    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
    [January 23, 2007]
    [Pages 42-50]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union
    January 23, 2007

        Thank you very much. And tonight I have the high privilege and
    distinct honor of my own as the first President to begin the State of
    the Union message with these words: Madam Speaker.
        In his day, the late Congressman Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr., from
    Baltimore, Maryland, saw Presidents Roosevelt and Truman at this
    rostrum. But nothing could compare with the sight of his only daughter,
    Nancy, presiding tonight as Speaker of the
    House of Representatives. Congratulations, Madam Speaker.
        Two Members of the House and Senate are not with us tonight, and we
    pray for the recovery and speedy return of Senator Tim Johnson and Congressman Charlie Norwood.
        Madam Speaker, Vice President
    Cheney, Members of Congress, distinguished
    guests, and fellow citizens: The rite of custom brings us together at a
    defining hour when decisions are hard and courage is needed. We enter
    the year 2007 with large endeavors underway and others that are ours to
    begin. In all of this, much is asked of us. We must have the will to
    face difficult challenges and determined enemies and the wisdom to face
    them together.
        Some in this Chamber are new to the House and the Senate, and I
    congratulate the Democrat majority. Congress has changed, but not our
    responsibilities. Each of us is guided by our own convictions, and to
    these we must stay faithful. Yet we're all held to the same standards
    and called to serve the same good purposes: to extend this Nation's
    prosperity, to spend the people's money wisely, to solve problems, not
    leave them to future generations, to guard America against all evil, and
    to keep faith with those we have sent forth to defend us.
        We're not the first to come here with a government divided and
    uncertainty in the air. Like many before us, we can work through our
    differences, and we can achieve big things for the American people. Our
    citizens don't much care which side of the aisle we sit on, as long as
    we're willing to cross that aisle when there is work to be done. Our job
    is to make life better for our fellow Americans and to help them build a
    future of hope and opportunity, and this is the business before us
    tonight.
        A future of hope and opportunity begins with a growing economy, and
    that is what we have. We're now in the 41st month of uninterrupted job
    growth, a recovery that has created 7.2 million new jobs so far.
    Unemployment is low; inflation is low; wages are rising. This economy is
    on the move, and our job is to keep it that way, not with more
    government but with more enterprise.
        Next week, I'll deliver a full report on the state of our economy.
    Tonight I want to discuss three economic reforms that deserve to be
    priorities for this Congress.
        First, we must balance the Federal budget. We can do so without
    raising taxes. What we need is spending discipline in Washington, DC. We
    set a goal of cutting the deficit in half by 2009 and met that goal 3
    years ahead of schedule. Now let us take the next step. In the coming
    weeks, I will submit a budget that eliminates the

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    Federal deficit within the next 5 years. I ask you to make the same
    commitment. Together, we can restrain the spending appetite of the
    Federal Government, and we can balance the Federal budget.
        Next, there is the matter of earmarks. These special interest items
    are often slipped into bills at the last hour, when not even C-SPAN is
    watching. [Laughter] In 2005 alone, the number of earmarks grew to over
    13,000 and totaled nearly $18 billion. Even worse, over 90 percent of
    the earmarks never make it to the floor of the House and Senate. They
    are dropped into committee reports that are not even part of the bill
    that arrives on my desk. You didn't vote them into law, I didn't sign
    them into law, yet they're treated as if they have the force of law. The
    time has come to end this practice. So let us work together to reform
    the budget process, expose every earmark to the light of day and to a
    vote in Congress, and cut the number and cost of earmarks at least in
    half by the end of this session.
        And finally, to keep this economy strong, we must take on the
    challenge of entitlements. Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid are
    commitments of conscience, and so it is our duty to keep them
    permanently sound. Yet we're failing in that duty. And this failure will
    one day leave our children with three bad options: huge tax increases,
    huge deficits, or huge and immediate cuts in benefits. Everyone in this
    Chamber knows this to be true, yet somehow we have not found it in
    ourselves to act. So let us work together and do it now. With enough
    good sense and good will, you and I can fix Medicare and Medicaid and
    save Social Security.
