Today, Congressman Donald Norcross (D-NJ-01) issued the following statement following President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union Address.

“The president has shown great leadership in uniting our allies to take bold steps to confront Russian aggression in Europe,” said Congressman Norcross. “President Biden has shown that American leadership matters. That when we choose our democratic allies and partners, reject dictators, and strengthen NATO instead of undermining it, we can be a power for good in the world. We stand with Ukraine and will continue to work with our allies to stand up to Putin’s tyranny.”

Upon seeing the Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States, Oksana Markarova, who he met recently, in the First Lady’s viewing box he added: “Slava Ukraini! Heroiam slava!”

“What we heard from President Biden tonight is a vision for our country that puts workers front and center. I share the president’s desire to rebuild our economy from the bottom up by creating good-paying jobs, increasing access to affordable training and educational opportunities, and securing retirement for hardworking Americans,” Congressman Norcross continued.

“I also appreciate the president for mentioning key priorities of mine such as increasing the use of prevailing wage protections for American workers to raise pay and improve benefits; achieving mental health parity through better federal enforcement and oversight of insurers; and combating the nation’s opioid epidemic which has only worsened during the pandemic,” said Congressman Norcross.

In the 117^th Congress, the congressman has introduced the Parity Enforcement Act, the Opioid Treatment Access Act, and secured Davis-Bacon prevailing wage protections across multiple bills – most recently the America COMPETES Act.