On the morning of his State of the Union Address, President Bush's third Supreme Court nominee, Samuel Alito, was sworn into service as the 110th Supreme Court justice.
Alito's confirmation, the end result of a bitter and short-lived partisan battle, is expected to tilt the court farther to the right, as Alito joins fellow conservative justices Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia and John Roberts.
Earlier this week, Republicans expressed optimism that Alito would be confirmed in time for Bush's State of the Union speech.
Bush's speech expressed optimism for the economic and political future of the United States, including a vow to Americans to reduce dependence on foreign oil.
'Keeping America competitive requires affordable energy,' Bush said. 'Here we have a serious problem: America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world.'
Bush introduced the Advanced Energy Initiative, which seeks to increase spending on clean energy research at the Department of Energy by 22 percent.
Bush also advocated faith-based combat of AIDS in Africa and again urged America to stay the course in Iraq, invoking September 11, 2001, frequently.
