– When President Barack Obama delivers his sixth state of the union address to a joint session of Congress, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill hopes he highlights the nation’s economic improvements in recent years.

“I think it’s important to note and people have forgotten the hole we’ve climbed out of. We’ve doubled the stock market, we’ve cut the deficit in half, we’ve lowered unemployment, we’ve created month after month eight million jobs in this country,” she said. “We need to take a moment and remind people how we’ve navigated through this. Is there still long-term employment? Yes. Is the marketplace changing in terms of work skills? Yes. But there’s a lot to celebrate.”

McCaskill said Obama should extend an olive branch to Republicans on issues where they can reach agreement, but that he would also stand firm on issues like immigration and raising the minimum wage. In his remarks, Obama is expected to call for a “year of action” for his chief priorities.

On Saturday, Missouri’s Republican U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt said Obama should “use the ‘year of action’ to have a little less talk, and a lot more action.”

“We don’t need more class warfare, and we don’t need more interference from Washington. No government program can replace what a good job means for the future of a family,” Blunt said while delivering the Republican Weekly Address. “Republicans are ready to turn these policies around and launch a ‘year of action’ – starting with fixing our broken health care system.”