of a terrorist attack on the United States. Economics The U.S. economy went through a recession in 2001 for the first time in a decade. A reporter at CNN wrote, "The most common definition of a recession is two or more quarters of a shrinking economy." The factors defining a recession include declines in employment, industrial production, and income and sales. The unemployment rate jumped to 4.9%, which was the highest rate in the past four years. Experts at NBER, the National Bureau of Economic Research, argue that the economy likely could have avoided the recession if not for the September 11 attacks. The attacks shut down the economy for several days and had a lasting impact on tourism and other businesses. The President was aware of the economic problems entering office and in the speech addressed methods of reviving the economy. The president summed up his plan when he said, "When America works, America prospers, so my economic security plan can be summed up in one word: jobs." President Bush's plan addressed the importance of education, affordable energy, expanded trade, and sound economic and fiscal policy to create "good jobs" for the American people. Bush argued that the most effective means of creating jobs was by investing in factories and equipment and speeding up tax relief. He pushed for a stimulus package to be passed by Congress to aid in relief. Statistics The address marked Bush's second formal speech of his administration. Certain words appeared much more frequently than others. The words "Afghanistan" and "war" were each spoken 13 times in the speech, and the word "terrorist" was used 19 times. The word "economy" was spoken 7 different times and Iraq was mentioned twice. One of the most frequently used words in his speech was "terror". The speech lasted 48 minutes and applause broke out 76 different times. At the time of the speech, President Bush had an 80% approval rating. Democratic response Representative Richard Dick Gephardt (D-MO), the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives at the time, gave the Democratic response to President Bush's 2002 State of the Union address. In his response, the Congressman from Missouri argued the importance of unity among the parties during the difficult times the country was facing. He asserted the Democratic and Republican parties needed to come together to figure out how to win the War on Terror and help the