Reactions to the State of the Union Address

Some reactions to the State of the Union address:

Sen. Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, Majority Leader

"The president has put forward an aggressive agenda this evening, but with a renewed commitment to compromise from both sides, I believe that we can put our economy back on track, win the war against terror and meet our nation's great unmet goals."

Bob Dole, former U.S. senator and GOP presidential candidate

"He went in with a very strong hand, with 80-85 percent approval ratings. He had the confidence, the American people believe him and trust him, and he was very credible tonight."

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois

"While we have made much progress in the war against terrorism, now is no time to let our guard down. The president is right to remain focused on eradicating terrorism and keeping the people of our nation free from harm. ... Congress is committed to working with the president to eliminate terrorist threats against America."

Rudy Giuliani, former New York mayor

"I thought it was a very philosophical, in some ways spiritual address. It wasn't the usual set of 50 programs."

Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, House Majority Whip

"President Bush demonstrated tonight that he's committed to reviving our economy, strengthening the American homeland and hunting down the terror network wherever it hides in the world. For that, Americans can be proud."

William Bennett, co-chairman, Empower America

"It was a speech replete with morality, morally confident. The president has no problem talking about universal human values, the importance of them, and the greatness, the significance of them."

Rep. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey

"The president's economic policies have robbed us of the critical resources needed to invest in homeland security and other domestic priorities, like health care, unemployment benefits, education, protecting the environment and providing America's seniors -- our heroes of the past -- with a prescription drug plan."

Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-California

"The more I think about it, there were a couple of interesting things. The first was, I couldn't tell if the speech was given by a Republican or a Democrat. It was a very centrist speech. Second, he did what he had to do with respect to the war. He rallied the public, I think he told the people a little bit about what it was going to be like in terms of what they have found in Afghanistan ..."

Rep. Charles Bass, R-New Hampshire

"By working together, we will not only win the war on terrorism and put people back to work, we will also pass legislation to strengthen Medicare by providing senior citizens with a prescription drug benefit and reach a compromise on a patients' bill of rights."

Sam Nunn, Nuclear Threat Initiative

"I think the president was at his best tonight. I thought the Congress was at its best tonight. I thought there were a lot less partisan setups, where you jibe the other side and everybody claps if you're a Republican or Democrat. I thought the president really did appeal to the people as a commander-in-chief."

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas

"We must institute measures to beef up our homeland and border security. And for the Americans who have lost their jobs in these difficult times, we must ensure that we have real economic stimulus that creates jobs and opportunities."

-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.