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SOTU [State of the Union]- Edits by Admin. Officials [2]
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1
�Withdrawal/Redaction Sheet
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
AND TYPE
SUBJECT/fiTLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
001. draft
RE: State of the Union Address (1 page)
01124/1994
P5
002. draft
RE: State of the Union Address (25 pages)
01124/1994
P5
003.memo
David Dreyer to Donald Baer, et al.; RE: REGO (1 page)
01123/1995
P5
004. memo
David Dreyer to Donald Baer, et al.; RE: Suey II (1 page)
01123/1995
P5
005.memo
Paul Begala to Bob Boorstin, Don Baer; RE: Draft 2 SOTU (2 pages)
01123/1995
P5
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Communications
DonBaer
OA/Box Number: 10131
FOLDER TITLE:
SOTU [State of the Union]- Edits by Admin. Officials [2]
2006-0458-F
db2135
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C. Closed In accordance with restrictions contained In donor's deed
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PRM. Personal record misfile defined In accordance with 44 U.S.C.
2201(3).
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
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DOCUMENT NO.
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001. draft
DATE
SUBJECTffiTLE
RE: State of the Union Address (1 page)
01124/1994
RESTRICTION
PS
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Communications
DonBaer
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SOTU [State of the Union]- Edits by Admin. Officials [2]
2006-0458-F
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�In every case -- and in many .others across more than half a
century -- the President and the Congress, whether of the same
party or not, have completed their mission for America. Tonight,
I call upon you, the 104th Congress of this Republic, to join
with me to complete the mission of our times.
Let us be inspired by those who have gone before. our mission,
though undertaken in vastly different and changing times, is no
less than theirs. We stand at the end of one American century,
and it falls to us to create another.
The state of our union is one of hope.
~ecause
of our concrete
efforts to control the federal budget, our economy stands on
firmer qround than it has in many years. Our military has never
been more ready, our armed·forces more heroic. [recognize Haiti
troop.] Halfway between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dawn
- --
of the new Millennium, the promise of a new era thrills and
worries us.
Many, many of our people are already doing better than ever in a
nf"''globa:l economy fueled by open markets and cutting-edge
·technologies~ut
by
uncertaint~.
/
we know, for too many people, hope is tempered
Families are working harder for
less.~
streets
seem less safe than ever. our communities are coming apart. The
challenges of this new era are as subtle, complex and great as
any we have ever known.
2
�-------
~-----·
~
------- - - - - - - -
At moments like this, the choices we make matter more than ever.
The people we were sent here to serve have trusted us with their
profound hopes. We
~
not let them down. So, no matter what the
temptations, we must put away party label, put away personal
disaqreement and put our people first. We Americans have realized
so many of our dreams. Toqether, we can help them brinq more of
them alive.
..
_,.'
3
�- -- --
school.
~
--
--~---~
Education is even more important now than ever to the
economic well-beinq of America, and we should do everythinq we
can to encouraqe it. If businesses can qet a deduction for
~1
invest~
in
in factories, why shouldn't families for
theirAfuture~
i~q
investmen~
Second, a $500 tax credit for all children under thirteen in
middle class households.
Third, an individual retirement account with tax-free withdrawal
riqhts for the cost of education, health care, first-time home
buyinq, and care of a parent.
And fourth, a G.I. Bill for American workers.
We are qoinq to
collapse 50 federal proqrams and offer vouchers directly to
eliqible American workers.
If you are laid off, or make a low
waqe, you will qet a voucher worth $2,600 a year for up to two
years to qo to your local community colleqe or qet private or
public job traininq to raise your job skills.
Anyone can call for a tax cut, but I will not accept one that
explodes the deficit and puts our economic recovery at risk.
must pay for any tax cuts, fully and honestly.
We
Two years aqo, it
was an open question whether we would find the strenqth to cut
the deficit.
Thanks to the couraqe of many people here, and many
who did not return to take their seats in this House, we beqan to
14
�--~
- - - - -- - - -
-~---
do what others said they would do for years.
We Democrats cut the deficit by over $600 billion -- that's
nearly $10,000 for every family of four in this country.
The
deficit is coming down three years in a row for the first time
since President Truman was in office.
In the budget I will send you, the Middle Class Bill of Rights is
fully paid for by budget cuts, cuts in bureaucracy, cuts in
programs, cuts in special interest subsidies.
cuts will more than double the tax cuts.
And the spending
My budget pays for the
Middle Class Bill of Rights without any cuts in Medicare. And I
will oppose any attempt to pay for tax cuts with Medicare cuts.
I know a lot of you have your own ideas about tax relief.
we can work together.
My test for any proposal is: Will it
create jobs and raise incomes?
support children?
underclass?
I hope
Will it strengthen families and
Will it build the middle class and shrink the
If it does, I will support it.
If it doesn't, I
will oppose it.
~hat's
why I will ask you to support raising the minimum wage. It
rewards work.
Two and a half million Americans, often women with
children, work for $4.25 an hour
tt
powe7r
1!:J pro~ -thcctby n~t year, that
~
In terms of real buying
minimum wage will be at a 40 year low.
I have studied the arguments from all sides, and I believe it
15
~
~
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DOCUMENT NO.
AND TYPE
002. draft
DATE
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01/24/1994
RE: State of the Union Address (25 pages)
RESTRICTION
P5
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Communications
DonBaer
ONBox Number: 10131
FOLDER TITLE:
SOTU [State of the Union] - Edits by Admin. Officials [2]
2006-0458-F
db2135
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Freedom of Information Act -IS U.S.C. 552(b))
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an agency l(b)(2) of the FOIA)
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b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
Information l(b)(4) of the FOIA)
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy l(b)(6) ofthe FOIA)
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes l(b)(7) ofthe FOIA)
b(8) Release would disclose Information concerning the regulation of
financial institutions l(b)(8) of the FOIA)
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
concerning wells l(b)(9) of the FOIA)
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained In donor's deed
of gift.
PRM. Personal record misflle defined In accordance with 44 U.S.C.
2201(3).
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DOCUMENT NO.
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003.memo
DATE
SVBJECTfi'ITLE
David Dreyer to Donald Baer, et al.; RE: REGO (1 page)
01/23/1995
RES11UCTION
P5
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Communications
DonBaer
OA/Box Number: 10131
FOLDER TITLE:
SOTU [State of the Union]- Edits by Admin. Officials [2]
2006-0458-F
db2135
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b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted Invasion of
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b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
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b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
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C. Closed In accordance with restrictions contained In donor's deed
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PRM. Personal reeord misf'de defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
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DOCUMENT NO.
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004. memo
DATE
SUBJECT/TITLE
David Dreyer to Donald Baer, et al.; RE: Suey II (1 page)
01/23/1995
RESTRICTION
P5
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Communications
DonBaer
ONBox Number: 10131
FOLDER TITLE:
SOTU [State of the Union]- Edits by Admin. Officials [2]
2006-0458-F
db2135
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P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA)
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financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA)
PS Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(S) of the PRA)
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personal privacy J(a)(6) of the PRA)
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information [(b)(4) of the FOIA)
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personal privacy J(b)(6) of the FOIA)
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C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
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RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
�- - -
LOBI'fiSTS
ONITAFF
-- - -- ---- ·- ~- - - - -
OFRCE
SI'ENDING
--
"il'lll"f-
-
c.,,...,_.,.,.,._
GOP Mulo66rls~. •
Republicans on Capitol Hill have hired
at least seven pre minant Washington lobbyists to serve on their personal and
committee staffs This included a timber industry lobbyist, two insurance industry
lobbyists, two 1M troleum indusuy lobbyistS, and a grocer's association lobbyist. [A!,
1/1 2/95)
LEADERSHIP
.
.\l/
•lllc• ....,.,..,
Gltlgdch w Atmey tlllllbled thelt
Incoming SD88ker Newt Gingrich
and incoming Majority Leader Dick Armay are increasing the budgets of their offieu
by nearly 50')6;-Gingrich's Speaker office-will be funded at •2. 1 million per yearintn~at~ of 1700,000 oY81' Olllfoillf;Spak~~r Tam Folev"• 11.4 mUUon budget.
Armay•a majority leader office will be funded et ., .5 miUion IMI' year- an int:ltliiS.
of 1500,000 OV81' outgoing majority IHder Dicit Gephardt'• 11 mUIJGn budget. Ulslll
.calL 1 21191941
•n
,.,.on.J
I'EIISONAI.
I TARa
GOI' ,,.. Not Cllt
llafla. In a •setback• foi their •reform-minded•
freshman, House Republicans shelved a proposal from 1ha GOP freshmen to force a
cut in personal ateH. Officials said no vote wu taken on the proposal wl'lan it
became clear that saverallawmakers from 11r1a eeographic districtl objected. The
GOP claimed tNt only one or two Republicans use 1tleir entire staff allotment and
Ginlrich said he would appoint a talk force to study 11'18 subject. l6!, 1217/941
COMMITTEE
ITIIUCTUII6
•sMitJI R~·lfl}llct o,..lll of H. . . CommittH atNctlltW: In November,
GOP Representatives Draier CCA) and Dum CWA) put forth an ambitious rafcwm olan
to overhaul the House committee avuctute. However their plan wa put on hold in
favor of lass sweeping meaaura when •een~or ReDUblic:ana• decided to keep 1he
sarne structure duty had fqht aeai._. One aenior Republican Mid: •we Nl•
se\feral members with UDeltise in these areas.•. It's nat very effiCient to take those
years of 8XD1rti88 and move it out to cnher committees.• (Wa.rNntton Tunes,
11/291941
I'AYCUT
G/n6Jich .,...., ~t/MI ,., a& Asked on CNN's --ralk Back Uva• program
via 1 Compuearve massage whether ha supported •a cut in salary for members of
Congress•, Gingrich responded that •the tnAh is that would be a very big brawl over
FOR
CONtiiiEIS
a very few dollars... ICNN --ralk Beck LMI, • 121201151
,.,.,., tlocted DMtoctet . , . . , . to ..., lftt)IIO flit& In his first official let u
the first Repu.,lcen Speaker In 40 yaara. Gingrich used an arcane parliamentary
procedure Cthe closed rule) to kill an aft8lftpl by Democrats to ban au gifts from
lobbyiata to members at Cangrua. lConf,.uiOMJ Reconl. 1141951
•a.•
R,..
QOSEIJ
GOI' llatl A
RULES
Congress, the GOP-cantrolltcl House Ulld 1 •c1osad ru1a• to pus ita rules dllnges.
To ,._ /Ia 111M CfllltJa. On tt1e first day of the new
This process blrrecl Democrats from offering a lobby reform and gift ben amendment
to the rules INICkage. Republicans had fraquendy complained about the .,.. of
•cJoud ruau• under the Democret<ontrollld Houaa. In fact, the menager of the
GOP bill, David Dreier •id In the put, •Eectt time a cloaecl rule is foisatd on the
Nouae, Members· of Conereu are deniac11he opportunity to repreaant their
constituents.• IM•mahi• Cemmercjal Ap•ot 111195; CtlngtUJionlll Ret:on/ (Dreier'a
remark as cauoted by Rosa DeLauro (D-CTU, 1/41951
2
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Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
AND TYPE
005. memo
DATE
SUBJECTffiTLE
Paul Begala to Bob Boorstin, Don Baer; RE: Draft 2 SOTU (2 pages)
01123/1995
RESTRICTION
P5
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Communications
DonBaer
OA/Box Number: 10131
FOLDER TITLE:
SOTU [State of the Union]- Edits by Admin. Officials [2]
2006-0458-F
db213S
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Freedom of Information Act -IS U.S.C. 551(b))
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PS Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
and his advisors, or between such advisors la)(S) of the PRA)
P6 Release would constitute a dearly unwarranted Invasion of
personal privacy l(a)(6) of the PRA)
b(l) National security dassified information l(b)(l) ofthe FOIA)
b(1) Release would disclose Internal personnel rules and practices of
an agency l(b)(1) of the FOIA)
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute l(b)(3) of the FOIA)
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
Information l(b)(4) of the FOIA)
b(6) Release would constitute a dearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy l(b)(6) of the FOIA)
b(7) Release would dlsc:lose Information compiled for law enforcement
purposes l(b)(7) of the FOIA)
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
financial institutions l(b)(8) ofthe FOIA)
b(9) Release would disdose geological or geophysical information
concerning wells l(b)(9) ofthe FOIA)
C. Closed In accordance with restrictions contained In donor's deed
of gift.
PRM. Personal record misfile defined In accordance with 44 U.S.C.
1101(3).
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
�Speech Inserts.
Mexico
The financial ·crisis in Mexico is a· powerful case in point. We have to act'-- for the sake of the
millions of Americans whose liveliho-ods are tied t9. ~exico' s well being. If we want to ,secure
American jobs, preserve American exports and safeguard America's borders, we must pass our
stabilization program and help put Mexico back on track. This legislation is right for Alnerica and
I call on Congress to quickly pass it.
�Speech Inserts
Middle East
I will
~ubmit, to
Congress comprehensive legislation to strengthen our hand in combating
. .
\C.I1tJo..r4Y
terrorists, whether they strike at home or abroad. As the peepte:who bombed the.World Trade
Center can testify, the United States will hunt down terrorists and bring them to jus~ice.
~we
wilt st....t-t>p to the enemies afpoiliio whg will stop at ll6!hing talnm baok 11oe p9Wel'itil
~ of reconciliation that 4S s;; eepmg-tl:le:<gleee.
in Israel killed 19 and injured scores more.
an~ther horrendous terrorist act·
On behalf of the American peopl~extend our
Just this week;.
deepest sympathy to the families of the victims. ·t know that in the face of such evil, it is hard to
go forward. But the terrorists are the past, not the future. We must-- and we will-- persist in
our pursuit of peace.
