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Case Number: 2006-0471-F
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)Folder Title:
·jstate of the Union
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Speechwriting-Widmer, Edward
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·But.,.m~Y.~e, l~dh~s.imd gentlemen, this proble.; is. not as great as
made it: out to be: .
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. . I've be~n taking .a do.ser look at these ·graduates .. They·
actually taller, strol'!ger; smarter than we were,' smart enough
'to-take our mistakes as 'their messages, to make our weaknesses
lesso'ns, and tb -make our .example, good and not sq good, part
.. their education.
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-1 think I see in their eyes a depth of perception ·that
. we didn't have. ~A _sense of ttuth,' deeper and le~s_fragile than ·
'As· you. talk to 'them you' get the feeling that they are certain!•
matUre enough:to·see.the_real problems of our society: the' need
peace, the need t~ keep·pure the envtr~nment God offered us,'
need to provide people the dignity of earning their own way.
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Indeed, as I think about it;· I ha~e'to conclude th~t these
people' before ~e today are the, best reason for hope that this
·knows. ,_
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I see ·them as believerS and doers who will ·take what we
:pass on to them so clumsily and make'it something better than
ha~e· ever known. Honoring us by their woiks; .but wanting .to
. better. than we have been.
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I ·i:ell you~ ladjes ~nd gentle~ en, lo()king
them .now,
and harder than lhav~ before, lhave a feeling about these
that makes trie ~ant to live long enough to see and be part of
world they_ will create:
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Now, ladies and gentlemen, pare[ltS and grandparents, I would li
to. tell them, the graduates,: all of this, and I ·know that if we.
they wouldn't be embarrassed by hearing it, we would all be
th-em.about how ·proud we· are oLthem and how much we
in them and their future. But again' maybe
don't have to tell mem1
. maybe they know. Maybe they ~an tell just by. seeing· the love iri
our eyes today. .
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C:o~gratU!ations,' ladies and gen.tlemen, O'n 'the good cnuun:n•
you have cared for and raised..
J
we
c R A T_l C' . N
AT 1 O'N A L
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KEY N OT,E. ADDRESs'
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TALE
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0 F T W 0
u·L Y ~ 6,
'CENTE,R; .SAN
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IT IE S "•
1 9 s..
FRANCisco;:
CALIFORNIA-.
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spw;h, one of the first ·national convCt~lion spiechts to· ~e .carried
thi world by CNN, had repm'ussions for iiicfor'years 4tt~ it
dclivmd. ,It inst111cted mt forwtr 011 t.he awtSome powtr of tclwision: .. :
this address and read about it wm.today.' Whrn 1 do: I fit! again .
of knowing that it didn't ap/)ear to have made much of a differmce, ·
by the out~ome of the tlectio'n, which uias, of couisi,_ another.
tiictory.·Evrntual!y-but not until eigh! years later. in 1992nt ·dear we Wtrt right in $an Francisco: tbe poor Wtrt gftting
the· m'iddle class was being bimmd. and the American dream Was
fiJanlsbtng, exetpt for a small, but growing, group of extremely succtssful
at the top of the economic ladder. It was i.dttd'a 'Tale ofTwo Cities."
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On behalf the E!lJpire ~t!lte and
of New York, ·I thank you for the·great privilege of. being ·
·to address this ~o~vention. _ · . . .·
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. ail ow me ,to skip .the stories and the ~oetry imd the
to deal in· nh::e bu't vague rhetoric. .
me lns~ead use t\iis valuable opportunity to de~l with the
that'should determine this election arid ,thaf are vita!. to
mericari people.
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·T~n days _ago, President Reagan ad,mitted that although some
' in this country seemed to be doing well nowadays, others
imd.even worried,. about themselves; their ~amilies,, ·
futtires.
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was ori.9iHally calltd "A Cast for tbt.Dnoocrats ;;, jgu, A Talt of Two Citi<>. ~·
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The pr~sident said he didn~t. unders.tand that fea.r:. He
"Why, this country is·~ shining dty on-'a. hill." . . .
. The president is right.. In many ways'we are "a shining citY
·a hill."
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But the hard truth. is'that not everyo~e is sharing in this ci
splendor and glory.
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A shi~ing citY Is perhaps all the ~resident sees frorri the
of the White House ;md the veranda-of his ranch, where evervon•
seems to be doing well.
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But there's another part of the City, the-part where some P•
can't pay their mortgages· and most young people can't afford_·
where students can't afford the education they need and middle
parents watch the dreams they hold for their children evaporate ..
In this part of the city there are inore1 poor than ever, . .
. 'families in. trouble, more and more people ~ho need help but
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' find it.
. Even worse: ·there are elderly people who tremble in the base,
. ments of the houses there. . .
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. · ' There are peop.le ~ho sleep in. the city's streets, Jn the gutter,
. where tlie. glitter doesn't show.
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There ar,e. ghettos ~here thousands 'of young people, wi
an education .or a job, give their lives ·away to· drug dealers every
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There is despair, Mr. Pre::sident, in faces "you never see, in the
places you never visit in your shining dty.,
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·In faCt, Mr. President, this nation is more a "Tale of Two Cities"
than. it is a.!shining city on a hill.".
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Ma~be if you visited more places,
Mr: Preside:nt, you'd under~~and.c
Maybe if you> went to. Appalachia, where some people still live
in sheds, and to Lackawa!lna, where tho~sands of unerripkw~d steel
workers wonder why we .subsidized forei8n steel while we siJrrender
their clignitY- to i.inemployment and to welfare chei:ks; maybe if you.
. stepped into a shelter in Chicago and· talked with. some of the home;
less there, maybe, Mr. President, if you asked awoman who'd been
denied the h,elp she needs to feed her children because you say we .
need the money to give a tax break~to.a millionaire or to build a
missile weca~'t even afford to ~se, maybe then you'd understand:
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Mr. Pre.sident.
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the truth is, th'is is h~w we were warned it.would be .
President Re~gan told us from ·the beginning that he· believed
of social Darwinism. Survival of the fittest. "Government
do. ever}'thing, ~ we· were·· told. "So it 'sh~uld settle for taking ·
the strong and hope that economiC ambition and charity ~ill
rest. M~ke thecrich ri~her and what falls from their table will
for the middle class and th.ose try!J:Ig to:make:i.t into the
I'm afraid not
The Republicans called it trickle:down when. Hoover tried it. .
they call it supply-side. It is the. same shining city for those
few who a're lucky enough to live in its good neighborhooas.
But for the people who are exduded___.:locked out-all they ca~
.to stare from a distance at that city's glimmeri,ng,towers.
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· It's an old story.· As old as our history.
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The difference between Democrats and the Re-publicans. has
. ineasj.lred in.courage and confidence.
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. Republicans .beli~e 'the w~gon train will not .make it to
drontie(unless some of our old, some of our.young, and some'
weak are left behind. by the side of the t~ail ..
· The,strong.will inherit the land!
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Democrats believe that we can make. it all the ~ay witt( the
family intact. .
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We .have. More than once.
Ever since Fr~nklin Roosevelt lifted himself from his wheelchair.
h tbJs nation from its'knees: Wagon train after wagon 'train. To
frontiers of.education, housing, peace. The whole family aboard.
m<tantly reaching out to extend and enlarge th~t family: Lifting
up into the wagon on the .way, Blacks and Hispanics, people
ethni.;: group, and Native Arriericans.:._ali"those struggling .
·their families arid claim some.small share of America.
. For nearly fiftY years we carried them to .new levels ofcomf~rt, ·
ty, dignity; even affluence
Some of us are. in this room toQay only because this nation had
confidence.
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It would be wrong to .forget that.
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So; we ~re here at. this .convention_ to remind ourselves ~h~re .
we come. from and to claim the .future for ourselves and for qur .
children.
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Today our great Democratic party, which has saved this nation
from depression, from- fascism, from raCism; from corruption,· is
called upop to~do it again . -· . this time. tosa~e tlie n~tion from
. ~ confusion and division, from the threat of eventual fiscal disaster,
. and, most of all, from_ a fear of a nuclear holocaust. .
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ln. order to succeed, we must aiiswer our opponent's
and'appealing rhetoric 'with a more telling ~easonableness
rationality. .
·We. must win th.is case. on the merits..
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. We riJUs.t get th·e American public to look past the glitter, beyond
th.e. showmanship . . to reality, to the han:! ~ubstance-. of· things.
And we will do that not so much with speeches that sound good as
with speeches that are ·good and sound.
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Not so mudi with speeches. that. bd'ng people to· their fee f. as
witli speeches that bring people to their. senses. ,
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We must make: the American peopl~ 'hear our "Tale. of Two
Cities."
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We must convince them that we don't have to settle for tWo
cities; that we call have one city, indivisible, shining for all people.
We will have rto chance to do that irwhat.comes out of this ·
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convention-whafis heard th,roughout~the campilign-is a babel of .
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arguing. vokes.
· ·· To. succeed we will h~ve to surrender small parts of ·our indi: ·.
vidual i_nterests, to build a platform -we can all stand on, at once,.·
comfortably, ·proudly'singing out the truth· for the- nation to hear,
in' chorus,· its logic so clear and commanding\that no slick com. mercia!, no 'amount of geniality, no martial music will be able t9'
muffle it.
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~e D~mocrats must unite so that the entire nation can. Surely
· the Republicans won't bring the convention together. Their policies·
divide the nation
into_the)ucky and the left out,- the royalty
:and the rabble.
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··The Republicans .are willing to treat that division· as victory.
They would cut this nation i~ half, i~to tl'iose tempor~iily better off
and those worse off than 'before, and call it recovery. ·
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We. should ~ot .be embarrassed onlismayed· it the process
is difficult, even 'at·times wrenchhi'g. .
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Unlike ~ny othe.r party, we einbrace.men and wo~en ofevery
~very.creed, every orientation, every ecoiiomic class. In our
are gathered everyone from t!'Je abje~t poor of ESsex County
v York to the enlightened affluent of the gold coasts of-both
of 6ur.nation: And in.between is the heart of our. constitUency.
middle class ..The people-not rich enough·to be .worry-free but ..
·poor enough. to be on welfare. Those who ~ork for.a living
they have to. White:collar and bhie-co!Iar. Young profes- .
Men and ·women in small business desperate for the. capital ·
contracts they need to prove th~ir worih. . . '
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·We speak for the minorities who-have not yet entered the main;··
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~r ethfii~s who w~nt
to add
th~ir culture to
the mosaiC 'th~t is
rorwomen indignant th~t we refuse to etch)nto our go~ern·
command~ents the simple rule·, "Thou shalt' not sin against ..
. a commandment.· so obvious it cari 'be spelled in three
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'Ji:>r young people demanding an' education and. a future.
ror senior 'citizens terrorized by the idea that their ()niy secu·their Social Security-:-is being threatem!d .
For millions~ of reasoning people fighting tQ. preserv.e our enronment from greed and stupidity.and fighting to prese~e our very
:xistence from a macho intrarisigen~e that ;efuses to make inteliigent .·
to d·iscuss the possibility ·of nuclear holocaust .with our ' .
Refusing because they believe we ·can pile -missiles so hig~
they will' pierce. the douds and the sight of them will frighten
enemies. into· submission.
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_We're proud of this diversity. Grateful we _don't have to man:
its appear~nce the way the Republicans will next month· in.
by propping up mannequin delegates .on the c~nvetition floor:
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·But ·we pay a price for it
The different people we represent have ma'ny points of view.
ometimes they compete and then we have debates, eyen argumentS:
what our primaries were about. But no~ the. primaries are over
it is. time: to lock arrns and move' into _this _campajgn .together.
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·If"we need' any in~pir~tion to make the effort .to put' asipe~our s~all
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differences, all we need to do is to reflect on the Republican policy
of divide ai)d: cajole arid how it has injured our land since .1980:
~.The president has asked us to. judge him 011_ whether or not he's·
fulfilled the promises he made four years ago. I accept that. Just
consider what he said and' what· he's done. ·
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l~flation 'is down si~ce 1980. But not because of the supply. side miracle promised by -the preside'nt. . Inflation was reduced_ the.
old-fashioned way, with a recession; the worst- since i 932.- More
than-55, 000 bankruptcies. Two years of massive u~employment. Two.
hundred thousand -farmers and ranchers forced off the land. More
homeless than at ~ny time sine~ the Great Depression.· Mo;e hungry,' ,
more poor-mostly women-and a nearly 200 billion dollar deficit
threate-ning our future.~·
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The president's deficit is a direct anddramatk repudiation of
his ·promise.to balance pur budget by· 1983. ,That deficit is the largest
in the. history of this universe, more than three times.larger than the :
deficit i~ President Carter'~ 'last year. '!tis a deficit tha·t, according
'to the president's own fis~~l advisor, co~ld grow as high as 300
billion doll~rs a year, stretchi'ng "adar as the eye can see."
It .is a "debt so large that as much as one-half of our revenue
from the i~'come tax goes tg pay the interest on it ~ach year. It is a·
. mortgage on our children's futures that can only be·paid in pain and
that .could.-eventually bring this nation t~ its knees. Don't:take my··
·word for it. . . .' I'm a Democrat.·
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·Ask the· Republ,ican investment. bankers on Wall Street_ what·
they think the chances are this recovery will be permanent. If th'ey're
not too embarras~ed to tell you the t~th,. they'll-say they are appalled
and -frightened by the president's deficit. Ask them what they think
of our economy, now that id{as been' driven by the distorted value
of the dollar back to its colonial condition~exporbng agricultural
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products and imp~rting manufactu-red ones.
_· , Ask those Republican investment ban~ers what they expect the
interest rate to be a year from now. And a-sk tliem what they p~edict
·for ·the' inflation rate then.
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How importan-t is this question of the deficit? ~
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Think about it: What.chance /'
would 'the Republican candidate .·
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:,Jlav'e!had in .191:10 it lie naa ro1u me~""'"""''"' .,~.:..,.~ ... -- : .... -~.
for his .so"calle'd-economic r-ecovery ·with bankruptcies,- un'<lnumen( and the·Jargt:st government debt known to humankind?
American voters have signed the loan certificate. for him <;m
Day? Of course not! It was an· ele-ction won with smoke apd.
' ' : with :illusions. It is a recovery' made of the .same stUff.
And what aboudoreign policy? ·
· The'y·said they would make us and the whole world safer. They
have.
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.By creating·the-iargest defense budget .in history, one. even they
'admit is excessive. By escalating tO ·a -frenzy the nuclear arm's
By incendiary rhetoric: By refusing.to diseuss peace with our
1.ies·. By the loss of 279 young Americans in Lebanon in pursuit
. plan' a_nd a policy_ no one can f(nd orde'scribe . .
We give monies· to Latin :American gove·rnments that murder
. and·then he._abo,ut it..
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have been less thari zealous in our support ohhe only real
we have in the Middle East, the one democracy there, our
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:sh-and-blood ally, the state of lsrad.- ·
Our policy drifts ~ith no real direction," other than an hy~terical
to an arms race that leads nowhere ' . ' .if we're lucky..
not . . . could lead us to bank~ptcy or. war. ·
Of course· we must have a strong defense!
Of course Democrats beheve that th'ere ai-e-times when we must
and fight. And we have. Thousands of us have paid for-freedom· .
our lives. But always-'--when we've been at our best__:our purwere clear.'
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Now they're not. Now our allies are as confused as our en-emies.
. Now. we have . no real commitment. to·- our friends. or our
..-. to human_rights, io the refuseniks, to Sakharov, to.Bisl!_op ·
arid' the others stniggling for freedom in South Africa. _ .
· We have spent more than we can afford. We have pounded our
_and made bold 'speeches. But we lost i19 young _Americans
Lebanon and.we are forced to live behind simdl;>ags in Washingto~.
·Ho~.can .anyone believe that we:are'stronger, ·safer, oor better?
the Republican record. .
