In his final State of the Union address last night, President Bush called on Congress to overcome election-year politics and impose fiscal discipline, prevent the economy from slipping into recession and bolster national security.
“We have unfinished business before us, and the American people expect us to get it done,” Mr. Bush said.
“Let us show them that Republicans and Democrats can compete for votes and cooperate for results at the same time,” he said in one of the few moments that prompted applause from both Democrats and Republicans in the packed chamber.
In a move the White House called “unprecedented,” Mr. Bush announced a crackdown on “pork-barrel” spending, specifically taking aim at a procedure that lets lawmakers secretly add pet projects to the budget. He also several times threatened vetoes if Congress overspends.
“The people’s trust in their government is undermined by congressional earmarks,” Mr. Bush said during the 53-minute speech.
Mr. Bush also acknowledged weakness in the economy, saying, “As we meet tonight, our economy is undergoing a period of uncertainty.” After talking up a series of positive statistics, he acknowledged that “In the short run, we can all see that growth is slowing.”
The president sought to make his seventh and closing State of the Union a forward-looking address that emphasized “trusting and empowering the American people” to face the country’s greatest challenges, such as the threat of a recession, the energy crisis, global warming, the global economy’s impact on U.S. jobs and education improvements.
“The secret of our strength, the miracle of America, is that our greatness lies not in our government but in the spirit and determination of our people,” Mr. Bush said.
The president’s focus on entrusting ordinary citizens extended to the people of Iraq and the Middle East.
“Our foreign policy is based on a clear premise: We trust that people, when given the chance, will choose a future of freedom and peace,” Mr. Bush said.
Mr. Bush also said that despite the significant drop in violence in Iraq in the past year, U.S. troops “can still expect tough fighting ahead” as they try “to sustain and build on the gains we made in 2007.”
Five U.S. soldiers were killed yesterday in the northern city of Mosul in a combined attack involving a roadside bomb and an ambush.
One of the few saber-rattling lines of the evening came in the terrorism section of the speech.
“Since 9/11, we have taken the fight to these terrorists and extremists. We will stay on the offense, we will keep up the pressure, and we will deliver justice to our enemies,” Mr. Bush said, to applause from Republicans and some Democrats.
However, for the first time since the eve of the 2003 invasion, Iraq was not the central focus of the speech. Some Democrats shouted “bring them home,” when Mr. Bush touched on troop levels.
Mr. Bush prodded lawmakers to move quickly on two “front-burner issues” — a $146 billion economic-stimulus package and a permanent update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. He said that Democratic talk of adding to the stimulus package “would delay it or derail it, and neither option is acceptable,” drawing loud applause from Republicans but stone-faced stares from Democrats.
But facing low approval ratings and a Democrat-controlled Congress, the president kept new initiatives modest, including $300 million to help inner-city children in failing schools attend alternative institutions, a measure to allow U.S. military members to share G.I. bill benefits with spouses and children, an effort to buy crops from farmers in developing countries, and more federal funding for research on adult stem cells.
A handful of more-conservative Democrats, including Rep. Heath Shuler, North Carolina Democrat, stood and applauded Mr. Bush’s call for more research on “reprogrammed adult skin cells, which have the potential and do act like embryonic stem cells,” said presidential counselor Ed Gillespie. The stem-cell proposal was one of Mr. Bush’s few references to the social-religious issues.
The president also announced a summit in the District this spring to address the rising number of Catholic and parochial schools that are closing. The White House said that “from 1996 to 2004, nearly 1,400 urban inner city faith-based schools closed, displacing 355,000 students into other institutions.”
Democratic politicians gave two speeches in response to Mr. Bush’s speech: one in English and one in Spanish. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius gave the Democratic rebuttal in English, and Texas state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte responded in Spanish.
Mrs. Sebelius found the country confronted by myriad problems after seven years of Mr. Bush’s presidency and blamed his Iraq policy for contributing to the country’s ills.
“The last five years have cost us dearly — in lives lost; in thousands of wounded warriors whose futures may never be the same; in challenges not met here at home because our resources were committed elsewhere,” Mrs. Sebelius said. “America’s foreign policy has left us with fewer allies and more enemies.”
She commended the president for the compromise economic-stimulus plan but stressed that was “only the first step toward meeting our challenges and solving our problems.”
The governor cast Mr. Bush’s speech as marking a break with the past.
“The new Democratic majority of Congress and the vast majority of Americans are ready — ready to chart a new course,” she said.
The occasion of Mr. Bush’s address raised the question of the president’s legacy, but Mr. Bush said in the days leading up to the speech that he would think about that after he leaves office.
Democratic leaders and interest groups nonetheless pummeled Mr. Bush for what they perceive to be his greatest mistakes: the war in Iraq, his tax cuts, the response to Hurricane Katrina, resistance to mandatory emissions caps and the growth of anti-U.S. sentiment around the world.
Mr. Bush got a big laugh while stressing the importance of tax relief during his State of the Union address.
“Others have said they would personally be happy to pay higher taxes. I welcome their enthusiasm, and Iam pleased to report that the IRS accepts both checks and money orders,” he said.
