President Delivers "State of the Union"
The U.S. Capitol
9:01 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: 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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.) We will confront
them with focus and clarity and courage.
During the last two 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. (Applause.) 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. (Applause.) To insist on integrity in
American business we passed tough reforms, and we are holding corporate
criminals to account. (Applause.)
Some might call this a good record; I call it a good start.
Tonight I ask the House and 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. (Applause.)
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."
(Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
I am proposing that all the income tax reductions set for 2004 and
2006 be made permanent and effective this year. (Applause.) And under
my plan, as soon as I sign the bill, this extra money will start
showing up in workers' paychecks. Instead of gradually reducing the
marriage penalty, we should do it now. (Applause.) Instead of slowly
raising the child credit to $1,000, we should send the checks to
American families now. (Applause.)
The tax relief is for everyone who pays income taxes -- and it
will help our economy immediately: 92 million Americans will keep,
this year, an average of almost $1,000 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. (Applause.) 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 three, or five, or seven years from now, it is even better
for Americans today. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.) To boost
investor confidence, and to help the nearly 10 million senior who
receive dividend income, I ask you to end the unfair double taxation of
dividends. (Applause.)
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, D.C. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
A growing economy and a focus on essential priorities will also 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. (Applause.)
Our second goal is high quality, affordable health care for all
Americans. (Applause.) 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 coverage at all. These problems will not be
solved with a nationalized health care system that dictates coverage
and rations care. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.) Instead
of bureaucrats and trial lawyers and HMOs, we must put doctors and
nurses and patients back in charge of American medicine. (Applause.)
Health care reform must begin with Medicare; Medicare is the
binding commitment of a caring society. (Applause.) 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. (Applause.) 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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.) 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. (Applause.)
Our third goal is to promote energy independence for our country,
while dramatically improving the environment. (Applause.) 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. (Applause.) I have sent you Clear Skies legislation that
mandates a 70-percent cut in air pollution from power plants over the
next 15 years. (Applause.) 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 forest. (Applause.)
I urge you to pass these measures, for the good of both our
environment and our economy. (Applause.) 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. (Applause.)
A single 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. (Applause.)
Join me in this important innovation to make our air significantly
cleaner, and our country much less dependent on foreign sources of
energy. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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 anti-drug 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 three years. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.) 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. (Applause.)
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 liberate an oppressed people. And we
will continue helping them secure their country, rebuild their society,
and educate all their children -- boys and girls. (Applause.) In
the Middle East, we will continue to seek peace between a secure Israel
and a democratic Palestine. (Applause.) 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 this 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. (Applause.)
AIDS can be prevented. Anti-retroviral 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. (Applause.)
I ask the Congress to commit $15 billion over the next five years,
including nearly $10 billion in new money, to turn the tide against
AIDS in the most afflicted nations of Africa and the Caribbean.
(Applause.)
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 man-made evil of international terrorism.
(Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
To date, we've arrested or otherwise dealt with many key commanders
of al Qaeda. They include a man who directed logistics and funding for
the September the 11th attacks; the chief of al Qaeda operations in the
Persian Gulf, who planned the bombings of our embassies in East Africa
and the USS Cole; an al Qaeda operations chief from Southeast Asia; a
former director of al Qaeda's training camps in Afghanistan; a key al
Qaeda operative in Europe; a major al Qaeda 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. (Applause.)
We are working closely with other nations to prevent further
attacks. America and coalition countries have uncovered and stopped
terrorist conspiracies targeting the American embassy in Yemen, the
American embassy in Singapore, a Saudi military base, ships in the
Straits of Hormuz and the Straits the Gibraltar. We've broken al Qaeda
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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 Bioshield. 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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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.
(Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.) Whatever action is
required, whenever action is necessary, I will defend the freedom and
security of the American people. (Applause.)
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.
(Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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.
(Applause.) The North Korean regime will find respect in the world and
revival for its people only when it turns away from its nuclear
ambitions. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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 three 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 hadn'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 America 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 Qaeda. 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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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
catalogued 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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.) And the day he and his regime are
removed from power will be the day of your liberation. (Applause.)
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.
(Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
Many challenges, abroad and at home, have arrived in a single
season. In two 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.
(Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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