Evolving State of the Union Address

TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:

Thank you very much. Tonight, I have a high privilege and distinct honor of my own as the first President to begin the State of the Union message with these words: Madam Speaker.

In his day, the late Congressman Thomas D' Alesandro, Jr., from Baltimore, Maryland, saw Presidents Roosevelt and Truman at this rostrum. But nothing could compare with the sight of his only daughter, Nancy, presiding tonight as the first woman to become Speaker of the House of Representatives. Congratulations.  Correct. Well positioned. Great start.  Two members of the House and Senate are not with us tonight at this time, and; we pray for the recovery and speedy return of Senator Tim Johnson and Congressman Charlie Norwood.

Madam Speaker, Vice President Cheney, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:

This rite of custom Constitutional obligation of the Presidency brings us together at a defining hour when decisions are hard and where honesty, humility, and courage is are tested. Willful or negligent errors are violations of the President's Constitutional duties and of his oath of office. Furthermore, courage in the absence of honesty and humility is just ego mania.  We enter the year 2007 with large endeavors underway, and others that are ours to begin. In all of this, much is asked of us. We must have the will to face difficult challenges and determined enemies, both foreign and domestic, potentially including enemies within the highest levels of our own government, and the wisdom to face them together. Contrary to the framers of our Constitution, our President has consistently evaded responsibility for deliberate wrong doing within our own government.

Some in this Chamber are new to the House and Senate and I congratulate the Democratic majority. Congress has changed, but our responsibilities have not, along with the mandates and responsibilities of the electorate. Hello?! Each of us is guided by our own convictions and to these we must stay faithful. Yet we are all held to the same standards, and called to serve the same good purposes: To uphold the Constitution of the United States Where was this president's head when he took his oath of office?,  to extend this Nation's prosperity, to spend the people's money wisely to solve problems, not rather than leave them to future generations, to guard America against all evil preserve separation of church and state The Constitution's "just a goddam piece of paper" to this guy?, and to keep faith with those we have sent forth to defend us by rescuing those pointlessly sent into harm's way under false pretense of National Defense. Clarification added to correct the President's systematic misinterpretation of loyalty to our troops.

We are not the first to come here with government divided and uncertainty in the air. Like many before us, we can work through our differences and achieve big things for the American people. Our citizens don't much care which side of the aisle we sit on as long as we are willing to cross that aisle when there is work to be done. Our job is to make life better for our fellow Americans, and help them to build a future of hope and opportunity and this is the business before us tonight.

The Economy

A future of hope and opportunity begins with a growing economy and that is what we have. We are now in the 41st month of uninterrupted job growth in a recovery that has created 7.2 3.7 million new jobs so far. Reportedly, the net gain after initially losing 3.5 million is 3.7.  Unemployment is low, inflation is low, and but wages are rising falling relative to the overall economy, and through our expansion of the National debt, we are literally selling away our country, indebting our descendents for many generations to come. This economy is on the move and our job is to keep it that way, not with more government but with more enterprise rapidly moving the vast majority of Americans into economic subservience to an ever-shrinking upper class.  This section is in dire need of information provided by Jim Webb's speech.

Next week, I will deliver a full report on the state of our economy. Tonight, I want to discuss three economic reforms that deserve to be priorities for this Congress.

First, contrary to policies pursued in my first six years of office, we must balance the Federal budget. We can do so without raising taxes. What we need to do is impose spending discipline in Washington, D.C.  Far and away the most important example is that we must stop wasting billions on fruitless, ill-conceived military adventures. We set a goal of cutting the deficit in half by 2009 and met that goal 3 years ahead of schedule. Why am I not buying this? Now let us take the next step. In the coming weeks, I will submit a budget that eliminates a five year plan to eliminate Hello?! the Federal deficit within the next 5 years. I ask you to make the same improbable commitment. Together, we can restrain the spending appetite of the Federal Government, and balance the Federal budget.

