WASHINGTON — Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s State of the Union address.

“The President said he wants to work with Congress, and I want to take him up on that offer. But to make real progress, we have to focus on finding common ground—not issues that only divide us.

“I was glad to hear the President ask Congress to pass trade promotion authority. We simply can’t get the best trade agreements for the American people without it. Now the President needs to follow through. He needs to convince his party to vote for TPA—and soon.

“At the same time, I found the President’s tax proposals to be misguided. A $320 billion tax hike is the last thing we need. What we really need is to make our tax code simpler, flatter, and fairer, so we can create more jobs.

“The American people deserve real solutions. House Republicans are going to do all we can to build a healthy economy for working families. There’s a lot we can accomplish in the next two years, and we’re ready to work with the President to find common ground.”

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