COSTELLO STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT OBAMA'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Congressman Jerry Costello (D-IL) issued the following statement in response to President Obama's State of the Union address tonight:

"The President delivered a confident, upbeat message about the present and future of the United States, about how we can cut costs while also making critical investments in research, education and transportation infrastructure. While we have to reduce overall spending and make serious progress in reducing the deficit and debt, we cannot do so indiscriminately. We have to leave ourselves positioned to maximize economic growth in the months and years ahead, and I appreciate the President's attention to clean coal as part of our energy policy and the need to rebuild our infrastructure. Affordable energy and an efficient economy in the future - as well as good-paying jobs today - depend on investments in these areas.

"President Obama has outlined a workable blueprint for continuing and expanding our economic recovery. His attention to regulatory reform, streamlining government and tax reform should be well-received on both sides of the aisle, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to keep America moving forward."