        Spreading opportunity and hope in America also requires public
    schools that give children the knowledge and character they need in
    life. Five years ago, we rose above partisan differences to pass the No
    Child Left Behind Act, preserving local control, raising standards, and
    holding schools accountable for results. And because we acted, students
    are performing better in reading and math, and minority students are
    closing the achievement gap.
        Now the task is to build on the success without watering down
    standards, without taking control from local communities, and without
    backsliding and calling it reform. We can lift student achievement even
    higher by giving local leaders flexibility to turn around failing
    schools and by giving families with children stuck in failing schools
    the right to choose someplace better. We must increase funds for
    students who struggle and make sure these children get the special help
    they need. And we can make sure our children are prepared for the jobs
    of the future and our country is more competitive by strengthening math
    and science skills. The No Child Left Behind Act has worked for
    America's children, and I ask Congress to reauthorize this good law.
        A future of hope and opportunity requires that all our citizens have
    affordable and available health care. When it comes to health care,
    Government has an obligation to care for the elderly, the disabled, and
    poor children, and we will meet those responsibilities. For all other
    Americans, private health insurance is the best way to meet their needs.
        But many Americans cannot afford a health insurance policy, and so
    tonight I propose two new initiatives to help more Americans afford
    their own insurance. First, I propose a standard tax deduction for
    health insurance that will be like the standard tax deduction for
    dependents. Families with health insurance will pay no income on payroll
    tax--or payroll taxes on $15,000 of their income. Single Americans with
    health insurance will pay no income or payroll taxes on $7,500 of their
    income. With this reform, more than 100 million men, women, and children
    who are now covered by employer-provided insurance will benefit from
    lower tax bills. At the same time, this reform will level the playing
    field for those who do not get health insurance through their job. For
    Americans who

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    now purchase health insurance on their own, this proposal would mean a
    substantial tax savings, $4,500 for a family of four making $60,000 a
    year. And for the millions of other Americans who have no health
    insurance at all, this deduction would help put a basic, private health
    insurance plan within their reach. Changing the Tax Code is a vital and
    necessary step to making health care affordable for more Americans.
        My second proposal is to help the States that are coming up with
    innovative ways to cover the uninsured. States that make basic private
    health insurance available to all their citizens should receive Federal
    funds to help them provide this coverage to the poor and the sick. I
    have asked the Secretary of Health and Human Services to work with Congress to take existing Federal funds and
    use them to create Affordable Choices grants. These grants would give
    our Nation's Governors more money and more flexibility to get private
    health insurance to those most in need.
        There are many other ways that Congress can help. We need to expand
    health savings accounts. We need to help small businesses through
    association health plans. We need to reduce costs and medical errors
    with better information technology. We will encourage price
    transparency. And to protect good doctors from junk lawsuits, we need to
    pass medical liability reform. In all we do, we must remember that the
    best health care decisions are not made by government and insurance
    companies but by patients and their doctors.
        Extending hope and opportunity in our country requires an
    immigration system worthy of America, with laws that are fair and
    borders that are secure. When laws and borders are routinely violated,
    this harms the interests of our country. To secure our border, we're
    doubling the size of the Border Patrol and funding new infrastructure
    and technology.
        Yet even with all these steps, we cannot fully secure the border
    unless we take pressure off the border, and that requires a temporary-
    worker program. We should establish a legal and orderly path for foreign
    workers to enter our country to work on a temporary basis. As a result,
    they won't have to try to sneak in, and that will leave border agents
    free to chase down drug smugglers and criminals and terrorists. We'll
    enforce our immigration laws at the worksite and give employers the
    tools to verify the legal status of their workers, so there's no excuse
    left for violating the law.
