DAVID PERDUE: Takeaways from State of the Union

In his first State of the Union address, President Donald J. Trump delivered an optimistic message that all Americans needed to hear.

Here are five important takeaways:

• The agenda is working. As a result of historic tax cuts and regulatory relief, companies are creating new jobs, pumping money into the economy and investing in American manufacturing and innovation. Plus, over 3 million Americans are receiving a bonus or salary increase. This is the beginning of a real economic turnaround. Like President Trump said in his speech, “This is our new American moment. There has never been a better time to start living the American Dream.”

• President Trump campaigned and won on fixing our immigration system, and now he is showing real leadership to get it done. In the State of the Union, the president said, “it is time to begin moving towards a merit-based immigration system — one that admits people who are skilled, who want to work, who will contribute to our society and who will love and respect our country,” and I could not agree more.

• This president and his team are moving at a business pace, not a bureaucratic pace. President Trump is an outsider and business guy. He has finished projects on time and under budget, and that is the sense of urgency he will bring to “permanently fix the infrastructure deficit” in our country today.

• We must have a level playing field with the rest of the world. As President Trump said, “the era of economic surrender is over.” Free trade is critical, but it must also be fair for American workers and businesses.

• America is reasserting its leadership role in the world. For the first time in eight years, we have reinvested in our military, but we must do more. We face a global security crisis today, and President Trump was right when he said “in confronting these dangers, we know that weakness is the surest path to conflict, and unmatched power is the surest means of our defense.”

President Trump’s first year in office was nothing short of a huge success. However, there are major issues we still must tackle. I am going to continue to do all I can to build on these results so we can continue making a safe, strong and proud America for all Georgians, and indeed the entire country.

Sen. David Perdue, the only Fortune 500 CEO in Congress, is serving his first term, where he represents Georgia on the Senate Armed Services, Banking, Budget and Agriculture committees.

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