What is the full transcript of George H.W. Bush’s September 11, 1990 address to Congress and where can it be read?
Executive summary
The full transcript of President George H. W. Bush’s September 11, 1990 address before a joint session of Congress is publicly available online; authoritative copies and accompanying video can be read on the Miller Center, the American Presidency Project, and the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library, and the speech is viewable on C‑SPAN [1] [2] [3] [4]. The remarks — best known for framing the Gulf crisis as “Iraq against the world” and for articulating themes later summarized as a “new world order” — are preserved in the official public papers and multiple archival sites [1] [5] [3].
1. Where the full transcript can be read online
Authoritative, complete transcripts are hosted by established presidential archives: the Miller Center (which lists the September 11, 1990 “Address Before a Joint Session of Congress”) provides a text version in its presidential speeches collection [1], the American Presidency Project maintains a searchable transcript database that includes Bush addresses to joint sessions of Congress [2], and the George H. W. Bush Library’s Public Papers includes the Presidential text as published in the administration’s official record [3].
2. Multimedia and contemporaneous recordings to cross‑check the text
For those who prefer audio/video or want to confirm delivery and emphasis, C‑SPAN’s archive hosts a video clip of Bush’s September 11, 1990 joint‑session address, allowing readers to match the transcript against the recorded delivery [4]; local and national outlets have posted excerpts and contextual pieces that quote and excerpt the full speech [5].
3. What the speech contains and why readers look for the full transcript
The address, given amid the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, called on the international community to act and urged Congress and the nation to respond to the Persian Gulf crisis, framing Saddam Hussein’s action as “inhumane aggression” and summing the moment as one where “it is Iraq against the world,” language preserved in multiple summaries and transcript headings [1]. Journalists and scholars seek the full transcript to trace how those themes — coalition building, use of force, and the notion of a “new world order” — were articulated in real time and later cited in both contemporary reporting and retrospective analysis [5] [3].
4. How to access the transcript and verify authenticity
Readers seeking the verbatim, citable text should consult the archival transcript pages: Miller Center’s presidential speeches page lists the address and links to the full text [1], the American Presidency Project hosts the speech text and is widely used for research citations [2], and the George H. W. Bush Library’s Public Papers provides the administration’s official printed text [3]; cross‑referencing the textual transcription with the C‑SPAN video verifies delivery, pauses, and emphasis [4].
5. Caveats, alternate sources, and editorial contexts
Some media outlets and local stations have excerpted the address and framed it around the “new world order” line or around the Gulf crisis rhetoric; those pieces are useful for context but are not substitutes for the full official transcript [5]. Where minor transcription differences appear across secondary reproductions, the George H. W. Bush Library’s Public Papers and the Miller Center versions serve as the archival standards for citation [3] [1].
6. Bottom line for researchers and readers
The full transcript is publicly accessible through primary archival repositories — Miller Center, the American Presidency Project, and the Bush Presidential Library — and the speech’s video is available on C‑SPAN; researchers should use these primary sources for verbatim quotations and consult contemporaneous coverage for interpretive context [1] [2] [3] [4].