�CLOSE HOLD
WRI'I'R
•
SU8.JECT:
~114-TL oF
VICE PRESIDENT
PAN ErrA
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1...:.1.=5;.._____
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RESPONSE:
CLOSE HOLD
JOHN D. PODESTA
Assunantto the President
and staff Secretary
EXI.2702
dttl3
L!(iii'L
/k.R-:Et:
�IDDftl 1/23/11
•
•r-i4eDt wilJt•• Jellama·
··
5JAN 23
alia-,.
state of tu aaiu lff·a··
Jo:I.Dt aaaaioa oa ..._ ••.,
fta capitol of u. aaitallll aau.
A9·:
41
J&Duazy 24, liN
Mr. Pr-idant. Mr. Speaker. ,_bars of tba 104t:h CODt!Jr-· My
fallow Aaaricana:
Two years ago, I stood in t:hia atwmber aDd proaiaed to briDe)
change to the American people. Wall, aa I look around me -- and
behind me -- it is quite clear that thiDCJ& have changed -- though
not all tbe changes are exactly what I had in mind.
Let us pauae a JllOilent to give thanka for the life of Rose
Fitzgerald Kennedy. Her life spanned nearly half the life of our
nation. She was born before woman had the right to vote in
America. She lived to see a granddaughter sworn in as Lieutenant
Governor of the State of Maryland, days after her grandson was
sworn in as a member of this congress. stop to consider for one
minute how mucb poorer America would be without her qifts to us.
John
Fitzqeralci~&fl~~,W~
Francis
K~edy.
Edward Moore
Kennedy. Eunice Shriver. Jean Kennedy Smith, my Ambassador to
Ireland. And a new qeneration that has found its way to service,
includinq Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and, yes,
Representative from. the First district of Rhode Island Patrick
Joseph Kennedy. This is Rose Kennedy's legacy to America. She
sacrificed more for her country than any . .~~~
be
called to qive. We can
--~~~~n
neve~~er:~.~~~
should ever
she qave. May
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- -
------
-
�God
rest her soul.
I want to begin tonight by talking about the heart of our Union - the citizens of this country. I would like to introduce you to
several of thea sitting with the Firat Lady. Cindy Parry is one
of the 20,000 members in our national service prograa,
Americorps, started a few months ago. Kansas City Police Chief
steven Bishop is with us. [Kuwait troop representative.] [Haiti
troop representative.] And Jack Lucas, a retired Marine fro•
Hattiesburg, Mississippi, who has brought his son, Jimmy, a West
Point graduate and Viatnaa veteran, and his grandson, John.
Not unlike Rosa Kennedy, they are examples for us of the virtue
of citizenship in an age of historic change. Bach has made his or
her choice to engage in what Justice Holmes called the "action
and passion of our times. " Each baa chosen to embrace the.
opportunties of a new era and their responsibilities to America - making themselves and democracy stronger.
Each is making a difference: Cindy Perry teaches children in
Kentucky to read. Chief Bishop is a force for safety on our
streets. [Kuwait troop] and [Haiti troop] lighted the beacons of
freedom across the world. And Jack Lucas made a difference. Fifty
crowded years ago, in the sands of Iwo Jima, he helped secure a
foothold for freedom that brought us to this night.
2
�Let us ask them all to stand and be recognized for doinq the work
of America.
I also asked thea to be here toniqht for another reason. They are
the people for whom we do our work of America -- the hardworkinq
people who everyday must make the hard choices we all face as we
cross from one era to a new one. They deserve our respect and
admiration. But they deserve aomathinq alae as well, so•ethinq I
believe we are here to help th. . earn: a shot at the American
Dream.
We cannot ask Americans to be batter citizens if we are not
batter servants. No matter how much has chanqed, our
responsibility remains the same. At a moment of qreat chanqe, the
choices we make matter more than ever. No matter what the
temptations miqht be, we must put away party label, put away
personal disagreement and put our people first.
After all, this house is the sanctuary of democracy, and we are
the keepers.of a noble trust. From this very place, Franklin
Roosevelt defeated the Depression and called America to the qreat
fiqht aqainst fascism.
Harry Truman summoned us to build
prosperity at home and to defend freedom around the world. Lyndon
Johnson called us to overcome centuries of injustice. And Ronald
Reaqan exhorted us to carry on until the twiliqht struqqle
aqainst Communism was won.
3
�I,
And I know I speak for all Americans when I wish President and
Mrs. Reagan strength and
God
speed tonight.
The historic efforts, called forth from this chamber, inspire ua
to face the challenges ahead. For we stand at the end of one
American century, and it falls to us to create another.
Some people call this new era the Information Age; others the
post-Cold War world. People all across the globe are casting off
the chains of tyranny and embracing our
w~y
-- democracy and
freedom. Here at home, we have a great chance to make our people
more secure and more prosperous.
We can enter the 21st Century
still the strongest country and the moat profound force for peace
and freedom in the world.
Still, ours is not an easy journey. As we chart the way, we must
be guided by three beliefs that have kept America strong: the
belief that, in every generation, men and women who work hard
earn the right to pass on a batter life to their children. The
belie~
that, in every generation, government must be shaped to
meet new challenges, and disciplined to obey the people's will.
The belief that, in every generation, America succeeds when we
enter into a solemn agreement to match the rights we enjoy as
citizens with the responsibility we owe to each other.
These beliefs must be the foundation of our efforts to master the
4
�new economy, to reinvent our government and to forge a new
covenant combining opportunity and responsibility.
OUr
nation is having a great debate over what role govern.ant
should play in our lives. Tonight I want to tall you where I
stand. Soma believe there should be a government program for
every problem. Some think that government is the only problea.
Both are wrong.
The real. cballenqe for evaryreneration is to change government
and to make sure it serves
what the American people,
~
interests of our people. Think of
t~ther,
have created in this century
I
alone:
Unemployment insuranc•· social security. Medicare. The GI Bill.
Civil rights for all Americans. All these and more are what a
free people have done to make their government meet the test of
their times. And I do not believe that we should tear them down.
our challenge today is to create a government that is smaller and
smarter, that earns the trust of the people, and that gives them
the power to meet the demands of the new era.
Consider what we've already achieved. After years of others
saying they would cut government, we did it. We've cut
5
spendi~g
�by a quarter of a trillion dollars and made cuts in more than 300
domestic programs.
We have eliminated mora than 100,000
positions from the federal government in the last two years alone
-- and avery penny of the cuts is going to pay for putting
100,000 more police officers on the streets. We will cut a total
of more than a quarter million poaitiona in the next two years.
By the time I address you next year -- baaed on decisions we have
already made -- we will have made the government the smallest it
has bean in 30 years.
Thanks in larqe part to Vice President Gore, we' va made our
government work better. Prior efforts sillply gathered dust in a
warehouse, but we put ours into action. Because of our efforts,
the age of the $600 toilet seat [ck] is gone, and the
government's 10,000 page personnel manual is history. Agencies
work better. For years, FEMA -- the federal disaster agency
was a disaster. We changed that. Victims of the Mississippi
floods got their checks in half the time it used to take. [ck]
And because the federal government moved fast, all but 40 of the
5,600 schools damaged in the California earthquake are back in
business, educating our children.
This year, we are going to make our government. work better, and
do less. One example: our country has 60 separate federal
programs to help find housing for people who need help. We're
�going to turn those 60 into three -- and let communities decide
how best to spend the money.
[other examples to come]
Let's join together to stop passing programs that we can't pay
for -- and passing the costs to the states. And let's do
I
something elsa. Last year, you concealed in the budqat scores of
pet spending projects that served your interests, not the
nation's interests. [examples] They never would have bacoaa law
on their own. This year, we can make up for that. Give me the
line-item veto, and I will usa it to save the taxpayers' money.
I'll keep doing my part to cut the government. Now I ask you to
do yours to clean it up. Don't fool yourselves: The American
people are not just anqry at government. They are anqry at
Washington, and it is up to us to restore their trust.
They look at their nation's capital, and they see a city of
intrigue where the well-connected and the well-protected milk the
system, and the interests of the people are left out. Three times
as many lobbyists roam the streets and corridors of Washington as
did 20 years ago. Last year, people who make their livings off of
health care spent $300 million -- nearly $1 million a day -- to
make sure nothing changed. They got what they paid for.
As this new Congress was opening its doors, tobacco lobbyists
passed out invitations to members for an all-expenses paid golf
7
�I'
weekend in Florida.(ck] Fancy meals, free travel, expensive
gifts. Twice this month, you have voted to keep them coming.
Tonight, I challenge you to atop taking them -- now, without
waiting for legislation to pass. Then send me the strongest
possible bill, and I'll sign it.
Pass a law to make the lobbyists tall the people who they work
for, what they're spending and what they want. When Congress
killed that law last year, the.lobbyiata actually stood in the
halls and cheered. But, I guarantee you, the people weren't
cheering at home. Let's finally give
tb§a
something to cheer
about.
Let's get at the role of big money in our elections.
cost of campaigns and put the PAC. in their place.
Cap the
And let's
make the people's airwaves an instrument for democracy by giving
free TV time to candidates.
Finally, show the American people that you have not forgotten who
sent you here. You have already made a start.
I
congratulate you
for passing legislation that makes Congress live by the laws that
the rest of America lives by. Now keep going. Stop paying for
your vacations with frequent flyer miles paid for by your
constituents. And don't raise your own pay until the incomes of
America's families go up.
Take away these perks, so that your
experience is more like the experience of the people you came
8
�here to serve.
That is what I want you to do. Now, let •• tall you what we ·have
done, and what I won't let you do.
We have made it the law of the land that people should be able to
take time off when a child or a parent is sick. We have made sure
that every two-year old in America will gat the shots they need.
We've made your food safer, and the air cleaner. We've expanded
Head Start and set world class standards for our schools. We've
qiven students who don't qo straight to college a new path
between school and work. We've loweracl fees and interest rates on
~olleqe
loans for 20 million Aaaricana. We have helped brinq the
chance of new enterprise and new hope to our nation's cities.
We have said to violent criminals: "three strikes and you're
out." We are puttinq 100,000 new police officers on our streets.
We have qiven teachers, parents and police new tools to prevent
_crime before it happens. We have made it harder for criminals to
qet hold of handquns. And we've taken 19 types of deadly assault
weapons off our streets. We had to face down a ferocious pack of
lobbyists to qet it done. Law abidinq Americans must always have
the freedom to own the quns they need to protect their homes and
to hunt. They had nothinq to do with the crime in our streets.
But they know that there's no sportinq purpose on Earth for
assault weapons that kill our children and qun down our police.
9
�We did these things to make the lives of the American people
safer, healthier, batter. And, to anyone who tries to take thea
away or roll them back, I have a simple message: On behalf of the
American people, I will fight you.
I urge each and every one of you in this chamber -- oa.ocrats and
Republicans: Let's not look back. Let's move ahead. There is so
much we can do together.
We agree that too few hardworking Americans are feeling the
economic recovery, even though it bas produced 5.6 million new
jobs since I took office.
But good numbers on a chart aren't
good enough, not when families are struggling to build the
foundations of the American Dream.
These times can be confusing and uncertain. Some of us are
prospering in the new economy. But too many Americans have
stagnant incomes. Too many people are watching their $15 an hour
jobs turn into $5 an hour jobs. In too many homes, bOth parents
have to work to support their family.
It is harder to raise our
children right. No matter how bard they work, too many people
can't count on a steady job, affordable health care or a secure
retirement.
I know, too, that the risks of the new global economy sometimes
seem greater than the opportunities. But retreat is not an
10
�option. With both parties working together, we have opened new
markets, increased American exports and created new high-paying
jobs hare at bOlla. New trade with Mexico and canada under NAPTA
has created more than 200,000 jobs.
We've concluded years of
work on GATT, the largest trade agreement in history.
We're
opening markets in Latin America and the Asian-Pacific region
including Japan. We've done this so that American workers are
stronger in the century ahead. And I'm proud that we've done this
on our terms.
Our people have to be ready for this new economy. That's why I
believe the moat important thing we can do in this new era -- the
moat important thing -- is to giva our people the tools to
succeed: Better education, a lifetime chance for job training,
the knowledge and the skills to improve thaaaelves, earn more and
build strong families. America's wealth is people, and they must
always come first.
The Middle Class Bill of Rights I have proposed rewards families
who do the right thing -- invest in the future -- their future.
That's what makes it different. For each young child you have, we
will cut your taxes by $500 a year. If you put money into an
individual retirement account, you'll be able to withdraw from it
-- without any penalties -- to pay for family needs, whether its
buying a first home or sending your kid to school.
If you need
job training, we'll cut out the bureaucracy and get resources
11
�straight to you so you can make your own decisions.
And, moat important, the Middle Class Bill of Rights offers a tax
deduction for education and training after high school. I bat
everyone who baa ever written a huge check for colleqe tuition
has wondered why you don't qat a break. If corporations can
deduct for investments that build the future, why can't faailiea?
Under my plan, you can.
In a different time, we decided to encourage people to buy hoaaa
because that was the moat important foundation of a family's
security. In this new era, we have to do more. We have to help
people trying to earn the education and skills that the new
economy requires. The cora of the American Dream has always bean
this: the people who take responsibility for their lives will
reap the rewards.
That is exactly what the Middle Class Bill of
Rights will do for another generation of hardworking Americana,
and I call upon this Congress to pass the Middle Class Bill of
Rights without delay.
Some of you don't like my plan. I suspect you even have a few
ideas of your own. So let me tall you what I want to do and what
I will not allow.
I will not accept a tax cut plan that explodes the deficit and
puts our economic recovery at risk.
12
Two years ago, it was an
�stre~ to cut the
open question whether
e would find the
deficit. Thanks to
courage of many people here -- and many
who did not return
to do what others
the deficit by $
o take their seats in ~is house -- we began
\
aid they would do for years. We Deaocrats cut
billion. That's nearly
\
$~1,000
for every
family of four in our nation. And we did it while lowering taxes
on 15 million working familiea with children and spreading the
tax burden more fairly. [story of finding woman who knew she had
gotten a tax cut?]
This year, I will insist again that we match any new tax cuts,
dollar for dollar, with real cuts in government spending. But I
will not pay for any tax cuta with cuts in social Security and
Medicare. They eliminated poverty among our parents. And no
matter how different our times, our obligation remains the saae:
to give the people who work hard all their lives the secure ·
retirement they have earned. That is a sacred trust, and I will
not let anyone violate it.
