January 28, 2003

The President gave a good speech but words alone won't address the pressing needs and challenges of our nation. Words alone won't create a single job, educate a child, improve our air and water, provide affordable health care, or protect our nation's seniors. So while I commend the President for a number of worthy initiatives and for seeking to work with Congress on an array of issues important to the American people, words ring rather hollow when they aren't reflective of deeds. The state of the union today is one of uncertainty and concern because of the poor choices this Administration is making.

Sixteen months after the September 11th attacks, our nation's optimism is intact, our democracy is intact, and our way of life is intact. In that sense, the terrorists failed; our people have proven themselves strong and resilient. I wish I could say that the current administration has done as good a job as the American people. But in key areas, it has failed to live up to even its own rhetoric in addressing our most urgent challenges. The President has pledged new jobs and new prosperity for all Americans. But since taking office, we've seen record losses on the stock market for American investors, and record losses in the job market for America's workers. And instead of helping families gain affordable health care and good schools, the Administration is squeezing resources for students, the elderly, and the uninsured to pay for a $674 billion tax cut primarily for the most affluent - and doing it by digging us into a massive economic hole of national debt.

The nation has challenges not only here but abroad as well. I commend the President for his leadership as commander in chief for leading the fight in the war on terrorism. He's done much since the devastation of 9/11. I also commend him for speaking forcefully about Iraq in his speech, but he needs to continue to lay out in a clear, concise, and concrete fashion both the specifics of the threat, and our long term goals. If the President is going to order American men and women into battle he has to make a compelling case as to why all the other options have been exhausted and why the threat is so compelling that the US must act without the support of our key allies.

North Korea too is a threat. Sadly, the Bush administration squandered the progress that the Clinton administration made in getting North Korea out of the nuclear weapons business. The Agreed framework of 1994 negotiated by the Clinton administration wasn't perfect, but it had frozen North Korea's plutonium weapons program and allowed international inspections to take place. It was something to build upon. North Korea poses a real and present danger to international peace and security because it has nuclear weapons, because it has a million man standing army, and because it finds itself in an increasingly desperate situation. The President needs to signal that the US must start talking to the North Korean officials pretty quickly and get this resolved. If North Korea's possession of two nuclear weapons is a threat to US national security now, then what kind of threat will exist 6-9 months from now when it could have as many as six to eight more nuclear weapons?

The President talked about the need for bipartisanship in his speech and I share his commitment to working together on behalf of the American public. But you can't just say that you are for bipartisanship, then say 'it's my way or the highway.' The President needs to show - again with deeds, rather than words - his commitment to a true and meaningful bipartisan dialogue. Only then can we make progress on the many pressing and immediate challenges that lay ahead for our people and for our nation.

Multimedia:
View Senator Dodd's response