Address will defend aliens, tax cuts, war
By James G. Lakely
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
URL:http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040117-121632-7119r.htm
President Bush will use Tuesday's State of the Union address as a firm defense of his proposal to loosen immigration laws, issue a "passionate" plea to make his tax cuts permanent and soberly remind the country that we are still a nation at war.
The president will deliver his fourth State of the Union speech to Congress a day after the Iowa caucuses and, though administration officials deny it will be a political speech, it will essentially lay out the case for the president to be given a second term.
"It will be a forward-looking speech, but also one that takes stock in our accomplishments," said Dan Bartlett, White House director of communications. "We are meeting a lot of important tests."
A senior Bush administration official, who spoke yesterday on the condition of anonymity, said the president will begin the speech by speaking about Iraq and the war on terror, which he will make clear is far from over.
"There are people who at times want to treat this as if we are not a nation at war," the senior administration official said. "It's going to take a generation to fight and defeat terror. You have to be very methodical and patient. The president will make it very clear ... that we are a nation at war."
Mr. Bush will also try to assuage any doubts that the war in Iraq was not justified, while the search for Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction continues to be fruitless.
"It will be clear that the decision he made on Iraq was the right decision," the senior official said. "It was good for the Iraqi people, good for the American people and good for the world."
The State of the Union address is traditionally the starting point for a president's major domestic and international initiatives. But earlier this month, Mr. Bush introduced a plan that would grant legal status to at least 8 million illegal aliens who wish to work in the United States, and he issued a challenge to send men to the moon and Mars in the coming decades.
The senior administration official said those two plans were put forth ahead of the address because they wouldn't get the attention Mr. Bush thought they deserved if they were included in an hour-long speech already packed full.
"We thought it best to pull those issues out," he said.
The immigration plan has been met with skepticism by Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill, and many conservatives across the country.
"I have never seen the kind of response from our grass roots over any issue like the kind of response to this immigration initiative," said Jill Farrell, communications director for the Free Congress Foundation.
In an ABC News poll released last week, 51 percent of Americans opposed the plan as presented by Mr. Bush while only 41 percent liked the idea.
A Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll released Thursday showed that only 38 percent of respondents thought immigrants help the United States to be a better place to live, while 33 percent thought they came to hurt the country and make it a worse place to live. Another 21 percent said "it depends."
White House spokesman Scott McClellan contended yesterday that the president's immigration proposal "enjoys strong support among the American people" and he will push for its enactment Tuesday.
"I think you can expect he will continue to talk about the importance of Congress moving forward on this new temporary worker program," Mr. McClellan said.
Some Democrats have complained that the timing of the speech — coming a day after the Iowa caucuses — steals the thunder of Mr. Bush's potential opponents in November. But Mr. McClellan pointed out that "Congress is the one that extends the invitation" to deliver the speech in the House of Representatives.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, South Dakota Democrat, offered a "pre-buttal" to the president's speech yesterday that takes Mr. Bush to task for "misguided priorities."
"All Americans should listen closely to the State of the Union address next week to see if the president's reassuring rhetoric matches everyday realities," Mrs. Pelosi said. "Sadly, if the past is prologue, the president's speech will be another missed opportunity to offer the leadership worthy of a great nation and an agenda that addresses the urgent priorities of the American people."
The president's last State of the Union address before he begins his re-election campaign will also attempt to revive his 2000 campaign proposal to allow younger workers to take part of their Social Security taxes and transfer them to private investment accounts.
Michael Tanner, director for the Project on Social Security Choice for the libertarian Cato Institute, applauded Mr. Bush for taking his fourth crack at reforming the government-run retirement program that is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
"This is one of the most important domestic issues facing Americans, and I commend President Bush for having the courage to tackle it," Mr. Tanner said.
Mr. Bush has been working on the State of the Union speech since around Christmas, Mr. McClellan said, and conducted his first practice run yesterday morning. |
