The Following is the text of President George W Bush's State of the Union address delivered before a joint session of Congress early this morning.
Mr Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress,distinguished citizens and fellow citizens, every year, by lawand by custom, we meet here to consider the state of the union.This year, we gather in this chamber deeply aware of decisivedays 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 reformdomestic programs vital to our country, we have the opportunityto save millions of lives abroad from a terrible disease. Wewill work for a prosperity that is broadly shared, and we willanswer every danger and every enemy that threatens the Americanpeople. In all these days of promise and days of reckoning, wecan be confident.
In a whirlwind of change, and hope, and peril, our faith issure, our resolve is firm, and our union is strong. Thiscountry has many challenges. We will not deny, we will notignore, we will not pass along our problems to otherCongresses, to other presidents, and other generations.
We will confront them with focus, and clarity, andcourage.
During the last two years we have seen what can beaccomplished when we work together. To lift the standards ofour public schools, we achieved historic education reform whichmust now be carried out in every school and in every classroomso that every child in American can read and learn and succeedin life.
To protect our country, we reorganized our government andcreated the Department of Homeland Security, which ismobilizing against the threats of a new era. To bring oureconomy out of recession, we delivered the largest tax reliefin a generation.
To insist on integrity in American business, we passedtough reforms, and we are holding corporate criminals toaccount.
Some might call this a good record. I call it a good start.Tonight I ask the House and the Senate to join me in the nextbold steps to serve our fellow citizens.
Our first goal is clear: We must have an economy thatgrows fast enough to employ every man and woman who seeks ajob.
After recession, terrorist attacks, corporate scandals andstock market declines, our economy is recovering. Yet it is notgrowing fast enough, or strongly enough.
With unemployment rising, our nation needs more smallbusinesses to open, more companies to invest and expand, moreemployers to put up the sign that says, "Help Wanted."
Jobs are created when the economy grows; the economy growswhen Americans have more money to spend and invest; and thebest and fairest way to make sure Americans have that money isnot to tax it away in the first place.
I am proposing that all the income tax reductions set for2004 and 2006 be made permanent and effective this year. Andunder my plan, as soon as I've signed the bill, this extramoney will start showing up in workers' paychecks. Instead ofgradually reducing the marriage penalty, we should do it now.Instead of slowly raising the child credit to $1,000, we shouldsend the checks to American families now.
This tax relief is for everyone who pays income taxes, andit will help our economy immediately. Ninety-two millionAmericans will keep this year an average of almost $1,100 moreof their own money. A family of four with an income of $40,000would see their federal income taxes fall from $1,178 to $45per year. And our plan will improve the bottom line for morethan 23 million small businesses.
You, the Congress, have already passed all thesereductions, and promised them for future years. If this taxrelief is good for Americans three or five or seven years fromnow, it is even better for Americans today.
We should also strengthen the economy by treating investorsequally in our tax laws. It's fair to tax a company's profits.It is not fair to again tax the shareholder on the sameprofits. To boost investor confidence, and to help the nearly10 million seniors who receive dividend income, I ask you toend the unfair double taxation of dividends.
Lower taxes and greater investment will help this economyexpand. More jobs mean more taxpayers and higher revenues toour government. The best way to address the deficit and movetoward a balanced budget is to encourage economic growth and toshow some spending discipline in Washington, D.C.
We must work together to fund only our most importantpriorities. I will send you a budget that increasesdiscretionary spending by 4 percent next year, about as much asthe average family's income is expected to grow. And that is agood benchmark for us: Federal spending should not rise anyfaster than the paychecks of American families.
Our second goal is high quality, affordable health for allAmericans. The American system of medicine is a model of skilland innovation, with a pace of discovery that is adding goodyears to our lives. Yet for many people, medical care costs toomuch, and many have no coverage at all. These problems will notbe solved with a nationalized health care system that dictatescoverage and rations care.
Instead, we must work toward a system in which allAmericans have a good insurance policy, choose their owndoctors, and seniors and low-income Americans receive the helpthey need. Instead of bureaucrats and trial lawyers and HMOs,we must put doctors and nurses and patients back in charge ofAmerican medicine. Health care reform must begin with Medicare;Medicare is the binding commitment of a caring society.
We must renew that commitment by giving seniors access tothe preventive medicine and new drugs that are transforminghealth care in America. Seniors happy with the current Medicaresystem should be able to keep their coverage just the way itis. And just like you, the members of Congress, and your staffsand other federal employees, all seniors should have the choiceof a health care plan that provides prescription drugs.
