(Editor's note: the following press release was issued by the office of U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey today in response to Monday night's State of the Union address by President George W. Bush).

Gingrey, a Marietta Republican, represents much of Northwest Georgia in Congress, including Polk County:

Economic stimulus: "I am extremely pleased that President Bush has worked with Congressional Leaders on both side of the aisle to craft bipartisan legislation to stimulate our economy.

Obviously, since this stimulus package is the result of some give and take between Republicans and Democrats, I believe there are ways to further stimulate our economy--particularly by encouraging business to invest and create new jobs. I have joined with fellow conservatives to propose some much-needed, incentive-based relief to job-creators.

The last time our country faced recession, rebates were helpful to consumers but were not the complete shot-in-the-arm needed.

History shows us that the best way to provide an economic turnaround, preserve jobs and spur growth is to ensure that job creators face a lower tax and regulatory burden. Congress can also demonstrate its commitment to strengthen the economy and growing American business by immediately making the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts permanent."

Earmarks: "I am encouraged by President Bush's commitment to address the earmark epidemic in Washington. Tonight, the President vowed to veto any future spending bill that does not cut earmarks in half from fiscal 2008 levels.

Cutting the overall amount of money allocated to earmarks is a key provision in my Earmark Reform Bill, which I introduced this past August.

If the Democratic leadership can muster the will of its Members, I believe Congress could act immediately to reform the earmark process.

Right now, they could take up the Earmark Reform Act of 2007 and actually return earmarked money to the taxpayers, instead of merely shifting the money away from Congress to Washington bureaucrats."

Iraq: (Gingrey is a Member of the House Armed Services Committee)

There is no denying that we have seen verifiable progress in the Global War on Terror in the last year. Throughout Iraq in 2007, Al Qaida no longer found refuge among the local population as Iraqi citizens joined the fight against Islamic extremists in their country.

The role of American troops increasingly became one of support for the improved Iraqi Security Forces. While the 2007 troop surge has been instrumental in producing these results, the terrorists we are fighting are determined to reconstitute and obstruct progress in Iraq. There will be more battles ahead, but like the President I believe that with the continued resolve of our nation and steadfast determination of our troops, we will seize this opportunity to defeat the terrorists, while allowing the Iraqis to build on their recent political successes.

FISA: "I agree with President Bush that fixing FISA cannot be something we do on a month by month basis. Congress must immediately act to permanently provide our intelligence community with the tools it needs to efficiently target the electronic communications of suspected terrorists.

As a Member of Congress, I believe above all else that the federal government has a Constitutional obligation to provide for the common defense against all enemies who would seek to harm America's citizens.

We cannot effectively accomplish this with patchwork extensions of our nation's terrorist surveillance measures -- as many of my Democratic colleagues seem to believe -- but instead must permanently close the terrorist loophole while respecting the civil liberties of our citizens."

Healthcare: (Note: Gingrey is an OB-GYN physician)

"As a physician, I agree we should give individuals greater control over their healthcare decisions, rather than relying on employers and bureaucratic federal programs. Health coverage shouldn't stop someone from switching jobs or starting a new business, but it often does.

Increasing choice and competition in our healthcare system will drive down costs and move us away from the current "big government" mindset."