Sen. Rand Paul to deliver Tea Party response to Obama State of the Union

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) will deliver the Tea Party response to President Obama's 2013 State of the Union address.

Paul will deliver the response from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., the Tea Party Express political action committee announced Friday. 

"We are excited to have Senator Paul deliver the 3rd Tea Party State of the Union response next week," Tea Party Express chairwoman Amy Kremer said in a statement.

On Wednesday House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) would deliver the official Republican response to Obama's speech.

"We are happy to see that the Republicans have selected Tea Party conservative Senator Marco Rubio to deliver their response," Kremer continued in her statement. "Both Sen. Rubio and Sen. Paul will articulate pro-growth messages that will resonate with the American people."

Both Rubio and Paul are some of the most prominent Republicans in the Senate, and both have been mentioned as possible presidential candidates in 2016.

Paul's is the third State of the Union response hosted by the Tea Party Express. Businessman Herman Cain delivered the response in 2012 and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) delivered the response on behalf of the Tea Party in 2011.

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