2001 George W. Bush speech to a joint session of Congress

"2001 State of the Union Address" redirects here. For the televised address before Congress in the aftermath of 9/11, see September 2001 George W. Bush speech to a joint session of Congress.

George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States, addressed a joint session of the United States Congress on Tuesday, February 27, 2001. It was his first public address before a joint session. Like a State of the Union Address, it was delivered before the 107th United States Congress in the Chamber of the United States House of Representatives in the United States Capitol.^[1] Presiding over this joint session was the House speaker, Dennis Hastert, accompanied by Dick Cheney, the vice president in his capacity as the president of the Senate.

2001 George W. Bush speech to a joint session of Congress

President George W. Bush during the speech, with Vice President Dick Cheney and House Speaker Dennis Hastert behind him
Date	February 27, 2001 (2001-02-27)
Time	9:00 p.m. EST
Duration	51 minutes
Venue	House Chamber, United States Capitol
Location	Washington, D.C.
Coordinates	38°53′23″N 77°00′32″W
Type	Unofficial State of the Union Address
Participants	George W. Bush Dick Cheney Dennis Hastert
Previous	2000 State of the Union Address
Next	2002 State of the Union Address

The speech was called the Presidential Economic Address. During his speech, President Bush discussed his budgetary and economic goals. He offered a plan that would have a $1.6 trillion tax cut and a payment of $2 trillion of the national debt over the next 10 years, leaving a portion of the projected surplus for emergency measures. He also talked about education policy, Social Security, and his philosophy of limited government.^[1][2]

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi was the designated survivor and did not attend the address in order to maintain a continuity of government. He was sequestered at a secret secure location for the duration of the event.^[3]

Democratic response

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri delivered the Democratic response to the address.^[4]

See also

• First 100 days of the George W. Bush presidency
• List of joint sessions of the United States Congress