Tuesday, February 5, 2008

JO 307 State of the Union Article

BUSH-SOU08/Condakes January 28, 2008


PRESIDENT BUSH DELIVERS FINAL STATE OF UNION ADDRESS


By John Condakes


BOSTON—Frequently sporting his ‘presidential smirk’ and surrounded by supporters and opponents, President Bush delivered his seventh and final State of the Union Address on Monday night. Many of the issues in the president’s final address were met with applause from supporters which aided the positive mood in the Capitol.

The president focused his address on asking Congress to aid him in successfully completing his policies on topics such as a tax relief fund, the “War on Terror,” healthcare, education and the economy. Some of those in attendance included Sens. Hillary Clinton, Barrack Obama, John Kerry and Bob Dole. Bush received mixed reactions from the audience on each topic. One of the most notable of these was the refusal by Democratic presidential candidate Barrack Obama to clap in response to Bush’s announcement that test scores from 4th and 8th graders have increased significantly during his time in office.

The president provided an update on what he calls War on Terror, asserting that the United States is winning the battle against terror organizations such as Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah. He also mentioned that “Iran plays a large part in harboring, training and aiding terrorists” and warned that their refusal to admit experimenting with uranium is hindering negotiations with the United States.

The president also said that he was pleased to report that “20,000 troops will return home from Iraq in the coming months.” He mentioned that 3,200 marines will be deployed into Afghanistan to aid in training their law enforcement and to maintain peace there. One of the most emotional moments of the address occurred when President Bush thanked all of the U.S. troops now on duty in the “War on Terror.”

Bush also touched upon recent scientific discoveries such as the recent discovery that human skin cells can be reprogrammed to act as stem cells. The president expressed his concern for human cloning and mentioned that he would ask Congress to pass a bill forbidding it. He emphasized a need to continue funding for physical science and research for creating different, cleaner fuel sources.

The foreign policy section of the president’s speech noted that the president wished to create trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea after he mentioned how well the recent U.S. trade with Columbia has progressed.


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