        We need to uphold the great tradition of the melting pot that
    welcomes and assimilates new arrivals. We need to resolve the status of
    the illegal immigrants who are already in our country without animosity
    and without amnesty. Convictions run deep in this Capitol when it comes
    to immigration. Let us have a serious, civil, and conclusive debate, so
    that you can pass and I can sign comprehensive immigration reform into
    law.
        Extending hope and opportunity depends on a stable supply of energy
    that keeps America's economy running and America's environment clean.
    For too long, our Nation has been dependent on foreign oil. And this
    dependence leaves us more vulnerable to hostile regimes and to
    terrorists who could cause huge disruptions of oil shipments and raise
    the price of oil and do great harm to our economy.
        It's in our vital interest to diversify America's energy supply. The
    way forward is through technology. We must continue changing the way
    America generates electric power by even greater use of clean coal
    technology, solar and wind energy, and clean, safe nuclear power. We
    need to press on with battery research for plug-in and hybrid vehicles
    and expand the use of clean diesel vehicles and biodiesel fuel. We must
    continue investing in new methods of producing ethanol, using everything
    from wood chips to grasses to agricultural wastes.
        We made a lot of progress, thanks to good policies here in
    Washington and the strong response of the market. And now

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    even more dramatic advances are within reach. Tonight I ask Congress to
    join me in pursuing a great goal. Let us build on the work we've done
    and reduce gasoline usage in the United States by 20 percent in the next
    10 years. When we do that, we will have cut our total imports by the
    equivalent of three-quarters of all the oil we now import from the
    Middle East.
        To reach this goal, we must increase the supply of alternative fuels
    by setting a mandatory fuels standard to require 35 billion gallons of
    renewable and alternative fuels in 2017, and that is nearly five times
    the current target. At the same time, we need to reform and modernize
    fuel economy standards for cars the way we did for light trucks, and
    conserve up to 8\1/2\ billion more gallons of gasoline by 2017.
        Achieving these ambitious goals will dramatically reduce our
    dependence on foreign oil, but it's not going to eliminate it. And so as
    we continue to diversify our fuel supply, we must step up domestic oil
    production in environmentally sensitive ways. And to further protect
    America against severe disruptions to our oil supply, I ask Congress to
    double the current capacity of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
        America is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that will
    enable us to live our lives less dependent on oil. And these
    technologies will help us be better stewards of the environment, and
    they will help us to confront the serious challenge of global climate
    change.
        A future of hope and opportunity requires a fair, impartial system
    of justice. The lives of our citizens across our Nation are affected by
    the outcome of cases pending in our Federal courts. We have a shared
    obligation to ensure that the Federal courts have enough judges to hear
    those cases and deliver timely rulings. As President, I have a duty to
    nominate qualified men and women to vacancies on the Federal bench, and
    the United States Senate has a duty as well, to give those nominees a
    fair hearing and a prompt up-or-down vote on the Senate floor.
        For all of us in this room, there is no higher responsibility than
    to protect the people of this country from danger. Five years have come
    and gone since we saw the scenes and felt the sorrow that the terrorists
    can cause. We've had time to take stock of our situation. We've added
    many critical protections to guard the homeland. We know with certainty
    that the horrors of that September morning were just a glimpse of what
    the terrorists intend for us, unless we stop them.
        With the distance of time, we find ourselves debating the causes of
    conflict and the course we have followed. Such debates are essential
    when a great democracy faces great questions. Yet one question has
    surely been settled: that to win the war on terror, we must take the
    fight to the enemy.
        From the start, America and our allies have protected our people by
    staying on the offense. The enemy knows that the days of comfortable
    sanctuary, easy movement, steady financing, and free flowing
    communications are long over. For the terrorists, life since 9/11 has
    never been the same.
