U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

19–011 2003

108th Congress, 1st Session – – – – – – – – – – – – – House Document 108–1 

STATE OF THE UNION MESSAGE 

MESSAGE 

FROM

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRANSMITTING

A REPORT ON THE STATE OF THE UNION 

JANUARY 29, 2003.—Message and accompanying papers referred to the 

Committee on the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered 

to be printed 


erjones on PROD1PC71 with BILLSE:\Seals\Congress.#13

erjones on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
(1) 

To the Congress of the United States: 

Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, fellow citizens: 

Every year, by law and by custom, we meet here to consider the 

state of the union. This year, we gather in this chamber deeply 

aware of decisive days that lie ahead. 

You and I serve our country in a time of great consequence. During this session of Congress, we have the duty to reform domestic 

programs vital to our country... and we have the opportunity to 

save millions of lives abroad from a terrible disease. We will work 

for a prosperity that is broadly shared... and we will answer 

every danger and every enemy that threatens the American people. 

In all these days of promise and days of reckoning, we can be 

confident. In a whirlwind of change, and hope, and peril, our faith 

is sure, our resolve is firm, and our union is strong. 

This country has many challenges. We will not deny, we will not 

ignore, we will not pass along our problems to other Congresses, 

other Presidents, and other generations. We will confront them 

with focus, and clarity, and courage. 

During the last 2 years, we have seen what can be accomplished 

when we work together. To lift the standards of our public schools, 

we achieved historic education reform—which must now be carried 

out in every school, and every classroom, so that every child in 

America can read, and learn, and succeed in life. To protect our 

country, we reorganized our government and created the Department of Homeland Security—which is mobilizing against the 

threats of a new era. To bring our economy out of recession, we delivered the largest tax relief in a generation. To insist on integrity 

in American business, we passed tough reforms, and we are holding corporate criminals to account. 

Some might call this a good record. I call it a good start. Tonight 

I ask the House and Senate to join me in the next bold steps to 

serve our fellow citizens. 

Our first goal is clear: We must have an economy that grows fast 

enough to employ every man and woman who seeks a job. 

After recession, terrorist attacks, corporate scandals, and stock 

market declines, our economy is recovering—yet it is not growing 

fast enough, or strongly enough. With unemployment rising, our 

Nation needs more small businesses to open, more companies to invest and expand, more employers to put up the sign that says, 

‘‘Help Wanted.’’

Jobs are created when the economy grows; the economy grows 

when Americans have more money to spend and invest; and the 

best, fairest way to make sure Americans have that money is not 

to tax it away in the first place. 

I am proposing that all the income tax reductions set for 2004 

and 2006 be made permanent and effective this year. And under 


erjones on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
2 

my plan, as soon as I have signed the bill, this extra money will 

start showing up in worker’s paychecks. Instead of gradually reducing the marriage penalty, we should do it now. Instead of slowly 

raising the child credit to a thousand dollars, we should send the 

checks to American families now. 

This tax relief is for everyone who pay income taxes—and it will 

help our economy immediately. Ninety-two million Americans will 

keep—this year—an average of almost $1,100 more of their own money. A family of four with an income of $40,000 would see their 

federal income taxes fall from $1,178 to $45 per year. And our plan 

will improve the bottom line for more than 23 million small businesses. 

You, the Congress, have already passed all these reductions, and 

promised them for future years. If this tax relief is good for Americans three, or five, or seven years from now, it is even better for 

Americans today. 

We also strengthen the economy by treating investors equally in 

our tax laws. It is fair to tax a company’s profits. It is not fair to 

again tax the shareholder on the same profits. To boost investor 

confidence, and to help the nearly 10 million seniors who receive 

dividend income, I ask you to end the unfair double taxation of 

dividends. 

Lower taxes and greater investment will help this economy expand. More jobs mean more taxpayers—and higher revenues to our 

government. The best way to address the deficit and move toward 

a balanced budget is to encourage economic growth—and to show 

some spending discipline in Washington, D.C. We must work together to fund only our most important priorities. I will send you 

a budget that increases discretionary spending by 4 percent next 

year—about as much as the average family’s income is expected to 

grow. And that is a good benchmark for us: Federal spending 

should not rise any faster than the paychecks of American families. 

A growing economy, and a focus on essential priorities, will also 

be crucial to the future of Social Security. As we continue to work 

together to keep Social Security sound and reliable, we must offer 

younger workers a chance to invest in retirement accounts that 

they will control and they will own. 