Here's what I'll cut ·
departments -- inc
ding $11 billion from the Enerqy Department
and $7 billion f om the Transportation Department. We're going to
~-\
extend
tune
freez
1!/
$~bil
on all other domestic spending programs, to the
on. We will eliminate the Interstate Commerce
government's helium program and tk other
wasteful program.
13
�The budget I am sending you shows how we will do it -- line by
line. Anyone with a different plan owes it to the American people
to do the same thing. [balanced budget aaendment?]
Some of you say we should step out of the way and hope tax cuts
for the wealthiest spill over and help the reat of ua. We've
tried that before. It didn't work. The middle clasa suffered. And
I, for one, will not put my nama to any contract that trades our
children's future for tax breaks for people who don't need thea.
This is my teat. Will what we do advance the interests of middle
class faailiea? Will it support their values? Will it help thea
build stronger futures for their children? If it does, I will
support. If it does not, I will oppose it.
We made qreat proqresa on the economy, and with the Middle Class
Bill of Rights, we'll do more. But we neglected to deal with one
area that we cannot afford to walk away from -- and that is
heal~
~~
care.
The hard, cold fact is that, as we gather here tonight, there
million
insurance w
are·~~ ~
American working families who had health
spoke to you a year ago and who do not have it
tonight. The hard, cold fact is that there are millions and
~\\
\~~~J
·~
<J\
~-
~t'\Cb
millions more of you who still have health insurance, but who are ~S\'1
paying more for less coverage than a year ago. The hard, cold
14
�fact is that last year, for the first time in 25 years, we
reduced both defense and domestic spending, but over the long
term, the deficit will stili going up
~-
largely because health
care costs are still going up at three times the rata of
inflation.
We can't walk away from this problem just because it is
politically difficult. Last year we bit off mora than we could
chew. But evan though we may disagree on the pace or the road-aap
to reform, we have an obligation to overcome our differences to
take the first steps.
We can reform insurance, so that no American risks losing
coverage or facing skyrocketing prices when they change or lose a
job or a family member falls ill. We can find a way to help
families provide long-term care for a sick parent or a disabled
child. And, here in the richest country on Earth, we can find a
way to make sure that no child in America goes without health
coverage. Every member of this house has guaranteed health care.
Americans deserve nothing less.
Faced with these challenges at home, it is tempting to turn our
back on the world. And there are those in this chamber, who would
do just that. They want to hide behind borders, as if we could
escape the new, more complex, more confusing world.
vision is short-sighted. They underestimate America.
15
But their
�This new world has imposed on us -- the world's only superpower - qreat challenges and responsibilities.
our enemy of the last
half-century has passed into history, but age-old rivalries and
conflicts rage on. And problema that don't respect borders -overpopulation, environmental crises, terrorism -- loom larger
than ever before.
But this new world also challenges us to aake our people more
secure and more prosperous. That is why fro• the beginning of my
administration, I have exercised all my powers to keep our
country engaged in the world. [Mexico] I have -- and will
(
continue to -- work with Democrats and Republicans who believe we
must reach out and not retreat. And I will not let anyone or
anything divert the United states fro• this path.
One year ago, as many as 8,000 nuclear warheads in Russia -- each
powerful enough to incinerate
aimed at our nation.
a city
the size of
[tk) --
were
Tonight, for the first time since the
nuclear age began, not one nuclear weapon is aimed at our homes
or our children.
Tonight, because we and four former soviet
republics ratified the START I treaty, we are on the way to
destroying another 9,000 warheads loaded on missiles and bombers.
And, soon, three of those four republics will completely
eliminate their nuclear arsenals.
We've come so far so fast in the post-Cold War world that we've
16
�almost forgotten the anxieties of the nuclear age. But nothing my
Administration has done is more important -- or gives me greater
satisfaction·-- than the actions we've taken to make sure those
weapons pose· no risk to future ganeratio.ns.
In the year ahead, I will ask the Senate to approve START II
to eliminate another s,ooo [ck] warheads.
The United States will
lead the charge to renew the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to
enact a comprehensive test ban and efforts to halt nuclear
weapons testing and eliminate chemical weapons.
To stop, and
eventually roll back, North Korea's potentially deadly nuclear
program, we will continue to implement the agreement we have
reached with that nation.
It's a s.art, tough deal -- and I
challenge any critic to devise a.plan that better guarantees
constant inspection and safeguards our allies and ourselves.
our worldwide campaign to find and destroy materials that can be
used to make nuclear bombs is part of a larger strategy to combat
terrorism.
I have asked the director of the FBI to lead our
efforts to submit to Congress comprehensive legislation to
strengthen our hand in combatting terrorists, whether they strike
at home or abroad.
As the people who bombed the World Trade
Center can testify, the United States will hunt down terrorists
and bring them to justice.
From my first day in office I have pledged that our nation would
17
�maintain the best equipped, best trained and best prepared
fighting force on the face of the Earth.
are.
We have -- and they
To make sure our military is ready for action-- and to·
provide the pay and quality of life that the military and their
families deserve -- I have asked this Congress to add $25 billion
more in defense spending over the next six years.
repeat that request.
Tonight I
We ask much of our armed forces.
They are
called to service in many ways -- and we must give them what they
need and deserve.
Time after time, in the last year, our troops showed America at ·
its best. They took charge in the terrible refugee camps on the
border of Rwanda and saved hundreds of thousands of lives that
·UJ'0'Jtt,~~ (
would have bean lost to starvation and di-se.
$6\·~ 13
'
In the Persian Gulf, they llOVed rapidly and d.,-c;{.ivaly -- forcing (
Saddam Hussein to back off when he threat
our promises.
We kept the peace.
that he -- and other tyrants aro
And in Haiti, the fact that o
convinced that country's
when American
people in the
An
~~==ait.
We kept
we sent Saddam a message
the world -- will remember.
troops were poised for invasion
tors that their time was up. And
those shores, they were greeted by
ort-Au-Prince, waving our flag· and
carrying signs that bore three simple words: "Thank you,
America." our men and women in uniform have helped the Haitian
people beat back the darkness of repression. Tonight, they are
18
z
\)
¢'
�findinq their own way back to democracy and hope.
our success in Haiti is but one sbininq example of the spirit of
reconciliation that has swept the
qlobe~
Five years after the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the wonders have not ceased. south
Africans lininq up for hours, even days, to vote and to turn the
prisoner, Nelson Mandala, into the President, Nelson Mandala • • •
Israelis and Jordanians discardinq decades of war to embrace a
peace of the qenerations ••• catholics and Protestants endinq
centuries of bloodshed in the hopes of brinqinq peace to Northern
Ireland • • • and the peoples of Central and Eastern Europa
livinq for the first time since World war II, without soviet
troops on their soil.
We Americans have played an important role in brinqinq this
history to life -- and that is somethinq every one of us can take
pride in. People the world over are watching, wonderinq which
side will prevail in the ancient struqqle of hope versus fear. In
that struqqle, America is the beacon. And our success is the
measure of hope.
Makinq our people ready to carry on the work of democracy will
take more than all these thinqs. More than our ideas chanqinq the
world, or equippinq all Americans to compete in the new economy.
More than a qovernment that serves us batter and wiser. There are
many chanqes like those we can make from the outside in -- the
19
�things you and I must do here. But sometimes the answers have to
come from the values and the stirrings and the voices that speak
to us from within. And those voices tell us we must accept our
responsibility for ourselves, for our faailies, for our
communities and, yea, for our country.
Citizenship has never been easy, and thaaa times are no
exception. We see our families and our communities coming apart.
our common ground is shifting out from under us. The PTA, the
town hall meeting, the ball park -- it's hard to find the time
and space for the things that matter most. The ideas that once
united us -- liberty, equality, democracy -- seam to tear us
apart.
That is not the America that we love, and it is not the America
we will build.
The choices wa make hare in this chamber can make
a difference. But the choices they have made and the choices of
millions of other Americans will make the real difference.
We
must make citizenship matter aqain.
Responsibility is for everybody. For our corporate leaders: We
will bring down the deficit and expand markets. But you have to
\
keep jobs in this country and raise your worker's wages when they
help you do well.
For the entertainment industry: We will fight to the death for
20
�free speech. But you have to respect our oldest values and stop
glorifying sax and violence, not because we will make you, but
because you should.
For the players and owners who have brought the game of baseball
to a halt:
The young people of Allarica are watching.
You have a
responsibility to worry less about how many millions you can
make, and more about what kind of role models you make.
Responsibility is for everybody. We will keep schools open late
to give young people an alternative to drugs and gangs. But your
children won't learn the difference between right and wrong,
/ t a l l th
1' !fl~ ~0g73
Citizens must be able to exercise their right to make the moat
personal choices about their lives without coming under attack.
And as your President, I condemn the murders at abortion clinics
and will do everything in my power to keep you safe. But when
there are over 300 abortions for every 1000 births in_America, we
all have a responsibility to make abortion less necessary.
We ought to promote every alternative to abortion. That means
adoption. It means stopping the epidemic of teen pregnancies and
births where there is no marriage. I have sent congress a plan to
target schools all over the country with anti-pregnancy programs
21
�that work. But qovernment can only do so much. Tonight, I am
callinq on reliqious, business and civic leaders to join together
in a National campaign Aqainst Teen Pregnancy -- to m&ke a
difference.
We have to send the stronqest messaqe possible to our teenagers:
Don't have sax. Don't qat pregnant, don't father a child if you
aren't married, if you aren't ready to raise that child, if you
aren't ready to love that child.
Responsibility is for everybody. And nothinq has done more to
undermine our sense of responsibility than our failed welfare
system. It rewards welfare over work. It causa families to break
up. It lets millions of parents qat away without payinq child
support.
That is why I have worked so lonq to reform welfare. We have made
a qood start. In the last two years, my administration has qiven
more states the chance to find their own ways to reform welfare
than the past two administrations combined. Last year, I
introduced the most sweepinq welfare reform plan ever presented
by an administration.
We have to make welfare what it was meant to be: a second chance,
not a way of life. We'll help those on welfare move to work as
quickly as possible, provide child care and teach skills if they
22
�need them for up to two years. But after that, the rule will be
simple: Anyone who can work must qo to work.
If a parent isn't payinq child support, we'll make them pay.
We'll suspend their driver's licenses, track them across state
lines and make them work off what they owe. Governments don't
raise children. Parents do.
Now we aqrea with soma of you hera -- up to a point. You want to
punish poor children for the mistakes of their parents. You want
to leave children homeless, hungry and on their own. Well, there
has always been poverty in America. But there has never bean
poverty in the American spirit. We are not a nation that laavchildran on doorsteps, abandons those with AIDS, locks out people
with disabilities.
Let this be the year we end welfare as we know it. But let this
also be the year we stop using this issue to divide America.
No one is more eaqer to end welfare than the people who are
trapped on it. Just ask Lynn Woolsey, who worked her way off
welfare and is now a Conqresswoman from California.
My principle is clear: People who do riqht by this country should
be rewarded, not carry the burden for those who don't. That's why
my administration has moved aqqressively to secure our borders
aqainst illeqal immiqration
hirinq a record number of border
23
�guards; deportinq twice as many criminals aliens as ever before,
and crackinq down on illeqal aliens who try to take American
jobs.
But, we must be wise enouqh to know the difference between
handlinq illeqal immiqrants and manbandlinq legal i . .iqranta. In
this qreat nation of immiqranta, hate doaan' t qovern.
I know it has become fashionable to aabrace Franklin D.
Roosevelt. So we ouqht to remember exactly what he said: "Human
kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of
a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel in order to be
touqh.•
It· is fitting to stop on Franklin Roosevelt. Fifty lonq years aqo
this April, he passed from the nation that loved him so much,
leavinq us to cross over from one era to the next without hia.
But he left us a guiding star, the certain knowledqe that, a
nation
~
have to be brave in the face of chanqe to be touqh.
That, in the end, is what those qood citizens in the qallery
toniqht can teach each and every one of us aqain.
Jack Lucas knows that lesson better than anyone.
I didn't tell
you everythinq about Mr. Lucas earlier. February 20, 1945 was no
ordinary day for a boy from tktktktkt. As morninq broke over the
Pacific, he crouched at the base of a hill on a tiny, distant
island -- on Iwo Jima. ·(story of climbinq the hill to save
lives]. And for that selfless act, Jack Lucas became the younqest
24
�man in this century to be awarded the congressional Medal of
Honor. He was the same aqe then that his grandson John is today - just 17 years old.
His act of couraqe, and millions of others from those distant
times, blazed the trail for the world we now leave. It seams so
lonq aqo. But the lessons for our country are fresh. They had
their morninqs f uncertainty. But they found the strenqth to pull
toqether and sWIUDoned the courage to cliab those hills. They
saved the world. They won our freedom. They qave birth to a great
era.
How we must qive birth to another. We must accept the
responsibility to make the moat of our opportunity. We must find
the strenqth to unite despite our differences. We must summon the
couraqe to climb our own hills -- and embrace the new era.
This is a qreat country, and we are a great people. If we are
confident, if we reach out, if we have faith in our own lives,
we can do this, for ourselves and our children. I believe with
all my heart that our best days are still to come.
God Bless You. And God Bless the People of the United States of
America.
25
�that work. But government can only do so much. Tonight, I am
calling on religious, business and civic leaders to join together
in a National campaign Against Teen Pregnancy -- to make a
difference.
We have to send the strongest massage possible to our teenagers:
Don't have sex. Don't get pregnant, don't father a child if you
aren't married, if you aren't ready to raise that child, if you
aren't ready to love that child.
Responsibility is for everybody. And nothing has done more to
undermine our sense of responsibility than our failed welfare
system. It- rewards welfare over work. It cause families to break
up. It lets millions of parents gat away without paying child
support.