        Our success in this war is often measured by the things that did not
    happen. We cannot know the full extent of the attacks that we and our
    allies have prevented, but here is some of what we do know. We stopped
    an Al Qaida plot to fly a hijacked airplane into the tallest building on
    the west coast. We broke up a Southeast Asian terror cell grooming
    operatives for attacks inside the United States. We uncovered an Al
    Qaida cell developing anthrax to be used in attacks against America. And
    just last August, British authorities uncovered a plot to blow up
    passenger planes bound for America over the Atlantic Ocean. For each
    life saved, we owe a debt of gratitude to the brave public servants who
    devote their lives to finding the terrorists and stopping them.
        Every success against the terrorists is a reminder of the shoreless
    ambitions of this

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    enemy. The evil that inspired and rejoiced in 9/11 is still at work in
    the world. And so long as that's the case, America is still a nation at
    war.
        In the mind of the terrorists, this war began well before September
    the 11th and will not end until their radical vision is fulfilled. And
    these past 5 years have given us a much clearer view of the nature of
    this enemy. Al Qaida and its followers are Sunni extremists possessed by
    hatred and commanded by a harsh and narrow ideology. Take almost any
    principle of civilization, and their goal is the opposite. They preach
    with threats, instruct with bullets and bombs, and promise paradise for
    the murder of the innocent.
        Our enemies are quite explicit about their intentions. They want to
    overthrow moderate governments and establish safe havens from which to
    plan and carry out new attacks on our country. By killing and
    terrorizing Americans, they want to force our country to retreat from
    the world and abandon the cause of liberty. They would then be free to
    impose their will and spread their totalitarian ideology. Listen to this
    warning from the late terrorist Zarqawi: ``We will sacrifice our blood
    and bodies to put an end to your dreams, and what is coming is even
    worse.'' Usama bin Laden declared: ``Death
    is better than living on this Earth with the unbelievers among us.''
        These men are not given to idle words, and they are just one camp in
    the Islamist radical movement. In recent times, it has also become clear
    that we face an escalating danger from Shi'a extremists who are just as
    hostile to America and are also determined to dominate the Middle East.
    Many are known to take direction from the regime in Iran, which is
    funding and arming terrorists like Hizballah, a group second only to Al
    Qaida in the American lives it has taken.
        The Shi'a and Sunni extremists are different faces of the same
    totalitarian threat. Whatever slogans they chant when they slaughter the
    innocent, they have the same wicked purposes. They want to kill
    Americans, kill democracy in the Middle East, and gain the weapons to
    kill on an even more horrific scale.
        In the sixth year since our Nation was attacked, I wish I could
    report to you that the dangers have ended. They have not. And so it
    remains the policy of this Government to use every lawful and proper
    tool of intelligence, diplomacy, law enforcement, and military action to
    do our duty, to find these enemies, and to protect the American people.
        This war is more than a clash of arms; it is a decisive ideological
    struggle. And the security of our Nation is in the balance. To prevail,
    we must remove the conditions that inspire blind hatred and drove 19 men
    to get onto airplanes and to come and kill us. What every terrorist
    fears most is human freedom: societies where men and women make their
    own choices, answer to their own conscience, and live by their hopes
    instead of their resentments. Free people are not drawn to violent and
    malignant ideologies, and most will choose a better way when they're
    given a chance. So we advance our own security interests by helping
    moderates and reformers and brave voices for democracy. The great
    question of our day is whether America will help men and women in the
    Middle East to build free societies and share in the rights of all
    humanity. And I say, for the sake of our own security, We must.
        In the last 2 years, we've seen the desire for liberty in the
    broader Middle East, and we have been sobered by the enemy's fierce
    reaction. In 2005, the world watched as the citizens of Lebanon raised
    the banner of the Cedar Revolution. They drove out the Syrian occupiers
    and chose new leaders in free elections. In 2005, the people of
    Afghanistan defied the terrorists and elected a democratic legislature.
