I was pleased to hear President Biden’s call for national and world unity in support of our ally Ukraine as it faces a brutal assault from Russia. While the administration has now implemented the sanctions some of us called them to implement before the invasion occurred, I urge them to do even more on sanctions and use all of the tools at their disposal to hold President Putin accountable. Most importantly, they must eliminate all bureaucratic hurdles and speed the assistance of lethal weaponry to Ukraine immediately.
On the domestic front, the country faces its worst inflation rate in 40 years, due in large part to the administration’s $1.9 trillion stimulus spending bill last year that has caused prices to skyrocket on everything from groceries to gas. This inflation crisis is hurting working families, overwhelming wage gains, and undermining our economy. I was pleased that President Biden highlighted Intel’s investment in a new semiconductor plant in Ohio, and I was proud to play a role in securing that investment in our state. However, the best path for the administration to strengthen our economy and address the high prices the American people face every day is to work with Republicans on common-sense economic policies that grow our economy.
Republicans and Democrats came together on the bipartisan, counter-inflationary infrastructure law that will benefit our country and our economy for decades to come. We should use this as a model for future cooperation. Instead, Democrats continue to push for reckless tax and spending hikes, which would make this inflation crisis worse. I believe we can work together to boost American competitiveness and reduce government spending that is contributing to an overheated economy while increasing our domestic energy production and increasing wages. There are Republicans and Democrats who want to move the country forward in a constructive bipartisan manner on policies like these and I encourage the White House to choose this path.
— Rob Portman
U.S. Senator, R-Ohio
Ohioans heard the most pro-worker president in our lifetime reaffirm his commitment to put workers at the center of our economy, and his commitment to stand up for American values and up to Putin and autocrats everywhere. President Biden has united the free world against Russia’s invasion, and tonight members of both parties stood together in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
At home, the pandemic is receding and the economy is growing because of the American Rescue Plan, which got shots into arms, money into families’ pockets, and workers back on the job. And we’re just getting started. With the passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, we will create jobs and move goods faster and cheaper. We will invest in American innovation and rebuild our industrial base, to bring critical supply chains home to the U.S. and better compete with China. And we will work to lower costs for American families – from taking on corporate price gouging, to lowering the cost of energy and prescription drugs.
The president laid out a vision where all workers can get a good-paying job, keep up with the cost of living, and join the middle class. I will work with him and with colleagues of both parties to make that vision a reality.
— Sherrod Brown
U.S. Senator, D-Ohio
Much of the country thinks that the nation is on the wrong track. After Joe Biden speaks, my guess is that number is even higher.
It was basically so much just nonsensical stuff. He first he talks about how he’s against defunding the police, but the very day he says that, the Democrats announced a hearing next week on doing just that, defunding the police. So it’s a lot cliches.
But, again, I think the American people see it for what it is. He didn’t address the real issues. He talked about actually securing the border. This is after a year where we had 2 million illegal crossings, where he stopped construction of the wall, where he got rid of the remain in Mexico policy.
Again, it was just nonsensical in so many ways, which is sad and unfortunate for our great country.
— Jim Jordan
U.S. Representative, R-Urbana
We are blessed to live in the greatest nation in the world, yet as we take a moment to reflect on the past year, there is one word that sums up all the economic trends and news headlines: crisis.
Since the President assumed office, it has been one crisis after the next. Inflation is soaring; folks are paying more and more at the pump each week; supply chain issues have caused significant delays for necessary goods; our southern border remains weak and the laws we have on the books aren’t being enforced; the drug abuse epidemic is taking more lives than ever. The President’s speech tonight glossed over many of these failures and was quick to turn the blame onto the COVID-19 pandemic. But the American people are not fooled. My constituents share with me how this Administration’s policies and decisions over the past year have hurt them, their families, their businesses, and their communities. These policies have made the American people less secure and safe at home and abroad. We cannot forget that it was the President who failed to ensure a safe withdrawal from Afghanistan.
It is disappointing President Biden has continued to turn his back on North American energy. On day one, he shut down the Keystone XL pipeline. This led to increased dependency on foreign oil and cost tens of thousands of hard-working Americans their jobs. More recently, it was President Biden who supported Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline rather than North American energy.
We still have time – time to pivot and create a better tomorrow. Democrats should join Republicans in our efforts to cut government spending and unleash American energy resources so that we can become energy independent. We must secure our borders and enforce the laws already on the books so that we can keep our communities safe and stop the spread of illegal substances. Russia should no longer be seen or treated as a partner on the global stage, and I am hopeful that the sanctions President Biden imposed represent the start of American action to support Ukraine, not the end.
The American people deserve better. While I believe it is important to hold this Administration accountable for their failures, I remain focused on finding meaningful solutions that will make life better, safer, and more prosperous for the American people.
— Bob Latta
U.S. Representative, R-Bowling Green
Tonight, we heard President Joe Biden speak to the serious challenges facing working people in every corner of the United States and propose his vision for a better and more prosperous future for our nation. As we witness democracy in peril in Ukraine, this speech is a needed reminder to Congress that we must come together if we are to move our country forward. The United States of America should be the definition of a successful democracy, and we have a responsibility to live up to that role, especially here at home.
