President Obama’s State of the Union address. Plus: Reaction from the Georgia delegation

For more on the president’s speech, please click White House or State of the Union

As reported by the Washington Post: President Obama, who took office six years ago amid a historic recession and two U.S. wars, declared unequivocally Tuesday that the nation had clawed its way out of those dire straits, praising Americans for their resilience but also pointedly taking credit for leading the way.“America, for all that we’ve endured; for all the grit and hard work required to come back; for all the tasks that lie ahead, know this: The shadow of crisis has passed,” Obama said in his sixth State of the Union address to the nation and a joint session of Congress in the House chamber. Expanded story

• Transcript of President Obama’s speech. Transcript from NPR
• What CNN had to say: CNN
• What Fox News had to say: Fox News

FROM GEORGIA’S CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION:

U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., issued the following video in response to President Obama’s State of the Union address: “I am very disappointed the president has chosen to lower expectation and raise taxes on the American people just at a time when we are beginning to recover. His plan is like pouring cold water on small businesses and employers. It is time to lift overly burdensome regulation and have a tax policy that’s fair and equitable to all Americans. I’m also disappointed there wasn’t much of a talk about foreign trade and about trade promotion authority from the president which Congress needs to act on quickly. We have three pending trade agreements, which are important for American business: the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the African Growth and Opportunity Partnership. All need to be reauthorized or initiated, and they need to be done this year. I am happy the president mentioned cybersecurity, which is the number one threat to our country and I pledge to work with him to find those ways we can to track those who would come to America and do harm to our people. May God bless the United States of America.” Watch the video.

U.S. Sen. David Perdue: These comments come from WMGT in Macon. Click TV

U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ga.: “Tonight, the president talked about his plans for the new year. And, as with past years, we heard a lot of the ways that the president would like to help certain groups of people by expanding the federal government with an action, a program or an initiative that benefits a segment of the population. Some of these ideas, they may sound good. But, with a ballooning national debt of more than 18 trillion dollars, what we didn’t hear is a realistic way to pay for them. Or the consequences of expanding the federal bureaucracy. After six full years of this presidency, we know that more government does not produce better results. Wages are stagnant. The economy still isn’t working for hard-working Americans. And here in Georgia, our unemployment rate remains above 7 percent - significantly higher than the national average. And, in fact, in some parts of the 14th District, the unemployment rate is up to 9 percent. Under President Obama, Washington hasn’t worked for people across North Georgia, or throughout the country. And that’s why House Republicans, in sharp contrast to the failed policies of this president, are promoting an agenda that will help all Americans – not just certain groups. Our agenda is focused on freedom, where government growth is stopped in favor of economic growth; where the private-sector is allowed to flourish and create jobs. We are fighting to protect hard-working Americans from tax increases, unnecessary regulations and burdensome red tape. Already this year, the House passed legislation to end Obamacare’s destruction of the 40 hour work week, help veterans find jobs and approve the Keystone XL pipeline. We also passed legislation to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security, while denying any funds whatsoever from being used to carry out the president’s unconstitutional actions. The president may choose not to work with us, but we have a clear mandate from Georgians and the American people to press forward. And, even though we face many challenges, I am confident that we can force Washington to once again work for all Americans.” Watch the video

U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga. His comments are included in the following video posted on his Facebook page. Watch the video