Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, Members of Congress, distinguished citizens and 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. 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, to other Presidents, and other generations. We will confront them with focus and clarity and courage. During the last 2 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 in 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. 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 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's 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 and 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've 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 $1,000, we should send the checks to American families now. The 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 more of their own money. A family of four with an income of $40,000 would see their Federal income taxes fall from $1,178 to $45 per year. 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 3 or 5 or 7 years from now, it is even better for Americans today. We should also strengthen the economy by treating investors equally in our tax laws. It's 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 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, DC. We must work together to fund only our most important priorities. I will send you a budget that increases discretionary spending by 4 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 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 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 health 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. Medicare is the binding commitment of a caring society. We must renew that commitment by giving seniors access to 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 Congress, and 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 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 cost, 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. 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 powerplants 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 forests. 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'm proposing $1.2 billion 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 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 and the fatherless, the addicted, the need is great. Yet there's 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 for 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 the Federal 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 the 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 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 antidrug 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 program to help an additional 300,000 Americans receive treatment over the next 3 years. 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 their 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 is to make the world better. Today, on the continent of Africa, nearly 30 million people have the AIDS virus, including 3 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 4 million require immediate drug treatment. Yet across that continent, only 50,000 AIDS victims—only 50,000—are receiving 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. 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. Antiretroviral drugs can extend life for many years. And the cost of those drugs has dropped from $12,000 a year to under $300 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 7 million new AIDS infections, treat at least 2 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 over the next 5 years, including nearly $10 billion 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 manmade evil of international terrorism. There are days when our fellow citizens do not hear news about the war on terror. There's 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've arrested or otherwise dealt with many key commanders of Al Qaida. They include a man who directed logistics and funding for the September the 11th attacks, the chief of Al Qaida operations in the Persian Gulf who planned the bombings of our embassies in east Africa and the U.S.S.  , an Al Qaida operations chief from Southeast Asia, a former director of Al Qaida's training camps in Afghanistan, a key Al Qaida operative in Europe, a major Al Qaida leader in Yemen. All told, more than 3,000 suspected terrorists have been arrested in many countries. Many others have met a different fate. Let's put it this way: They are no longer a problem to 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 Embassy in Yemen, the American Embassy in Singapore, a Saudi military base, ships in the Straits of Hormuz and the Straits of Gibraltar. We've broken Al Qaida cells in Hamburg, Milan, Madrid, London, Paris, as well as Buffalo, New York. We have the terrorists on the run. We're 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've 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 bioterrorism, called Project Bio-Shield. The budget I send you will propose almost $6 billion 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 the 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 is transforming itself to meet new threats. Tonight I am instructing the leaders of the FBI, the CIA, the 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 all 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 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 all 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're strongly supporting the International Atomic Energy Agency in its mission to track and control nuclear materials around the world. We're working with other governments to secure nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union and to strengthen global treaties banning the production and shipment of missile technologies and weapons of mass destruction. In all 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 attacks. And we're 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 and 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 that 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 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 3 months ago, the United Nations Security Council gave Saddam Hussein his final chance to disarm. He has shown instead utter contempt for the United Nations and for the opinion of the world. The 108 U.N. inspectors were sent to conduct— 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 sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters of anthrax, enough doses to kill several million people. He hasn't accounted for that material. He's 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 hasn't accounted for that material. He's 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 could also kill untold thousands. He's 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 29,984 of these prohibited munitions. He's 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 a place to evade inspectors. Saddam Hussein has not disclosed these facilities. He's 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 U.N. 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. Intelligence sources indicate that Saddam Hussein has ordered that scientists who cooperate with U.N. 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 that region. And this Congress and the American people must recognize another threat. Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people 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 the 11th, many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents, 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 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 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. The 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 cataloged 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 and our friends and our allies. The United States will ask the U.N. Security Council to convene on February the 5th to consider the facts of Iraq's ongoing defiance of the world. Secretary of State Powell will present information and intelligence about Iraqi's legal—Iraq's illegal weapons programs, its attempt 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 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 or near the Middle East, and some crucial hours may lay 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 2 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. America is a strong nation and honorable in the use of our strength. We exercise power without conquest, and we 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 know—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.
Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, Members of Congress, distinguished citizens and 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. 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, to other Presidents, and other generations. We will confront them with focus and clarity and courage. During the last 2 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 in 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. 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 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 and 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 $1,000, we should send the checks to American families now. The 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 more of their own money. A family of four with an income of $40,000 would see their Federal income taxes fall from $1,178 to $45 per year. 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 3 or 5 or 7 years from now, it is even better for Americans today. We should 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 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, DC. We must work together to fund only our most important priorities. I will send you a budget that increases discretionary spending by 4 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 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 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 health 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. Medicare is the binding commitment of a caring society. We must renew that commitment by giving seniors access to 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 Congress, and 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 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 cost, 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. 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 powerplants 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 forests. 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 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 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 and 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 for 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 the Federal 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 the 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 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 because 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 antidrug 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 program to help an additional 300,000 Americans receive treatment over the next 3 years. 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 their 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 because 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 is to make the world better. Today, on the continent of Africa, nearly 30 million people have the AIDS virus, including 3 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 4 million require immediate drug treatment. Yet across that continent, only 50,000 AIDS victims—only 50,000—are receiving 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. He says, "We have no medicines. Many hospitals tell people, ‘You have got AIDS. We cannot help you. Go home and die."' In an age of miraculous medicines, no person should have to hear those words. AIDS can be prevented. Antiretroviral drugs can extend life for many years. And the cost of those drugs has dropped from $12,000 a year to under $300 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 7 million new AIDS infections, treat at least 2 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 over the next 5 years, including nearly $10 billion 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 manmade evil of international terrorism. There are days when our fellow citizens 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 the 11th attacks, the chief of Al Qaida operations in the Persian Gulf who planned the bombings of our embassies in east Africa and the YOU.S.S. , an Al Qaida operations chief from Southeast Asia, a former director of Al Qaida's training camps in Afghanistan, a key Al Qaida operative in Europe, a major Al Qaida leader in Yemen. All told, more than 3,000 suspected terrorists have been arrested in many countries. Many others have met a different fate. Let us put it this way: They are no longer a problem to 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 Embassy in Yemen, the American Embassy in Singapore, a Saudi military base, ships in the Straits of Hormuz and the Straits of Gibraltar. We have broken Al Qaida cells in Hamburg, Milan, Madrid, London, Paris, as well as Buffalo, New York. We have the terrorists on the run. 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 bioterrorism, called Project Bio-Shield. The budget I send you will propose almost $6 billion 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 the 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 is transforming itself to meet new threats. Tonight I am instructing the leaders of the FBI, the CIA, the 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 all 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 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 all 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 strengthen global treaties banning the production and shipment of missile technologies and weapons of mass destruction. In all 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 attacks. And 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 and 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 that 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 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 3 months ago, the United Nations Security Council gave Saddam Hussein his final chance to disarm. He has shown instead utter contempt for the United Nations and for the opinion of the world. The 108 YOU.N. inspectors were sent to conduct— 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 sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters of anthrax, enough doses to kill several million people. He has not accounted for that material. He is 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 accounted for that material. He is 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 could also kill untold thousands. He is not accounted for these materials. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them. YOU.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 29,984 of these prohibited munitions. He is 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 a place to evade inspectors. Saddam Hussein has not disclosed these facilities. He is 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 YOU.N. inspectors, sanitizing inspection sites, and monitoring the inspectors themselves. Iraqi officials accompany the inspectors in order to intimidate witnesses. Iraq is blocking YOU-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. Intelligence sources indicate that Saddam Hussein has ordered that scientists who cooperate with YOU.N. 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 that region. And this Congress and the American people must recognize another threat. Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people 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 the 11th, many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents, 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 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 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. The 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 cataloged 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 and our friends and our allies. The United States will ask the YOU.N. Security Council to convene on February the 5th to consider the facts of Iraq's ongoing defiance of the world. Secretary of State Powell will present information and intelligence about Iraqi's legal—Iraq's illegal weapons programs, its attempt 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 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 or near the Middle East, and some crucial hours may lay ahead. In those hours, the success of our because 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 because 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 2 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. America is a strong nation and honorable in the use of our strength. We exercise power without conquest, and we 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 know—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.
