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State of the Union 2004
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State of the Union 2004
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Friday, July 31, 2015
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Press Office, White House
McClellan, Scott
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State of the Union 2004
6 Initratives (New)
$156.1
HIV/ALOS
600ml addression
TTIC
State of the Union Address
$6651
Broshield
EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY
$1.2 bn - Energy (hydrogen car)
January 28, 2003
Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, Members of Congress,
distinguished guests, fellow citizens:
Every year, by law and by custom, we meet here to consider the state
of the union. This year, we gather in this chamber deeply aware of decisive
days that lie ahead.
You and I serve our country in a time of great consequence. During
this session of Congress, we have the duty to reform domestic programs
vital to our country and we have the opportunity to save millions of lives
abroad from a terrible disease. We will work for a prosperity that is broadly
shared
and we will answer every danger and every enemy that
threatens the American people.
In all these days of promise and days of reckoning, we can be
confident. In a whirlwind of change, and hope, and peril, our faith is sure,
our resolve is firm, and our union is strong.
This country has many challenges. We will not deny, we will not
ignore, we will not pass along our problems to other Congresses, other
presidents, and other generations. We will confront them with focus, and
clarity, and courage.
During the last two years, we have seen what can be accomplished
when we work together. To lift the standards of our public schools, we
achieved historic education reform - which must now be carried out in
every school, and every classroom, so that every child in America can
read, and learn, and succeed in life. To protect our country, we
reorganized our government and created the Department of Homeland
Security - which is mobilizing against the threats of a new era. To bring
our economy out of recession, we delivered the largest tax relief in a
generation. To insist on integrity in American business, we passed tough
reforms, and we are holding corporate criminals to account.
1
Some might call this a good record. I call it a good start. Tonight I
ask the House and Senate to join me in the next bold steps to serve our
fellow citizens.
Our first goal is clear: We must have an economy that grows fast
enough to employ every man and woman who seeks a job.
After recession, terrorist attacks, corporate scandals, and stock
market declines, our economy is recovering - yet it is not growing fast
enough, or strongly enough. With unemployment rising, our Nation needs
more small businesses to open, more companies to invest and expand,
more employers to put up the sign that says, "Help Wanted."
Jobs are created when the economy grows; the economy grows
when Americans have more money to spend and invest; and the best,
fairest way to make sure Americans have that money is not to tax it away in
the first place.
I am proposing that all the income tax reductions set for 2004 and
2006 be made permanent and effective this year. And under my plan, as
soon as I have signed the bill, this extra money will start showing up in
workers' paychecks. Instead of gradually reducing the marriage penalty,
we should do it now. Instead of slowly raising the child credit to a thousand
dollars, we should send the checks to American families now.
This tax relief is for everyone who pays income taxes - and it will help
our economy immediately. Ninety-two million Americans will keep - this
year - an average of almost 1,100 dollars more of their own money. A
family of four with an income of 40,000 dollars would see their federal
income taxes fall from 1,178 dollars to 45 dollars per year. And our plan
will improve the bottom line for more than 23 million small businesses.
You, the Congress, have already passed all these reductions, and
promised them for future years. If this tax relief is good for Americans
three, or five, or seven years from now, it is even better for Americans
today.
We also strengthen the economy by treating investors equally in our
tax laws. It is fair to tax a company's profits. It is not fair to again tax the
shareholder on the same profits. To boost investor confidence, and to help
2
the nearly 10 million seniors who receive dividend income, I ask you to end
the unfair double taxation of dividends.
Lower taxes and greater investment will help this economy expand.
More jobs mean more taxpayers - and higher revenues to our government.
The best way to address the deficit and move toward a balanced budget is
to encourage economic growth - and to show some spending discipline in
Washington, D.C. We must work together to fund only our most important
priorities. I will send you a budget that increases discretionary spending by
four percent next year - about as much as the average family's income is
expected to grow. And that is a good benchmark for us: Federal spending
should not rise any faster than the paychecks of American families.
A growing economy, and a focus on essential priorities, will also be
crucial to the future of Social Security. As we continue to work together to
keep Social Security sound and reliable, we must offer younger workers a
chance to invest in retirement accounts that they will control and they will
own.