My budget will commit an additional $400 billion over thenext decade to reform and strengthen Medicare. Leaders of bothpolitical parties have talked for years about strengtheningMedicare. I urge the members of this new Congress to act thisyear. To improve our health care system, we must address one ofthe prime causes of higher cost: the constant threat thatphysicians and hospitals will be unfairly sued.
Because of excessive litigation, everybody pays more forhealth care, and many parts of America are losing fine doctors.No one has ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit; I urge theCongress to pass medical liability reform.
Our third goal is to promote energy independence for ourcountry, while dramatically improving the environment. I havesent you a comprehensive energy plan to promote energyefficiency and conservation, to develop cleaner technology, andto produce more energy at home.
I have sent you clear skies legislation that mandates a 70percent cut in air pollution from power plants over the next 15years. I have sent you a healthy forest initiative to helpprevent the catastrophic fires that devastate communities, killwildlife and burn away millions of acres of treasured forests.I urge you to pass these measures for the good of both ourenvironment and our economy. Even more, I ask you to take acrucial step and protect our environment in ways thatgenerations before us could not have imagined.
In this century, the greatest environmental progress willcome about not through endless lawsuits or command-and-controlregulations, but through technology and innovation. Tonight I'mproposing $1.2 billion in research funding so that America canlead the world in developing clean, hydrogen-poweredautomobiles. A simple chemical reaction between hydrogen andoxygen generates energy, which can be used to power a car,producing only water, not exhaust fumes.
With a new national commitment, our scientists andengineers will overcome obstacles to taking these cars fromlaboratory to showroom, so that the first car driven by a childborn today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free.Join me in this important innovation to make our airsignificantly cleaner, and our country much less dependent onforeign sources of energy.
Our fourth goal is to apply the compassion of America tothe deepest problems of America. For so many in our country --the homeless, and the fatherless, the addicted -- the need isgreat. Yet there is power -- wonder-working power -- in thegoodness and idealism and faith of the American people.Americans are doing the work of compassion every day: visitingprisoners, providing shelter for battered women, bringingcompanionship to lonely seniors. These good works deserve ourpraise, they deserve our personal support and, whenappropriate, they deserve the assistance of the federalgovernment.
Last year, I called on my fellow citizens to participate inthe USA Freedom Corps, which is enlisting tens of thousands ofnew volunteers across America. Tonight I ask Congress and theAmerican people to focus the spirit of service and theresources of government on the needs of some of our mostvulnerable citizens: boys and girls trying to grow up withoutguidance and attention, and children who have to go through aprison gate to be hugged by their mom or dad. I propose a $450million initiative to bring mentors to more than a milliondisadvantaged junior high students and children of prisoners.
Government will support the training and recruiting ofmentors, yet it is the men and women of America who will fillthe 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 destructivedesire. As a government, we are fighting illegal drugs bycutting off supplies and reducing demand through anti-drugeducation programs. Yet for those already addicted, the fightagainst drugs is a fight for their own lives.
Too many Americans in search of treatment cannot get it. Sotonight I propose a new $600 million program to help anadditional 300,000 Americans receive treatment over the nextthree years.
Our nation is blessed with recovery programs that do amazingwork. One of them is found at the Healing Place Church in BatonRouge, Louisiana. A man in the program said, "God does miraclesin people's lives, and you never think it could be you."Tonight, let us bring to all Americans who struggle with drugaddiction this message of hope: The miracle of recovery ispossible, and it could be you.
By caring for children who need mentors, and for addictedmen and women who need treatment, we are building a morewelcoming society, a culture that values every life. And inthis work we must not overlook the weakest among us. I ask youto protect infants at the very hour of their birth and end thepractice of partial-birth abortion. And because no human lifeshould be started or ended as the object of an experiment, Iask you to set a high standard for humanity and pass a lawagainst all human cloning.
The qualities of courage and compassion that we strive forin America also determine our conduct abroad. The American flagstands for more than our power and our interests. Our foundersdedicated this country to the cause of human dignity, therights 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, rebuildtheir society and educate all their children, boys and girls.In the Middle East, we will continue to seek peace between asecure Israel and a democratic Palestine.
Across the Earth, America is feeding the hungry. More than60 percent of international food aid comes as a gift from thepeople of the United States. As our nation moves troops andbuilds alliances to make our world safer, we must also rememberour calling, as a blessed country, is to make the worldbetter.
Today, on the continent of Africa, nearly 30 million peoplehave the AIDS virus, including 3 million children under the ageof 15. There are whole countries in Africa where more thanone-third of the adult population carries the infection. Morethan 4 million require immediate drug treatment. Yet acrossthat continent, only 50,000 AIDS victims -- only 50,000 -- arereceiving the medicine they need.
