2003 State of the Union Address
The 2003 State of the Union Address was given by the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush, on Tuesday, January 28, 2003, at 9 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 108th United States Congress. It was Bush's second State of the Union Address and his to a joint session of the United States Congress. Presiding over this joint session was the House Speaker, Dennis Hastert, accompanied by Dick Cheney, the Vice President of the United States.
It outlined justifications for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It began his discussion of the "war on terror" by asserting, as he had before September 11, 2001, that "the gravest danger facing America and the world, is outlaw regimes that seek and possess nuclear, chemical and biological weapons."
Saddam Hussein was the worst, and "a brutal dictator, with a history of reckless aggression, with ties to terrorism, with great potential wealth, will not be permitted to dominate a vital region and threaten the United States." In this context, Bush also said, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa," a line which became a source of contention in the later Plame affair. The domestic brutality of Hussein and the benefits of liberty and freedom for the Iraqi people were briefly noted near the end of the speech. He began with, "In all these days of promise and days of reckoning, we can be confident. In a whirlwind of change and hope and peril, our faith is sure, our resolve is firm, and our union is strong."
In the middle of the speech, he said, "In Afghanistan, we helped liberate an oppressed people. And we will continue helping them secure their country, rebuild their society, and educate all their children — boys and girls."
He ended with, "Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity." He spoke to the 108th United States Congress.
Just before the President addressed Iraq in the speech, he spent five paragraphs addressing his initiative to fight AIDS in Africa.
The Democratic response was given by then Washington Governor Gary Locke, who was appointed to be United States Ambassador to China in 2011.
