Transcript of the Republican response to the State of the Union address

WASHINGTON (AP) — A transcript of the Republican response to the State of the Union address, as delivered by Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., on March 7, 2024:

Good evening, America.

My name is Katie Britt, and I have the honor of serving the people of the great state of Alabama in the United States Senate.

However, that’s not the job that matters most.

I’m a proud wife and mom of two school-aged kids. My daughter, Bennett, and my son, Ridgeway, are why I ran for the Senate.

I am worried about their future — and the future of children in every corner of our nation. That’s why I invited you into our home tonight.

Like so many families across America, my husband, Wesley, and I just watched President Biden’s State of the Union Address from our living room. What we saw was the performance of a permanent politician who has actually been in office for longer than I’ve even been alive.

One thing was clear: President Biden just doesn’t get it. He’s out of touch. Under his administration, families are worse off. Our communities are less safe, and our country is less secure.

I wish he understood what real families are facing around kitchen tables just like this.

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This is where our family has tough conversations and where we make hard decisions. It’s where we share the good, the bad, and the ugly of our days. It’s where we laugh together. It’s where we hold each other’s hands and pray for God’s guidance. And, many nights, it’s where Wesley and I worry.

I know we’re not alone. Tonight, the American family needs to have a tough conversation, because the truth is, we’re all worried about the future of our nation.

The country we know and love seems to be slipping away. It feels like the next generation will have fewer opportunities — and less freedom — than we did. I worry my own children may not even get a shot at living their American Dreams.

My American Dream allowed me, the daughter of two small business owners from rural Enterprise, Alabama, to be elected to the U.S. Senate at the age of 40.

Growing up sweeping the floor at my dad’s hardware store and cleaning the bathroom at my mom’s dance studio, I never could have imagined what my story would entail.

To think what the American Dream can do across just one generation, in just one lifetime, is truly breathtaking.

But right now, the American Dream has turned into a nightmare for so many families.

The true, unvarnished State of our Union begins and ends with this: Our families are hurting. Our country can do better.

And you don’t have to look any further than the crisis at our southern border to see it. President Biden inherited the most secure border of all-time. But minutes after taking office, he suspended all deportations, halted construction of the border wall, and announced a plan to give amnesty to millions.

We know that President Biden didn’t just create this border crisis. He invited it with 94 executive actions in his first 100 days.

When I first took office, I did something different. I traveled to the Del Rio sector of Texas, where I spoke to a woman who shared her story with me. She had been sex trafficked by the cartels starting at age 12. She told me not just that she was raped every day, but how many times a day she was raped.

The cartels put her on a mattress in a shoebox of a room, and they sent men through that door, over and over again, for hours and hours on end.

We wouldn’t be OK with this happening in a third-world country. This is the United States of America, and it’s past time we start acting like it.

President Biden’s border crisis is a disgrace. It’s despicable. And it’s almost entirely preventable.

From fentanyl poisonings to horrific murders … there are empty chairs tonight at kitchen tables just like this one because of President Biden’s senseless border policies.

Just think about Laken Riley. In my neighboring state of Georgia, this beautiful, 22-year-old nursing student went out on a jog one morning. But she never got the opportunity to return home. She was brutally murdered by one of the millions of illegal border crossers President Biden chose to release into our homeland.

That could’ve been my daughter. It could’ve been yours.

Tonight, President Biden finally said her name. But he refused to take responsibility for his own actions.

Mr. President, enough is enough. Innocent Americans are dying. And you only have yourself to blame. Fulfill your oath of office. Reverse your policies. End this crisis. And stop the suffering.

Sadly, we know President Biden’s failures don’t stop there.

His reckless spending dug our economy into a hole and sent the cost-of-living through the roof.

The worst inflation in 40 years. The highest credit card debt in history.

Hardworking families are struggling to make ends meet today. And with soaring mortgage rates and sky-high childcare costs, they’re also struggling to plan for tomorrow.

The American people are scraping by while the President proudly proclaims Bidenomics is working!

Bless his heart. We know better.

I’ll never forget stopping at a gas station in Chilton County one evening. The gentleman working the counter told me that after retiring, he had to pick up that job in his 70s so he didn’t have to choose between going hungry or going without his medication. He said, “I did everything right, everything I was told to do — I worked hard, I saved, I was responsible.”

