- Joined
- Apr 25, 2018
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I was there 20 years and two months ago. Surely you all know this but I'll post anyway. The president's address to congress is a constitutional requirement. The first address of his term is known as addressing a joint session of congress. The years after it is called the state of the union address. I was at CBIRF and we set up in DC for the inaugural of Bush-43 and five weeks later for his address to the joint session. The USS Cole was bombed in Yemen the previous October and we were hearing chatter (I heard that term on TV and in the movies), and getting intel of an increased interest in an attack on US soil. The security was so tight in and approaching DC they almost didn't let us in. Depending on the operation or exercise I would either ride in one of the command vehicles (Dodge Durango) or trucks. The unit's gear was transported in white box trucks and white vans so as not to freak out everybody when we roll into town. It took awhile to get past the cars on the Douglas bridge but we got to the east side of the capitol and they were confused by our appearance and trucks. My driver and I were in blue hoodies and blue sweat pants sitting in a delivery truck. We got parked and I would eventually put on my MOPP suit and go inside the building with two Marines in Level A suits. We were there for one person. Everybody else in the House chamber would have to be dragged out for decontamination and treatment. Fortunately we weren't hit with a chem/bio/rad agent and got back to plan our next fun outing.
history.house.gov
State of the Union Address | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives
Including President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.'s 2024 address, there have been a total of 100 in-person Annual Messages/State of the Union Addresses. Since President Woodrow Wilson resumed the delivery of in-person addresses in 1913, there have been a total of 88 in-person addresses. In 1945...
history.house.gov