[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 28, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E86-E87]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       PRE-BUTTAL TO PRESIDENT BUSH'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 28, 2003

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I would like to 
submit for inclusion into the Record a copy of a letter sent to 
President Bush on Monday, January 27, 2003. In the letter, I express my 
views as a ``pre-buttal'' to President Bush's State of the Union 
Address on Tuesday, January 28, 2003.

                                                 January 27, 2003.
     Hon. George W. Bush,
     The White House,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. President: For the past few weeks, I have been 
     away from my Washington office recovering from a surgical 
     procedure. This time away has allowed me to live as a normal 
     American outside of Capitol Hill. I have been an ear and a 
     shoulder for my constituents and many normal/working, people 
     who are concerned and worried about the economy, civil 
     rights, education, war and other legitimate fears. These 
     conversations have compelled me to share the thoughts and 
     sentiments of numerous citizens who have telephoned, faxed 
     and e-mailed me about the dismal state of our Union.
       Mr. President, have you not noticed that there are others, 
     actually the majority, in this country that do not subscribe 
     to your very Republican morals, issues, and policies? On 
     Tuesday when you speak to the nation, please tell us the real 
     state of our Union and what you plan to do about it! The 
     current situation under your leadership can be better labeled 
     as a state of DISUNION . . . especially as it refers to your 
     party's policies and positions on war, civil rights and the 
     overall domestic agenda.
       In these times of domestic disarray and homeland alarm, you 
     are acting as a playground bully picking fights on a global 
     scale when there are more pressings issues in your own front 
     yard. There is little doubt that world issues are very 
     serious and unsettling today. But, the United States of 
     America can not serve as world police, especially now when we 
     are faced with a continuing battle for basic civil rights, 
     the education of our children and the safety of our families 
     right here at home. President Bush, you are taking a hard 
     position and standing your ground on the wrong issues . . . 
     and you're standing nearly alone. Major United Nations member 
     countries have expressed their displeasure with your 
     insistence upon a personal vendetta against Saddam Hussein. 
     It is estimated that a new Bush war with Iraq will cost this 
     country $6 billion to $9 billion per month! Wouldn't that 
     money be better spent securing prescription drug coverage for 
     our seniors, keeping hospitals open and operational or 
     funding programs like No Child Left Behind and the Vote 
     America Act that have cleared the legislative process but 
     stand stagnant due to frozen resources.
       Wouldn't this country's most important resource, our young 
     people, be better utilized as productive, college-educated 
     members of society rather than soldiers in a war that nobody 
     wants? Your insensitive, detached administration recently 
     demonstrated its misguided position on civil rights in higher 
     education for minorities and women. President Bush, your own 
     educational career was aided by preferential treatment. 
     The only difference between the University of Michigan's 
     admissions policy and your educational career is that the 
     Bush special treatment was based on affirmative influence 
     rather than affirmative action. The Michigan policy is not 
     far removed for other points systems that award advantages 
     to the children of board members, graduates of the 
     institution and major donors to the university. Your 
     hypocritical stance on the Michigan guidelines totally 
     ignored the fact that policies of this sort are more than 
     necessary and only start to alleviate the social and 
     economic shortfalls of the citizens they are designed to 
     assist. Millions of people are concerned that with the 
     recent attack on affirmative action will come an overall 
     evaporation of all civil rights for minorities and women. 
     Mr. President, would you please tell the American people 
     how you plan to promote the attainment of diverse student 
     bodies at institutions of higher education? We must equal 
     the educational opportunities for less fortunate citizens 
     so that those without the affirmative influence of a U.S. 
     President and a grandfather who sits on the board of 
     trustees at Yale can earn a quality/marketable education 
     as well.
       Armed with such an education and life training, less 
     affluent citizens will go on to have better paying jobs that 
     will allow them to spend more on the necessities and spoils 
     of life. What better way to stimulate the economy than to put 
     more money in the hands of the largest section of the 
     population of this country . . . the middle class American? 
     Your new proposed tax plan would do nothing for the working 
     American. Tax cuts will only put money in the pockets of 
     those who already have it. Didn't you learn anything from 
     your 2001 tax cuts which reversed the positive progression of 
     the economy that was cultivated by the last administration 
     and managed to bankrupt the country in record time? The 
     Federal budget under your management has gone from a $236 
     billion surplus to a $159 billion deficit in merely 2 years . 
     . . a $395 billion swing of our economic prosperity. Have you 
     learned nothing from the $10 billion shortfall facing the 
     state of Texas caused by your tax cuts as its governor? If we 
     always do the same things we've always done, we will always 
     get the same results we've always gotten! Mr. President, 
     please tell us, the American people what you plan to do to 
     regain the confirmed economic success of the Clinton 
     administration that promoted the lowest unemployment numbers 
     in decades, garnered higher wages and home purchases for the 
     middle class, and saw industry and the stock markets 
     flourish. Please address the fact that millions of Americans 
     have lost their jobs, with their children being forced to 
     leave college to come home to foreclosed homes and bankrupt 
     parents.
       What ``is'' the true state of the Union? Mr. President, 
     knowing your heart and compassion as I know it, would you 
     please address the very real issues I've put forth for and 
     with the American people. We all would like to hear a plan 
     that will benefit the masses and put us back on the path to 
     financial stability, civil and social equality, and PEACE at 
     home and abroad.
           Sincerely,
                                            Eddie Bernice Johnson,
                                               Member of Congress.

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