Washington—Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today released the following statement on President Trump’s State of the Union address:

            “Tonight President Trump spoke about several key issue areas including health care, immigration, national security and more.

            “Those are a few of the issues I hope he acts on during the final year of his term. What we need from the president and from Congress is tangible action on a wide range of problems.

            “Here are just a handful of the top-priority issues I hope are addressed in 2020:

• Climate change: “Climate change is one the biggest – if not the biggest – challenge facing humanity. The United States should re-enter the Paris Agreement. We need to build upon the strong clean energy and fuel economy standards put in place under President Obama. And we need to lead the world in pursuing bold solutions to confront this dire problem that threatens future generations.

• Homelessness: “The federal government must work with, not against, state and local governments to house the homeless and provide the supportive services we know will help solve this problem. Too many Americans are on the streets, live doubled up or face other challenging environments. We must do more to help them, especially the chronically homeless and veterans.

• Health care: “Republicans should abandon efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would jeopardize health care for 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions. Instead they should join with Democrats to create a public option to lower costs and provide greater access to affordable health care services. We also must do more to reduce the price of prescription and generic drugs, increase price transparency and expand Medicaid.

• Working families: “The stock market is doing well, but that only benefits some Americans. We must do more to ensure that wages rise and good-paying jobs are available to support families. That means investing in education and job-training programs nationwide.

• Immigration: “Children are still being separated at the border. We’ve closed our door to refugees, sending thousands of asylum seekers to crowded camps and denying them their day in court. We’ve done nothing to protect Dreamers or immigrant farmworkers. These policies aren’t making us safer. It’s long past time that we pursue comprehensive immigration reform.

• Gun violence: “There are a number of bills ready to be voted on immediately that would put in place universal background checks, ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and allow loved-ones and police to take guns away from dangerous individuals, among other reforms. These commonsense bills deserve votes.

• National security: “Our foreign policy too often seems designed to reward tyrants and demean our allies. Instead we should be working with our international partners to counter mutual threats in hot spots like the Middle East. And we must engage in diplomacy with Iran, North Korea and Russia to reduce the threat of nuclear proliferation.”

• Wildfires: “We need better ways to prevent and fight wildfires including removing dead and dying trees using all the funding and legal authorities Congress has provided. Wildfire and water remain top issues for solutions in California.

            “The list is a long one, but Democrats are still willing to work with Republicans to overcome today’s partisan divisions and make lasting progress on these and many other issues. Time will tell how President Trump uses the next year.”