Our second goal is high quality, affordable health care for all
Americans.
The American system of medicine is a model of skill and innovation -
with a pace of discovery that is adding good years to our lives. Yet for
many people, medical care costs too much - and many have no.coverage
at all. These problems will not be solved with a nationalized health care
system that dictates coverage and rations care. Instead, we must work
toward a system in which all Americans have a good insurance policy
choose their own doctors
and seniors and low-income Americans
receive the help they need. Instead of bureaucrats, and trial lawyers, and
HMOs, we must put doctors, and nurses, and patients back in charge of
American medicine.
Health care reform must begin with Medicare, because Medicare is
the binding commitment of a caring society. We must renew that
commitment by giving seniors access to the preventive medicine and new
drugs that are transforming health care in America.
Seniors happy with the current Medicare system should be able to
keep their coverage just the way it is. And just like you, the members of
3
Congress, members of your staffs, and other federal employees, all seniors
should have the choice of a health care plan that provides prescription
drugs. My budget will commit an additional 400 billion dollars over the next
decade to reform and strengthen Medicare. Leaders of both political
parties have talked for years about strengthening Medicare - I urge the
members of this new Congress to act this year.
To improve our health care system, we must address one of the
prime causes of higher costs - the constant threat that physicians and
hospitals will be unfairly sued. Because of excessive litigation, everybody
pays more for health care - and many parts of America are losing fine
doctors. No one has ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit - and I urge
the Congress to pass medical liability reform.
Our third goal is to promote energy independence for our country,
while dramatically improving the environment.
I have sent you a comprehensive energy plan to promote energy
efficiency and conservation, to develop cleaner technology, and to produce
more energy at home. I have sent you Clear Skies legislation that
mandates a 70 percent cut in air pollution from power plants over the next
15 years. I have sent you a Healthy Forests Initiative, to help prevent the
catastrophic fires that devastate communities, kill wildlife, and burn away
millions of acres of treasured forest.
I urge you to pass these measures, for the good of both our
environment and our economy. Even more, I ask you to take a crucial
step, and protect our environment in ways that generations before us could
not have imagined. In this century, the greatest environmental progress
will come about, not through endless lawsuits or command and control
regulations, but through technology and innovation. Tonight I am
proposing 1.2 billion dollars in research funding so that America can lead
the world in developing clean, hydrogen-powered automobiles.
A simple chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen generates
energy, which can be used to power a car - producing only water, not
exhaust fumes. With a new national commitment, our scientists and
engineers will overcome obstacles to taking these cars from laboratory to
showroom - so that the first car driven by a child born today could be
powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free. Join me in this important
4
innovation - to make our air significantly cleaner, and our country much
less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
Our fourth goal is to apply the compassion of America to the deepest
problems of America. For so many in our country - the homeless, the
fatherless, the addicted - the need is great. Yet there is power - wonder-
working power - in the goodness, and idealism, and faith of the American
people.
Americans are doing the work of compassion every day - visiting
prisoners, providing shelter to battered women, bringing companionship to
lonely seniors. These good works deserve our praise they deserve
our
personal support and, when appropriate, they deserve the assistance of
our government. I urge you to pass both my faith-based initiative and the
Citizen Service Act - to encourage acts of compassion that can transform
America, one heart and one soul at a time.
Last year, I called on my fellow citizens to participate in USA
Freedom Corps, which is enlisting tens of thousands of new volunteers
across America. Tonight I ask Congress and the American people to focus
the spirit of service and the resources of government on the needs of some
of our most vulnerable citizens - boys and girls trying to grow up without
guidance and attention and children who have to go through a prison
gate to be hugged by their mom or dad. I propose a 450 million dollar
initiative to bring mentors to more than a million disadvantaged junior high
students and children of prisoners. Government will support the training
and recruiting of mentors, yet it is the men and women of America who will
fill the need. One mentor, one person, can change a life forever - and I
urge you to be that one person.
Another cause of hopelessness is addiction to drugs. Addiction
crowds out friendship, ambition, moral conviction, and reduces all the
richness of life to a single destructive desire. As a government, we are
fighting illegal drugs by cutting off supplies, and reducing demand through
anti-drug education programs. Yet for those already addicted, the fight
against drugs is a fight for their own lives.