That is why I have worked so long to reform welfare. We have made
a good start. In the last two years, my administration has given
more states the chance to find their own ways to reform welfare
than the past two administrations combined. Last year, I
introduced the most sweeping welfare reform plan ever presented
by an administration.
We have to make welfare what it was meant to be: a second chance,
not a way of life. We'll help those on welfare move to work as
quickly as possible, provide child care and teach skills if they
22
�need them for up to two years. But after that, .the rule will be
simple: Anyone who can work must go to work.
If a parent isn't paying child support, we'll make thea pay.
We'll suspend their driver's licenses, track them across state
lines and make them work off what they owe. Governments don't
raise children. Parents do.
Now we agree with some of you hare -- up to a point. You want to
punish poor children for the mistakes of their parents. You want
to leave children homeless, hungry and on their own. Well, there
has always been poverty in America. But there has never been
poverty in the American spirit. We are not a nation that leaves
children on doorsteps, abandons those with AIDS, locka out people
with disabilities.
Let this be the year we end welfare as we know it. But let this
also be the year we stop using this issue to divide America.
No one is more eager to end welfare than the people who are
trapped on it. Just ask Lynn Woolsey, who worked her way off
welfare and is now a Congresswoman from California.
My principle is clear: People who do right by this country should
be rewarded, not carry the burden for those who don't. That's why
my administration has moved aggressively to secure our borders
against illegal immigration
hiring a record number of border
23
�•
guards; deporting twice as many criminals aliens as ever before,
and cracking down on illegal aliens who try to take American
jobs.
But, we must be wise enough to know the difference between
handling illegal immigrants and manhandling legal i . .igrants. In
this great nation of immigrants, hate doesn't govern.
I know it has become fashionable to embrace Franklin D.
Roosevelt. So we ought to remember exactly what he said: "Ruman
kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of
a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel in order to be
tough."
It is fitting to stop on Franklin Roosevelt. Fifty long years aqo
this April, he passed from the nation that loved him so much,
leaving us to cross over from one era to the next without him.
But he left us a guiding star, the certain knowledge that, a
nation
~
have to be brave in the face of change to be tough.
That, in the end, is what those good citizens in the gallery
tonight can teach each and every one of us again.
Jack Lucas knows that lesson better than anyone.
I didn't tell
you everything about Mr. Lucas earlier. February 20, 1945 was no
ordinary day for a boy from tktktktkt. As morning broke over the
Pacific, he crouched at the base of a hill on a tiny, distant
island -- on Iwo Jima. [story of climbing the hill to save
lives). And for that selfless act, Jack Lucas became the youngest
24
�man in this century to be awarded the Congressional Medal of
•
Honor. He was the same age then that his grandson John is today - just 17 years old.
His act of courage, and millions of others from those distant
times, blazed the trail for the world we now leave. It seaaa so
long ago. But the lessons for our country are fresh. They had
their
mornings~f
uncertainty. But they found the strength to pull
toqether and summoned the couraqe to clillb those hills. They
\'
saved the world. They won our freedom. They gave birth to a great
era.
Now we must give birth to another. We must accept the
responsibility to make the moat of our opportunity. We must find
the strength to unite despite our differences. We must summon the
courage to climb our own hills -- and embrace the new era.
This is a great country, and we are a great people. If we are
confident, if we reach out, if we have faith in our own lives,
we can do this, for ourselves and our children. I believe with
all my heart that our best days are still to come.
God Bless You. And God Bless the People of the United States of
America.
25
:2
v:''
sSb'1°
�•
.
. .
January 23, 1995
Draft#_
STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
To Be Delivered
January 24, 1995
Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the 104th Congress, my fellow
new course, beyond partisanship and
pettiness.
hear you.
Ou~
possibilities are
limitless. But we've got to pull together, face our challenges together, act together.
First, let's understand that while our nation is enjoying peace and prosperity,
too many of our people are working harder and harder for less and less. While our
business are restructuring and growing more competitive, too many people can't be
sure of having a job next year or even next month, even in a profitable enterprise.
We have.almost six million new jobs, the lowest combined rates of unemployment and
-,..
inflation in over 25 years. But the rising tide is not lifting all boats .
......--
It is not just our material
~hich are at iss;, but things far more
precious: our children, our families, our values. From crime, violence and drugs.
From teen pregnancy and permanent welfare dependency. In 1992 and 1994 the
people demanded action on these issues. We have made a beginning. But there is
much more to be done.
- 1-
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
Let us rise to the occasion. Let us put aside partisanship, pettiness and anger.
As we embark on a new course, let us put our country first, remembering Thomas
Jefferson's famous instruction: we are all
Repub~ all Democrats.
\.J.._
...u-
We must stop exploiting the fear and frustrations of our people, and start to
build and unify our nation. We cannot ask Americans to be better citizens if we are
not better servants. Here in this house, the sanctuary of democracy, we are the
' keepers of a noble trust. We must be faithful to that trust. In our own time, working
with Congresses, in which their party ·was not in the majority, Harry Truman
summoned us to build prosperity at home and to defend freedom around the world.
And Ronald Reagan exhorted us to carry on until the twilight struggle against
Communism was won.
And I know I sfak for all Americans when I wish President and Mrs. Reagan
strength and
Gods~I tonight, and that I will have the support of all Americans when
I say that I have decided to name our next two aircraft carriers for two great leaders
of the Cold War era-- Harry Truman and Ronald Reagan.
Post-Cold War America is a very different place. Its main features are the
global economy with new opportunities and new pressures on jobs and incomes; the
information revolution, with its emphasis on learning, flexibility and communications;
and the profound challenges we face to work, family, and community. Our mission is
to preserve the American Dream and to make sure that we move into the twenty-first
century the world's strongest force for freedom and democracy.
- 2-
c)tlt~ ·
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
To achieve it, we must do three things: One, build a new economy in which all
Americans who work hard have a chance to live up their God-given potential. Two,
build a New Covenant in which opportunity and responsibility go hand-in-hand, and
we all understand we can't have one without the other. Three, reduce the size and
scope of government and reshape it to meet the new challenges, and to be more
responsive to the will of the people.
Let's start with the need to reduce the size and burden of government, to create
a government that is smaller and smarter, that earns the trust of the people, and that
gives them the power to meet the demands of this new era. Two years ago, when we
got here, others had been saying they would cut government, but not much happened.
And there was no real analysis of what was fat and what was meat. We went to work
to change that. Cutting over a quarter of a trillion dollars in spending. Cutting more
than 300 domestic programs. Eliminating more than 100,000 from the federal
government in the last two years alone -- with every penny of the cuts going to pay
for putting 100,000 ·more police officers on the streets. We will cut a total of more
than a quarter million positions in the next two years. By the time I address you next
-K /~ year -- based on decisions we have already made -- we will have made the
*\l government the smallest it has been in thirty years.
Under the leadership of Vice President Gore, we have stopped doing a lot of
things that cost you money. Previous efforts to streamline government simply
gathered dust in a warehouse, but we put ours into action. The age of the $500
-3-
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
hammer is goneJ\The government's 10,000 page personnel manual is history. The
SBA loan form has been cut from __ to __ . FEMA -- the federal disaster agency
-- has gone from being a disaster to helping people. Victims of the Mississippi River
floods got their checks in half the·time it used to take. Roads were rebuilt in record
time in California after the earthquake. And because the federal government moved
fast, all but 40 of the 5,600 schools damaged in the earthquake are back in business
educating our children. [ck]
But we're going to cut again this year. With round two of reinventing
government, we are going to make our government work better, and do less. One
example: Our country has 60 separate federal programs to help find housing for
people who need help. We're going to turn those 60 into three-- and let communities
decide how best to spend the money.
We'll cut a total of $20 billion from five federal departments, including $11
billion from the Energy Department and $7 billion from the Transportation
Department. We're going to extend our freeze on all other domestic programs to the
tune of $52 billion. We're going to eliminate the Interstate Commerce Commission,
the federal government's helium program, and other wasteful programs. The budget I
am sending you cuts another $140 billion in spending, line by line, without cuttings
things that we shouldn't cut: Social Security, Medicare, veterans programs, aid to
education -- from expanded Head Start to expanded college loans for the middle class.
Besides cutting spending, we should also cut government regulation and give
-4-
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
more authority to and put less burden on state and local governments and the private
sector. In the last two years, we have given more than two dozen states freedom from
federal regulations to pursue both welfare and health care reform. We have reduced
unnecessary banking and trucking regulations, saving billions.
Let's slash and streamline all the regulations we can. The Vice President's
Task Force is now taking a hard look at that for us. While we're at it, let's not
'
~ VVJI'-L..
'S !NV-
.o-
~b vl1
tk;..
Hdlh
_
g.
'V-
overlook the IRSl<I ipplaud Senater Pryor BREI SeRater Gruslb(Oi introdueiRg the)
.
\,.:. p
~
,.
~·Bill gf~ICa§ to workir!g Wilti:drem ~~
Let's
join together to stop passing programs we can't pay for and passing the cost on to the
states.
I'll work with you to cut government JJJB~...,...~Iifft~iiiizii*li'i•iilijf~&li.~~l}ut you must
work with me to clean it up. The American people are not just angry at government.
They are angry at Washington.._ And it is up to us to restore their trust. You've made
a good start by passing a law applying to Congress the laws you apply to the private
sector, which I signed yesterday. But we have a lot more to do. The American
people look at their nation's capital, and they see a city of intrigue where the wellconnected and the well-protected milk the. system, and the interests of people are left
out. Three times as many lobbyists roam the streets and corridors of Washington as
did 20 years ago.
As this new Congress was opening its doors, tobacco lobbyists passed out
invitations to members for ann all-expenses paid golf weekend in Florida. [ck] Fancy
- 5-
\
~Q
v
<l'>
�..Ill
•
'
...
January 23, 1995
Draft#_
meals, free travel, expensive gifts.,wice this month, you have voted to keep them
coming. Tonight, I challenge you to stop taking them-- now, without waiting for
legislation to pass. Then send me the strongest possible bill, and I'll sign it.
Pass a law to make the lobbyists tell the people who they work for, what
they're spending and what they want. When Congress killed that law last year, the
lobbyists actually stood in the halls and cheered. But, I guarantee you, the people
weren't cheering at home. Let's finally give 1luml something to cheer about.
Let's get at the role of big money in our elections. Cap the cost of campaigns
and put the PACs in their place. And let's make the people's airwaves an instrument
for democracy by giving free TV time to candidates.
- 6-
�-
January 23, 1995
Draft#_
Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the 104th Congress, my
fellow Americans.
Once again, our democracy has spoken.
has sent its message.
Congress.
In a loud clear voice, it
I congratulate the new members of
Now l Jutew he'' you felt when the American people vot~
In these two elections, America has not been singing, but
shouting, for a new course, beyond partisanship and pettiness.
Let us answer back: We get it.
are limitless.
We hear you.
Our possibilities
But we've got to pull together, face our
challenges together, act together.
First, let's understand that while our nation is enjoying peace
and prosperity, too many of our people are working harder and
harder for less and less.
While our business are restructuring
and growing more competitive, too many people can't be sure of
having a job next year or even next month, even in a profitable
enterprise.
We have almost six million new jobs, the lowest
combined rates of unemployment and inflation in over 25 years.
But the rising tide is not lifting all boats.
- 1-
�-
January 23, 1995
Draft#_·_
It is not just our material riches which are at issue, but things
far more precious: our children, our families, our values.
crime, violence and drugs.
welfare dependency.
on these issues.
From
From teen pregnancy and permanent
In 1992 and 1994, the people demanded action
We have made a beginning.
But there is much
more to be done.
Let us rise to the occasion.
pettiness and anger.
Let us put aside partisanship,
As we embark on a new course, let us put
our country first, remembering Thomas Jefferson's famous
instruction: We are all Republicans; we are all Democrats.
We cannot ask Americans to be better citizens if we are not
better servants. We must stop exploiting the fear and
frustrations of our people, and build and unify our nation.
Here
in this House, the sanctuary of democracy, we are the keepers of
a noble trust.
We must be faithful to that trust.
In our own time, working with Congresses, in which their party
was not in the majority, Harry Truman summoned us to build
prosperity at home and to defend freedom around the world.
And
Ronald Reagan exhorted us to carry on until the twilight struggle
against Communism was won.
And I know I speak for all Americans when I wish President and
Mrs. Reagan strength and Godspeed tonight.
-2-
�-
January 23, 1995
Draft#_
Post-Cold War America is a very different place.
Its main
features are the global economy with new opportunities and new
pressures on jobs and incomes; the information revolution, with
its emphasis on learning, flexibility and communications; and the
profound challenges we face to our work, our families, and our
communities.
Our mission is to preserve the American Dream and
to make sure that we move into the twenty-first century the
world's strongest force for freedom and
democr~cy.
To achieve it, we must do three things: One, build a new economy
in which all Americans who work hard have a chance to live up to
their God-given potential.
Two, build a New Covenant in which
opportunity and responsibility go hand-in-hand, and we all
understand we can't have one without the other.
Three, reduce
the size and scope of government and reshape it to meet the new
challenges, and to be more responsive to the will of the people.
Let's start with the need to reduce the size and burden of
government, to create a government that is smaller and smarter,
that earns the trust of the people, and that gives them the power
to meet the demands of this new era.
Two years ago, when I
became President, others had been saying they would cut
government, but not much happened.
And there was no real
analysis of what was fat and what was meat.
change that.
spending.
We went to work to
cutting over a quarter of a trillion dollars in
cutting more than 300 domestic programs.
-3-
Eliminating
�-
January 23, 1995
Draft#_
more than 100,000 from the federal government in the last two
years alone -- with every penny of the cuts going to pay for
putting 100,000 more police officers on the streets.
We will cut
a total of more than a quarter million positions in the next two
years.
By the time I address you next year -- based on decisions
we have already made
we will have made the government the
smallest it has been in thirty years.
Under the leadership of Vice President Gore, we have stopped
doing a lot of things that cost you money.
Previous efforts to
streamline government simply gathered dust in a warehouse, but we
put ours into action.