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. Hesays, "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 tohear those words. AIDS can be prevented. Anti-retroviral drugscan extend life for many years. And the cost of those drugs hasdropped from $12,000 a year to under $300 a year, which placesa tremendous possibility within our grasp.
Ladies and gentlemen, seldom has history offered a greateropportunity to do so much for so many. We have confronted, andwill continue to confront, HIV/AIDS in our own country. And tomeet a severe and urgent crisis abroad, tonight I propose theEmergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a work of mercy beyond allcurrent international efforts to help the people of Africa.This comprehensive plan will prevent 7 million new AIDSinfections, treat at least 2 million people with life-extendingdrugs and provide humane care for millions of people sufferingfrom AIDS and for children orphaned by AIDS.
I ask the Congress to commit $15 billion over the next fiveyears, including nearly $10 billion in new money, to turn thetide against AIDS in the most afflicted nations of Africa andthe Caribbean.
This nation can lead the world in sparing innocent peoplefrom a plague of nature. And this nation is leading the worldin confronting and defeating the man-made evil of internationalterrorism.
There are days when our fellow citizens do not hear newsabout the war on terror. There's never a day when I do notlearn of another threat, or receive reports of operations inprogress or give an order in this global war against ascattered network of killers.The war goes on, and we arewinning.
To date we have arrested or otherwise dealt with many keycommanders of al Qaeda. They include a man who directedlogistics and funding for the September the 11th attacks, thechief of Al Qaida operations in the Persian Gulf who plannedthe bombings of our embassies in East Africa and the USS Cole,an al Qaeda operations chief from Southeast Asia, a formerdirector of al Qaeda's training camps in Afghanistan, a key AlQaida operative in Europe, a major al Qaeda leader in Yemen.
All told, more than 3,000 suspected terrorists have beenarrested in many countries. And many others have met adifferent fate. Let's put it this way: They are no longer aproblem to the United States and our friends and allies.
We are working closely with other nations to prevent furtherattacks. America and coalition countries have uncovered andstopped terrorist conspiracies targeting the embassy in Yemen,the American embassy in Singapore, a Saudi military base, shipsin the Straits of Hormuz and the Straits of Gibraltar. We'vebroken Al Qaida cells in Hamburg and Milan and Madrid andLondon and Paris -- as well as Buffalo, New York.
We've got the terrorists on the run. We're keeping them onthe run. One by one the terrorists are learning the meaning ofAmerican justice. As we fight this war, we will remember whereit began: here, in our own country. This government is takingunprecedented measures to protect our people and defend ourhomeland.
We've intensified security at the borders and ports ofentry, posted more than 50,000 newly trained federal screenersin airports, begun inoculating troops and first respondersagainst smallpox, and are deploying the nation's first earlywarning network of sensors to detect biological attack.
And this year, for the first time, we are beginning tofield a defense to protect this nation against ballisticmissiles. I thank the Congress for supporting these measures. Iask you tonight to add to our future security with a majorresearch and production effort to guard our people againstbio-terrorism, called Project Bioshield.
The budget I send you will propose almost $6 billion toquickly make available effective vaccines and treatmentsagainst agents like anthrax, botulinum toxin, ebola and plague.We must assume that our enemies would use these diseases asweapons, and we must act before the dangers are upon us.
Since September the 11th, our intelligence and lawenforcement agencies have worked more closely than ever totrack and disrupt the terrorists. The FBI is improving itsability to analyze intelligence, and is transforming itself tomeet new threats. Tonight, I am instructing the leaders of theFBI, the CIA, the Homeland Security and the Department ofDefense to develop a Terrorist Threat Integration Center, tomerge and analyze all threat information in a single location.
Our government must have the very best informationpossible, and we will use it to make sure the right people arein the right places to protect our citizens. Our war againstterror is a contest of will in which perseverance is power. Inthe ruins of two towers, at the western wall of the Pentagon,on a field in Pennsylvania, this nation made a pledge, and werenew that pledge tonight: Whatever the duration of thisstruggle and whatever the difficulties, we will not permit thetriumph of violence in the affairs of men; free people will setthe course of history.
Today, the gravest danger in the war on terror, the gravestdanger facing America and the world, is outlaw regimes thatseek and possess nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.These regimes could use such weapons for blackmail, terror andmass murder. They could also give or sell those weapons toterrorist allies, who would use them without the leasthesitation. This threat is new; America's duty is familiar.
