Today Congressman Michael Guest (MS-03) released the following statement in anticipation of President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address.

“I believe the president, during the State of the Union, will give specific examples to convince the American public that his policies have been successful. But what he’ll fail to do is he’ll fail to give a broad overview, I believe, that would show the detrimental impact that his policies have had on everyday working Americans.

“I believe the president must address some very important issues. One, is he must address the growing inflationary crisis that we’ve seen across the country. Because of unnecessary spending in Washington D.C. — specifically much of that related to the American Rescue Plan, which was opposed by every Republican lawmaker — we have seen inflation rise to a 40-year high.

“I believe the president must address what we’ve seen as far as the flow of fentanyl into communities across the United States. Because the president has either been unwilling or unable to secure our border, we have seen record seizures of cocaine, methamphetamine, and now the most deadly and dangerous drug of all – fentanyl, enter the United States. So the president must talk about how he intends to secure the border and how he intends to stop the flow of these illegal drugs from coming into communities all across our country.

“And I believe that finally the president must address the growing rise in violent crimes and attacks on law enforcement.”

Biden will give his State of the Union speech at 8 p.m. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will respond afterward with the Republican rebuttal.

Rashida Tlaib, a progressive Democrat from Michigan, is said to be responding as well, as is Collin Alred of Texas, who is said to be speaking for the Congressional Black Caucus.