Sessions and Shelby hammer Obama for failures on jobs, energy, immigration and foreign policy

Sens. Jeff Sessions (Left) and Richard Shelby (Right)

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama took a defiant tone during his sixth State of the Union address on Tuesday night, giving little indication that he will work with Republicans during the final two years of his presidency.

Alabama senators Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby both hammered the President shortly after his address concluded.

Their reactions can be found below:

Sen. Sessions —

Tonight President Obama stayed the course of tax, spend, borrow, regulate, and add to the debt. This policy has hammered working families, whose average inflation-adjusted income has fallen a stunning $4,200 since 2009. Labor force participation for both men and women between 25–54 has been steadily falling since the President took office, while 12 million people have left the workforce entirely.

On the national security front, President Obama has once again failed to deliver a clear vision for combating the threat of ISIS and Islamic extremism, and has still not lucidly articulated the nature of the threat challenging the West.

On immigration, the President remains wedded to a lawless policy that serves only the interest of an international elite while reducing jobs and benefits for everyday Americans. All net employment gains since the recession in 2007 have gone to foreign workers, and yet the President has violated federal law in order to provide work permits to 5 million illegal immigrants—allowing them to take any of the few good jobs that exist. In effect, the President delivered an address tonight to a Congress whose authority he does not recognize and to a public whose votes he has nullified with an imperial edict. Congress must use every tool at its disposal to stop this unlawful edict, end the immigration lawlessness, and reverse our slide towards congressional irrelevance.

Sen. Shelby —

Tonight’s address from President Obama was once again heavy on rhetoric and light on real solutions for families and businesses across the nation. Voters sent a strong message in November that they are dissatisfied with the growing role of government in their lives, yet the President failed to discuss his plans to work with Republicans in Congress on addressing these important concerns.

The President’s address tonight did not include plans to rescind his decision to circumvent Congress and unilaterally grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. It failed to outline a way to provide the American people with relief from the destructive impacts of Obamacare. We also did not hear about his plans to enact policies that will reenergize the private sector and encourage job growth or to work with Republicans on common sense ideas to boost our nation’s energy independence such as allowing construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

I believe that Alabamians – and all Americans – deserve better than more of the same failed tax and spend policies from this Administration. That is why I urge President Obama to join us in supporting policies that get Washington out of the way and create economic conditions to give the American people an opportunity to succeed.