On earmarks, Mr. Bush today will issue an executive order instructing federal agencies to ignore earmarks, commonly known as pork, added to reports that accompany spending bills. About 95 percent of earmarks are inserted into the reports to bypass public debate and consensus in the legislative process.
Mr. Bush’s move is part of an election-year effort to reclaim the mantle of fiscal responsibility for the Republican Party and his legacy. He threatened in December to issue such an order to apply to the 2008 budget but backed off and disappointed some Republican fiscal conservatives.
“While many of us would have liked to see the president set aside the earmarks attached to this year’s spending bills, a requirement to include earmarks in the text of bills will have a significant impact on this year’s appropriations process,” said Rep. Jeff Flake, Arizona Republican and anti-earmark crusader.
“This will greatly assist those of us in Congress who would like to see this process reformed.”
Fiscal hawks and Democrats have attacked Mr. Bush for his spending record. Discretionary spending rose sharply during Mr. Bush’s first term, outpacing the rate of non-mandatory spending under President Clinton, a Democrat.
Democrats clapped and cheered sarcastically at the mention of fiscal responsibility.
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, criticized the president earlier in the day for “hypocrisy” in allowing earmarks under Republican control of Congress to grow unchecked.
One of the 26 guests invited to first lady Laura Bush’s special box at the speech was Blanca Gonzalez, the mother of a Cuban dissident journalist, Normando Hernandez, who was jailed by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro in 2003.
Another invited was Tatu Msangi, a 32-year old single mother from Tanzania, who was to illustrate Mr. Bush’s renewed call for Congress to double the amount of aid to Africa for HIV/AIDS, from $15 billion to $30 billion over five years. Other guests included Dr. Bill Krissoff, the 61-year-old father of a Marine killed in Iraq in 2006, who has enlisted in the Navy as an orthopedist on a combat surgical team.
Michelle A. Rhee, the reform-minded chancellor of D.C. Public Schools, was invited to Mrs. Bush’s box but declined because of illness. D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty attended as a guest of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in part to protest the District’s lack of congressional voting rights.
Presidential politics also was on display as both Democratic presidential front-runners — Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York — got much attention as they took long walks down the aisle in the House chamber to their seats, with Mrs. Clinton taking several hugs from other female lawmakers.
Mrs. Clinton also shook hands briefly with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, who rejected entreaties from former President Bill Clinton on his wife’s behalf and endorsed Mr. Obama at a midday rally yesterday. Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama did not shake hands or exchange words. Both Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton stopped to talk to Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr., whose father was at the center of a furor over remarks by Mr. Clinton that played down Mr. Obama’s victory in the South Carolina primary.
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne was the Cabinet member designated not to attend, a custom designed to safeguard the presidential line of succession in the event of a catastrophe.
Mr. Bush has addressed a joint session of Congress eight times previously: in six State of the Union speeches from 2002 to 2007, in a speech after his inauguration in 2001 that had the trappings of a State of the Union but was a budget speech, and in a Sept. 20, 2001, speech responding to the September 11 terrorist attacks.
• Gary Emerling contributed to this report.
STATE OF THE UNION REACTIONS
“Tonight, the president called on Congress to act quickly on a number of key priorities, and Republicans stand ready to work together with the majority when it”s in the best interest of the country. In fact, we can start tomorrow by permanently closing the terrorist loophole in our nation”s surveillance laws and passing an economic-growth plan without tax hikes and unrelated spending increases. And in the months to come, we also should work together to craft a long-term economic-growth package, pass critical trade agreements, and support our troops as they continue to achieve remarkable progress in both Iraq and Afghanistan.”
— House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican
“After hearing the president’s speech Monday night, Americans must be more convinced than ever that it’s time for change. They’ve heard seven long years of broken promises from this administration. That’s what this election is all about ” electing leaders who will keep faith with the hopes and needs of working Americans and bring real change.”
— Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat
“In the president”s last year in office, I believe he stands behind the podium in a much stronger position tonight than he did last year. He has demonstrated his ability to lead our nation and take tough stands when needed. We will not see President Bush coast to the finish. We will see a strong sprint.”
— House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, Missouri Republican
“As we look to the rest of 2008, it is clear that Democrats and Republicans alike are campaigning for change. To this end, President Bush missed a wonderful opportunity to share with the candidates and the American people his view of the mistakes he has made with the war and the economy and offer guidance to the next president on how we can be a more successful, united America.”
— Rep. Charles B. Rangel, New York Democrat
“Tonight, President Bush detailed many important initiatives that Congress should undertake this year. I will continue to work with the administration and Congress to strengthen the economy, lower taxes, expand access to health care, reauthorize No Child Left Behind, support free trade and advance new technologies for our future energy demand. … The Congress has a lot of work to do on these issues, and I look forward to working in a spirit of bipartisanship going forward.”
— Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas Republican
“The president continues to ignore the bigger picture in Iraq. It is not a question of what happens to Iraq if we leave; it’s a question of what happens to America if we stay. It’s a question of whether America can afford to continue spending $343 million every day in Iraq, while growing our national debt by nearly $1 million every minute. Our children should not have to foot the bill for this administration’s mistakes.”
— Rep. John P. Murtha, Pennsylvania Democrat
Compiled by S.A. Miller
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