-That its disastrous' q~ality is' not more fully understood by 'the . '
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American people is attributable, I think, to the-president's amiability
· and the failure by some to separate 'the salesman· from the product
It's now up to us to make the case to America. And to remirid
Americans that if they are not happy with . all the preside~t-has done
. so far,- they should consider how much worse it will }>_e if he· is left
to his·i-adical procliv_itiedor another four .years unrestrained by the
need once again to come before the American people.
If July brings back Ann Gorsuch Burford ... :what can we expect of December? .
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.Where would another fqur years t<,lke_ us?·
How much iarger will the deficit be?
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- .How-much deeper the cuts in programs 'fo~ the struggling middle
. class and the poor to limit that deficit? How high the interest rates? How much more acid rain killing our forests and fouling our lakes?
What kind Supreme Cour:t? Wh~t kind of court and co'untry
' wilt' be fashioned by~ the man who believes in ha~ing government
mandate people's religion and morality? .
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The man·who:believes that trees pollute the environment, that
. the laws again~t- discrirttination go too far. The man who_ threatens
Social Se'curity and Medicaid. and help for the disabled.
How high will we pile the missiles?
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. How much deeper will be the gulf between us and our enemies?·
Will ~e make meaner the spirit-of otir people?
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This election will' measu~e the record of the past four years: -But more than :that; it will answer the question of what kind of people .·
~e want, to be.
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We .'Democrats still have a dream. We still believe: in this.~ation's
future:
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_, .And this is·ouranswer_:,our credo:
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. We believe hi only the government we need, chut we insist on
all the government \ye need. . '
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-We believe. i!'l govemmeri~ characteriz-ed _by fairness and rea- ·
soHablrness, a reasonableness that goes beyorif;l labels, that doem't
distort ~r promise to do what it know~ it can't do:· ·
· . ··A government stro~g enough·to·use the words "lo"e': and "compassion'' and smart el}ough to convert our noblest aspirations into
. p~actical re'alities.
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·We. believe iri' _encouraging the taiented, but '\ye believe that
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survival of the fittest niay be a good :\\rorking description ot
·governm~nt of ~umans shou_Id elev~te
to a higher order, one which fills the gaps left by chance or a ..
we do-n't 'understand.
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We ~~uld rather-have laws written by the patron of .this great.
the inan called the "world's :'most sincere- Democrat':-Saint ·
·of Assisi:_than laws written hy D~~win:
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We believe, as D-emocrats, that a society as_f:?lessed as ours, the·
affluent de';nocracy in the world's history, that car\ spend tril~:
ori instruments of destructior;;' ought to be abie to help the-class in its struggle, ought to be able to find wo1_:).; for--all
can do it,' ro6m the table, sheltedor th~ homelesS, care for ·
elderly and infirm, hope for the .destitute. - .
We proclaim as loudly as we dm the utter insanity of nuclear
oliferation and the need for a· nuclear free;e, if o~ly to affirm the
truth that peace is betterthan war because life- is better than
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We _believe in firm but fair Ia~ ;~nd order, in the union mov~-, ·in. privacy- for people, ope~ ness by government,_ civil rights, human rights. · ·
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We be_lieve in_ a single fundamental idea that describes better
· mo~t textbooks and any speech _what a .proper government
be. The idea of family. Mutuality. The sharing of benefits··
burdens for 'the good qf aiL· Feeling <me another's pain. Sharing
another's ·blessings: ReasonabJy1 honestly, fairly-without reto race, o~ sex, or geography, or political affiliation:
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:we believe we must be the family of A~erica, rec~gnizing tl}at
the heart of the matter we :are bound one to another, that the .
of a retired schoolteacher in Duluth are
problems. That
future of the--child. in' Buffalo is our future_. .The struggle of a
.man in Boston to survive, to live decently, is ourstruggle.
hunger of a woman _in Little Rock our hunge'!<The faiiure any:e. to provide what -reasonably_ we 'might, t~ avoid.p_ain, is. ou~
·e.
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For fiftY years we Democrats created a better future for -our ·
using traditional Democratic principles as a fixed .beacon, .
us direction·ari~ pur-Pose, but constantly innovating, adapting
realities: Roos~velt's alphab_et programs, Truman's NATO- and-: .
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the Gl Bill of Rights, Kennedy s tntemgem· tax m1.cm•!"• ;..,.,.' .
: Alliance for Prqgress, Johnson's civil rights, Carter:s i}u'!Jan ri
and the nearly miraculous Camp David. peace accord. . .
,· Democr!lts did 'it . . . anQ. Democrats ca11. qo it again.
We can build a future that deals with our deficit :
Remember; Sfty_ years of progress never cost. us what the
·four years of stagnation have. We can deil with .that deficit
gently, by shared sacrifice, ~ith,all parts of the nation's fa~lly
ttibuting, building partnerships with the priv~te sectol;
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sound .defense without ·depriving·ourselves of what we·neeQ to
our children and care for our people: · .
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We can have .a future, ~hat provides for a:IJ the young of
pres~nt, by marrying _common. sense and compassion.
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We'latow we can, because w~ did it for nearly fifty years
·. 1980
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We can do it again. ·If we do not forget. Forge't that this.
nation has profited by these progressive principles. That they
lift ug generations to the middle class a~d higher; gave us a
tci work, to go to college, to ·rai~e a f~mily, to own a house, to
· secure in our old age; and, before that, to reach heights that
own parents would not have dar:ed dream of.
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· . That struggle to live with dignicy'is thereat story of the shining
CitY. It's a story'! 'didn't-read in a book; or learn in a classroom.::
saw it, a~d lived· it. Like many 9f you.' . .
.
I watched a small man with thick .calluses' on both hands WO
._fifteen and sil(teen hours a day._ I saw him once lite tally bleed
the bottoms of ~i-s feet, a man who came. here um:iducated, alone,
unable to speak' the-language,. who ·faughf me all I needed to know.
about faith and hard work by the simple:eloquence of his'example.'>
I learned about our kind. of .democracy from
father. I leamec;l .
about our obligation to each other from him and from my mother.
They asked only for a, chance to work·and to mal<e the world better
for tlleir children and to be protected in those mome-nts when they
would not be able 'to protect themselves. This nation arid its gov:
' ern'!lenrdid that for them .. - . .
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And that they were able 'to build a family and live in dignity
•
and see one :of their children go 'from behind their little ·
'
·· stor~ on the other side of the tracks in South Jamaic~ where he was
. born: to occupy the highest seat _in the greatest state of the greatest
:~dem~;>cratic. pr_ocess.-
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January 20, 1985, it will happen again·. Only on a much
·we will have a new presiqent 'of the United -States, ·
born not to the blood of kifigs, but to the blood of
arid pioneers.
.
. . . '
will chave Ameiica's first. woman vice president, the child
' a New Yorker, opening with onemagniflcerit stroke···
··- .. frontier for the United States
··
·
'. will. happen.:.:::.!{ Wt matt it. bapptn.,
ladies-and gentlemen, brothe~ and sisters_: for the good
..... , for the·tove of this grea,t nati~n. for the family of Ameljca,·
love of God. Please, make this nation remeiTlber how futures ·
·~
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�NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
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adwlnclng agt and falling healrlt. ~rt<dly qug~<d "' saying he W<iuld no< di<
until the ~rats once CJg(Ifn ~p~·tJK Wntfl Houu, ht Skt.cumbtd tO btart
jallvn 011)ah1JIUY 24, l993,ju<l days '!flu litt inaugu~ of l'rloid<nt BIB Clinton.
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Boob
r:vcrtd throughout.f.atin'Ameiica as a symbol of ih< fir}ltfor fn<!<p<nd<nu
fromfordgndominadan;)ost M«d ,.., th<orchitLCtofih<""'l"tlon th4t
· . Ji""l!y d~ Spoln out ofCuoo. H< !""'also a wrltl!r of s!gnificanc< wha><
orlg!nalil}'oft;eprtSSion. esp<clallji In his po<try <iJid ruays. IIShtrtd In a""' era in
Sponish·letlm. Y<t it was .his dca!h in litt hta.t.of~lxjor< he could
his
'drum of afret Cuba ,cOme tn.e-duzt viu1ftd MartUD the staw.S of huo and
martyT, a piac< he still hallh todoy ~mong L:uln Americans ai /!<>th <ruis of th<
paliUcal ""''"""'·
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• . .
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' · A :nadv< of H..a.;., Cuba, M;rtf ..;,, an< of <lgh< child~ pfporcnts wha
had bun born In Spain. His }Other was a sageant in the Spanish Royal Art!ll<ry at ,
tht' tlmioJ}Ost's Wlh and laiD warRed as a guard, a poUaman,.and a minor d"fiU ' ·
· Exapl foro ptr!ad of aOO.t two yidrs wlitn h~ }Qmily m-.l bock iD
1m, Mart! sp<nta// ojhti childhood in Havanci. Tiler< he was taken under
of ont his'teachrn, who sQw ro inhat bt was allowed ro c:onlinue h~
tdlteotlonpas't the'"~' w/"" h~ Jatha wan ltd him to quit sclwO/arulfind a job !0
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support the family.·
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Marti's mmror was. of a .U::Idtdly lib<ra/. ben~ ~rul young )ost grew up
stiq.<,fin ·ih< potrtoik nation dial Cuoo,; th<n a colony of Spain, des<...<&
, lnd<ptndcn«. Til~ was a< a tlm<whm thepalitical situation on lh<!slarulwas)'<l)l
arul.r...,lwt!On ~ tkjinifl!ljin rlte.~lr, partlc:ularly aft<r a rebel/ion 1/>at \
uupttd. in lak !868 -h<d off a decade of gunrilla warfare bc<w<<n Cubon
iruurgtilts and the fptlntsh m~litcary lznown as.ihe Ttn Yurs' War. M~tf was
OOrdy in his l<tm
h< began ..nrtng pi<c<S that W<rt oitf<al ofth< COlonial
In Ocrob<r 1869, at ih< age of only si:itanch< was arrtst<d arui'
tretison. Rvt months ldw, in March 1870. ht wti.s senrinced to six
a scntmc~ that ft:m'tt to dn t.nd in January J871, 'whrn,~ was
whir< Cuoon outhoriti<s hap<d h< would b< tao far away to
!rOUble. .
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·~ Bu:t Martf
~ !lP with Othtr Cuban t.Xiks in
and ·~nt~nUt4
~fs czctl\litlt:i on behalf 6f. ~ frukp(nden~ movtmtnt He· also resumed .his
tducation,fim at Ctlltral•Unlvmi~ in Modrid.and th<n•ot lh< Uitwmil}'·pf
~
w~kh he rudW<l both a law degm: arul a fJbcral ar~ d<gn:< In :
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. MajPtSpmJwhy~iltdwU.iW~ l191J91l.~6r~,l011
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'. lfl«i~CNrlaE.WuriU, 1911. '
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aNdcl, OtUr&i Pub&al.lonl, 198). .
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Wllliams,Jtmye Colemaa.# ~W\Ihams,
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&lad l41dcrt, Noblc.4tNoble.l970,,
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�Draft 1110/98
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CEINTON .
STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
U. S. €APITOL
January 27, 1998
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members ofthe 105thCongress. distinguished guests,
and inyfellow Americans:
Tonight, as required by the Constitution, I report on t~e state of our union- not of our
government, but of our great American nation. These are good times for America. With' our
. economy soaring, our incomes rising, o·ur social fabric on the mend, ~nd our leadership unrivaled
1
in the world, the state of the union is strong.
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Tonight, I speak to you of the· opportunity before us -~the opportunity ·to renew o~r
nation and once again fulfill the. promise of America - the opportunity to ~ the potential of a
new era and channel its awesome powerjor the benefit of ou,r people and our nation.
~·~
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We gather on the cusp of a new century, so close we can see its contours, so near we can
shape its content. We are living in a period of change as revolutionary as any in our history.
Stu111,1ing leaps of technology ,di1iomedical miracle, a dynanjicglobal economy all are remaking
our world. In so many ways, the. 21st Century has already begun. ·
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The 21 ' 1 Century offers vistas of opportunity, abundapce, and fulfillment beyond what
could ever have been imagined before. Yet we know that this new era also poses stiff new
challenges to our values and our families -- demands new skills of our people - and places new
obstacles in our path as old ones fall away. This nation, what George Washington called "the
great experiment," can never shrink from change. ·
For over 220 years now, our nation has remained young and strong by always meeting
new challenges in ways that renew our oldest values. Alone among nations, America was
founded not on religion or race or geography, but on incandescent ideals, which have been
reaffirmed and reembraced at every critical moment in our history.
NOTE ... this section shld be r¢worked
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Lincoln at Gettysburg ....
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The Progressives forging a, new freedom for an Industrial Age ...
Franklin Roosevelt rescuing America from the abyss; in the name of our oldest ideals ...
Dr. King challenging
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Amer~ca
to live out the true meaning of our creed.
�BOTH AN ASPIRATION AND A MEANS ... we-havefough~ to make them more real, or live up io
them more .. .
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chall~nge
Am~ricans
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At every moment of
and change, we
have found a way to keep
these old ideals n o t 8 words scratched on parchment, qut instead, living guideposts for a · ~new era. Our missiOn must be to make sure that the promise of America is as vibrant in the Year ~ ~ ~2000 as it was in 1776.
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For five years, that is what we have done. We rejected the false and failed idea that the
·only answer to our problems was to weaken our governmeil.t -- as if a strong nation could afford
a diminished democracy.· Instead, working together arid reaching across lines of party and
philosophy, Americans of this generation have fo~med a new kind of government. Smaller.
More flexible. Less bureaucratic. Not a government intent on doing everything, not a
government c~nt to do nothing. Instead, a government rooted in America's basic bargain:
extending opportunity for all, demanding responsiblity fror;n all -a progressive government
dedicated to giving people the tools to make the most of their own lives. [In the 20 1h Century, to
give our families security from the colossal forces of the industrial age, we built a welfare state. ~ _
In its place we must build an oppm:tunity nation for the 2P1 Century.]
~ire
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My fellow Americans, we see the results all around us. Unemployment remains the
lowest in a quarter century. Inflation is virtually nonexistent. Welfare, crime, teen pregnancy
and divorce are all dropping. And wages are again rising. :
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We have created a moment oisecurity and strength, of peace and prosperity: But this is
not a time to rest: this is a time to build. You don't wait for a rainy day to fix your roof. It is
·time to cast our eyes on the long view. So tonight I propose an agenda for action to strengthen
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opportunity and renew our values for our time. Expanding opportunity by strengthening our
economy and strengthening Social Security. Protecting our children from tobacco arid crime.
Strengthening Ameri~a's international leadership .. Passing onto future generations a stronger
democracy, a more. perfect union.
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NEW OPPORTUNITY IN THE NEW ECONOMY
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We begi
. he onomy- for economic groWth has always been our bgine of
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opportunity. nd whil
· e the wealt~of our nation camem~y from the Jid-in the ground,
~Sb the abundance o our farmland, the o~t of our factories. Now it will come from the "Skills of
~ _. 1 our people and .the power of our iq-mgmation.
wz.w
If''~ {).P'
p tt4;i J(j,.., I "{r' ~ f<
~;·~~ Consider what's happened in the past five years al~ne. More Americans work in the
· ~~computer industry than worked in the auto industry at its peight in the 1950s. In Silicon Valley
~.'J,~e, 11 companies are created everyweek. Revived by new technologies and new ways of
the American auto industry is once again the strongest in the world for {_he first time .
~ '!.": .J'C\ since the 1970s. And in the cutting edge industries that ate driving the global markets of the new
01\~
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~--~working,
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[TO COME: Discussion ofSocial Security r"e/orm process and, possibly, principles]
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[Possible guest in First Lady's box: the grandchild' of thejirst person to receive Social
Security benefits]
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Leading the global economy
[To come: Discussion of globalization, Asian markets, and trade]
Investing in people
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By imposing fiscal discX2'pli arid embracing the world economy, we have created the
e
· conditions for sustained growt · B America has never been defined merely by the growth of
its ec?nomy~.by exp~nding orizons·o.f op~ortunity f~r: our peopl~ !oday:- high skill jobs. are
growmg at ~times the rate of lower skilled JObs. The mcome gap IS m reahty an opportumty
gap. And that is a gap we can and must close.