speaker vice president cheney members of congress distinguished citizens and 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 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 to other presidents and other generations we will confront them with focus and clarity and courage during the last 2 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 in 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 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 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 and 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 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 we should send the checks to american families now the tax relief is for everyone who pays income taxes and it will help our economy immediately million americans will keep this year an average of almost more of their own money a family of four with an income of would see their federal income taxes fall from to 45 per year 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 3 or 5 or 7 years from now it is even better for americans today we should also strengthen the economy by treating investors equally in our tax laws it is fair to tax a company profits it is not fair to again tax the shareholder on the same profits to boost investor confidence and to help 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 dc we must work together to fund only our most important priorities i will send you a budget that increases discretionary spending by 4 percent next year about as much as the average family 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 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 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 health 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 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 medicare is the binding commitment of a caring society we must renew that commitment by giving seniors access to 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 congress and 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 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 cost 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 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 cut in air pollution from powerplants 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 forests 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 regulations but through technology and innovation tonight i am proposing billion in research funding so that america can lead the world in developing clean 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 join me in this important 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 and the fatherless the addicted the need is great yet there is power 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 for 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 the federal government i urge you to pass both my 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 the 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 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 because 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 antidrug 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 can not get it so tonight i propose a new 600 million program to help an additional americans receive treatment over the next 3 years 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 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 their birth and end the practice of 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 because 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 is to make the world better today on the continent of africa nearly 30 million people have the aids virus including 3 million children under the age 15 there are whole countries in africa where more than of the adult population carries the infection more than 4 million require immediate drug treatment yet across that continent only aids receiving 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 he says we have no medicines many hospitals tell people you have got aids we can not help you go home and die in an age of miraculous medicines no person should have to hear those words aids can be prevented antiretroviral drugs can extend life for many years and the cost of those drugs has dropped from a year to under 300 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 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 7 million new aids infections treat at least 2 million people with 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 over the next 5 years including nearly 10 billion 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 manmade evil of international terrorism there are days when our fellow citizens 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 the 11th attacks the chief of al qaida operations in the persian gulf who planned the bombings of our embassies in east africa and the an al qaida operations chief from southeast asia a former director of al qaida training camps in afghanistan a key al qaida operative in europe a major al qaida leader in yemen all told more than suspected terrorists have been arrested in many countries many others have met a different fate let us put it this way they are no longer a problem to 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 embassy in yemen the american embassy in singapore a saudi military base ships in the straits of hormuz and the straits of gibraltar we have broken al qaida cells in hamburg milan madrid london paris as well as buffalo new york we have the terrorists on the run 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 newly trained federal screeners in airports begun inoculating troops and against smallpox and are deploying the nation 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 bioterrorism called project the budget i send you will propose almost 6 billion 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 the 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 is transforming itself to meet new threats tonight i am instructing the leaders of the fbi the cia the 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 all 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 terrorist allies who would use them without the least hesitation this threat is new america 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 all 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 strengthen global treaties banning the production and shipment of missile technologies and weapons of mass destruction in all these efforts however america 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 attacks and 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 and 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 that 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 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 3 months ago the united nations security council gave saddam hussein his final chance to disarm he has shown instead utter contempt for the united nations and for the opinion of the world the 108 inspectors were sent to 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 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 sufficient to produce over liters of anthrax enough doses to kill several million people he has not accounted for that material he is given no evidence that he has destroyed it the united nations concluded that saddam hussein had materials sufficient to produce more than liters of botulinum toxin enough to subject millions of people to death by respiratory failure he has not accounted for that material he is 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 could also kill untold thousands he is not accounted for these materials he has given no evidence that he has destroyed them intelligence indicates that saddam hussein had upwards of munitions capable of delivering chemical agents inspectors recently turned up 16 of them despite iraq recent declaration denying their existence saddam hussein has not accounted for the remaining of these prohibited munitions he is 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 a place to evade inspectors saddam hussein has not disclosed these facilities he is 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 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 inspectors sanitizing inspection sites and monitoring the inspectors themselves iraqi officials accompany the inspectors in order to intimidate witnesses iraq