WASHINGTON - At a tense moment in his presidency, George W. Bush braced the nation last night for a looming war against Iraq and vowed to deliver new evidence to the United Nations that Saddam Hussein is concealing deadly weapons and has links to terrorist groups.
In a solemn hourlong State of the Union address, Bush accused Hussein of showing "utter contempt" toward U.N. weapons inspectors, deceiving them and blocking their work. He said his administration would return to the United Nations on Feb. 5 to ask members to review Hussein's "defiance of the world."
Yet even as he held out a glimmer of hope for diplomacy, Bush sounded very much the wartime leader. He alerted U.S. forces massing in the Persian Gulf region that "crucial hours may lie ahead."
The president also confronted the other major challenge his administration faces: a stubbornly weak economy. He promoted his $670 billion tax-cut plan, which he said would help energize the economy immediately. And he laid out a host of other domestic proposals, notably one to reform Medicare and provide a prescription drug benefit for some seniors.
Before a television audience of millions, the president offered no compelling new evidence that Iraq poses an immediate threat to the United States. But he said Secretary of State Colin L. Powell would release fresh information in the coming days, for the United Nations and the world, about the perils posed by Iraq. Critics in the United States and many leaders around the world have been asking for such evidence for months.
Bush spoke ominously about the Iraqi leader, saying that Hussein "aids and protects terrorists, including members of al-Qaida."
"He could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists or help them develop their own," Bush said. "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."
Suggesting that Powell and other officials would soon illustrate Hussein's connection to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, a senior Bush administration official said last night: "We'll deal with al-Qaida and Iraq over the next few days."
Bush spoke on a night of historic significance, with the United States on the verge of attacking another country without decisive support from the American public or the rest of the world. The president made clear that he is prepared, if necessary, to wage war without substantial international support.
"The course of this nation does not depend on the decisions of others," he said. "Whatever action is required, whenever action is necessary, I will defend the freedom and security of the American people."
The president, whose public approval ratings have dropped steadily from their once-lofty levels, faced a daunting task: to convince Americans - and an international audience - that the danger of Iraq's weaponry is so grave and so urgent that Hussein must be confronted now. Many U.S. allies insist that U.N. inspectors in Iraq be given more time. Bush sought to explain why there is no time to wait.
But while the Iraq crisis seemed to dominate the night, Bush also had to grapple with Americans' economic hardships. The president claimed credit for bringing the nation out of recession last year by proposing a tax cut shortly after taking office that, he said, put more money in the hands of consumers.
Bush argued that his proposed $670 billion tax-cut plan could bring fresh help, giving a boost to small businesses as well as average families, and putting the nation on a path toward sustained growth within a few years.
"After recession, terrorist attacks, corporate scandals and stock market declines, our economy is recovering - yet it is not growing fast enough or strongly enough," he said.
A year after the president stood in the same chamber enjoying sky-high approval ratings and the public's confidence that he could produce a vigorous recovery, the economy is still in the doldrums and most voters are beginning to hold Bush accountable. Many opinion polls show that barely 45 percent of Americans approve of Bush's handling of the economy, just slightly higher than his father's approval ratings on the economy at the same time in his presidency, before the elder Bush lost his bid for re-election.
Surveys also show that most Americans believe that Bush's tax cut plan would mostly benefit the wealthy. Democrats have attacked the proposal, saying that it would do little to stimulate the economy and would swell federal budget deficits for years.
White House aides have said that the Republican takeover of the Senate gives the president's policies a far better chance of passage. But at the same time, Democrats have viewed Bush's falling approval ratings as a green light to begin challenging him more openly.
In his party's formal response to the speech, Gov. Gary Locke of Washington state, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, said last night that, "in too many ways, our country is headed in the wrong direction."
Offering a far harsher assessment of Bush's State of the Union speech than his party did a year ago, Locke called the president's tax cut plan "upside-down economics" and said Democrats would support Bush on Iraq - but only if he obtains the support of crucial allies.
"We need allies today, in 2003, just as much as we needed them in Desert Storm and just as we needed them on D-Day in 1944," Locke said.
As he outlined his agenda, the president promoted his contentious proposal to offer seniors a prescription drug benefit, perhaps through private, managed-care companies. Democrats have insisted that any such benefit should be entirely operated by the federal government through Medicare.
The president called Medicare "the binding commitment of a caring society" and insisted that "seniors happy with the current Medicare system should be able to keep their coverage just the way it is." But he also argued that "all seniors should have the choice of a health care plan that provides prescription drugs."
The president will travel to Michigan today to promote his prescription drug plan, on the first of what is expected to be a handful of trips around the country to pitch his agenda directly to Americans in the coming weeks. He said he would commit $400 billion over the next decade to reforming Medicare.
Bush added a new element to his plan to offer more federal funding to religious groups. He proposed last night to make money for drug treatment, in the form of vouchers, available to addicts who seek help at faith-based organizations.
The president renewed his call for limits on damages awarded by juries in medical malpractice cases. In West Virginia, Pennsylvania and other states, some doctors have been forced to move or to close practices, unable to afford the rising cost of medical liability insurance.