Our second goal is high-quality, affordable health care for all 

Americans. 

The American system of medicine is a model of skill and innovation—with a pace of discovery that is adding good years to our 

lives. Yet for many people, medical care costs too much—and many 

have no coverage at all. These problems will not be solved with a 

nationalized health care system that dictates coverage and rations 

care. Instead, we must work toward a system in which all Americans have a good insurance policy . . . choose their own doctors . . . 

and seniors and low-income Americans receive the help they need. 

Instead of bureaucrats, and trial lawyers, and HMOs, we must put 

doctors, and nurses, and patients back in charge of American medicine. 

Health care reform must begin with Medicare, because Medicare 

is the binding commitment of a caring society. We must renew that 

commitment by giving seniors access to the preventive medicine 

and new drugs that are transforming health care in America. 


erjones on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
3 

Seniors happy with the current Medicare system should be able 

to keep their coverage just the way it is. And just like you, the 

members of Congress, members of your staffs, and other federal 

employees, all seniors should have the choice of a health care plan 

that provides prescription drugs. My budget will commit an additional $400 billion over the next decade to reform and strengthen 

Medicare. Leaders of both political parties have talked for years 

about strengthening Medicare—I urge the members of this new 

Congress to act this year. 

To improve our health care system, we must address one of the 

prime causes of higher costs—the constant threat that physicians 

and hospitals will be unfairly sued. Because of excessive litigation, 

everybody pays more for health care—and many parts of America 

are losing fine doctors. No one has ever been healed by a frivolous 

lawsuit—and I urge the Congress to pass medical liability reform. 

Our third goal is to promote energy independence for our country, while dramatically improving the environment. 

I have sent you a comprehensive energy plan to promote energy 

efficiency and conservation, to develop cleaner technology, and to 

produce more energy at home. I have sent you Clear Skies legislation that mandates a 70 percent cut in air pollution from power 

plants over the next 15 years. I have sent you a Healthy Forests 

Initiative, to help prevent the catastrophic fires that devastate 

communities, kill wildlife, and burn away millions of acres of treasured forest. 

I urge you to pass these measures, for the good of both our environment and our economy. Even more, I ask you to take a crucial 

step, and protect our environment in ways that generations before 

us could not have imagined. In this century, the greatest environmental progress will come about, not through endless lawsuits or 

command and control regulations, but through technology and innovation. Tonight I am proposing $1.2 billion in research funding 

so that America can lead the world in developing clean, hydrogenpowered automobiles. 

A simple chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen generates energy, which can be used to power a car—producing only 

water, not exhaust fumes. With a new national commitment, our 

scientists and engineers will overcome obstacles to taking these 

cars from laboratory to showroom—so that the first car driven by 

a child born today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollutionfree. Join me in this important innovation—to make our air significantly cleaner, and our country much less dependent on foreign 

sources of energy. 

Our fourth goal is to apply the compassion of America to the 

deepest problems of America. For so many in our country—the 

homeless, the fatherless, the addicted—the need is great. Yet there 

is power—wonder-working power—in the goodness, and idealism, 

and faith of the American people. 

Americans are doing the work of compassion every day—visiting 

prisoners, providing shelter to battered women, bringing companionship to lonely seniors. These good works deserve our praise . . . 

they deserve our personal support . . . and, when appropriate, they 

deserve the assistance of our government. I urge you to pass both 

my faith-based initiative and the Citizen Service Act—to encourage 


erjones on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
4 

acts of compassion that can transform America, one heart and one 

soul at a time. 

Last year, I called on my fellow citizens to participate in USA 

Freedom Corps, which is enlisting tens of thousands of new volunteers across America. Tonight I ask Congress and the American 

people to focus the spirit of service and the resources of government on the needs of some of our most vulnerable citizens—boys 

and girls trying to grow up without guidance and attention . . . 

and children who have to go through a prison gate to be hugged 

by their mom or dad. I propose a $450 million initiative to bring 

mentors to more than a million disadvantaged junior high students 

and children of prisoners. Government will support the training 

and recruiting of mentors, yet it is the men and women of America 

who will fill the need. One mentor, one person, can change a life 

forever—and I urge you to be that one person. 

Another cause of hopelessness is addiction to drugs. Addiction 

crowds out friendship, ambition, moral conviction, and reduces all 

the richness of life to a single destructive desire. As a government, 

we are fighting illegal drugs by cutting off supplies, and reducing 

demand through anti-drug education programs. Yet for those already addicted, the fight against drugs is a fight for their own 

lives. 