is blocking 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 intelligence sources indicate that saddam hussein has ordered that scientists who cooperate with 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 that region and this congress and the american people must recognize another threat evidence from intelligence sources secret communications and statements by people 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 the 11th many in the world believed that saddam hussein could be contained but chemical agents 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 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 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 the dictator who is assembling the world 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 cataloged 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 and our friends and our allies the united states will ask the security council to convene on february the 5th to consider the facts of iraq ongoing defiance of the world secretary of state powell will present information and intelligence about iraqi illegal weapons programs its attempt 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 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 or near the middle east and some crucial hours may lay ahead in those hours the success of our because 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 because 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 2 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 america is a strong nation and honorable in the use of our strength we exercise power without conquest and we 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 gift to the world it is god gift to humanity we americans have faith in ourselves but not in ourselves alone we do not 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
speaker vice president cheney members congress distinguished citizens fellow citizens every year law custom meet consider state union year gather chamber deeply aware decisive days lie ahead serve country time great consequence session congress duty reform domestic programs vital country opportunity save millions lives abroad terrible disease work prosperity broadly shared answer every danger every enemy threatens american people days promise days reckoning confident whirlwind change hope peril faith sure resolve firm union strong country many challenges deny ignore pass along problems congresses presidents generations confront focus clarity courage last 2 years seen accomplished work together lift standards public schools achieved historic education reform must carried every school every classroom every child america read learn succeed life protect country reorganized government created department homeland security mobilizing threats new era bring economy recession delivered largest tax relief generation insist integrity american business passed tough reforms holding corporate criminals account might call good record call good start tonight ask house senate join next bold steps serve fellow citizens first goal clear must economy grows fast enough employ every man woman seeks job recession terrorist attacks corporate scandals stock market declines economy recovering yet growing fast enough strongly enough unemployment rising nation needs small businesses open companies invest expand employers put sign says help wanted jobs created economy grows economy grows americans money spend invest best fairest way make sure americans money tax away first place proposing reductions set 2004 2006 made permanent effective year plan soon signed bill extra money start showing workers paychecks instead gradually reducing marriage penalty instead slowly raising child credit send checks american families tax relief everyone pays income taxes help economy immediately million americans keep year average almost money family four income would see federal income taxes fall 45 per year plan improve bottom line 23 million small businesses congress already passed reductions promised future years tax relief good americans 3 5 7 years even better americans today also strengthen economy treating investors equally tax laws fair tax company profits fair tax shareholder profits boost investor confidence help nearly 10 million seniors receive dividend income ask end unfair double taxation dividends lower taxes greater investment help economy expand jobs mean taxpayers higher revenues government best way address deficit move toward balanced budget encourage economic growth show spending discipline washington dc must work together fund important priorities send budget increases discretionary spending 4 percent next year much average family income expected grow good benchmark us federal spending rise faster paychecks american families growing economy focus essential priorities crucial future social security continue work together keep social security sound reliable must offer younger workers chance invest retirement accounts control second goal high quality affordable health americans american system medicine model skill innovation pace discovery adding good years lives yet many people medical care costs much many health coverage problems solved nationalized health care system dictates coverage rations care instead must work toward system americans good insurance policy choose doctors seniors americans receive help need instead bureaucrats trial lawyers hmos must put doctors nurses patients back charge american medicine health care reform must begin medicare medicare binding commitment caring society must renew commitment giving seniors access preventive medicine new drugs transforming health care america seniors happy current medicare system able keep coverage way like members congress staffs federal employees seniors choice health care plan provides prescription drugs budget commit additional 400 billion next decade reform strengthen medicare leaders political parties talked years strengthening medicare urge members new congress act year improve health care system must address one prime causes higher cost constant threat physicians hospitals unfairly sued excessive litigation everybody pays health care many parts america losing fine doctors one ever healed frivolous lawsuit urge congress pass medical liability reform third goal promote energy independence country dramatically improving environment sent comprehensive energy plan promote energy efficiency conservation develop cleaner technology produce energy home sent clear skies legislation mandates cut air pollution powerplants next 15 years sent healthy forests initiative help prevent catastrophic fires devastate communities kill wildlife burn away millions acres treasured forests urge pass measures good environment economy even ask take crucial step protect environment ways generations us could imagined century greatest environmental progress come endless lawsuits regulations technology innovation tonight proposing billion research funding america lead world developing clean automobiles simple chemical reaction hydrogen oxygen generates energy used power car producing water exhaust fumes new national commitment scientists engineers overcome obstacles taking cars laboratory showroom first car driven child born today could powered hydrogen join important innovation make air significantly cleaner country much less dependent foreign sources energy fourth goal apply compassion america deepest problems america many country homeless fatherless addicted need great yet power power goodness idealism faith american people americans work compassion every day visiting prisoners providing shelter battered women bringing companionship lonely seniors good works deserve praise deserve personal support appropriate deserve assistance federal government urge pass initiative citizen service act encourage acts compassion transform america one heart one soul time last year called fellow citizens participate usa freedom corps enlisting tens thousands new volunteers across america tonight ask congress american people focus spirit service resources government needs vulnerable citizens boys girls trying grow without guidance attention children go prison gate hugged mom dad propose 450 million initiative bring mentors million disadvantaged junior high students children prisoners government support training recruiting mentors yet men women america fill need one mentor one person change life forever urge one person another hopelessness addiction drugs addiction crowds friendship ambition moral conviction reduces richness life single destructive