Rep. Joe Crowley D-Queens,Tthe Bronx, Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus, echoed the president's words following POTUS State of the Union Address:
“Tonight, President Obama laid out a clear path to grow our economy, strengthen our middle class, and expand economic opportunity to help every American succeed. Now, Congress must get to work and partner with the President to achieve real results that will have a meaningful impact on American families.
“While we are seeing positive gains in our economy, including 58 consecutive months of private sector job growth and the lowest budget deficit since President Obama took office, much more needs to be done to ensure these improvements are benefiting all Americans, at every level on the economic scale. We must focus on efforts that will help create jobs and bigger paychecks for American workers – such as increasing investments in manufacturing and improving our nation’s infrastructure. And I welcome the President’s plan to create a simpler, fairer tax code that helps ease the burden on middle-class families.
“As the President emphasized, the time has come for us to modernize our workplaces to better reflect and support the needs of hard-working American families. The President’s plan to encourage paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave for workers, as well as his focus on affordable child care, mirrors House Democrats’ economic agenda to improve the financial stability of America’s working families.
“We must ensure economic success for all Americans, throughout their lives, and so I agree with the President that we must help make saving for retirement not just a priority, but a possibility for all Americans. Every American deserves retirement security, and that’s why I will be introducing legislation in the coming days to implement the President’s groundbreaking ‘MyRA’ savings account plan to give every American the opportunity to build a nest egg.
President Obama challenged Congress to join him in taking action on the most pressing challenges we face as a nation. I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to join with House Democrats and to do just that: take action on legislation that creates jobs, boosts paychecks, and strengthens our economy. Let’s put American families first.”
Congressman Crowley is the nine-term representative from the 14th Congressional District of New York, which includes sections of Queens and the Bronx. He is a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee and serves as Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus in the House of Representatives.