Washington, D.C. – Congressman Frank Lucas (R-OK) today issued the following statement in response to President Barack Obama’s fourth State of the Union address.

“Tonight President Obama laid out his agenda for his second term in office and once again focused his State of the Union address on our nation’s ailing economy,” said Congressman Frank Lucas. “The President has addressed the same concerns in past speeches; however, he has failed to put a plan in motion that gets our country moving in the right direction. I hope this time he is serious about pursuing a plan to get our economy back on solid ground. 

“In order to improve the economy, President Obama must realize the federal government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. The president has added $5.9 trillion to the national debt since he took office in 2009. The only way to get a grip on this tremendous debt problem is to make significant spending cuts. Raising taxes on hard-working American families is not the solution to tackling our nation’s $16.5 trillion deficit.

“Additionally, I was disappointed President Obama failed to present a plan to prevent sequestration from going into effect in the coming months. While we are still fighting a war in Afghanistan, our country cannot allow harmful spending cuts to our national defense. In Oklahoma’s Third Congressional District, we have Altus and Vance Air Force Bases, which both play a vital role in protecting the United States. Our country depends on these military installments and a strong national defense to protect each and every American citizen. We must do everything possible to prevent automatic cuts to our military from occurring. In the House, we have acted twice to pass legislation to replace the sequester with common-sense spending cuts, and it’s my hope the president will follow our lead to prevent defense cuts from occurring. 

“Lastly, the president mentioned the need to create jobs in our country. At a time when our national unemployment is close to 8 percent, I agree work needs to be done to spur job creation in America. While Oklahoma has fared better than the rest of the nation, too many Americans are still struggling to find jobs. In order to create jobs in our country, we must first build a healthy economy. As a leader of Congress, I remain willing and ready to work with the president and other leaders of Congress to find commonsense ways to help build an American economy that is built to last. The American people depend on it.”

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