COLUMBUS – President Joe Biden turned the spotlight on central Ohio during his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
He referred to a planned $100 billion Intel semiconductor mega site in Licking County, one of the biggest investments in manufacturing in American history, as a “field of dreams” during an appeal to lawmakers to compromise on competing bills on Capitol Hill meant to revitalize high-tech American manufacturing and supply chains.
“I was pleased that President Biden highlighted Intel’s investment in a new semiconductor plant in Ohio, and I was proud to play a role in securing that investment in our state,” Republican Ohio Sen. Rob Portman said in a statement issued after the speech. “However, the best path for the administration to strengthen our economy and address the high prices the American people face every day is to work with Republicans on common-sense economic policies that grow our economy.”
“Ohioans heard the most pro-worker president in our lifetime reaffirm his commitment to put workers at the center of our economy, and his commitment to stand up for American values and up to Putin and autocrats everywhere,” wrote Ohio’s Democratic senator, Sherrod Brown.
Addressing a concerned nation and anxious world, Biden vowed to check Russian aggression in Ukraine, tame soaring U.S. inflation and deal with the fading but still dangerous coronavirus.
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Columbus) praised the president for his efforts to ease gas prices and cut the cost of child care, as well as his nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to be the first Black woman appointed to the Supreme Court, and opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Under the President’s leadership, we are standing up for democracy. When the history of this era is written, Putin’s war on Ukraine will have left Russia weaker and the rest of the world stronger,” Beatty said.
Biden devoted the first 12 minutes of his address to Ukraine. declared Tuesday night that he and all members of Congress, whatever political differences there may be, were joined “with an unwavering resolve that freedom will always triumph over tyranny.”
He said the U.S. is working to seize yachts and apartments of Russian oligarchs.
Lawmakers of both parties repeatedly rose to their feet and applauded as he praised the bravery of Ukraine’s people and condemned Russia’s assault.
“President Biden has united the free world against Russia’s invasion, and tonight members of both parties stood together in solidarity with the people of Ukraine,” Brown said.
Biden warned that if Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t “pay a price” for the invasion, the aggression wouldn’t stop with one country.
“While the administration has now implemented the sanctions some of us called them to implement before the invasion occurred, I urge them to do even more on sanctions and use all of the tools at their disposal to hold President Putin accountable. Most importantly, they must eliminate all bureaucratic hurdles and speed the assistance of lethal weaponry to Ukraine immediately.” Portman said.
Russian forces have escalated their attacks on crowded cities on the seventh day of the invasion.
Lights and flags show Ohio’s solidarity with Ukraine
In a show of support for the people of Ukraine, the Ohio Department of Transportation is illuminating the state’s two lighted bridges in blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, which is currently flying at the Statehouse and the Governor’s residence in Bexley.
ODOT will change the lighting on the George. V. Voinovich Bridge, which carries I-90 in Cleveland over the Cuyahoga River, and the Veterans’ Glass City Skyway, which carries I-280 over the Maumee River in Toledo, Gov. Mike DeWine announced Tuesday.
The Ashtabula County Engineer’s office will also light the Ashtabula Harbor Lift Bridge over the Ashtabula River in blue and yellow, and the city of Dayton will light up bridges and overpasses along I-75 through downtown, DeWine said.
Toledo officials also planned to light the Anthony Wayne Bridge over the Maumee River in blue and yellow.