WINSTON-SALEM -- Calling on Americans to "stand up to evil with acts of goodness and kindness," President George W. Bush re-emphasized the themes of his State of the Union address during a visit to Winston-Salem Wednesday.
"My most important job is the security of America," said Bush, who was accompanied by Tom Ridge, director of homeland security, and Joe Allbaugh, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Bush outlined his plans to keep America safe for an enthusiastic crowd of 6,000 people at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The president addressed the audience casually, joking, "I hope I didn't keep you up too late last night."
After acknowledging many North Carolina state officials as well as the hundreds of civil servants in the coliseum, Bush reaffirmed his optimistic yet intense message to America.
"Even though we are in war, even though we are in a recession, the state of our union has never been better," he said.
Speaking in front of a banner that displayed a new USA Freedom Corps logo with the website address of his new national service program, the Citizen
He also named John Bridgeland, former assistant to the president on domestic policy, as the new executive director of the Freedom Corps. The Freedom Corps will serve as an umbrella organization for the new Citizen Corps as well as AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and the Peace Corps.
Citing the many citizens who have asked what they can do to help in the effort, Bush urged Americans to go to the government websites or to call 1-877-USA-CORE.
"It sounds like I'm making a pitch and I am," he said. "Part of being in a responsible society is to serve the community."
The president identified opportunities to serve the nation in three ways.
He first asked citizens to volunteer in the area of emergency preparedness by involving themselves in their communities' emergency response plan. Earlier in the day, Bush met with Winston-Salem's first responders at its Center for Community Safety.
The president also cited plans to expand the size of AmeriCorps by 200,000, especially the number of volunteers
Third, he said he would like to expand the Peace Corps, revitalize its mission and encourage its volunteers to enter the Islamic world.
Bush also made it clear that the U.S. military may eventually expand its mission and enter other nations that harbor terrorists.
"We will run [the terrorists] down wherever they hide and bring them to justice--or as I like to say, Oget them,'" he said.
Bush also discussed economic security and, specifically, job creation. He asked Congress to keep his tax cuts in place, calling lower taxes the "best way to help an economy recover."
He also cited the need for an energy policy that allows for more self-reliance and stressed the importance of the creation of new markets for U.S. products.
Although the president emphasized the need for a strong military and an increased level of homeland security funds, he called the "momentum of one million acts of kindness" another vital way for the nation to stand up to the "evil ones."
"[They] thought we were weak. They didn't understand us. We will not let the terrorists change our way of life."
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