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State of the union speech



Dear all

This is the full text of the State of the Union speech by President 
Bush.

Two especially interesting bits for us, I thought.

1) The Economy
Without economic revival, the humanitarian crisis cannot be 
overcome. Without jobs, without wages in money that means 
something, Iraqi families cannot care for their children.

President Bush said, 

"Yet American workers want more than unemployment checks. They 
want a steady paycheck. 
(APPLAUSE)
When America works, America prospers, so my economic security 
plan can be summed up in one word: jobs.
(APPLAUSE)
Good jobs begin with good schools, and here we've made a fine start." 

Iraq wants more than (inadequate) unemployment checks/rations.

2) Axis of evil

Bush says,

"Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support 
terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax and nerve gas 
and nuclear weapons for over a decade. 

This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands 
of its own citizens, leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their 
dead children. This is a regime that agreed to international inspections 
then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime that has something to 
hide from the civilized world.

States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, 
arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of 
mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. 
They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to 
match their hatred. They could attack our allies or attempt to 
blackmail the United States. In any of these cases, the price of 
indifference would be catastrophic."

I leave it to you to substitute comments regarding US weapons of 
mass destruction programmes.

Cheers

Mil

Milan Rai
Joint Coordinator, Voices in the Wilderness UK

**********************
Transcript of State of the Union Speech

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
srv/onpolitics/transcripts/sou012902.htm

Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress, 
distinguished guests, fellow citizens, as we gather tonight, our nation is 
at war, our economy is in recession and the civilized world faces 
unprecedented dangers. Yet the state of our union has never been 
stronger.

(APPLAUSE)

We last met in an hour of shock and suffering. In four short months, 
our nation has comforted the victims, begun to rebuild New York and 
the Pentagon, rallied a great coalition, captured, arrested and rid the 
world of thousands of terrorists, destroyed Afghanistan's terrorist 
training camps, saved a people from starvation and freed a country 
from brutal oppression.

(APPLAUSE)

The American flag flies again over our embassy in Kabul. Terrorists 
who once occupied Afghanistan now occupy cells at Guantanamo Bay. 

(APPLAUSE)

And terrorist leaders who urged followers to sacrifice their lives are 
running for their own.

(APPLAUSE)

America and Afghanistan are now allies against terror. We will be 
partners in rebuilding that country. And this evening we welcomed 
the distinguished interim leader of a liberated Afghanistan: Chairman 
Hamid Karzai.

(APPLAUSE)

The last time we met in this chamber, the mothers and daughters of 
Afghanistan were captives in their own homes, forbidden from 
working or going to school. 

Today women are free, and are part of Afghanistan's new 
government. And we welcome the new minister of women's affairs, 
Dr. Sima Samar.

(APPLAUSE)

Our progress is a tribute to the spirit of the Afghan people, to the 
resolve of our coalition and to the might of the United States military. 

(APPLAUSE)

When I called our troops into action, I did so with complete 
confidence in their courage and skill. And tonight, thanks to them, we 
are winning the war on terror.

(APPLAUSE)

The men and women of our armed forces have delivered a message 
now clear to every enemy of the United States: Even 7,000 miles 
away, across oceans and continents, on mountaintops and in caves you 
will not escape the justice of this nation.

(APPLAUSE)

For many Americans, these four months have brought sorrow and 
pain that will never completely go away. Every day a retired firefighter 
returns to ground zero to feel closer to his two sons who died there. 

At a memorial in New York, a little boy left his football with a note for 
his lost father: "Dear Daddy, please take this to Heaven. I don't want 
to play football until I can play with you again someday." 

Last month, at the grave of her husband, Michael, a CIA officer and 
Marine who died in Mazar-i-Sharif, Shannon Spann said these words 
of farewell: "Semper fi, my love." 

Shannon is with us tonight.

(APPLAUSE)

Shannon, I assure you and all who have lost a loved one that our 
cause is just, and our country will never forget the debt we owe 
Michael and all who gave their lives for freedom.

Our cause is just, and it continues. Our discoveries in Afghanistan 
confirmed our worst fears and showed us the true scope of the task 
ahead. We have seen the depth of our enemies' hatred in videos 
where they laugh about the loss of innocent life.

