Upton liked ‘conciliatory tone’ by Bush

Published 3:15 am Wednesday, January 24, 2007

By Staff
WASHINGTON – Cass County's congressman, U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, praised President George W. Bush's State of the Union remarks Tuesday night on energy and call for bipartisanship.
Upton, shown on national television shaking hands with Bush after his address, in which the president also stood firm on handling the Iraq war, said, "I applaud the president's conciliatory tone in this new era of divided government. It is essential that we all work together, not as Republicans and Democrats, but as Americans in tackling the tough issues."
"The president touched upon a number of vital issues that hit us right here at home in Michigan – education, health care and particularly energy," Upton said. "As a senior member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality, it is imperative that we shine the spotlight on our nation's energy policy and put a greater emphasis on alternative fuels and clean-burning technologies.
"Our dependence on Mideast oil is a matter of national security and demand for oil will only continue to increase across the globe, particularly with India and China's thirst for oil growing by the day. Michigan's farmers, growers, scientists and researchers will all be at the forefront as the nation moves towards energy independence with a greater focus on alternative fuels and new technologies.
On energy, Bush wants to reduce U.S. gasoline consumption by 20 percent by 2017. He spoke of balancing the federal budget by 2012 and adding 65,000 soldiers to the U.S. Army and 27,000 Marines in five years.
On immigration, Bush wants to "resolve the status of the illegal immigrants who are already in our country" without offering a path to automatic citizenship or "amnesty."
"These are challenging times, and we now have a responsibility to shed our partisan hats and come together on a bipartisan basis as we move the nation forward," Upton said.
In contrast, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said, "The proposals the president outlined are not adequate for the challenges we face.
"Although the president has finally recognized the importance of alternative energy sources and the reality of global warming, his plan is still not up to the task.
"We need nothing less than a comprehensive initiative to create leap-ahead energy technologies, to produce a large number of vehicles that can run on alternative fuels and to level the playing field for our domestic manufacturers," Levin commented.
"The president's energy proposal needs significant improvement, and I will work for a comprehensive plan that reduces our dependence on foreign oil, reduces our impact on the environment, creates jobs and strengthens our manufacturing industry.
"The president again failed to make revitalizing American manufacturing a priority. He didn't even mention manufacturing. Three million manufacturing jobs have been lost since he took office, and we are losing more manufacturing jobs every month.
"Yet the administration refuses to act in the areas of tax policy, trade policy, research and development programs, health care and currency manipulation in order to give our manufacturers the kind of support other governments give their manufacturers," Levin said.
"The president continued tonight to try to blur the difference between the war in Iraq and the war on terror. His misguided plan to escalate the number of American troops in Iraq has little support, so he attempted to tap into our united opposition to al-Qaeda. The American people deserve a new strategy for Iraq, but they did not hear it from the president.
"The Iraqi political leadership needs to resolve the political differences which are at the heart of the violence. The president's plan doesn't put adequate pressure on them to do so. Increasing the number of troops and deepening our military involvement won't help achieve success, since there is no military solution in Iraq, but only a political solution."
Michigan's junior senator, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said, "All Americans can agree that we need to balance the budget, improve our health care system, insure a quality education for all of our children and end our dependence on foreign oil. However, I do not believe some of the proposals the president laid out tonight are good for Michigan families.
"For instance," she said, "the president's plan to address the health care crisis could force many middle-class families to pay new taxes on their already existing health care plans."
Employer-financed health care benefits would be taxable income after a $15,000 family deduction and $7,500 for individuals.
"I am also disappointed," Stabenow continued, "that the president once again failed to lay out a comprehensive manufacturing policy that protects and promotes American jobs while working for American businesses.
"I support many of the proposals that the president put forward on energy independence and I am hopeful that this priority will be reflected in his upcoming budget," she said. "However, when it comes to Iraq we need a new direction and I have joined with both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate to oppose the president's planned escalation of the war. I hope that the president is serious in his desire to reach across the aisle and work with the Democratic majority in Congress. We face great challenges in America, and we all need to work together to make our nation stronger and our families more secure."
"The president outlined some specific ideas on how to improve our country," stated Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saulius "Saul" Anuzis.
"Now, the Democrats are the party in power in Congress and can no longer sit back and merely attack the president's agenda. If they have better ideas, present them, debate them and implement them. If they have nothing to offer but rhetoric, they should get behind the initiatives announced by the president so that we can all work towards a brighter future," Anuzis said.