Washington, D.C. – Tonight, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio issued the following statement following President Obama’s State of the Union address:

“Tonight, I had hoped to hear the President outline real solutions to fundamentally tackle our national debt crisis and help clear the way for urgently needed job creation.  Instead, we heard him talk about more ‘investment,’ which is what most Floridians I know would simply call more government spending.  Instead of fruitlessly turning to government to create jobs, we should be working to cut spending, promote free enterprise initiatives and give job creators the certainty they need to hire more workers.

“While I was encouraged by the President’s support for an earmark ban and will work with him towards that goal, his call for a mere budget freeze does not go far enough in tackling our record debt.  At the very least, we should freeze non-defense and non-veterans discretionary spending to what it was before Washington began its unprecedented, record-setting spending binge two years ago.  But most importantly, we need to finally begin fundamentally reforming the way our government spends the American people’s money.

“In 2011, both parties have a golden opportunity for true cooperation on complex issues of great consequence.  If we take care of business, our children and grandchildren will one day thank us for giving them the chance to inherit the greatest society in human history.  For President Obama and Congressional Democrats, it’s a chance to prove they heard the American people’s call for fiscal discipline in November.  For Republicans, it’s a chance to practice what we’ve preached by being responsible stewards of the American people’s tax dollars.  As Florida’s senator, I will work with anyone else who believes 2011 has to be the year when we stop postponing the tough decisions.”