SOTU: Guns, Economy, Border- RI Lawmakers React

President Biden is calling for a ban on assault weapons. During last night's State of the Union address, Biden said he's been trying to ban assault weapons for almost 30 years. The President noted mass shootings went down in the ten years the guns were banned, and when Republicans allowed the law to expire, the shootings tripled.

Governor McKee last night said: "President Biden outlined the historic progress that his Administration has made over the past two years in implementing an economic plan that grows our economy from the bottom up and the middle out. This includes having the two strongest years of job growth in our country’s history, coupled with the lowest unemployment rate in over 50 years. The President’s agenda has only helped us accelerate Rhode Island’s momentum, whether it’s lowering health care costs, creating more economic security for families, or putting more Rhode Islanders to work fixing our state’s roads, bridges and other infrastructure through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”

The Governor said the state was ready to partner with the administration to build a better nation.

Congressman Seth Magaziner was attending his first State of the Union Address. The gun issue has been important to him.

“Rhode Island families deserve to feel safe in their schools, shopping malls, movie theaters, houses of worship, and anywhere else that they gather with loved ones in their communities. We have a gun violence problem in this country, and thousands of innocent Americans will continue to die unless elected officials have the courage to stand up to the gun lobby,” said Representative Magaziner. “Now is the time to take action, before more families face the unimaginable pain of losing a child, sibling, friend, or neighbor to these weapons of war that have no place in our communities. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join this common-sense effort to save lives.”

Senator Jack Reed focused on money issues:

“Tonight, President Biden offered a unifying message. He outlined a blueprint for accelerating economic progress, strengthening job growth, protecting voting rights, combating climate change, and lowering prices for things like food, medicine, child care, and the necessities of life. I agree with the president that to fight inflation we must lower costs, not wages. He challenged Congress to put the public good ahead of partisanship and move forward on this ambitious agenda."

And Senator Sheldon Whitehouse tweeted last night about the debt ceiling--the President calling on a bipartisan bill to get the measure passed:

"We wouldn’t even be hitting the debt ceiling right now if not for the $1.5 trillion Trump tax giveaway to the rich. The same crew that voted for the tax scam is threatening not to pay the bills they racked up – pushing the economic security of working people to the brink."

Reaction is across party lines. Republicans were generally short on praise. However, local politicians liked what they heard.

(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)