State of the Simulation

Shall we--at 1.30pm? The beginning of my delivery--thank you 40+ staffers, senior staff, and secretaries--for this speech:

State of the Simulation
August 8, 2005
President George W. Bush

Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress, distinguished guests and fellow citizens: today, as we gather in this hallowed chamber, thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world fighting to extinguish global extremism. These brave men and women risk their lives everyday, bringing hope to the oppressed, delivering justice to the extremists—making America more secure. In a whirlwind of change and hope and peril, our faith is sure, our resolve is firm, our confidence is unwavering, and the state of our union is strong. [APPLAUSE]

At home, our country continues to face 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—We will act now. We will reform domestic programs vital to our country. We will work for a prosperity that is broadly shared, and we will respond to every danger and every enemy that threatens the American way of life. [APPLAUSE]

During the last two years, we saw what can be accomplished when we work together. To lift the standards of our public schools, we achieved historic education reform. To protect our country, we reorganized our government and created the Department of Homeland Security. To ensure that seniors receive the health care they deserve, we passed the most comprehensive Medicare reform in half a century. To bring our economy out of recession, we delivered the largest tax relief in a generation. We accomplished much together, but there is still more to do.

We must be good stewards of the American economy and her institutions. In the past four years, we provided tax relief to every person who pays income taxes, overcame a recession, opened up new markets abroad, prosecuted corporate criminals, raised home ownership to the highest level in history, and in the last year alone, added 2.3 million new jobs. [APPLAUSE] When action was needed, the Congress delivered—and the nation is grateful. To continue this economic prosperity and economic growth, we must make tax relief permanent. [APPLAUSE]

America's prosperity requires restraining the spending appetite of the federal government. I welcome the bipartisan enthusiasm for fiscal discipline. I will hold the growth of non-defense discretionary spending below inflation, make tax relief permanent, and stay on track to cut the deficit in half by 2009. The principle here is clear: every taxpayer dollar must be spent wisely, or not at all. [APPLAUSE]

To build America’s future prosperity we must update our antiquated tax system. Now is the time to repeal the death tax, which hurts farmers and families in their time of greatest need. Now is the time to reform the Alternative Minimum Tax to level the field for middle-income wage earners. Now is the time to make health care more affordable. I ask Congress to move forward on tax credits to help low-income workers purchase health insurance.

We must make Social Security permanently sound. We must guarantee there is no change in benefits for those now retired or nearing retirement.

Our troubled Social Security system can be fixed by allowing individuals to invest in personal accounts. Your money will grow at a greater rate than anything the current system can yield, providing more than the check you currently receive. The money in the account is yours, and the government can never take it away. As I traveled across our great country, I had the opportunity to speak with many Americans about Social Security.

I spoke to Lu Anne McCracken in Lincoln, Nebraska who currently receives $13,000 a year in Social Security benefits. If Lu Anne invested some of her Social Security contributions into a personal account, she would receive a minimum of $15,000 a year in Social Security benefits and withdrawals.
To create greater security for retirees, we must set careful guidelines for personal accounts, where money will go into a safe mix of government approved bonds and funds, where hidden Wall Street fees do not eat up earnings, where individuals have options to protect their investments from sudden market swings on the eve of their retirement. The American Dream must be in reach of every American, and it cannot end at retirement. [APPLAUSE]

Access to public education is a foundation of free civil societies. An inseparable link exists between a vibrant economy and a quality education. The No Child Left Behind Act you passed shows gains, as reading scores increase in classrooms across America. Rogan Kersh, a distinguished guest today, spoke with me to discuss his research on the "civility quotient," which measures the connection that citizens have to their community and its effect on a nation. For too long, the value of a quality civic education has declined as students leave school without leadership skills. Now is the time to extend the progress we’ve made, and I urge Congress to pledge improvements to civic education, inspiring our young people to serve our nation. We must make our nation's civility quotient stronger by reforming No Child Left Behind, ensuring that parents have the power to choose the schools their children attend so that their children can learn, do well, go to college, and have a better life than they do now. [APPLAUSE]

We are at a turning point: challenged by reforms to our economy and education, and also the threats of evil. We can go forward with confidence and resolve, or we can turn back to the dangerous illusion that terrorists are not plotting or a threat to us. As we wage the war on terror, we will never forget where the war began—here on American soil. To protect our country, we must be right 100 percent of the time. To hurt us, the terrorists must be right only once. So as a nation, we must act with resolve, unified to answer that challenge every day in securing the homeland. [APPLAUSE]

Last month, we stood in solidarity with our friends in Great Britain, as they showed resolve following the cowardly attacks in the London transit system. Evil has no bounds, knows no limits and will stop at nothing to destroy our democratic way of life. To those affected by the global extremist threat, know that America stands united with you, our resolve unbending, our commitment never greater; our nation will not rest until the threat of extremism vanquishes at home and abroad. We are hunting down the terrorists, and their days are numbered. [APPLAUSE]

