Last night President George W Bush delivered his last 'State of the Union' message to the US Congress. Article 2 Section 3 of the Constitution requires that "The President shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient."Speeches to Congress were delivered by Presidents Washington and Adams each year, but the practice was stopped by President Jefferson, who regarded them as too monarchical. Until 1913 a written report was sent to Congress. President Wilson re-established the practice of an annual speech, but the term "State of the Union" only gained popular currency after 1935.
A video and text of this year's speech is available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2008/index.html
and details of the various proposals can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2008/initiatives/sotu2008.pdf
The Democrat response to the State of the Union, delivered by Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebeliusby can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22888366/
