Van Hollen Statement on Trump’s Address to Congress

TodayU.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen issued the following statement on President Trump's address to the Joint Session of Congress:

"As he said tonight, President Trump has had a busy first month in office - but his actions have not kept his promises to put working families first.

"He has failed to put forward an economic plan or offer a concrete proposal for sustained job creation. And he failed to drain the swamp in Washington, instead installing Wall Street billionaires in his Cabinet and failing to address serious questions about his campaign's relationship - and his personal business ties - with Russia.

"In fact, the President's first actions have been at odds with many of the values we hold dear as a nation. His budget blueprint threatens important domestic priorities - from supporting public schools, to providing small business loans to entrepreneurs, to making college more affordable, to investing in lifesaving research, to keeping our air and water clean. He has issued an executive order that made it harder for people to afford a mortgage, opposed efforts to provide middle-class Americans overtime pay, and taken steps to end efforts to better protect Americans' retirement savings from abusive practices. And he has made our nation less safe by insulting our allies, fawning over our adversaries, and playing into the hands of ISIS and other enemies.

"Tonight President Trump presented proposals that will be greeted with great optimism by big-money, corporate special interests - but working families are losing out in his new Administration. I hope that, moving forward, Mr. Trump puts aside the divisive campaign rhetoric and works with Democrats to create good-paying jobs, invest in our nation's infrastructure, and strengthen our schools and our job training programs."