Too many Americans in search of treatment cannot get it. So tonight
I propose a new 600 million dollar program to help an additional 300,000
Americans receive treatment over the next three years.
5
Our Nation is blessed with recovery programs that do amazing work.
One of them is found at the Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana. A man in the program said, "God does miracles in people's
lives, and you never think it could be you." Tonight, let us bring to all
Americans who struggle with drug addiction this message of hope: The
miracle of recovery is possible, and it could be you.
By caring for children who need mentors, and for addicted men and
women who need treatment, we are building a more welcoming society - a
culture that values every life. And in this work we must not overlook the
weakest among us. I ask you to protect infants at the very hour of birth,
and end the practice of partial-birth abortion. And because no human life
should be started or ended as the object of an experiment, I ask you to set
a high standard for humanity and pass a law against all human cloning.
The qualities of courage and compassion that we strive for in America
also determine our conduct abroad. The American flag stands for more
than our power and our interests. Our Founders dedicated this country to
the cause of human dignity - the rights of every person and the possibilities
of every life. This conviction leads us into the world to help the afflicted,
and defend the peace, and confound the designs of evil men. In
Afghanistan, we helped to liberate an oppressed people and we will
continue helping them secure their country, rebuild their society, and
educate all their children - boys and girls. In the Middle East, we will
continue to seek peace between a secure Israel and a democratic
Palestine. Across the earth, America is feeding the hungry; more than 60
percent of international food aid comes as a gift from the people of the
United States.
As our Nation moves troops and builds alliances to make our world
safer, we must also remember our calling, as a blessed country, to make
this world better. Today, on the continent of Africa, nearly 30 million people
have the AIDS virus - including three million children under the age 15.
There are whole countries in Africa where more than one-third of the adult
population carries the infection. More than four million require immediate
drug treatment. Yet across that continent, only 50,000 AIDS victims - only
50,000 - are receiving the medicine they need.
6
Because the AIDS diagnosis is considered a death sentence, many
do not seek treatment. Almost all who do are turned away. A doctor in
rural South Africa describes his frustration. He says, "We have no
medicines many hospitals tell [people], 'You've got AIDS. We can't help
you. Go home and die."
In an age of miraculous medicines, no person should have to hear
those words. AIDS can be prevented. Anti-retroviral drugs can extend life
for many years. And the cost of those drugs has dropped from 12,000
dollars a year to under 300 dollars a year - which places a tremendous
possibility within our grasp.
Ladies and gentlemen, seldom has history offered a greater
opportunity to do so much for so many. We have confronted, and will
continue to confront, HIV/AIDS in our own country. And to meet a severe
and urgent crisis abroad, tonight I propose the Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief - a work of mercy beyond all current international efforts to help the
people of Africa. This comprehensive plan will prevent seven million new
AIDS infections treat at least two million people with life-extending drugs
and provide humane care for millions of people suffering from AIDS, and
for children orphaned by AIDS. I ask the Congress to commit 15 billion
dollars over the next five years, including nearly ten billion dollars in new
money, to turn the tide against AIDS in the most afflicted nations of Africa
and the Caribbean.
This Nation can lead the world in sparing innocent people from a
plague of nature. And this Nation is leading the world in confronting and
defeating the man-made evil of international terrorism.
There are days when the American people do not hear news about
the war on terror. There is never a day when I do not learn of another
threat, or receive reports of operations in progress, or give an order in this
global war against a scattered network of killers. The war goes on, and we
are winning.
To date we have arrested, or otherwise dealt with, many key
commanders of al-Qaida. They include a man who directed logistics and
funding for the September 11th attacks the chief of al-Qaida operations
in the Persian Gulf who planned the bombings of our embassies in East
Africa and the USS Cole
an al-Qaida operations chief from Southeast
7
Asia
a former director of al-Qaida's training camps in Afghanistan
a
key al-Qaida operative in Europe and a major al-Qaida leader in Yemen.
Phormay
All told, more than 3,000 suspected terrorists have been arrested in many
countries. And many others have met a different fate. They are no longer
a problem for the United States and our friends and allies.