desire government fighting illegal drugs cutting supplies reducing demand antidrug education programs yet already addicted fight drugs fight lives many americans search treatment get tonight propose new 600 million program help additional americans receive treatment next 3 years nation blessed recovery programs amazing work one found healing place church baton rouge louisiana man program said god miracles people lives never think could tonight let us bring americans struggle drug addiction message hope miracle recovery possible could caring children need mentors addicted men women need treatment building welcoming society culture values every life work must overlook weakest among us ask protect infants hour birth end practice abortion human life started ended object experiment ask set high standard humanity pass law human cloning qualities courage compassion strive america also determine conduct abroad american flag stands power interests founders dedicated country human dignity rights every person possibilities every life conviction leads us world help afflicted defend peace confound designs evil men afghanistan helped liberate oppressed people continue helping secure country rebuild society educate children boys girls middle east continue seek peace secure israel democratic palestine across earth america feeding hungry 60 percent international food aid comes gift people united states nation moves troops builds alliances make world safer must also remember calling blessed country make world better today continent africa nearly 30 million people aids virus including 3 million children age 15 whole countries africa adult population carries infection 4 million require immediate drug treatment yet across continent aids receiving medicine need aids diagnosis considered death sentence many seek treatment almost turned away doctor rural south africa describes frustration says medicines many hospitals tell people got aids help go home die age miraculous medicines person hear words aids prevented antiretroviral drugs extend life many years cost drugs dropped year 300 year places tremendous possibility within grasp ladies gentlemen seldom history offered greater opportunity much many confronted continue confront country meet severe urgent crisis abroad tonight propose emergency plan aids relief work mercy beyond current international efforts help people africa comprehensive plan prevent 7 million new aids infections treat least 2 million people drugs provide humane care millions people suffering aids children orphaned aids ask congress commit 15 billion next 5 years including nearly 10 billion new money turn tide aids afflicted nations africa caribbean nation lead world sparing innocent people plague nature nation leading world confronting defeating manmade evil international terrorism days fellow citizens hear news war terror never day learn another threat receive reports operations progress give order global war scattered network killers war goes winning date arrested otherwise dealt many key commanders al qaida include man directed logistics funding september 11th attacks chief al qaida operations persian gulf planned bombings embassies east africa al qaida operations chief southeast asia former director al qaida training camps afghanistan key al qaida operative europe major al qaida leader yemen told suspected terrorists arrested many countries many others met different fate let us put way longer problem united states friends allies working closely nations prevent attacks america coalition countries uncovered stopped terrorist conspiracies targeting embassy yemen american embassy singapore saudi military base ships straits hormuz straits gibraltar broken al qaida cells hamburg milan madrid london paris well buffalo new york terrorists run keeping run one one terrorists learning meaning american justice fight war remember began country government taking unprecedented measures protect people defend homeland intensified security borders ports entry posted newly trained federal screeners airports begun inoculating troops smallpox deploying nation first early warning network sensors detect biological attack year first time beginning field defense protect nation ballistic missiles thank congress supporting measures ask tonight add future security major research production effort guard people bioterrorism called project budget send propose almost 6 billion quickly make available effective vaccines treatments agents like anthrax botulinum toxin ebola plague must assume enemies would use diseases weapons must act dangers upon us since september 11th intelligence law enforcement agencies worked closely ever track disrupt terrorists fbi improving ability analyze intelligence transforming meet new threats tonight instructing leaders fbi cia homeland security department defense develop terrorist threat integration center merge analyze threat information single location government must best information possible use make sure right people right places protect citizens war terror contest perseverance power ruins two towers western wall pentagon field pennsylvania nation made pledge renew pledge tonight whatever duration struggle whatever difficulties permit triumph violence affairs men free people set course history today gravest danger war terror gravest danger facing america world outlaw regimes seek possess nuclear chemical biological weapons regimes could use weapons blackmail terror mass murder could also give sell weapons terrorist allies would use without least hesitation threat new america duty familiar throughout 20th century small groups men seized control great nations built armies arsenals set dominate weak intimidate world case ambitions cruelty murder limit case ambitions hitlerism militarism communism defeated free peoples strength great alliances might united states america century ideology power domination appeared seeks gain ultimate weapons terror nation friends stand world peace world chaos constant alarm called defend safety people hopes mankind accept responsibility america making broad determined effort confront dangers called united nations fulfill charter stand demand iraq disarm strongly supporting international atomic energy agency mission track control nuclear materials around world working governments secure nuclear materials former soviet union strengthen global treaties banning production shipment missile technologies weapons mass destruction efforts however america purpose follow process achieve result end terrible threats civilized world free nations stake preventing sudden catastrophic attacks asking join us many yet course nation depend decisions others whatever action required whenever action necessary defend freedom security american people different threats require different strategies iran continue see government represses people pursues weapons mass destruction supports terror also see iranian citizens risking intimidation death speak liberty human rights democracy iranians like people right choose government determine destiny united states supports aspirations live freedom korean peninsula oppressive regime rules people living fear starvation throughout 1990s united states relied negotiated framework keep north korea gaining nuclear weapons know regime deceiving world developing weapons along today north korean regime using nuclear program incite fear seek concessions america world blackmailed america working countries region south korea japan china russia find peaceful solution show north korean government nuclear weapons bring isolation economic stagnation continued hardship north korean regime find respect world revival people turns away nuclear ambitions nation world must learn lessons korean peninsula allow even greater threat rise iraq brutal dictator history reckless aggression ties terrorism great potential wealth permitted dominate vital region threaten united states twelve years ago saddam hussein faced prospect last casualty war started lost spare agreed disarm weapons mass destruction next 12 years systematically violated agreement pursued chemical biological nuclear weapons even inspectors country nothing date restrained pursuit weapons economic sanctions isolation civilized world even cruise missile strikes military facilities almost 3 months ago united nations security council gave saddam hussein final chance disarm shown instead utter contempt united nations opinion world 108 inspectors sent sent conduct scavenger hunt hidden materials across country size california job inspectors verify iraq regime disarming iraq show exactly