Next, there is the matter of earmarks. These special interest items are often slipped into bills at the last hour when not even C-SPAN is watching. In 2005 alone, the number of earmarks grew to over 13,000 and totaled nearly $18 billion. Even worse, over 90 percent of earmarks never make it to the floor of the House and Senate; they are dropped into Committee reports that are not even part of the bill that arrives on my desk. You did not vote them into law. I did not sign them into law. Yet they are treated as if they have the force of law. The time has come to end The return of bipartisan control is forcing an end to this practice. Really! So let us work together to reform the budget process, to expose every earmark to the light of day and to a vote in Congress, and cut the number and cost of earmarks at least in half by the end of this session identify those responsible for this Unconstitutional and illegal bypassing of Congressional and Presidential authority, and impose penalties to eliminate incentives for such crimes.  Cutting crime in half is a half-hearted goal.  Restructuring incentives to eliminate the temptation is much better.

Finally, to keep this economy strong we must take on the challenge of entitlements. Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid are commitments of conscience and so it is our duty to keep them permanently sound. Yet we are failing in that duty and this failure will one day leave our children with three bad options: huge tax increases, huge deficits, or huge and immediate cuts in benefits. Everyone in this Chamber knows this to be true yet somehow we have not found it in ourselves to act instead been distracted by partisan attempts to steal Social Security under the guise of privatization. Honestly! So let us work together and do it now. With enough good sense and good will Under threat of disgrace and possible impeachment, and with your unearned good will, you and I can fix Medicare and Medicaid and save Social Security.

Education

Spreading opportunity and hope in America also requires public schools that give children the knowledge, intellectual abilities, wisdom, and character they need in life. Five years ago, we rose above partisan differences to pass the No Child Left Behind Act preserving local control, raising standards in public schools, and holding those schools accountable for results. And because we acted, students are performing better in reading and math, and minority students are closing the achievement gap the entire educational process is now biased towards artificial testing goals that compete with higher goals of imparting knowledge and developing intellect, wisdom, and character — with a resulting serious decline in the overall utility of the American educational process. This section is in dire need of help from actual teachers in the field who see first hand what has been going on.  I do know that teaching is a science where naive intuition is often off base.

Now the task is to build on this success recover from this blunder without watering down standards abandoning the goal of objective measurement, without taking control from while returning control to local communities, and without backsliding and calling it reform whitewashing initial failures at reform. We can lift student achievement even higher by giving local leaders flexibility to turn around failing schools and by giving families with children stuck in failing schools the right to choose something better. We must increase funds for students who struggle and make sure these children get the special help they need. And we can make sure our children are prepared for the jobs of the future, and our country is more competitive, by strengthening math and science skills emphasizing age-appropriate developmental skills that produce the intelligence, character, and creativity to face new technical and leadership challenges. The No Child Left Behind Act is an evolving disaster has worked for Americas children and I ask Congress torethink and rework reauthorize this seriously flawed good law.

Healthcare

A future of hope and opportunity requires that all our citizens have affordable and available health care. When it comes to health care, government has an obligation to care for the elderly, the disabled, and poor children. We will meet those responsibilities. For all other Americans, private health insurance is the best way to meet their needs. But many other Americans cannot afford a health insurance policy, and even those who can are paying top dollar for a healthcare system that lags behind that of other developed nations. American health professionals are well informed as to these unfortunate facts, who was the President covering for here?

Tonight, I propose two new initiatives to help more Americans afford their own insurance. First, I propose a standard tax deduction for health insurance that will be like the standard tax deduction for dependents. Bluntly, the President's first initiative was to just follow the money! Families with health insurance will pay no income or payroll taxes on $15,000 of their income. Single Americans with health insurance will pay no income or payroll taxes on $7,500 of their income. With this reform, more than 100 million men, women, and children who are now covered by employer-provided insurance will benefit from lower tax bills. Just force us all into a system of proven waste! First, I propose that Congress learn why other nations have superior healthcare systems and create legislation that will bring ours in line with these more successful nations. There are great technical as well as financial issues here, beginning with the distinction between medicine and healthcare.  Today, our health technology is still much better at treating disease or the symptoms of disease than it is in maintaining health in the first place.