The president and his allies say those costs have soared because trial lawyers have brought frivolous lawsuits against doctors. Democrats contend that mismanagement in the insurance industry is more to blame for the higher costs.
Bush also urged members of Congress to hold the line on federal spending this year, at a time when the country may need to fund a war in Iraq and is still conducting a global war on terrorism and funneling resources to a vast new Cabinet agency to protect Americans from terrorists. The president will release his 2004 budget proposal on Monday.
Touching on other priorities, Bush said he would commit $15 billion over five years to treating AIDS patients in Africa and the Caribbean. He said he wants to speed up development of fuel-efficient automobiles "so that the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free."
The president also said he had ordered the leaders of the CIA, the FBI, the Pentagon and the new Department of Homeland Security to create a joint office to analyze intelligence about terrorist threats. After the Sept. 11 attacks, the CIA and the FBI were criticized for not working effectively together, especially because the FBI had focused primarily on solving crimes, not on gathering intelligence.
Bush's speech was interrupted 77 times by applause. The president did not repeat his famous line from last year, when he called Iraq, Iran and North Korea an "axis of evil." Instead, he made distinctions among them, seeking to explain why the nation is on verge of war with only one of the three.
He noted that citizens in Iran had been speaking out for democracy and freedoms, and said they "have a right to choose their own government and determine their own destiny."
Bush said that while North Korea is pursuing a nuclear program and "rules a people living in fear and starvation," the United States is working with allies such as China and South Korea to teach the North Korean regime, peacefully, that "nuclear weapons will bring only isolation, economic stagnation and continued hardship."
The president catalogued weapons that the United Nations had previously confirmed as being in Iraq, including anthrax, botulinum toxin, sarin, mustard and VX nerve agents as well as designs and materials for nuclear weapons. He said it is Hussein's responsibility to show that he has destroyed these weapons, but that instead, the Iraqi leader is trying hard to hide whatever weapons remain.
Bush said the British government had learned that Hussein "recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." And the president accused Hussein of ordering that "scientists who cooperate with U.N. inspectors in disarming Iraq be killed, along with their families."
Following tradition, the first lady, Laura Bush, assembled guests in her box who the White House hoped would personalize Bush's message and his agenda.
The guests included a handful of people who would be expected to benefit from Bush's tax cut, several doctors who have suffered from high insurance costs, the director of a religious group that treats cocaine addicts and a Marine corporal who helped rescue people from the wreckage at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
One of the seats in Mrs. Bush's box was left empty, to represent "the empty place many Americans will have" after the terrorist attacks 16 months ago.
In a solemn hourlong State of the Union address, Bush accused Hussein of showing "utter contempt" toward U.N. weapons inspectors, deceiving them and blocking their work. He said his administration would return to the United Nations on Feb. 5 to ask members to review Hussein's "defiance of the world."
Yet even as he held out a glimmer of hope for diplomacy, Bush sounded very much the wartime leader. He alerted U.S. forces massing in the Persian Gulf region that "crucial hours may lie ahead."
The president also confronted the other major challenge his administration faces: a stubbornly weak economy. He promoted his $670 billion tax-cut plan, which he said would help energize the economy immediately. And he laid out a host of other domestic proposals, notably one to reform Medicare and provide a prescription drug benefit for some seniors.
Before a television audience of millions, the president offered no compelling new evidence that Iraq poses an immediate threat to the United States. But he said Secretary of State Colin L. Powell would release fresh information in the coming days, for the United Nations and the world, about the perils posed by Iraq. Critics in the United States and many leaders around the world have been asking for such evidence for months.
Bush spoke ominously about the Iraqi leader, saying that Hussein "aids and protects terrorists, including members of al-Qaida."
"He could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists or help them develop their own," Bush said. "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."
Suggesting that Powell and other officials would soon illustrate Hussein's connection to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, a senior Bush administration official said last night: "We'll deal with al-Qaida and Iraq over the next few days."
Bush spoke on a night of historic significance, with the United States on the verge of attacking another country without decisive support from the American public or the rest of the world. The president made clear that he is prepared, if necessary, to wage war without substantial international support.
"The course of this nation does not depend on the decisions of others," he said. "Whatever action is required, whenever action is necessary, I will defend the freedom and security of the American people."
The president, whose public approval ratings have dropped steadily from their once-lofty levels, faced a daunting task: to convince Americans - and an international audience - that the danger of Iraq's weaponry is so grave and so urgent that Hussein must be confronted now. Many U.S. allies insist that U.N. inspectors in Iraq be given more time. Bush sought to explain why there is no time to wait.
But while the Iraq crisis seemed to dominate the night, Bush also had to grapple with Americans' economic hardships. The president claimed credit for bringing the nation out of recession last year by proposing a tax cut shortly after taking office that, he said, put more money in the hands of consumers.
Bush argued that his proposed $670 billion tax-cut plan could bring fresh help, giving a boost to small businesses as well as average families, and putting the nation on a path toward sustained growth within a few years.