We are working closely with other nations to prevent further attacks.
America and coalition countries have uncovered and stopped terrorist
conspiracies targeting the American embassy in Yemen the American
embassy in Singapore a Saudi military base and ships in the straits of
Hormuz, and the straits of Gibraltar. We have broken al-Qaida cells in
Hamburg, and Milan, and Madrid, and London, and Paris - as well as
Buffalo, New York.
We have the terrorists on the run, and we are keeping them on the
run. One by one, the terrorists are learning the meaning of American
justice.
As we fight this war, we will remember where it began - - here, in our
own country. This government is taking unprecedented measures to
protect our people and defend our homeland. We have intensified security
at the borders and ports of entry posted more than 50,000 newly trained
federal screeners in airports begun inoculating troops and first
responders against smallpox and are deploying the Nation's first early
warning network of sensors to detect biological attack. And this year, for
the first time, we are beginning to field a defense to protect this Nation
against ballistic missiles.
I thank the Congress for supporting these measures. I ask you
tonight to add to our future security with a major research and production
effort to guard our people against bio-terrorism, called Project Bioshield.
The budget I send you will propose almost six billion dollars to quickly
make available effective vaccines and treatments against agents like
anthrax, botulinum toxin, Ebola, and plague. We must assume that our
enemies would use these diseases as weapons, and we must act before
the dangers are upon us.
Since September 11th, our intelligence and law enforcement agencies
have worked more closely than ever to track and disrupt the terrorists. The
FBI is improving its ability to analyze intelligence, and transforming itself to
8
meet new threats. And tonight, I am instructing the leaders of the FBI,
Central Intelligence; Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense to
develop a Terrorist Threat Integration Center, to merge and analyze all
threat information in a single location. Our government must have the very
best information possible, and we will use it to make sure the right people
are in the right places to protect our citizens.
Our war against terror is a contest of will, in which perseverance is
power. In the ruins of two towers, at the western wall of the Pentagon, on a
field in Pennsylvania, this Nation made a pledge, and we renew that pledge
tonight: Whatever the duration of this struggle, and whatever the
difficulties, we will not permit the triumph of violence in the affairs of men -
free people will set the course of history.
Today, the gravest danger in the war on terror the gravest danger
facing America and the world is outlaw regimes that seek and possess
nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. These regimes could use such
weapons for blackmail, terror, and mass murder. They could also give or
sell those weapons to their terrorist allies, who would use them without the
least hesitation.
This threat is new; America's duty is familiar. Throughout the 20th
century, small groups of men seized control of great nations
built armies
and arsenals and set out to dominate the weak and intimidate the world.
In each case, their ambitions of cruelty and murder had no limit. In each
case, the ambitions of Hitlerism, militarism, and communism were defeated
by the will of free peoples, by the strength of great alliances, and by the
might of the United States of America. Now, in this century, the ideology of
power and domination has appeared again, and seeks to gain the ultimate
weapons of terror. Once again, this Nation and our friends are all that
stand between a world at peace, and a world of chaos and constant alarm.
Once again, we are called to defend the safety of our people, and the
hopes of all mankind. And we accept this responsibility.
America is making a broad and determined effort to confront these
dangers. We have called on the United Nations to fulfill its charter, and
stand by its demand that Iraq disarm. We are strongly supporting the
International Atomic Energy Agency in its mission to track and control
nuclear materials around the world. We are working with other
governments to secure nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union, and to
9
strengthen global treaties banning the production and shipment of missile
technologies and weapons of mass destruction.
In all of these efforts, however, America's purpose is more than to
follow a process - it is to achieve a result: the end of terrible threats to the
civilized world. All free nations have a stake in preventing sudden and
catastrophic attack. We are asking them to join us, and many are doing SO.
Yet the course of this Nation does not depend on the decisions of others.
Whatever action is required, whenever action is necessary, I will defend the
freedom and security of the American people.
Different threats require different strategies. In Iran, we continue to
see a government that represses its people, pursues weapons of mass
destruction, and supports terror. We also see Iranian citizens risking
intimidation and death as they speak out for liberty, human rights, and
democracy. Iranians, like all people, have a right to choose their own
government, and determine their own destiny - and the United States
supports their aspirations to live in freedom.
