State of the Union AddressesBush, George W. (George Walker)
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State of the Union Addresses
Bush, George W. (George Walker)
Presidents -- United States -- Messages; United States -- Politics and government -- Sources
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 and the
fatherless, the addicted -- the need is great. Yet there's 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 for 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 the federal government.
I urge you to pass both my faith-based initiative and the Citizen
Service Act, to encourage 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 the 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 tonight I propose a
new $600-million program to help an additional 300,000 Americans
receive treatment over the next three 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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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