Loebsack Statement on the State of the Union Address

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Dave Loebsack released the following statement after President Obama delivered the State of the Union Address.  In the spirit of civility and bipartisan cooperation, for the second year in a row, Loebsack sat with Congressman Justin Amash (R-MI-03) for tonight’s address.  Loebsack and Amash recently joined together to introduce a bipartisan balanced budget amendment.  As a member of the No Labels “problem solvers” group, Loebsack wore an orange lapel pin that read “Stop Fighting, Start Fixing”.  The bipartisan organization works to bring Democrats and Republicans together to achieve across the aisle cooperation.

“In what remains a deeply divided nation, where there are few things on which many people agree, growing our economy and creating jobs remains a goal that we can all work towards.  I was glad to hear the President focus so much of his attention on these important issues.  I strongly believe that we must confront the fiscal problems that are facing our nation, but as the President said, we must do this from the middle out, not the top down.  I was happy to hear the President talk about the importance of investing in education for kids of all ages.  It is one of the best ways to ensure the middle class will prosper.

“When we have a strong middle class, we have a strong nation. We must get the budget in order, but it must be done in a balanced way. It cannot be done on the backs of seniors, the middle-class, and hard working families.

“I was also pleased to hear the President focus on investing in clean energy, including wind energy.  I have long been a supporter of the Production Tax Credit, which supports the growth of wind energy jobs in Iowa and across the nation, while lessening our dependence on fossil fuels.  7,000 Iowans are employed in the wind energy industry in Iowa alone and it is important we continue to support and grow this home grown industry.”

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Statement from Governor Quinn on President Obama’s State of the Union Address

CHICAGO – February 12, 2013. Governor Pat Quinn issued the following statement regarding President Barack Obama's State of the Union address:

"President Obama laid out an inspiring agenda that will make America a magnet for jobs and drive economic growth for the next generation.

"As the President made clear tonight, cuts alone will not bring us to prosperity. We must reduce our deficit by taking a balanced approach that includes both reforms and closing loopholes. And making crucial investments in areas like education, infrastructure and manufacturing will pay dividends in the future, creating more jobs and growing the middle class.

"Illinois stands ready to do our part. As the President called for manufacturing hubs across the nation, we are already on our way to making the Illinois Manufacturing Lab a reality.

“Last week in my State of the State address, I announced a partnership with the University of Illinois and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications to create an advanced manufacturing hub where companies come to learn and access the world's most sophisticated tools and software.

"We can all agree that hard work should lead to a decent living. A strong middle class will lift up our entire country. I urge the members of the United States Congress to put politics aside and join the President in doing the hard work that's necessary to strengthen our economy."

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Gamaliel's Response to the State of the Union Address Given Tonight by President Obama

CHICAGO

“While we hoped the President would address and support a moratorium on deportations and outline a clear path to legal
citizenship, we admire the new tone he has taken. He has said, “Now is the time for immigration reform.” We feel the time
is way overdue –by decades.

We had also hoped that the president would prioritize healthy families and communities over border security in his
statements about immigration reform, and we oppose the narrative of penalties and “the back-of-the-line.” However we see
hope in the President’s statement that 300 million people [U.S. citizens] are also depending on true immigration reform and
so is the revitalization or our economy.

As Executive Director of Gamaliel, I stand with our clergy caucus in supporting the raising of the federal minimum wage.
We believe it is a social justice issue because too often, families have to choose between paying the bills, feeding the family
and paying the rent, even though they work full-time and hold down two jobs.

We do not believe in austerity measures that would compromise our children’s education, lay-off teachers, police and
firefighters or cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, something our seniors have worked for their entire lives.

President of our clergy caucus Rabbi Ron Symons added that the President charged us to remember that each of our
individual rights is wrapped up in the rights of others. Whether speaking about good jobs or affordable housing, education
or immigration reform, women's rights, the federal minimum wage or the right to vote. He reminded each of us --of the God
given hope and promise every person has. It is now our responsibility as a society to treat each other according to those
God given hopes and promises.

Again we are more optimistic now than ever that this President will make sure that human rights and dignity are restored
to those who need it the most, whether it is newcomers to our country or working families and individuals –Bravo Mr.
President. Now let’s get it done.

SI SE PUEDE!

Ana Garcia-Ashley
Executive Director

Gamaliel is a grassroots network of non-partisan, faith-based organizations in 17 U.S. states, South Africa and the United
Kingdom that organizes to empower ordinary people to effectively participate in the political, environmental, social and
economic decisions affecting their lives. Gamaliel’s diverse members apply their faith and values to the pursuit of equal
opportunity for all, shared abundance, and stronger, more prosperous communities. Gamaliel is headquartered in Chicago,
Illinois.

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