In the 21st Century,·there are five keys to opportunity for all.
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Education -- education that continues through a lifetime.
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Health care-- health care that goes .
Child care --·so parents can take responsibiliyt at work and at home.
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Training and assistance -- so 'working people kno~ that they wip be the winners of
economic change.
· Retirement security -- xx/
These are the elements of the American Dream. They. have been part of our lives in this
century.· And as the world changes, the way we help people reach this dream changes, too.
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First and foremost, every American must have access to.the best education in the world.
In so many ways, this is not an information age- it is an education age. Our mission has been
to make the 13th and· 14th years of education- the first two years of college:-.,. as universal today
as a high school degree is today. If in the 19th Century opportunity came from a land grant, in the
21st Century opportu1,1ity will come from a P~ll Grant. · :
On January 1 ofthis year, broad new tax cuts took effect to help families pay·for college:
the $1500 Hope Scholarshipfor the first two years of college; xx; xx. Over the past five years,
we have doubled scholarships, expanded work study to 1 ;million young people each year, and
given 100,000 young people the chance to earn money for education by serving their country
4
�through AmeriCorps. Today, for the first time in our history, we can say to every young
American: if you work hard, you can go to college- and mdney will be no object. a)A1 _
. . (] a)J.. L.!J.o_ ~ 1ft
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. We have opened the door of the world's. finest colleg~.·~ and universitie~~ all our p~o~l~. ~~
But you.know, and I know, that our elementary schools and h)gh schools ar adm The ·cns1s m
our public schools is a crisis ef OfJfJe>ftunit) ttnd a challenge to our aspirations. To keep
t.wVrJ-·
opportunity alive, we need a new ethic of education: high standards, real competition, strict
· aCC()Untability in our nation's public schools,· with more parental involvement, greater choice,
better teaching, and an end to social promotion.
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We know that smaller classes matter- and they matter most for children who need help
the 'most. So tonight I propose a national effort to reduce clah size in the ead!est years. My
balanced budget will hire an additional 80,000 first and secoAd grade teachers to reduce class
size to an average of 18. And we will insist that ~hese new teachers meet the highest standards,
passing rigorous state competency tests, before they are hired: When parents take a child to
school to start first grade, they have a right to know that her class will.be small enough to learn,
and her teacher. skilled enough to teach. .
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We must do even more. The balanced budget.i will submit willhelp connect every
classroom to the information superhighway, help build repair or build thousands of new schools,·
teach millions of children to read by the 3rct gra_de.
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But the most important thing we can do is simply to demand more, and better, of our
·schools. Am~rica i-s meving to im~r national standards, with a test t~at will be ready
· next September. But demanding accountability rteed hofwait. Too many children are passed
from grade to g~ade without ever mastering 'the basics. Too many .young people graduate middle
school or high school without bei11g able to read their.dip~oma. We cannot let these young
people down. In an economy as demanding of skills as this one, it is simply wrong -- wrong -- to
move a child from grade to grade if he or she has·not mastered the. basics. . It is .time to stop social
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Let's be clear: :Our purpose is not to hoid anyone down, but to lift everyone up. If we are ·
demanding that ali students meet high standards; we have~ obligation to make sure all students
can meet those standards. Let us say to failing schools: If you stop pro~oting children who
don't learn, we will give you the resources yo)J need :to 'make sure they _do ..
[Public school chol.celcharters]
.:Second, we must give more.people accessto health ~are·, while. at the same time ensuririg
that the health care Americans receive remains the bestin the world .
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Last yea~, working together, we secured'Medicare fdr'a decade. Soon we will strengthen·
the program for theJong run. Today I challenge Congress to take two more steps that respond to
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�the rapidly changing world of health care.
Millions of Americans now receive health care through managed care programs that can
cut costs and improve service. Patients should be treated as people, not as dollar signs on a
ledger. I challenge Congress to enact a Health Care Consumer Bill of Rights. We should say:
you have the right to be informed about your health plan in plain English. You should have the
right to know all your medical options -- not just the cheapest. Traditional care or managed care,
no American should receive inferior care. ·
. And millions of Americans between 55 and 65 hav,e fallen through the cracks of the
health care system. They have spent their lifetimes worki~g hard, supporting their families,
contributing to society. But having lost their insurance thr'ough no fault of their own, they are
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forced to pay unbearably high premiums at the just the. moment when they need health care
coverage the most. I challenge Congress to·enact legislation giving these millions of
hardworking Americans the chance to buy into the Medic~re system. · · .
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Third, we must help all our people meet their responsibilities at work and at h"e. Our
new economy has imposed new demands on 'working families. In more and more fz;;ies, bqth
parents work; and more parents are working han.ler than ever. For many families, the search for
affordable, high-quality child care has become an obstacle to achieving the American Dream.
Improving child care is the next great frontier for the American = ] y . So I call
upon Congress to pass a comprehensive and fiscally-responsible plan to make child care more
affordable and accessible, tG rais@ th@ quality and assure the saf@ty of care for millions- of
tm1erican famines. We must double the number of children receiving our help. We must give
tax cuts to help three million more working families meet their child. care expenses and
encourage more businesses to provide child-care for their employees. We must strengthen the
enforcement of the law, weed out bad providers through tougher crim'
round checks,
and offer scholarships to talented caregivers. Finally, we rpust
e expandof efore-and
after-school programs so. that every child has a safe and enrichi
after school. Most
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juvenile crimes are committed between the hours of 3 and
We must give Ol;[r children-~ ~ ···· ·
somewhere to go other than the streets.
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Child care is an issue that touches nearly every family, one that should rise above politics
and partisan interests. I welcome the bipartisan efforts to improve child care that are afready
taking place in Congress and thank the members their leadership.
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Fourth, we must recognize that the most important' new market for America is in the inner
city. [CITIESIEMPOWERMENT?]more money for affordable housing, more money.for
homeless ness, more money for ocmmunity development htan ever before;.
Climate change
6
�There is a new element to ou'recono!J1y, as welL For the sake of our planet, and the
strength of our economy, we must continue to find ways to p~otect the environment while
promoting growth. Today, even as our economy is the strongest in a generation, our air and
water are the cleanest in a generation. c~~ ~Y· ~ Hii) . . lL .·no .~
..
~~·~~~ W<~ MMM~
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And in
tury to come, no envittlnmental challenge will be more compelling than
~ t
in warming. The vast majority of the world's scientists have concluded,
f we
bey on
na le doubt, that~· not take steps to reduce emissions of greenhouse
e
gases, we will alter our c.limat an w
the very foundation for2lst century pro~perit .
have worked so
. m d. The erdict is in. The time for acti.on is now.
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In December, our nation signe<}aii)iistoric tr~9Jiat embraces the American approach of
unleashing. the full force of the free ma¥et to cut greenhouse ;gases, rather than imposing new. ·
taxes or government regulation. That treaty sets limits on emlssions by developed countries;
now we will tum our attention to securing meaningful participation from developing· countries,
because this is a global problem that requires a global solution.
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At the same time, we will begin immediately to tackle gfobal warming here at home..
First, I am proposing a $6 Billion in tax cuts to spur innovation and help Americans create and
use more energy-efficient technologies. Our plan offers up td $4000 in true credits to families ·
who buy energy efficientproducts. We must also restructure the energy industry, reducing
greenhouse gases, saving American consumers an estimated
Billion a year.
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The economic imperative for action is clear. I am confident that the world's most
innovative nation will find the ways to meet these goals while further expanding opportunity. In
fact, we've already begun to do it.. Earlier this month,.Ford, OM, and Chrysler unveiled highperformance cars that get three times the gas mileage of the typical models today.
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But more important:by
.erative for action is clear: God bestowed. upon
us an unsullied atmosphere d a wondrous earth where life.l¥6trlrlthrive. We have no right to
~our chi .reno 1s sacr~d·gift.•
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~ ~E~~P~I~t IN A NEW ERA
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As our economy must be based.on opportunity, our se,ciety must be based on.
responsibility.
Parent.s work hard to raise our children, to pass on our' values, to pro.tect o~uhildren fr3
harm. It's hard enough being a parent. And it's harder still when the mass media nd the market
table.
send our children messages that can undo all the good done i~ church or at the ktic
The single greatest health threat our famili~e is tHe epidemic of teen smoking -- an .
epipdemic spread by billion dollar marketing cam~1s, aim~d straight at teens. Today, like
7
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every day, 3000 young people will start to smoke, and 1000 of them will die early because of it.
Already, my administration has moved forward, restricting the advertising that can seduce our
children.
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Now, this year, we hav
istoric opportunity to pass bipartisan, landmark legislation to
curb teen smoking. This will ch:g: the way tobacco co111panies do business, and will raise the
price of a pack of cigarettes .by up to $1.50 o:er the next t~.n ye.ars. I challenge the Congress to
work together across party hnes and make thts tobacco legtslatwn the law of the land.
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For five years, we have worked to put these valtiesfof responsibility and family, work and
respect for law, at the center of our social pblicy. And after decades in which lawlessness ruled
the streets unchallenged, in which generations of o.ur child~en were raised without.hope, we have
. begun to make remarkable progress.
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By putting l 00,000 new community police on the streets, tougher punishment, and more
prevention, we have. spread throughout the nation a community based crimefighting strategy that
works. For five years jn a row, crime is down, all across America.
Now we must press on. For there is still far to~ much crime. Drug use among young
people is still too high. Far too many children are raising themselves on the streets. We cannot
go strong into the 21st Century if children are killing children ... if children are selling drugs to
children ... if children are having children. We have a moral responsibility to take the ·guns out of
their hands and to teach them right from wrong.
Here's what we must do.
Congress should finally pass the juvenile crini.e bill. This measure will [x] [crack down
on youth handgun use].
I
And we should recognize that 80%. of crime is linked to drugs or alcohol. Too often our
prisons are training academies for a life ofcrirhe. We have begun saying to prison inmates, "If
you stay on drugs, you have to stay in jail." We say to parolees, "If you go backon drugs,
then you have to go back to jail. If you want to stay on the street, stay off drugs." Now, I ask
you to give the states added ability to expand drug testing 'and drug treatment throughout our
criminal justice system. Nothing will do more to prevent c,rime.
And the law must be enforced-- strongly, effectively, swiftly. Every criminal knows that
trial and punishment can drag on for years due to clogged courts. Yet the refusal of the Senate
even to te n dozens of judges has left one in ten ofthe nation's judgeships vacant. Chief
Justice
e quist was right when he wrote, and I quote, "[These] vacancies cannot remain at
such hig
vels indefinitely without eroding the quality of justice." I ask this Congress to heed
Justice
e quist' s plea, and vote on these judges, up or d:own.
8
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And we have acted to apply our oldest ~alues to per~aps our most intractible social
problem. In 1996, we ended welfare system..that had trapped generations of Americans in a
cycle of dependency, and replaced it with a·ne'w systembas~d on work and responsibility. Last
year, from this podium, I challenged our nation to take the qext step, and ~ove two million more
Americans. o~f ofwelf~re by the year 2000 .. Well, I am plea~ed to reportthat in the past year & lAos
alone, 2 tmlhon Amen cans have moved off welfare .. 'fo: 9 P';,~ oC;Z~~ .if""' · ~ '
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Think about what that means .. Think ofthose children whose mothers now go tb work,
who have the dignity of a paycheckinstead of the indignity :of a w~lfare check, who are now
connected to mainstream America and the world of work. Think of the neighborhoods where
hope is replacing. despair. ·
And we must do more -- increasing child support collections, providing vouchers to help
famiiies move closer to where the jobs are. And above alf, thousands
businesses must join
the [x,OOO] companies in our welfare-to-workpartnership, t~ give a chance to someone who is
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willing to work their way off.~elfare. .
more
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FOREIGN POLICY
[To come-- NATO, Bosnia, new threats (incl.Biolog'ical Weapons Convention,
Comp~ehensive Test Ban Treaty, Terrorism, UN and IF! ar~ears, and other issues]
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BUILDING A MORE PERFECT UNION
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Two centuries ago, we the people of the United ~t~tes of America proclaimed to the·
world that we had come together to form not just a new n*ion, but "a mo're perfect union."
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We are still on a missiort of forming a more perfect uni~n, of meeting mlr greatest
potential as One America.· Today, the ,face of America is changing. We are of increasingly
different colors, different religions, and different cultural ~raditions. And we must make our
growing diversity our greatest strength in the 21st centuryl
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We must begin by recognizingthat for all th~ sur.f~ce differencesamong.us, we are
~v""l.·
united by same aspirationS and principles.;1We believe that: all Americans must have equal
~ ~~ opportunities to work; to learn, to raise our .children in coirunuriities where they can thrive and
C1(; ~ JO · · ... grow. Education, health care, child care, jobs -- these are the issues that weigh heavily on the
· ~ .·~ . minds of families everywhere --in Cities, small towns andj farms all a~ross the country. When
~ ~·
we extend opportunity to all Amedcans .and demand resportsibility from all Americans, we can (J..n••
~ rf>..· build a community of all Americans united by values that transcend skin color, r~ligious or
· · yv VJ
~ ~Lb ethnic heritage.
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&V--
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J.J.!Nj.
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Let us' be honest with ·ourselves:. It is a plain fact t~at discrimination still exists. We
. must continue to vigorously enforce the laws that make it illegal. And I call upon the Senate
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to confirm Bill Lann Lee as our next Assistant Attorney, qeneral for Civil Rights.
But we must remember this: We have tor~wn the walls in our laws-.., but not' the walls
·in our hearts. In so many ways, we still hold o~es back. We retreat into comfortable
enclaves of ethnic isol_ation. Far too many communities l_. and too many schools -- are all ·
white, all black, all Latino, all Asian. Too many Americans of all races have begun to give up
on the idea of integration and the search for common grpund. Segregation is no longer the
law, but too often, separation is still the fule. Any nation that indulges itself in destructive
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separatism will not be able to meet and master the challenges of the 21st century.
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I have asked the American people to join in a gr~at national dialogue on these issues. I
believe· it is vitally important that we move past sterotypes and face these issues with stark
honesty.
But tonight I say: we must do more than talk together. We must work together, toward
~als that have nothing to do with race, but e~erything to do wi.th America. For only through
· (Yl common enterprise have Americans of all backgrounds ever forged a common identity.
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That is why the United States militafy, the worl~'s strongest and mos~ skilled fighting
· force, has become an incubator for racial progress and unity. That is the lesson learned every
day by thousands of AmeriCorps members of all races ~nd backgrounds. By coming together
to tutor children or paint new playgrounds, they are learning the all-important lesson that what
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truly matters is not the color of your skin, but your pati~nce with a student, your handiness
with a paint brush, and your comrilitment to a' shared en~eavor.
Tonight I challenge every religious orgna@rion in Arrierica to take up the standard of
service. I ask churches and synagogues and mosques of .a different races to embark together
on_~fforts to enrich and improve the com~unities we:anlive in.
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.service. I ask you to join with churches and syn gogues and mosques. of a different race in
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common endeavor. ·, ~ ~~:eve,~ ~-,
The journey toward One America may be unfini~hed, but the course is riot unknown.
Our most cherished ideals, values .and goals, have always made our union stronger. Let us .
strive to live closer to them today and in the coming century.
10
�Two centuries ago, we the people of th~ United Stat~~ of America proclaimed to the
world that we had come together to form not just a. new nation, but "a more perfect union."
•'.
Wear~ still on a ~ission offorming' a·more perfect union; of meeting our.greatest ·
potential· as One America. Today, the face of America is changing.· We are of increasingly
different colors, different religions, and different cultural traditions. And we must make our
growing diversity our greatest strength in. the 21st ~entury. : . ·
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. . We must begin by recognizing that for all the surface differences among us, we are united
by aspirations far more powerful than race: We believe 'that all Americans must have equal
opportunities to work, to learn, to raise our ·children in communities where they can thrive and
grow. Education, health care, child care, joqs -- these are th~ issues that weigh on the minds of· ·
families in all corners of our country. As ~e offer opportunity for all Am.ericaris and demand
responsibility from all Americans, we bring together a community of all Americans united by
·
values more enduring than the color of our skin...