On the Korean peninsula, an oppressive regime rules a people living
in fear and starvation. Throughout the 1990s, the United States relied on a
negotiated framework to keep North Korea from gaining nuclear weapons.
We now know that the regime was deceiving the world, and developing
those weapons all along. And today the North Korean regime is using its
nuclear program to incite fear and seek concessions. America and the
world will not be blackmailed. America is working with the countries of the
region - South Korea, Japan, China, and Russia - to find a peaceful
solution, and to show the North Korean government that nuclear weapons
will bring only isolation, economic stagnation, and continued hardship. The
North Korean regime will find respect in the world, and revival for its
people, only when it turns away from its nuclear ambitions.
Our Nation and the world must learn the lessons of the Korean
peninsula, and not allow an even greater threat to rise up in Iraq. A brutal
dictator, with a history of reckless aggression
with ties to terrorism
with great potential wealth will not be permitted to dominate a vital
region and threaten the United States.
Twelve years ago, Saddam Hussein faced the prospect of being the
last casualty in a war he had started and lost. To spare himself, he agreed
10
to disarm of all weapons of mass destruction. For the next 12 years, he
systematically violated that agreement. He pursued chemical, biological,
and nuclear weapons even while inspectors were in his country. Nothing to
date has restrained him from his pursuit of these weapons - not economic
sanctions, not isolation from the civilized world, not even cruise missile
strikes on his military facilities. Almost three months ago, the United
Nations Security Council gave Saddam Hussein his final chance to disarm.
He has shown instead his utter contempt for the United Nations, and for the
opinion of the world.
The 108 UN weapons inspectors were not sent to conduct a
scavenger hunt for hidden materials across a country the size of California.
The job of the inspectors is to verify that Iraq's regime is disarming. It is up
to Iraq to show exactly where it is hiding its banned weapons lay those
weapons out for the world to see and destroy them as directed. Nothing
like this has happened.
The United Nations concluded in 1999 that Saddam Hussein had
biological weapons materials sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters of
anthrax - enough doses to kill several million people. He has not hadn't
accounted for that material. He'has given no evidence that he has
destroyed it.
The United Nations concluded that Saddam Hussein had materials
sufficient to produce more than 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin - enough to
subject millions of people to death by respiratory failure. He has not hadn't
accounted for that material. He has given no evidence that he has
destroyed it.
Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the
materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard, and VX nerve
agent. In such quantities, these chemical agents also could kill untold
thousands. He has not accounted for these materials. He has given no
evidence that he has destroyed them.
U.S. intelligence indicates that Saddam Hussein had upwards of
30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents. Inspectors
recently turned up 16 of them, despite Iraq's recent declaration denying
their existence. Saddam Hussein has not accounted for the remaining
11
29,984 of these prohibited munitions. He has given no evidence that he
has destroyed them.
From three Iraqi defectors we know that Iraq, in the late 1990s, had
several mobile biological weapons labs. These are designed to produce
germ warfare agents, and can be moved from place to place to evade
inspectors. Saddam Hussein has not disclosed these facilities. He has
given no evidence that he has destroyed them.
The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in the 1990s that
Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclear weapons development
program, had a design for a nuclear weapon, and was working on five
different methods of enriching uranium for a bomb. The British government
has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of
uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted
to purchase high strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons
production. Saddam Hussein has not credibly explained these activities.
He clearly has much to hide.
The dictator of Iraq is not disarming. To the contrary, he is deceiving.
From intelligence sources, we know, for instance, that thousands of Iraqi
security personnel are at work hiding documents and materials from the UN
inspectors - sanitizing inspection sites, and monitoring the inspectors
themselves. Iraqi officials accompany the inspectors in order to intimidate
witnesses. Iraq is blocking U-2 surveillance flights requested by the United
Nations. Iraqi intelligence officers are posing as the scientists inspectors
are supposed to interview. Real scientists have been coached by Iraqi
officials on what to say. And intelligence sources indicate that Saddam
Hussein has ordered that scientists who cooperate with UN inspectors in
disarming Iraq will be killed, along with their families.