At the same time, this reform will level the playing field for those who do not get health insurance through their job. For Americans who now purchase health insurance on their own, my proposal would mean a substantial tax savings $4,500 for a family of four making $60,000 a year. And for the millions of other Americans who have no health insurance at all, this deduction would help put a basic private health insurance plan within their reach. Changing the tax code is a vital and necessary step to making health care affordable for more Americans.

My second proposal is to help the States that are coming up with innovative ways to cover the uninsured. States that make basic private health insurance available to all their citizens should receive Federal funds to help them provide this coverage to the poor and the sick. I have asked the Secretary of Health and Human Services to work with Congress to take existing Federal funds and use them to create Affordable Choices grants. These grants would give our Nations Governors more money and more flexibility to get private health insurance to those most in need. Good.

There are many other ways that Congress can help. We need to expand Health Savings Accounts, help small businesses through Association Health Plans, reduce costs and medical errors with better information technology, encourage price transparency, and protect good doctors from junk lawsuits by passing fair medical liability reform. And in all we do, we must remember that the best health care decisions are made not by government and insurance companies, but by patients and their doctors. The devil is in the details.

Immigration

Extending hope and opportunity in our country requires an immigration system worthy of America with laws that are fair and borders that are secure. When laws and borders are routinely violated, this harms the interests of our country. To secure our border, we are doubling the size of the Border Patrol and funding new infrastructure and technology.

Yet even with all these steps, we cannot fully secure the border unless we take pressure off the border and that requires a temporary worker program. We should establish a legal and orderly path for foreign workers to enter our country to work on a temporary basis. As a result, they won't have to try to sneak in and that will leave border agents free to chase down drug smugglers, and criminals, and terrorists. We will enforce our immigration laws at the worksite, and give employers the tools to verify the legal status of their workers so there is no excuse left for violating the law. without pressing employers into police work, and without sacrificing traditional employee freedoms.  We need to uphold the great tradition of the melting pot that welcomes and assimilates new arrivals. And we need to resolve the status of the illegal immigrants who are already in our country without animosity and without amnesty.

Convictions run deep in this Capitol when it comes to immigration. Let us have a serious, civil, and conclusive debate so that you can pass, and I can sign, comprehensive immigration reform into law.

Energy and Global Warming

Extending hope and opportunity depends on a stable supply of energy that keeps America's economy running and America's environment clean. For too long our Nation has been the primary contributor to global warming, largely due to artificial dependencies dependent on foreign oil. And this dependence leaves us more vulnerable, not only to the devastating effects of global warming, but to hostile regimes, and to terrorists who could cause huge disruptions of oil shipments, raise the price of oil, and thereby do great harm to our economy.

It is in our vital interest to conserve and diversify America's energy supply, and the way forward is through technology responsible governance. We must continue changing the way America generates electric power by through even greater near-term use of clean coal technology, and long-term transition to solar, geothermal, and wind energy and clean, safe nuclear power At this point, the only plausible way of avoiding nuclear holocaust is to globally outlaw all large-scale uses of fissionable materials. We need to press on with battery research for plug-in and hybrid vehicles, and expand the use of clean diesel vehicles and biodiesel fuel. We must continue investing in new methods of producing ethanol using everything from wood chips, to grasses, to agricultural wastes.  Above all, we must provide price structures consistent with the true costs of production methods that ruin the environment and contribute to hostile foreign interests.

We have made a lot of progress, thanks to good despite policies in Washington and the strong response of the market that seriously interfere with market response.  Documenting links needed. Now even far more dramatic advances are within reach required. Tonight, I ask Congress to join me in pursuing a great goal responding to compelling new evidence regarding the devastating impact of global warming. Let us build on the work we have done and craft a program to eliminate fossil-source gasoline within twenty years.  As near-term goal, let us reduce fossil-source gasoline usage in the United States by 20 percent in the next 5 10 years, thereby cutting and cut our total fossil-fuel imports by the equivalent of 3/4 of all the oil we now import from the Middle East , and move towards meeting 80% of our energy needs from renewable resources.