Let us be honest with ourselves: it is a plain fact that, discrimination ·stin exists.·. We
contique to vigorously enforce the laws that make" it illegal. iAnd I call 'upon the Senate to.
confirm Bill Lann Lee as our next Assistant Attorney Generiil.for Civil Rights.
mu~t
But we must remember this: We. have tom down the ;walls in our laws-- but not the walls
in our hearts. In so m'any ways, we still hold oursleves back. We retreat into comfortable
. encla~es of ethnic isolation. Far too many communities -- and too many schools -- are all white,
all bl~ck, all Latino, all Asian.· T~?o manyArnericans.ofall races have begun to give up on the
. idea ofintegration· and the search for common ground. Segregation is no longer the law, but too
often, ~eparation is still the ~ule. Any ·nation that indulges itself destructi've .separatism will
not be able to meet and master the challenges of the 21st century.
in
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· 'I have asked the American people to join in a great nhtional dialogue on ·these issues. I
believe· it is vitally important that we move past sterotypes ahd face these issues' with stark
t
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:honesty.
. But tonight I say: we must do more than talk together. We must work together,. toward.
goals that have nothing to do with race, but e~erything td' do: with America. For only on the . ~.
forge of comipon enterprise have Americans of all backgroupds ever hamm.ered out a common
identity.
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That is why the United States military, the world's most skilled fighting 'force, isthe,most
effective means for racial progress. That is what the young men and women of City Year have
done for three decades.· That is the lesson learned every day by thousands of AmeriCorps
members of all races and backgrounds. By coming together to tutor children and paint new .. ·
playgrounds, they are learning the all-important lesson that ~hat truly matters is not the. color of
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your skin, but your patience with a student, your handiness with a paint brush, and your
commitment to a shared endeavor.
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Tonight I challenge every religious orgnaization iq.America to take up the standard of.
service. I ask you to join with churches and synagogues and mosques of a different race in
common endeavor.
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I believe that the journey toward One America may be unfinished, but the course is not
unknown. For years, our most cherished ideals, values and goals, have always made our union
stronger. We must strive to live closer to them today and'in the coming century. We can make
that time the most fulfilling in our history.
TOWARD THE MILLENIUM
A. NIH/biomedical (note: Tobacco is in a differen,t section, no need to link up the funding
source)
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B. Ethical issues-- cloning, genetic testing
C. Computers -- privacy, salute to inventor of inte,met I web in flotus box
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Preserving our values ... talk to Sid, see what they;i have cooked up
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�. Tonight, let us. look forward to that future. What an amazing future America has to look
jorwa'rd to -- a future shaped by our shared values, driven by o~r coinmon dreams, and
powered by the ingenuity and determination of the American people.
What an amazing future America has to look forward to -- a future shaped by our
· shared values, driven by our common dreams, and powered by the ingenuity and
determination of the American people. And no force will have a greater effect on that future
. than science and technology. But with this extraordinary potential, come new risks and a new
responsibility to make sure that science always serves our values -- not the other way around ...
Nowhere is this potential-- or these risks -- more clear than in the rapidly developing
field of biomedical science. ·In the past five yeats, we have· seen remarkable breakthroughs no
one thought possible only a decade ago: the mysteries of the human genetic system unraveling
... the discovery of genes for breast cancer and diabetes hol:ding out new hope for prevention,
treatment, and even·a cure to these deadly diseases ... new combination drug therapies
extending the lives of people with HIV ... and for the first time in history, a reduction iri the ·
cancer death rate.
These are only a few of the developments I believe are only the beginning of a golden
age of biomedical breakthroughs. But this golden age i~ not inevitable ~- it depends upon our
continued commitment to r:esearch and deVelopment. Tonight,· I .am pleased to announce the
21st Century Trust Fund -" a new initiative.that will gradually pour $1 billion into the National
Institute of Health and the National· Science C?, funding new research today that will lead to
tomorrow's discoveries. [/urge Congress to make this possible·-,.. and make this the night
that we took the step that finally cured cancer. Or something.]
[Just as breakthroughs in biomedical science are improving the lives of our families, etc.,' so too
is the information revolutiOn remaking the way we etc.] , And~I once again, American ingenuity is
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leading the way. It seems hard to believe that only ten years ago,. the Internet was unknowri to all
but a handful of Defense Department engineers, and only fiv~ years ago, only physicists were
using the World Wide Web. Today, 50 million people in 150 countries are connected to the
Information Superhighway, and by the year 2000, that number will be five times as large.
Within a generation, the Web will bring every book ever written, every painting ever painted,
and every symphony ever composed within reach of our children with the click of a mouse.
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Within a matter of years, it will be the largest-international .marketplace in humari .history
-- not only of products and services, but ideas.
There is no question that the Internet.has an almost explosive p.otential for prosperity.
That is why this year I called on all the nations of the world t~ make the Internet a global freetrade zone, unfettered by discriminatory taxes and unfair tariffs, as it develops that pote.ntial.
Anq while we protect the Internet from unnecessary restricti~ns, we must also·take·step~ to.
protect the privacy of every American,.especially children w~o use t~e Internet. I called on the
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private sector to begin developing new ways ofprotecting our privacy -- and our basic rights and
liberties so we can trade and learn and communicate in safety. [need crowd line] ·
Tonight, we are joined by the Gutenberg of cyberspace: Tim Berner-Lee, who invented
the World Wide Web-- and whose revolutionary work has done more to shape and create the
world our children will inherit than any invention since the. printing press.
[Transition to science section: America's progres~ depends on our continued
exploration: of the human body, of cyberspace, and of outdr space.]
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A generatfon ago, President Kennedy challenged our nation to undertake mankind's
greatest and most dangerous adventure: to send a man to the moon.and . bring him safely back to
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[Possible insert: A group ofpioneering Americaf?S recognized the limitless possibilities of
this seemingly impossible challenge, and they risked their lives to make it happen. One of those
men is with us tonight, and soon, he will take up again this mission .:. etc.]
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Today, we are about to embark upon a new adventqre, fraught with risks.but filled with
promise. Throughout the course of human history, mankind has had only one place to call home
-~ earth. This year, we willlalinch a project that will ensure that for the first time in the history
of the world, men and women will call a new place home -~ permanent space station, large as a
football field [with as muc~ electrical power as a small citY]. Inside its vast compartments,
scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs from around the w<)rld will work together on projects that ·
will advance human progress, from x to y.
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In just a few months, the first mission of this remarkable program will begin when an
American ship leaves the earth, piloted b:y a Russian cosmonaut; the next. will begin in x, when a
Russian ship takes off with an American at the helm. [Blurb about international goals etc.]
[Transition into Millennium] Our nation was found~d by men and women who believed
deeply in the power of science to transform their lives -- and .in the values that bound them
together as ·a people. As the year 2000 draws near, we mu~t ask ourselves how we will keep
those values alive in new times-- in a new century and a new millennium. And what gifts will
we give to the future.
Millennium, millennium ...
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the white fear of African-American music,
~ colonial period t~ the. rise of popular music
tton by Oxford Umverstty Press)
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f£rican-American History; Haitian and French
rt·CuJ~ore;,,Pep")!J!JdJLt';lf",,. ""
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1845 featured in New York Jies,(Octobe · ,
.990: p. 47), ABC Evening Neyys ·
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~n Bums's documentary on b~9:naU history
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·University Archives
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idener Library, Harvard Univelsity, on the :ay 1994)
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:;1;;~t~.fu.t:,Dft1~ident), National
~---------··--·'-·- ~-,·--~~----~---~~~~~~-··----
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�--------------------------.---------------------------------------~
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
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For Immediate Release
January 27, 1998
STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
BY THE PRESIDENT
Hall of the Hous~ ·
United States Capitol
9:12 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of
the 105th Congress, distinguished gue'sts~ my fel,low Americans:
Since the last time we met in this chamber, America has
lost two patriots and fine public servants. Though they sat on
opposite sides of the aisle, Representatives Walter Capps and
Sonny Bono shared a deep love for this House and an unshakable
commitment to improving the lives of all our people.
In the
past few weeks they've both been eulogiz~d.
Tonight, I think we
should begin by sending a message to th~tr families and their
friends that we celebrate their lives an~ give thanks for their
service to our nation.
(Applause.)
For 209 years it has been the President's duty to report to
you on the state of the Union. Because of the hard work and
high purpose of the American people, the$e are good times for
America. We have more than 14 million new jobs; the lowest
unemployment in 24 years; the lowest core inflation in 30 years;
incomes are rising; and we have the highest homeownership in
history.
Crime has dropped for a recorq five years in a row.
And the welfare rolls are at their lowest levels in 27 years.
Our leadership in the world is unrivaled~
Ladies and gentlemen,
the state of our Union is strong.
(Appl2mse.)
With barely 700 days left in the 20th century, this is not
a time to rest.
It is a time to build, to build the'America
within reach:
an America where everybody has· a. chance to get
ahead with hard work; where every citizen can live in a safe
�2
community; where families are strong, schools are good and all
young people can go to college; an America where scientists find.
cures for diseases from diabetes to Alzheimer's to AIDS; an
America where every child can stretch a hand across a keyboard
and reach every book ever written, every.painting ever painted,
every symphony ever composed; where goveinment provides
opportunity and citizens honor the responsibility to give
something back to their communities; an America which leads the
world to new heights of peace and prospe~ity.
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This is the America we have.begun tq build; this is the
America we can leave to our children -- ~f we join together to
finish the work at hand. Let us strengthen our nation for the
21st century.
(Applause.)
Rarely have Americans lived through so much change, in so
many ways, in so short a time. Quietly, but 0ith gathering
force, the ground has shifted beneath ou~ feet as we have moved
into an Information Age, a global economy,. a truly new world.
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For five years now we have met the challenge of these
changes as Americans have at every turning point -- by renewing
the very idea of America: widening the circle of opportunity,
deepening the meaning of our freedom, forging a moie perfect
union.
We shaped a new kind of government tor the Information Age.
I thank the Vice President for his le~deiship and the Congress
for its support in building a government that is leaner, more
flexible, a catalyst for new ideas -- and most of all, a
government that gives the American people the tools they need to
make the most of their own lives.
(Applause.)
·we have moved past the sterile deba~e between t~ose who say
government is the enemy and tho·s~ who say government is the
answer. My fellow Americans, we have found a third way. We
have the smallest government in 35 years, but a more progressive
one. We have a smaller government, but a stronger nation.
(Applause.)
We are moving steadily toward an even stronger
America in the 21st century:
an economy·that offers
opportunity, a society rooted in responsibility and a nation
that lives as a community ..
First, Americans in this chamber and across our nation have
p~rsued a new strategy for prosperity:
tiscal discipline to cut
interest rates and spur growth; investments in education and
skills, in science and technology and tra?sportation, to prepare
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our people for the new economy; new markets for American
products and American workers.
When·I took office, the deficit for 1998 was projected to
be $357 billion, and heading higher.
This year, our deficit is
projected to be $1 o· billion, and heading lower.
(Applause.)
For three decades, six Presidents have ~orne before you to warn
of the damage deficits pose to our natibn.
Tonight, I come
before you to announce that the federal' deficit-- once so
incomprehensibly ··large that it had 11 z~roes -- will be, simply,
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zero.
(Applause.)
I Wlll subml t to Congress for 1999 the first
balanced budget in 30 years.
(Applause.) And if we hold fast
to fiscal discipline, we may balance the budget this year -1
four years ahead of schedule.
(Applause.)
You can all be proud of that, because turning a s~a of red
ink into black is no miracle.
It is the product of hard work by
the American people, and of two visionary actions in Congress -the courageous vote in 1993 that led to~~ cut in the deficit of
90 percent -- (applause) -- and the truly historic bipartisan
balanced budget agreement passed by this Congress.
(Applause.)
Here's the really good news:
If we mai~tain our resolve, we
will produce balanced budgets as far asithe eye can see.
We must not go ba~k to unwise spen~ing or untarg~ted tax
cuts that risk reopening the deficit.
(Applause.)
Last year,
together we enacted targeted tax cuts sb that the typical middle
class family will now have the lowest tax rates in 20 years.
(Applause.) My plan to balance the budget next year includes
both new investments and new tax cuts t~rgeted to the needs of
working families:
for education, for child care, for the
environment.
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But whether the issue is tax cuts 6r spending, I ask ali of
you to meet this test: Approve only those priorities that can
actually be accomplished without adding.a dime to the deficit.
(Applause.)
Now, if we balance the b~~get for ~ext year,
projected'that we'll then have a sizeable surplus
that immediately follow. What should we do with
surplus? I have a simple four-word answer:
Save
Security first.
(Applause.)
Thank you.
it is
in the years
this projected
Social
)
Tonight, I propose that we reserve 100 percent of the
surplus -- that's every penny of any surplus -- until we have
taken all the necessary measures to strengthen the Social
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Security system for the 21st century.
(Applause.)
Let us say
to all Americans watching tonight --whether you're 70 or 50, or
whether you just started paying into the' system -- Social
Security will be there when you need it .. (Applause.)
Let us
make this commitment:
Social Security f~rst.
Let's.do that
tog.ether.
(Applause.)
I also want to say that all the American people who are
watching us tonight should be invited to:join in this
discussion, in facing these issues squarely, ·and forming a true.
consensus on how we shouid proceed. We'il start by conducting
nonpartisan forums in every region.of the country -- and I hope
that lawmakers of both parties will participate. We'll hold 9
White House Conference on Social Security in December. And one
year from now I will convene the leaders 'of Congress to craft
historic, bipartisan legislation to achi~ve a landmark for our
generation -- a Social Security system t~at is strong in the
21st century.
(Applause.)
Thank you.
In an economy that honors oppO'rtuni t·y, all Americans must
be able to reap the rewaids of prosperity. Because these times
are good, we can afford to take one simpl:e, sensible step .to
help millions of workers struggling to provide for their
families:
We should raise the minimum wa.ge.
(Applause.)
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The Information Age is, first and foremost, an education
age, in which education must start at birth and continue
throughout a lifetime.
Last year, from this podium, :t sa.id that
education has to. be our highest. priority.
I laid out a 10-point
plan to move us forward and urged all of us to let politics stop
at the schoolhouse door.
Since then, thi~ Congress, across
party lines, and the American people have. responded, . in the most
important year for education in a generation -- expanding public
school choice, opening the way·to 3,000 new charter schools,
working to connect every classroom in the,country to the
Information Superhighway, committing to e~pand Head Start to a
milli'on children, launching America Reads; sending literaLLy
thousands of 6ollege students into our elementary schools to
make sure all our 8-year-olds can re~d.
Last year I proposed, and you passed; 220,000 new Pell
Grant scholarships for deserving students.
(Applause.)
Student
loans, already less expensive .and easier to repay, now you get
to deduct the interest.
(Applause.)
Families all over America
now can put their savings into new tax-free education IRAs. And
this year, for the first two years of college, families will get
a $1,500 tax credit -- a HOPE Scholarship 'that will cover the
�5
cost of most community college tuition. And for junior and
senior year, graduate school, and job training, there is a
lifetime learning credit. You did that and you should be very
proud of it.
(Applause.)
And because of these actions, I have something to say to
every family listening to us tonight: Your children can go on
to college.
If you know a child from a poor family, tell her
not to give up -- she can go on to college.
If you know a young
couple struggling with bills, worried they won't be able to send
their children to college, tell ttiem not to give up -- their
children can go on to college.
If you kriow somebody who's
caught in a dead-end job and afraid he ca'n't afford the classes
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necessary to get better jobs for the rest of his life, tell him
not to give up -- he can go on to college. Because of the
things that have been done, we can make college as universal in
the 21st century as high school is today.' And, my friends, that
will c::hange the face and future of Americ a.