Too many Americans in search of treatment cannot get it. So to- night I propose a new $600 million program to help an additional 

300,000 Americans receive treatment over the next 3 years. 

Our Nation is blessed with recovery programs that do amazing 

work. One of them is found at the Healing Place Church in Baton 

Rouge, Louisiana. A man in the program said, ‘‘God does miracles 

in people’s lives, and you never think it could be you.’’ Tonight, let 

us bring to all Americans who struggle with drug addiction this 

message of hope: The miracle of recovery is possible, and it could 

be you. 

By caring for children who need mentors, and for addicted men 

and women who need treatment, we are building a more welcoming 

society—a culture that values every life. And in this work we must 

not overlook the weakest among us. I ask you to protect infants at 

the very hour of birth, and end the practice of partial-birth abortion. And because no human life should be started or ended as the 

object of an experiment, I ask you to set a high standard for humanity and pass a law against all human cloning. 

The qualities of courage and compassion that we strive for in 

America also determine our conduct abroad. The American flag 

stands for more than our power and our interests. Our Founders 

dedicated this country to the cause of human dignity—the rights of 

every person and the possibilities of every life. This conviction 

leads us into the world to help the afflicted, and defend the peace, 

and confound the designs of evil men. In Afghanistan, we helped 

to liberate an oppressed people . . . and we will continue helping 

them secure their country, rebuild their society, and educate all 

their children—boys and girls. In the Middle East, we will continue 

to seek peace between a secure Israel and a democratic Palestine. 

Across the earth, America is feeding the hungry; more than 60 percent of international food aid comes as a gift from the people of the 

United States. 


erjones on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
5 

As our Nation moves troops and builds alliances to make our 

world safer, we must also remember our calling, as a blessed country, to make this world better. Today, on the continent of Africa, 

nearly 30 million people have the AIDS virus—including three million children under the age of 15. There are whole countries in Africa where more than one-third of the adult population carries the 

infection. More than four million require immediate drug treatment. Yet across that continent, only 50,000 AIDS victims—only 

50,000—are receiving the medicine they need. 

Because the AIDS diagnosis is considered a death sentence, 

many do not seek treatment. Almost all who do are turned away. 

A doctor in rural South Africa describes his frustration. He says, 

‘‘We have no medicines . . . many hospitals tell [people], ‘You’ve 

got AIDS. We can’t help you. Go home and die.’ ’’ In an age of miraculous medicines, no person should have to hear 

those words. AIDS can be prevented. Anti-retroviral drugs can extend life for many years. And the cost of those drugs has dropped 

from $12,000 a year to under $300 a year—which places a tremendous possibility within our grasp. 

Ladies and gentlemen, seldom has history offered a greater opportunity to do so much for so many. We have confronted, and will 

continue to confront, HIV/AIDS in our own country. And to meet 

a severe and urgent crisis abroad, tonight I propose the Emergency 

Plan for AIDS Relief—a work of mercy beyond all current international efforts to help the people of Africa. This comprehensive 

plan will prevent seven million new AIDS infections . . . treat at 

least two million people with life-extending drugs . . . and provide 

humane care for millions of people suffering from AIDS, and for 

children orphaned by AIDS. I ask the Congress to commit $15 billion over the next 5 years, including nearly $10 billion in new 

money, to turn the tide against AIDS in the most afflicted nations 

of Africa and the Caribbean. 

This Nation can lead the world in sparing innocent people from 

a plague of nature. And this Nation is leading the world in confronting and defeating the man-made evil of international terrorism. 

There are days when the American people do not hear news 

about the war on terror. There is never a day when I do not learn 

of another threat, or receive reports of operations in progress, or 

give an order in this global war against a scattered network of killers. The war goes on, and we are winning. 

To date we have arrested, or otherwise dealt with, many key 

commanders of al-Qaida. They include a man who directed logistics 

and funding for the September 11th attacks . . . the chief of alQaida operations in the Person Gulf who planned the bombings of 

our embassies in East Africa and the USS Cole . . . an al-Qaida 

operation chief from Southeast Asia . . . a former director of alQaida’s training camps in Afghanistan . . . a key al-Qaida operative in Europe . . . and a major al-Qaida leader in Yemen. All told, 

more than 3,000 suspected terrorists have been arrested in many 

countries. And many others have met a different fate. They are no 

longer a problem for the United States and our friends and allies. 

