Lowey Talks State of Union with New Rochelle High School Students

Some New Rochelle High School students got a preview of State of the Union address Monday when Rep. Nita Lowey, D-Harrison, stopped by for a visit.

Lowey, who represents the 18th Congressional District, which is comprised of parts of Westchester and Rockland counties, including New Rochelle, said she will once again be sitting with Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, during the Tuesday speech.

"What we have done in Congress" in order to foster bipartisanship, "is we've tried to sit with friends on the other side of the aisle," Lowey said.

"We were called the 'odd couple' in an article a while ago," she said, "because we got along so well."

The 23 students of Darren Gurney's AP Macroeconomics class were told that they could take part in a virtual chat before and after President Barack Obama's speech on Facebook and via Twitter.

"This is the first time I've done this," Lowey said. "I'm going to be in my office and will respond to your comments."

Of the annual speech, she said she expected Obama to talk about "jobs, jobs, jobs."

"Thousands of people have been employed since Pres. Obama took office," she said, "but unemployment is still very, very high."

Lowey said putting people to work through infrastructure projects should be a priority in tough economic times.

"I'm not talking about busy work," she said.

Taxes, Lowey said, was certain to be on the president's mind Tuesday.

"That was one of the biggest partisan battles we had," she said. "If you are giving the middle class a payroll tax cut, there is more money in their pockets."

The size of government is likely to be a speech topic, Lowey said.

"We hear a lot about government being too big," she said, adding that she tells her colleagues to talk to mayors and town supervisors about the size of government.

"You need as much government as you need," Lowey said, "but you don't need more."

The congresswoman spent almost an hour talking to and fielding questions from the class, which has been given the assignment to watch the speech, which will take place at 9 p.m.

Having Lowey in his classroom, gave senior Jacob Lynch, 17, a different perspective on the workings of the nation's capital.

"The thing I still worry about is the partisanship, the fighting between the two sides of Congress," he said. "Obviously, that is going to be hard to fix, but I think she has made me feel very comfortable about the representation of her district."

Benjamin Davis, 17, said he would pay particular attention to parts of the speech dealing with creating jobs and taxes.

He said he feels somewhat better about Congress having had face-to-face contact with a member of the House of Representatives.

"Most definitely," Davis said, "because there are fears and rumors how Democrats and Republicans don't work together.

"Anita Lowey is a very smart woman and how she explained things about they would get things done gave me inspiration and confidence in our government," he said. "District 18 is strongly represented with good leadership."