(Applause.)
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We have opened wide the doors of th~ world's best system of
higher education. Now we must make our p:ublic elementary and
s~condary schools the world's b~st as welQ -- (applause)
by
raising standards, raising exp~ctations, and raising
accountability.
Thanks to the actions of this Congress last year, we will
soon have, for the very first t~me, a voluntary national test
based on national standards in 4th grade feading and 8th grade
math.
Parents have a right to know whether their children are
mastering the basics. And every parent already knows the key:
good teachers and small classes.
Tonight, I propose the first ever national effort to reduce
class size in the early. grades.
(Applause.)
Thank you.
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My balanced budget will help to hire 100,000 new teachers
who have passed a state competency test. 1 Now, with these
teachers -- listen -- with these teacheri, we will actually be
able to reduce class size in the 1st, 2nd~ and 3rd grades to an
average of 18 students a class, all across America.
(Applause.)
If I've got
classes requires
construction tax
5, 000 schools.
the ~ath right, more teachers teaching smaller
more classrooms. So I a+so propose a school
cut to help communities ~odernize or build
(Applause.)
�,-----------------------------------
-----~---
6
We must also demand greater accountability.
(Applause.)
When we promote a child from grade to grade who hasn't mastered
the work, we don't do that child any favors.
It is time to end
social promotion in America's schools. : (Applause.)
Last year, in Chicago, they made that decision -- not to
hold our children back, but to lift them up.
Chicago stopped
social promotion, and started mandatory summer schoo.l, to help
students who are behind to catch up.
I propose -- (applause) -I propose to help other communities follow Chicago's lead.
Let'.s say to them:
Stop promoting children who don't learn, and
we will give you the tools to make sure they do.
(Applause.)
I also ask this Congress to support our efforts to enlist ·
colleges ~nd univer~ities to reach out ~o disadvantaged
children, starting in the 6th grade, so,that they can get the
guidance and hope they need so they can-know that they, too,
will be abl·e to go on to college.
(Applause.)
As we enter the 21st century, the ~lobal economy requires
us to seek opportunity not just at home; but in all the markets
of the world. We must shape this global economy, not shrink
from it.
In the last five years, w·e ha~e led the way in opening
new markets, with 240 trade .agreements that remove foreign
.
barriers to products bearing the proud stamp "Made in the USA."
Today, record high exports account for fully one-third of our
economic growtb.
I. want to keep them going, becarise .. that's the
way to keep America growing and to advance a safer, more stable
world.
(Applause.)
All of you know. what~ver your views are that I think this a
great opportunity for America.
I know there is opposition to
more comprehensive trade agreements.
I have listened carefully
and I believe. that the opposition is rooted in two fears:
first, that our trading partners will have lower environmental
··and labor standards which will give the~ an unfair advantage in
our market and do their own people no favors, even if there's
more business; and, secbnd, that i { we have more trade, more 6f
our workers will lose their jobs and have to start over.
I
think we should seek to advance worker a'nd environmental
·standards around the world.
(Applause.), I have made it
abundantly clear that it should be a part of our trade agenda.
But we cannot influence other countries' decisions if we send
them a message that we're backing away from trade with them.
This year, I wi~l send legislation :to Congress, and ask
other nations to join us, to fight the most intolerable labor
�7
practice of all -- abusive child labor.
(Applause.)
We should
also offer help and hope to those Americans temporarily left
behind by the global marketplace or by the march of technology,
which may have nothing to do with trade.: That's why we have
mor~ than doubled funding for training dislocated workers since
1993 -- and if my new budget is adopted, we will triple funding.
That's why we must do more, and more qui~kly, to help workers
who lose their jobs for whatever reason.·
You know, we help communities in a special way when their
I
military base closes. We ought to help them in the same way if
their factory closes.
(Applause.)
Again, I ask the Congress to
continue its bipartisan work to consolid~te the tangle of
training programs we have today into ohe:single G.I. Bill for
Workers, a simple skills grant so peop1e•can, on their own, move
quickly to new jobs, to higher incomes and brighter futures.
(Applause.)
We all know in every way in life ch~nge is not always easy,
but we have to decide whether we're goin~ to try to hold it b~ck·
and hide from it or reap its benefits. And remember the big
picture here: While we've be~n enfering;into hundreds of new
trade agreements, we've been creating millions of new jobs.
I
•.
So this year we will forge new partnerships with Latin
America, Asia, and Europe. And we should pass the new African
Trade Act· -- it has bipartisan support. :(Applause.)
I will'
also renew my request for the fast track ,negotiating authority
necessary to open more new markets, create more new jobs, which
every President has had for two decades.
(Applause.)
You know, whether we like it or not,, in ways that are
mostly positive, the world's economies a~e more and more
interconnected and interdependent. Today, an economic crisis
anywhere can affect econ6mies' everywhere. Recent months have
brought serious financial problems to Th~ila~d, Indonesia, South
Korea, and beyond.
1
Now, why should Americans be ·concerned about this? First,
these countries are our customers.
If they sink into recession,
they won't be able to buy the goods we.' d :like to sell them~
Second, they're also our competitors. So if their currencies
lose their value and go down, then the price of their goods will
drop, flooding our market and others with much cheaper goods,·
which makes it a lot tougher for our peop'le to compete. And,
finally, they are our strategic partners.: Their stability
bolsters our security.
(Applause.)
�8
The American economy remains sound and strong, and I want
to keep it that way. But because the tur~oil in Asia will have
an impact on all the world's economies,, including ours, making
that negative impact as small as possible is the right thing to
do for America -- and the right thing ,to do for a safer world.
(Applause.)
Our policy is clear: No riation cah recover if it does not
reform itself. But when nations are willing to undertake
serious economic reform, we should help them do it.
So I call
on Congress to renew America's commitment to the International
Monetary Fund.
(Applause~)
And I thin:k we should say to all
th~ people we're trying to represent here that preparing for a
far-off storm that may reach our shores, is far wiser than
ignoring the thunder until the clouds are just overhead.
(Applause.)
A str6ng nation rests on the rock pf responsibility.
(Applause.) A society rooted in responsibility must first
promote the value of work, not welfare. We can be proud that
after decades of finger-pointing and failure, together we ended
the old welfare system. And we're now y..re .replacing welfare
checks with paychecks.
(Applause.)
Last year, after a
rolls, I challenged our
off welfare by the year
also met that goal, two
(Applause.)
record foui-yea~ decline in welfare
nation to move 2 million more Americans
2000.
I'm pleased to report we have
full years ahead of schedule.
This is a grand achievement, .the sum of many acts of
individual courage, persistence and hope.
For 13 years, ·Elaine
Kinslow of Indianapolis, Indiana, was oh and off welfare.
Today, she's a dispatcher with the a van company. She's saved
enough money to move her family into a good neighborhood, and
she's helping other welfare recipients go to work. Elaine
Kinslow and all those like her are the ~eal heroe~ of the
welfare revolution.
There are ~illions like her all across
America. And I'm happy she could join the First Lady tonight.
Elaine, we're very"proud of you:
Please stand up.
(Applause.)
We.still have a lot more ~o do, ali of us, to make welfare
reform a success -- providing child care, helping families move
closer to available jobs, challenging more companies to join our
welfare-to-work partnership, increasing child support
collections from deadbeat parents who have a duty to support
�9
I
their own children.
I also want to thatik Congress for restoring
some of the benefi~s to immigrants who ~re here legally and
working haid -- and I hope yob will finish that job this year.
(Applause.)
We have to make it possible for all hard-working families
to meet their most important responsibilities.
Two years ago,
we helped guarantee that Americans can keep their health
insurance when they change jobs. Last year, we extended health
care to up to 5 million Children. This :year, I challenge
Congress to take the ~ext hi~toric step~.
One hundred sixty million of our fellow citizens are in
managed care plans. · These plans save money and they can improve
care. But medical decisions ought to pe made by medical
doctors, not insurance company accountants.
(Applause.)
I urge
this Congress to reach across the aisle:and write into law a
Consumer Bill of Rights that says this: You have the right to
know all your medical options, not just'the cheapest. You have
the right· to choose the doctor you wantifor the care you need.
(Applause.)· You have the right to emergency room care, wherever
and whenever you need it.
(Applause.) 'You have the right to
keep your medical records confidential. j (Applause.)
Traditional care or managed care, every,American deserves
quality care.
(Applause.)
Millions of Americans between the ages· of 55 and 65 have
lost their health insurance. Some are retired; some are laid
off; some lose their coverage when theit spouses retire. After
a lifetime of work, they are left with nowhere to turn.
So I
ask the ..congress: Let these hard-working Americans buy into the
Medicare system.
It won't add a dime to the deficit -- but the
peace of mind it will provide will be p~iceless.
(Applause.)
Next, we must help parents protect their children from. the
gravest health threat that they face:
an epidemic of teen
smoking, spread by multimillion-dollar marketing campaigns.
I
challenge Congress: Let's pass bipartfsan, comprehensive
legislation that improve public health,' protect our tobacco
farmers, and change the way tobacco companies do business.
forever.
Let's do what it takes· to br~ng teen smoking down.
Let's raise the price of cigarettes by ,up to $1.50 a pack over
the next 10 years, with penalties on the tobacco industry if it
keeps marketing to our children.
(Applause.)
Tomorrow, like every day, 3,000 children will start
smoking, and 1,000 will die early as a 1result. Let this
~,
�10
Congress be remembered as the Congress that saved their lives.
(Applause.)
In the new economy, most parents w6rk harder than ever.
They face a constant struggle to balanc~ their obligations to be
good workers -- and their even more important obligations to be
good parents.
The Family and Medical Leave Act was the very
first bill I was privileged to sign into law as President in
1993.
(Applause.)
Since then, about 15 million people have
takeri advantage of it, and I've met a lot of them all across
this country.
I ask you to extend that'law to cover 10 million
more workers, and to give parents time off when they have to go
see their children's teachers or take tfuem to the doctor.
(Applause.)
Child care is the next frontier we:must face to enable
people to succeed at home and at work. ·Last year, I co-hosted
the ~eiy first White Hous~ Conference ori Child C~re with one of
our foremost experts, America Is First L~dy.. (Applause.)
From
all corners of America, we heard the same message, without
regard to .region or income or political 1affiliation: We'?e got
to raise the quality of child care. We've got to make it safer.
We've got to make it more affordable.
So here's my plan: Help families-to pay for child care for
a million more children. Scholarships and background checks for
child care workers, and a new emphasis dn early 'learning.
Tax
credits for businesses that provide child care foi their
employees. And a larger child care tax ·credit for working
families.
Now, if you pass my plan, wh~t this means is that a
family of four with an income of $35,000 and high child care
costs will no lange~ pay a single penny~of federal income tax.
(Applause.)
I
I think this is such a big issue w~th me be~ause of my own
personal experience:
I have often wond~red how my mother, when
she was a young widow, would have been able to go away to school
and get an education and come back and support me if my
grandparents hadn't been able to take ca re of me.
She and I
were really very lucky. How many other ,families have never had
that same opportunity? The truth is, we don't.know the answer
to that question.
But we do know what the answer should be:
Not a single American family should ever have to choose between
the job they need and. the child they love.
(Applause.)
1
I
A society rooted in responsibility must provide safe
streets, safe schools, and safe neighb9rhoods.
We pursued a
I
�11
strategy of more police, tougher punishment, smarter prevention,
with crime-fighting partnerships with lo~al law enforce~ent and
citizen groups, where the rubber hits the road.
I can report to
you tonight that it's working. Violent ~rime is down, robbery
is down, assault is down, burglary is down -- for five years in
a row, all across America.
(Applause.)
We need to finish the
job of putting 100,000 more police on our streets.
(Applause.)
Again, I ask Congre~s to pass a juvenile crime bill that
provides more prosecutors and probation pfficers, to crack down
on gangs and g~ns and drugs, and bar violent juveniles fro~
buying guns for life.
(Applause.) ·And
ask you to
dramatically expand our support for afte'r-school programs.
(Applause.)
I think every American shouild know that most
juvenile crime is committed between the hours of 3:00 in the
afternoon and 8:00 at night. We can keep so many of our
children out of trouble in the first pla~e if we give them
someplace to go other than the streets, ~nd we ought to do it.
(Applause.)
:I
Drug use is on the decline.
I thank General McCaffrey for
'
his leadership. And I thank this Congress for passing the
largest antidrug budget in history.
(Applause.)
I ask you to ·
join me in a ground~breaking effort to hire 1,000 new border
patrol agents and to d~ploy the most sophisticated available new
technologies to help close the door on diugs at our borders.
!...
(Applause;)
Police, prosecutors, and prevention: programs·, as good as
they are, they can't work if our court system doesn't work.·
Today there are large number of vacancie:s in the federal courts~
Here .is what the Chief Justice of the United States wrote:
Judicial vacancies cannot re~ain at such high levels
indefinitely without eroding the qua1i ty: of justice.
I simply
ask the United States Senate to heed this plea, and vote on the
. highly qualified judicial nominees before you, up or down.
(Applaus·e.)
We must exercise responsibility not just at home, but
around the world. On the eve of a new century, we have the
power and the duty to build a new era of peace and security.
But, make no mistake about it, today's possibilities are not
tomorrow's guarantees. America must stand against the poisoned
appeals of extreme nationalism. We must combat an unholy axis
of new threats from teriorists, international criminals and drug
traffickers.
These 21st century predato~s feed on technology
and the free flow of information and ide:as and people. And they
�12
will be all the more lethal if weapons of mass destruction fall
into their hands.
To meet these challenges,'we are h~lping to write
international rules of the road for the ·21st century, protecting
those who join the family of nations and isolating those who do
not. Within days, I will ask t·he Senate for its advice and
consent to make Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic the
·newest members of NATO.
(Applause.) . Fo.r 50 years, NATO
contained communism and kept America and Europe secure. Now
these three formerly communist countries have said yes to
democracy.
I ask the Senate to say yes .to them -- our new
allies.
(Applause.)
By taking in new ·members and working closely with new
partners, including Russia and Ukr~ine, .NATO can help to assure
that Europe is a stronghold for peac~ iri the 21st century.
Next,· I will ask Congress to conti~ue its support for our
troops and their mission in Bosnia.
(Applause.)
This
Christmas, Hillary and I traveled to Sarajevo with Senator and
I
.
Mrs. Dole and a bipartisan congressional delegation. We saw
children playing in the streets, where two years ago they were
hidin~ from snipers and shells.
The shdps are filled with food;
the cafes were alive with conversation. The progress there is
unmistakable -- but it is not yet irrev~rsible.
To take firm root, Bosnia's fragile peace still needs the
support of American 'and allied troops when 'the current NATO
mission ends in June.
I think Senator Dole actually said it
best. He said, "This is like being ahecid in the 4th quarter of
a football game. Now is not the time td walk off the field and
i
forfeit the victory."
(Applause.)
I wish all of you could have seen our troops in Tuzla.
They're very proud of what they're doing in Bosnia. And we're
all very proud of them.
(Applause.)
One of those brave
soldiers is sitting with the First Lady.tonight --Army Sergeant
Michael Tolbert. His father was.a decorated Vietnam vet. After
college in Colorado, he joined the Army. Last ·year, he led an
infantry unit that stopped mob of extrkmists from taking over a
radio station that is a voice of democracy and tolerance in
Bosnia.
Thank you very much, Sergearit, 'for what you represent.
(Applause.)
,.
I
In Bosnia and around the world, our men and women in
uniform always do their mission.well. Our mis$ion must be to
.
�13.
keep them well-trained and ready, to improve their quality of
life, and to provide the 21st century ~~a~ons they need to
defeat any enemy.
(Applause.)
I ask Congress to join me in pursuing an ambitious agenda
to reduce the serious threat of weapons: of mass destruction.
This year, four decades after it was fi~st proposed by President
Eisenhower, a comprehensive nuclear test ban is within reach.
