A UTRGV political science professor says it will be interesting to see how Congress and the nation will respond to President Donald Trump’s agenda, which he outlined in last Tuesday’s State of the Union address.
Before a divided Congress, Trump gave his second State of the Union address, in which he stressed the importance of unity between both parties and talked about several issues, including immigration, national security and economic growth.
“The agenda I will lay out this evening is not a Republican agenda or a Democrat agenda,” Trump said at the beginning of his speech. “It’s the agenda of the American people.”
Natasha Altema-McNeely, a UTRGV political science assistant professor, said that although Trump called for bipartisanship, it will be interesting to see how Congress responds.
“It seems that the journey, at least when it comes to Congress and the president, their journey of attempting to work together is going to be pretty contentious, but it’ll also be interesting to observe how people continue to react to the statements that he made,” Altema-McNeely said.
Later in the address, Trump said Republicans and Democrats have to work together to solve “an urgent national crisis.”
“Congress has 10 days left to pass a bill that will fund our government, protect our homeland and secure our very dangerous southern border,” he said Tuesday. “Now is the time for Congress to show the world that America is committed to ending illegal immigration and putting the ruthless coyotes, cartels, drug dealers and human traffickers out of business.”
Trump talked about the caravans of immigrants that are currently trying to reach the U.S.-Mexico border and blamed Mexico for bringing them to areas with little border protection.
“I have ordered another 3,750 troops to our southern border to prepare for this tremendous onslaught,” he said. “We have a moral duty to create an immigration system that protects the lives and jobs of our citizens.”
The president then said he wants immigrants to come to the U.S., as long as they do it legally.
Minutes after, Trump reiterated the benefits of a border wall, which is one of his most famous campaign promises.
“This is a smart, strategic, see-through steel barrier, not just a simple concrete wall,” he said. “It will be deployed in the areas identified by the border agents as having the greatest need and these agents will tell you, ‘Where walls go up, illegal crossings go way, way down.’”
Trump then gave El Paso’s border fence as an example of how the barrier reduced violent crimes in the city.
“The border city of El Paso, Texas, used to have extremely high rates of violent crime, one of the highest in the country, and considered one of our nation’s most dangerous cities,” he said. “Now, immediately upon its building, with a powerful barrier in place, El Paso is one of our safest cities. Simply put, walls work and walls save lives.”
However, Altema-McNeely said an article from the El Paso Times reports the contrary.
“Shortly after the statement was made, El Paso Times released a report where they examined the claim and they looked at evidence from … the Uniform Crime Report … that is available through the FBI,” Altema-McNeely said. “They specifically looked at data from the UCR that related to reports on violent crime that were made by the sheriff’s office in El Paso, as well as the local police department in El Paso, and what the reporter from the El Paso Times concluded was that … the rate of violent crime actually increased after the border section … was constructed.”
She said the barrier in the border of El Paso was built between 2008 and 2009.
“The reporter from El Paso Times showed that, actually, from that period of [2006] until … 2011, he saw the rate of violent crimes increasing … from 2006 until 2011,” Altema-McNeely said. “So, two years before that part of the wall was constructed to two years after. During that period of time, you actually see the rate of violent crimes increasing.”
During the first part of the State of the Union address, Trump spoke about his administration’s achievements.
“Wages are rising at the fastest pace in decades and growing for blue-collar workers who I promised to fight for,” he said. “Nearly 5 million Americans have been lifted off food stamps.”
Trump said his administration has created 5.3 million new jobs and added 600,000 new manufacturing jobs.
After talking about his administration’s merits and receiving an ovation after almost each of his remarks, Trump spoke about Alice Johnson, a former African-American inmate who served as a minister during her 22-year imprisonment. Johnson had been sentenced to life, but was released earlier, thanks to the First Step Act.
“My administration worked closely with members of both parties to sign the First Step Act into law,” Trump said. “This legislation reformed sentencing laws that have wrongly and disproportionally harmed the African-American community.”
He said the act “gives nonviolent offenders the chance to re-enter society as productive, law-abiding citizens.”
The First Step Act was signed into law on Dec. 21.
Democratic women lawmakers in the audience, who were all wearing white outfits in tribute to suffragettes, cheered when Trump mentioned that 58 percent of the new jobs created last year were filled by women.
“All Americans can be proud that we have more women in the workforce than ever before,” he said. “And exactly one century after Congress passed the constitutional amendment, giving women the right to vote, we also have more women serving in Congress that at any time before.”
Altema-McNeely said Trump, as expected, also touted his position on several issues, including the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement.
He exhorted Congress to pass the USMCA, which will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and will bring back manufacturing jobs, expand agriculture and protect intellectual property.
Similarly, Trump also asked Congress to pass legislation in his agenda that will decrease the costs of health care in the U.S.
“It is unacceptable that Americans pay vastly more than people in other countries for the exact same drugs, often made in the exact same place,” he said. “We should also require drug companies, insurance companies and hospitals to disclose real prices to foster competition and bring costs down.”
On the same health topic, the president said his agenda also includes funding for research to eliminate the HIV epidemic in the U.S., $500 million to support children with cancer and the banning of late-term abortions.
“To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb,” Trump said.
As the last part of his agenda, Trump said he will focus on national security.
“Over the last two years, we have begun to fully rebuild the United States military–with $700 billion last year and $716 billion this year,” he said.
The president then said he will meet with Kim Jong-un, supreme leader of North Korea, on Feb. 27 and 28 in Vietnam.
Trump had previously met with Jong-un last June in Singapore.
On Dec. 19, Trump announced his intent to remove U.S. troops from Syria, declaring a military victory over ISIS.
“As a candidate for president, I loudly pledged a new approach. Great nations do not fight endless wars,” the president said during the State of the Union address. “Now, as we work with our allies to destroy the remnants of ISIS, it is time to give our brave warriors in Syria a warm welcome home.”
Trump ended his State of the Union speech by asking Democrats and Republicans to put their differences aside and work together.
“I am asking you to choose greatness,” he said. “No matter the trials we face, no matter the challenges to come, we must go forward together. We must keep America first in our hearts. We must keep freedom alive in our souls. And we must always keep faith in America’s destiny–that one nation, under God, must be the hope and the promise and the light and the glory among all the nations of the world!”
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