[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 357-358]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               THE PRESIDENT'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, tonight we will welcome the President 
of the United States for the State of the Union Address. It is his 
final address, and it gives us cause for reflection.
  Many of us recall the moment in Boston when a State senator became a 
national star. His rhetorical gift was undeniable. It was a soaring 
elocution bathed in confetti that promised a new and more inclusive 
beginning. It inspired many. It propelled Barack Obama to the highest 
office in the land.
  Americans assumed the campaigning would eventually come to a close 
and the serious work of governing would eventually commence, but it is 
now many years later, and the Obama for President campaign never really 
ended. Speeches still substitute for substance. Straw men still stand 
in for serious debate. Slogans still surrogate for governing.
  We have been promised even more campaigning tonight, this time for 
the candidate President Obama would like to see succeed him. It leads 
Americans to wonder: When is the serious work of governing ever going 
to begin? Governing isn't easy. Governing often requires serious 
engagement with the Congress the American people elected, not the one 
the President wishes they had elected.
  Here is a simple fact. ``You don't make change through slogans.'' 
That is something President Obama once said. I wish he had taken his 
own advice because here is what we know as we enter the twilight of his 
Presidency. He has presided over a sluggish and uneven economic 
recovery that is failing too many of our citizens.
  Health premiums and deductibles have continued to shoot ever higher. 
Wages have flatlined for too many. Inequality has grown. Manufacturing 
has shrunk. Poverty seems to entrench. The middle class has continued 
to collapse, to the point where it no longer even constitutes a 
majority of our country.
  The Obama administration says it wants to help the middle class, but 
its policies often tell a different story. We have seen the negative 
impact ObamaCare has had on so many middle-class families. We have also 
seen this administration declare a war on coal families who just want 
to get ahead.
  I have invited a Kentucky miner from Pikeville, Howard Abshire, as my 
State of the Union guest tonight. He has watched as the Obama 
administration's heartless approach has helped contribute to 
devastation in his community and to the loss of thousands of jobs in 
Kentucky, one of which was his own job.
  Here is what his message has been to President Obama. Howard Abshire 
said: ``We're hurting [and] we need help,'' but ``we don't want to be 
bailed out, we want to work.''
  Many Kentuckians feel the very same way. Many Americans feel 
similarly too. Today only 20 percent of our citizens think things are 
headed in the right direction in their country. Nearly three-quarters 
want the next President to take a totally different approach from the 
current one. These are the simple facts, and they present the President 
with a choice.
  President Obama can try to blame others for it. He can try to 
convince Americans they are wrong to feel the way they do or he can 
take responsibility and chart a new course. Americans are losing faith 
in the future. They are losing hope that their children can lead a 
better life. They watch as challenges continue to mount around the 
world--like those from ISIL, Iran, Russia, Al Qaeda, an ever-aggressive 
China, North Korea, and of course the Taliban--while this 
administration seems to have no plan to deal with any of it.
  This hurt in our country and the failing approach from the White 
House should be disheartening to all of us. Perhaps the worst part is, 
it didn't have to be like this. It really didn't have to be like this. 
I believe that when the American people elect divided government, they 
are not telling us to do nothing. They are telling us to work together 
in the areas where we can agree so we can make progress for our 
country.
  This Congress has racked up a growing list of bipartisan 
accomplishments for the American people over the past year. Some 
thought the major reforms we passed in areas such as education, 
transportation, Medicare, and tax relief were all impossible in the 
current political climate. We proved those pundits wrong. We showed how 
significant bipartisan accomplishments can be achieved when good policy 
is the goal.
  Perhaps we have inspired the President to finally try his hand at 
bipartisan achievement as well. We will see tonight when he delivers 
his last State of the Union Address. If he proposes real plans to do 
things such as defeat ISIL, grow economic opportunity, and strengthen 
the middle class--plans actually designed to pass this Congress, not 
just provide talking points for the next campaign--we will know he is 
ready to join us in meeting the challenges of tomorrow because 
Republicans aren't afraid of the future, and we don't think President 
Obama should be either. We want him to join us in recognizing the 
challenges of today while working for the solutions of tomorrow. It is 
true that we as a nation have a lot of challenges to confront. The pain 
and the worry in our country is real, it is palpable, but none of it is 
insurmountable.
  That is the hopeful message I expect Governor Haley to deliver 
tonight. I expect her to contrast a failing Presidency that is stuck in 
the past with a Republican Party that is oriented to the future. Nikki 
Haley knows the American dream. She has lived the American dream. She 
believes in the continuing promise of our country, and she understands 
the importance of opportunity and upward mobility for our

[[Page 358]]

middle class. When Governor Haley talks about hope and change, she 
means it because she has actually worked to deliver it.
  There is nothing wrong with inspirational speeches. We all need to be 
inspired, especially in trying times such as these. Soaring rhetoric 
matched with the right policies and hard work to actually achieve them 
is usually good for our country--just ask Ronald Reagan or Jack Kemp. 
Empty eloquence wrapped in leftwing ideas of yesterday that hurt the 
middle class--it is time to leave that behind. It is time to look to 
the future. We will see tonight if President Obama is ready to do so 
and move beyond the failed policies of the past.

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