[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 754-755]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           STATE OF THE UNION

  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, tonight we will gather in the House 
Chamber to listen to the President's State of the Union Address. This 
will be the first time in Barack Obama's Presidency that he delivers a 
State of the Union Address to a Republican-led House and Senate. Some 
see this as a prescription for gridlock. Others, including myself, see 
this as an opportunity for the executive branch and the legislative 
branch to work together to actually get some things done. There is 
recent precedent that shows this arrangement can work. In fact, it is a 
period of our history where an Arkansan played a huge role.
  During the final 6 years of Bill Clinton's Presidency, he faced the 
same situation as our current President. He worked with Republicans to 
reform the welfare system. He worked with Republicans to balance the 
budget--an accomplishment that hasn't been repeated since. He worked 
with Congress--not tried to go around them.
  Now, I don't expect us to always agree. There are stark ideological 
differences between President Obama and our Republican majority for 
which there is really no agreement to be had without one side or the 
other abandoning their principles, and certainly I do not intend to do 
that. I don't see the President doing that either. What I do hope is 
that the President will find common ground with not only Congress but 
the American people. When that happens, work gets done here.
  Even in the last Congress, with a Democratic majority in the Senate 
blocking almost everything in an effort to protect President Obama, we 
still had flashes of bipartisan agreement. We agreed on the new farm 
bill, which

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ensures the continued safety, affordability, and reliability of our 
food supply while achieving real savings in Federal spending. We 
reformed the VA to address the horrific wait times our veterans face 
while trying to receive the health care they earned. And we passed a 
spending agreement that brings discretionary spending to its lowest 
level in almost a decade and has a number of provisions that adhere to 
conservative principles.
  Both parties did not get everything they wanted in any of these 
instances, but the final product was the result of individuals coming 
from different starting points and arriving at the same finish line. 
That is what the American people want, but that takes an honest 
commitment from all parties involved.
  One way the President can show he is really ready to work with 
Congress is to abandon his misguided plan to circumvent Congress and 
grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. I anticipate that 
President Obama will try tonight, once again, to defend his actions by 
blaming Congress for not passing immigration reform. The truth is 
everyone in this Chamber is eager to tackle immigration reform.
  The President is acting unilaterally because he knows Congress does 
not support his amnesty proposal. He knows the final product of our 
work will not include that provision. So he intends to go around 
Congress to get his way. Now the President seems intent to dig his 
heels in deeper by threatening to veto our efforts to defund his 
actions. This is just one of the veto threats President Obama has 
already issued just weeks into the new Congress. This start doesn't 
bode well for bipartisanship.
  I hope tonight's speech is light on the veto threats and heavy on the 
areas where we can find common agreement. I think those are plentiful, 
and I sincerely believe it is possible.
  A fair and simple tax system, creating jobs, and making Washington 
more efficient, effective and accountable--these are the issues that 
Americans want us to address and areas where compromise is possible. 
That is where our focus should be and what the country wants--not just 
what the President wants.
  If everyone comes to the table ready to work, I think we can surprise 
everyone with what we can achieve. But it will take Presidential 
leadership. An Arkansan showed it can be done. President Obama should 
look to the example of President Clinton for how to move forward and to 
work with a Republican Congress.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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