Bart Stupak: “I was really surprised that the President never mentioned the urban areas of this country. About 60 percent of the…”

“I was really surprised that the President never mentioned the urban areas of this country. About 60 percent of the people in this country live in cities. He did not articulate any type of a plan or approach to help those areas that are dealing with many, many problems. Especially since the National Conference of Mayors is in town this week, I thought at least there would be some mention about urban areas: what can we do to help them with their urban sprawl, with infrastructure needs, green space, or even just helping them cope with these homeland securities which cost these cities millions of dollars. The cities, like the States right now, are financially strapped for cash. How do they pay for this? If it is a requirement of the Federal Government, should we not just help them out? I was surprised that he did not touch on the cities. I was also very, very surprised, and maybe it is the record of this administration, that he did not even mention veterans. Why would he not mention veterans? We are creating veterans every day in this country with the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and he never even mentioned them.”