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STORY: Last night President George Bush presented to Congress his State of the Union address. He first addressed domestic issues affecting the nation, including proposed tax cuts, Medicare reform, clean air, alternative energy and human services. The main thrust of his speech was dedicated to terrorism, domestic security and justifying the impending war with Iraq. To support his contention that Iraq has not fully disarmed or disclosed its weapons to U.N. inspectors, he cited discrepancies between findings from the 1999 U.N. inspections and reports from the inspectors currently in Iraq. Despite his efforts to convince the Congress of a major threat, many remain unconvinced. Resolutions seeking an additional resolution before committing the country to war have been introduced in both the House and the Senate. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston sponsored the House resolution:
"First of all obviously the President was trying to reach out to skeptics about the Iraq war and give comfort to the American people that he was truly concerned about the American domestic issues. Frankly, that's the president's responsibility. He is to speak to the American people. But I also think it is a responsibility of Congress and others who are critics to tell the truth. And to emphasize what has not been said. And I still believe the case has not been made for an aggressive attack against Iraq. I have been given support and comfort that the resolution that I authored on Jan. 7, 2003, by the indication that Senator Kennedy will offer a resolution in the Senate that will ask for the Congrerss to have the right to re-debate the question of war that asks for that October resolution to be repealed." President Bush rebuked critics who claim there is insufficient evidence of an imminent threat from Iraq, by declaring that "terrorists and tyrants" do not announce intentions or provide notice of a strike. As for the support of our allies, President Bush made it unequivocally clear that he will act without or without their support.
"All free nations have a stake in preventing sudden and catastrophic attacks. And we're asking them to join us, and many are doing so. Yet the course of this nation does not depend on the decisions of others. Whenever action is necessary, I will defend the freedom and security of the American people!" Human services received the least amount of attention in the President's nearly hour-long speech. He sparingly addressed programs to aid education, drug-addiction and faith-based programs, and to prevent abortions and human cloning. The President's proposal to support education is to train and recruit mentors.
"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." This initiative does little to address the problems that undermine a child's ability to learn. Joanne Go of Child Builders, a local non-profit organization that provides programs to educate parents, children and teachers of the community about the emotional well-being of children explains: "Although President Bush spoke about the importance of educating our children, he failed to address the challenges our nation faces right now in the areas of children's mental health, child abuse and our juvenile justice system. A child who is fearful, hungry or sick cannot learn. These are issues that must be addressed in our nation. He also spoke about Medicare, which supports seniors, but there was no mention of supporting much-needed increases in funding of MedicAid, and the children's health insurance plan, otherwise known as CHIPs. These are the kind of programs that help needy families and children of the working poor." The President committed to providing $15 million over the next five years to fund AIDS treatment in Africa. "Ladies and Gentlemen: Seldom has history offered a greater opportunity to do so much for so many. We have confronted and will continue to confront HIV-AIDS in our own country. And to meet a severe and urgent crisis abroad, tonight I propose the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a work of mercy beyond all current international efforts to help the people of Africa." Although the President states that we have confronted and will continue to confront AIDS at home, funding for domestic programs to relieve AIDS is lacking. According to Naomi Madrid Director of the People with Aids Foundation: "I felt like he definitely addressed the global issues, particularly related to Africa and HIV and AIDS. I don't think however that he gave any level of commitment for identified fiscal resources for the domestic problem we have with HIV and AIDS. In the State of Texas, we're coming up against a very high shortage of funding for ADAP for medications, for people living within his own state." Jackson Allers & Karen Singer, KPFT News, Houston.
E-mail Jackson Allers & Karen Singer at jacksonallers@hotmail.com & KGSinger1@aol.com respectively.
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