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President
Bush Outlines Agenda At Home And Abroad |
Posted:
02.03.05
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In his fifth State of the Union address President Bush outlined
an ambitious agenda for the year ahead, asking Congress to revamp
Social Security, calling on Americans to help spread democracy
throughout the world, and announcing that first lady Laura Bush
will lead a new effort to help boys and girls resist the lure
of gangs.
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Delivered in front of a
joint session of Congress and a national television audience, Mr.
Bush said the Social Security program would go bankrupt if changes
were not made.
 "Social
Security ... on its current path, is headed toward bankruptcy.
And so we must join together to strengthen and save Social Security,"
the president said. Behind him Vice President Dick Cheney and
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, and other Republicans in the chamber,
clapped, but some Democrats booed.
Although the president said all options would be on the table,
from increasing the retirement age -- currently 67 years -- to
changing the way benefits are calculated, President Bush again
pledged not to raise taxes or change benefits for those 55 years
or older.
In addition, he said young people should be allowed to divert
some of their Social Security contributions into personal investment
accounts, a plan that has already met with resistance from Democrats.
"If you've got children in their 20s, as some of us do,
the idea of Social Security collapsing before they retire does
not seem like a small matter. And it should not be a small matter
to the United States Congress," the president said.
 In
the Democrats' response to the State of the Union, Senate Minority
Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the personal accounts proposal,
which rely to some extent on the stock market, "Social Security
roulette" with a hefty transition cost of up to $2 trillion.
"Democrats are all for giving Americans more of a say and
more choices when it comes to their retirement savings. But that
doesn't mean taking Social Security's guarantee and gambling with
it. And that's coming from a senator who represents Las Vegas,"
said Reid.
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Foreign policy |
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With the annual speech coming just three days after a successful
election in Iraq, the president pledged continued support for
the American mission.
"We will increasingly focus our efforts on helping prepare
more capable Iraqi security forces, forces with skilled officers,
and an effective command structure," Mr. Bush said.
But the president refused to say when American troops would come
home.
"We will not set an artificial timetable for leaving Iraq,
because that would embolden the terrorists and make them believe
they can wait us out," he said.
Success in Iraq would mean "a country that is democratic,
representative of all its people, at peace with its neighbors
and able to defend itself," Mr. Bush said.
 Some
Republicans waved purple ink stained fingers in solidarity with
the Iraqis who voted Sunday -- in Iraq, the ink was used to indicate
those who had cast ballots so that they could not vote twice,
but the mark also became a symbol of pride in democracy.
In other foreign policy areas, the president pledged continued
American support for the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, asking
Congress for $350 million to support the Palestinians under their
new president Mahmoud Abbas.
"The goal of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine,
living side by side in peace is within reach -- and America will
help them achieve that goal," he said.
 To
counter criticism that his agenda was selective in promoting freedom,
the president encouraged two allies with autocratic governments
-- Saudi Arabia and Egypt -- to work to reform.
Mr. Bush had harsher words for the leaders of two other Middle
East nations, demanding that Syria stop harboring terrorists and
that Iran stop its nuclear development program. He told Iranian
dissidents that "as you stand for your own liberty, America
stands with you."
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Legislative
laundry list |
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The 53-minute address also contained Mr. Bush's legislative laundry
list -- issues and programs that he'd like to see addressed in
this year's Congress. They included overhauling the tax code to
make it simpler, changes in immigration law, restrictions on medical
malpractice suits, as well as a new three-year initiative to be
led by his wife, Laura Bush, to "keep young people out of
gangs."
 Mr.
Bush also pledged support for a constitutional amendment that
would define marriage as between a man and a woman and repeated
his belief in a "culture of life."
The president then left Thursday on a five-state, two-day trip
to put pressure on Democratic lawmakers in North Dakota, Montana,
Nebraska, Arkansas and Florida to accept restructuring Social
Security.
-- Compiled from wire reports and other media sources
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