WASHINGTON (ABP) — In his valedictory State of the Union address Jan. 28, President Bush attempted to cement his legacy on a handful of issues important to religious voters while much of the nation focused on the race to choose his successor.
Bush asked Congress, once again, to ban human cloning, appoint all of the judges he has nominated to the federal courts, and make permanent his efforts to provide government funding to religious charities. But his speech seemed to by vying for attention in the House chamber with the two top Democrats competing to take his place: New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. Both attended the speech. Arizona Sen. John McCain, one of the top GOP contenders, was reportedly campaigning in Florida and not present at the Capitol.
In a modest attempt at a new domestic initiative, Bush also called for a new way to provide federal scholarships for children in underperforming public schools. He asked Congress to pass a $300 million plan to give what he called “Pell Grants for Kids” to spend at private and parochial schools. The existing Pell Grant program provides federal funds for lower-income students to spend on college.
“We must … do more to help children when their schools do not measure up. Thanks to the D.C. Opportunity Scholarships you approved, more than 2,600 of the poorest children in our nation's capital have found new hope at a faith-based or other non-public school,” Bush said, citing the only federal school-voucher plan he has gotten Congress to approve. It serves students in the District of Columbia, and recent studies show it has had mixed results in helping improve academic performance.
In the realm of bioethics, Bush referred to recent scientific discoveries that may help quell the moral debate over embryonic stem-cell research. “This breakthrough has the potential to move us beyond the divisive debates of the past by extending the frontiers of medicine without the destruction of human life,” he said. “So we're expanding funding for this type of ethical medical research.”
Bush also used the opportunity to prod Congress on a human-cloning ban, which failed in 2006 under Republican leadership. “[A]s we explore promising avenues of research, we must also ensure that all life is treated with the dignity it deserves,” he said. “And so I call on Congress to pass legislation that bans unethical practices such as the buying, selling, patenting, or cloning of human life.”
Bush once again called on the Democratic-controlled Senate to confirm all of his nominees to the federal courts. “I've submitted judicial nominees who will rule by the letter of the law, not the whim of the gavel,” he said. “Many of these nominees are being unfairly delayed. They are worthy of confirmation, and the Senate should give each of them a prompt up-or-down vote.”
Bush called on Congress to codify the changes he made to several federal social-service programs that allow churches and other religious charities to receive direct government grants, sometimes referred to as “charitable choice.” He came into office promising large-scale changes allowing the practice but was able to get few of them through Congress.
He also implemented several changes to federal programs via executive order, but many are likely to expire once he leaves office. The Democrats who now control Capitol Hill are less warm to the idea of charitable choice, citing concerns about church-state separation and federal funding of organizations that are allowed to discriminate on the basis of religion in employment decisions.
“In communities across our land, we must trust in the good heart of the American people and empower them to serve their neighbours in need,” Bush said. “Faith-based groups are bringing hope to pockets of despair, with newfound support from the federal government. And to help guarantee equal treatment of faith-based organizations when they compete for federal funds, I ask you to permanently extend charitable choice.”
Bush touched lightly on other moral issues. He asked for several billion dollars in more funding for his HIV/AIDS initiative, a program that increases drugs to fight the disease in AIDS-stricken places like Africa. His focus on the initiative has earned Bush most of the scant praise he has received from anti-poverty groups.
However, the head of one Christian social-justice group said Bush and the federal government need to do more to fight the pandemic.
“The president's HIV/AIDS Initiative has shown amazing success in a very short time,” said David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, in a statement released following the speech. “However, in many regions of the world, HIV/AIDS is a disease of poverty and cannot be solved by drugs alone.
“The President's upcoming [fiscal year] 2009 budget request must regain a sense of balance between emergency response to the HIV/AIDS crisis and the investments in long-term development.”
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