George W. Bush

==== Education and public health ====
Bush undertook many educational agendas, such as increasing the funding for the [[National Science Foundation]] and [[National Institutes of Health]] in his first years of office and creating education programs to strengthen the grounding in science and mathematics for American high school students. Funding for the NIH was cut in 2006, the first such cut in 36 years, due to rising inflation.<ref>{{cite news |title=President Bush and House Republicans Undermine Life-Saving Health Research |publisher=United States House of Representatives |date=September 12, 2006}}</ref>

[[File:No Child Left Behind Act.jpg|thumb|President Bush signing the [[No Child Left Behind Act]] into law, January 8, 2002]]
One of the administration's early major initiatives was the [[No Child Left Behind Act]], which aimed to measure and close the gap between rich and poor student performance, provide options to parents with students in low-performing schools, and target more federal funding to low-income schools. This landmark education initiative passed with broad bipartisan support, including that of Senator [[Ted Kennedy]] of Massachusetts.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |url=http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/n/no_child_left_behind_act/index.html |date=March 16, 2010 |access-date=September 26, 2010 |first=Sam |last=Dillon |title=No Child Left Behind Act |archive-date=October 6, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006034714/http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/n/no_child_left_behind_act/index.html }}</ref> It was signed into law by Bush in early 2002.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020108-1.html |title=President Signs Landmark No Child Left Behind Education Bill |date=January 8, 2002 |access-date=May 5, 2008 |archive-date=October 6, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006034714/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020108-1.html |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |publisher=[[White House]] }}</ref> Many contend that the initiative has been successful, as cited by the fact that students in the U.S. have performed significantly better on state reading and math tests since Bush signed "No Child Left Behind" into law.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/05/AR2007060502684.html|title=Scores Up Since 'No Child' Was Signed|last=Paley|first=Amit R.|date=June 6, 2007|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=May 30, 2008|archive-date=October 16, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016224329/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/05/AR2007060502684.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Critics{{who|date=February 2021}} argue that it is underfunded<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/leaving-no-child-left-behind/|title=Leaving No Child Left Behind|last=Antle III|first=W. James|date=August 1, 2005|work=[[The American Conservative]]|access-date=September 1, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120921072049/http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/leaving-no-child-left-behind/|archive-date=September 21, 2012}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=February 2021|reason=primary source for one minor view}} and that NCLBA's focus on "high-stakes testing" and quantitative outcomes is counterproductive.<ref>{{cite news |author=Harvard Graduate School of Education |url=http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/features/pierce07012002.html |title=No Child Left Behind? |work=HGSE News |date=June 1, 2002 |access-date=September 1, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006034714/http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/features/pierce07012002.html |archive-date=October 6, 2013 |author-link=Harvard Graduate School of Education }}; {{cite book |title=Raising Standards or Raising Barriers? |editor=Gary Orfield |author=Mindy L. Kornhaber |publisher=The Century Foundation Press |date=May 1, 2001}}</ref>

On November 1, 2005, Bush announced a ''National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza'' to prepare the United States for a [[flu pandemic]], which culminated in an implementation plan published by the Homeland Security Council in May 2006.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Mosk|first=Matthew|date=April 5, 2020|title=George W. Bush in 2005: 'If we wait for a pandemic to appear, it will be too late to prepare'|language=en|website=ABC News|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/george-bush-2005-wait-pandemic-late-prepare/story?id=69979013|access-date=April 6, 2020|archive-date=December 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227200945/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/george-bush-2005-wait-pandemic-late-prepare/story?id=69979013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pandemic-influenza-implementation.pdf|title=National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza – Implementation Plan|last=Homeland Security Council|date=May 2006|access-date=April 6, 2020|archive-date=April 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423232518/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pandemic-influenza-implementation.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

After being re-elected, Bush signed into law a [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]] drug benefit program that, according to [[Jan Crawford]], resulted in "the greatest expansion in America's [[welfare state]] in forty years" – the bill's costs approached $7{{nbs}}trillion.<ref name="greenburg" />{{Rp|274}} In 2007, Bush opposed and vetoed [[State Children's Health Insurance Program]] (SCHIP) legislation, which was added by the Democrats onto a war funding bill and passed by Congress. The SCHIP legislation would have significantly expanded federally funded healthcare benefits and plans to children of some low-income families. It was to be funded by an increase in the cigarette tax.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Michael Abramowitz |author2=Jonathan Weisman |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/03/AR2007100300116_pf.html |title=Bush Vetoes Health Measure |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=October 4, 2007 |access-date=October 9, 2007 |archive-date=November 2, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102202603/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/03/AR2007100300116_pf.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Bush viewed the legislation as a move toward [[socialized health care]], and asserted that the program could benefit families making as much as $83,000 per year who did not need the help.<ref>{{cite news |date=October 4, 2007 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/washington/04bush.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016064819/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/washington/04bush.html |archive-date=October 16, 2007 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |title=Bush Vetoes Child Health Bill Privately |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 1, 2008}}</ref>

On May 21, 2008, Bush signed into law the [[Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act]], aimed to protect Americans against health insurance and employment discrimination based on a person's genetic information. The issue had been debated for 13 years before it finally became law. The measure is designed to protect citizens without hindering genetic research.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.genome.gov/24519851|title=Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008|access-date=July 15, 2013|publisher=Genome.gov|archive-date=July 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724085916/http://www.genome.gov/24519851|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/publicat/GINAMay2008.pdf|title=PUBLIC LAW 110–233 – MAY 21, 2008|publisher=[[Oak Ridge National Laboratory]]|access-date=February 2, 2014|archive-date=May 13, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513220407/http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/publicat/GINAMay2008.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>