N.H. Delegation Praises Bush’s State of the Union Address
WASHINGTON, DC—The New Hampshire congressional delegation praised the “clear and decisive leadership” and “bold” policy initiatives outlined by President Bush in his State of the Union address last night, in which he suggested the United States might be willing to act unilaterally to disarm Iraq.
“The course of this nation does not depend on the decisions of others,” Bush said. “Whatever action is required, whenever action is necessary, I will defend the freedom and security of the American people.”
Calling the president’s address “strong,” “definitive and direct,” Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) echoed the president’s sentiment that the country cannot “turn over our own national security and our need to protect ourselves to somebody else.
“The bottom line is that we’re the ones that are at risk, we’re the ones that have been attacked,” Gregg said. “France wasn’t attacked, Germany wasn’t attacked, New York City was attacked.”
Senator John Sununu (R-N.H.) agreed with the President that there is a “need for a determined effort to confront the threat posed by Iraq, North Korea and other rogue nations.”
“For 12 years, Saddam Hussein has violated (the) commitment made at the close (of) the Gulf War,” Sununu said in a statement on the president’s speech. “Now he has failed to cooperate with the United Nations inspections, failed to disclose chemical weapon munitions and restricted access to Iraqi weapons scientists.”
Rep. Charles Bass (R-N.H.) said he is confident the United States will receive international backing if the president decides to invade Iraq.
“We won’t end up going in unilaterally,” Bass said. “We can’t wait for other nations. We have to lead. That’s our role now. When [other nations] understand what we are going to do, it will be a coalition.”
Accusing Hussein of playing “cat and mouse” with inspectors since the end of the Gulf War, Rep. Jeb Bradley (R-N.H.) said the report issued by United Nations weapons inspectors yesterday “bolstered the President’s case against Saddam Hussein.”
“It has been proven in the past few days that very real threats to our safety still exist,” Bradley said in a statement last night. “President Bush showed tonight he is resolute in protecting the safety of all Americans and will not accept a serious and continuing threat to our country.”
The president also received praise from the members of the New Hampshire delegation for several domestic policy goals outlined in the speech, including tax cuts, affordable health care and energy independence. Bush also announced an initiative to send billions of dollars to Africa to deal with the continent’s ever-increasing AIDS epidemic.
“The initiative to deal with the global AIDS crisis came as a surprise to a lot of lawmakers,” Sununu said. “I think the president was quite a bit bolder than Democrats or Republicans might have been expecting.”
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