To reach this goal, we must increase the supply of alternative fuels, by setting a mandatory Fuels Standard to require 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels in 2017 2012. This is nearly 5 times far exceeds the current target. At the same time, we need to reform and modernize fuel economy standards for cars the way we did for light trucks and conserve up to 8.5 billion more gallons of gasoline by 2017 2012.

Achieving these ambitious goals will dramatically reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but will not eliminate it. So As we continue to diversify our fuel supply In the near term, we must also step up domestic oil production in environmentally sensitive ways, most notably through exploitation of our oil shale reserves. And to further protect America against severe disruptions to our oil supply, I ask Congress to double the current capacity of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. More evidence that our President is a slave to oil money!

America is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that will enable us to live our lives less dependent on oil without relying on oil for energy production. These technologies will help us become better stewards of the environment and they will help us to confront the serious challenge of global climate change warming.

With global warming, there is the ever increasing threat of weather-related disaster, as in the case of Hurricane Katrina. A topic conspicuously absent from the draft speech delivered by the President.  We have much to learn from that disaster and from our government's continuing failure to provide adequate aid to its victims.

Terrorism

A future of hope and opportunity requires a fair, impartial system of justice. The lives of citizens across our Nation are affected by the outcome of cases pending in our Federal courts. And we have a shared obligation to ensure that the Federal courts have enough judges to hear those cases and deliver timely rulings. As President, I have a duty to nominate qualified men and women to vacancies on the Federal bench. And the United States Senate has a duty as well to give those nominees a fair hearing, and a prompt up-or-down vote on the Senate floor. This rambling section needs a lot of work. Key points from Webb's speech are needed, as is a really strong stomach!

For all of us in this room, there is no higher responsibility than to protect the people and institutions of this country from danger. Security is impossible without first understanding what needs protection. A definitive enumeration of National assets requiring protection can be obtained from analysis of the Hart-Rudman Report. Five years have come and gone since we saw the scenes and felt the sorrow that terrorists can cause, and yet today the truth behind the molten rivers of iron left in the wreckage of the World Trade Center remain shrouded in government secrecy. We have Our government has had time but not the integrity to take stock of our situation. We have added many critical purported protections to guard the homeland. And But we know with certainty that the horrors of that September morning were just a glimpse of what the terrorists intend for us unless we stop them are in no way explained or redressed by official government stories and responses.

With the distance of time, we find ourselves debating the causes of conflict and the course we have followed. Such debates are essential when a great democracy faces great questions. Yet one question has surely been settled that to win the war on terror we must take the fight to the enemy.  Many of us have believed that we can win the war on terror simply by waging war on the terrorists, but our military data conclusively shows that such methods have so far been creating terrorists faster than they are eliminating them. Emphatic assertion does not erase hard evidence of false beliefs.

From the start Throughout my presidency, America and our allies I have protected sought to protect our people by staying on the offense. Although the enemy knows that the days of finds that comfortable sanctuary, easy movement, steady financing, and free-flowing communications are long over more challenging than in the past, recruiting of new terrorists is at an all time high, due to the immense hostility generated by our military and political tactics.  And at the same time, we have earned world-wide condemnation for disregarding time honored principles of justice and prohibitions against cruel and inhuman treatment.  For the terrorists, life since 9/11 has never been the same. Talk about twisted pictures!

Our success in this war is often measured by the things that did not happen. We cannot know the full extent of the attacks that we and our allies have prevented but here is some of what we do know: We stopped an al Qaeda plot to fly a hijacked airplane into the tallest building on the West Coast. We broke up a Southeast Asian terrorist cell grooming operatives for attacks inside the United States. We uncovered an al Qaeda cell developing anthrax to be used in attacks against America. And just last August, British authorities uncovered a plot to blow up passenger planes bound for America over the Atlantic Ocean. For each life saved, we owe a debt of gratitude to the brave public servants who devote their lives to finding the terrorists and stopping them.  It's hard to know how much of this is real, especially given the President's habit of implicitly declassifying selected evidence by quoting or misquoting from it.

