LaHood sees room for bipartisan China approach, Sorensen willing to work across aisle on kitchen-table issues

WASHINGTON, D.C. — While a bipartisan approach to China received a nod, reaction by Sauk Valley-area’s Congressional delegation to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday came down along party lines.

U.S. Rep Darin LaHood, a Republican who represents the 16th District, serves on the House Intelligence Committee and the House Select Committee on China. He said: “I agree that we can and should work in a bipartisan way on issues including combating growing threats from China and the increasing harm fentanyl and opioids are doing to our communities.”

However, LaHood said Americans elected a Republican majority in the House for his party’s approach to inflation, energy costs, border security and crime.

“Illinoisans are feeling the pain of two years under President Biden and one-party Democrat rule in Washington, with forty-year high inflation, skyrocketing energy costs, a fentanyl crisis from an overrun southern border, and rising violent crime,” LaHood said in a news release issued after the address.

Rep. Eric Sorensen, a freshman Democrat from the 17th District, offered to partner with anyone “to produce solutions that will make life easier for working families in central and northwest Illinois” who are dealing with higher costs for gas, groceries and medicine

Sorensen serves on the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

“I was encouraged to hear the President talk about the progress we’ve made to create jobs, lower unemployment, and bolster our physical and technological infrastructure,” Sorensen said.

Illinois’ Dick Durbin, Democratic party whip in the Senate, said the president outlined an agenda: support for Ukraine, expansion of the Child Tax Credit, extending the $35 per month insulin cap, combat gun violence and reform policing.

“Now, as President Biden said, ‘we need to finish the job.’ Let’s continue to deliver for the American people as we did in the last two years,” said Durbin in a news release.

Durbin also promoted the president’s “Unity Agenda” as political common ground: ending cancer, providing for veterans, addressing mental health and confronting opioid abuse.

Durbin’s guest for the address was Chris Manson, vice president of government relations for OSF HealthCare in Peoria and founder of U.S. Ambulances for Ukraine.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat, tweeted after the address: “I share President Biden’s hope that Republicans will put aside partisan fighting, come to the negotiating table and make working families—not wealthy donors—the top priority so we can improve the lives of everyday Americans.”

Duckworth’s guest was Erin King, director of Hope Clinic for reproductive care in southern Illinois.