hiding banned weapons lay weapons world see destroy directed nothing like happened united nations concluded 1999 saddam hussein biological weapons sufficient produce liters anthrax enough doses kill several million people accounted material given evidence destroyed united nations concluded saddam hussein materials sufficient produce liters botulinum toxin enough subject millions people death respiratory failure accounted material given evidence destroyed intelligence officials estimate saddam hussein materials produce much 500 tons sarin mustard vx nerve agent quantities chemical agents could also kill untold thousands accounted materials given evidence destroyed intelligence indicates saddam hussein upwards munitions capable delivering chemical agents inspectors recently turned 16 despite iraq recent declaration denying existence saddam hussein accounted remaining prohibited munitions given evidence destroyed three iraqi defectors know iraq late 1990s several mobile biological weapons labs designed produce germ warfare agents moved place place evade inspectors saddam hussein disclosed facilities given evidence destroyed international atomic energy agency confirmed 1990s saddam hussein advanced nuclear weapons development program design nuclear weapon working five different methods enriching uranium bomb british government learned saddam hussein recently sought significant quantities uranium africa intelligence sources tell us attempted purchase aluminum tubes suitable nuclear weapons production saddam hussein credibly explained activities clearly much hide dictator iraq disarming contrary deceiving intelligence sources know instance thousands iraqi security personnel work hiding documents materials inspectors sanitizing inspection sites monitoring inspectors iraqi officials accompany inspectors order intimidate witnesses iraq blocking surveillance flights requested united nations iraqi intelligence officers posing scientists inspectors supposed interview real scientists coached iraqi officials say intelligence sources indicate saddam hussein ordered scientists cooperate inspectors disarming iraq killed along families year year saddam hussein gone elaborate lengths spent enormous sums taken great risks build keep weapons mass destruction possible explanation possible use could weapons dominate intimidate attack nuclear arms full arsenal chemical biological weapons saddam hussein could resume ambitions conquest middle east create deadly havoc region congress american people must recognize another threat evidence intelligence sources secret communications statements people custody reveal saddam hussein aids protects terrorists including members al qaida secretly without fingerprints could provide one hidden weapons terrorists help develop september 11th many world believed saddam hussein could contained chemical agents lethal viruses shadowy terrorist networks easily contained imagine 19 hijackers weapons plans time armed saddam hussein would take one vial one canister one crate slipped country bring day horror like none ever known everything power make sure day never comes said must act threat imminent since terrorists tyrants announced intentions politely putting us notice strike threat permitted fully suddenly emerge actions words recriminations would come late trusting sanity restraint saddam hussein strategy option dictator assembling world dangerous weapons already used whole villages leaving thousands citizens dead blind disfigured iraqi refugees tell us forced confessions obtained torturing children parents made watch international human rights groups cataloged methods used torture chambers iraq electric shock burning hot irons dripping acid skin mutilation electric drills cutting tongues rape evil evil meaning tonight message brave oppressed people iraq enemy surrounding country enemy ruling country day regime removed power day liberation world waited 12 years iraq disarm america accept serious mounting threat country friends allies united states ask security council convene february 5th consider facts iraq ongoing defiance world secretary state powell present information intelligence iraqi illegal weapons programs attempt hide weapons inspectors links terrorist groups consult let misunderstanding saddam hussein fully disarm safety people peace world lead coalition disarm tonight message men women keep peace members american armed forces many assembling near middle east crucial hours may lay ahead hours success depend training prepared honor guide believe america america believes sending americans battle profound decision president make technologies war changed risks suffering war brave americans bear risk victory free sorrow nation fights reluctantly know cost dread days mourning always come seek peace strive peace sometimes peace must defended future lived mercy terrible threats peace war forced upon us fight means sparing every way innocent war forced upon us fight full force might united states military prevail coalition partners afghanistan bring iraqi people food medicines supplies freedom many challenges abroad home arrived single season 2 years america gone sense invulnerability awareness peril bitter division small matters calm unity great causes go forward confidence call history come right country americans resolute people risen every test time adversity revealed character country world america strong nation honorable use strength exercise power without conquest sacrifice liberty strangers americans free people know freedom right every person future every nation liberty prize america gift world god gift humanity americans faith alone claim know ways providence yet trust placing confidence loving god behind life history may guide us may god continue bless united states america
speaker vice president cheney member congress distinguish citizen fellow citizen every year law custom meet consider state union year gather chamber deeply aware decisive day lie ahead serve country time great consequence session congress duty reform domestic program vital country opportunity save million life abroad terrible disease work prosperity broadly share answer every danger every enemy threaten american people day promise day reckon confident whirlwind change hope peril faith sure resolve firm union strong country many challenge deny ignore pas along problem congress president generation confront focus clarity courage last 2 year see accomplished work together lift standard public school achieve historic education reform must carry every school every classroom every child america read learn succeed life protect country reorganize government create department homeland security mobilize threat new era bring economy recession deliver large tax relief generation insist integrity american business pass tough reform hold corporate criminal account might call good record call good start tonight ask house senate join next bold step serve fellow citizen first goal clear must economy grow fast enough employ every man woman seek job recession terrorist attack corporate scandal stock market decline economy recover yet grow fast enough strongly enough unemployment rise nation need small business open company invest expand employer put sign say help want job create economy grow economy grows americans money spend invest best fair way make sure american money tax away first place propose reduction set 2004 2006 make permanent effective year plan soon sign bill extra money start show worker paycheck instead gradually reduce marriage penalty instead slowly raise child credit send check american family tax relief everyone pay income tax help economy immediately million american keep year average almost money family four income would see federal income tax fall 45 per year plan improve bottom line 23 million small business congress already pass reduction promise future year tax relief good american 3 5 7 year even good american today also strengthen economy treat investor equally tax law fair tax company profit fair tax shareholder profit boost investor confidence help nearly 10 million senior receive dividend income ask end unfair double taxation dividend low tax great investment help economy expand job mean taxpayer higher revenues government best way address deficit move toward balanced budget encourage economic growth show spending discipline washington dc must work together fund important priority send budget increase discretionary spending 4 percent next year much average family income expect grow good benchmark u federal spending rise faster paycheck american family grow economy