Bush Says Ending Terrorism, Recession Are His Key Goals
President Bush warned Congress and the nation that the country will long remain vulnerable to terrorism, as he pledged to devote the second year of his presidency to combating the recession at home and enemies abroad.</br></br>In his first State of the Union address, Bush laid out a justification for a longer and broader war against terrorism that would expand into a campaign to encourage education and democratic values in the Islamic world.</br></br>The president portrayed the threat in stark terms, disclosing that U.S. forces in Afghanistan have found diagrams of U.S. nuclear power plants and that "tens of thousands of trained terrorists are still at large." And he said hostile nations, including North Korea, Iraq and Iran, represent "an axis of evil" that is attempting to develop nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.</br></br>Seeking support for the largest increase in defense spending in 20 years, Bush said "The United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons."</br></br>Bush also outlined his strategy for prodding the United States back to prosperity. He said he would strive to create new opportunities for work, cushion the impact of unemployment, and foster a new ethic of volunteerism within communities.