January 31, 2006

Statement by U.S. Senator Ron WydenFollowing the Presidents State of the Union Address

Washington, DC U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) tonight commented following President Bushs State of the Union address:Oregon families have been talking to me mostly about issues where the second word is bill such as tax, medical, housing and college and they would see little relief from those bills as a result of what was proposed tonight.Im pleased to hear that the President is concerned about Americas addiction to oil. I hope he will work with me to break the habit and end the fix, starting with billions of dollars in oil company subsidies that were forced through Congress.Im especially troubled that the national security agenda proposed tonight is a prescription for continuing to keep government secret and unaccountable without improving our ability to protect our citizens from terrorism.Our citizens deserve an economic security agenda to help them at home and a national security agenda that ensures their personal safety and personal liberties.I will continue my efforts to work in a bipartisan manner to begin to tackle these and other important issues.