“President Trump used his State of the Union Address to once again call for national unity and bipartisanship. Yet, unity requires empathy for our most vulnerable. Without it, it will remain up to the states to show the way on voting rights, on protecting our DREAMERs, on protecting health care, and on raising wages to lift people out of poverty — all issues which were lacking tonight. Time will quickly tell if this call for unity, like the many others he has made before, is quickly forgotten.

“If the president is sincere — this time — in finding a bipartisan solution to a real national crisis, then I welcome him to work with us in New Jersey, and with our partners in New York, to fund and build the Gateway Project. With crumbling rail tunnels more than a century old, and a major bridge that regularly breaks down and stops the flow of people and commerce across our region, no other infrastructure project can benefit our nation as much as Gateway.

“Getting Gateway built is of the utmost concern for both commuter safety and economic progress – something a president familiar with the economic importance of our region should readily understand.

“With Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman on the House Appropriations Committee, Representatives Albio Sires, Donald Payne Jr., and Tom Malinowski on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker, New Jersey is ready to get to work. We only need President Trump to tell us the federal government is, as well.”