Every perceived success against the terrorists is a reminder of the shoreless ambitions of this enemy. The bolsters our ability to displace blame for the evil that inspired and rejoiced in 9/11.  But the forces behind the controlled demolition of World Trade Center Building 7 are is still at work in the world. And so long as that is the case, America is still a Nation at war and under active attack, even by its own government. This paragraph needs to be reworked to avoid culture shock for those not familiar with the actual facts of 9/11.

In the minds of the terrorists, both foreign and domestic, this war began well before September 11, and will not end until their radical vision is visions are fulfilled. And these past 5 years have given us a much clearer view of the nature of seen a great over simplification, exportation, and demonization of this enemy. They are portrayed as Al Qaeda and its followers, are Sunni extremists, possessed by hatred and commanded by a harsh and narrow ideology. Take almost any principle of civilization, and their goal is the opposite. Unfortunately, power and domination are all to common traits of current and past civilizations. Like our own covert operatives, foreign terrorists also they preach with threats, instruct with torture, bullets and bombs, and promise moral gratification or even paradise for the murder of the innocent.

Our enemies, including those within our own government, are quite explicit about their intentions. They want to overthrow rational, constitutional moderate governments and establish safe havens from which to plan and carry out new attacks on our Constitution, our country, our way of life, our historic National identity. They know our supposedly free country has more jailed citizens than any other, and they like it that way.  By killing, torturing, condemning, imprisoning, and otherwise terrorizing Americans, they want to force our country to retreat from the world and abandon the cause of liberty. They would then be free to impose their will and spread their totalitarian ideology. Before 9/11, Carl Rove and Vice President Cheney declared that we need another Pearl Harbor. Reference needed. The long-term response has been far worse than they imagined.  Listen to this warning from The late terrorist Zarqawi railed: We will sacrifice our blood and bodies to put an end to your dreams, and what is coming is even worse. And Osama bin Laden declared: Death is better than living on this Earth with the unbelievers among us.

These men are not given to idle words, and they are just one of the feuding camps camp in the Islamist radical movements. In recent times, it has also become clear that we face an escalating danger from Shia extremists who are just as hostile to America, and are also determined to dominate the Middle East. Many are known to accept help take direction from the regime in Iran, which is funding and arming terrorists like Hezbollah, a group second only to al Qaeda in the American lives it has taken.  And just to round out the threats, the very day of this address, high ranking officials from my administration have begun trading courtroom accusations of acts tantamount to treason.

In an all out effort to inflame simplistic hatred, this administration portrays the Shia and Sunni extremists are as different faces of the same totalitarian threat despite the fact that they mostly kill each other. But whatever slogans they chant and whatever allegations we make, it is natural to assume that, when they people torture and slaughter the innocent, they have the same wicked purposes. They want to kill Americans, kill democracy in the Middle East, and gain the weapons to kill on an even more horrific scale. Working in unholy collusion with such folk, the American intervention in Iraq has managed to destroy upwards of half a million mostly innocent men, women, and children since the beginning of the current Iraq invasion. [cf The Lancet]

In the 6th year since our Nation was attacked, I wish I could report to you that the dangers have ended. They have not worsened instead. And so it remains After world wide condemnation by human rights groups and under direction of the Supreme Court, it is now the policy of this Government to use, at an absolute minimum, every lawful and proper tool of intelligence, diplomacy, law enforcement, and military action to do our duty, to find these purported enemies, and to protect under the pretense of protecting the American people.

Our war on terror This war is more than a clash of arms it is a decisive ideological struggle right here within our own borders, and the security of our Nation is in the balance. To prevail, we neocons must claim to remove the conditions that inspired blind hatred, and drove 19 men to get onto airplanes and come to kill us. What we and every other terrorist fears most is human freedom free societies where men and women make their own choices, answer to their own conscience, and live by their hopes instead of their resentments. Free people are not drawn to violent and malignant ideologies and most will choose a better way when they are given a chance. So we neocons advance our own security their interests by war fraud, under the pretense of helping moderates, reformers, and brave voices for democracy. The great question of our day is whether America will again help men and women in the Middle East to build free societies and share in the rights of all humanity. And I say, for the sake of our own security we must. 