focus essential priority crucial future social security continue work together keep social security sound reliable must offer young worker chance invest retirement account control second goal high quality affordable health american american system medicine model skill innovation pace discovery add good year live yet many people medical care cost much many health coverage problem solve nationalized health care system dictate coverage ration care instead must work toward system american good insurance policy choose doctor senior american receive help need instead bureaucrats trial lawyer hmos must put doctor nurse patient back charge american medicine health care reform must begin medicare medicare bind commitment care society must renew commitment give senior access preventive medicine new drug transform health care america senior happy current medicare system able keep coverage way like member congress staff federal employee senior choice health care plan provide prescription drug budget commit additional 400 billion next decade reform strengthen medicare leader political party talk year strengthen medicare urge member new congress act year improve health care system must address one prime cause high cost constant threat physician hospital unfairly sue excessive litigation everybody pay health care many part america lose fine doctor one ever heal frivolous lawsuit urge congress pass medical liability reform third goal promote energy independence country dramatically improve environment send comprehensive energy plan promote energy efficiency conservation develop clean technology produce energy home send clear sky legislation mandate cut air pollution powerplants next 15 year send healthy forest initiative help prevent catastrophic fire devastate community kill wildlife burn away million acre treasure forest urge pas measure good environment economy even ask take crucial step protect environment way generation u could imagine century great environmental progress come endless lawsuit regulation technology innovation tonight propose billion research funding america lead world develop clean automobile simple chemical reaction hydrogen oxygen generate energy use power car produce water exhaust fume new national commitment scientist engineer overcome obstacle take car laboratory showroom first car drive child bear today could power hydrogen join important innovation make air significantly clean country much less dependent foreign source energy fourth goal apply compassion america deep problem america many country homeless fatherless addict need great yet power power goodness idealism faith american people american work compassion every day visit prisoner provide shelter batter woman bring companionship lonely senior good work deserve praise deserve personal support appropriate deserve assistance federal government urge pas initiative citizen service act encourage act compassion transform america one heart one soul time last year call fellow citizen participate usa freedom corp enlist ten thousand new volunteer across america tonight ask congress american people focus spirit service resource government need vulnerable citizen boys girl try grow without guidance attention child go prison gate hug mom dad propose 450 million initiative bring mentor million disadvantage junior high student child prisoner government support train recruit mentor yet men woman america fill need one mentor one person change life forever urge one person another hopelessness addiction drug addiction crowd friendship ambition moral conviction reduces richness life single destructive desire government fight illegal drug cut supply reduce demand antidrug education program yet already addict fight drug fight life many american search treatment get tonight propose new 600 million program help additional american receive treatment next 3 year nation bless recovery program amaze work one find heal place church baton rouge louisiana man program say god miracle people life never think could tonight let u bring american struggle drug addiction message hope miracle recovery possible could care child need mentor addict men woman need treatment build welcome society culture value every life work must overlook weak among u ask protect infant hour birth end practice abortion human life start end object experiment ask set high standard humanity pas law human clone quality courage compassion strive america also determine conduct abroad american flag stand power interest founder dedicate country human dignity right every person possibility every life conviction lead u world help afflict defend peace confound design evil men afghanistan help liberate oppressed people continue help secure country rebuild society educate child boys girl middle east continue seek peace secure israel democratic palestine across earth america feed hungry 60 percent international food aid come gift people united state nation move troop build alliance make world safer must also remember call blessed country make world well today continent africa nearly 30 million people aid virus include 3 million child age 15 whole country africa adult population carry infection 4 million require immediate drug treatment yet across continent aid receive medicine need aid diagnosis consider death sentence many seek treatment almost turn away doctor rural south africa describes frustration say medicine many hospital tell people get aid help go home die age miraculous medicine person hear word aid prevent antiretroviral drug extend life many year cost drug drop year 300 year place tremendous possibility within grasp lady gentleman seldom history offer great opportunity much many confront continue confront country meet severe urgent crisis abroad tonight propose emergency plan aid relief work mercy beyond current international effort help people africa comprehensive plan prevent 7 million new aid infection treat least 2 million people drug provide humane care million people suffer aid child orphan aid ask congress commit 15 billion next 5 year include nearly 10 billion new money turn tide aid afflict nation africa caribbean nation lead world spar innocent people plague nature nation lead world confront defeat manmade evil international terrorism day fellow citizen hear news war terror never day learn another threat receive report operation progress give order global war scatter network killer war go win date arrest otherwise dealt many key commander al qaida include man direct logistics fund september 11th attack chief al qaida operation persian gulf plan bombing embassy east africa al qaida operation chief southeast asia former director al qaida training camp afghanistan key al qaida operative europe major al qaida leader yemen tell suspected terrorist arrest many country many others meet different fate let u put way long problem united state friend ally work closely nation prevent attack america coalition country uncover stopped terrorist conspiracy target embassy yemen american embassy singapore saudi military base ship straits hormuz strait gibraltar broken al qaida cell hamburg milan madrid london paris well buffalo new york terrorist run keep run one one terrorists learn mean american justice fight war remember begin country government take unprecedented measure protect people defend homeland intensified security border port entry post newly train federal screener airport begin inoculate troop smallpox deploy nation first early warn network sensor detect biological attack year first time begin field defense protect nation ballistic missile thank congress support measure ask tonight add future security major research production effort guard people bioterrorism call project budget send propose almost 6 billion quickly make available effective vaccine treatment agent like anthrax botulinum toxin ebola plague must assume enemy would use disease weapon must act danger upon u since september 11th intelligence law enforcement agency work closely ever track disrupt terrorist fbi improve ability analyze intelligence transform meet new threat tonight instruct leader fbi cia homeland security department defense develop terrorist threat integration center merge analyze threat information single location government must best information possible use make sure right people right place protect citizen war terror contest perseverance power ruin two tower western wall pentagon field pennsylvania nation make pledge renew pledge tonight whatever duration struggle whatever difficulty permit triumph violence affair men free people set course history today grave danger