State of the Union AddressesBush, George W. (George Walker)
History
State of the Union Addresses
Bush, George W. (George Walker)
Presidents -- United States -- Messages; United States -- Politics and government -- Sources
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've 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 bioterrorism, 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, botulinum toxin, Ebola, and plague. We must assume that
our enemies would use these diseases as weapons, and we must act before
the dangers are upon us.
Since September the 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 is
transforming itself to meet new threats. Tonight, I am instructing the
leaders of the FBI, the CIA, the 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 all 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 terrorist allies, who would use them without the
least hesitation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account