Throughout the 20th century, small groups of men seizedcontrol of great nations, built armies and arsenals, and setout to dominate the weak and intimidate the world. In eachcase, their ambitions of cruelty and murder had no limit. Ineach case, the ambitions of Hitlerism, militarism and communismwere defeated by the will of free peoples, by the strength ofgreat alliances and by the might of the United States ofAmerica.
Now, in this century, the ideology of power and dominationhas appeared again and seeks to gain the ultimate weapons ofterror. Once again, this nation and our friends are all thatstand between a world at peace, and a world of chaos andconstant alarm. Once again, we are called to defend the safetyof our people and the hopes of all mankind. And we accept thisresponsibility. America is making a broad and determined effortto confront these dangers.
We have called on the United Nations to fulfill its charterand stand by its demand that Iraq disarm. We are stronglysupporting the International Atomic Energy Agency in itsmission to track and control nuclear materials around theworld. We are working with other governments to secure nuclearmaterials in the former Soviet Union and to strengthen globaltreaties banning the production and shipment of missiletechnologies and weapons of mass destruction.
In all of these efforts, however, America's purpose is morethan to follow a process. It is to achieve a result: the end ofterrible threats to the civilized world.
All free nations have a stake in preventing sudden andcatastrophic attacks, and we're asking them to join us, andmany are doing so. Yet the course of this nation does notdepend on the decisions of others.
Whatever action is required, whenever action is necessary, Iwill defend the freedom and security of the American people.Different threats require different strategies. In Iran wecontinue to see a government that represses its people, pursuesweapons of mass destruction and supports terror. We also seeIranian citizens risking intimidation and death as they speakout for liberty and human rights and democracy. Iranians, likeall people, have a right to choose their own government, anddetermine their own destiny, and the United States supportstheir aspirations to live in freedom.
On the Korean Peninsula, an oppressive regime rules a peopleliving in fear and starvation. Throughout the 1990s, the UnitedStates relied on a negotiated framework to keep North Koreafrom gaining nuclear weapons. We now know that that regime wasdeceiving the world and developing those weapons all along.And today the North Korean regime is using its nuclearprogram to incite fear and seek concessions. America and theworld will not be blackmailed. America is working with thecountries of the region -- South Korea, Japan, China and Russia-- to find a peaceful solution and to show the North Koreangovernment that nuclear weapons will bring only isolation,economic stagnation and continued hardship.
The North Korean regime will find respect in the world andrevival for its people only when it turns away from its nuclearambitions. Our nation and the world must learn the lessons ofthe Korean Peninsula and not allow an even greater threat torise up in Iraq. A brutal dictator, with a history of recklessaggression, with ties to terrorism, with great potential wealthwill not be permitted to dominate a vital region and threatenthe United States.
Twelve years ago, Saddam Hussein faced the prospect ofbeing the last casualty in a war he had started and lost. Tospare himself, he agreed to disarm of all weapons of massdestruction.
For the next 12 years, he systematically violated thatagreement. He pursued chemical, biological and nuclear weaponseven while inspectors were in his country. Nothing to date hasrestrained him from his pursuit of these weapons: not economicsanctions, not isolation from the civilized world, not evencruise missile strikes on his military facilities.
Almost three months ago, the United Nations SecurityCouncil gave Saddam Hussein his final chance to disarm. He hasshown instead utter contempt for the United Nations and for theopinion of the world.
The 108 U.N. inspectors were sent to conduct -- were notsent to conduct a scavenger hunt for hidden materials across acountry the size of California. The job of the inspectors is toverify that Iraq's regime is disarming.
It is up to Iraq to show exactly where it is hiding itsbanned weapons, lay those weapons out for the world to see anddestroy them as directed. Nothing like this has happened.The United Nations concluded in 1999 that Saddam Husseinhad biological weapons materials sufficient to produce over25,000 liters of anthrax; enough doses to kill several millionpeople. He hasn't accounted for that material. He has given noevidence that he has destroyed it. The United Nations concludedthat Saddam Hussein had materials sufficient to produce morethan 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin; enough to subjectmillions of people to death by respiratory failure. He hasn'taccounted for that material. He's given no evidence that hehas destroyed it.
Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein hadthe materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustardand VX nerve agent. In such quantities, these chemical agentscould also kill untold thousands. He's not accounted for thesematerials. He has given no evidence that he has destroyedthem.
The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in the1990s that Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclear weaponsdevelopment program, had a design for a nuclear weapon and wasworking on five different methods of enriching uranium for abomb. The British government has learned that Saddam Husseinrecently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.
Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted topurchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclearweapons production.
