World Aid
“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, and 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 the Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief, the number of people receiving life-saving drugs has grown from 50,000
to more than 800,000 in three short years. I ask you to continue funding our
efforts to fight HIV/AIDS. I ask you to provide $1.2 billion over five years so
we can combat malaria in 15 African countries. “
“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, and courage,
and self sacrifice of the American people.”
On Iraq
“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 pursuing a new strategy 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.”
“This is not the fight we entered in Iraq, 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 leave our promises unkept,
our friends abandoned, and our own security at risk.”
On energy
“It is in our vital interest to diversify America’s
energy supply — and the way forward is through technology. We must continue
changing the way America generates electric power — by even greater use of
clean coal technology ... solar and wind energy ... and clean, safe nuclear
power. 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.”
On terrorism
“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.”
Delivered in the State of the Union
Address Tuesday night by President George W. Bush.