The age of the $500 hammer is gone.
government's 10,000 page personnel manual is history.
loan form has been cut from
to
•
The
The SBA
FEMA -- the federal
disaster agency -- has gone from being a disaster to helping
people.
Victims of the Mississippi River floods got their checks
in half the time it used to take.
Roads were rebuilt in record
time in California after the earthquake.
And because the federal
government moved fast, all but 40 of the 5,600 schools damaged in
the earthquake are back in business educating our children.
But we're going to cut again this year.
[ck]
With round two of
Government, we are going to make our government work
better,
One example: Our country has 60 separate
federal programs to-help find housing for people who need help.
We're going to turn those 60 into three -- and let communities
decide how best to spend the money.
- 4-
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
We'll cut a total of $20 billion from five federal departments,
including $11 billion from the Energy Department and $7 billion
from the Transportation Department.
freeze on all other domestic programs
We're going to extend our
t~~
tune of $52 billion.
We're going to eliminate the Interstat~erce Commission, the
federal government's helium program, and other wasteful programs.
The budget I am sending you cuts another $140 billion in
spending, line by line, without cuttings things that we shouldn't
cut: Social Security, Medicare, veterans programs, aid to
lowu anf'
education -- from expanded Head Start to expanded college loans
for the middle class.
Besides cuttinq spending, we should also cut government
regulation and give more authority to and put less burden on
state and local governments and the private sector.
In the last
two years, we have given more than two dozen states freedom from
federal regulations to pursue both welfare and health care
reform.
We have reduced unnecessary banking and trucking
regulations, saving billions.
Let's slash and streamline all the regulations we can.
The Vice
President's Task Force is now taking a hard look at that for us.
While we're at it, let's not overlook the IRS.
0
We will make sure
it respects all the rights of every taxpayer. Let's join together
-s-
(!:)
�-
January 23, 1995
Draft#_
to stop passing programs we can't pay for and passing the cost on
to th,.states.
I'll work with you to cut government~ending and regulatio~
You work with me to clean it up.
just angry at government.
The American people are not
They are angry at Washington.
And it
is up to us to restore their trust.
You've made a good start by passing a law applying to Congress
·the laws you apply to the private sector, which I signed
yesterday.
But we have a lot more to do.
The American people
look at their nation's capital, and they see a city of intrigue
where the well-connected and the well-protected milk the system,
and the interests of people are left out. Three times as many
lobbyists roam the streets and corridors of Washington as did 20
years ago.
As this new Congress was opening its doors, tobacco lobbyists
passed out invitations to members for an all-expenses paid golf
weekend in Florida. [ck]
gifts.
Fancy meals, free travel, expensive
Business as usual. Twice this month, you have voted to
keep them coming.
Tonight, I challenge you to stop taking them
- now, without waiting for legislation to pass.
strongest possible bill, and I'll sign it.
-6-
Then send me the
�-
January 23, 1995
. Draft#_
Pass a law to make the lobbyists tell the people who they work
for, what they're spendinq and what they want.
When Conqress
killed that law last year, the lobbyists actually stood in the
halls and cheered.
But, I quarantee you, the people weren't
cheerinq at home.
Let's finally qive tngm somethinq to cheer
I
•
about.
Let's qet at the role of biq money in our elections.
cost of campaiqns and put the PACs in their place.
cap the
And let's
make the people's airwaves an instrument for democracy by qivinq
free TV time to candidates.
This, then, is an aqenda of chanqe for the kind of qovernment the
American people want to make the most of their own lives.
Reform, real cuts, more authority to the states, derequlation.
But, when we cut, let's remember a few thinqs.
Younq children
hold our future in their hands; the elderly have made us what we
are; we owe a debt to our veterans.
Better education and medical
research are critical·to our well-beinq and our economic strenqth
-- We shouldn't cut them.
When we qive more flexibility to the states, let's remember
certain fundamental national needs that must be addressed in
every state, north and south, east and west.
Think aqain of our
children. Every child should be immunized aqainst childhood
- 7-
�-
January 23, 1995
Draft#_
disease. Every child should get lunch at school. Head start
should be there for pre-schoolers everywhere. Pregnant women
should get the medical care and food they need; and infants must
get milk everywhere -- it's in the national interest.
When we deregulate, let's remember that national action in the
national interest has made our food safer and its nutritional
content clear.
It has improved the safety of our transportation
system, protected children from child labor abuse, made the
workplace safer, provided for family leave time for people to
take care of newborn children and sick parents without losing
their jobs.
It has made our air and water cleaner. It has made
our nursing homes more humane.
Do we need more common sense and fairness in our regulations?
You bet we do.
Do we need to abandon nursing home standards or
workplace safety standards or environmental protection?
must not.
No.
We
We can have common sense and save drinking water.
.We
can have fairness and clean up our toxic dumps.
We cannot
abandon our obligation to safety in the air, on the highways, in
the workplace, or in our nursing homes.
TBB BBW.BCOIIOXY
Ultimately, all we are doing in downsizing and changing the focus
of government is reflecting, in government, the changes already
taking place in our economy.
We are moving from an industrial
-8-
�-
January 23, 1995
Draft#_
aqe of hierarchy, bureaucracy, and conformity, to an information
aqe of flexibility, adaptability, and constant learninq.
We must
have a qovernment that can be a partner in makinq this new
economy work for all Americans.
We have two jobs: To expand the economy, and to make sure the
benefits of qrowth reach all who are willinq to work for them.
For qrowth, we're on the riqht track.
Almost six million jobs in
two years. Exports boominq. Inflation down. Hiqh waqe jobs cominq
back.
A
record number of American entrepreneurs livinq the
American dream.
But too many people are beinq left out.
If we don't act, our
economy will probably do what it's done since 1978: Provide hiqh
income qrowth to the top 20 percent -- the top professional and
business people -- but qive very little to the next 60 percent -the staqnant middle class -- and no qrowth -- even fallinq back - to the bottom 20 percent.
We cannot let that continue.
Too many people are workinq harder
with less security, less income, less certainty they can even
afford a vacation, much less colleqe for their children or
retirement for themselves.
We cannot let this continue.
We are a middle class country.
and make us stronq.
Middle class values sustain us
We must [qrow] the middle class and shrink
- 9-
�-
January 23, 1995
Draft#_
the under class, while supporting those already
su~cessful
in the
new economy.
America is once again the world's strongest economy.
If we want
it to stay that way, those who work and have lifted our nation
must have more of its benefits.
There are two ways to do this.
education.
The first is to improve
If you want to raise your income in the information
age, you've got to get an education and always be able to get
more.
That's why we worked so hard to increase educational
opportunity from Head Start, to public schools, to
apprenticeships, to job training, to making college loans
available and more affordable for 20 million people.
The second thing we can do to raise incomes is to lower taxes.
In 1993, we took the first step with a working family tax cut for
15 million families with incomes of under $26,000 and increased
cuts for those working in new businesses [fix later].
Before we
could do more than that, we first had to get the deficit we
inherited down. And we had to get economic'growth up. We have
done both.
Now we
QAD
cut taxes more. But we should do it in a way that
promotes and reinforces our first objective of improving
- 10-
�-
January 23, 1995
Draft#_
education and empowerinq citizens to make the most of their own
lives.
- 11-
�-.
January 23, 1995
Draft#_
STATB OF TBB OBION ADDRESS
To Be Dalivere4
January 24, 1115
Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the 104th Congress, my
fellow Americans.
Once again, our democracy has spoken.
has sent its message.
Congress.
In a loud clear voice, it
I congratulate the new members of
Now I know how you felt when the American people voted
for change in 1992.
In these two elections, America has not been singing, but
shouting, for a new course, beyond partisanship and pettiness.
Let us answer back: We get it.
are limitless.
We hear you.
Our possibilities
But we've got to pull together, face our
challenges together, act together.
First, let's understand that while our nation is enjoying peace
and prosperity, too many of our people are working harder and
harder for less and less.
While our business are restructuring
and growing more competitive, too many people can't be sure of
having a job next year or even next month, even in a profitable
enterprise.
We have almost six million new jobs, the lowest
combined rates of unemployment and inflation in over 25 years.
But the rising tide is not lifting all boats.
----------~-~-~--
- 1-
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
It is not just our material riches which are at issue, but thinqs
far more precious: our children, our families, our values.
crime, violence and druqs.
welfare dependency.
on these issues.
From
From teen preqnancy and permanent
In 1992 and 1994, the people demanded action
We have made a beqinninq.
But there is much
more to be done.
Let us rise to the occasion.
pettiness and anqer.
Let us put aside partisanship,
As we embark on a new course, let us put
our country first, rememberinq Thomas Jefferson's famous
instruction: We are all Republicans; we are all Democrats.
We cannot ask Americans to be better citizens if we are not
better servants. We must stop exploitinq the fear and
frustrations of our people, and build and unify our nation.
Here
in this House, the sanctuary of democracy, we are the keepers of
a noble trust.
We must be faithful to that trust.
In our own time, workinq with Conqresses, in which their party
was not in the majority, Harry Truman summQned us to build
prosperity at home and to defend freedom around the world.
And
Ronald Reaqan exhorted us to carry on until the twiliqht struqqle
aqainst Communism was won.
And I.know I speak for all Americans when I wish President and
Mrs. Reaqan strenqth and Godspeed toniqht.
- 2-
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
Post-Cold War America is a very different place.
Its main
features are the global economy with new opportunities and new
pressures on jobs and incomes; the information revolution, with
its emphasis on learning, flexibility and communications; and the
profound challenges we face to our work, our families, and our
communities.
Our mission is to preserve the American Dream and
to make sure that we move into the twenty-first century the
world's strongest force for freedom and democracy.
To achieve it, we must do three things: One, build a new economy
in which all Americans who work hard have a chance to live up to
their God-given potential.
Two, build a New Coyenant in which
opportunity and responsibility go hand-in-hand, and we all
understand we can't have one without the other.
Three, reduce
the size and scope of government and reshape it to meet the new
challenges, and to be more responsive to the will of the people.
Let's start with the need to reduce the size and burden of
government, to create a government that is smaller and smarter,
that earns the trust of the people, and that gives them the power
to meet the demands of this new era.
Two years ago, when I
became President, others had been saying they would cut
government, but not much happened.
And there was no real
analysis of what was fat and what was meat.
change that.
spending.
We went to work to
cutting over a quarter of a trillion dollars in
CUtting more than 300 domestic programs.
- 3-
Eliminating
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
more than 100,000 from the federal government in the last two
years alone -- with every penny of the cuts going to pay for
putting 100,000 more police officers on the streets.
We will cut
a total of more than a quarter million positions in the next two
years.
By the time I address you next year -- based on decisions
we have already made
we will have made the government the
smallest it has been in thirty years.
Under the leadership of Vice President Gore, we have stopped
doing a lot of things that cost you money.
Previous efforts to
streamline government simply gathered dust in a warehouse, but we
put ours into action.
The age of the $500 hammer is gone.
government's 10,000 page personnel manual is history.
loan form has been cut from
to
The
The SBA
FEMA -- the federal
disaster agency -- has gone from being a disaster to helping
people.
Victims of the Mississippi River floods got their checks
in half the time it used to take.
Roads were rebuilt in record
time in California after the earthquake.
And because the federal
government moved fast, all but 4.0 of the 5, 600 schools damaged in
the earthquake are back in business educating our children.
But we're going to cut again this year.
[ck]
With round two of
Reinventing Government, we are going to make our government work
better, and do less.
One example: our country has 60 separate
federal programs to help find housing for people who need help.
We're going to turn those 60 into three -- and let communities
decide how best to spend the money.
-4-
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
We'll cut a total of $20 billion from five federal departments,
includinq $11 billion from the Enerqy Department and $7 billion
from the Transportation Department.
We're qoinq to extend our
freeze on all other domestic proqrams to the tune of $52 billion.
We're qoinq to eliminate the Interstate Commerce Commission, the
federal qovernment's helium proqram, and other wasteful proqrams.
The budqet I am sendinq you cuts another $140 billion in
spendinq, line by line, without cuttinqs thinqs that we shouldn't
cut: Social Security, Medicare, veterans proqrams, aid to
education -- from expanded Head Start to expanded colleqe loans
for the middle class.
Besides cuttinq spendinq, we should also cut qovernment
requlation and qive more authority to and put less burden on
state and local qovernments and the private sector.
In the last
two years, we have qiven more than two dozen states freedom from
federal requlations to pursue both welfare and health care
reform.
We have reduced unnecessary bankinq and truckinq
requlations, savinq billions.
Let's slash and streamline all the requlations we can.
The Vice
President's Task Force is now takinq a hard look at that for us.
While we're at it, let's not overlook the IRS.
We will make sure
it respects all the riqhts of every taxpayer. Let's join toqether
- 5-
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
to stop passinq proqrams we can't pay for and passinq the cost on
to the states.
I'll work with you to cut qovernment spendinq and requlation.
You work with me to clean it up.
just anqry at qovernment.
The American people are not
They are anqry at Washinqton.
And it
is up to us to rest'ore their trust.
You've made a qood start by passinq a law applyinq to conqress
the laws you apply to the private sector, which I siqned
yesterday.
But we have a lot more to do.
The American people
look at their nation's capital, and they see a city of intrique
where the well-connected and the well-protected milk the system,
and the interests of people are left out. Three times as many
lobbyists roam the streets and corridors of Washinqton as did 20
years aqo.
As this new Conqress was openinq its doors, tobacco lobbyists
passed out invitations to members for an all-expenses paid qolf
weekend in Florida. (ck] . Fancy meals, free travel, expensive
qifts.
Business as usual. Twice this month, you have voted to
keep them cominq.
Toniqht, I challenqe you to stop takinq them -
- now, without waitinq for leqislation to pass.
stronqest possible bill, and I'll siqn it.
- 6-
Then send me the
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
Pass a law to make the lobbyists tell the people who they work
for, what they're spending and what they want.
When Congress
killed that law last year, the lobbyists actually stood in the
halls and cheered.
cheering at home.
But, I guarantee you, the people weren't
Let's finally give
~
something to cheer
about.
