Title:  State of the Union Addresses of George W. Bush

Author:  George W. Bush

Release Date:  February, 2004 [EBook #5049] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on April 11, 2002] [Date last updated:  December 16, 2004]

Edition:  11

Language:  English

Character set encoding:  ASCII

*** Start of the project gutenberg EBOOK of addresses by George W. Bush ***

This eBook was produced by James Linden.

The addresses are separated by three asterisks:  ***

Dates of addresses by George W. Bush in this eBook: 
  January 29, 2002

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State of the Union Address
George W. Bush
January 29, 2002

Thank you very much.  Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress, distinguished guests, fellow citizens:  As we gather tonight, our nation is at war, our economy is in recession, and the civilized world faces unprecedented dangers.  Yet the state of our Union has never been stronger. (Applause.)

We last met in an hour of shock and suffering.  In four short months, our nation has comforted the victims, begun to rebuild New York and the Pentagon, rallied a great coalition, captured, arrested, and rid the world of thousands of terrorists, destroyed Afghanistan’s terrorist training camps, saved a people from starvation, and freed a country from brutal oppression. (Applause.)

The American flag flies again over our embassy in Kabul.  Terrorists who once occupied Afghanistan now occupy cells at Guantanamo Bay. (Applause.) And terrorist leaders who urged followers to sacrifice their lives are running for their own. (Applause.)

America and Afghanistan are now allies against terror.  We’ll be partners in rebuilding that country.  And this evening we welcome the distinguished interim leader of a liberated Afghanistan:  Chairman Hamid Karzai.  (Applause.)

The last time we met in this chamber, the mothers and daughters of Afghanistan were captives in their own homes, forbidden from working or going to school.  Today women are free, and are part of Afghanistan’s new government.  And we welcome the new Minister of Women’s Affairs, Doctor Sima Samar. (Applause.)

Our progress is a tribute to the spirit of the Afghan people, to the resolve of our coalition, and to the might of the United States military.  (Applause.) When I called our troops into action, I did so with complete confidence in their courage and skill.  And tonight, thanks to them, we are winning the war on terror. (Applause.) The men and women of our Armed Forces have delivered a message now clear to every enemy of the United States:  Even 7,000 miles away, across oceans and continents, on mountaintops and in caves—­you will not escape the justice of this nation. (Applause.)