Year after year, Saddam Hussein has gone to elaborate lengths,
spent enormous sums, taken great risks, to build and keep weapons of
mass destruction - but why? The only possible explanation, the only
possible use he could have for those weapons, is to dominate, intimidate,
or attack. With nuclear arms or a full arsenal of chemical and biological
weapons, Saddam Hussein could resume his ambitions of conquest in the
Middle East, and create deadly havoc in thoregion. And this Congress and
the American people must recognize another threat. Evidence from
intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people
12
now in custody, reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists,
including members of al-Qaida. Secretly, and without fingerprints, he could
provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop their
own.
Before September 11, 2001, many in the world believed that Saddam
Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents and lethal viruses and
shadowy terrorist networks are not easily contained. Imagine those 19
hijackers with other weapons, and other plans - this time armed by
Saddam Hussein. It would take just one vial, one canister, one crate
slipped into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever
known. We will do everything in our power to make sure that day never
comes.
Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since
when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting
us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and
suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and all recriminations would come
too late. Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a
strategy, and it is not an option.
This dictator, who is assembling the world's most dangerous
weapons, has already used them on whole villages - leaving thousands of
his own citizens dead, blind, or disfigured. Iraqi refugees tell us how forced
confessions are obtained - by torturing children while their parents are
made to watch. International human rights groups have catalogued other
methods used in the torture chambers of Iraq: electric shock, burning with
hot irons, dripping acid on the skin, mutilation with electric drills, cutting out
tongues, and rape.
If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning. And tonight I have a
message for the brave and oppressed people of Iraq: Your enemy is not
surrounding your country - your enemy is ruling your country. And the day
he and his regime are removed from power will be the day of your
liberation.
The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm, America will not
accept a serious and mounting threat to our country, our friends, and our
allies. The United States will ask the UN Security Council to convene on
February 5th to consider the facts of Iraq's ongoing defiance of the world.
13
Secretary of State Powell will present information and intelligence about
Iraq's illegal weapons programs; its attempts to hide those weapons from
inspectors; and its links to terrorist groups. We will consult, but let there be
no misunderstanding: If Saddam Hussein does not fully disarm, for the
safety of our people, and for the peace of the world, we will lead a coalition
to disarm him.
Tonight I also have a message for the men and women who will keep
the peace, members of the American Armed Forces: Many of you are
assembling in and near the Middle East, and some crucial hours may lie
ahead. In those hours, the success of our cause will depend on you. Your
training has prepared you. Your honor will guide you. You believe in
America, and America believes in you.
Sending Americans into battle is the most profound decision a
president can make. The technologies of war have changed. The risks
and suffering of war have not. For the brave Americans who bear the risk,
no victory is free from sorrow. This Nation fights reluctantly, because we
know the cost, and we dread the days of mourning that always come.
We seek peace. We strive for peace. And sometimes peace must
be defended. A future lived at the mercy of terrible threats is no peace at
all. If war is forced upon us, we will fight in a just cause and by just means
- sparing, in every way we can, the innocent. And if war is forced upon us,
we will fight with the full force and might of the United States military - and
we will prevail. And as we and our coalition partners are doing in
Afghanistan, we will bring to the Iraqi people food, and medicines, and
supplies and freedom.
Many challenges, abroad and at home, have arrived in a single
season. In two years, America has gone from a sense of invulnerability to
an awareness of peril from bitter division in small matters to calm unity in
great causes. And we go forward with confidence, because this call of
history has come to the right country.
Americans are a resolute people, who have risen to every test of our
time. Adversity has revealed the character of our country, to the world, and
to ourselves.
14
America is a strong Nation, and honorable in the use of our strength.
We exercise power without conquest, and sacrifice for the liberty of
strangers.
Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of
every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not
America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity
We Americans have faith in ourselves - but not in ourselves alone.
We do not claim to know all the ways of Providence, yet we can trust in
them, placing our confidence in the loving God behind all of life, and all of
history.
May He guide us now, and may God continue to bless the United
States of America.
Thank you.