By ending nuclear testing we can help to prevent the development
.of new and more dangerous weapons and make it more difficult for
non-nuclear states to build them.
I'm pleased to announce four forme~ Chairmen of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff -- Generals John Shalikashvili, Colin Powell,
and David Jones, and Admiral William Crowe -- have endorsed this
.treaty. And I ask the Senate to approve it this year.
(Applause. )
.
Together, we also must also confront the new hazards of
chemical and biological weapons, and the outlaw states,
terrorists and organized criminals seeking to acquire them.
Saddam Hussein has spent the better part of this decade, and
much of his nation's wealth, not on providing for the Iraqi
people, but on developing nuclear, chemical, and biological
weapons -- and the missiles to deliver them.
The United Nations
weapons inspectors have done a truly re~arkable job, finding and
destroying 'more of Iraq's arsenal than was destroyed during the
entire Gulf War. Now Saddam Hussein wants to stop them from
completing their mission.
I know I speak for everyone in this chamber, Republicans
and Democrats, when I say to Saddam Hussein:
You cannot defy
the will of the world.
(Applause.) And when I. say to him:
You
pa~e used weapons of mass destruction b~fori~ we are determined
to deny you the capacity to. use them again.
(Applause.)
Last year, the Senate ratified·the Chemical Weapons
Convention to protect our soldiers and citizens from poison gas.·
.·Now we must act to prevent the use of dise~se as a weapon of war
.and terror,
The Biological Weapons Convention has been in
effect for 23 years now.u The.rules are'good, but the
enforcement is weak. We·must strengthen it with a new
I
international inspection system to detect and deter cheating.
In the months ahead, I will pursue I1 our security strategy
.
.
with old allies in Asia and Europe, and new partners from Africa
to India and Pakistan,· from South America to China. And from
�14
Belfast, to Korea to the Middle East, America will continue to
stand with those who stand for peace.
Finally, it's long past time to ma~e gobd on. our debt to
the United Nations.
(Applause.)
More :and more, we are working
with other nations to achieve common go'als.
If we want America
to lead, we've got to set a good exampl:e.
(Applause.)
As we
see so clearly in Bosnia, allies who sh~re our goals can also
share our burdens.
In this new era, our freedom and
independence are actually enriched, not weakened, by our
increasing interdependence with other nations.
But we have to
do our·part.
Our founders set America.on a permanent course toward "a .
more perfect union." To all of you I s.aY it i~ a journey we can
only make together -- living as one co~unity.
First, we have
to. continue to reform. our government --: the instrument of our
national community.
Everyone knows elections have become too
expensive, fueling a fundraising arms race.
This year, by March
6th, at long last the Senate will actually vote on bipartisan
campaign finance reform proposed by Senators McCain and
Feingold.
Let's be clear: A ·vote against McCain and Feingold
is a vote for soft money and for the status quo.
I ask you to
strengthen our democracy and pass campa·ign finance reform this
year.
(Applause.)
At least equally important, we have to address the real
reason for the explosion in campaign costs -- the hi,gh cost of
media advertising.
(Applause.)
To the' folks watching at home,
those were the groaqs of pain in the audience.
(Laughter.)
I
will formally request that the Federal Communications Commission
act to provide free or reduced-cost television time for
candidates who observe spending limits voluntarily.
(Applause.)
The airwaves are a public trust, and broadc~sters ~lso have to
help us in this effort to strengthen our democracy.
Under the leadership of Vice President. Gore, we've reduced
the federal payroll by 300,000 workers, cut 16,000 pages of
regulation, eliminated hundreds of programs and improved the
operations of virtually every government agency.
But we can do
more.
Like every taxpayer, I'm outraged by the reports of
abuses by the IRS. We need some changes there -- new citizen
advocacy panels, a stronger taxpayer advocate, phone lines open
24 hours a day, relief for innocent taxpayers.
Last year, by an
overwhelming bipartisan margin, the Ho~~e of Representatives
passed sweeping IRS reforms.
(Applause'.)
This bill must not
now languish in the Senate . . Tonight I ask the Senate:
follow
.I
�15
the House, pass the bipartisan package;as your first 6rder of
business.
(Applause.).
I hope to goodness before I finish I can think of something
to say, "follow the Senate" on, so I'll be out of trouble.
(Laughter.)
A nation that lives as a community must value all its
communities.
For the past'five years, we have worked to bring
the spark of private enterprise to inner city and poor rural
I .
.
areas --with community development banks, more commercial loans
in the poor neighborhoods,. cleanup of polluted sites for
development.
Under the continued leadership of the Vice
President, we propose to triple the.nuinber of empowerment zones,
to give business incentives to invest in those areas.
(Applause.)
We should also should give poor f~mi1ies more help to move
into homes of their own, and we should use tax cuts to spur the
construction of more low-income housing.
(Applause.)
Last year, this Congress took strbng action to help the
District of Columbia.
Let us renew our resolve to make our
capital city a great city for all who live and visit here.
(Applause.)
Our cities are the vibrant hubs of.great
metropolitan areas.
They are still the gateways for new
immigrants, from every continent, who come here to work for
their own American Dreams.
Let's keep. our cities going strong
into the 21st century.
They're a very, important part of our
future.
(Applause.)
Our communities are only as healthy as the air our children
breathe, the wat~r they drink, the Earth they will inherit.
Last year, we put in place the toughest-ever controls on smog
and.soot.
We moved to protect Yellowstone, the Everglades, Lake
Tahoe.
We expanded every community's right to know about the
toxins that threaten their children.
Just yesterday, our food
safety plan took effect, using new science to protect consumers
from dangers like E. coli and salmonella.
(Applause.)
Tonight, I ask you to join me in launching a new Clean
Water Initiative, a far-reaching effort to clean our rivers, our
lakes, our coastal waters for our children.
(Applause.)
Our overriding environmental challenge ton'ight is the
worldwide problem of climate change; global warming, the
gathering crisis that requires worldwide action.
The vast
i
�16
•.·
majority of scientists have concluded unequivocally that if we
don't reduce the emission o£ greenhouse gases, at some point in
'the next century weill disrupt our cli~ate and put our children
and grandchildren at risk.
This past December, America led the
world to reach a historic agreement committing our nation to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions through market forces, new
technologies, energy efficiency. We h~ve it in.our power to act
right here, right now.
I propose $6 billion in tax cuts and
research and development to encourage innovation, renewable
energy, fuel-efficient cars, energy-efficient homes.
Eve·ry time we have acted to heal· our environment,
pessimists have told us it would hurt the economy. Well, today
our economy is the strongest in a generation, and our
environment i~ the cleanest in a gener~tion. We have always
found a way to clean the environment ahd grow the economy at the
same. time. And when it conies to global warming, we' 11 do it
again.
(Applause.)
·
I
Finally, community-means living by the defining American
value -- the ideal 'heard round th~ world that we are all created
equal.
Throughout our history, we ha~~n't always honored that
ideal and we've never fully lived up to it. Often it's easier
to believe that our differences matter:more than what we.have in
common.
It may be easier, but it's wrong.
What we have to do in our day and generation to make sure
that America becomes truly one nation -- what do we have to do?
We're b~coming more and more and more ~iverse.
Do you believe
we can become one nation? The answer cannot be to dwell on our
differences, but to build on our shared values. We all cherish
family and faith, freedom and responsibility. We all want 7 our
children to grow up in a world where their talents are matched
by their opportunities.
I've launched this national initi~tive on race to help us
recognize our common interests and to bridge the opportunity
gaps that are keeping us from becoming; one America.
Let us
begin by recognizing what we still must overcome.
Discrimination against any American is i un-American.
(Applause.)
We must vigorously enforce .the laws th~t make it illegal.
I ask
your help to end the backlog at the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission. Sixty thousand of our fellow citizens are waiting
in line for justice, and we should act!now to e~d their wait.
(Applause.)
�17
We also should recognize that the greatest progress we can
make toward building one America lies in the progress we make
for all Americans, without regard to ra,ce.
When we open the
doors of college to all Americans, when' we rid all our streets
of crime, when there are jobs available' to people from all our
neighborhoods, when we make sure all parents have the child care
they need, we're helping to build one nation.
We, in this chamber and in this government, must do all we
can to address the continuing American challenge to build one
America.
But we'll only move forward if all our fellow citizens
--· including every one of you at home watching tonight --. is
also committed to this cause.
We must work together, learn togeiher, liv~ together, serve
together.
On the forge of common ente~prise Americans of all
backgrounds can hammer out a common identity. We se·e it today
in the United States military, in the Peace Corps, in
AmeriCorps.
Wherever people of all ra~es and backgrounds come
together in a shared endeavor and get a _fair chance, we do just
fine.
With shared values and meaningful opportunities and
honest communication and citizen service, we can unite a diverse
people in freedom and mutual respect.
We are many; we must be
one.
(Applause.)
In that spirit, let us lift our eyes to the new millennium.
How will we mark that passage? It just happens once every
thousand years.
This year, Hillary and I launched the White
House Millennium Program to promote ·Am~rica' s cre.ativi ty and
innovation, and· to preserve our heritage and culture into the
21st century.
Our culture lives in every community, and every
community has places of historic value that tell our stories as
Americans.
We should protect them.
I am proposing a publicprivate partnership to advanc,e our art~ and humanities, and to
celebrate the millennium by saving American's treasures, great
and small.
And while we honor the past, let us imagine the future.
Think about this -- the entire store of human knowledge now
doubles every five years.
In the 1980?, scientists identified
the gene causing cystic fibrosis -- it, took nine years. ·Last
year, scientists located the gene that, causes Parkinson's
Disease -- in only nine days.
Within a decade, "gene chips"
will offer a road map for prevention of illnesses throughout a
lifetime.
Soon we'll be able to carry all the phone calls on
Mother's Day on a single strand of fiber the width. of a human
�18
hair. A child born in 1998 may well live to see the 22nd
century.
Tonight, as part of our gift to the millennium, I propose a
21st Century Research·Fund for path-breaking scientific inquiry
.--the largest funding increase in history for the National
Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the
National Cancer Institute.
(Applause.)
We have already discovered genes ~or breast cancer and
diabetes.
I ask you to support this initiative so ours will be
the generation that finally wins the war against cancer, and
be~ins a revolution in our fight agairist all deadly diseases.
·(Applause.)
As important as all this scientific progress is, we' must
continue to see that science serve~-humanity, not the other way
around. We must prevent the misuse o1 genetic tests to
discriminate against any American.
(Applause.) And we must
ratify. the ethical consensus of the scientific and religious
communities, and ban the cloning of human beings.
(Applause.)
'we should enable all the world's :people to explore the far
reaches of cyberspace. Think of this·-- the first time I made a
State of the Union speech to you, only a handful of physicists
used the World Wide Web. Literally, just ~ handful of people.
Now, in schools, in libraries, homes ~nd businesses, millions
and millions of Americans surf the Net every day. We must give
parents the tools they need to help protect their children from
inappropriate material on the Internet. But we .also must make
sure that we protect the exploding global commercial potential
of the Internet .. We can do the kinds ,of things that we need to
do and still protect our kids.
For one thing, I ask Congress to!step uP support for
building the next generation Internet!
It's getting kind of
clogged, you know. And the next gene~ation Internet will
operate at speeds up to a thousand times faster than today.
.
Even as we explore this inner space. in a· new millennium
we're going to open new frontiers in outer space.
Throughout
all history, humankind has had only one place to call home -our planet Earth. Beginning this year, 1998, men and women from
16 countries will build a foothold in the heavens -- the
international space station. With its vast expanses, scientists
and engineers will actually set sail on an unchqrtered sea of
limitless mystery and unlimited potential.
(Applause.)
I
�19
And this October, a true American:hero, a veteran pilot of
149 combat missions and one, five-hour.space flight that changed
the world, will return to the heavens.
Godspeed, John Glenn. ·
(Applause.)
John, you will carry with,you America's hopes. And
on your uniform, once again, you will 9arry America's flag,
rriarkirig the unbroken connection between the deeds of America's
past and the daring of America's future.
Nearly 200 years ago, a tattered flag, its broad stripes
and bright stars still gleaming throug~ the smoke of a fierce
battle, moved Francis Scott Key to scribble a few words on the
back of an envelope -- the words that became our national
..
I
.
anthem.
Today, that Start Spangled Bariner, along with the
Declaration of Independence~ the Constitution and the Bill of
Rights, are on display just a short walk from here.
They are
America's treasures and we must also save them for the ages.
I ask all Americans to.support our project to restore all.
our treasures so.that the generations 6f the 21st' century can
see for themselves the images and the words that are the old and
continuing glory of America; an America that has continued to
rise through every age, against every challenge, of people of
great works and greater possibilities, :who have always, always
found the wisdom and strength to come together as one'nation
to widen the cir~le of oppbrtunity, to deepen the meaning of our
freedom, to form that "more·perfect union." Let that be our
gift to the 21st century.
God bless you, and God bless the United States.
(Applause.)
END
10:26 P.M. EST
�:r· ---------------------------·--------------------------------------------------------------------,,
i
THE WHITE HOUSE
I
WASHINGTON
I
�Widmer, Edward L. (Ted)
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Blinken, Antony J.
Friday, November 06, 1998 11 :00 AM ·
Widmer, Edward L. (Ted)
RE: State of the Union [UNCLASSIFIED] ·
good thoughts/fodder. thanks
-----Original Message----From:
Widmer, Edward L. (Ted)
Sent:
Friday, November 06, 1998 10:47 AM
To:
Blinken, Antony J.
Subject:
RE: State of the Union (UNCLASSIFIED)
OK, this is just flying by the seat of the pants, but:
a series of motifs discussing ups and downs of last year, arguing that we are at second phase of a revolution [SRB
Dartmouth] -- ten years ago, the world took giant democratic step forward. Today, some places are suffering. With a
boost from us, the democratic revolution will be completed .. Without our careful attention, it will not; and we will return
to the much greater unpredictability of the past [good point to make: COld War was NOT a better time; it was NOT
stabilizing to have a giant enemy-- present is much better, and future could be better still]
--economic shocks were a wake-up call. Not a catastrophe, but a sign that the engine of the evolving international
economy needs to be fine-tuned as it
'
,
.
revs up to new levels of performance (this will win over car-racing .enthusiasts). Our ongoing recovery, along with
corrections in Brazil, Thailand show that we are making good headway. US citizens must remain focused on our
responsibilities, from IMF and World Bank support. to UN. I think mentioning the ups and downs in mutual funds over
the last year would bring home to viewers how the international situation affects their pocketbooks
--biggest enemy today is not a large adversary. It is not even the relentless irritating behavior 9f isolated tyrants like
Saddam and Khaddafi [I throw this in, though I know we can't really say this]; The international system is containing
them, despite occasional headlines to the contrary. Our biggest enemy is complacency. Americans can show
leadership for the new century, or they can withdraw into a cloistered world of comfort. Our power is not an accident
... it results from fifty years of leadership .. leadership that has worked despite imperfections. Congress has not
always fulfilled the respo·nsibility of this leadership, which is terrible, because no President can singlehandedly force it
to happen ... must emanate from will of American people~ [I just heard 25 percent of Congress do not hold passports
and are proud of it -- might be good stat to verify]
This is just a quick start, Tony, somewhat hasty. Will try to offer more later.
-----Original Message----Blinken, Antony J.
.
From:
Sent:
Friday, November 06, 1998 10:12 AM.
To:
Widmer, Edward L. (Ted)
Subject: RE: State of the Union (UNCLASSIFIED]
yes, please send along any thoughts.
-----Original Message----From:
Widmer, Edward L. (Ted)
Sent:
Friday, November 06, 1998 9:59AM
To: Blinken, Antony J.
Subject:
FW: State of the Union [UNCLASSIFIED)
assume this is for you only, but if you want ideas, I'd love to participate
-----Original Message----From:
Hachigian, Nina L.
Sent:
Friday, November 06, 1998 9:56AM
To: @PLANNING- Strat Plan & Comm .
. Cc: Davies, Glyn T.
