WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) issued the following statement on President Obama’s State of the Union address:

“The vitality of our economy is rooted in the middle-class. Tonight, President Obama presented a clear vision for growing the economy from the middle-class out through job creation in homegrown clean energy development, manufacturing and by rebuilding bridges and roads across the country.

“We have a big task ahead to find common ground and pass a budget that reduces the deficit and advances our values. But we won’t achieve this goal by gutting the programs seniors depend on or cutting investments in education and training for our kids. Strengthening our economy must be our top priority and we need to work in a bipartisan fashion to provide the certainty and confidence our businesses need to keep hiring.“