WASHINGTON - Today, on a conference call with New Mexico reporters, U.S. Senator Tom Udall previewed President Obama's State of the Union Address. He discussed some of the initiatives the president announced recently and urged Congress to act on the proposals. Udall applauded the president for thinking about solutions to big challenges that face New Mexico and the nation, such as poverty, a lack of affordable education and poor quality housing. He highlighted the president's proposals to guarantee all workers paid sick leave and a fair maternity policy, and to provide free community college and said that addressing these challenges is key to ending the cycle of poverty.
Udall also discussed the need to create well-paying jobs and his support for manufacturing and innovation hubs - such as an optics and photonics hub he continues to push for in the Albuquerque area. He is also pushing for improvements to technology transfer to help move research from the lab bench to the marketplace to strengthen the private sector. Finally, Udall expressed his hope that the president and the Senate will collaborate and pass a broad energy policy that emphasizes renewable energy in addition to oil and gas.
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Below are highlights from Udall's remarks.
0:00 - Udall thanks everyone for joining the call.
0:03 - "As everyone knows, tonight the President will deliver his annual State of the Union Address. Normally at this time, many of you would be asking me what I want to hear from the president in his speech. But this year, he has already announced some of his biggest initiatives. So instead of saying what I want him to address, I want to focus on what I want Congress to do."
0:28 - "I applaud the president for thinking about big solutions to big problems. Many of these are challenges that New Mexicans struggle with on a daily basis - such as poverty, lack of education and poor quality housing."
0:53 - "If we don't find a way to address these challenges, the cycle of poverty will continue over and over. We all know this. It's past time to do something about it. We may disagree about the solutions to these problems, but that's all the more reason to bring proposals to the table for how to fix them."
1:13 - "Congress needs to debate proposals - like the one the president has urged - that would guarantee all workers paid sick leave and a fair maternity leave policy."
1:36 - "The president has suggested free community college. That proposal may be too expensive, but I want to see all the details, and especially look at the details in terms of legislative proposals before us. But we still should be talking about how to make college more affordable - both college and community college."
2:09 - "And we need to talk about how we can create new, well-paying jobs by supporting the building blocks that grow a strong workforce and businesses."
2:24 - "I've supported the president's idea to create manufacturing and innovation hubs throughout the country. I've led the delegation in pushing for a hub in the Albuquerque region that focuses on optics and photonics."
2:42 - "I'm also continuing to push for the Department of Energy to improve technology transfer to help researchers get their work from the lab bench to the marketplace. I'm going to keep pushing for these and other ways to help New Mexico create a stronger private sector."
3:00 - "In addition to the things I've mentioned, I would like the president and the Senate to talk about how we can work together to pass a broad energy policy that emphasizes renewable energy in addition to oil and gas."
3:34 - Udall responds to questions in regard to the president's community college initiative and its impact on Native American colleges, the GOP reaction to the State of the Union Address, goals for the 114th Congress, and the president's broadband initiative.
