“You did not vote for failure,” President George W. Bush said in the Annual State of the Union.
Last Tuesday, President Bush delivered the annual State of the Union Address, the seventh of his presidency, discussing issues like America’s dependence on foreign oil, the war on terrorism, immigration reform and balancing the fiscal budget. Bush also addressed, for the first time in history, a female Speaker of the House.
President Bush for the first time in his presidency was speaking to a democratic majority. Throughout the speech, Bush, to many analysts, seemed conciliatory, yet steadfast on issues like terrorism and the war in Iraq.
Bush began by saying “the rite of customs brings us together at a defining hour, when decisions are hard and courage is needed,” making note that this is not the first administration to deal with a divided government amid uncertainty. First on the docket for the State of the Union was the economy.
The president mentioned that January was the 41 month in a row of uninterrupted job growth, coupled with the addition of 7.2 million new jobs. He also vowed to balance the federal budget, which drew applause from both democrats and republicans alike, adding that this can be done with increased discipline in Washington D.C., and without raising taxes.
Earmarks were also mentioned by Bush (which are special interest items added to bills). Bush earned laughter from the crowd when he said earmarks are slipped onto bills, “when not even C-SPAN is watching.”
Bush called for all earmarks to be voted on by congress, and to cut the total number of earmarks in half by the end of this congressional session.
Bush also pressed for congress to reauthorize the “No Child Left Behind” program, which he said helped minority students, “close the achievement gap.” Bush asked Congress to raise funds for the program without watering down standards, and without taking control away from local communities.
A new plan was put in place by President Bush to lower the cost, and improve the availability of health care and insurance by expanding health savings accounts, helping small businesses through association health plans and reducing the amount of lawsuits on doctors by providing money for better information technology to reduce medical errors. President Bush added that, “the best health care decisions are not made by government and insurance companies, but by patients and their doctors.”
The topic of immigration featured the often debated “temporary worker” program. The President pressed that the key to proper border control is alleviating pressure.
“We should establish a legal and orderly path for foreign workers to enter our country to work on a temporary basis,” President Bush said, “As a result, they won’t have to try and sneak in, and that will leave border agents free to chase down drug smugglers and criminals and terrorists.”
America’s dependence on foreign oil dominated a large chunk of the State of the Union, with President Bush focusing on alternative energy sources like solar, wind, clean coal and safe nuclear power and pressing ahead with further research into hybrid cars and clean diesel fuel. President Bush laid out plans to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil by twenty percent in the next 10 years, and set a goal of 35 billion gallons of renewable energy by 2017, while conserving 8.5 billion gallons of gasoline by 2017.
President Bush spoke at length on the war in Iraq and the war on terror. “Our success in this war is often measured by things that did not happen,” President Bush said.
Bush spoke on the plots American and British authorities broke up over the past year, and said, “The evil that inspired and rejoiced in Sept. 11 is still at work in the world. And as long as that’s the case, America is still a nation at war.”
“The Shia and Sunni extremists are different faces of the same totalitarian threat. Whatever slogans they chant, when they slaughter the innocent they have the same wicked purposes,” Bush said on the violence in Iraq, “They want to kill Americans, kill democracy in the Middle East and gain the weapons to kill on an even more horrific scale.”
President Bush admitted to the war in Iraq as being a different war from when it started, but asked for resolve within America.
“This is not the fight we entered in Iraq. President Bush said. “Let us find our resolve, and turn our events toward victory.”
The president proposed the addition of nearly 21,500 additional troops on the ground in Iraq, and asked congress to increase the size of the Army and Marine Corps active levels by 92,000 in the next five years.
President Bush also gave warning to Iran and North Korea on their nuclear programs, addressed countries like Cuba, Belarus and Burma on freedom for their peoples, expressed thanks to NATO for their work in Afghanistan and asked the world to raise awareness on the situation in Darfur.
Heroes were recognized, as per tradition of the State of the Union. Dikembe Mutombo, former NBA basketball player, was recognized for his work in building hospitals in his home country of The Congo. Julie Aigner-Clark was recognized for her childrens video company, Baby Einstien, and Bush said Aigner-Clark is an example of “the great enterprising spirit of America.” Bush recognized Wesley Autry, the “subway hero” for his heroic actions, and also Tommy Rieman, a U.S. soldier who received the Silver Star award for his actions in Iraq.
In all, the speech was interrupted 62 times by applause, and once by laughter. The speech ran approximately 49 minutes in length.