WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., issued the following statement regarding President Obama’s second-to-last State of the Union address:

“The State of the Union address tonight was disappointing. The President had an opportunity to outline ways in which he could join forces with the new Republican majority in Congress. The voters have given us this divided government and given us an opportunity to work together. Instead, the President delivered more of the same types of themes from years past – bigger government, higher taxes, and more spending. I think he is bound to realize that those are nonstarters with this new Republican majority.

“The President has only two years left in office. Rather than catering to the special interests of the far left, I was hoping the President would choose to use these next two years to work with Republicans to strengthen our economy, to create jobs for Americans.

“Americans made it clear in November that they are tired of business as usual in Washington. We have divided government; clearly it is going to take both political parties to produce results and to produce a lasting recovery. I would challenge anyone who says we are in a very real recovery, because I think it is weak. Job creation is weak, labor participation rate is very, very low, and job increases are barely keeping up with inflation. So, we need a real recovery.

“During times of divided government, we have been able to accomplish real things. Ronald Reagan did it after he lost the majority in the Senate in 1986, and Bill Clinton used divided government to do welfare reform after 1994. They chose to work with Congress to pass meaningful reforms in a bipartisan way.

“This newly elected Republican majority is listening to Americans. We are listening to the election results from November. Our focus is on solutions that increase economic activity, create good-paying jobs, boost wages for people who are already working, lower the cost of health care, and lower the cost of energy. I urge the President to work with us – not against us – so we can get this country moving in the right direction.”