WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Boozman issued the following statement in response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address.

Jobs

“I am disappointed that President Obama did not bring any new, specific ideas to the table to address the biggest issue facing our nation—jobs. His focus seemed largely on other issues at a time when everyone in Washington should be focused like a laser beam on how we can create an environment that can put more Americans back to work and in well-paying jobs. We need to work together to jumpstart job growth in the private sector, but the President must lead by example.”

Sequestration

“We have got to get our fiscal house in order. We are less than three weeks away from drastic across-the-board cuts that President Obama proposed and agreed to and while he talked of the need to avoid the sequestration, offered little in terms of specifics on how we can achieve that goal. The House has already passed two bills that have languished in the Senate and the President has yet to introduce a plan of his own to avert the sequestration to Congress. The reality is soon all our resources will be consumed by serving the debt. We can’t afford that, and sequestration is not the optimal solution, but we must reduce spending. However, the cuts can, and should be done, in a smarter way.”

Immigration

“President Obama discussed his ideas for immigration reform, many of which we’ve heard before. I’m glad that members on both sides of the aisle are involved in these reform discussions. There are some key provisions that I would like to see in a reform package and the President touched on some of those including securing the border and enforcing the laws on the book. However, he continues to push amnesty, which is a policy direction I cannot support. We must not reward people for breaking the law, so I will continue to oppose amnesty proposals. In the meantime we can accomplish some of these ideas with current legislation.”    

Obamacare

“I would disagree with President Obama’s contention that his law has brought down health care costs. They are skyrocketing, largely because the law does nothing to contain costs. That is going to hit home as Americans will see their premiums rise under this law. The only way to stop this trend is to institute market-based reforms instead of allowing the government to dictate our health care needs.”

Gun control

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families, friends and all those affected by unimaginable tragedy like Newtown. We must have an open and honest discussion about the state of mental health care in this country and the root causes of this senseless violence, but new gun laws are not the answer. I will continue to fight to protect our Second Amendment right.”