And the depth of their hatred is equaled by the madness of the 
destruction they design. We have found diagrams of American 
nuclear power plants and public water facilities, detailed instructions 
for making chemical weapons, surveillance maps of American cities, 
and thorough descriptions of landmarks in America and throughout 
the world.

What we have found in Afghanistan confirms that, far from ending 
there, our war against terror is only beginning. Most of the 19 men 
who hijacked planes on September the 11th were trained in 
Afghanistan's camps. 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.

Thanks to the work of our law enforcement officials and coalition 
partners, hundreds of terrorists have been arrested, yet tens of 
thousands of trained terrorists are still at large. These enemies view 
the entire world as a battlefield, and we must pursue them wherever 
they are. 

(APPLAUSE)

So long as training camps operate, so long as nations harbor 
terrorists, freedom is at risk and America and our allies must not, and 
will not, allow it. Our nation...

(APPLAUSE)

Our nation will continue to be steadfast, and patient and persistent in 
the pursuit of two great objectives. First, we will shut down terrorist 
camps, disrupt terrorist plans and bring terrorists to justice. 

And second, we must prevent the terrorists and regimes who seek 
chemical, biological or nuclear weapons from threatening the United 
States and the world.

(APPLAUSE)

Our military has put the terror training camps of Afghanistan out of 
business, yet camps still exist in at least a dozen countries. A terrorist 
underworld -- including groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad 
and Jaish-i-Mohammed -- operates in remote jungles and deserts, and 
hides in the centers of large cities.

While the most visible military action is in Afghanistan, America is 
acting elsewhere.

We now have troops in the Philippines helping to train that country's 
armed forces to go after terrorist cells that have executed an 
American and still hold hostages. 

Our soldiers, working with the Bosnian government, seized terrorists 
who were plotting to bomb our embassy. 

Our Navy is patrolling the coast of Africa to block the shipment of 
weapons and the establishment of terrorist camps in Somalia.

My hope is that all nations will heed our call and eliminate the 
terrorist parasites who threaten their countries and our own. 

Many nations are acting forcefully. Pakistan is now cracking down on 
terror, and I admire the strong leadership of President Musharraf. 

(APPLAUSE)

But some governments will be timid in the face of terror. And make 
no mistake about it: If they do not act, America will.

(APPLAUSE)

Our second goal is to prevent regimes that sponsor terror from 
threatening America or our friends and allies with weapons of mass 
destruction.

Some of these regimes have been pretty quiet since September 11, 
but we know their true nature. North Korea is a regime arming with 
missiles and weapons of mass destruction, while starving its citizens.

Iran aggressively pursues these weapons and exports terror, while an 
unelected few repress the Iranian people's hope for freedom.

Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support 
terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax and nerve gas 
and nuclear weapons for over a decade. 

This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands 
of its own citizens, leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their 
dead children. This is a regime that agreed to international inspections 
then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime that has something to 
hide from the civilized world.

States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, 
arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of 
mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. 
They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to 
match their hatred. They could attack our allies or attempt to 
blackmail the United States. In any of these cases, the price of 
indifference would be catastrophic.

We will work closely with our coalition to deny terrorists and their 
state sponsors the materials, technology and expertise to make and 
deliver weapons of mass destruction. 

We will develop and deploy effective missile defenses to protect 
America and our allies from sudden attack. 

(APPLAUSE)

And all nations should know: America will do what is necessary to 
ensure our nation's security.

We'll be deliberate, yet time is not on our side. I will not wait on 
events while dangers gather. I will not stand by as peril draws closer 
and closer. The United States of America will not permit the world's 
most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most 
destructive weapons.

(APPLAUSE)

Our war on terror is well begun, but it is only begun. This campaign 
may not be finished on our watch, yet it must be and it will be waged 
on our watch.

We can't stop short. If we stopped now, leaving terror camps intact 
and terror states unchecked, our sense of security would be false and 
temporary. History has called America and our allies to action, and it 
is both our responsibility and our privilege to fight freedom's fight.

(APPLAUSE)

Our first priority must always be the security of our nation, and that 
will be reflected in the budget I send to Congress. My budget 
supports three great goals for America: We will win this war, we will 
protect our homeland, and we will revive our economy.

September 11 brought out the best in America and the best in this 
Congress, and I join the American people in applauding your unity 
and resolve. 

