WASHINGTON, D. C. – Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, said that the vision President Barack Obama laid out in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night did not match the realities experienced by residents of Colorado’s 3rd congressional district.
In an interview with The Durango Herald following the president’s address, Tipton said that Obama’s hopefulness about his administration’s lasting initiatives did not necessarily correlate with many concerns of district residents.
“I think the challenge that the president continues to face is his vision versus the reality of how we’re experiencing them,” Tipton said. “The people that I’m taking to, primarily in our district, they’re asking lots of questions. Do they feel safer? Are their economic prospects brighter than they were, and looking forward? Do they see us on a path that’s going to lead to a more prosperous and safer America? And those are challenges that the president failed to directly address.”
Although Obama stressed the country’s economic recovery during his term, Tipton said that his district continues to suffer from slow economic growth.
“While we’ve got pockets of prosperity in Colorado, throughout the 3rd Congressional District, rural Colorado and rural America, we’re still seeing genuine economic challenges,” Tipton said.
Tipton, who is a member of the House Financial Services Committee, said he was particularly struck by statements the president made that seemed to contradict his administration’s attitude towards businesses. Tipton specifically pointed out Obama’s statement that “there are outdated regulations that need to be changed, there is red tape that needs to be cut” as one example, saying that he wrote it down when he heard it.
“They’ve got 4,000 new regulations that are currently in the pipeline,” Tipton said. ”This is an administration that’s put forward rules and regulations that would impact water across the United States and private property rights.”
The congressman was particularly critical of what he deemed to be Obama’s efforts to “minimize the threat of terrorism” by downplaying the threat from the Islamic State and moving forward with potentially dangerous plans.
During the president’s address, U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., sat with Sens. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Pat Roberts, R-Kan., in a show of opposition to a previously proposed plan to transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to American soil. Colorado, South Carolina and Kansas were discussed as potential destinations for the remaining prisoners.
Although President Obama signed legislation in 2015 that included language blocking the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to U.S. soil, Tipton – who has vocally opposed the efforts since they were reported – said they were concerned the president would push forward with his plan.
“I think it’s worthy of note that legislation was passed that the president signed that prohibited the closing of Guantanamo, so if the president believes that he can act unilaterally, he failed in the speech tonight,” Tipton said.
egraham@durangoherald.com. Edward Graham is a student at American University in Washington, D.C., and an intern for The Durango Herald.