We are working closely with other nations to prevent further attacks. America and coalition countries have uncovered and stopped 


erjones on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
6 

terrorist conspiracies targeting the American embassy in Yemen 

. . . the American embassy in Singapore . . . a Saudi military 

base . . . and ships in the straits of Hormuz, and the straits of Gibraltar. We have broken al-Qaida cells in Hamburg, and Milan, 

and Madrid, and London, and Paris—as well as Buffalo, New York. 

We have the terrorists on the run, and we are keeping them on 

the run. One by one, the terrorists are learning the meaning of 

American justice. 

As we fight this war, we will remember where it began—here, in 

our own country. This government is taking unprecedented measures to protect our people and defend our homeland. We have intensified security at the borders and ports of entry . . . posted 

more than 50,000 newly trained federal screeners in airports . . . 

begun inoculating troops and first responders against smallpox 

. . . and are deploying the Nation’s first early warning network of 

sensors to detect biological attack. And this year, for the first time, 

we are beginning to field a defense to protect this Nation against 

ballistic missiles. 

I thank the Congress for supporting these measures. I ask you 

tonight to add to our future security with a major research and 

production effort to guard our people against bio-terrorism, called 

Project Bioshield. The budget I send you will propose almost $6 billion to quickly make available effective vaccines and treatments 

against agents like anthrax, butolinum toxin, Ebola, and plaque. 

We must assume that our enemies would use these diseases as 

weapons, and we must act before the dangers are upon us. 

Since September 11th, our intelligence and law enforcement 

agencies have worked more closely than ever to track and disrupt 

the terrorists. The FBI is improving its ability to analyze intelligence, and transforming itself to meet new threats. And tonight, 

I am instructing the leaders of the FBI, Central Intelligence, 

Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense to develop a 

Terrorist Threat Integration Center, to merge and analyze all 

threat information in a single location. Our government must have 

the very best information possible, and we will use it to make sure 

the right people are in the right places to protect our citizens. 

Our war against terror is a contest of will, in which perseverance 

is power. In the ruins of two towers, at the western wall of the 

Pentagon, on a field in Pennsylvania, this Nation made a pledge, 

and we renew that pledge tonight: Whatever the duration of this 

struggle, and whatever the difficulties, we will not permit the triumph of violence in the affairs of men—free people will set the 

course of history. 

Today, the gravest danger in the war on terror . . . the gravest 

danger facing America and the world . . . is outlaw regimes that 

seek and possess nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. These 

regimes could use such weapons for blackmail, terror, and mass 

murder. They could also give or sell those weapons to their terrorist allies, who would use them without the least hesitation. 

This threat is new; America’s duty is familiar. Throughout the 

20th century, small groups of men seized control of great nations 

. . . built armies and arsenals . . . and set out to dominate the 

weak and intimidate the world. In each case, their ambitions of 

cruelty and murder had no limit. In each case, the ambitions of 


erjones on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
7 

Hitlerism, militarism, and communism were defeated by the will of 

free peoples, by the strength of great alliances, and by the might 

of the United States of America. Now, in this century, the ideology 

of power and domination has appeared again, and seeks to gain the 

ultimate weapons of terror. Once again this Nation and our friends 

are all that stand between a world at peace, and a world of chaos 

and constant alarm. Once again, we are called to defend the safety 

of our people, and the hopes of all mankind. And we accept this responsibility. 

America is making a broad and determined effort to confront 

these dangers. We have called on the United Nations to fulfill its 

charter, and stand by its demand that Iraq disarm. We are strongly 

supporting the International Atomic Energy Agency in its mission 

to track and control nuclear materials around the world. We are 

working with other governments to secure nuclear materials in the 

former Soviet Union, and to strengthen global treaties banning the 

production and shipment of missile technologies and weapons of 

mass destruction. 

In all of these efforts, however, America’s purpose is more than 

to follow a process—it is to achieve a result: the end of terrible 

threats to the civilized world. All free nations have a stake in preventing sudden and catastrophic attack. We are asking them to 

join us, and many are doing so. Yet the course of this Nation does 

not depend on the decisions of others. Whatever action is required, 

whenever action is necessary, I will defend the freedom and security of the American people. 

Different threats require different strategies. In Iran, we continue to see a government that represses its people, pursues weapons of mass destruction, and supports terror. We also see Iranian 

citizens risking intimidation and death as they speak out for liberty, human rights, and democracy. Iranians, like all people, have 

a right to choose their own government, and determine their own 

destiny—and the United States supports their aspirations to live in 

freedom. 