He’s not alone. I hear similar concerns from fellow parents when I’m walking with my friends or at one my kids’ games.

But let’s be honest — it’s been a minute since Joe Biden pumped gas, ran carpool, or pushed a grocery cart. Meanwhile, the rest of us see every day that our dollar doesn’t go as far.

And despite what he tells you, our communities are not safer.

For years, the left has coddled criminals and defunded the police — all while letting repeat offenders walk free.

The result is tragic but foreseeable — from our small towns to America’s most iconic city streets, life is getting more and more dangerous.

Unfortunately, President Biden’s weakness isn’t just hurting families here at home. He’s making us a punchline on the world stage.

Where I’m from, your word is your bond. But for three years, this President has demonstrated that America’s word doesn’t mean what it used to.

From abandoning allies in his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan to desperately pushing another dangerous deal with Iran, President Biden has failed.

We’ve become a nation in retreat. And the enemies of freedom see an opportunity.

Putin’s brutal aggression in Europe has put our allies on the brink.

Iran’s terrorist proxies have slaughtered Israeli Jews and American citizens. They’ve targeted commercial shipping. And they’ve attacked our troops nearly 200 times since October, killing three U.S. soldiers and two Navy SEALs.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Communist Party is undercutting America’s workers. China is buying up our farmland, spying on our military installations, and spreading propaganda through the likes of TikTok.

The CCP knows that if it conquers the minds of our next generation, it conquers America.

And what does President Biden do? He bans TikTok for government employees, but creates an account for his own campaign. You can’t make this stuff up!

Look, we all recall when Presidents faced national security threats with strength and resolve.

That seems like ancient history. Right now, our Commander in Chief is not in command.

The free world deserves better than a dithering and diminished leader.

America deserves leaders who recognize that secure borders, stable prices, safe streets, and a strong defense are the cornerstones of a great nation.

Just ask yourself, are you better off now than you were three years ago?

There is no doubt we’re at a crossroads. We all feel it.

But here’s the good news: we the People are still in the driver’s seat. We get to decide whether our future will grow brighter, or whether we settle for an America in decline.

Well, I know which choice our children deserve — and the choice the Republican Party is fighting for.

We are the Party of hardworking parents and families. We want to give you and your children the opportunities to thrive — and we want families to grow. It’s why we strongly support continued nationwide access to invitro fertilization. We want to help loving moms and dads bring precious life into this world. Wesley and I believe there is no greater blessing in life than our children.

And that’s why tonight, I want to make a direct appeal to the parents out there — and in particular, to my fellow moms.

Many of whom will be tossing and turning at 2 a.m. wondering how they are going to be three places at once tomorrow and somehow still get dinner on the table.

First of all, we see you, we hear you, and we stand with you.

I know you’re frustrated. I know you’re probably disgusted by most of what you see going on in Washington. And I’ll be really honest with you — you’re not wrong for feeling that way.

Look, I get it. The task in front of us isn’t an easy one. But I can promise you one thing: it is worth it. So, I am asking you, for the sake of your kids and your grandkids, get into the arena.

Every generation has been called to do hard things. American greatness rests in the fact that we always answer that call.

It’s who we are.

Never forget, we’re steeped in the blood of patriots who overthrew the most powerful empire in the world.

We walk in the footsteps of pioneers who tamed the wild.

We now carry forward the same flame of freedom as the liberators of an oppressed Europe.

We draw courage from those who bent the moral arc of the universe.

And when we gaze upon the heavens, never forget that our DNA contains the same ingenuity that put man on the Moon.

America has been tested before, and every single time, we’ve emerged unbowed and unbroken.

Our history has been written with the grit of men and women who got knocked down. But we know their stories because they did not stay down. We are here because they stood back up.

So now it’s our turn -- our moment to stand up and prove ourselves worthy of protecting the American Dream.

Together, we can reawaken the heroic spirit of a great nation.

Because Americans don’t just have a rendezvous with destiny — we take destiny’s hand, and we lead it.

Our future starts around kitchen tables just like this. With moms and dads just like you.

And you are why I believe with every fiber of my being that despite the current State of our Union, our best days are still ahead.

May God bless you, and may God continue to bless these United States of America.