    And in 2005, the Iraqi people held three national elections, choosing a
    transitional government, adopting the most progressive, democratic
    Constitution in the Arab world, and

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    then electing a Government under that Constitution. Despite endless
    threats from the killers in their midst, nearly 12 million Iraqi
    citizens came out to vote in a show of hope and solidarity that we
    should never forget.
        A thinking enemy watched all of these scenes, adjusted their
    tactics, and, in 2006, they struck back. In Lebanon, assassins took the
    life of Pierre Gemayel, a prominent participant in the Cedar Revolution.
    Hizballah terrorists, with support from Syria and Iran, sowed conflict
    in the region and are seeking to undermine Lebanon's legitimately
    elected Government. In Afghanistan, Taliban and Al Qaida fighters tried
    to regain power by regrouping and engaging Afghan and NATO forces. In
    Iraq, Al Qaida and other Sunni extremists blew up one of the most sacred
    places in Shi'a Islam, the Golden Mosque of Samarra. This atrocity,
    directed at a Muslim house of prayer, was designed to provoke
    retaliation from Iraqi Shi'a, and it succeeded. Radical Shi'a elements,
    some of whom receive support from Iran, formed death squads. The result
    was a tragic escalation of sectarian rage and reprisal that continues to
    this day.
        This is not the fight we entered in Iraq, but it is the fight we're
    in. Every one of us wishes this war were over and won. Yet it would not
    be like us to leave our promises unkept, our friends abandoned, and our
    own security at risk. Ladies and gentlemen, on this day, at this hour,
    it is still within our power to shape the outcome of this battle. Let us
    find our resolve and turn events toward victory.
        We're carrying out a new strategy in Iraq, a plan that demands more
    from Iraq's elected Government and gives our forces in Iraq the
    reinforcements they need to complete their mission. Our goal is a
    democratic Iraq that upholds the rule of law, respects the rights of its
    people, provides them security, and is an ally in the war on terror.
        In order to make progress toward this goal, the Iraqi Government
    must stop the sectarian violence in its capital. But the Iraqis are not
    yet ready to do this on their own. So we're deploying reinforcements of
    more than 20,000 additional soldiers and marines to Iraq. The vast
    majority will go to Baghdad, where they will help Iraqi forces to clear
    and secure neighborhoods and serve as advisers embedded in Iraqi Army
    units. With Iraqis in the lead, our forces will help secure the city by
    chasing down the terrorists, insurgents, and the roaming death squads.
    And in Anbar Province, where Al Qaida terrorists have gathered and local
    forces have begun showing a willingness to fight them, we're sending an
    additional 4,000 United States marines, with orders to find the
    terrorists and clear them out. We didn't drive Al Qaida out of their
    safe haven in Afghanistan only to let them set up a new safe haven in a
    free Iraq.
        The people of Iraq want to live in peace, and now it's time for
    their Government to act. Iraq's leaders know that our commitment is not
    open ended. They have promised to deploy more of their own troops to
    secure Baghdad, and they must do so. They pledged that they will
    confront violent radicals of any faction or political party, and they
    need to follow through and lift needless restrictions on Iraqi and
    coalition forces, so these troops can achieve their mission of bringing
    security to all of the people of Baghdad. Iraq's leaders have committed
    themselves to a series of benchmarks: to achieve reconciliation, to
    share oil revenues among all of Iraq's citizens, to put the wealth of
    Iraq into the rebuilding of Iraq, to allow more Iraqis to reenter their
    nation's civic life, to hold local elections, and to take responsibility
    for security in every Iraqi Province. But for all of this to happen,
    Baghdad must be secure, and our plan will help the Iraqi Government take
    back its capital and make good on its commitments.

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        My fellow citizens, our military commanders and I have carefully
    weighed the options. We discussed every possible approach. In the end, I
    chose this course of action because it provides the best chance for
    success. Many in this Chamber understand that America must not fail in
    Iraq, because you understand that the consequences of failure would be
    grievous and far-reaching.