Subject:
State of the Union [UNCLASSIFIED]
.
:
Jim is going to a State ofthe Union meeting this afternoon in Echeveste's office. Do you want to give him
some ammo?
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Draft 1119/99 2:30pm
sotu99.24
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
UNITED STATES CAPITOL
January 19, 1999
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, honored guests, my fellow
Americans:
Tonight, I have the honor of reporting on the State of the Union.
Let me begin by saluting the new Speaker of the House, and thanking him for
extending invitations to two special guests who are sitting in the gallery with Mrs. Hastert.
Lyn Gibson and Wei Ling Chestnut are the widows of the two brave Capitol Police Officers
who gave their lives to defend freedom's house.
I
Speaker Hastert: At your swearing in, you asked us to work in a spirit of civility and
bipartisanship. Mr. Speaker, let's do exactly that.
. I stand before you to report that America has created the longest peacetime economic
expansion in our history -- with nearly 18 million new jobs, wages rising at more than twice the
rate of inflation, the highest homeoWn.ership in history, the smallest welfare rolls in 30 years -and the lowest peacetime unemployment since 1957.
For the first time in three decades, the budget is balanced. From a deficit of$290 billion
in 1992, we had. a sw.:plus of$70 billion last year. We are on course for budget surpluses for the
next 25 years.
Violent crime is the lowest in a quarter century. Our environment is the cleanest in a
quarter century.
America is a strong force for peace from Northern Ireland, to Bosnia, to the Middle East.
Thanks to the pioneering leadership of Vice President Gore, we have a government for
the Information Age. Once again, our government is a progressive instrument of the common
good, rooted in our oldest values: opportunity, responsibility, community. A modem
government, devoted to fiscal responsibility and determined to give our people the tools they
need to make the most oftheir own lives.- A 21st Century ·government for 21st Century
America.
. ·
. .·.
�My fellow Americans, I stand before you to report that the state of our union is strong.
America is working again. The promise of our future is limitless. But we cannot _
realize that promise if we allow the hum of our prosperitY to lull us into complacency. How
we fare as a nation far into the 21st Century depends upon what we do as a nation today.
So with our budget surplus growing, our economy expanding, our confidence rising,
now is the moment for this generation to meet our histor~c responsibility to the 21st Century.
Let's get to work.
THE AGING OF 21ST CENTURY AMERICA
Our fiscal discipline gives us an unsurpassed opportunity to address a remarkable new
challenge: the aging of America.
With the number of elderly Americans set to double by 2030, the Baby Boom will
become a Senior Boom.
So first and above all. we must save Social Security for the 21st Century.
Early in this century, being old meant being poor. ~en President Roosevelt created
Social Security, thousands wrote to thank him for eliminating what one woman called the "stark
terror of penniless, helpless old age." Even today, without Social Security, half our nation's
elderly would be forced into poverty.
·
Today, Social Security is strong. But by 2013, payroll taxes will no longer be sufficient
to cover monthly payments. And by 2032, the Trust Fund will be exhausted, and Social Security
will be unable to pay out the full benefits older Americans have been promised.
The best way to keep Social Security a rock-solid g'uarantee is not to make drastic cuts in
benefits; not to raise payroll tax rates; and not to drain reso.urces from Social Security in the
name of saving it.
Instead, I propose that we make the historic decision to invest the surplus to save Social
Security.
2
�---------------------------------------------------------
Specifically, I propose that we commit sixty percent of the budget surplus for the next 15
years to Social Security, investing a small portion in the private sector just as any private or state
government pension would do. This will earn a higher return and keep Social Security sound for
55 years.
.
But we must aim higher. We should put Social Security on a sound footing for the next
75 years. And we should reduce poverty among elderly women, who are nearly twice as likely to
be poor as other seniors -- and we should eliminate the limits on what seniors on Social Security
can earn.
These changes will require difficult but fully achievable choices. They must be made on
a bipartisan basis. They should be made this year. I reach out my hand to those of you of both
parties in both houses and ask you to join me in saying: We will Save Social Security now.
Last year, we wisely reserved all of the surplus until we knew what it would take to save
Social Security. Again, I say, we should not spend any of it until after Social Security is truly
saved. First thin!js first.
Second, once we have saved Social Security, we must fulfill our obligation to save and
improve Medicare. Already, we have extended the life of Medicare by J 0 years -- but we should
extend it for at least another decade. Tonight I propose that we use one out of every six dollars
in the surplus over the next 15 years to guarantee the soundness of Medicare until the year 2020.
But again, we should aim higher. We must be willing to work in a bipartisan way and
look at new ideas, including the upcoming report of the bipartisan Medicare commission. If we
work together, we can secure Medicar~ for the next two decades and cover seniors' greatest need
-- affordable prescription drugs.
Third. we must help all Americans. from their first day on the job. to save. to invest. to
create wealth. From its beginning, Americans have supplemented Social Security with private
pensions and savings. Yet'today, millions of people retire with little to live on other than Social
Security. Americans living longer than ever must save more than ever.
.
'
Therefore, in addition to saving Social Security and Medicare; I propose a new pension
initiative for retirement security in the 21st Century. I propose that we use 12% of the surplus to
establish Universal Savings Accounts -- USA Accounts -- to give all Americans the means to
save. With these new accounts, Americans can invest as they choose, and receive funds to match
a portion of their savings, with extra help for those least able to save.
USA Accounts will help all Americans to share in our nation's wealth, and to enjoy a
more secure retirement.
Fourth, we must invest in long-term care. I propose a tax credit of $1,000 for the aged,
3
�ailing or disabled and the families who care for them. Long term care will become a bigger and
bigger challenge with the aging of America -- and we must help our families deal with it.
I
I was born in 1946, the first year of the Baby Boom. I can tell you: Our generation is
determined not to let our growing old place an intolerable: burden on our children and their ability
to raise our grandchildren. Our economic success and fiscal discipline now give us the
opportunity to lift that burden.
·
Saving Social Security and Medicare is the right way to use the surplus. If we do so, we
will still have the resources to meet urgent national needs in education and defense. And this
plan is fiscally sound. And listen to this: By saving the money we need to save Social Security
and Medicare, then within fifteen years we will achieve the lowest level of publicly held debt
since 1917.
With these four measures -- saving Social Security, strengthening Medicare, establishing
USA Accounts, and supporting long-term care-- we can begin to meet our generation's historic
responsibility to establish true security for 21st Century seniors.
4
�21st CENTURY SCHOOLS
There are more children, from more diverse backgrounds, in our public schools than at
any time in our history. Their education must provide the knowledge and nurture the .
creativity that will allow our nation to thrive in the new economy.
Today we can say something we could not say six years ago: with more affordable
student loans, more Pell grants and work-study jobs, education IRAs, a lifetime learning tax
credit for junior and senior year of college, and the new HOPE Scholarship tax cut that more
than 5 million Americans will receive this year, we have opened the doors of college to all.
5
�With our help, nearly every state has set higher academic standards for public schools,
and a voluntary national test is being developed to measur~ the progress of our students. With
over one billion dollars in discounts available this year, we are on our way to our goal of
connecting every classroom and library to the Internet.
6
�Last fall, you passed our proposal to start hiring 100,000 new teachers to reduce class
size in the early grades. Now I ask you to finish the job.
Our children are doing better. SAT scores are up. Math scores have risen in nearly all
grades. But there is a problem: While our fourth graders outperform their peers iri other
countries in math and science, our eighth graders are around average, and our twelfth graders
rank near the bottom.
We must do better. Each year the national government invests more than $15 billion in
our public schools. I believe we must change the way we invest that money, to support what
works and to stop supporting what doesn't.
Later this year, I will send Congress a plan that for the first time· holds states and school
districts accountable for progress and rewards them for results. My Education Accountability
Act will require every school district receiving federal help to take the following five steps.
First, all schools must end social promotion.
No child should graduate from high school with a diploma he or she can't read. We do
our children no favors when we allow them to pass from grade to grade without mastering the
material.
But we can't just hold students back when the system fails them. So my balanced budget
triples the funding for summer school and after school programs. We can keep one million
students learning beyond regular school hours, when parents work and juvenile crime soars.
If you doubt this will work, look at Chicago, which .ended social promotion and made
summer school mandatory for those who don't master the basics. Math and reading scores are up
three years running -- with some of the biggest gains in some of the poorest neighborhoods.
Second, all states and school districts must tum around their worst performing schools
--or shut them down. That is the policy established by Gov. Jim Hunt in North Carolina,
where test scores made the biggest gains in the nation last year. My budget includes $200
million to help states tum around their failing schools.
Third, all states and school districts must be held responsible for the quality of their
teachers. The great majority of teachers do a fine job. Bl,lt in too many schools, teachers .
don't have college majors -- or even minors -- in the subjects they teach.
7
�I
I
I
New teachers should be required to pass performance exams. All teachers should
know the subjects they are teaching. My balanced budget contains new resources to help them
reach higher standards.
To attract talented young teachers to the toughest assignments, I recommend a six-fold
increase in scholarships for college students who commit 'to teach in the inner cities, isolated
rural areas and Indian communities.
Fourth, we must empower parents, with more information and more choices. In too
many communities, it is easier to get information on the quality of the local restaurants than on
the quality of the local schools. Every school distriCt should issue report cards on every
school.
And parents should have more choice in selecting their public schools. When I became
President, there was one independent, public charter school in all of America. With our
support, there are 1100 today. My budget assures that e~rly in the next century, there will be
3000.
Fifth, to ensure that our classrooms are truly places of learning, all states and school
districts must adopt and implement discipline policies.
Now, let's do one more thing for our children. Today, too many of our schools are so
old they're falling apart, or so overcrowded students must learn in trailers.
Last fall, Congress missed the opportunity to change that~ This year, with 53 million children
in our schools, Congress must not miss that opportunity again. I ask you to help our
communities build or modernize 5000 schools.
If we do these things -- end social promotion, turn around failing schools, build
modern ones, support qualified teachers, promote innovation, competition and discipline -- we
will begin to meet our generation's historic responsibility to create 21st Century schools.
8
�21st CENTURY SUPPORT
FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES
We must do more to help the millions of parents who give their all every day at home and
at work.
The most basic tool of all is a decent income. Let's raise the minimum wage by a dollar
an hour over the next two years.
And let's make sure women and men get equal pay for equal work by strengthening
enforcement of equal pay laws.
Working parents also need quality child care.· Again, I ask Congress to support our plan
for tax credits and subsidies for working families, improved safety and quality, and expanded
after-school programs. Our plan also includes a new tax credit for stay-at-home parents. They
need support too.
The Family Medical Leave Act-- the first bill I signed into law-- has helped millions of
Americans care for a new baby or an ailing relative without risking their jobs. We should extend
Family Leave to 10 million more Americans working in smaller companies.
Parents should never face discrimination in the workplace. I will ask Congress to
prohibit companies from refusing to hire or promote workers simply because they have children.
America's families deserve the world's best medical care.
Thanks to bipartisan federal support for medical research, we are on the verge of new
treatments to prevent or delay diseases from Parkinsons to Alzheimers, from arthritis to cancer.
.·.
9
�As we continue our advances in medical science, we cannot let our health care system lag
behind.
Managed care has transformed medicine in America -- driving down costs, but
threatening to dr~ve down quality as welL I say to every American: You should have the right to
know all your medical options -- not just the cheapest. You should have the right to see a
specialist. You should have the right to emergency care. You should have the r~ght to
continuity of care -- to keep your doctor during a pregnancy or chemotherapy or some other
treatment.
I have ordered that these rights be extended to the 85 million Americans served by
Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health plans.' But only Congress can enact the Patients'
Bill of Rights for all Americans in all health plans. Last year, Congress missed that opportunity.
This year, for the sake of our families, Congress must not miss that opportunity again.· Pass the
Patients' Bill of Rights ..
There's one more right you should have. As more of our medical records are stored
electronically, the threats to our privacy increase. Becaus~ Congress has given me the authority
to act if it does not do so by August, one way or another, we will protect the privacy of medical
records this year.
Two years ago, we ·acted to extend health coverage:to up to 5 million children. Now, we
should make it easier for small businesses to offer health insurance, and to give people between
the ages of 55 and 65 who lose their health insurance the chance to buy into Medicare.
No one should have to choose between keeping health care and taking a job. We should
pass the landmark bipartisan legislation, proposed by Senators Jeffords, Kennedy, Roth and
Moynih~, to allow people with disabilities to keep health .insurance when they go to work.
' '
We need to enable public hospitals, and community and university health centers, to
provide basic, affordable care for working families without insurance. My balanced budget
makes a down payment toward that goal.
And we must step up our efforts to treat and prevent mental illness. No American should
ever be afraid to address this disease. This year, we will h0st a White House Conference on
Mental Health. With sensitivity and commitment, Tipper Gore is leading our efforts here -- and
I thank her.
10
�As everyone knows, our children are targets of a massive media campaign to hook them
on cigarettes. I ask this Congress to resist the tobacco lobby,. Together, let's reaffirm the FDA's
authority to protect children from tobacco, hold the tobacco companies accountable, and protect
tobacco farmers.
·
Smoking has cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars under Medicare and other
programs. The states are right: taxpayers shouldn't pay for the costs of lung cancer, emphysema
and other smoking-related illnesses-- the tobacco companies should. Tonight, I am announcing
that Justice Department is preparing a litigation plan to take the tobacco companies to court. And
with the funds we recover, we should strengthen Medicare. If we act in these areas -- minimum
·wage, family leave, child care, health care and the safety of our children -- we will begin to meet
our generation's historic responsibility to strengthen our families for the 21st Century.
A 21st CENTURY ECONOMY
Today, America is the most dynamic, competitive, job creating economy in history.
But we can do even better -- in building a 21st Century economy for all Americans.
Today's income gap is largely a skills gap. Last year, Congress passed a law enabling
workers to get a skills grant to choose the training they need. This year, I recommend a five year·
commitment in this new system so that we can provide that training for all Americans who lose
their jobs, and rapid response teams to help towns where factories have closed. And I ask for a
dramatic increase in federal support for adult literacy, so we can mount a national campaign
aimed at millions of working people who read at less than a fifth grade level.
In the past six years, we have cut the welfare rolls nearly in half. Two years ago, from
this podium, I asked five companies to lead a national effort to hire people off welfare.
Tonight, our Welfare to Work Partnership includes 10,000 companies who have hired hundreds
of thousands of people. Our balanced budget will help another 200,000 people move.to the
dignity and pride of work.
We must bring the spark of private enterprise to every community. in America -- to
inner cities and remote rural areas -- with more support for community development banks,
empowerment zones and 100,000 vouchers for affordable housing.
And I ask Congress to support our bold plan to help businesses raise up to $15 billion of
private sector capital to bring jobs and oportunity to our ini'ter cities and rural areas -- with tax
credits and loan guarantees, including new American Private Investment Companies modeled
on our Overseas Private Investment Corporation. Our greatest untapped markets are not
overseas --they are right here at home.
11
�We must bring prosperity back to the family farm. Dropping prices and the loss of
foreign markets h~ve devastated too many family farmers. I am ready to work with lawmakers
of both parties to create a farm safety net including crop insUrance reform and farm income
assistance.
We must strengthen ourlead in technology.
~
Government investment led to the creation of the Internet. I propose a neatly 30%
increase in long-term computing research. We must be ready for the 21st Century from its very
first moment, by solving the "Y2K" computer problem. Ifwe work hard with state and local
governments and businesses large and small, the "Y2K problem" cim be remembered as the last
headache of the 20th Century, not the first crisis ofthe 21st.
For our own prosperity, we must support economic growth abroad.
Until recently, one third of our economic growth came from exports. But over the past
year and a half, financial turmoil overseas has put that growth at risk. Today, much of the world.
is in recession, with Asia hit especially hard.
This is the most serious financial crisis in a half century. To meet it, the U.S. and other
nations have reduced interest rates and strengthened the International Monetary Fund. While the
turmoil is not over, we are working with other industrial nations to contain it.
At the sartie time, we will continue to work on a global basis to build a. financial system
for the 21st Century that promotes prosperity and tames the cycles of boom and bust. This June I
will meet with other world leaders to advance this historic purpose.
We must also create a freer and fairer trading system for the 21st Century. Trade has
divided Americans for too long. We must find the common ground on which business, workers,
environmentalists, farmers and government can stand together.
We must tear down barriers, open markets, and expand trade. At the same time, we must
ensure that ordinary citizens in all countries benefit from trade -- trade that promotes the dignity
of work, the rights of workers, the protection of the environment. And we must insist that
international trade organizations be open to public scrutiny.
We must enforce our trade laws when imports unlawfully flood our nation. I have
already informed the government of Japan that if that nation's sudden surge of steel imports into
12
�our country is not reversed, America will respond.
And we must act to help all American manufacturers hit hard by the present crisis-- with
loan guarantees and other incentives to increase U.S. exports by nearly $2 billion.
We can achieve a new consensus on trade, based on these principles. I ask Congress-to
join me in this common approach and give the President the trade authority long used to advance
our prosperity. ·
·
This year, we should expand trade with our neighbors in Central America and the
. Caribbean. And because trade and investment are the keys to African development -- we must
finally pass the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
And tonight, I also issue a call to the nations of the world to join the United States in a
new round of global negotiations to expand exports of services, of manufactures, and most of all,
farm products.
We will work with the International Labor Organization on a new initiative to lift up
labor standards around the world. And this year, we· willte'ad the international community to
conclude a treaty :to ban abusive child labor everywhere in the world.
If we do these things-- invest in our people, our communities, and our technology, and
lead in the global. economy -- then we yvill begin to meet the historic responsibility of our
generation to build a 21st Century prosperity for America.
A STRONG AMERICA IN A NEW .WORLD
No nation in history has had the opportunity and the responsibility we now have to shape
a world more peaceful, secure and free.
All Americans can be proud that our leadership helped to bring peace in Northern Ireland.
All Americans can be proud that our leadership has put Bosnia on the path to peace. And
with our NATO a'llies, we are pressing the Serbian governnient to stop its brutal repression in
Kosovo, to bring those responsible to justice, and give the people of Kosovo the self-government
they deserve.
All Americans can be proud that our leadership renewed hope for lasting peace in the
Middle East. Some of you were with me in December as we watched the Palestinian National
Council completely renounce its call for the destruction of Israel. I ask Congress to provide
resources to impl~ment the Wye Agreement ... to protect Israel's security, stimulate the
.
'
13
�-------------------------------------------~-
Palestinian economy, and support our friends in Jordan. We must not, we dare not, let them
down.
As we work for peace, we must also meet threats tq our nation's security- including
increased dangers from outlaw nations and terrorism. We :-vill defend our security wherever we
are threatened-- as we did this summer when we struck at Osama bin Laden's network of terror.
The bombing of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania reminds us of the risks faced every day by
those who represent America to the world. Let's give them our support, the safest possible
workplaces, and the resources they need so America can continue to lead.
We will ':Vork to keep terrorists from disrupting computer networks, to prepare local
communities for biological and chemical emergencies; and to support research into vaccines and
treatments.
We must increase our efforts to restrain the spread of nuclear weapons and missiles, from
North Korea to India and Pakistan._
We must expand our work with Russia, Ukraine, and the other former Soviet nations to
safeguard nuclear materials and technology so they never fall into the wrong hands. My
balanced budget ,will increase funding for these critical efforts by almost two thirds over the next
5 years.
With Russia, we must continue to reduce our nuclear arsenals. The START II treaty and
the framework w:e have already agreed to for START III could cut them by 80% from their Cold
War height.
It has been two years since I signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. If we don't do
the right thing, other nations won't either. I ask the Senate to take this vital step: Approve the
Treaty now, so we can make it harder for other nations to develop nuclear arms-- and we can end
nuclear testing forever.
For nearly a decade, Iraq has defied its obligation to destroy its weapons of terror and the
missiles to deliver them. America will continue to contain Sad dam -- and we will work for the
day when Iraq has a government worthy of its people.
Last month, in our action over Iraq, our troops were superb. Their mission was so
flawlessly executed, we risk taking for granted the bravery and skill it required. Captain· Jeff
Taliaferro [tolliver], a 10 year Air Force veteran, flew a B-IB bomber over Iraq as we attacked
Saddam's war m'achine. He is here with us tonight. Let us honor him and all the 33,000 men
and women of Desert Fox.
14
�It is time to reverse the decline in defense spending that began in 1985. Since April,
together we have added nearly $6 billion to maintain our readiness. My balanced budget calls
for a sustained increase over the next six years for readiness' and modernization, and pay and
benefits for our troops.
We are the heirs of a legacy of bntvery represented by millions of veterans. America's
defenders today s~and ready at a moment's notice to go where comforts are few and dangers are
many, doing what. needs to be done as no one else can. They always come through for America.
We must come through for them.
The new century demands new partnerships for peace and security.
The United Nations plays a crucial. role, with allies sharing burdens America might
otherwise bear alone. America needs a strong and effective UN. I want to work with this new
Congress to pay our dues and our debts.
We must support security in Europe and Asia-- expanding NATO and defining its new
missions at its 50th Anniversary summit this year in Washington, maintaining our alliance with
Japan and Korea, and engaging China. ·
15
�In China,, I said to the leaders and people what I say again tonight: Stability can no longer
be bought at the expense of liberty.
And I say again the American people: It is important not to isolate China. The more we
bring China into the world, the more the world will bring change and freedom to China.
Last spring, with some of you, I traveled to Africa, where I saw democracy and reform
rising, but still held back by violence and disease. We must fortify African democracy and peace
-- and support the transition to democracy now beginning to take hold in Nigeria.
We are strengthening our ties to the Americas -- to educate children, fight drugs, deepen
democracy. And to increase shared prosperity, we will work to launch a Free Trade Area of the
Americas.
In this hemisphere, every government but one is freely chosen by its people. We are
determined that Cuba, too, will know the blessings of liberty.
The American people have opened their arms and their hearts to our Central American
and Caribbean neighbors devastated by recent hurricanes. Working with Congress, we will help ,
them rebuild. When the First Lady and Tipper Gore visited the region, they saw thousands of
American troops and volunteers. In the Dominican Republic, Hillary helped to rededicate a
hospital that had been rebuilt by Dominicans and Americans, working side by side.
·With her was someone who has been very important to the relief efforts.
16
�Sports records are made, and sooner or later,they are broken. But making other people's
lives better -- and showing our children the true meaning of brotherhood -- that's something that
lasts forever. So:for far mot:e than baseball, Sammy Sosa, you are a hero of two countries.
·
If we do all these things -- pursue peace, fight terrorism, increase our strength, and renew
our alliances-- then we will begin to meet our generation's historic responsibility to build a
stronger 21st Century America in a freer, more peaceful world.
21ST CENTURY COMMUNITIES
As the world has changed, so have our own communities. We must make them safer,
more livable, more united.
This year, we will reach our goal of putting 100,000 community police officers on the
street ~- ahead ofschedule and under budget. The Brady Bill has stopped a quarter million
felons, fugitives, .and stalkers from buying handguns. Now, the murder rate is the lowest in 30
years, and the criine rate has dropped for six straight years.
Tonight, I propose a 21st Century Crime Bill to deploy the latest technologies and tactics
to make our communities even safer.
My balanced budget will help put up to 50,000 more police on the beat in the areas
hardest hit by crime, and to equip them with new tools, from crime-mapping computers to digital
mug shots.
We must break the deadly cycle of drugs and crime; My budget expands support for drug
testing and treatment. It says to prisoners: If you stay on drugs, you stay behind bars. And it
says to those on parole: To keep your freedom, keep free of drugs.
Congress should restore the 5-day waiting period for buying a handgun. And you should
extend the Brady Bill to prevent juveniles who commit violent crimes from buying a gun.
We must keep our schools the safest places in our communities.
Last year, .we were horrified and heartbroken by the tragic killings in Jonesboro, Paducah,
Pearl, Edinboro, Springfield. We are deeply moved by the courageous parents who are working
to keep guns out of the hands of children-- so that other parents don't have to live through their
loss.
One of them is Suzann Wilson of Jonesboro, Arkansas. After she lost her daughter, she
came to the White House with a powerful plea: ''Please, please, for the sake of your children,
lock up your guns .... Don't let what happened in Jonesboro happen in your toWI1." She is here
tonight with the First Lady, and we thank her for her courage and commitment. In memory of all
17
�the children who lost their lives to school violence, let's strengthen the Safe and Drug-Free
,School Act ... let's pass legislation to require child trigger locks ... let's keep our children safe.
A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt defined our "great, central task" as
"leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us." Today, we are
restoring the Florida Everglades, saving Yellowstone, preserving the red-rock canyons of
Utah, protecting' California's redwoods and our precious coasts.
But our 111ost fateful new challenge is the threat of global warming. 1998 was the
warmest year ever recorded. Last year's heat waves, ice storms, and floods are but a hint of
what future generations may endure if we don't act now.
So tonight, I propose a new clean air fund to help· communities reduce pollution, and
tax incentives and investments to spur clean energy technologies. And I will work with
Congress to reward companies that take early, voluntary action to reduce greenhouse gases.
All communities face a preservation challenge; as they grow, and green space shrinks.
7, 000 acres of farmland and open space are lost every day.
In response, I propose two major initiatives: first, a one billion dollar Livability
Agenda to help communities save open space, ease traffic congestion, and grow in ways that
enhance every citizen's quality of life; second, a one billion dollar Lands Legacy Initiative to
preserve places of natural beauty all across America -- from the most remote wilderness to the
nearest city park. I thank Vice President Gore for his visionary leadership in helping to develop
these historic proposals.
To get the most out of your community, you have.to give something back. That's why
we created AmeriCorps -- our national service program that gives today's generation a chance
to serve their communities and earn money for college.
So far, in just four years, 100,000 young people have built low-income homes with
Habitat for Humanity ... helped tutor children ... worked with FEMA to ease the burden of
natural disasters ... and performed countless other acts of service that have made America
better.
Some ofthem are here with us tonight I thank them for their service -- and I ask
Congress to give: more young Americans the chance to follow their lead~
We must .work to renew our national community for the 21st Century.
18
�Last year, the House passed the bipartisan campaign finance reform legislation
sponsored by Reps. Shays and Meehan and Sens. McCain and Feingold. But a partisan
minority in the Senate blocked reform. To the House I say: Pass it again, quickly. And to the
Senate: Say yes to a strong democracy in the Year 2000.
Since 1997, our Initiative on Race has sought to bridge the divides between our people.
In its report last fall, the Initiative's Advisory Board found that Americans want to bring our
people together across racial lines --but that we must do more to close the opportunity gaps .
that remain. The economic, health care, and education initiatives in my balanced budget will
do a lot to close those gaps.
But we have more to do.
Discrimination or violence because of race or religion, ancestry or gender, disability or
sexual orientation, is wrong. It should be illegal. Therefore I call upon Congress to make the
Employment NonDiscrimination Act and the Hate Crimes Prevention Act the law of the land.
And since every person must count in America, our census must count every
American. Let's have a census that uses the most modern scientific methods.
Our newest immigrants must be part of One America. They are revitalizing our cities,
energizing our cu:Iture, building our new economy. We have a responsibility to make immigrants
welcome here, an:d they have a responsibility to enter the mainstream of American life. That
means learning English, and learning about our democratic:system of government. There are
now long waiting lines of immigrants seeking to do just that. Therefore, my budget expands
significantly our efforts to heip them meet their responsibility.
Whether our ancestors carne here on the Mayflower or on slave ships, whether they
landed on Ellis Island or at Los Angeles Airport, whether they arrived yesterday or walked this
land a thousand years ago-- we can be, and we must be One America. We can only meet our
generation's historic responsibility to go forward into the 21st Century if we go forward as
that One America.
I
PERORATION: THE MILLENNIUM
Barely more. than 300 days from now, we will cross that bridge into the new
millennium. This is a moment, as the First Lady has said, to honor the past and imagine the
future.
19
�I honor her -- for leading our Millennium Project -.- for all she has done for our
children -- and for her historic role in serving our nation and advancing our ideals at home and
abroad.
Last year, I called on Congress and every citizen to n1ark the millennium by saving
America's treasures. Hillary has traveled across the country to inspire recognition and support
·
for saving places like Thomas Edison's Invention Factory and Harriet Tubman's Home.
We must preserve our treasures in every community. I invite every American town, city, and
county to become nationally recognized "Millennium Communities" by launching projects that
save our history, promote the arts and humanities, and prepare our children for the 21st Century.
Already, the response has been remarkabl.e, and I thimk Congress and our private sector
partners for their support. Because of you, the Star Spangled Banner will be preserved for the
ages.
In ways large and small, we are keeping alive what George Washington called "the
sacred fire of liberty."
I
Six years ago tomorrow, I came to. office in a time of doubt for America, with our
economy troubled, our deficit high, our people divided. Some even wondered whether our best
days were behind us. But across this nation, in a thousand ~eighborhoods, I had seen, even amid
the pain and uncertainty of recession, the heart and character·of America.
'
'
I knew then we Americans could renew our country.'
Tonight, as I deliver the last State of the Union message of the 20th Century, no one can
doubt the enduring resolve and boundless capacity of Americans to work toward that "more
perfect union" of our founders' dreams.
We near the end of a century when generation after generation of Americans answered
the call to greatness, oven;oming Depression, lifting up the dispossessed, bringing down barriers
of racial prejudice~ building the largest middle class in history, winning two world wars and the ·
"long twilight struggle" of the Cold War.·
We are profoundly grateful for the magnificent achievement of our forbears.
20
�Perhaps in the daily press of events, in the clash of controversy, we do not see our own
time for what it truly is - a new dawn for America.
A hundred years from tonight, an American President will stand in this place to report o~
. the State of the Union. He- or she- will look back on a 21st Century shaped in so many ways
by the decisions we make here and now.
Let it be said of us then that we were thinking not only of our time, but of their time; that
we reached as high as our ideals; that we put aside our divisions and found a new hour of healing
and hopefulness; ;that we joined together to serve and strengthen the country we love.
My fellow' Americans, this is our moment. Let us lift our eyes as one nation, and from the
.
mountaintop of this American century, look ahead to the next one-- asking God's blessing on
our endeavors and our beloved country.
'•.
. -'
21
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Speechwriting Office - Edward Widmer
Creator
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National Security Council
Speechwriting Office
Edward Widmer
Description
An account of the resource
<p>Edward Widmer served as President Clinton’s chief foreign policy speechwriter from 1997-2000. As an NSC speechwriter Widmer worked on remarks for a wide variety of topics dealing with countries such as China, Korea, Argentina, Ghana, Canada, the Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Russia, and Venezuela. Widmer wrote speeches concerning the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), sanctions, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the United Nations, Islam, and the European Union.</p>
<p>This collection consists of speech drafts, memoranda, handwritten notes, newspaper articles, publications, schedules, reports, and papers. Many of the speech drafts are marked up with extensive critical comments and suggested revisions. Widmer’s handwritten notes can be found on scraps of paper, napkins, and the back of other records.</p>
<p>This collection was made available through a <a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/freedom-of-information-act-requests">Freedom of Information Act</a> request.</p>
Date
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1997-2000
Is Part Of
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<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36419" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/id/7585793" target="_blank">National Archives Collection Description</a>
Identifier
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2006-0471-F
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
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Adobe Acrobat Document
Extent
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250 folders in 14 boxes
Text
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Original Format
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Paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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State of the Union
Creator
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National Security Council
Speechwriting Office
Edward (Ted) Widmer
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0471-F
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 11
<a href="http://clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/2006/2006-0471-F.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/id/7585793" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Format
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Adobe Acrobat Document
Publisher
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Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
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Reproduction-Reference
Date Created
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10/16/2014
Source
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42-t-7585793-2006471f-011-021-2014
7585793