President Bush has announced an initiative to end what he calls America's addiction to oil from unstable parts of the world.
During his State of the Union address Tuesday, Mr. Bush called for increased funding for research on alternative fuels, solar and wind power, and nuclear energy.
The president said his goal is to cut U.S. oil imports from the Middle East by 75 percent by 2025.
On other issues, Mr. Bush asked Congress to provide more money to fight AIDS and to train 70,000 new math and science high school teachers. He also asked Congress to pass legislation to ban human cloning.
The president also spoke about the rising cost of health care. He proposed expanding tax-free health savings accounts that would let Americans put money aside to defray medical expenses not covered under high deductible health insurance plans.
The president acknowledged that lawmakers did not act on his proposal to change Social Security and he called for a bipartisan commission to examine the impact that the retirement of the so-called "Baby Boom" generation will have on the program.
Mr. Bush also urged lawmakers to make permanent the tax cuts passed over the last five years.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
