January 29, 2003

President George W. Bush issued his annual state of the union speech to the American public as a constitutional duty and as an extension of a great democratic tradition. The Muslim Public Affairs Council, in the interest of promoting freedom and justice and human dignity, both nationally and internationally, issues its response to the President's initiatives. Great causes deserve the input of all Americans.

The President espoused the objective of educating and providing opportunities for every child in America. We appreciate the priority the President placed on this goal, as he made this initiative first in his speech. MPAC also supports the need to jump-start the economy, as long as this does not favor a certain class and benefit only the rich. Any tax cut plan should be balanced in costs and benefits throughout all economic strata.

MPAC is pleased to hear the call by the President to protect social security, as this goal will protect the future of senior citizens and should not be open to bailing out corporate failures. Furthermore, the objective to provide patients the right to choose their doctors and to eliminate the trial lawyers and HMOs and bureaucracies will help our country restore solace in providing the best treatment for all people while ridding ourselves from the horrors of delayed, inefficient or erroneous healthcare.

The President's support for energy efficiency and pollution-free automobiles is laudable. Further introspection is required, however, to stem the tide of the SUV boom in America and the disproportionate consumption of world energy. If we can genuinely achieve energy independence, then we can also build a parallel track that can promote human rights in oil-producing countries, where the US has historically supported dictatorships in exchange for cheap oil.

Care for fatherless children is another pristine goal. Faith-based initiatives, however, is a path paved with traps that mix church with state. Some funds have already fallen into the wrong hands as a result of these mistakes.

MPAC supports the President's stands against partial birth abortion and human cloning as these practices violate the essence of human dignity. The President used the power of the pulpit to raise awareness on another issue involving dignity -- homelessness. MPAC calls for a national policy to end homelessness, as the Congress and the Administration are remiss in providing this leadership on an issue of immense proportions.

In his foreign policy section of the speech, President Bush highlighted the priority of aid to Africa, a policy that is long overdue but never too late to launch. On the issue of Iraq, we firmly believe in removing the dictator without resorting to war. MPAC issued a resolution last December calling on Saddam Hussein to step down. International attention and United Nation inspectors have neutralized him. Unilateralist approaches by the Bush Administration undermine our international support and our ability to isolate threats like Saddam Hussein. Finally, a US war on Iraq will only radicalize the region. Furthermore, we admonish US politicians from publicly supporting dissident movements such as those in Iran, because public US governmental support for these reformists damages their credibility inside their country.

MPAC calls on all American Muslims to become more involved in their local, state and national arenas to help perfect our pluralism and enrich the discourse on important domestic and foreign policies.

The term "partial birth abortion" is not a medically accurate term but rather is used by abortion opponents to generate an emotional response to the subject. MPAC considers the issue of abortion to be very important, warranting careful and considered discussion free of inflammatory language or misleading nomenclature. For more information, please see an analysis on the subject provided by the Muslim Women's League at www.mwlusa.org.