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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. John Cornyn made the following statement this week regarding the televised Spanish-language response by the Democrats to the President’s State of the Union address:"The President is right: The state of the union is confident and strong. Unfortunately, the Democrats took the opportunity to criticize the President and his accomplishments, while hoping nobody was looking. "The Spanish-language response to the President’s speech by the Democrats failed to credit this administration for its achievements within the Hispanic community and the nation. Claiming that ‘the Republican Party has collectively ruined much’ for Hispanics is false and such charges will no longer be tolerated without an adequate response. "I was particularly disturbed by the charge that immigrant soldiers are not being adequately rewarded with citizenship. The Democrat response suggested that ‘the least we should do as a nation is give them citizenship or at least help them legalize.’ But as critics should know, this is already law. I joined in a bipartisan effort to pass legislation last November that expedites the naturalization process for men and women serving in the U.S. military who are not yet citizens. We have already acted on behalf of these soldiers. Their families, and the families of our service members, deserve better than this false, cynical criticism."In addition, the Democrat response referred to the President’s immigration plan as ‘a dead end.’ This rhetoric is part of the scare tactics that will only serve to bring more harm to the undocumented immigrants in our country and has prevented meaningful immigration reform from being implemented. President Bush made a call to action and now it is our responsibility as legislators to act – not just criticize without offering reform."There are many common issues that unite all Americans regardless of race, creed or economic background such as education, the economy, health care and homeland security. President Bush has demonstrated strong leadership in all these areas. "The gloom and doom rhetoric employed by the Democrats has no place in moving our country and our great state forward. Americans and Texans are optimistic, and I’ll continue working hard to represent all Texans in the United States Senate to keep our reasons for hope strong.”U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is a member of the Judiciary, Armed Services, Environment and Public Works, and Budget committees. He served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge.