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国情咨文 (美国)

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这是本页的一个历史版本,由無印良民留言 | 贡献2009年5月19日 (二) 14:59 建立内容为“thumb|300px|[[美国总统|总统布什正在发表2003年国情咨文]] '''国情咨文'''是一项每年在[…”的新页面)编辑。这可能和当前版本存在着巨大的差异。

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总统布什正在发表2003年国情咨文

国情咨文是一项每年在美国国会联席会议召开之前于美国国会大厦中的众议院发表的报告。这项报告不仅仅包括国情分析,总统还会在报告中对美国国会谰述他的立法议程以及国家优先事项。[1]这个报告从1934年开始通常发表于一月份(除非新总统任职,这样他将会于二月发表他的国情咨文)。

有时候,特别是近几年,新上任的总统会在他任期刚开始的几个新期内就将报告送给美国国会两院联席会议,但这些并不是传统意义上的国情咨文。[2]这些报告一般是用来描述总统来年的立法建议的。

Modeled after the monarch's Speech from the Throne during the State Opening of Parliament in the United Kingdom, such a report is required by the United States Constitution. While the Constitution requires such a report, it does not require that the report take the form of a speech, although virtually every president since Woodrow Wilson has made the State of the Union report in the form of a speech delivered personally before a joint session of Congress. By tradition, the President makes this report annually, even though the clause "from time to time" leaves the matter open to interpretation:

Since the address is made in the Capitol and during a joint session of Congress, the President must first be invited by Congress to both enter the House of Representatives Chamber and then actually address the joint session. This invitation is customary in form as the speech is now a traditional part of the American political and national schedule.

历史

George Washington's handwritten notes for the first State of the Union Address, January 8, 1790. Full 7 pages.

George Washington gave the first State of the Union address on January 8, 1790 in New York City, then the provisional U.S. capital. In 1801, Thomas Jefferson discontinued the practice of delivering the address in person, regarding it as too monarchical (similar to the Speech from the Throne). Instead, the address was written and then sent to Congress to be read by a clerk until 1913 when Woodrow Wilson re-established the practice despite some initial controversy. However, there have been exceptions to this rule. Presidents during the latter half of the 20th century have sent written State of the Union addresses. The last President to do this was Jimmy Carter in 1981.[3]

For many years, the speech was referred to as "the President's Annual Message to Congress." The actual term "State of the Union" did not become widely used until after 1935 when Franklin D. Roosevelt began using the phrase.

The text of the first page of Ronald Reagan's first State of the Union Address, given January 26, 1982.

Prior to 1934, the annual message was delivered at the end of the calendar year, in December. The ratification of the 20th Amendment on January 23, 1933 changed the opening of Congress from early March to early January, affecting the delivery of the annual message. Since 1934, the message or address has been delivered to Congress in January or February. Today, the speech is typically delivered on the last Tuesday in January, although there is no such provision written in law, and it varies from year to year. In 2008, the speech was given on the last Monday of January.

The Twentieth Amendment also established January 20 as the beginning of the presidential term. In years when a new president is inaugurated, the outgoing president may deliver a final State of the Union message, but none has done so since Jimmy Carter sent a written message in 1981. In 1953 and 1961, Congress received both a written State of the Union message from the outgoing president and a separate State of the Union speech by the incoming president. Since 1989, in recognition that the responsibility of reporting the State of the Union formally belongs to the president who held office during the past year, newly inaugurated Presidents have not officially called their first speech before Congress a "State of the Union" message.

Calvin Coolidge's 1923 speech was the first to be broadcast on radio. Harry S. Truman's 1947 address was the first to be broadcast on television. Lyndon B. Johnson's address in 1965 was the first delivered in the evening. Ronald Reagan was the only president to have postponed his State of the Union address. On January 28, 1986, he planned to give his address, but after learning of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, he postponed it for a week and addressed the nation on the day's events.[4] Not a single justice of the Supreme Court was in attendance for this postponed address, the first ever such absence. Bill Clinton's 1997 address was the first broadcast available live on the World Wide Web.[5]

Delivery of the speech

A formal invitation is made for each State of the Union Address. The Sergeant at Arms of the United States House of Representatives ceremoniously announces the presence of the President, who then enters the chamber to a standing ovation.

Sitting near the front of the chamber are the Justices of the Supreme Court, the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and members of the President's Cabinet. Customarily, one cabinet member (the designated survivor) does not attend, in order to provide continuity in the line of succession in the event that a catastrophe disables the President, the Vice President, and other succeeding officers gathered in the House chamber. Additionally, since the September 11, 2001 attacks, a few members of Congress have been asked to relocate to undisclosed locations for the duration of the speech.

President George W. Bush with Senate President (U.S. Vice President) Dick Cheney and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the 2007 State of the Union address.

After greeting attendees, the President hands copies of the address to the Vice President of the United States, who is present in his capacity as President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, both of whom sit behind the President for the duration of the speech. If either is unavailable, the next highest-ranking member of the respective house substitutes. Once the chamber settles down from the President's arrival, the Speaker officially presents the President to the joint session of Congress. The President then delivers the speech from the podium at the front of the House Chamber.

President Bill Clinton with Senate President (U.S. Vice President) Al Gore and House Speaker Newt Gingrich during the 1997 State of the Union address.

