Press Releases

Congresswoman Pingree with her State of the Union guest, Tabin Tangila mesu Kamba, before the address.

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree issued the following statement in reaction to President Obama's State of the Union address tonight.

The President is right to describe this as a time of extraordinary change, and I believe we face some huge challenges.  Even though we have nearly 8 million new jobs and ended the wars in the Middle East, there are still families all across the country struggling to make ends meet and we face extraordinary challenges to our security at home and abroad.  We've come a long way but still have a long way to go. 
 
I'm also glad that President Obama used this opportunity to call for cooperation and a higher level of debate between the parties.  And I hope politicians follow his lead and reject the politics of division that targets people based on their race and religion.  

Pingree brought a Yarmouth man, Tabin Tangila mesu Kamba, to sit in the House Chamber and watch the speech as her guest.  Tangila mesu Kamba was an activist in his home country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2011, the presidential election generated a great deal of chaos and violence, which caused Tabin to fear for his safety. He fled to the United States and was granted asylum status in Maine.