Let's get at the role of big money in our elections.
cost of campaigns and put the PACs in their place.
Cap the
And let's
make the people's airwaves an instrument for democracy by giving
free TV time to candidates.
This, then, is an agenda of change for the kind of government the
American people want to make the most of their own lives.
Reform, real cuts, more authority to the states, deregulation.
But, when we cut, let's remember a few things.
Young children
hold our future in their hands; the elderly have made us what we
are; we owe a debt to our veterans.
Better education and medical
research are critical to our well-being and our economic strength
-- We shouldn't cut them.
When we give more flexibility to the states, let's remember
certain fundamental national needs that must be addressed in
every state, north and south, east and west.
Think again of our
children. Every child should be immunized against childhood
- 7-
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
disease. Every child should get lunch at school. Head Start
should be there for pre-schoolers everywhere. Pregnant women
should get the medical care and food they need; and infants must
get milk everywhere -- it's in the national interest.
When we deregulate, let's remember that national action in the
national interest has made our food safer and its nutritional
content clear.
It has improved the safety of our transportation
system, protected children from child labor abuse, made the
workplace safer, provided for family leave time for people to
take care of newborn children and sick parents without losing
their jobs.
It has made our air and water cleaner. It has made
our nursing homes more humane.
Do we need more common sense and fairness in our regulations?
You bet we do.
Do we need to abandon nursing home standards or
workplace safety standards or environmental protection?
must not.
No.
We
We can have common sense and save drinking water.
We
can have fairness and clean up our toxic dumps.
We cannot
abandon our obligation to safety in the air, on the highways, in
the workplace, or in our nursing homes.
'1'JIB BBW BCOIIOJIY
Ultimately, all we are doing in downsizing and changing the focus
of government is reflecting, in government, the changes already
taking place in our economy.
We are moving from an industrial
-8-
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
age of hierarchy, bureaucracy, and conformity, to an information
age of flexibility, adaptability, and constant learning.
We must
have a government that can be a partner in making this new
economy work for all Americans.
We have two jobs: To expand the economy, and to make sure the
benefits of growth reach all who are willing to work for them.
For growth, we're on the right track.
Almost six million jobs in
two years. Exports booming. Inflation down. High wage jobs coming
back. A record number of American entrepreneurs living the
American dream.
But too many people are being left out.
If we don't act, our
economy will probably do what it's done since 1978: Provide high
income growth to the top 20 percent -- the top professional and
business people -- but give very little to the next 60 percent -the stagnant middle class -- and no growth -- even falling back - to the bottom 20 percent.
We cannot let that continue.
Too many people are working harder
with less security, less income, less certainty they can even
afford a vacation, much less college for their children or
retirement for themselves.
We cannot let this continue.
We are a middle class country.
and make us strong.
Middle class values sustain us
We must [grow] the middle class and shrink
-9-
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
the under class, while supporting,those already successful in the
new economy.
America is once again the world's strongest economy.
If we want
it to stay that way, those who work and have lifted our nation/
There are two ways to do this.
.education.
The first is to improve
If you want to raise your income in the
info~tio
/
age, you've got to get an education and always be able to get
more..
That's why we worked so hard to increase educational
opportunity from Head Start, to public schools, to
apprenticeships, to job training, to making college loans
available and more affordable for 20 million people.
The second thing we can do to raise incomes is to lower taxes.
In 1993, we took the first step with a working family tax cut for
15 million families with incomes of under $26,000 and increased
I'
cuts for those working in new businesses' [fix later].
Before we
could do more than that, we first had to get the deficit we
inherited down. And we had to get economic growth up. We have
done both.
Now we £An cut taxes more. But we should do it in a way that
promotes and reinforces our first objective of improving
- 10-
~
,..-v· ~~
must have more of its benefits.
"J
~
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
education and empowering citizens to make the most of their own
lives.
The Middle Class Bill of Rights might well be called the Bill of
Rights and Responsibilities.
It will have four parts designed to
improve education and increase incomes for working families.
First, a tax deduction for all education and training after high
school.
We already give businesses the deduction for investments
in the future.
We already give citizens the deduction for
mortgage interest. But education is even more important to the
economic health and well-being of America than either of these,
and we should allow a deduction for it, as well.
Second, a $500 tax credit for all children under thirteen in
middle class households.
Third, an individual retirement account with tax-free
~ithdrawal
rights for the cost of education, health care, first-time home
buying, and care of a parent.
And fourth, a G.I. Bill for American workers.
We are going to
consolidate fifty[?] federal programs and offer the money, not to
state governments, but directly to eligible American workers.
you are laid off, or eligible for assistance because of a low
wage, you will get a voucher worth $2,600 a year for up to two
- 11 -
If
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
years to go to your local community college or any other program
you choose.
This middle class tax relief and educational assistance goes to
those who need it to raise their income and their children.
It
goes to people who are doing everything possible to make the most
of their own lives. We must do what's possible to provide it.
In the budget I will send you, the Middle Class Bill of Rights
will be paid for by budget cuts, cuts in bureaucracy, cuts in
programs, cuts in special interest subsidies.
And the cuts will
be more than twice the cost of the Middle Class Bill of Rights,
leaving tens of billions for further deficit reduction, without
cutting Social Security, Medicare, veterans' benefits, education,
aid for mothers and children, and medical research.
The deficit is cominq down three years in a row for the first
time since President Truman was in office, by more than $700
billion -- that's nearly $11,000 for every family of four in this
country.
We can say that thanks to the courage of many people
here who made the tough choices -- and many who did not return in
part because of that courage.
Because of what you did, we can give needed tax relief, raise
incomes, grow the economy, And control the deficit, and that's
.what we must do.
- 12-
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
I know a lot of you have your own ideas about tax relief.
we can work together.
Our test for any proposal should be: will
it create jobs and raise incomes for the middle class?
strengthen families and support children?
Will it
Will it (grow] the
middle class and shrink the under class?
support it.
I hope
If it does, we should
If it doesn't, we should oppose it.
There is one further issue we must discuss that affects the
incomes of lower income working people, people who are doing
their best, choosing work over welfare.
Two and a half million
Americans, often women with children, work full time for $4.25 an
hour [ck].
In terms of real buying power, that minimum wage is
at a ___ year low.
I know a lot of conventional economists say
raising the minimum wage costs jobs, but if the raise is
moderate, the evidence points in the other direction.
raising it will make work more attractive.
In fact,
But the main point is
that people can't live on $4.25 an hour in 1995.
Freshman members of Congress have been on the job less than a
month. But by the close of business today, 24 days into the new
year, each has already earned as much in their Congressional
salary as people who work under minimum wage make in an entire
year.
- 13-
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
In the past, the minimum wage has been a bipartisan issue.
I
challenge you to get together and find a way to raise the minimum
wage to a decent level without undue loss of jobs.
Last year, we almost came to blows over health care, but nothing
was done.
But the hard, cold fact is that, since the last state
of the Union Address, we know that another 1.1 million Americans
in working families have lost their coverage. The hard, cold fact
is that millions more, mostly workers who are self-employed and
in small businesses, have had their premiums, co-payments, and
deductibles skyrocket.
And the hard, cold fact is that health
costs are still holding the federal deficit up -- even after we
cut defense and domestic spending for the first time in 25 years
last year.
surely we can get together and do something constructive on this.
Let's at least pass insurance reform so that no American risks
losing coverage or facing skyrocketing prices when they change
jobs, or lose a job, or a family member falls ill.
Let's make
sure that every state has a voluntary pool so self-employed
people in small businesses can buy insurance at more affordable
rates.
Let's help families provide long-term care for a sick
parent or a disabled child.
Let's help workers who lose their
jobs keep health insurance coverage for a year while they look
for work.
And let's find a way to make sure our children have
health care.
Let's work together.
- 14-
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
Last year, we bit off more than we could chew.
This year, we
have to deliver something to the American people.
Let's work
together, step by step, and get something done.
AMBRICA UD 'l'BB WORLD
Much of what is on the American people's mind is devoted to
internal security concerns -- the security of our jobs and
incomes, our children, our streets, our health, our borders.
Now
that the Cold War is past, it is tempting to believe that all
security issues, with the possible exception of trade, reside
within our borders.
That is not so.
Our security depends upon our continued world leadership for
peace, freedom, and democracy.
We cannot be strong at home
without being strong abroad.
One year ago, as many as 8,000 nuclear warheads in Russia -- each
powerful enough to incinerate a city the size of [tk] -- were
aimed at our nation.
Tonight, for the first time since the
nuclear age began, not one nuclear weapon is aimed at our homes
or our children.
Tonight, because we and four former Soviet
republics ratified the START I treaty, we are on the way to
destroying another 9,000 warheads loaded on missiles and bombers.
And, soon, three of those four republics will completely
eliminate their nuclear arsenals.
- 15 -
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
We've come so far so fast in the post-Cold War world that it is
easy to take the decline of the nuclear threat for granted.
But
it is still there, and we are not finished yet.
In the year ahead, I will ask the Senate to approve START II
to eliminate another.S,OOO [ck] warheads.
The United States will
lead the charge to renew the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to
enact a comprehensive test ban and efforts to halt nuclear
weapons testing and eliminate chemical weapons.
To stop, and
eventually roll back, North Korea's potentially deadly nuclear
program, we will continue to implement the agreement we have
reached with that nation.
It's a smart, tough deal based on
guaranteed constant inspection, with safeguards for our allies
and ourselves.
our worldwide campaign to find and destroy materials that can be
used to make nuclear bombs is part of a larger strategy to combat
terrorism.
I have asked the director of the FBI to lead our
efforts to submit to congress comprehensive legislation to
strengthen our hand in combatting terrorists, whether they strike
at home or abroad.
As the people who bombed the World Trade
Center can testify, the United States is determined to hunt down
terrorists and bring them to justice.
means to do it.
- 16-
We must have all necessary
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
From my first day in office I have pledqed that our nation would
maintain the best equipped, best trained and best prepared
fiqhtinq force ori Earth.
We have -- and they are.
To make sure
our military is ready for action -- and to provide the pay and
quality of life .that the military and their families deserve
I
have asked this Conqress to add $25 billion more in defense
spendinq over the next six years.
· We ask much of our armed forces.
Toniqht I repeat that request.
They are called to service in
many ways -- and we must qive them and their families what they
need and deserve •
. Time after time, in the last year, our troops showed America at
its best. They took charqe in the terrible refuqee camps on the
border of Rwanda and saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
In the Persian Gulf, they moved rapidly and decisively to head
off another Iraqi threat to Kuwait.
In Haiti, our men and women
in uniform have qiven the Haitian people their freedom and
democracy back.
The United States has proudly supported free elections in South
Africa, the peace process in Northern Ireland, the removal of
Russian troops from Central and Eastern Europe, new economic
alliances in Asia, and, of course, in our own neiqhborhood with
the Summit of the Americas.
And, we have been honored to play a
- 17-
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
role in the unfolding peace process in the Middle East, including
the wonderful treaty between Israel and Jordan, the difficult but
important agreement between Israel and the PLO.
There is much to
be done and as we saw again yesterday, the fantatic and brutal
enemies of peace will stop at nothing to continue the bloodshed.
We must not let the peace process falter.
terrorism.
that
Accordingly, last night I signed an Executive Order
------·
of peace.
We must stand against
The United states will stand with the forces
We will work with Israel, Syria, and Lebanon until a
comprehensive peace is achieved.
This, then, my fellow Americans, is our agenda -- expanding
opportunity, not bureaucracy, enhancing security at home and
abroad, empowering people to make the most of their own lives.
It is
~mbitious
and achievable, but it is not enough.
We need
more than new ideas changing the world, or equipping all
Americans to compete in the new economy. More than a government
that is smaller, smarter and wiser. More than all the changes we
can make from the outside in.
Our fortunes also depend upon our
ability to answer questions from within, from the values and the
voices that speak to us from within. And those voices tell us we
must accept our responsibility for ourselves, for our families,
for our communities and, yes, for our country.
- 18-
-------~~--
---
--~------~-
--
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
Citizenship has never been easy, and these times are no
exception. We see our families and our communities coming apart.
Our common ground is shifting out from under us. The PTA, the
town hall meeting, the ball park -- it's hard to find the time
and space for the things that matter most. The ideas that once
united us -- liberty, equality, democracy -- seem to tear us
apart.
That is not the America that we love, and it is not the America
we will build.
The choices we make here in this chamber can make
a difference. But the choices they have made and the choices of
millions of other Americans will make the real difference.
We
must make citizenship matter again.
Responsibility is for everybody. For our corporate leaders: We
will bring down the deficit and expand markets •. But you have to
keep jobs in this country and raise your worker's wages when they
help you do well.
For the entertainment industry: We will fight to the death for
free speech. But you have to respect our oldest values and stop
glorifying sex and violence, not because we will make you, but
because you should.
For the players and owners who have brought the game of baseball
to a halt:
The young people of America are watching.
- 19-
You have a
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
responsibility to worry less about how many millions you can
make, and more about what kind of role models you make.
Responsibility is for·everybody. We will keep schools open late
to give young people an alternative to drugs and gangs. But your
children won't learn the difference between right and wrong,
unless you teach them
and they won't stay off drugs unless you
tell them not to.
Citizens must be able to exercise their right to make the most
personal choices about their lives without coming under attack.
And as your President, I condemn the murders at abortion clinics
and will do everything in my power to keep you safe. But when
there are over 300 abortions for every 1000 births in America, we
all have a responsibility to make abortion less necessary.
We ought to promote every alternative to abortion. That means
adoption. It means stopping the epidemic of teen pregnancies and
births where there is no marriage. I have sent Congress a plan to
target schools all over the country with anti-pregnancy programs
that work. But government can only do so much. Tonight, I am
calling on religious, business and civic leaders to join together
in a National Campaign Against Teen Pregnancy -- to make a
difference.
-20-
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
We have to send the strongest message possible to our teenagers:
Don't have sex. Don't get pregnant, don't father a child if you
aren't married, if you aren't ready to raise that child, if you
aren't ready to love that child.
