NewsMax.com Wires
Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2002

"America will take the side of brave men and women who advocate these values around the world, including the Islamic world," the president told Congress, "because we have a greater objective than eliminating threats and containing resentment. We seek a just and peaceful world beyond the war on terror."

In a sometimes emotional address, to galleries filled with applauding guests including Hamid Karzai, chairman of the Afghan Interim Authority, and the American Airlines crew members who spotted attempted suicide bomber Richard Reid, Bush said "the State of our Union has never been stronger.

"As we gather tonight," he said, "our nation is at war, our economy is in recession and the civilized world faces unprecedented dangers," but in those excruciating stresses since Sept. 11, it has found new strength and new courage.

"I have been humbled and privileged to see the true character of this country in a time of testing."

The president set out new initiatives to meet the challenges of the war, homeland security and the economy.

Terrorist threat: Bush lauded the U.S. military for its swift and decisive victory in Afghanistan, but reported that "our discoveries in Afghanistan confirmed our worst fears, and show us the true scope of the task ahead."

He said American forces found maps of U.S. targets and diagrams of American nuclear power plants, public water facilities and "detailed instructions for making chemical weapons."

"Most of the 19 men who hijacked planes on Sept. 11 were trained in Afghanistan's camps," he said, "and so were tens of thousands of others. Thousands of dangerous killers, schooled in the methods of murder, often supported by outlaw regimes, are now spread throughout the world like ticking time bombs set to go off without warning."

Many of these terrorists are still at large, and Bush sketched efforts to snare terrorists and destroy their bases. He said U.S. troops are operating in the Philippines to assist its armed forces, patrolling with naval vessels off the horn of Africa to interdict terrorist commerce and weapons, and working in Bosnia to break up terrorist cells.

"In this moment of opportunity, a common danger is erasing old rivalries. America is working with Russia, China, and India in ways we never have before to achieve peace and prosperity."

Aid to Muslims: He called for a worldwide effort to reach out to the Islamic world, with education and aid packages as well as the offer of help from individual Americans.

National service: He called for a doubling of the Peace Corps to bring its force from 7,000 members back up to the height of its power 40 years ago.

Bush said he wanted to tap the outpouring by Americans to get involved in their country's defense, by recommending that every American young and old commit two years or 4,000 hours of volunteer time to the nation.

The work, he said, could be in any community activity, but the federal government would offer those who seek a way to serve a chance to join a USA Freedom Corps, which would include an expanded Americorps and Senior Corps and open chances to work as volunteers in homeland security. The president said he hoped 200,000 volunteers would be recruited.

Economic stimulus: The war, he said, will be long and costly. He challenged Congress to come to the same bipartisanship that had passed anti-terrorist legislation last fall to pass his economic stimulus package, energy bill and trade promotion authority to help the nation out of recession.

"The way out of this recession, the way to create jobs, is to grow the economy by encouraging investment in factories and equipment, and by speeding up tax relief so people have more money to spend. For the sake of American workers, let's pass a stimulus package," he said in a clear message to Senate plurality Tom Daschle, D-S.D., who has obstructed action on the stimulus.

Deficit: The president acknowledged that the budget he sends to Congress next week will have a deficit, but he said the deficit "would be small and short-term" as long as Congress acted with restraint. Bush did not mention the figure, $106 billion, that the Office of Management and Budget announced last week.

His budget, he said, will contain a $48 billion increase over last year's figure, and major increases in homeland security of $38 billion to "make America not only stronger but better."

Energy exploration: Indirectly promoting his proposal to seek oil in a tiny section of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, he said, "This Congress must act to encourage conservation, promote technology, build infrastructure, and it must act to increase energy production at home so America is less dependent on foreign oil."

Prescription drug benefit: The president called for $191 billion in spending for Medicare and said his plan would contain a prescription drug benefit. He also urged passage of a so-called "Patients' Bill of Rights," the supporters of which admit will make health care less affordable.

Pension security: The president did not mention the collapse of Enron Corp. or Global Crossing by name, but he called for accountable business practices, improved security for private pensions and restructuring of Social Security.

Education: Bush used his address to push his education proposals and reached out to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D- Mass., and Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., as he sought to rekindle the bipartisanship that he found with those two members of Congress. Copyright 2002 by United Press International.

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