(APPLAUSE)

Now Americans deserve to have this same spirit directed toward 
addressing problems here at home. 

I am a proud member of my party. Yet as we act to win the war, 
protect our people and create jobs in America, we must act first and 
foremost not as Republicans, not as Democrats, but as Americans.

(APPLAUSE)

It costs a lot to fight this war. We have spent more than a billion 
dollars a month -- over $30 million a day -- and we must be prepared 
for future operations. Afghanistan proved that expensive precision 
weapons defeat the enemy and spare innocent lives, and we need 
more of them. We need to replace aging aircraft and make our 
military more agile to put our troops anywhere in the world quickly 
and safely.

Our men and women in uniform deserve the best weapons, the best 
equipment and the best training and they also deserve another pay 
raise. 

(APPLAUSE)

My budget includes the largest increase in defense spending in two 
decades, because while the price of freedom and security is high, it is 
never too high. Whatever it costs to defend our country, we will pay.

(APPLAUSE)

The next priority of my budget is to do everything possible to protect 
our citizens and strengthen our nation against the ongoing threat of 
another attack. 

Time and distance from the events of September the 11th will not 
make us safer unless we act on its lessons. America is no longer 
protected by vast oceans. We are protected from attack only by 
vigorous action abroad and increased vigilance at home.

My budget nearly doubles funding for a sustained strategy of 
homeland security, focused on four key areas: bioterrorism, 
emergency response, airport and border security, and improved 
intelligence. 

We will develop vaccines to fight anthrax and other deadly diseases. 
We'll increase funding to help states and communities train and equip 
our heroic police and firefighters. 

(APPLAUSE)

We will improve intelligence collection and sharing, expand patrols at 
our borders, strengthen the security of air travel, and use technology 
to track the arrivals and departures of visitors to the United States.

(APPLAUSE)

Homeland security will make America not only stronger but in many 
ways better. Knowledge gained from bioterrorism research will 
improve public health. Stronger police and fire departments will mean 
safer neighborhoods. 

Stricter border enforcement will help combat illegal drugs.

(APPLAUSE)

And as government works to better secure our homeland, America 
will continue to depend on the eyes and ears of alert citizens. 

A few days before Christmas, an airline flight attendant spotted a 
passenger lighting a match. The crew and passengers quickly subdued 
the man, who had been trained by Al Qaeda and was armed with 
explosives. The people on that airplane were alert, and as a result 
likely saved nearly 200 lives. And tonight we welcome and thank flight 
attendants Hermis Moutardier and Christina Jones.

(APPLAUSE)

Once we have funded our national security and our homeland 
security, the final great priority of my budget is economic security for 
the American people. 

(APPLAUSE)

To achieve these great national objectives -- to win the war, protect 
the homeland and revitalize our economy -- our budget will run a 
deficit that will be small and short term so long as Congress restrains 
spending and acts in a fiscally responsible way.

(APPLAUSE)

We have clear priorities and we must act at home with the same 
purpose and resolve we have shown overseas. We will prevail in the 
war, and we will defeat this recession.

(APPLAUSE)

Americans who have lost their jobs need our help, and I support 
extending unemployment benefits and direct assistance for health 
care coverage. 

(APPLAUSE)

Yet American workers want more than unemployment checks. They 
want a steady paycheck. 

(APPLAUSE)

When America works, America prospers, so my economic security 
plan can be summed up in one word: jobs.

(APPLAUSE)

Good jobs begin with good schools, and here we've made a fine start. 

(APPLAUSE) 

Republicans and Democrats worked together to achieve historic 
education reform so that no child is left behind. 

(APPLAUSE)

I was proud to work with members of both parties, Chairman John 
Boehner and Congressman George Miller...

(APPLAUSE)

... Senator Judd Gregg. 

(APPLAUSE)

And I was so proud of our work I even had nice things to say about 
my friend Ted Kennedy. 

(APPLAUSE)

I know the folks at the Crawford coffee shop couldn't believe I'd say 
such a thing. But our work on this bill shows what is possible if we set 
aside posturing and focus on results.

(APPLAUSE)

There's more to do. We need to prepare our children to read and 
succeed in school with improved Head Start and early childhood 
development programs. 