Responsibility is for everybody. And nothing has done more to
undermine our sense of responsibility than our failed welfare
system. It rewards welfare over work. It cause families to break
up. It lets millions of parents get away without paying child
support.
That is why I have worked so long to reform welfare. We have made
a good start. In the last two years, my administration has given
more states the chance to find their own ways to reform welfare
than the past two administrations combined. Last year, I
introduced the most sweeping welfare reform plan ever presented
by an administration.
We have to make welfare what it was meant to be: a second chance,
not a way of life. We'll help those on welfare move to work as
quickly as possible, provide child care and teach skills if they
need them for up to two years. But after that, the rule will be
simple: Anyone who can work must go to work.
If a parent isn't paying child support, we'll make them pay.
We'll suspend their driver's licenses, track them across state
- 21 -
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
lines and make them work off what they owe. Governments don't
raise children. Parents do.
Now we agree with some of you here -- up to a point. You want to
punish poor children for the mistakes of their parents .• You want
to leave children homeless, hungry and on their own. Well, there
has always been poverty in America. But there has never been
poverty in the American spirit. We are not a nation that leaves
children on doorsteps, abandons those with AIDS, locks out people
with disabilities.
Let this be the year we end welfare as we know it. But let this
also be the year we stop using this issue to divide America.
No one is more eager to end welfare than the people who are
trapped on it. Just ask Lynn Woolsey, who·worked her way off
welfare and is now a Congresswoman from California.
My principle is clear: People who do right by this country should
be rewarded, not carry the burden for those who don't. That's why
my administration has moved aggressively to secure our borders
against illegal immigration -- hiring a record number of border
guards; deporting twice as many criminals aliens as ever before,
and cracking down on illegal aliens who try to take American
jobs.
But, we must be wise enough to know the difference between
handling illegal immigrants and manhandling legal immigrants. In
this great nation of immigrants, hate doesn't govern.
- 22-
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
I know it has become fashionable to embrace Franklin D.
Roosevelt. So we ought to remember exactly what he said: "Human
kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of
a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel in order to be
tough."
It is fitting to stop on Franklin Roosevelt. Fifty long years ago
this April, he passed from the nation that loved him so much,
leaving us to cross over from one era to the next without him.
But he left us a guiding star, the certain knowledge that, a
nation
~
have to be brave in the face of change to be tough.
That, in the end, is what those good citizens in the gallery
tonight can teach each and every one of us again.
Jack Lucas knows that lesson better than anyone.
I didn't
te~l
you everything about Mr. Lucas earlier. February 20, 1945 was no
ordinary day for a boy from tktktktkt. As morning broke over the
Pacific, he crouched at the base of a hill on a tiny, distant
island -- on Iwo Jima. [story of climbing the hill to save
lives]. And for that selfless act, Jack Lucas became the youngest
man in this century to be awarded the Congressional Medal of
Honor. He was the same age then that his grandson John is today - just 17 years old.
His act of courage, and millions of others fr9m those distant
times, blazed the trail for the world we now leave. It seems so
-23-
�January 23, 1995
Draft#_
lonq aqo. But the lessons for our country are fresh. They had
their morninqs f uncertainty. But they found the strenqth to pull
toqether and summoned the couraqe to climb those hills. They
saved the world. They won our freedom. They qave birth to a qreat
era.
Now we must qive birth to another. We must accept the
responsibility to make the most of our opportunity. We must find
the strenqth to unite despite our differences. We must summon the
.couraqe to climb our own hills -- and embrace the new era.
This is a qreat country, and we are a qreat people. If we are
confident, if we reach out, if we have faith in our own lives,
we can do this, for ourselves and our children. I believe with
all my heart that our best days are still to come.
God Bless You. And God Bless the People of the United States of
America.
-24-
�DRAPT, 1/17/$5
»1'aai.4at Willi.aa JdfBaoa .cll.,17
State of ·tJaa UJU.oa Udz- .
. Joi.Dt auaioa of.~De capitol of tJaa uai.ted statu
Jaauarr at, lilt
.. ,.
Mr. Preaidant• Mr. Speaker. K-bez'• of tba
' PIO : 2~
·
-lOt~ COIM)r-
of; tb8
United Stataa of Aaerica. Hy 'fallow AaericaJUI:
Two years: aqo, I.· stood hi
tbia
'·
cba•her aDd· proliiaed to brinq·
chanqe to the American people •. Wall, as I look around
\behind
118 - -
118 - -
and
.
'
\
it is quite clear that thinqa have changed -- though
nQt all ~e changes are exactly what I bAd i~ Jdnd.
[With all .sincerity, I congratulate the·
-bu"• of the new
Conqreaa. ·All of you, Democrats and Rapublicalua, have. won
I
•
.
'
important victories on
. the political battlefield.
.
no doubt, we will meet there again~ ]
\
;
In due course,
For now, wa must focus, toqathar, . on continuing our j ournay to
· become the masters, not the servants, of change across Allerica
and change ,throughout the world.
To do that, we must understand that sollla important thinqs have
c:
not cbanqed •. our responsibility to every
our nation has npt chanqad·.
man, woman and
~hild
ara bars to aarve tbaa, and wa
must never forqet tha~
1
in
�' '
-
They have entrusted us to be partners in protecting the
-DreaJie. fib'alieve we have a
~ican
raa~ibility to all tho- wbo
sacrificed to build the nation wa are now hera to serve. And I
believe we have a spacial responaibility to thoae wbo. will· COII8
after
~to
move into
keep our nation.
the
~trong,
2,1st century.
This· is nothing new in Am&rica. · In a
t
at:·.h0118 aDCl abroad, as we.:
.limited powers, in a diverse;
gov~t:
d~atic
of
aapara~. aDCl
I'·
society, founded on·
''
compromise 11nd designed for conaanaU., we are all accountable. to
..
'
the American people for our actions.
I aa the 26th of our 42
Presidents whose own party has bfa.-n in
th8 minority in one or
both H~uaaa of Congress -- Praaidanta of gr-t: acbiev-ent, like
Harry Truman and Rc;mald R&agan.
[Let ma take a moment to say that
~
know I apeak for all
Americana tonight . when I say our prayers are with
Pr~ident
Reagan in his courageous fiqbt aqainat·Alzheimer's Disease.]
so we must now
~aka
up history's call to do our work toqether. In
that tradition, tonight, I pledge to work with both parties to do
the jobs we ware sent hare to do. To those of you who are. ready
to cooperate, I am ready to work. To those of you who chose to do
battle, I
am
ready for that.
~(~?
who wonders where those fiqhts will come, I
2
wi~l,
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......
act as I hava.aa President for two years, putting every proposal
. that coaea before me to a simple teat: 00.. it advance :the
interaata# of· our middle class faailiaa? Does it support their
.
I
values? Does it help thea build stronger futures for th....lvas
an4 tba~~-children? If it· do.., I wUl.suppOrt it;. If it· dou.
not;
I~will .. opposa
it•
I: will malta full usa of .the' powers of. thia great
office. r v~ll
..
do.-wbat I think· is right.-. I . aa11. on avary~na of you-·to put··. your:.
responsibility to the people ahead at. avery other interaat.
In
'
a and, the people will ba. oar
judge.
a&. 01' CBUICIB
OUr t:aaJt is not e~we are in· the micldle. of: a great- croasiDCJ
f~
one age to another
-~·a.croaain;·filled·with
avery bit aa
much opportunity and peril aa any in our history. We are moving
from an age dominated by·asaaably linea, into an age of
!~formation· and new .technolOgy(an a~e in which, more and more,
eclucation and skills are the ticket to a secure f~turej We used·
to build economic security by:working harder hare
a~
home and
evan shutting out foreign competition. Today, the only way we can
win is by opening markets abroad and competing with all our
energy. For half a century, we faced one overarchinq adversary
.
.
~
.
communism. The world we have inherited·
\II ~.,.ff~ many fights
militarY, political and ~conomic -- on many fronts: against
terrorists, genocide and environmental degradation, and the
3
�.
..,
-....
prolif~
fion of weapons of
. /gnat
COWltry, ...
1IUUIIJ
~- r~
~.,
d-truction.
iDiuarit
hapa. !lilt in evan' v-&tiGil,
1n/
• 411t earn success/\To. succeed, we muat _.t naw cball~es
1
;4ut our.: econOJD.y, . QW:: qovarmaant, aDd tba, relationabip we all
·.;/'
;nave to. one another. , And- we· muat~.striv•.
I'
------
Firat, we aaat keep
tb8
f~
tbrae goala.
AllariCIIJI Draaa alive in tllia new ....o_,
.
.
-giving ·people r-on· to ~iava availl tbat if~ tbay work bu;'d,
they can build better· lives for tb.-ealv- and tb.eir· children"
second, we. must cut qovernment that no longer meats the
d~
of. our times, and focus our·cammon effort on wbat we can do· beat
in these .timaa, not on wbat· govarmumt once did· or.'wbat ·otbara
including individuals --·can do better.
'
Third, we as citizens must enter into a· new covenant -- basac:l on
an old idea: America holds out the promise of opportunity for
all, but only if each of us tak- r-ponaibility for· ourselves,
our communities and our country.
our path must be a new path. We. must reject· the way of someth
· for-nothinq, on the one hand, and every-man-for-himself on the
other. More opportunity. More
~esponsibility.
A hand-up, not a
hand-out. That is, that has been and that always will be my.
contract with the Ameri.can people.
4
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And, toniqht, there ia. no question that AmaZ-ica is tlua world's
leader in knocking dow trade barriers and eabracing the new
global economy.
~;
market openings iD Japan, across Aaia aDd
throuqhout the Americas; HAP'l'A.. TbaDJal to. leadenmip froa both
parties, we
caD
.
.
say that we h&ve ope.Ded .110r8 opportunitiaa
- for.
trade - · creating good, hiqh-wage jcma for. mora Aaericana - - tban
at any tilla in· a generation. And I aa proud that we did. so on· our
terms, in a way. that will help AIUarican
wor~a-
for decadaa to--: ·
•
I believe, and, without reqard to party, we agreed, that
'·
education ia the kay to our future. So we enacted 110ra
fundamental reforms of Allarican education. thaD. at. any tilla in- 30
years.
schools.
Expanded Bead
start. World-alasa standards for all. our
A new bridqe to better jobs for students who don't.:qo
straiqht on to collaqa. Charter scboola (?) And a national
service prograa, Allaricorpa, that ia alr. .dy saying to 20,000
Americana: "If you work to help your country, we will help you
build a batter life for. yourself with 110nay for your education."
1\
)
·We agreed that it woul4 be wrong to win the COld War abroad, only
to lose the sacurity of our streets at
home~
So after years of
others talkinq .about crime, we did something about it -- and it
.was the riqht thinq to do.
We made "three-strikes-and-you're out" the law of the land.
6
We ·
�-
finally said that, for anyone wbo murders
officer,
th&. penalty should
ba cl-th. And we are puttinq 100,000
police officers on ·the streets of Jmarica.
i
I~wish
wa- bad .. bad· more support
froa~both ~-, bRt
I aa. pJ:OUd
tliat wa"paaaad.tha Brady, Bill, wtaicb· alreadY baa·.atoppad xux.·
people with previous recorda froa buyinc) bandgwul. 'l'banka to . .any
of. you. hare tonight· who stood up· ;aCJaiJUit . a . ferocious. lobbyiDCJ· ·
campaign· --- aDd~ to-:.many .other• .no: lonqar ·hare because· they
the .aaaa thing . ---I- u.a proud. that ·we. baDnad
•
.19
did~
types· of a•-ult ·
weapons. Now our police are .. no lonqar outqunnad.
Already, in· this new congraaa, we bave ·abOwn. we
toqathar. 'r:hava ionq -id, and you
•CJr-·,.
CaD
work
tbat it's tt.a for
'Washington to atop stickinCJ'-stataa ~ communities with the tab
for Washington's demands. [action?] I have long said, and you
agree, that Congress must live by all the lava that apply to
everyone elsa. [action?] I .have lonq said,. and you agree, that.
the President should have the line-it- veto, just like
mo~~t
qovernors, to say no to wasteful spandinq. [action?]
These, and many other thinqs, are what we have done to improve
the state of our Union. But I know, for too many uericans, the
State of our Union is not yet qood enough.
Jobs are much easier to qet. But too many of you are still
7
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workinq harder than ever and taking bema leas.
International
·trade is bringing. more exciting new opportunities to Aaericana.
But too many· of our families are watcbinq their neighbors lose ·
their jobs, wondering if they will be next •. We've raised
.•tanciarda .in
~1• ·and
·cballanvad paranta to. qat JDOre involved.
But with both P-renta working, it:~i• hardllr than aver to find the
.
.
time to help our children. we have given our ccmaunitiea .a better
to fight crime. But too many of the thinqa that qiva ..aninq to
our lives --family, naiCJbborhoocl, camaunity -• ar~ coainq aPart:
when we moat need thea.
-· .JU
our democracy is more responsive
o~
G-
I
than aver before. But the people
our country have said loud and clear -- to you imd t()
u --
"
that they have lost trust and faith tliat we 11till do the work they
sent
us hare to do.
Toqether, we must do what is necessary to equip our people to
fiqht and win in the new economy.
Together we must do what we
can to rebuild the bpnds of community that we are losinq.
before we can do eithar, we ne.ad a new kind of government that
reflects the people's values, defends their interests and earn
back their trust •.
some believe there should be a qovarnmant proqram for every
problem.
But government cannot -- and should not -- solve all
8
�\ .. J
....
our problems.
And I
baliav~
government shouldn't pretend to
solve problems that people can only solve for thaasalvaa.
Thera are others who insist that gettinq rid of government will
anawar avery problaa. I have always baliev.ad -- and. have worked
for years to show -- that w:hara we. can solve
government, we should do so.
o~
problaas without
Individual initiative is at the .
.heart of the American spirit and :privata enterprise ia the anqine
gr~wth.
of aaoncmic
But ·those who.
