Tennessee and Georgia Republican and Democratic lawmakers are dividing along partisan lines over President Joe Biden's Wednesday address before a joint session of Congress. Here's what U.S. senators and congressmen had to say:
* U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee: "President Joe Biden and Washington Democrats want to spend trillions upon trillions of dollars to incentivize dependency on the federal government. To accomplish this, they will take away more money from Tennesseans' hard-earned paychecks. The so-called 'American Families Plan' that Joe Biden's team created for him [Wednesday night] is intended to replace family with big government control."
* U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tennessee: "It's wrong to raise taxes on hard-working families who are trying to provide for their families as we recover from this pandemic. What @JoeBiden is outlining in his speech is quite literally socialism. @JoeBiden's delivery is nothing short of a socialist manifesto."
* U.S. Sen. Ralph Warnock, D-Georgia: "For a year our nation has been in a long, dark winter, and thanks to Georgia, morning is on the horizon. Now, we are finally starting down the road to recovery. I've been proud of the work we've done in Congress to help Georgians recover and move past the public health and economic pains of this once-in-a-century pandemic, and I was excited to hear the president talk about how we're going to keep building on these policies and investments to keep our state and nation moving forward."
* U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Ooltewah: "President Biden promised unity but he has spent his first 100 days appeasing the far-left. This administration has put the far-left above students by not fully reopening schools. They've put the far-left above our national security by ignoring the crisis at our southern border."
* U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Sherwood: "Tonight, President Joe Biden stood before the American people and unveiled his radical socialistic agenda. Promises of mass spending, a higher tax burden and weakened national security were made. To no surprise, Biden began his speech by taking credit for President Trump's successful execution of Operation Warp Speed. Without the Trump administration's leadership, a vaccine would not have been readily available in less than a year after the COVID-19 pandemic began."
* U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia: "Joe Biden just said white supremacy is the biggest threat of terrorism. I'm against all racism. But the white people in Antifa/BLM who burn cities, loot businesses, attack police officers, attack federal buildings and tear down monuments are in the biggest terrorist group."
* U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville: "Joe did great. I've never heard a president speak so clearly, comfortingly, or be so challenging. For the first time in our country's history, two women were seated behind the President and the chamber was nearly empty due to COVID. It was new and different, but a wonderful, unifying night for America."
* U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis: "For the first time in years, we heard a president outline a vision to build back the middle class and make our country better than ever. I'm proud to work with @POTUS to meet a historic crisis with historic action to distribute vaccines, help working people & repair the economy."
- Compiled by Andy Sher.