Some PA Congressional Responses to Obama's Speech

Those press secretaries are quick -- here are the official statements of three Pennsylvania congressional representatives to Pres. Obama's speech.

From the inbox:

Patrick Murphy (D-08):

“President Obama laid out in very clear terms the challenges we face and his plan to get us through this dark period in our economy. He didn’t just say what people wanted to hear – he said what we needed to hear,” said Congressman Patrick Murphy. “He confidently and specifically told us how he will pull our nation together, boldly face down the tasks ahead and through responsibility, bipartisan cooperation and hard work, emerge even stronger than before.

“I look forward to working with the President and my colleagues from both parties as we work to put our economy back on track and our country back to work. I am proud that we have already come together to pass the largest tax cut in history, fair pay for women and children’s health care. With so many families struggling, we have much more to do to keep our economy strong, our country safe and finally declare our energy independence. It’s time to get to work,” added Murphy.

Allyson Schwartz (D-13):

“President Obama was refreshingly frank and forthcoming with the American people about the enormous challenges ahead of us. He laid out where we are, and a path forward to return America to economic strength and stability with honest budgeting, wise investments, and a shared responsibility in our future.

“The President is absolutely right that we must address healthcare reform. And I share his commitment to not only tackle the challenges facing Medicare, but to also find a uniquely American solution to ensuring quality, affordable healthcare to all Americans.

“There is no denying that hard work and tough choices lay ahead of us, yet I have confidence in our President and in the American people that by working together we will build a stronger, greater America.”

Paul Kanjorski (D-11):

“I applaud President Obama for speaking candidly to the American public about the difficult economic situation we now face. He has set significant goals for himself, the Congress, and the American people as he addressed new policies in dealing with the economy, the national budget, and our actions abroad. These are not light topics and the President has stated that he intends to deal with all of them simultaneously. But, it is this type of thoughtful and assertive thinking that will help move this country forward and take us out of the troubled situation in which we find ourselves.

“As the President stressed, we must come together for the sake of every American. Partisanship is not an option. While we may disagree, we must try to move past these obstacles. Our primary responsibility is helping every American recover from the economic crisis, and as a result boosting our nation’s economy. Just since President Obama was sworn into office, we have already taken momentous steps towards such progress. While there is certainly room for improvement, President Obama has shown a distinct willingness to turn this country around.

“As we work to turn the tide on our economic problems, we must also work to ensure that a financial crisis of this magnitude does not happen again. The President stressed the need to pursue regulatory reforms of the financial services industry, and I strongly support this idea. I have long stressed the need for comprehensive regulatory reform, and I have already held two hearings this year to highlight why the Congress must expeditiously address this issue in the 111th Congress. I applaud President Obama for also recognizing the importance of this issue.

“As I have continued to stress, fixing our economy will not happen overnight, but I have faith that we will emerge from these tough times stronger than ever.”

I have asked (nicely, three times) for another area congressional representative to add me to their press release list but as yet they have not replied, other than to suggest I check their website for news. This is something I have no intention of doing. So if you feel my list is incomplete, I would agree with you and have tried, to no avail, to rectify the situation.