Bush Vows to Take War on Terror to Hostile Nations, Calls for Unity

President Bush, calling on the nation to embrace a wartime spirit of resolve and responsibility, vowed Tuesday to extend the campaign against terrorism to Iraq, Iran and North Korea and proposed to enlist hundreds of thousands of Americans in programs of voluntary national service.

“Our war against terror is only beginning,” Bush told both houses of Congress in his State of the Union address, the first of his year-old presidency and his first speech in the Capitol since he addressed the nation after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. “We will win this war, we will protect our homeland and we will revive our economy.”

Seeking to use his success in war to bolster his policy agenda at home, Bush called on Congress and the nation to remain “steadfast and patient and persistent” in the struggle against terrorism--and also to support Republican proposals on taxes, health insurance, education and energy.

Leaders of the Democratic opposition responded by declaring full support for the president in the war effort while criticizing his domestic plans as ill-designed and insufficient.

But the prevailing theme was wartime unity, and members of both parties gave long standing ovations to Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Afghan leader Hamid Karzai and Shannon Spann, the widow of a CIA officer killed in combat in northern Afghanistan.

In his 48-minute speech, Bush laid out an ambitious agenda, from the battle against global terrorism to plans for more volunteer teachers and medical workers at home.

He said U.S. intelligence agents searching terrorist bases in Afghanistan found maps of U.S. cities, diagrams of nuclear power plants and water facilities, and instructions for making chemical weapons--as well as new evidence that “thousands of dangerous killers” are still at large.

He warned that hostile countries--specifying Iraq, Iran and North Korea--”pose a grave and growing danger” by building chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, and made an implicit threat of military intervention if they do not dismantle their arsenals. “I will not wait on events while dangers gather. . . . The United States of America will not permit the world’s most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world’s most destructive weapons.”

The statement clarified Bush’s position on an issue that has been hotly debated both inside and outside his administration. While Iraq, Iran and North Korea may not harbor terrorists like those who carried out the attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Bush said, he nevertheless considers them equally dangerous--and equally deserving of military pressure--as long as they build weapons of mass destruction.

But the president did not explicitly threaten war against the three countries. Instead, he said he will “do what is necessary” to prevent them from threatening the United States or its allies.

Bush reaffirmed his plans to nearly double federal funding for homeland security measures, from $20 billion to $38 billion, and to increase military spending by 14%, or $48 billion, the largest boost in the defense budget since the presidency of Ronald Reagan.

Extended Jobless Benefits Proposed

In domestic affairs, Bush proposed several measures that already enjoy broad bipartisan support: extended unemployment benefits for workers who have lost their jobs in the recession, expanded programs in early childhood education and a continuation of welfare reform.

But he confirmed his intention to fight hard for Republican proposals on issues that have divided Congress on party lines, like additional tax cuts for corporations and upper-income families, plans for Medicare reform and increased domestic production of oil and nuclear energy.

In response to issues raised by the financial collapse of Enron Corp., the giant energy company whose executives were among his largest campaign contributors, Bush called for new measures to protect employees from losing retirement funds when a company fails. “Corporate America must be made more accountable to employees and shareholders and held to the highest standards of conduct,” he said. He did not mention Enron by name.

He also proposed a significant expansion of federal programs for voluntary service, including the existing Peace Corps, AmeriCorps and Senior Corps in a new umbrella organization called the “USA Freedom Corps.”

“My call tonight is for every American to commit at least two years--4,000 hours--over the rest of your lifetime to the service of your neighbors and your nation,” Bush said.

He said the Freedom Corps would include a focus on homeland security, organizing citizens to serve as auxiliary police and fire units and mobilizing retired physicians and nurses for help in biological weapon attacks or other medical emergencies.

Bush said he wants to double the size of the Peace Corps, which currently sends about 7,000 volunteers overseas. And he said he wants to expand AmeriCorps, which puts more than 50,000 young Americans each year into domestic community service, and Senior Corps, which recruits elderly volunteers for such work.

He said his goal is that overall, these programs will gain more than 200,000 new volunteers.