In the State of the Union the President traditionally outlines the administration's accomplishments over the previous year, as well as the agenda for the coming year, in upbeat and optimistic terms.[6] Since the 1982 address, it has also become common for the President to honor special guests sitting in the gallery, such as everyday Americans or visiting heads of state.

State of the Union speeches usually last a little over an hour, partly because of the large amounts of applause that occur from the audience throughout. The applause is often political in tone, with many portions of the speech being applauded only by members of the President's own party. As non-political officeholders, members of the Supreme Court or the Joint Chiefs of Staff rarely applaud in order to retain the appearance of political impartiality.

Opposition response

Since 1966,[7] the speech has been followed on television by a response or rebuttal by a member of the political party opposing the President's party. The response is typically broadcast from a studio with no audience. In 1970, the Democrats put together a TV program with their speech to reply to President Nixon, as well as a televised response to Nixon's written speech in 1973.[8] The same thing was done by Democrats for President Reagan's speeches in 1982 and 1985. In 1997, Oklahoma congressman J. C. Watts delivered the Republican response to that year's speech in front of high school students sponsored by the Close Up Foundation.[9] In 2004, the Democrats also delivered their response in Spanish, delivered by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.[10] After President George W. Bush's 2006 State of the Union address, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine delivered the Democratic Party's response in English while Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gave a response in Spanish.[11] Virginia Senator Jim Webb made the 2007 response[12] and Rep. Xavier Becerra of California delivered the Spanish version.[13] In 2008, Democrats tapped Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to give a response in English;[14] Texas state Senator Leticia Van de Putte did the same in Spanish.[15]

Local versions

Certain states have a similar annual address given by the governor. For most of them, it is called the "State of the State" address. In Iowa, it is called the "Condition of the State Address"; in Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, the speech is called the "State of the Commonwealth" address. The mayor of Washington, D.C. gives a "State of the District" address. American Samoa has a "State of the Territory" address given by the governor. Puerto Rico has a "State Address" given by the governor. Some cities or counties also have an annual address given by the mayor, county commissioner, or Board Chair, such as Sonoma County, California. Some university presidents give a "State of the University" address at the beginning of every academic term. Some cities also have a "State of the City" address, including Cincinnati, Ohio; Seattle, Washington; Birmingham, Alabama; Boston, Massachusetts; Buffalo, New York; Rochester, New York; San Antonio, Texas; and San Diego, California.

参见

最近的咨文

参考资料

  1. ^ Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government; United States Government Printing Office
  2. ^ http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/02/24/The-Presidents-address-Excerpt/
  3. ^ Gerhard Peters. State of the Union Messages. The American Presidency Project. [2006-09-25].  (http://americanpresidency.org/sou.php )
  4. ^ Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library
  5. ^ Office of the Clerk
  6. ^ Ted Widmer. The State of the Union Is Unreal. The New York Times. 2006-01-31 [2007-01-22]. 
  7. ^ Office of the Clerk. Opposition Responses to State of the Union Messages (1966-Present). [2007-01-23]. 
  8. ^ Frum, David. How We Got Here: The '70s. New York, New York: Basic Books. 2000: 47. ISBN 0465041957. 
  9. ^ Richard E. Sincere, Jr. O.J., J.C., and Bill: Reflections on the State of the Union. Metro Herald. February 1997 [2007-01-23]. Watts told his audience -- about 100 high school students from the CloseUp Foundation watched in person, while a smaller number watched on television at home -- that he is "old enough to remember the Jim Crow" laws that affected him and his family while he grew up in a black neighborhood in small-town Oklahoma. 
  10. ^ Byron York. The Democratic Response You Didn’t See. January 21, 2004 [2007-01-23]. And then there was the Spanish-language response — the first ever — delivered by New Mexico governor, and former Clinton energy secretary, Bill Richardson. 
  11. ^ Democratic National Committee. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Will Deliver the Democratic Response to the President's State of the Union Address in Spanish. [2007-01-23]. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi announced today that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will deliver the Democratic response to President Bush's State of the Union Address in Spanish on January 31st. 
  12. ^ Gail Russell Chaddock. Sen. Jim Webb to rebut State of the Union. The Christian Science Monitor. January 23, 2007 [2007-01-23]. Tuesday night, Senator Webb is giving the Democratic response to this year's State of the Union – an unusually high profile for a freshman. 
  13. ^ Office of the Speaker. Becerra to Deliver the Democratic Response to the President's State of the Union Address in Spanish. 2007-01-16 [2007-01-23]. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced today that Congressman Xavier Becerra of California, Assistant to the Speaker, will deliver the official Democratic response in Spanish to President Bush's State of the Union Address on January 23, 2007. 
  14. ^ Rebecca Sinderbrand. Dems tap Kansas governor for State of the Union response. CNN. 2008-01-28 [2008-01-28]. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius will deliver the Democratic response to President Bush's final State of the Union address - a marquee assignment for a woman who leads a state with fewer than 2 million voters. 
  15. ^ Terrence Stutz. Texas Sen. Leticia Van de Putte to give Democrats' Spanish State of the Union response. The Dallas Morning News. 2008-01-28 [2008-01-28]. She will deliver the Spanish Democratic response to the president's State of the Union speech tonight; Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius will give the English one. Ms. Van de Putte was selected for the role by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. 

外部链接

Template:State of the Union