America's Declining Role in World Affairs

In the last 2 years, we have seen the desire for liberation from American occupation in Iraq and for liberty in the broader Middle East, and we have been sobered by our government's counterproductive the enemy's fierce reaction. In 2005, the world watched as the citizens of Lebanon raised the banner of the Cedar Revolution, drove out the Syrian occupiers, and chose new leaders in free elections. In 2005, the people of Afghanistan defied the terrorists and elected a democratic legislature. And in 2005, the Iraqi people held three national elections, choosing a transitional government adopting the most progressive, democratic constitution in the Arab world and then electing a government under that constitution. Despite endless threats from the killers in their midst, nearly 12 million Iraqi citizens came out to vote in a show of hope and solidarity we should never forget.

A thinking enemy watched all of these scenes, adjusted their tactics, and in 2006 they struck back. In Lebanon, assassins took the life of Pierre Gemayel, a prominent participant in the Cedar Revolution. And Hezbollah terrorists, with support from Syria and Iran, sowed conflict in the region and are seeking to undermine Lebanon's legitimately elected government. In Afghanistan, Taliban and al Qaeda fighters tried to regain power by regrouping and engaging Afghan and NATO forces. In Iraq, al Qaeda and other Sunni extremists blew up one of the most sacred places in Shia Islam, the Golden Mosque of Samarra. This atrocity, directed at a Muslim house of prayer, was designed to provoke retaliation from Iraqi Shia, and it succeeded. Radical Shia elements, some of whom receive support from Iran, formed death squads. The result was a tragic escalation of sectarian rage and reprisal that continues to this day.

This is not the fight we entered in Iraq, nor is it a fight that Congress has authorized us to engage in, but it is the fight we are in. Every one of us wishes that this war were over and won. Yet it would not be like us to we have seen Halliburton and other war profiteers repeatedly leave our promises unkept, our friends abandoned, and our own security at risk. Ladies and gentlemen: Over the entire course of the Iraq invasion, we have only managed to secure one small "green" zone in Baghdad about the size of Central Park in New York.  We have no sure plan for securing the capital city of this small country about twice the size of Idaho.  On this day, at this hour, it is still within our power to shape the outcome of this battle. So let us find our resolve, and turn events toward victory and return to the path of sanity. 

Without authorization from Congress, contrary to the expressed will of the American people, and against the advice of competent generals, I have proposed We are carrying out a new an escalation of our current strategy in Iraq, a plan that demands more from Iraq's elected government, and gives our forces in Iraq the reinforcements they need to complete their mission. Our My purported goal is continues to be a democratic Iraq that upholds the rule of law, respects the rights of its people, provides them security, and is an ally in the war on terror.

In order to make progress toward this goal, the Iraqi government must stop the sectarian violence in its capital. But the And most Iraqis are not yet claim to be ready to do this on their own. So Despite all indications to the contrary, we are I am deploying reinforcements of more than 20,000 additional soldiers and Marines to Iraq. The vast majority will go to Baghdad, where they will help Iraqi forces to clear and secure neighborhoods and serve as Iraqi advisers embedded in Iraqi Army units police stations and other poorly protected urban encampments. With Iraqis in the lead, our these exposed forces will are to help secure the city by chasing down suspected terrorists, insurgents, and roaming death squads, along with innocent civilians caught in the war. And in Anbar province where al Qaeda terrorists have gathered and local forces have begun showing a willingness to fight them, we are sending an additional 4,000 United States Marines, with orders to find the terrorists and clear them out, assuming they are too stupid to know we're coming. We did not drive al Qaeda out of their safe haven in Afghanistan only to let them set up a new safe haven in a free Iraq Anbar. Correction for logical consistency

The people of Iraq want to live in peace, and now is the time for their government to act. Iraq's leaders know that our commitment is not open ended. They have promised under duress to deploy more of their own troops to secure Baghdad and they must do so. They have pledged that they will confront violent radicals of any faction or political party. They need to follow through, and lift needless restrictions on Iraqi and Coalition forces, so these troops can achieve their mission of bringing security to all of the people of Baghdad. Iraq's leaders have committed themselves to a series of benchmarks to achieve reconciliation, to share oil revenues among all of Iraq's citizens, to put the wealth of Iraq into the rebuilding of Iraq, to allow more Iraqis to re-enter their nations civic life, to hold local elections, and to take responsibility for security in every Iraqi province. But for all of this to happen, Baghdad all of Iraq must be secured. And our plan will help the Iraqi government take back its capital and make good on its commitments.