war terror grave danger face america world outlaw regimes seek possess nuclear chemical biological weapon regime could use weapon blackmail terror mass murder could also give sell weapon terrorist ally would use without least hesitation threat new america duty familiar throughout 20th century small group men seize control great nation build army arsenal set dominate weak intimidate world case ambition cruelty murder limit case ambition hitlerism militarism communism defeat free people strength great alliance might unite state america century ideology power domination appear seek gain ultimate weapon terror nation friend stand world peace world chaos constant alarm call defend safety people hop mankind accept responsibility america make broad determined effort confront danger call united nation fulfill charter stand demand iraq disarm strongly support international atomic energy agency mission track control nuclear material around world work government secure nuclear material former soviet union strengthen global treaty ban production shipment missile technology weapon mass destruction effort however america purpose follow process achieve result end terrible threat civilize world free nation stake prevent sudden catastrophic attack ask join u many yet course nation depend decision others whatever action require whenever action necessary defend freedom security american people different threat require different strategy iran continue see government represses people pursue weapon mass destruction support terror also see iranian citizen risk intimidation death speak liberty human right democracy iranian like people right choose government determine destiny united state support aspiration live freedom korean peninsula oppressive regime rule people live fear starvation throughout 1990s united state rely negotiated framework keep north korea gain nuclear weapon know regime deceiving world develop weapon along today north korean regime use nuclear program incite fear seek concession america world blackmail america work country region south korea japan china russia find peaceful solution show north korean government nuclear weapon bring isolation economic stagnation continue hardship north korean regime find respect world revival people turn away nuclear ambition nation world must learn lesson korean peninsula allow even great threat rise iraq brutal dictator history reckless aggression tie terrorism great potential wealth permit dominate vital region threaten united state twelve year ago saddam hussein face prospect last casualty war start lose spare agree disarm weapon mass destruction next 12 year systematically violate agreement pursue chemical biological nuclear weapon even inspector country nothing date restrain pursuit weapon economic sanction isolation civilize world even cruise missile strike military facility almost 3 month ago united nation security council give saddam hussein final chance disarm show instead utter contempt united nation opinion world 108 inspector send sent conduct scavenger hunt hidden material across country size california job inspector verify iraq regime disarm iraq show exactly hide ban weapon lay weapon world see destroy direct nothing like happen united nation conclude 1999 saddam hussein biological weapon sufficient produce liter anthrax enough dos kill several million people accounted material give evidence destroy united nation conclude saddam hussein material sufficient produce liter botulinum toxin enough subject million people death respiratory failure account material give evidence destroyed intelligence official estimate saddam hussein material produce much 500 ton sarin mustard vx nerve agent quantity chemical agent could also kill untold thousand account material give evidence destroy intelligence indicates saddam hussein upwards munition capable deliver chemical agent inspector recently turn 16 despite iraq recent declaration deny existence saddam hussein account remain prohibited munition give evidence destroy three iraqi defector know iraq late 1990s several mobile biological weapon lab design produce germ warfare agent move place place evade inspector saddam hussein disclose facility give evidence destroy international atomic energy agency confirm 1990s saddam hussein advance nuclear weapon development program design nuclear weapon work five different method enrich uranium bomb british government learn saddam hussein recently seek significant quantity uranium africa intelligence source tell u attempted purchase aluminum tube suitable nuclear weapon production saddam hussein credibly explain activity clearly much hide dictator iraq disarm contrary deceive intelligence source know instance thousand iraqi security personnel work hide document material inspector sanitize inspection site monitor inspector iraqi official accompany inspector order intimidate witness iraq block surveillance flight request united nation iraqi intelligence officer pose scientist inspector suppose interview real scientist coach iraqi official say intelligence source indicate saddam hussein order scientist cooperate inspector disarm iraq kill along family year year saddam hussein go elaborate length spend enormous sum take great risk build keep weapon mass destruction possible explanation possible use could weapon dominate intimidate attack nuclear arm full arsenal chemical biological weapon saddam hussein could resume ambition conquest middle east create deadly havoc region congress american people must recognize another threat evidence intelligence source secret communication statement people custody reveal saddam hussein aid protects terrorist include member al qaida secretly without fingerprint could provide one hidden weapon terrorist help develop september 11th many world believe saddam hussein could contain chemical agent lethal virus shadowy terrorist network easily contain imagine 19 hijacker weapon plan time arm saddam hussein would take one vial one canister one crate slip country bring day horror like none ever know everything power make sure day never come say must act threat imminent since terrorist tyrant announce intention politely put u notice strike threat permit fully suddenly emerge action word recrimination would come late trust sanity restraint saddam hussein strategy option dictator assemble world dangerous weapon already use whole village leave thousand citizen dead blind disfigured iraqi refugee tell u forced confession obtain torture child parent make watch international human right group catalog method use torture chamber iraq electric shock burn hot iron drip acid skin mutilation electric drill cut tongue rape evil evil meaning tonight message brave oppress people iraq enemy surround country enemy rule country day regime removed power day liberation world wait 12 year iraq disarm america accept serious mount threat country friends ally united state ask security council convene february 5th consider fact iraq ongoing defiance world secretary state powell present information intelligence iraqi illegal weapon program attempt hide weapon inspector link terrorist group consult let misunderstand saddam hussein fully disarm safety people peace world lead coalition disarm tonight message men woman keep peace member american arm force many assemble near middle east crucial hour may lay ahead hour success depend training prepared honor guide believe america america believe send american battle profound decision president make technology war change risk suffer war brave american bear risk victory free sorrow nation fight reluctantly know cost dread day mourn always come seek peace strive peace sometimes peace must defend future live mercy terrible threat peace war force upon u fight mean spar every way innocent war force upon u fight full force might unite state military prevail coalition partner afghanistan bring iraqi people food medicine supply freedom many challenge abroad home arrive single season 2 year america go sense invulnerability awareness peril bitter division small matter calm unity great cause go forward confidence call history come right country americans resolute people rise every test time adversity reveal character country world america strong nation honorable use strength exercise power without conquest sacrifice liberty stranger americans free people know freedom right every person future every nation liberty prize america gift world god gift humanity americans faith alone claim know way providence yet trust place confidence loving god behind life history may guide u may god continue bless united state america