15
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
January 28, 2003
State of the Union Excerpts
Tonight, President Bush will talk about the challenges our country is facing both at
home and abroad, and call on the American people to confront them as we always
have - with resolve and confidence:
"This country has many challenges. We will not deny, we will not ignore,
we will not pass along our problems to other Congresses, other presidents, and
other generations. We will confront them with focus, and clarity, and courage."
He will outline four specific domestic goals for the Congress to address in the
coming year: strengthening our economy by creating more jobs; high quality,
affordable health care for all Americans and prescription drugs for seniors; greater
energy independence while improving the environment; and applying the
compassion of America to the deepest problems of America.
On our economy: "Jobs are created when the economy grows; the economy grows
when Americans have more money to spend and invest; and the best, fairest way to
make sure Americans have the money is not to tax it away in the first place."
On health care:
" for many people, medical care costs too much - and many
have no coverage at all. These problems will not be solved with a nationalized
health care system that dictates coverage and rations care. Instead, we must work
toward a system in which all Americans have a good insurance policy choose
their own doctors
and seniors and low-income Americans receive the help they
need."
On compassion: "Tonight I ask Congress and the American people to focus the
spirit of service and the resources of government on the needs of some of our most
vulnerable citizens - boys and girls trying to grow up without guidance and
attention
and children who have to go through a prison gate to be hugged by
their mom or dad."
During the second half of the speech, President Bush will talk about our challenges
abroad to defend the peace by confronting them:
"The qualities of courage and compassion that we strive for in America also
determine our conduct abroad. The American flag stands for more than our power
and our interests. Our Founders dedicated this country to the cause of human
dignity - the rights of every person and the possibilities of every life. This
conviction leads us into the world to help the afflicted, and defend the peace, and
confound the designs of evil men."
President Bush will also speak to the progress we have made on the war on terror,
including the need to confront Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, as
part of the war:
"Today, the gravest danger in the war on terror the gravest danger facing
America and the world is outlaw regimes that seek and possess nuclear,
chemical, and biological weapons. These regimes could use such weapons for
blackmail, terror, and mass murder. They could also give or sell those weapons to
their terrorist allies, who would use them without the least hesitation."
He will discuss the Iraqi regime's defiance to the world and our obligation to hold
him to account:
"Twelve years ago, Saddam Hussein faced the prospect of being the last
casualty in a war he had started and lost. To spare himself, he agreed to disarm of
all weapons of mass destruction. For the next 12 years, he systematically violated
that
agreement Almost three months ago, the United Nations Security Council
gave Saddam Hussein his final chance to disarm. He has shown instead his utter
contempt for the United Nations, and for the opinion of the world."
"The dictator of Iraq is not disarming. To the contrary, he is deceiving."
President Bush will conclude by reaffirming the principles that demonstrate the
true character and goodness of our country:
"Americans are a resolute people, who have risen to every test of our time.
Adversity has revealed the character of our country, to the world, and to ourselves.
America is a strong Nation, and honorable in the use of our strength. We exercise
power without conquest, and sacrifice for the liberty of strangers."
STATE OF THE UNION PREVIEW
America faces major challenges at home and abroad. The President believes we
cannot ignore these challenges or pass along our problems to future generations.
We must confront them squarely with actions equal to the demands we face. In
his State of the Union, the President will propose bold steps to answer these
challenges-confident that America will meet these tests.
The President will outline proposals to:
Grow the Economy and Create Jobs;
Strengthen and Improve Health Care;
Encourage Acts of Compassion;
Defend Peace and Security at Home and Abroad
Grow the Economy and Create Jobs: The President's goal is an economy that
grows fast enough to employ every man and woman who seeks a job. The
economy grows when Americans have more money to spend and invest, SO
the President's plan provides broad and fair tax relief to 92 million Americans,
23 million small business owners, and 10 million seniors who receive dividend
income. A growing economy and spending discipline in Washington are the
best way to counter deficits, and the President will propose that federal
spending not rise any faster than the average family's paycheck (4%percent).
Strengthen and Improve Health Care: The President believes Medicare is the
commitment of a caring society, and we must renew that commitment by
giving seniors the choice of a modern Medicare system that includes
prescription drug coverage. The President also believes that to improve our
overall health care system, we must address one of the prime causes of higher
costs-excessive lawsuits. He will urge Congress to pass medical liability
reform.