        If American forces step back before Baghdad is secure, the Iraqi
    Government would be overrun by extremists on all sides. We could expect
    an epic battle between Shi'a extremists backed by Iran and Sunni
    extremists aided by Al Qaida and supporters of the old regime. A
    contagion of violence could spill out across the country, and, in time,
    the entire region could be drawn into the conflict.
        For America, this is a nightmare scenario; for the enemy, this is
    the objective. Chaos is the greatest ally, their greatest ally in this
    struggle. And out of chaos in Iraq would emerge an emboldened enemy with
    new safe havens, new recruits, new resources, and an even greater
    determination to harm America. To allow this to happen would be to
    ignore the lessons of September the 11th and invite tragedy. Ladies and
    gentlemen, nothing is more important at this moment in our history than
    for America to succeed in the Middle East, to succeed in Iraq, and to
    spare the American people from this danger.
        This is where matters stand tonight, in the here and now. I have
    spoken with many of you in person. I respect you and the arguments
    you've made. We went into this largely united, in our assumptions and in
    our convictions. And whatever you voted for, you did not vote for
    failure. Our country is pursuing a new strategy in Iraq, and I ask you
    to give it a chance to work. And I ask you to support our troops in the
    field and those on their way.
        The war on terror we fight today is a generational struggle that
    will continue long after you and I have turned our duties over to
    others. And that's why it's important to work together so our Nation can
    see this great effort through. Both parties and both branches should
    work in close consultation. It's why I've proposed to establish a
    special advisory council on the war on terror, made up of leaders in
    Congress from both political parties. We will share ideas for how to
    position America to meet every challenge that confronts us. We'll show
    our enemies abroad that we are united in the goal of victory.
        And one of the first steps we can take together is to add to the
    ranks of our military so that the American Armed Forces are ready for
    all the challenges ahead. Tonight I ask the Congress to authorize an
    increase in the size of our active Army and Marine Corps by 92,000 in
    the next 5 years. A second task we can take on together is to design and
    establish a volunteer civilian reserve corps. Such a corps would
    function much like our military reserve. It would ease the burden on the
    Armed Forces by allowing us to hire civilians with critical skills to
    serve on missions abroad when America needs them. It would give people
    across America who do not wear the uniform a chance to serve in the
    defining struggle of our time.
        Americans can have confidence in the outcome of this struggle
    because we're not in this struggle alone. We have a diplomatic strategy
    that is rallying the world to join in the fight against extremism. In
    Iraq, multinational forces are operating under a mandate from the United
    Nations. We're working with Jordan and Saudi Arabia and Egypt and the
    Gulf States to increase support for Iraq's Government.
        The United Nations has imposed sanctions on Iran and made it clear
    that the world will not allow the regime in Tehran to acquire nuclear
    weapons. With the other members of the Quartet--the U.N., the EU, and
    Russia--we're pursuing diplomacy to help bring peace to the Holy Land
    and pursuing the establishment of a democratic Palestinian state living
    side by side with

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    Israel in peace and security. In Afghanistan, NATO has taken the lead in
    turning back the Taliban and Al Qaida offensive, the first time the
    Alliance has deployed forces outside the North Atlantic area. Together
    with our partners in China and Japan, Russia and South Korea, we're
    pursuing intensive diplomacy to achieve a Korean Peninsula free of
    nuclear weapons.
        We will continue to speak out for the cause of freedom in places
    like Cuba, Belarus, and Burma, and continue to awaken the conscience of
    the world to save the people of Darfur.
        American foreign policy is more than a matter of war and diplomacy.
    Our work in the world is also based on a timeless truth: To whom much is
    given, much is required. We hear the call to take on the challenges of
    hunger and poverty and disease, and that is precisely what America is
    doing. We must continue to fight HIV/AIDS, especially on the continent
    of Africa. Because you funded the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the
    number of people receiving lifesaving drugs has grown from 50,000 to
    more than 800,000 in 3 short years. I ask you to continue funding our
    efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, and I ask you to provide $1.2 billion over 5
    years so we can combat malaria in 15 African countries.
