State of the Union reaction split along party lines

Senator Tom Harkin says President Clinton’s “State of the Union” address laid out “pro-family” initiatives.Harkin supports Clinton’s call for photo licenses and safety courses for gun owners.Harkin says the speech highlighted the record of the past eight years.Senator Charles Grassley says President Clinton’s address laid out too many initiatives.Grassley says Clinton can’t claim to have fiscal discipline when he called for all those new federal initiatives.Grassley opposes the President’s gun licensing idea. He calls them violations of the second of the amendmandt and says there isn’t adequate enforcement of the existing laws.Congressman Greg Ganske, a republican from Des Moines, says there was bi-partisan support at the beginning of the speech for Clinton’s call to erase the federal debt. He says that erroded as Clinton propsed how to spend the surplus in the next 34-pages of the speech.Congressman Jim Nussle, a republican from Manchester, agrees that Clinton proposed a lot of new federal spending. He says Clinton always gives a good speech, but never says how much it will cost.Congressman Leonard Boswell, a democrat from Davis City, says the Presidentoutlined spending ideas that are important to Americans. Boswell says it was a high energy speech that kept on track with what the president has tried to do.In a prepared statement, Congressman Tom Latham said Congress will have to cut through Clinton’s “rhetoric and ask where the money will come from.”Congressman Jim Leach is out of the country, but in a prepared statement Leach said he hopes the “coming year can be hallmarked by greater cooperation rather than bickering between the Executive and Legislative branches.”