Tuesday, January 20, 2004 Posted: 7:58 PM EST (0058 GMT)
President Bush prepares for Tuesday's State of the Union address in the Family Theater of the White House on Monday.
WASHINGTON (CNN) --Ten months before he faces voters, President Bush will warn in his State of the Union address Tuesday of leaving "work unfinished," and aides said the speech is designed to rebut attacks from the Democratic presidential candidates and defend his decision to invade Iraq.
In excerpts of the speech provided by the White House, Bush will tell Americans the war on terrorism continues, even as he cites progress in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"We have not come all this way through tragedy and trial and war only to falter and leave our work unfinished," reads one excerpt. "Americans are rising to the tasks of history and they expect the same of us."
The speech will cover both domestic and international priorities, aides said. And the president will tackle the issue of same-sex marriage, declaring as he has done before that marriage should be between a man and a woman.
White House chief of staff Andrew Card said Bush will say that "if necessary, he'd be glad to support a constitutional change" to support that idea. (Full story)
The president has been under pressure to come out in favor of such a constitutional change from conservatives alarmed by a Massachusetts court decision in November that opened the door to a recognition of same-sex marriage.
The president's political advisers hope an uninterrupted address to the nation one night after Monday's Iowa caucuses will provide a contrast to Democrats competing for the chance to challenge Bush in November. (On to New Hampshire, after Iowa caucuses, Democrats to make a Spanish-language response)
In an interview with CNN, Karen Hughes, a close adviser to the president who has been working with him on the speech, said Bush will cite "steady progress" in fighting terrorism and turning the U.S. economy around.
"The president tonight will make the case that we now face a choice," Hughes said. "We can continue that progress or we can turn back."
The speech, starting at 9 p.m. ET and expected to last about 50 minutes, will be delivered under extraordinary security. Republican leaders asked Sen. Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, and Rep. Chris Cox, R-California, not to attend the president's address in the event of a catastrophic attack on the Capitol.
The president routinely keeps one member of his Cabinet from entering the House chamber for the speech, a practice followed by Congress since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
On the international front, aides said Bush will address the fact that no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq and that U.S. troops continue to be killed there. (U.S. death toll in Iraq tops 500)
Bush will warn that the United States faces a real threat of another terrorist attack.
"Twenty-eight months have passed since September 11, 2001," Bush says in another excerpt. "Over two years without an attack on American soil, and it is tempting to believe that the danger is behind us. That hope is understandable, comforting -- and false."
The president is expected to credit his tax cuts with bringing the economy out of recession and argue that they should be made permanent. (CNN/Money: The state of the Bush economy)
Bush will urge Congress to change the law so that a portion of Social Security payroll taxes can be invested in the stock market and other private investments accounts, aides said. (Full story.)
He will reiterate his recent call for a temporary guest worker program under which millions of illegal immigrants could get temporary legal status in the United States. (Full story.)
Iraqi Governing Council President Adnan Pachachi will be one of Bush's guests in the House chamber. Pachachi was in New York earlier in the day for meetings at the United Nations. (Full story.)
The three American soldiers on the cover of Time magazine's Person of the Year issue will attend as guests of House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
CNN's Ted Barrett, Dana Bash and John King contributed to this story.
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