State of the Union | Page 5

she
brings to our nation in crisis, our First Lady, Laura Bush. (Applause.)

None of us would ever wish the evil that was done on September the
11th. Yet after America was attacked, it was as if our entire country
looked into a mirror and saw our better selves. We were reminded that
we are citizens, with obligations to each other, to our country, and to
history. We began to think less of the goods we can accumulate, and
more about the good we can do.
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." (Applause.) 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 want to be a nation
that serves goals larger than self. We've been offered a unique
opportunity, and we must not let this moment pass. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.) Many are already serving, and I
thank you. If you aren't sure how to help, I've got a good place to start.
To sustain and extend the best that has emerged in America, I invite
you to join the new USA Freedom Corps. The Freedom Corps will
focus on three areas of need: responding in case of crisis at home;
rebuilding our communities; and extending American compassion
throughout the world.
One purpose of the USA Freedom Corps will be homeland security.
America needs retired doctors and nurses who can be mobilized in
major emergencies; volunteers to help police and fire departments;
transportation and utility workers well-trained in spotting danger.
Our country also needs citizens working to rebuild our communities.
We need mentors to love children, especially children whose parents
are in prison. And we need more talented teachers in troubled schools.
USA Freedom Corps will expand and improve the good efforts of
AmeriCorps and Senior Corps to recruit more than 200,000 new
volunteers.
And America needs citizens to extend the compassion of our country to
every part of the world. So we will renew the promise of the Peace
Corps, double its volunteers over the next five years -- (applause) -- and
ask it to join a new effort to encourage development and education and
opportunity in the Islamic world. (Applause.)

This time of adversity offers a unique moment of opportunity -- a
moment we must seize to change our culture. Through the gathering
momentum of millions of acts of service and decency and kindness, I
know we can overcome evil with greater good. (Applause.) And we
have a great opportunity during this time of war to lead the world
toward the values that will bring lasting peace.
All fathers and mothers, in all societies, want their children to be
educated, and live free from poverty and violence. No people on Earth
yearn to be oppressed, or aspire to servitude, or eagerly await the
midnight knock of the secret police.
If anyone doubts this, let them look to Afghanistan, where the Islamic
"street" greeted the fall of tyranny with song and celebration. Let the
skeptics look to Islam's own rich history, with its centuries of learning,
and tolerance and progress. America will lead by defending liberty and
justice because they are right and true and unchanging for all people
everywhere. (Applause.)
No nation owns these aspirations, and no nation is exempt from them.
We have no intention of imposing our culture. But America will always
stand firm for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity: the rule
of law; limits on the power of the state; respect for women; private
property; free speech; equal justice; and religious tolerance.
(Applause.)
America will take the side of brave men and women who advocate
these values around the world, including the Islamic world, because we
have a greater objective than eliminating threats and containing
resentment. We seek a just and peaceful world beyond the war on
terror.
In this moment of opportunity, a common danger is erasing old
rivalries. America is working with Russia and China and India, in ways
we have never before, to achieve peace and prosperity. In every region,
free markets and free trade and free societies are proving their power to
lift lives. Together with friends and allies from Europe to Asia, and
Africa to Latin America, we will demonstrate that the forces of terror
cannot stop the momentum of freedom. (Applause.)
The last time I spoke here, I expressed the hope that life would return to
normal. In some ways, it has. In others, it never will. Those