The Peace Corps and AmeriCorps were creations of Democratic presidents--John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, respectively--and were criticized at their inception by conservative Republicans as unwarranted expansions of the federal government.

‘A New Culture of Responsibility’

But Bush said the federal volunteer programs could serve as a cornerstone of “a new culture of responsibility,” a theme he proclaimed long before the terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

“For too long our culture has said, ‘If it feels good, do it.’ Now America is embracing a new ethic and a new creed: ‘Let’s roll,’ ” he said, quoting one of the passengers who battled terrorists aboard a United Airlines flight that crashed in Pennsylvania.

“In the sacrifice of soldiers, the fierce brotherhood of firefighters, and the bravery and generosity of ordinary citizens, we have glimpsed what a new culture of responsibility could look like. . . . We have been offered a unique opportunity, and we must not let this moment pass.”

Bush acknowledged that his proposals--large increases in spending on defense and homeland security, more modest increases in domestic programs, and continued tax cuts--will create a deficit in a federal budget that ran a surplus only last year.

But he said the deficit “will be small and short term so long as Congress restrains spending and acts in a fiscally responsible way.”

Inside the House chamber, Bush’s address was received as two different speeches: His words on the war and national service won warm, bipartisan approval, but his arguments on domestic policy provoked traditional partisan responses. At one point, he chided the Democratic-run Senate for failing to pass trade and energy measures approved by the Republican-led House, and the GOP benches erupted in cheerful hoots of “Work! Work! Work!”

Bush began his speech with a blunt assessment. “As we gather tonight, our nation is at war, our economy is in recession and the civilized world faces unprecedented dangers.” Yet, he said, “the state of our nation has never been stronger.”

In the official opposition response, House Democratic Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) praised Bush’s leadership in the war on terrorism and noted: “There has been no daylight between us.”

But Gephardt sought to turn the focus back to the domestic agenda and to portray Bush’s policies as biased in favor of the wealthy and powerful.

“Our values call for protecting Social Security and not gambling it away on the stock market. Our values call for helping patients and older Americans, not just big HMOs [health maintenance organizations] and pharmaceutical companies, ensuring that seniors don’t have to choose between food and medicine,” Gephardt said. “Our values call for helping the unemployed, not just large corporations and the most fortunate.”

Neither Bush nor Gephardt mentioned it, but both leaders’ remarks reflected the underlying political realities of the year: The president is riding a wave of national popularity because of his largely successful leadership in the war, but Democrats still hope to seize control of the House in November’s elections because of public misgivings about GOP economic and social policies.

At least one Democrat questioned his party’s prospects.

Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento) worried aloud that Bush had seized the political high ground on domestic as well as international issues.

“People aren’t concerned about the deficit,” Matsui said. “It’s an issueless situation. . . . The president is going to be talking about prescription drugs for the very poor. None of these things are going to happen, but he’s going to get credit for trying. He’s going in very popular, and he’s going to come out very popular.”

House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) said he was pleased that Bush’s speech included a touch of partisanship on domestic issues.

Armey recalled Bush’s last speech to Congress--in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks--when he symbolized bipartisan unity by embracing the Democratic leader of the Senate, Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), in a bear hug.

“Rather than hugging Daschle . . . he will be trying to give him a little boost in the hindquarters,” Armey said.

Another change from the September speech was the presence of Cheney, who has spent much of the last four months in different locations from Bush--a precaution in case a terrorist attack should claim the president’s life.

This time, the vice president was in his customary seat behind the president, next to the speaker of the House.

Still, security around the Capitol was tightened to a wartime level.

The Capitol Police, National Guard troops and Marines patrolled the building, grounds and surrounding blocks. Security experts and bomb-sniffing dogs checked the building for explosives and other hazards. Access to the Capitol complex was tightly restricted for hours.

As during the September speech, House Republican leaders chose one of their ranks to be absent from the speech to ensure the “continuity of government” in the event of a calamity. Chosen to be removed to a secure location Tuesday night: House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas).

One member of Bush’s Cabinet stayed away from the speech for the same reason: Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton.

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Times staff writers Nick Anderson, Edwin Chen and Janet Hook contributed to this report.