Bush Urges Congress, Nation To Give His Iraq Plan a Chance

Bush devoted about half of his speech last night to Iraq, terrorism and foreign policy, largely recapitulating his familiar argument that the war is the central front in a broader battle with terrorists and represents a "generational struggle that will continue long after you and I have turned our duties over to others." He linked Sunni insurgents, Shiite extremists, al-Qaeda terrorists and Hezbollah militants as arms of a broader "Islamist radical movement" but acknowledged that the mission in Iraq has changed from deposing Saddam Hussein to stopping sectarian violence.

"This is not the fight we entered in Iraq, but it is the fight we're in," he said. "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."

He did not directly debate proposals by some Democrats to cut off funding for more troops in Iraq but asked them to let him try his new plan. "In the end, I chose this course of action because it provides the best chance for success," he said. "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."

The immediate consequence he envisioned was an Iraqi capital plunged into anarchy. "If American forces step back before Baghdad is secure, the Iraqi government would be overrun by extremists on all sides," Bush said. "We could expect an epic battle between Shia extremists backed by Iran and Sunni extremists aided by al-Qaeda 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."

Many in the chamber appeared unpersuaded. Pelosi sat grim-faced through the discussion of Iraq and did not clap when Republicans rose to support some of the president's statements. Although Iraq alone represented about a quarter of the speech, it generated applause just six times out of about 60 interruptions.

To reach out to skeptics, Bush repeated his call to create a bipartisan advisory council on the battle with terrorists and promoted his plan to permanently expand the U.S. military by 92,000 soldiers and Marines over five years to ease the burdens of fighting simultaneous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sitting with first lady Laura Bush's box in the gallery during the speech were five decorated Iraq veterans, including Air Force Tech. Sgt. Michelle Barefield, who survived three attacks by makeshift bombs at Baghdad International Airport, repelled an enemy assault with her M-16 rifle and was awarded the Bronze Star. The White House also invited a domestic hero, Wesley Autrey, a New York construction worker who earned acclaim by jumping onto subway tracks to save a man who had fallen during a seizure.

While harboring little hope of changing minds on Iraq, White House aides said the president's ideas on domestic policy could appeal to Democrats. "We do believe it's one that can serve as a basis for bipartisan outreach," said Deputy Chief of Staff Joel D. Kaplan.

The biggest previously undisclosed initiative announced last night was Bush's proposal to reduce U.S. gasoline consumption by 20 percent by 2017, largely by stimulating the growth of ethanol and other alternative fuels but also by increasing fuel efficiency of automobiles. Bush has spoken in past State of the Union addresses about his desire to break U.S. dependency on foreign oil and last year declared that "America is addicted to oil," but his speech last night represented his most aggressive effort to curtail the habit.

The president proposed an ambitious campaign to expand the use of ethanol, methanol, hydrogen and other alternative fuels by requiring oil refineries to use 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels by 2017, a fivefold increase in the current target. Aides calculated that doing so would displace about 15 percent of projected gasoline use.

Bush also asked Congress to overhaul the mileage standards for automobiles. Rather than forcing automakers to raise fuel-efficiency standards for new cars across the board, Bush is pushing for flexibility to set different standards for different sizes and makes so manufacturers do not make smaller cars that are less safe. Officials forecast raising fuel standards by 4 percent a year, which would reduce overall gasoline use by 5 percent by 2017.

Bush also announced plans to double the capacity of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to 1.5 billion barrels by 2027 to further insulate the United States from short-term disruptions in foreign oil supplies. "Achieving these ambitious goals will dramatically reduce our dependence on foreign oil," he said.

Although the president did not embrace any plans specifically to combat greenhouse gases generally believed to contribute to global warming, as some in Washington urged him to do, he argued that technology and his energy plans "will help us to confront the serious challenge of global climate change."

Democrats said Bush's plans contain significant loopholes or are not tough enough. The alternative-fuel plan could allow for more use of fuels that emit toxic gases, critics said. And on Monday, 11 senators, including eight Democrats, two Republicans and an independent, proposed an across-the-board increase in fuel standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2019.

As aides disclosed in recent days, Bush also called for a major change in the tax code in an effort to make health insurance more affordable. Under his plan, health insurance coverage would be taxable income but families would receive a $15,000 deduction. The plan would make it easier for those who buy health insurance out of pocket while increasing taxes on those who receive employer-funded health care worth more than $15,000 to eventually offset the cost.

"Changing the tax code is a vital and necessary step to making health care affordable for more Americans," Bush said. He added that he would also direct more federal money to states to cover low-income residents, although aides did not specify how much money would be provided.

Bush used the speech to press Congress to approve his long-standing immigration bill, which couples increased funding for border security with a plan for a temporary-worker program. The plan was blocked by the Republican-led Congress last year, but administration officials hope it may be more appealing to Democrats. "We need to resolve the status of the illegal immigrants who are already in our country -- without animosity and without amnesty," Bush said.

Bush also urged Congress to reauthorize -- and not weaken -- his signature No Child Left Behind education law, which is aimed at holding schools accountable through greater testing to make sure students meet minimum standards of achievement. And he repeated his vow to produce a plan next month that will balance the budget in five years while demanding that Congress cut special-interest projects in half by the end of this congressional session.