Mass Senator Edward J. Markey releases statement on Biden’s State of the Union address

Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement on President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. Senator Markey is Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security and Chair of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety. Senator Markey’s guest tonight at the State of the Union is Lou Antonellis, business manager of IBEW Local 103. Under Antonellis’ leadership, IBEW Local 103 has become one of the largest, fastest-growing, and most diverse construction unions, and has been electrifying and energizing the clean energy revolution in Massachusetts.

“Tonight, we heard President Biden tell the story of what our America can and will be under his leadership: cleaner, healthier, more just, and powered by union workers. Our fight for a livable future doesn’t just mean fighting for climate action, it means fighting for an economy that works for everyone and for jobs that pay enough to support your family. That’s why my guest tonight is IBEW Local 103 Business Manager Lou Antonellis. Local 103 members have supercharged the Commonwealths’s green jobs revolution. The solar panels on our roofs, cost-effective and energy-efficient housing, and new electric vehicle charging infrastructure—that’s what Local 103 and union workers are building in Massachusetts and all across this country, as President Biden told us tonight. It’s no coincidence that this past year was both the hottest year in history and a historic year in the labor movement.

“We must keep fighting for the Green New Deal promise of jobs, justice, and climate action. Upon these three pillars, President Biden is already building a better America—including by heeding our movement’s call by establishing and now pledging to triple the historic American Climate Corps. The Inflation Reduction Act is delivering a down payment on our Green New Deal vision—creating up to three million new jobs by 2030, and bringing cleaner air and new investments to environmental justice and fenceline communities from Chelsea to Springfield.

“Congress also must answer the President’s call to work on a bipartisan basis to pass privacy legislation to protect young people online. As the author of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, I know that the youth mental health crisis in our country is a youth privacy crisis. My bipartisan COPPA 2.0 legislation would ban targeted advertising to children and teens and establish a digital marketing bill of rights for young people.

“Our nation is facing generational challenges, and there is much more to do to build a livable future with opportunities and advancement for all Americans. We will not realize that goal with a MAGA-fueled Republican agenda. Rather than choosing a path of division, hate, and chaos, President Biden and Democrats are looking to the future, delivering progress and promise for the American people.”