Saddam Hussein has not credibly explained these activities.He clearly has much to hide. The dictator of Iraq is notdisarming. To the contrary, he is deceiving. From intelligencesources, we know, for instance, that thousands of Iraqisecurity personnel are at work hiding documents and materialsfrom the U.N. inspectors, sanitizing inspection sites andmonitoring the inspectors themselves.
Iraqi officials accompany the inspectors in order tointimidate witnesses. Iraq is blocking U-2 surveillance flightsrequested by the United Nations. Iraqi intelligence officersare posing as the scientists inspectors are supposed tointerview. Real scientists have been coached by Iraqiofficials on what to say.
Intelligence sources indicate that Saddam Hussein hasordered that scientists who cooperate with U.N. inspectors indisarming Iraq will be killed, along with their families. Yearafter year, Saddam Hussein has gone to elaborate lengths, spentenormous sums, taken great risks to build and keep weapons ofmass destruction. But why?
The only possible explanation, the only possible use hecould have for those weapons, is to dominate, intimidate orattack. With nuclear arms or a full arsenal of chemical andbiological weapons, Saddam Hussein could resume his ambitionsof conquest in the Middle East and create deadly havoc in thatregion.
And this Congress and the American people must recognizeanother threat. Evidence from intelligence sources, secretcommunications and statements by people now in custody revealthat Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, includingmembers of al Qaeda. Secretly, and without fingerprints, hecould provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or helpthem develop their own.
Before September the 11th, many in the world believed thatSaddam Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents, lethalviruses and shadowy terrorist networks are not easilycontained. Imagine those 19 hijackers with other weapons andother plans, this time armed by Saddam Hussein. It would takeone vial, one canister, one crate slipped into this country tobring a day of horror like none we have ever known.
We will do everything in our power to make sure that thatday never comes.
Some have said we must not act until the threat isimminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announcedtheir intentions, politely putting us on notice before theystrike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenlyemerge, all actions, all words and all recriminations wouldcome too late. Trusting in the sanity and restraint of SaddamHussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option.
The dictator who is assembling the world's most dangerousweapons has already used them on whole villages, leavingthousands 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 cataloged other methodsused in the torture chambers of Iraq: electric shock, burningwith hot irons, dripping acid on the skin, mutilation withelectric drills, cutting out tongues, and rape. If this is notevil, then evil has no meaning.
And tonight I have a message for the brave and oppressedpeople of Iraq: Your enemy is not surrounding your country,your enemy is ruling your country. And the day he and hisregime are removed from power will be the day of yourliberation.
The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. Americawill not accept a serious and mounting threat to our countryand our friends and our allies. The United States will ask theU.N. Security Council to convene on February the 5th toconsider the facts of Iraq's ongoing defiance of the world.Secretary of State Powell will present information andintelligence about Iraqi's -- Iraq's illegal weapons programs,its attempts to hide those weapons from inspectors and itslinks to terrorist groups.
We will consult, but let there be no misunderstanding: IfSaddam Hussein does not fully disarm for the safety of ourpeople, and for the peace of the world, we will lead acoalition to disarm him. Tonight I have a message for the menand women who will keep the peace, members of the Americanarmed forces. Many of you are assembling in or near the MiddleEast, and some crucial hours may lay ahead.
In those hours, the success of our cause will depend onyou. Your training has prepared you. Your honor will guideyou. You believe in America and America believes in you.Sending Americans into battle is the most profound decisiona 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 isfree 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 peacemust be defended. A future lived at the mercy of terriblethreats is no peace at all.
If war is forced upon us, we will fight in a just cause andby just means, sparing, in every way we can, the innocent.And if war is forced upon us, we will fight with the fullforce and might of the United States military, and we willprevail.
And as we and our coalition partners are doing inAfghanistan, we will bring to the Iraqi people food andmedicines and supplies and freedom.
Many challenges, abroad and at home, have arrived in asingle season. In two years, America has gone from a sense ofinvulnerability to an awareness of peril, from bitter divisionin small matters to calm unity in great causes.
And we go forward with confidence, because this call ofhistory has come to the right country.
Americans are a resolute people, who have risen to everytest of our time. Adversity has revealed the character of ourcountry, to the world, and to ourselves.
America is a strong nation and honorable in the use of ourstrength. We exercise power without conquest, and we sacrificefor the liberty of strangers.
Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is theright of every person and the future of every nation. Theliberty we prize is not America's gift to the world; it isGod's gift to humanity.
We Americans have faith in ourselves, but not in ourselvesalone. We do not claim to know all the ways of Providence, yetwe can trust in them, placing our confidence in the loving godbehind all of life and all of history.
May he guide us now, and may God continue to bless theUnited States of America.
Thank you.