Bush calls on country to sustain anti-terrorism
| • | Analysis: President addresses 'true scope of the task ahead' |
| • | Hawai'i's delegation likes tone of union address |
| • | Full text of the State of the Union address |
By Ron Fournier
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Bush said yesterday that tens of thousands of terrorists still threaten America — "ticking time bombs, set to go off" — and unveiled his plans to hunt them across the globe. He pledged a battle of equal vigor to revive the nation's ailing economy.
Associated Press
"We will prevail in war, and we will defeat this recession," Bush said. In his first State of the Union address to Congress and the nation, the president fleshed out his vision for the war on terrorism beyond Afghanistan — to a dozen countries that he said harbor terrorists and "an axis of evil" of three more that seek weapons of mass destruction.
President Bush elaborated on the war on terrorism and plans to revive the economy in his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress yesterday. Vice President Dick Cheney looked on from behind him.
He urged Congress to pass his tax-cutting economic package and challenged Americans to commit two years or 4,000 hours to community service in an effort to tap the surge in patriotism since the Sept. 11 attacks.
"We can overcome evil with greater good," the president said.
Amid extraordinary security, leaders of the congressional, judicial and executive branches gathered beneath the same Capitol dome that officials believe was targeted during the attacks on Washington and New York.
Dick Cheney, who has spent many nights in undisclosed locations because of security precautions, took the vice president's traditional place on the rostrum behind the president during the speech.
Democrats, responding to Bush, sought to show unity on the war while reinforcing differences on domestic policy.
House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt's words for terrorists were similar to Bush's: "Make no mistake about it: We are going to hunt you down and make you pay."
But he also challenged GOP positions on Social Security, taxes and health care. And he mentioned Enron Corp., the Texas-based company linked to Bush that collapsed with the life savings of many workers.
Bush, outlining his post-Afghanistan battle plans, vowed to unearth "a terrorist underworld" existing in a dozen countries, including the Philippines, Bosnia and Somalia. He said nations will be given a chance to wipe out terrorists themselves, and the United States is willing to assist their efforts.
But, he warned: "If they do not act, America will."
In his strongest terms yet, Bush called North Korea, Iraq and Iran part of an "axis of evil," warning that their pursuit of weapons of mass destruction will not be tolerated.
"I will not wait on events, while dangers gather. I will not stand by, as peril draws closer," 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."
The nation's 43rd president addressed Americans with a degree of national unity conferred on no other chief executive since Franklin D. Roosevelt. In polls, more than 80 percent of Americans say they approve of his performance.
In stark terms, the president said intelligence gathered during the rout of Taliban and al-Qaida forces in Afghanistan demonstrated the threat still facing America. He said the U.S. forces found diagrams of American nuclear power plants and public water facilities, detailed instructions for making chemical weapons, surveillance maps of U.S. cities and descriptions of landmarks.
"What we have found in Afghanistan confirms that — far from ending there — our war against terror is only beginning," the commander in chief said.
The 19 suicide hijackers who steered planes toward Washington and New York were a tiny fraction of the tens of thousands of terrorists trained in Afghanistan, Bush said. White House officials said 100,000 terrorists were trained in Afghanistan since 1979. Some 15,000 al-Qaida fighters were trained in Afghanistan since the mid-1990s.
These terrorists "are now spread throughout the world like ticking time bombs — set to go off without warning," Bush said.
The U.S. military is spending $30 million a day to fight terrorism, and more is needed, Bush said. He asked Congress to increase Pentagon spending by nearly $50 billion.
He also proposed a doubling — to $38 billion — of spending on intelligence, military, border security, local emergency response programs and other homeland security activities.
In the gallery, first lady Laura Bush was joined by several guests in her VIP box high, including Teamsters president James P. Hoffa and interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai
Also in the audience as guests of Bush: Shannon Spann, the widow of CIA officer Johnny Michael Spann, who was killed in Afghanistan, and Christina Jones and Hermis Moutardier, flight attendants credited with thwarting the alleged shoe bomber.
Bush praised Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike for their support of the war, but jabbed at Democrats who are challenging his domestic agenda.
"Now Americans deserve to have this same spirit directed toward addressing the problems here at home," he said.
In his remarks, Gephardt criticized GOP positions on Social Security, taxes and health care. And he mentioned Enron Corp., the Texas-based company linked to Bush that collapsed with the life savings of many workers.
"Our values call for helping the unemployed — not just large corporations and the most fortunate," Gephardt said.
Bush did not mention the energy-trading company, but asked Congress to enact pension reform and require more financial disclosure from companies. "Corporate America must be made more accountable to employees and shareholders and held to the highest standards of conduct," Bush said.
The measured response to Enron's collapse reflects concern in the White House that voters view Bush and Republicans as more sympathetic to big business than to average Americans.
On domestic policy, Bush proposed expanding the national service program founded by former President Clinton to enlist Americans in community service, homeland defense and other community activities. The Peace Corps would double its volunteers in five years, under Bush's plan.
He conceded the federal budget will run a deficit for the first time in four years, but said it will be "small and short term" if Congress holds down spending.
He asked lawmakers to back his education, trade and tax policies to promote jobs, and embrace his welfare, health care, farm and environmental initiatives. With the address dominated by talk of war and recession, he offered no details on the policies.
American foreign policy would be reshaped to emphasize 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."
"No nation owns these aspirations, and no nation is exempt from them," Bush said.
Many U.S. allies fall short of the standards, including China and Russia, but aides said Bush realizes it will take time to shift deeply rooted attitudes.
"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," Bush said.
