Arkansas Congressional delegation talks State of the Union hopes

Editor’s note: Roby Brock, with our content partner Talk Business, wrote this report. He can be reached at [email protected]

With four members of Arkansas six-person Congressional delegation in new offices, Tuesday night’s Presidential State of the Union address will have a new audience.

Not to mention, the formal remarks to a joint session of Congress take place during a volatile time in American politics. Throw in a dose of political reflection in the wake of the U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ shooting, a still-tumultuous economy, and a new balance of power between the two chambers of Congress and the executive branch and tomorrow’s State of the Union speech could have drama.

Talk Business asked all six federally elected officials — our two U.S. Senators and four U.S. Congressmen — to express what they hope to hear from President Obama.

U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark.
“The President’s State of the Union speech tomorrow night comes at a critical moment in our country’s history. In each of the past two years, we’ve had over a $1 trillion annual deficit. The American people understand this is unsustainable. With the public demanding fiscal responsibility, it is troubling to hear that President Obama will call for an increase in spending tomorrow night. I certainly hope this is not the case as the American people are expecting the opposite. All eyes will be on the President tomorrow to see if he will make the tough decisions necessary to get our  nation’s fiscal house in order or if he will continue to move us in the direction of Greece and Ireland.”

U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark.
"I hope President Obama will place the economy and job creation at the top of his agenda. We must find ways to educate, innovate, and generate growth in Arkansas and across the country."

U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, R-1st Congressional District
"President Obama has an incredible opportunity in his State of the Union Address to demonstrate leadership on the biggest threat to our economy — ballooning deficits. At a time when our nation is in a $60 trillion-plus financial hole, I would like to see the President make an honest commitment to stop the out-of-control spending the last Congress embraced."

U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, R-2nd Congressional District
“After two years of record government growth and deficits, I hope the President will work with the Congress to encourage private sector job creation, reduce spending, pay down the debt and replace the current health care law with meaningful reform.”

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-3rd Congressional District
"I would like to hear a genuinely persuasive argument on the President’s part, which shows the current administration’s commitment to cutting spending as well as limiting the reach that government bureaucracy has, from a regulatory perspective, of interfering with private enterprise."

"On November 2, the public, in a very loud and convincing fashion, basically said ‘we want to shrink the size of government, cut spending, move towards a balanced budget and create jobs’. I don’t think there is any better time than now for the President of the United States — when speaking to particularly a new majority in the House of Representatives — to agree to meet us at the table in a very meaningful and productive way to discuss those concerns. It’s one thing to define the words ‘fiscal responsibility’, however, putting rhetoric into action is completely different – and it’s something the President should be ready to do."

U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-4th Congressional District
"I hope President Obama will call for bipartisanship in the nation’s capital and focus his remarks on how to revive the economy and reduce our budget deficits. The President should talk directly to the American people about how he plans to create more private-sector jobs, encourage innovation and hiring and get this economy back on track.  Creating more jobs and working toward a balanced budget must be this nation’s top priority in 2011 and I hope the President’s speech reflects that reality."