Encourage Acts of Compassion: The President wants to apply the
compassion of America to the deepest problems of America. He will urge the
Congress to pass both his faith-based and citizen service initiatives. The
President will also propose new initiatives for citizens at risk of losing hope.
THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS
Defend Peace and Security at Home and Abroad: America is often called
upon to take a stand for freedom, defend the peace and help create a better
world.
We have made great progress in the war against terrorism-disrupting
terrorist networks, removing key leaders, and keeping surviving terrorists on
the run. With the help of Congress, we created the Department of Homeland
Security to safeguard our citizens and guard against the threats of a new era.
In the State of the Union, the President will propose a major research effort to
add to our future security.
But the war goes on and the danger of attack is real and present. The gravest
danger we face are outlaw regimes known to seek or possess nuclear,
chemical and biological weapons. America is making a broad and determined
effort to confront this mounting danger in Iraq, North Korea and elsewhere.
While America does not desire war, the President will make clear that we will
not accept a serious and continuing threat to our country or our allies. The
world has waited 12 years for Saddam Hussein to disarm. He is not even
attempting to meet that demand. If the Iraqi regime continues to defy the
U.N. by refusing to disarm its weapons of mass destruction, we will act for the
safety of our people and for the peace of the world.
THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS
THEMES:
This is a year in which there are great challenges. But as we
have seen in the past and we will see at this unique moment in
history, the American people and our leaders in Washington are
equal to the task and prepared to meet these challenges.
These challenges in the specific areas that the American people
are focused on are ones that we can't ignore or push on to
future generations, future Congresses and to future Presidents.
DOMESTIC AGENDA/MEDICARE:
Particularly when it comes to our domestic agenda, there
are challenges and issues that have been long debated by many
Congresses but have not been passed, and the President believes
specifically as we look at the issues that are most important to
the American people, he will outline his goals to achieving
economic prosperity and job creation, we will look to making
sure that we improve our health care system with a particular
emphasis on renewing our commitment to America's seniors by
assuring that they will have prescription drugs that they
deserve and they have a system that will be there for future
generations in Medicare.
We are consulting currently with Congress as we develop what the
President believes is the appropriate vision to strengthen
Medicare, that includes prescription drug coverage. State of
the Unions are not the place to get into the minutiae and weeds
of any one specific policy. It's there to outline a broad
vision and where you want to take the country to achieve that
vision.
In the coming days and weeks, we will speak more
specifically to the issue of the details of how we plan to
accomplish Medicare reform.
COMPASSION AGENDA:
There are still many people who hurt in America, who feel
hopeless and who feel like the American Dream is not for them.
The President takes this very seriously, And he will talk
specifically about his compassion agenda.
NATIONAL SECURITY:
The President will provide the necessary context and explanation
that only a Commander-in-Chief, the President of the United
States, can give to the American people at a unique moment in
our history.
WAR ON TERROR: we are disrupting and slowly dismantling this
terror network and we're taking steps at home to make sure that
we continue to be as safe as possible at home.
We have the passage of the Department of Homeland Security, we
have an unprecedented level of coordination among government
agencies, But the President will continue to talk about the need
to defend the homeland.
He views this as a unique opportunity to speak directly with the
American people about the nature of the threat of Saddam Hussein
and his regime, how the world community has come together in one
single voice to finally tell Saddam Hussein it's time to disarm.
All indications to date have demonstrated that the regime has
not made the strategic decision to disarm. Instead, we see a
lot of the same tactics that have been on display for the past
decade of defiance and deception.
As we enter this last phase in the diplomatic process, the
President will make it clear to the American people why this is
a threat, why the world community has come together to confront
this threat, and speak in clear terms about where we are.
As we are at this late phase in the diplomatic process, with the
prospect of war being very real, he understands and looks
forward to having the opportunity of explaining to the public
the nature of this threat, the reason why it's a grave danger to
the American people and to the entire world. And he'll speak
directly to those families and to those men and women who wear
the uniform. He understands the incredible importance of this
and looks forward to that opportunity.