WASHINGTON (ABP) — Aside from Social Security, President Bush spent little time in his fourth State of the Union address discussing the controversial domestic issues important to many Christians.
Speaking in the House chamber Feb. 2 to a Congress whose deep partisan divisions were frequently evident, Bush laid out an agenda for the first year of his second term that dealt mainly with his plan to partially privatize Social Security and his stated foreign policy of encouraging the growth of democracy in troubled parts of the world.
“The United States has no right, no desire, and no intention to impose our form of government on anyone else,” Bush said, to an enthusiastic burst of applause from a small group of House Democrats who opposed his war in Iraq. “Our aim is to build and preserve a community of free and independent nations, with governments that answer to their citizens, and reflect their own cultures. And because democracies respect their own people and their neighbors, the advance of freedom will lead to peace.”
The speech's emotional high point also came in reference to the war, reminding the audience of both the goal of Iraqi democracy and its high human cost.
Pointing to Iraqi democracy activist Safia Taleb Suhail, seated next to Laura Bush in the House gallery, Bush noted that even threats of terrorist violence against voters did not keep Iraqis from turning out at the polls in large numbers. Suhail flashed a victory sign, revealing the blue ink on her index finger that Iraqi poll workers used to mark those who voted, as the audience cheered.
A short while later, Bush introduced Texans Janet and Bill Norwood, whose 25-year-old son, Marine Sgt. Byron Norwood, was killed in Iraq. Suhail, seated in front of Janet Norwood in the First Lady's box, leaned up and grasped the grieving mother in an emotional embrace — causing Bush and many others in the audience to tear up even as they applauded.
Bush spent a large portion of the speech providing additional details about his plan for reforming Social Security, including allowing some younger workers to begin channeling a portion of their Social Security taxes into private investment accounts.
Bush made only glancing references to his stances on issues — such as same-sex marriage, life-ethics issues and public funding for religious charities — that motivated many of the conservative religious voters who helped re-elect him.
During a seven-minute portion in the middle of the 53-minute speech, Bush alluded to those issues as well as to battling the spread of AIDS and the virus that causes it. He also noted the controversies over some of his appointments to the federal judiciary, and mentioned a new proposal to help defendants in death-penalty cases.
“Because a society is measured by how it treats the weak and vulnerable, we must strive to build a culture of life,” Bush said, employing a phrase borrowed from the writings of Pope John Paul II that Bush frequently uses when discussing abortion rights and medical research involving human embryos.
He continued: “To build a culture of life, we must also ensure that scientific advances always serve human dignity, not take advantage of some lives for the benefit of others…. I will work with Congress to ensure that human embryos are not created for experimentation or grown for body parts, and that human life is never bought and sold as a commodity.”
Bush briefly reiterated his support for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in all 50 states. “Because marriage is a sacred institution and the foundation of society, it should not be re-defined by activist judges,” he said. “For the good of families, children and society, I support a constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage.”
In a show of the political division over the issue, the ovation that followed was largely split along party lines — with the vast majority of congressional Republicans standing and applauding. Meanwhile, most Democrats sat in stony silence.
The nation's largest gay-rights group accused Bush of hypocrisy on the issue. “President Bush said that government should never undermine family values and family responsibilities but, in the very next breath, called for passage of a constitutional amendment that undermines [gay and lesbian] families and denies them the same responsibilities of all others,” said Justin Fisher, spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, in comments released shortly after the speech.
Nonetheless, the Federal Marriage Amendment is expected by most congressional observers to go nowhere soon. It was blocked in the last Congress by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans. Most of the Republicans who opposed it remain in the Senate, while one of the three Democrats who supported it has retired.
And comments Bush made in a newspaper interview earlier this year suggest that the president will not invest heavy political capital in attempting to change their minds.
Bush also referred only briefly to another of his controversial domestic policies: his plan to expand government's ability to fund social services through churches and other religious groups. “Because one of the deepest values of our country is compassion, we must never turn away from any citizen who feels isolated from the opportunities of America,” Bush said. “Our government will continue to support faith-based and community groups that bring hope to harsh places.”
He announced a $150 million initiative, to be headed by First Lady Laura Bush, designed to support religious and other community programs that fight gang recruitment and youth violence. According to a fact sheet from the White House, the program will last three years and provide grants to programs that target youths between the ages of 8 and 17.
He also announced a proposal “to fund special training for defense counsel for people in capital cases — because people on trial for their lives must have competent lawyers by their side.”
Bush said he will propose a budget designed to cut the record federal deficit without tax increases by slashing spending on many social programs. But Democrats expressed skepticism that such a feat is possible.
“I too share in the president's goal to balance our budget, but I question the negative impact his domestic spending priorities will have on low-income working families,” said Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.). “It is misleading for the president to imply that spending cuts alone would solve our problems.”