It is no coincidence that several of the guests who were honored in tonight’s address are tied to progress happening in Ohio, including Danielle Robinson, advocate for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits who helped shape my legislation, Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Act, named after her late husband; Refynd Duro, Progressive Care Unit Nurse at The Ohio State University Wexner Center; and Patrick Kelsinger, CEO of Intel who is investing $20 billion to build a semiconductor factory located in Central Ohio. We know the future will be won by Ohio workers, and it’s the investments we are making in our team here at home that will continue bringing us closer to that reality in the competition of a lifetime with China.
Still, there is much more work to be done. It’s time leaders in Washington—on both sides of the aisle—put working people first. As the President noted this evening, the American people are hurting from the impact of rising costs aggravated by unchecked corporate greed and decades of shipping our jobs overseas. I’m pleased the President reiterated the need to expand the child tax credit, and it is my hope Congress reinstates this working-class tax cut immediately, which would put money in the pockets of hardworking families to mitigate the impact of rising prices right now.
We need to have the guts to pass legislation—in both chambers of Congress—that will level the playing field for working people and give us a chance to outcompete China. I am committed to working with President Biden and Congressional leadership in passing common sense policies to promote and advance all Americans – workers, seniors, the middle class, college students, and our children. Now is the time to move forward and work together to create a better America.
— Tim Ryan
Democratic candidate for U.S. senator
There is no doubt that the State of the Union is weak after one year of Joe Biden and Democrats’ rule. Inflation is costing the average American family more and weakening the value of a dollar. Gas prices soar as Biden bows to the altar of climate change and refuses to produce American energy. The Southern Border remains dire as illegal immigrants and drugs pour into the country unchecked. Americans’ personal liberties continue to be violated in the name of ‘COVID.’ Violent crime has risen in American communities while violence in Afghanistan and war in Ukraine destabilize the global stage. Undeniably, America and the world are less safe because of Biden’s weakness.
Thankfully, there is hope and help on the horizon when strong, America First fighters like me go to Washington to stop Democrats’ socialist slide and put Ohio interests first again. My priorities in Washington will be to fight for American jobs, stronger borders and parents’ rights, and correct this year of compounded crises. The State of the Union under Joe Biden is America LAST, but as Ohio’s next Senator, I’ll fight for it to be America FIRST once again.
— Jane Timken
Republican candidate for U.S. senator
Joe Biden’s State of the Union address was a feeble attempt to put a band-aid on the deep wounds that the ineptitude his administration has caused the American people. Every American feels the pain of this president’s failures. From tax increases to economic and foreign policy mismanagement, Biden’s made it clear his goal is to put America last and keep our country in perpetual decline.
Biden’s first year failures are staggering. His administration has destroyed America’s energy independence by halting pipelines and cutting thousands of blue-collar jobs, inflicted historic inflation and surging prices, left our borders open to cartels while halting border wall construction, embarrassed us with one international failure after another, and have been derelict in its duty to lead America and put her best interests first.
The Biden Administration’s failures have created scars that will take our great nation years to heal from. We need strong and decisive leadership at the White House like President Trump provided. He strengthened our economy after years of stagnation, secured our southern border, created historic peace deals and presided over record-long peacetime, and most importantly, put America First. Our country experienced unprecedented prosperity. It’s going to take a strong conservative leadership to fix what Joe Biden has broken and lead our country back to what made America the envy of the world.
— Mike Gibbons
Republican candidate for U.S. senator
As President Biden outlined tonight, Democrats – from the White House to city halls across Ohio – are cutting workers in on the deal. With the help of Ohio Democrats, President Biden is bringing billions of dollars in infrastructure investments to Ohio, cutting child poverty rates, lowering taxes for working families, and helping our communities put the COVID-19 pandemic in the rearview mirror.
President Biden’s pro-job, pro-union, and pro-family agenda is helping Ohioans. Because of President Biden and Senator Sherrod Brown, Americans saw 6.5 million of our neighbors go back to work – the largest single-year unemployment drop in American history. Tonight was a good reminder that President Biden and Ohio Democrats are looking out for our families, and Ohio Republicans only care about the corporations funding their reelection campaigns.
— Elizabeth Walters
Ohio Democratic Party Chair
With inflation and border crises raging at home and freedom under attack abroad, Ohioans and the American people are looking for a course correction from the Biden Administration and Congress. Instead, Joe Biden offered little more this evening than the stark reality of empty words, broken promises, and more failed policies.
In the midst of Vladimir Putin’s ongoing, unprovoked and unjustified crimes against humanity, I agree with the bipartisan calls for us to stand together, united as Americans, with the free people of Ukraine. Yet, we also have a responsibility to acknowledge the policies which continue to embolden the creep of authoritarianism abroad in Europe and the Indo-Pacific. It’s long past time for Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi to acknowledge the role their decisions have made to undermine our national security and project weakness to adversaries.
From the reckless withdrawal in Afghanistan, to mindless defense cuts, efforts that gut energy independence, dangerous open border polices, and out of control spending, one-party rule in Washington has left American families less safe and less financially secure. It’s clear from Joe Biden’s remarks this evening, and the increasingly extreme and hyper-partisan agenda pursued by his party, that relief will only come when the American people vote them out of power.
— Matt Dolan
Republican candidate for U.S. senator
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