My fellow citizens, our military commanders and I have carefully weighed the options. We discussed every possible approach. In the end, I chose this course of action because it provides the best chance of success. Many in this Chamber understand that America must not fail in Iraq because has irretrievably failed in Iraq, and you understand that the consequences of failure would will be grievous and far reaching. 

Thanks to our destabilization of Iraq, indeed of the entire region, If American forces step back before Baghdad is secure, the Iraqi government would be and its people are being overrun by extremists on all sides.  We could expect an epic battle between Shia extremists backed by Iran, and Sunni extremists aided by al Qaeda and supporters of the old regime. A contagion of violence could spill out across the country and in time the entire region could be drawn into the conflict.  We can nurse our egos by imagining that we are preventing scenarios far worse scenarios than those we have already caused, or we can admit error and stop making things worse. 

For America, this is a these are nightmare scenarios. For the enemy, this is the objective. Chaos is their greatest ally in this struggle. And out of chaos in Iraq would emerge an emboldened enemy with new safe havens new recruits new resources and an even greater determination to harm America. To allow this to happen would be to ignore the lessons of September 11 and invite tragedy.  But And ladies and gentlemen, nothing is more important to this administration at this moment in our history than for America to succeed in the Middle East to succeed in Iraq and to spare the American people from this danger avoiding the humiliation of accepting reality.

This is where matters stand tonight, in the here and now. I have spoken with many of you in person. I respect you and the arguments you have made. We went into this largely united in our assumptions, and in our convictions. And whatever you voted for, you did not vote for failure. Our country is I am pursuing a new strategy of escalation in Iraq, and I ask you to give it a chance to work. And I ask you to support our troops in the field and those on their way ignore the obvious and pretend that it can work.

The war on terror we fight today is a generational struggle that will continue long after you and I have turned our duties over to others. That is why it is important to work together so our Nation can see this great effort through. Both parties and both branches should work in close consultation. And this is why I propose to establish a special advisory council on the war on terror, made up of leaders in Congress from both political parties. We will share ideas for how to position America to meet every challenge that confronts us. And we will show our enemies abroad that we are united in the goal of victory.

One of the first steps we can take together is to add to the ranks of our military so that the American Armed Forces are ready for all the challenges ahead. Tonight, I ask the Congress to authorize an increase in the size of our active Army and Marine Corps by 92,000 in the next 5 years. A second task we can take on together is to design and establish a volunteer Civilian Reserve Corps. Such a corps would function much like our military reserve. It would ease the burden on the Armed Forces by allowing us to hire civilians with critical skills to serve on missions abroad when America needs them. And it would give people across America who do not wear the uniform a chance to serve in the defining struggle of our time.  Basically, it's the neocon answer to the Peace Core, in effect, a War Core. This paragraph appears to be in the wrong section.

Americans can have confidence in the outcome of this struggle because we are not in this struggle alone. We have a diplomatic strategy that is rallying the world to join in the fight against extremism according to a new BBC pole has caused a precipitous world decline in respect for America. Fortunately, other countries and multinational institutions are filling the gap vacated by our leadership.  In Iraq, multinational forces are operating under a mandate from the United Nations. and we are working with Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the Gulf States are including us in their efforts to increase support for Iraq's government. The United Nations has imposed sanctions on Iran, and made it clear that the world will not allow the regime in Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons. We are now part of a With the other members of the Quartet that includes the U.N., the European Union, and Russia — we are pursuing diplomacy to help bring peace to the Holy Land, and pursuing the establishment of a democratic Palestinian state living side-by-side with Israel in peace and security. In Afghanistan, NATO has taken the lead in turning back the Taliban and al Qaeda offensive — the first time the Alliance has deployed forces outside the North Atlantic area. Together with our partners in Joining with China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea, we are pursuing intensive diplomacy to achieve a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons. And our honorable citizenry we will continue to speak out for the cause of freedom in places like Cuba, Belarus, and Burma and continue to awaken the conscience of the world to save the people of Darfur.

