Recently I attended the President's State of the Union address, and I want to share with you some of my thoughts about the issues covered in this year's speech.

While the President is very adept at articulating admirable ideals, he owed the nation fewer generalities and more straight talk about the challenges we face and how the nation will meet those challenges.

It was disappointing that the President declined to offer any assessment of the Iraqi government's current ability to stabilize Iraq or when real progress may be seen. Absent was any measure of the American commitment that will be needed to attain the victory and reconstruction of which he spoke. I call on the President to level with the American people so the nation may effectively support our troops, see them through to a successful mission, and bring them home as soon as possible.

Iran poses a grave threat to peace and our security. I completely agree with the President's commitment to oppose the repressive, totalitarian, and terrorist regime in that country and to help the Iranian people replace it with a true democracy. I call on the President to join me in strongly supporting the Iran Freedom Support Act. This bill bans the transfer of technology and money from any nation to the Iranian terrorist regime. The bill is supported by a large majority of the House, but we need the President's support to move it forward.

I also agree with the President that the new Hamas leaders of the Palestinian legislature must reject terrorism, recognize Israel, and work for peace. I urge the President to be resolute in keeping the pressure on Hamas to turn away from its violent tactics. Today I introduced bipartisan legislation to prevent U.S. support for an organization that continues to call for the destruction of our ally, Israel, and continues to advocate violence.

Here at home, the President spoke of our economic strength but his rosy rhetoric omitted any candid comment on our economic liabilities. There was no mention of the budget deficit, ballooning trade imbalance, or shrinking real incomes of workers in Nevada and across the nation.

Certainly his goal of cutting unnecessary spending matches my view, but unfortunately his track record shows the wrong priorities. He has focused on cutting Medicaid for the most needy, shrinking funding for student grants and loans, underfunding the No Child Left Behind Act, and shortchanging job training programs, among other critical components needed to keep us strong at home.

It is impossible to reconcile the President's unwillingness to provide essential funding for education with his proposal tonight for a new initiative to stimulate innovation that depends on more education resources. As in so many other instances, I am concerned that the President will be "all show and no go" with this idea. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House, Democrats and Republicans alike, who demand of the President responsible spending priorities.

I welcome the President's comments on our critical need for new energy technologies to end our dependence on foreign oil. This is absolutely necessary for our economy and for world security. But the fact is, his energy policy has always favored gigantic tax breaks and subsidies for the oil industry while providing inadequate funding and vision for alternative energy development. I am willing to trust the President's intentions, but I will demand that he verify his commitment in coming months by providing the resources and vision to lead us out of, as he puts it, an "addiction to oil."

I have introduced legislation promoting clean, renewable energy resource development. I call on the President to back up his words tonight and not leave us wondering years from now whatever happened to his proposal, just as we have yet to see any progress whatsoever on his idea for hydrogen cars that was outlined only a few years ago.

I am especially alarmed that the President is pushing for a massive increase in the construction of nuclear plants, with plans to export nuclear technology across the globe. While he calls the plan "clean and safe," the fact is it relies on technology that the U.S. has banned for decades because of the potential for its use in producing materials for nuclear bombs. At a time when we are locked in a deadly serious struggle with Iran to prevent that nation from using nuclear power technology to mask its bomb-making program, the President is proposing world wide proliferation of that very technology.

His nuclear proposal also will result in an increase in nuclear waste from U.S. plants, and possibly from around the globe, that will be destined for Yucca Mountain. This is a direct threat to every Nevadan and everyone living along global nuclear transportation routes.

The President's words on healthcare did not inspire confidence. His emphasis on health savings accounts and medical legal liability does not come close to providing a comprehensive approach to checking escalating health care costs and providing affordable insurance.

The President did not emphasize, and with good reason, the woefully inadequate and complicated Medicare prescription drug program that his administration created. It's a system that provides billions for pharmaceutical and insurance companies while providing scant coverage and in some cases, no coverage. We can do better, and we must do better. I continue to work in Congress to create a good prescription drug benefit-one that offers strong coverage and holds down costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices, a provision the President has road blocked in order to boost the bottom line of drug companies.

A large majority of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track under President Bush. I agree with their assessment. However, I will take at face the President's call for cooperation between our political parties, independents, and among conservatives, centrists, and liberals. America's elected officials must work together. While I strongly disagree with the President's record and many of his proposals, I am hopeful that honest and open debate will produce policies to solve the problems we must deal with as a nation and global leader.