(APPLAUSE)

We must upgrade our teacher colleges and teacher training and 
launch a major recruiting drive with a great goal for America: a quality 
teacher in every classroom.

(APPLAUSE)

Good jobs also depend on reliable and affordable energy. 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.

(APPLAUSE)

Good jobs depend on expanded trade. Selling into new markets 
creates new jobs, so I ask Congress to finally approve trade 
promotion authority. 

(APPLAUSE)

On these two key issues, trade and energy, the House of 
Representatives has acted to create jobs and I urge the Senate to pass 
this legislation.

(APPLAUSE)

Good jobs depend on sound tax policy. Last year, some in this hall 
thought my tax relief plan was too small, some thought it was too big. 

(APPLAUSE)

But when those checks arrived in the mail, most Americans thought 
tax relief was just about right.

(APPLAUSE)

Congress listened to the people and responded by reducing tax rates, 
doubling the child credit and ending the death tax. For the sake of 
long-term growth, and to help Americans plan for the future, let's 
make these tax cuts permanent.

(APPLAUSE)

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.

(APPLAUSE)

Good jobs must be the aim of welfare reform. As we reauthorize 
these important reforms, we must always remember: The goal is to 
reduce dependency on government and offer every American the 
dignity of a job.

(APPLAUSE)

Americans know economic security can vanish in an instant without 
health security. I ask Congress to join me this year to enact a patients' 
bill of rights...

(APPLAUSE)

... to give uninsured workers credits to help buy health coverage,...

(APPLAUSE)

... to approve an historic increase in spending for veterans' health...

(APPLAUSE)

... and to give seniors a sound and modern Medicare system that 
includes coverage for prescription drugs.

(APPLAUSE)

A good jobs -- a good job should lead to security in retirement. I ask 
Congress to enact new safeguards for 401(k) and pension plans.

(APPLAUSE)

Employees who have worked hard and saved all their lives should not 
have to risk losing everything if their company fails. 

(APPLAUSE)

Through stricter accounting standards and tougher disclosure 
requirements, corporate America must be made more accountable to 
employees and shareholders and held to the highest standards of 
conduct.

(APPLAUSE)

Retirement security also depends upon keeping the commitments of 
Social Security, and we will. We must make Social Security financially 
stable and allow personal retirement accounts for younger workers 
who choose them.

(APPLAUSE)

Members, you and I will work together in the months ahead on other 
issues: productive farm policy... 

(APPLAUSE)

... a cleaner environment...

(APPLAUSE)

... broader home ownership, especially among minorities...

(APPLAUSE)

... and ways to encourage the good work of charities and faith- based 
groups. 

(APPLAUSE)

I ask you to join me on these important domestic issues in the same 
spirit of cooperation we have applied to our war against terrorism.

(APPLAUSE)

During these last few months, I've been humbled and privileged to see 
the true character of this country in a time of testing. Our enemies 
believed America was weak and materialistic, that we would splinter 
in fear and selfishness. They were as wrong as they are evil.

(APPLAUSE)

The American people have responded magnificently, with courage 
and compassion, strength and resolve. As I have met the heroes, 
hugged the families and looked into the tired faces of rescuers, I have 
stood in awe of the American people.

And I hope you will join me in expressing thanks to one American for 
the strength and calm and comfort she brings to our nation in crisis: 
our first lady, Laura Bush.

(APPLAUSE)

None of us would ever wish the evil that was done on September the 
11th, yet after America was attacked, it was as if our entire country 
looked into a mirror and saw our better selves. We were reminded 
that we are citizens with obligations to each other, to our country, 
and to history. We began to think less of the goods we can 
accumulate, and more about the good we can do.

For too long our culture has said, "If it feels good, do it." Now 
America is embracing a new ethic and a new creed: "Let's roll." 

(APPLAUSE)

In the sacrifice of soldiers, the fierce brotherhood of firefighters, and 
the bravery and generosity of ordinary citizens, we have glimpsed 
what a new culture of responsibility could look like. We want to be a 
nation that serves goals larger than self. We have been offered a 
unique opportunity, and we must not let this moment pass.

(APPLAUSE)

My call tonight is for every American to commit at least two years -- 
4,000 hours -- over the rest of your lifetime to the service of your 
neighbors and your nation.

