RALEIGH—Chairman Linda Daves, North Carolina Republican Party, made the following statement after President George W. Bush delivered his seventh and final State of the Union address:

“President Bush used his final State of the Union to set out a positive, forward-looking agenda for America.  He focused on the issues that are being discussed at the kitchen tables of hard-working families across North Carolina and across the nation.  These issues include improving our economy, moving toward energy independence, keeping America secure, and bolstering our education and healthcare systems.  He called on Congress to trust in the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the American people while also urging Congress to work in bipartisan manner to produce results in an important election year.

The President’s agenda laid out a conservative vision of governance and provided a strong contrast to Democrats and their rhetoric heard on the campaign trail.  He called on Congress to trust the American people to wisely spend more of their own money. With the economic challenges currently facing the country, it is important that we reject the Democrats’ calls to raise taxes on hard-working people.  Instead, we must empower Americans with tax relief that puts more money in their pockets and trusts them to spend it wisely.

Congress must also empower our intelligence community to protect the American people.  Congress must act now before the Protect America Act expires because our intelligence community needs to know who terrorists are talking to and what they are saying in order to better protect us.  Unfortunately, the votes of Senators Clinton and Obama against giving our nation the tools it needs to effectively prosecute the War on Terror directly undermines Americans’ safety.

The Democrats in the Congress have had over a year to lead our country in what they promised the American people would be a ‘new direction’ but instead have opted for business as usual in Washington.  Democrats are never short of promises on the campaign trail but have failed time and again to live up to the pledges they have made.  From raising taxes to increasing government spending by billions of dollars, they have broken their promises to the American people and forfeited the mantle of change.  Democrats have promised change in the past and delivered only more of the same.  Voters are too smart to be fooled by this campaign trail rhetoric in 2008.

Voters are given a stark choice this election year between more feigned promises and corresponding failures from Democrats and a pro-growth, pro-democracy, optimistic Republican vision for the future.  I am confident voters in North Carolina will respond to the conservative vision for America that unites Republicans and ensure that a Republican President delivers the next State of the Union address.”

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