Concluding Remarks

American foreign policy is more than a matter of war and diplomacy. Our work in the world is also based on a timeless truth: To whom much is given, much is required. We hear the call to take on the challenges of hunger, poverty, and disease and that is precisely what America is doing. We must continue to fight HIV/AIDS, especially on the continent of Africa and because you funded our Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the number of people receiving life-saving drugs has grown from 50,000 to more than 800,000 in 3 short years. I ask you to continue funding our efforts to fight HIV/AIDS. I ask you to provide $1.2 billion over 5 years so we can combat malaria in 15 African countries. I ask that you fund the Millennium Challenge Account, so that American aid reaches the people who need it, in nations where democracy is on the rise and corruption is in retreat. And let us continue to support the expanded trade and debt relief that are the best hope for lifting lives and eliminating poverty.

When America serves others in this way, we show the strength and generosity of our country. These deeds reflect the character of our people. The greatest strength we have is the heroic kindness, courage, and self-sacrifice of the American people. You see this spirit often if you know where to look and tonight we need only look above to the gallery.

Dikembe Mutombo grew up in Africa, amid great poverty and disease. He came to Georgetown University on a scholarship to study medicine but Coach John Thompson got a look at Dikembe and had a different idea. Dikembe became a star in the NBA, and a citizen of the United States. But he never forgot the land of his birth or the duty to share his blessings with others. He has built a brand new hospital in his hometown. A friend has said of this good-hearted man: Mutombo believes that God has given him this opportunity to do great things. And we are proud to call this son of the Congo our fellow American.

After her daughter was born, Julie Aigner-Clark searched for ways to share her love of music and art with her child. So she borrowed some equipment, and began filming childrens videos in her basement. The Baby Einstein Company was born and in just 5 years her business grew to more than $20 million in sales. In November 2001, Julie sold Baby Einstein to the Walt Disney Company, and with her help Baby Einstein has grown into a $200 million business. Julie represents the great enterprising spirit of America. And she is using her success to help others producing child safety videos with John Walsh of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Julie says of her new project: I believe its the most important thing that Ive ever done. I believe that children have the right to live in a world that is safe. We are pleased to welcome this talented business entrepreneur and generous social entrepreneur Julie Aigner-Clark.

Three weeks ago, Wesley Autrey was waiting at a Harlem subway station with his two little girls, when he saw a man fall into the path of a train. With seconds to act, Wesley jumped onto the tracks pulled the man into a space between the rails and held him as the train passed right above their heads. He insists hes not a hero. Wesley says: We got guys and girls overseas dying for us to have our freedoms. We got to show each other some love. There is something wonderful about a country that produces a brave and humble man like Wesley Autrey.

Tommy Rieman was a teenager pumping gas in Independence, Kentucky, when he enlisted in the United States Army. In December 2003, he was on a reconnaissance mission in Iraq when his team came under heavy enemy fire. From his Humvee, Sergeant Rieman returned fire and used his body as a shield to protect his gunner. He was shot in the chest and arm, and received shrapnel wounds to his legs yet he refused medical attention, and stayed in the fight. He helped to repel a second attack, firing grenades at the enemys position. For his exceptional courage, Sergeant Rieman was awarded the Silver Star. And like so many other Americans who have volunteered to defend us, he has earned the respect and gratitude of our whole country.

In such courage and compassion, ladies and gentlemen, we see the spirit and character of America and these qualities are not in short supply. This is a decent and honorable country and resilient, too. We have been through a lot together.

We have met identified challenges and faced compounded dangers, and we know that more lie ahead. Yet we can go forward with confidence because the State of our Union is strong our cause in the world is right and tonight that cause goes on.

Thank you.