By Jenna Duncan Staff Writer jduncan@dentonrc.com

U.S. Rep Michael Burgess, R-Pilot Point, shown here during a meeting last summer with the editorial board of the Denton Record-Chronicle, said President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech Tuesday night hit the right tone for the country and North Texas.

The newsworthy and noteworthy State of the Union address Tuesday night may have drawn criticism from top-tier Democrats, but Republicans continued to sing President Donald Trump’s praises the following day.

U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Pilot Point, said the speech was “the total package” for him and brought forward several concerns for his constituents, from road construction to the opioid crisis.

“I thought it was a very positive, forward-looking speech emissive of some of the speeches I remember from [former President] Ronald Reagan when I was younger,” Burgess said Tuesday morning from Washington, D.C.

Road construction will be critical to Denton County and all of Texas congressional District 26 moving forward as rapid growth continues, Burgess said. The current federal highways bill expires in September of this year.

“I drive on U.S. [Highway] 380 like everyone else, and it’s a beating. I get it. It’s dangerous,” he said. “When the president brought up infrastructure ... I appreciated that.”

He also thought the nod to the ongoing opioid crisis was a good rally cry for Congress to unify to address the issue and added urgency to create legislation to address the public health epidemic. He said while some legislation has been filed from Democrats and Republicans, he hopes the mention in Trump’s address will prompt more action.

“I think the president laid the issue in front of us and asked to get something done, get it on our desk and he’ll sign it into law, so it puts some urgency out there,” Burgess said. “Congress is supposed to be the coming together of different ideas and coming up with a solution.”

For Burgess, the speech was also a good act of showmanship. From Juan Guaido of Venezuela in the office to reuniting a military family after the husband had been on four deployments, the interactions helped elevate the more than hour-long address, Burgess said.

“The president did a very good job of again weaving in Americans and talking about the rich tapestry that is the American experience,” Burgess said.