(APPLAUSE)

Many are already serving, and I thank you. If you aren't sure how to 
help, I've got a good place to start. To sustain and extend the best that 
has emerged in America, I invite you to join the new USA Freedom 
Corps. The Freedom Corps will focus on three areas of need: 
responding in case of crisis at home, rebuilding our communities, and 
extending American compassion throughout the world.

One purpose of the USA Freedom Corps will be homeland security. 
America needs retired doctors and nurses who can be mobilized in 
major emergencies, volunteers to help police and fire departments, 
transportation and utility workers well trained in spotting danger.

Our country also needs citizens working to rebuild our communities. 
We need mentors to love children, especially children whose parents 
are in prison. And we need more talented teachers in troubled 
schools.
USA Freedom Corps will expand and improve the good efforts of 
AmeriCorps and Senior Corps to recruit more than 200,000 new 
volunteers.

And America needs citizens to extend the compassion of our country 
to every part of the world, so we will renew the promise of the Peace 
Corps, double its volunteers over the next five years...

(APPLAUSE)

... and ask it to join a new effort to encourage development and 
education and opportunity in the Islamic world.

(APPLAUSE)

This time of adversity offers a unique moment of opportunity, a 
moment we must seize to change our culture. Through the gathering 
momentum of millions of acts of service and decency and kindness, I 
know we can overcome evil with greater good.

(APPLAUSE)

And we have a great opportunity during this time of war to lead the 
world toward the values that will bring lasting peace. All fathers and 
mothers, in all societies, want their children to be educated and live 
free from poverty and violence. 

No people on Earth yearn to be oppressed or aspire to servitude or 
eagerly await the midnight knock of the secret police.

If anyone doubts this, let them look to Afghanistan, where the Islamic 
street greeted the fall of tyranny with song and celebration. Let the 
skeptics look to Islam's own rich history, with its centuries of learning 
and tolerance and progress.

America will lead by defending liberty and justice because they are 
right and true and unchanging for all people everywhere. 

(APPLAUSE)

No nation owns these aspirations, and no nation is exempt from 
them. We have no intention of imposing our culture, but America will 
always stand firm for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity: 
the rule of law, limits on the power of the state, respect for women, 
private property, free speech, equal justice and religious tolerance.

(APPLAUSE)

America will take the side of brave men and women who advocate 
these values around the world -- including the Islamic world -- 
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 this moment of opportunity, a common danger is erasing old 
rivalries. America is working with Russia, and China and India in ways 
we never have before to achieve peace and prosperity. In every

region, free markets and free trade and free societies are proving 
their power to lift lives. Together with friends and allies from

Europe to Asia, and Africa to Latin America, we will demonstrate that 
the forces of terror cannot stop the momentum of freedom.

(APPLAUSE)

The last time I spoke here, I expressed the hope that life would 
return to normal. 

In some ways it has. In others it never will. 

Those of us who have lived through these challenging times have been 
changed by them. We've come to know truths that we will never

question: Evil is real, and it must be opposed. 

(APPLAUSE)

Beyond all differences of race or creed, we are one country, 
mourning together and facing danger together. 

Deep in the American character there is honor, and it is stronger 
than cynicism. And many have discovered again that even in tragedy -- 
especially in tragedy -- God is near.

(APPLAUSE)

In a single instant, we realized that this will be a decisive decade in the 
history of liberty; that we have been called to a unique role in human 
events. Rarely has the world faced a choice more clear or 
consequential.

Our enemies send other people's children on missions of suicide and 
murder. They embrace tyranny and death as a cause and a creed. We 
stand for a different choice, made long ago, on the day of our 
founding. We affirm it again today. We choose freedom and the 
dignity of every life.

(APPLAUSE)

Steadfast in our purpose, we now press on. We have known 
freedom's price. We have shown freedom's power. And in this great 
conflict, my fellow Americans, we will see freedom's victory.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you all and may God bless.

(APPLAUSE) 

ENDS

Milan Rai
Joint Coordinator, Voices in the Wilderness UK
milanrai@btinternet.com
29 Gensing Road, St Leonards on Sea East Sussex UK TN38 0HE
Phone/fax 0845 458 9571 local rate within UK
Phone/fax 44 1424 428 792 from outside UK
Pager 07623 746 462
Voices website http://www.viwuk.freeserve.co.uk



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