        I ask that you fund the Millennium Challenge Account, so that
    American aid reaches the people who need it, in nations where democracy
    is on the rise and corruption is in retreat. And let us continue to
    support the expanded trade and debt relief that are the best hope for
    lifting lives and eliminating poverty.
        When America serves others in this way, we show the strength and
    generosity of our country. These deeds reflect the character of our
    people. The greatest strength we have is the heroic kindness and courage
    and self-sacrifice of the American people. You see this spirit often if
    you know where to look, and tonight we need only look above to the
    gallery.
        Dikembe Mutombo grew up in Africa amid
    great poverty and disease. He came to Georgetown University on a
    scholarship to study medicine, but Coach John Thompson took a look at Dikembe and had a different idea.
    [Laughter] Dikembe became a star in the NBA and a citizen of the United
    States, but he never forgot the land of his birth or the duty to share
    his blessings with others. He built a brand new hospital in his old
    hometown. A friend has said of this good-
    hearted man: ``Mutombo believes that God has given him this opportunity
    to do great things.'' And we are proud to call this son of the Congo a
    citizen of the United States of America.
        After her daughter was born, Julie Aigner-
    Clark searched for ways to share her love
    of music and art with her child. So she borrowed some equipment and
    began filming children's videos in her basement. The Baby Einstein
    Company was born, and in just 5 years, her business grew to more than
    $20 million in sales. In November 2001, Julie sold Baby Einstein to Walt
    Disney Company, and with her help, Baby Einstein has grown into a $200
    million business. Julie represents the great enterprising spirit of
    America. And she is using her success to help others, producing child
    safety videos with John Walsh of the National
    Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Julie says of her new
    project: ``I believe it is the most important thing I have ever done. I
    believe that children have the right to live in a world that is safe.''
    And so tonight we are pleased to welcome this talented business
    entrepreneur and generous social entrepreneur, Julie Aigner-Clark.
        Three weeks ago, Wesley Autrey was waiting
    at a Harlem subway station with his two little
    girls when he saw a man fall into the path of a train. With seconds to act,
    Wesley jumped onto the tracks, pulled the man into the space between the
    rails, and held him as the train passed right above their heads. He
    insists he's not a

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    hero. He says: ``We got guys and girls overseas dying for us to have our
    freedoms. We have got to show each other some love.'' There is something
    wonderful about a country that produces a brave and humble man like
    Wesley Autrey.
        Tommy Rieman was a teenager pumping gas in
    Independence, Kentucky, when he enlisted in the United States Army. In
    December 2003, he was on a reconnaissance mission in Iraq when his team
    came under heavy enemy fire. From his Humvee, Sergeant Rieman returned
    fire. He used his body as a shield to protect his gunner. He was shot in
    the chest and arm and received shrapnel wounds to his legs, yet he
    refused medical attention and stayed in the fight. He helped to repel a
    second attack, firing grenades at the enemy's position. For his
    exceptional courage, Sergeant Rieman was awarded the Silver Star. And
    like so many other Americans who have volunteered to defend us, he has
    earned the respect and the gratitude of our entire country.
        In such courage and compassion, ladies and gentlemen, we see the
    spirit and character of America. And these qualities are not in short
    supply. This is a decent and honorable country and resilient too. We've
    been through a lot together. We've met challenges and faced dangers, and
    we know that more lie ahead. Yet we can go forward with confidence,
    because the State of our Union is strong; our cause in the world is
    right; and tonight that cause goes on. God bless.
        See you next year. Thank you for your prayers.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:13 p.m. in the House Chamber of the
    Capitol. In his remarks, he referred to John Thompson, Jr., former
    Georgetown University head men's basketball coach. The Office of the
    Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these
    remarks.