On the Korean peninsula, an oppressive regime rules a people 

living in fear and starvation. Throughout the 1990s, the United 

States relied on a negotiated framework to keep North Korea from 

gaining nuclear weapons. We now know that the regime was deceiving the world, and developing those weapons all along. And 

today the North Korean regime is using its nuclear program to incite fear and seek concessions. America and the world will not be 

blackmailed. America is working with the countries of the region—

South Korea, Japan, China, and Russia—to find a peaceful solution, and to show the North Korean government that nuclear weapons will bring only isolation, economic stagnation, and continued 

hardship. The North Korean regime will find respect in the world, 

and revival for it people, only when it turns away from its nuclear 

ambitions. 

Our Nation and the world must learn the lessons of the Korean 

peninsula, and not allow an even greater threat to rise up in Iraq. 

A brutal dictator, with a history of reckless aggression . . . with ties 

to terrorism . . . with great potential wealth . . . will not be permitted to dominate a vital region and threaten the United States. 


erjones on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
8 

Twelve years ago, Saddam Hussein faced the prospect of being 

the last casualty in a war he had started and lost. To spare himself, he agreed to disarm of all weapons of mass destruction. For 

the next 12 years, he systematically violated that agreement. He 

pursued chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons even while inspectors were in his country. Nothing to date has restrained him 

from his pursuit of these weapons—not economic sanctions, not isolation from the civilized world, not even cruise missile strikes on 

his military facilities. Almost 3 months ago, the United Nations Security Council gave Saddam Hussein his final chance to disarm. He 

has shown instead his utter contempt for the United Nations, and 

for the opinion of the world. 

The 108 U.N. weapons inspectors were not sent to conduct a 

scavenger hunt for hidden materials across a country the size of 

California. The job of the inspectors is to verify that Iraq’s regime 

is disarming. It is up to Iraq to show exactly where it is hiding its 

banned weapons . . . lay those weapons out for the world to see 

. . . and destroy them as directed. Nothing like this has happened. 

The United Nations concluded in 1999 that Saddam Hussein had 

biological weapons materials sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters 

of anthrax—enough does to kill several million people. He has not 

accounted for that material. He has given no evidence that he has 

destroyed it. 

The United Nations concluded that Saddam Hussein had materials sufficient to produce more than 38,000 liters of botulinum 

toxin—enough to subject millions of people to death by respiratory 

failure. He has not accounted for that material. He has given no 

evidence that he has destroyed it. 

Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the 

materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard, and 

VX nerve agent. In such quantities, these chemical agents also 

could kill untold thousands. He has not accounted for these materials. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them. 

U.S. intelligence indicates that Saddam Hussein had upwards of 

30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents. Inspectors 

recently turned up 16 of them, despite Iraq’s recent declaration denying their existence. Saddam Hussein has not accounted for the 

remaining 29,984 of these prohibited munitions. He has given no 

evidence that he has destroyed them. 

From three Iraqi defectors we know that Iraq, in the late 1990s, 

had several mobile biological weapons labs. These are designed to 

produce germ warfare agents, and can be moved from place to 

place to evade inspectors. Saddam Hussein has not disclosed these 

facilities. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them. 

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in the 1990s 

that Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclear weapons development program, had a design for a nuclear weapon, and was working on five different methods of enriching uranium for a bomb. The 

British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently 

sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Out intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high 

strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production. 

Saddam Hussein has not credibly explained these activities. He 

clearly has much to hide. 


erjones on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
9 

The dictator of Iraq is not disarming. To the contrary, he is deceiving. From intelligence sources, we know, for instance, that 

thousands of Iraqi security personnel are at work hiding documents 

and materials from the U.N. inspectors—sanitizing inspection sites, 

and monitoring the inspectors themselves. Iraqi officials accompany 

the inspectors in order to intimidate witnesses. Iraq is blocking U–

2 surveillance flights requested by the United Nations. Iraqi intelligence officers are posing as the scientists inspectors are supposed 

to interview. Real scientists have been coached by Iraqi officials on 

what to say. And intelligence sources indicate that Saddam Hussein has ordered that scientists who cooperate with U.N. inspectors 

in disarming Iraq will be killed, along with their families. 