At home, we must learn from the attacks on London, by taking action now: We cannot forget that the terrorists who heinously attacked us did so by infiltrating our nation. We must strengthen protections for our highways, bridges, tunnels and railway systems, and at our chemical and nuclear plants. We must do more to enhance security at our coastlines, borders and ports of entry. [APPLAUSE]

Our nation’s economic vitality depends on the security of commercial shipping. Ships docking in American ports are potential weapons of mass destruction. We must create a perimeter at sea to give us the capability to block terrorists from infiltrating our coasts. [APPLAUSE] We must also secure our nation by expanding personnel and technology in patrolling our Canadian and Mexican borders. We must expand our ability to assess whether planes crossing our borders are friend or foe. [APPLAUSE]

To continue our tradition as a nation that opens its arms to those who seek a better life, we need to implement a temporary worker program that satisfies the demand for seasonal and agricultural labor throughout the nation while making them law-abiding taxpayers. [APPLAUSE] We must expand programs that ensure more accurate identification at our borders and keep the terrorists out. [APPLAUSE]

To ensure victory in this battle between those who love freedom and those who seek to destroy it, we must ensure that our defense and security communities have the tools and the resources they need.

In the aftermath of September 11th, we came together as a nation to pass the Patriot Act, which closed dangerous gaps in America's law enforcement and intelligence capabilities [APPLAUSE]—it authorized better information sharing between law enforcement and intelligence, and ensured safeguards when the law was applied—all while protecting our civil liberties. Both houses of Congress passed the Patriot Act with an overwhelming bipartisan majority. The Patriot Act symbolizes a clear, considered response of a nation at war, and I was proud to sign that bipartisan legislation. [APPLAUSE]

Over the past three-and-a-half years, America's law enforcement and intelligence personnel have proved that the Patriot Act works. Federal, state, and local law enforcement have used the Patriot Act to break up terror cells in New York, Oregon, Virginia and Florida.

And here today is FBI agent Timothy Johnson. Agent Johnson worked tirelessly with local law enforcement to infiltrate and capture a terrorist cell in Upstate New York known as the Lack A Wanna 6, whose members traveled to Afghanistan to train with Osama Bin Ladin to prepare for an attack on our country. Agent Johnson hunted down these terrorists, keeping America safe—because of the provisions in the Patriot Act.

Efforts like those of Agent Johnson do not made headlines, but they make our communities safer. The Patriot Act accomplished exactly what it was designed to do—It has secured our nation while protecting our civil liberties. [APPLAUSE]

However, many critical provisions of the Patriot Act will expire at the end of this year. The terrorist threats against our nation will not expire at the end of the year, and neither should the protections of the Patriot Act. We must make them permanent. [APPLAUSE] We've not come all this way—through tragedy, trial and turmoil—only to falter and leave unfinished work. It is the will of Americans, at home and abroad, to meet the difficult challenges of today—and they expect the same from their leaders. [APPLAUSE]

While we strive to secure the home front, we will go on the offensive against terrorists and where they fester abroad, so we won’t have to face them at home. We make it clear that America will not tolerate regimes that harbor or support terrorists. [APPLAUSE] We have dealt the enemy a series of powerful blows. The terrorists face the threat, and we must keep them fearful and on the run. [APPLAUSE]

We remain steadfast in our commitment to creating a free and democratic Iraq. The Iraqi people have held free elections, democratic institutions are stronger, and the insurgency weakens by the day. [APPLAUSE] The Iraqi people create foundations for long-lasting peace and democracy, while spreading hope and freedom across the world. We will not abandon the Iraqi people or freedom in the Middle East by creating artificial deadlines to pull out our troops—this will only strengthen the insurgency and prolong Iraq’s instability. [APPLAUSE]

We must continue to support our troops. Aid is needed in our antiterrorist operations abroad. [APPLAUSE] I call on Congress to pass a 35.5 billion dollar supplement to help our fighting forces. It is imperative that our forces continue to receive necessary equipment and resources for the battlefront.

This equipment ensures that soldiers, like Lieutenant Frasier, who just returned from his second tour in Iraq, can serve his America and spread democracy. Lieutenant Frasier received a bronze star for defending a crowd of Iraqi voters from an insurgent attack. Today, he is joined by one of those civilians, Layla Saeta, who was able to vote in Iraq’s first free election.

They make all Americans proud and their work is effective, and this gives us reason to use all of our power to honor their efforts and sacrifice. [APPLAUSE]

My fellow citizens, we now move forward with confidence and faith. Our nation is strong and steadfast in our support of freedom. This cause we serve proves right because it forges the transcendent aspiration of all mankind. The unmistakable march of freedom in our world echoes throughout the nations—we trust in that greater power that guides the unfolding of the years. And in everything to come, we can know that His purposes ring just and true.

God bless you—and may God continue to bless America. [APPLAUSE]