Monday night marked President Bush's seventh and last State of the Union address. We asked the Triangle's congressional delegation about the speech and Bush's legacy.

U.S. REP. BRAD MILLER, RALEIGH DEMOCRAT

On Bush's legacy: "He's been the most bitterly divisive president in my memory. Almost every decision at every level of the Bush administration, even criminal prosecutions, has been guided by partisan politics."

On the speech: "President Bush obviously doesn't want to be remembered just as the president who had the bright idea to invade Iraq, but it's late for him to create a legacy of domestic policy accomplishments."

On limiting earmarks: "President Bush said hardly a word about earmarks for six years while Republicans were in the majority in Congress, and almost every example of abuse -- like the bridge to nowhere [in Alaska] -- is a Republican earmark."

U.S. REP. BOB ETHERIDGE, LILLINGTON DEMOCRAT

On Bush's legacy: "He's going to be president of a lot of lost opportunities. He inherited the largest surplus in history, and he turned it into largest debt in history. And you remember after 9/11 we had the goodwill of the world, and we sort of squandered it."

On the speech: "I hope that the president has learned that in order to make progress on addressing the challenges the American people face, he must work in a bipartisan manner with Congress and be willing to compromise."

On limiting earmarks: "It's interesting that he waited until his eighth year in office to mention it. For six years, he didn't veto a bill. He signed everything the Republicans sent him. And they spent money like drunk sailors and borrowed it. ... And now he raises the issue."

U.S. REP. DAVID PRICE, CHAPEL HILL DEMOCRAT

On Bush's legacy: "He plans to hand off this war to his successor. He'll also hand off the tremendous task of restoring America's moral leadership in the world."

On the speech: "I think he's going to try to re-brand himself. It just won't fly."

On limiting earmarks: "We don't live in a monarchy. President Bush has said what he wants to do, and we'll see what we want to do in Congress. ... The man has no credibility in the area of fiscal responsibility. After six years he's found religion on the subject."

U.S. SEN. ELIZABETH DOLE, SALISBURY REPUBLICAN

On Bush's legacy: "Although there are specific issues, such as immigration reform and the execution of the war in Iraq, where I have been frustrated by the administration, the president has certainly kept our country safe since 9/11 and provided tax relief to millions of working families and small businesses."

On the speech: "The president hit on some extremely important topics ranging from economic security to national defense -- and it's now time for Congress to get down to business and produce results."

On limiting earmarks: "I welcome the president's call to rein in wasteful spending and look forward to supporting measures that ensure Washington spends the taxpayers' dollars wisely."

U.S. SEN. RICHARD BURR, WINSTON-SALEM REPUBLICAN

On Bush's legacy: "I don't think there's any question his legacy's going to be Iraq, Afghanistan. His legacy's going to be the war on terror."

On the speech: "I think the president finally got teeth into the fiscal discipline that he's talked about but clearly we've not seen him enforce."

On limiting earmarks: North Carolina has "never gotten through the earmark process what our population says we should. We've outperformed almost the rest of the country in competitive grants. ... If that [earmark] money is generated over into competitive grants, North Carolina will find it excels at that."

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