fluid and responsive government to serve the American people.”

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