"After recession, terrorist attacks, corporate scandals and stock market declines, our economy is recovering - yet it is not growing fast enough or strongly enough," he said.
A year after the president stood in the same chamber enjoying sky-high approval ratings and the public's confidence that he could produce a vigorous recovery, the economy is still in the doldrums and most voters are beginning to hold Bush accountable. Many opinion polls show that barely 45 percent of Americans approve of Bush's handling of the economy, just slightly higher than his father's approval ratings on the economy at the same time in his presidency, before the elder Bush lost his bid for re-election.
Surveys also show that most Americans believe that Bush's tax cut plan would mostly benefit the wealthy. Democrats have attacked the proposal, saying that it would do little to stimulate the economy and would swell federal budget deficits for years.
White House aides have said that the Republican takeover of the Senate gives the president's policies a far better chance of passage. But at the same time, Democrats have viewed Bush's falling approval ratings as a green light to begin challenging him more openly.
In his party's formal response to the speech, Gov. Gary Locke of Washington state, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, said last night that, "in too many ways, our country is headed in the wrong direction."
Offering a far harsher assessment of Bush's State of the Union speech than his party did a year ago, Locke called the president's tax cut plan "upside-down economics" and said Democrats would support Bush on Iraq - but only if he obtains the support of crucial allies.
"We need allies today, in 2003, just as much as we needed them in Desert Storm and just as we needed them on D-Day in 1944," Locke said.
As he outlined his agenda, the president promoted his contentious proposal to offer seniors a prescription drug benefit, perhaps through private, managed-care companies. Democrats have insisted that any such benefit should be entirely operated by the federal government through Medicare.
The president called Medicare "the binding commitment of a caring society" and insisted that "seniors happy with the current Medicare system should be able to keep their coverage just the way it is." But he also argued that "all seniors should have the choice of a health care plan that provides prescription drugs."
The president will travel to Michigan today to promote his prescription drug plan, on the first of what is expected to be a handful of trips around the country to pitch his agenda directly to Americans in the coming weeks. He said he would commit $400 billion over the next decade to reforming Medicare.
Bush added a new element to his plan to offer more federal funding to religious groups. He proposed last night to make money for drug treatment, in the form of vouchers, available to addicts who seek help at faith-based organizations.
The president renewed his call for limits on damages awarded by juries in medical malpractice cases. In West Virginia, Pennsylvania and other states, some doctors have been forced to move or to close practices, unable to afford the rising cost of medical liability insurance.
The president and his allies say those costs have soared because trial lawyers have brought frivolous lawsuits against doctors. Democrats contend that mismanagement in the insurance industry is more to blame for the higher costs.
Bush also urged members of Congress to hold the line on federal spending this year, at a time when the country may need to fund a war in Iraq and is still conducting a global war on terrorism and funneling resources to a vast new Cabinet agency to protect Americans from terrorists. The president will release his 2004 budget proposal on Monday.
Touching on other priorities, Bush said he would commit $15 billion over five years to treating AIDS patients in Africa and the Caribbean. He said he wants to speed up development of fuel-efficient automobiles "so that the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free."
The president also said he had ordered the leaders of the CIA, the FBI, the Pentagon and the new Department of Homeland Security to create a joint office to analyze intelligence about terrorist threats. After the Sept. 11 attacks, the CIA and the FBI were criticized for not working effectively together, especially because the FBI had focused primarily on solving crimes, not on gathering intelligence.
Bush's speech was interrupted 77 times by applause. The president did not repeat his famous line from last year, when he called Iraq, Iran and North Korea an "axis of evil." Instead, he made distinctions among them, seeking to explain why the nation is on verge of war with only one of the three.
He noted that citizens in Iran had been speaking out for democracy and freedoms, and said they "have a right to choose their own government and determine their own destiny."
Bush said that while North Korea is pursuing a nuclear program and "rules a people living in fear and starvation," the United States is working with allies such as China and South Korea to teach the North Korean regime, peacefully, that "nuclear weapons will bring only isolation, economic stagnation and continued hardship."
The president catalogued weapons that the United Nations had previously confirmed as being in Iraq, including anthrax, botulinum toxin, sarin, mustard and VX nerve agents as well as designs and materials for nuclear weapons. He said it is Hussein's responsibility to show that he has destroyed these weapons, but that instead, the Iraqi leader is trying hard to hide whatever weapons remain.
Bush said the British government had learned that Hussein "recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." And the president accused Hussein of ordering that "scientists who cooperate with U.N. inspectors in disarming Iraq be killed, along with their families."
Following tradition, the first lady, Laura Bush, assembled guests in her box who the White House hoped would personalize Bush's message and his agenda.
The guests included a handful of people who would be expected to benefit from Bush's tax cut, several doctors who have suffered from high insurance costs, the director of a religious group that treats cocaine addicts and a Marine corporal who helped rescue people from the wreckage at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
One of the seats in Mrs. Bush's box was left empty, to represent "the empty place many Americans will have" after the terrorist attacks 16 months ago.