Year after year, Saddam Hussein has gone to elaborate lengths, 

spent enormous sums, taken great risks, to build and keep weapons of mass destruction—but why? The only possible explanation, 

the only possible use he could have for those weapons, is to dominate, intimidate, or attack. With nuclear arms or a full arsenal of 

chemical and biological weapons, Saddam Hussein could resume 

his ambitions of conquest in the Middle East, and create deadly 

havoc in the region. And this Congress and the American people 

must recognize another threat. Evidence from intelligence sources, 

secret communications, and statements by people now in custody, 

reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including 

members of al-Qaida. Secretly, and without fingerprints, he could 

provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop their own. 

Before September 11, 2001, many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents and lethal 

viruses and shadowy terrorist networks are not easily contained. 

Imagine those 19 hijackers with other weapons, and other plans—

this time armed by Saddam Hussein. It would take just one vial, 

one canister, one crate slipped into this country to bring a day of 

horror like none we have ever known. We will do everything in our 

power to make sure that day never comes. 

Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. 

Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, 

politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is 

permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and 

all recriminations would come too late. Trusting in the sanity and 

restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option. 

This dictator, who is assembling the world’s most dangerous 

weapons, has already used them on whole villages—leaving thousands of his own citizens dead, blind, or disfigured. Iraqi refugees 

tell us how forced confessions are obtained—by torturing children 

while their parents are made to watch. International human rights 

groups have catalogued other methods used in the torture chambers of Iraq: electric shock, burning with hot irons, dripping acid 

on the skin, mutilation with electric drills, cutting out tongues, and 

rape. 

If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning. And tonight I have 

a message for the brave and oppressed people of Iraq: Your enemy 

is not surrounding your country—your enemy is ruling your counVerDate Aug 31 2005 13:18 Mar 22, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6602 E:\PICKUP\HD001.108 HD001

erjones on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
10 

try. And the day he and his regime are removed from power will 

be the day of your liberation. 

The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. America will 

not accept a serious and mounting threat to our country, our 

friends, and our allies. The United States will ask the U.N. Security Council to convene on February 5th to consider the facts of 

Iraq’s ongoing defiance of the world. Secretary of State Powell will 

present information and intelligence about Iraq’s illegal weapons 

programs; its attempts to hide those weapons from inspectors; and 

its links to terrorist groups. We will consult, but let there be no 

misunderstanding: If Saddam Hussein does not fully disarm, for 

the safety of our people, and for the peace of the world, we will lead 

a coalition to disarm him. 

Tonight I also have a message for the men and women who will 

keep the peace, members of the American Armed Forces: Many of 

you are assembling in and near the Middle East, and some crucial 

hours may lie ahead. In those hours, the success of our cause will 

depend on you. Your training has prepared you. Your honor will 

guide you. You believe in America, and America believes in you. 

Sending Americans into battle is the most profound decision a 

president can make. The technologies of war have changed. The 

risks and suffering of war have not. For the brave Americans who 

bear the risk, no victory is free from sorrow. This Nation fights reluctantly, because we know the cost, and we dread the days of 

mourning that always come. 

We seek peace. We strive for peace. And sometimes peace must 

be defended. A future lived at the mercy of terrible threats is no 

peace at all. If war is forced upon us, we will fight in a just cause 

and by just means—sparing, in every way we can, the innocent. 

And if war is forced upon us, we will fight with the full force and 

might of the United States military—and we will prevail. And as 

we and our coalition partners are doing in Afghanistan, we will 

bring to the Iraqi people food, and medicines, and supplies . . . and 

freedom. 

Many challenges, abroad and at home, have arrived in a single 

season. In 2 years, America has gone from a sense of invulnerability to an awareness of peril . . . from bitter division in small 

matters to calm unity in great causes. And we go forward with confidence, because this call of history has come to the right country. 

Americans are a resolute people, who have risen to every test of 

our time. Adversity has revealed the character of our country, to 

the world, and to ourselves. 

America is a strong Nation, and honorable in the use of our 

strength. We exercise power without conquest, and sacrifice for the 

liberty of strangers. 


erjones on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
11 

Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right 

of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize 

is not America’s gift to the world, it is God’s gift to humanity. 

We Americans have faith in ourselves—but not in ourselves 

alone. We do not claim to know all the ways of Providence, yet we 

can trust in them, placing our confidence in the loving God behind 

all of life, and all of history. 

May He guide us now, and may God continue to bless the United 

States of America. 

Thank you. 

GEORGE W. BUSH. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, January 28, 2003. 

Æ 


erjones on PROD1PC71 with BILLS