Last February, I created the White House Office of One America to promote racial reconciliation.  That’s what Hank Aaron, has done all his life.  From his days as baseball’s all-time homerun king to his recent acts of healing, he has always brought Americans together.  We’re pleased he’s with us tonight.

This fall, at the White House, one of America’s leading scientists said something we should all remember.  He said all human beings, genetically, are 99.9 percent the same.  So modern science affirms what ancient faith has always taught:  the most important fact of life is our common humanity.

Therefore, we must do more than tolerate diversity—­we must honor it and celebrate it.

My fellow Americans, each time I prepare for the State of the Union, I approach it with great hope and expectations for our nation.  But tonight is special—­because we stand on the mountaintop of a new millennium.  Behind us we see the great expanse of American achievement; before us, even grander frontiers of possibility.

We should be filled with gratitude and humility for our prosperity and progress; with awe and joy at what lies ahead; and with absolute determination to make the most of it.

When the framers finished crafting our Constitution, Benjamin Franklin stood in Independence Hall and reflected on a painting of the sun, low on the horizon.  He said, “I have often wondered whether that sun was rising or setting.  Today,” Franklin said, “I have the happiness to know it is a rising sun.”  Well, today, because each generation of Americans has kept the fire of freedom burning brightly, lighting those frontiers of possibility, we still bask in the warmth of Mr. Franklin’s rising sun.

After 224 years, the American Revolution continues.  We remain a new nation.  As long as our dreams outweigh our memories, America will be forever young.  That is our destiny.  And this is our moment.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

***

State of the Union Address
George W. Bush
January 29, 2002

Thank you very much.  Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress, distinguished guests, fellow citizens:  As we gather tonight, our nation is at war, our economy is in recession, and the civilized world faces unprecedented dangers.  Yet the state of our Union has never been stronger. (Applause.)

We last met in an hour of shock and suffering.  In four short months, our nation has comforted the victims, begun to rebuild New York and the Pentagon, rallied a great coalition, captured, arrested, and rid the world of thousands of terrorists, destroyed Afghanistan’s terrorist training camps, saved a people from starvation, and freed a country from brutal oppression. (Applause.)

The American flag flies again over our embassy in Kabul.  Terrorists who once occupied Afghanistan now occupy cells at Guantanamo Bay. (Applause.) And terrorist leaders who urged followers to sacrifice their lives are running for their own. (Applause.)