Sanctity of Life
• The President’s opposition to partial birth abortion. Statement of Administration Policy – H.R. 4965.
• The President’s opposition to cloning. April 10th East Room event to underscore his opposition.
• The President’s opposition to taxpayer-financed embryonic stem cell research. Nationally televised address on August 9th, 2002 widely considered one of the most pro-life speeches ever delivered by a President.
• The President’s remarks to the National March for Life on the Mall on January 22nd.
• The public bill signing of the Born Alive Infants Protection and the President’s August 5th remarks.
• Support for the Child Custody Protection Act. Statement of Administration Policy – H.R. 476.
• Support for the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act of 2002. Statement of Administration Policy – H.R. 4691.
• HHS issuing a new regulation allowing states to use the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to provide health coverage for prenatal care and delivery to mothers and their unborn children — helping to ensure that low-income mothers have healthy pregnancies and that their babies are born healthy and strong.
• The President’s rejection of funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
• Restoration of the Mexico City Policy first thing Monday morning after Inauguration. “It is my conviction that taxpayer funds should not be used to pay for abortions or advocate or actively promote abortion, either here or abroad. It is therefore my belief that the Mexico City Policy should be restored.” — President George W. Bush – January 23, 2001
• National Sanctity of Human Life Day 2002 Proclamation.
• Promoting adoption throughout the Administration and with Public Service Announcements.
Economics, Defense, Foreign Policy
• Passage of the largest tax cut in American history — $1.35 billion over the next ten years.
• The President’s push for tax cut permanency with the Permanent Death Tax Repeal Act. Statement of Administration Support for H.R. 2143.
• Statement of Administration Support for H.R. 4019 – the Permanent Marriage Penalty Relief Act.
• Proposing a comprehensive energy plan for the United States, which calls for drilling in ANWR to ensure less dependency on foreign oil.
• The President’s strong leadership in the war on terrorism as a call to justice, not revenge.
• National Security Strategy of the United States: “The restatement of the United States’ fundamental defense doctrine issued by the Bush administration last week – substituting pre-emption of potential threats for containment of aggression – is probably the most dramatic and far-reaching change in national security policy in a half-century. But it is also part of a pattern of radical revisionism in basic governmental philosophy and structure engineered by President Bush, who is quietly rewriting the classic definition of conservatism.” — David S. Broder, The Washington Post, September 25, 2002.
• “…I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for the friendship and cooperation. And as far as I remember, as we look back towards many years now, I think that we never had such relations with any President of the United States as we have with you, and we never had such cooperation in everything as we have with the current administration. I would like to thank you for that, and we are looking forward for better future for all of us.” — Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the Oval Office October 16, 2002.
• President signs Iraq Resolution – October 16, 2002: “The resolution I'm about to sign symbolizes the united purpose of our nation, expresses the considered judgment of the Congress, and marks an important event in the life of America. The 107th Congress is one of the few called by history to authorize military action to defend our country and the cause of peace.”
• Signing the Department of Defense Appropriations bill, the largest defense spending increase since Ronald Reagan, including the President’s request for missile defense funding.
• President’s signing ceremony of the Sudan Peace Act.
• The President’s June 24, 2002 Middle East policy statement that confirms Israel's centrality as key ally and calls for new Palestinian Leadership.
• The President’s rejection of the International Criminal Court.
• The President’s rejection of the Kyoto Treaty.
• The President’s rejection of the ABM Treaty.
• Victory on the UN Rights of the Child.
• Change in personnel and tone at the United Nations.
• Foreign aid to Egypt linked to human rights.
• Remarks by the President during press conference with Chinese President Jiang Zemin on October 25, 2002: “…On human rights, I emphasized that no nation's efforts to counterterrorism should be used to justify suppressing minorities or silencing peaceful dissent. I shared with the President my views on the importance of China freeing prisoners of conscience, giving fair treatment to peoples of faith, and preserving the rights of Hong Kong citizens. I also spoke of the importance of respecting human rights in Tibet and encouraged more dialogue with Tibetan leaders.”
Issues Affecting America’s Families
• House passage of the welfare reform bill focusing on the President’s priorities, where marriage, work, and the family are the foundations.
• Providing up to $300 million in abstinence funding in the President’s budget.
• The President’s strong statement supporting the Supreme Court Cleveland school voucher decision.
• The President and Department of Education’s defense of single sex schools.
• The President’s Conference on Missing, Runaway, and Exploited Children held October 2, 2002 and follow-up by hosting a White House Forum on the sexual solicitation and exploitation of children over the Internet.
• Administration review of “safe-sex programs” funded by the federal government.
• School Choice provision in No Child Left Behind, which allows children in poor, failing schools to have the option of transferring to a better performing school in the same district.
• The President’s fight for judges who will interpret the law, not legislate from the bench. East Room announcement, two Oval Office events, and numerous mentions in stump speech about judicial nominations. Remarks in the Oval Office supporting Priscilla Owen and Charles Pickering, along with remarks by the President to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on behalf of Miguel Estrada: “With two high-profile oustings under his belt, Senator Pat Leahy is contributing to a confirmation process that The Washington Post called, ‘not a principled exercise but an expression of political power.’ Even the Post, the media’s liberal mainstay, wrote that ‘Justice Owen was not rejected because she is unqualified…She was rejected…because she’s a conservative.’”
• Administration support for legislation allowing commercial airline pilots to carry guns in the cockpit passed the Senate.
• CATO study showing less regulations in the federal government under President Bush.
• Personnel are policy: choice of a conservative, pro-life vice president; choice of a conservative Cabinet — Rumsfeld, Martinez, Chao, Aschcroft (to name only a few); choice of a conservative OMB director, Mitch Daniels; Ted Olson as Solicitor General, FDA Nominee Dr. Mark McClellan.
• White House tributes to Whitaker Chambers and Milton Friedman.
• Presentation of Medals of Freedom to Irving Kristol, A.M. Rosenthal, and Nancy Reagan.
• Department of Interior opening way for Western states to gain control over enormous volumes of water previously controlled by the federal government. The Bush administration policy gives important water rights that the Clinton Administration had claimed for the federal government.
• Provision in No Child Left Behind Act requires schools receiving federal funds to make the names, addresses and telephone numbers of their students available to the military.
• Threatened with the loss of $350 million in federal funds, Yale University announced it would allow military recruiters to attend a law school career day.
• Reconstituting the expert committees that shape federal policy at the Department of Health and Human Services and the FDA including key appointments to the FDA’s Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee.
• The President openly discusses American values and his faith in numerous public forums, and importantly, the vital role of faith in the public square.
Sample of Prominent Speeches
• Inaugural Address January 21, 2001.
• President's Remarks at the Opening the John Paul II Cultural Center, March 22, 2001.
• President's Remarks at National Day of Prayer and Remembrance September 14, 2001.
• Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People on September 20, 2001.
• President's Remarks to the Nation from Ellis Island on September 11, 2002.
• President's Remarks at the United Nations General Assembly on September 12, 2002.