~laia
thAt govarmaant is"
the .. only problaa -- and that tearinCJ it down is the only solution
-- are dead. wrong.
Our country will_navar ba stronCJ without a CJOVernmant that·worka.
Aaerica'a workers fiqhtinq to compete in a touqh world d-arv•
all the education, they can qat;.
Allarica 1 a· f•iliaa d-arv• clean
water and clean air -- l de Ret belie ca ttaae the environment will
our
younq people deserve a decent chance to
pay for a collge education, and I will fiqht to maintain our
college . loan program. 0\lr children d-arva to walk tq and from
school without fear of qattinq shot.
And I believe that 100,000
more police on the streets are part of the solution, not part of
the problem.
T~oughout
every period of our history, our country has defined
its government anew to meet the challenges of change.
Homestead Act that opened the West.
The land
qr~nts
The
that built
.
9-
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our qreat public universities.
Security.
Medicare~
Unamploymant insurance. Social·
The GI Bill.
right to vote for every American.
The interstate highways.
The
All thea& and more are the
work of a free people, actinq through·· their govarmaant.
Would we
really have wished .to go without thea?
To those who wish to tear down all gqvarnii8Dt I say: That ia not
-
what the American people want ua to do.
I
elected to do.
And
that
Tbat is not what I- was
-ia ·What ·I will ·fight·: to prevent, with
all the powers of my office and all the energy I posaaaa.
What we must do instead is'wb&t Aaaricana have always dona:
·create for themselves a new kind of govarnaant that stops
tryinCJ
to solve the problems of
yea~arday,
challenges of tomorrow.
[Looking at the government wa now' have,
anc:l starts facing ·the
compared to the demands of these timaa, I sometimes . feel. wa · are
astronauts at .the wheel of a 19th Century steaJil enqina.] .
..
Hare is what I believe we need in.a time of cbanqa: A qovarnmant
that only does for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
A
. government that qivas people the. tools to work and win in the new
economy,
that
protects our people
without a smothering.
.
'
bureaucracy, and that is as flexible .and entrepreneurial as the·
best private companies.
A government whose central purpose is·to
challenge every American to take the responsibility to build
· good life for themselves.
10
·a·
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restore the people's trust in
dea~racy..
so toniqht, I challanqe
the Conqress to show the American people that you have heard
their massaqe.
Firat·, stop takinq· qifts, meals, travel and entertainment froa.
lobbyists. If.. a judge took a vaeation fraa a lawyer in his court,
he would be disbarred. Yet a couple of weeks ago, tobacco
lobbyists roamed these historic balls passing out invitations.to
san•tors for a weak-end of qolf.and tennis in Palm Beach. TWice
in recent weeks, you have voted to keep these qifts coming, to
put off reform one more time.·' That's unacceptable.
Tonight, I cballanqe every member of Conqreas to stop taking the
gifts riqht now -- without waiting to ·paaa a law. No more
football
ticke~.
Ho more fancy maala. Ho morti
~apical
vacations. And, then, send me a bill outlawing all of this.
Second, I challenqe you to pass the bill requirinq full
disclosure by lobbyists. It·waa killed at the end of the last
Conqress. The lobbyists had the qall to stand outside these doors ·
and .cheer. But I assure you, they weren't · cheerinq across
America.
Third, I
~hallenqt!l.
you to cap the . costa of campaiqns and "Pass
touqh campaiqn finance reform. And we should make the people's
, , . airwaves their instrument for rene.winq democracy by requirinq
12
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.
..
••
broadeaatars · to qive free TV time to candidates.
I &UJ;»port it.
It has been proposed by the new chairman of the House Co..arce
COilllitte and by senate Majority Leader Dole. We have no excuae
for partisan bickerinq. Let's qat it done.
Finally, I cballenqa you to ·show the .American
have not forqotten
w~o
sent
y~u
p~ple
that you
hera. Let's agree that Congress's
pay won't qo up until the typical; faaily's income qoes up. If we·
do ·all these thinqa, than maybe tha Aaarican .people "ill know.
their voice is the moat important voice in WaShington •.
DB IIBir BCOBOIIY
Then, with a qovernment workinq the people's will, we muat· focus
our anerqy on our next qreat taakz ·eriaurinq that the new econcmy
works for all of our people.
This time of economic transformation has created remarkable
opportunlty, and dauntinq challenqea. ·For moat of the post-world·
War II era, America qrew anc:l Americana of nearly all income
I
classes shared. in that prosperity.
But over the last 15 years,
the only Americans who have experienced substantial income qrowth
have been those at the vary top -- while every other qroup has
seen ;ncome either stall or sink.
For too lonq, our qovarnment
mishandled the changinq qlobal economy, and the middle class
suffered as a result.
An Amari~a that, in our finest moments,
has always qrown together, now qrows apart.
13
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.•
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•
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soma believe we can restore opportunity for the middle claaa by
simply stepping out of the way and hoping that prosperity at .the
top will find ita way to the rut of ua.
We've triad tbat
before, it failed us. And the middle claaa has suffered as a
result.
I believe there is another way, the only way we can grow
toqether. · I.· took offic_e with a
cOilprehanai~~
econoaic strat:.Jy
to turn our nation around·, to 1ll&ka the govarnJDeht truly a. partner
with our businesses and our citizens. We have been successful •
•
But·all the"trade, all the deficit reduction, even all the jobs,
won't be enough if middle clasa people doni~ reap the rewarc:ls.
We must make certain that our people have, the tools and skills to
fill the high-wage jobs of the future.
[Secretary Reich'
statistic on jobs/education correlation.]
To America's workers,
our pledge has been. siinple: FrOJD the first· day of preschool, to
the first day on the job, to your last day of work, whatever
changes the economy brings, you will have the chance to make sure
you are ready.
In the past two years, we have made qreat progress on this
lifelong learning agenda -- more· affordable college loans for 20
·million Americans, youth apprenticeships.
But some people here
say they actually ..want to turn tlie clock back·, that we cannot
., ...
afford what it takes to prepare our people for the 21st century •
14
�•
.
•
•
--·.
I say _we
Caz~:DOt
afford not to·-- and I will oppose any effort to
take us back.
This agenda is . at the. core of the proposals that I· call the
Miciclle Class Bill of ·Rights. It is . different than other tax cut
.
proposals you will
'
cons~der:
It is about
help~
Aaericau k-p
more Of their income .today I bUt Only if they inVeSt it in .
.
.
equipping tbemselves to meet the Challenqea of.-tOJIOrrow.
It offers a tax deduction for all education after high schooL and.
.
'
a training account for the unemploy8d and lower-wage workers wbo
are seeking riew job skills.
It replaces our outmoded job
traiDing system, taking the billions of -dollars we spend on
dozens of training programs, and,giving it directly to workers. so
tbey can bypass ·the bureaucracy and get the skills tbey need.· It
offers lower taxes for families with young children -- because
. preparing a child for the future is harder than ever. It offers
- an individual retirement account with tax-free withdrawals for
costs other than_ retirement -- because supporting our families is
the best way to leave a positive legacy for tomorrow.
When conC)l:'ess considers this tax cut proposal -- or any other tax
cut proposal -- I will insist on one thing: that we pay for it
with cuts in government spending. That we do nothinq to make the
'
'
deficit' worse and increase the burden on our c::hild.ren's futures.
[details of more cuts here, or in REGO above?] !wish we could
15
�,
••
.
. have had bipartisan support when we took the ·touqh stepa .
necessary to reduce the deficit in 1993, but we didn't. Everyqne
is this .c~•bar tonight says they are· for cuttinc) the .deficit.
This time, . when the tough Choices have to be Jll&de t· I hope
·_everyone of you will·
up .and prov• ·to 'the ··Aae:rican people
.
._.tand.
.
that you. can. put Amari,ca' a long-tara
intaraa~
ahaac:l· of short-
term political gain.
(Minimum wage?
:-'.
Balanced· Budget?]
..
·,
'•
If w-. care abo.ut working famili-es· and the future of o'Ur nation,
~e cannot walk away from. one other p;robl-: w~ must· renew o:w: ·
commitment to protect. what is right and. fix what is wronq with
our
h~lth
,.
care system.
I realize that my proposal did _not find fav~r with everyone hare,
that soma were convinced it h~d too many requir81len1:s -- even . ·
I
,
'.
.·
'
.·
·.
.·
.
though it harnessed· the forces
of"the
marketplace to brinq costs
.
.
\
down .•. Whatever differences we may, have had -- wh~tever mistakes
any of us may have made
~-
the goal was riqbt then and it is
•
right now.
The hard, cold-fact is that, as we gather here tonight, there are
.1. 1
million American working families sitting in .their homes who
had health insurance when I spoke to you a year aqo and.who do
16
�I •
..
;..
~
•
•
not have it tonight. The hard, .cold fact_ is that there are
millions and millions more of you who still have health insurance
'.
.
tonight, but who are paying more for leas coverage _than a year-·
ago. The hard, cold fact i~ - that .last y~, for the firs~ tiae in
aDd 'd01188tic spendinq,. and ~·
· 2S years; we._ reduced both defense
deficit is still
go~g
up
~:-
larqaly beCause l:laalth- care costa
times
are still going up at three.
the rate of inflation.·
Does anyone h~e tonight- really bal1eva tbat if we ·do nothing.,
the American
pao~le
will
~
'
.
.
better off a year
fraa now? We cannot
.
.
.
walk away from this
just
because.
it is
politically
difficult. I
'
.
.
.
. .
. .
.
\
.
still . believe
the solution to OJlr.
problem is to guarantee health
.
.
.
never '~ taken away. we. may
..
disaqr•e on the pace or the· road-..P that quidea uia. But
security for every American thil.t
Can
.
.
certainly we have· ali obligation to overcome our differen~- and
the well-financed interests that have scorned
'
•
.
'
th~s
'II;
country's
health care crisis to take the first steps.
We can reform insurance, so that no.American risks losinq
coverage,or facinq skyrocketinq prices when they change or lose a
job or a family
~member
falls ill. We ._can find· a market-driven
solution to the problem of lonq-term care for American families
who are taking care of parents. And, surely, we can find a way to
keep every child in America from goinq without health coverage •
.
We can begin this long journey.with confident steps in the right
.17
�..
..
•.
direction. I am. rUdnded of the story that· BatTis wofford tells
abQut the long_ struggle for civil rights. In 1957, than.
'
'
'
.
.
S~te
.
Majority Leader Lyndon. ~ohnson persuaded civil rights advoaataa .·
to accept modest measures, because that was all he ·thought waa
iaasi~le ·at the time.···a~t wi~~ aevan
'
.
.
.
'
years,
.. . ~
President, Lyndon
·.··johnson lad the nation· to ovarca.a the· AMri~ 'apartheid in· the
I
0
moat; far-reaching
'
•
·in ·our history. r· aa
civil~rights · leqialation
-
.
. proud· that we have begun· the d8bata
for all AmeriCan&. Let us ·t8Jta· the
to
provide ..~aalth saauri;ty
:next:· steps in c;iOoci faith.
'•......
I'OllBJ:GII ·POLl:CY
· [F~reign. policy: This portion will coaa shortly. The -.aaaqe. is·
sbi:J.ar to the CEB spe·ch~ Those who, say ~e cail jwit walk away
.
~
'
from the world have views that are short•sightad'~- Wa 11lUSt ruch
.
.
out, not retrench. I will continua to work in this new congress
'to forge a bipartisan coalition of internationalists
who share,
..
.
\-
these convictions against'isolationism. I will do everything in
·my power, as I have_ done for two years /now, to keep· ()ur_country
.
.
.
.
'
:
engaged 1n the world. The whole future of the world and the
future of our children,· depend on our involvement and -leadership
in the world. Specifics on: Military readiness; nuclear nonproliferation; democracy.]
..
·;-we can renew our government' to meet our challenges; we can equip
18
�II It
·-
our citizens to work and win in the new economy; and we can
fulfill our role as the be•con of democracy and hope throughout
the wqrld.
But nona of that will matter if.· we do not forge a. new
covenant that demands responsibility evan as it expands
opportunity -- raspensibilitiu, not juat for oursalv. . , bat for
o~
country; not
j~t
for the prasailt,
bu~
for our poatarity.
We ware not a nation Until we created a government --· but· Aaarica
is far mora than har public
iDatit~tiODII.
we would not
be tba .
. most prosperous nation on Earth without buain. .s aDd free
enterprise ---but America is'. far mora than a free . . .kat.
It may. make. us .fe.al good to dwell on all our great ilaagu
o~
the
lone wagon heading wast. But Aaaricana settled. Allerica not alone,
but in wagon trains, not one farm at a time, but village by
village -- helping one another raise th• barns, build the schools
and rear the .children. What truly makes us great, toclay as
throughout our history, is Americans coming together across our
differences~
joininq toqether in cOJIIIlon purpose across our land,
to do the noble unsung work of citizenship.
This has never been easy.
difficult than ever.
And today, in many ways, it's more
I. know how bard it is for parents workinq
two jobs to find time for the n,eighborh:ood watch or the PTA.
the time parents spend raisinq·their children and building
communities will do more than any·qovernment proqram to reduce
''
',
19
But
�.... ,
-
crime ancl ·halp kicls learn· right from wrong.
Ancl I know how harcl
it is, amicl the loucl ancl bittar voices, to consider our problwith reason ancl fairness. But tbat ia the eaaanca of clemocracy.
That'.• why raducinCJ. the financial pr-aurea ·on workinq
f~li-
-
.. ...; -freainq up the time anc:1 energy of paren~ -- is mora than an
economic procp:'am.
'rhat is why it's so iJaportant tbat govern.ant
proqraJIS affirm -- not unclermina •- our
valu~s.
Ancl tbat'a ·Why
itla :vital to eapowar citizana to act for tba c,..on good.
1We have triecl to do our part •.'' I proposed, and Conqreaa enacted,
empowerment zones ancl coJIJiunlty clevalopmailt banks -- . tq spur
qrowth ancl to encouracje
c~unitiu
to
COil8
t(Mjlathar around a
vision of a batter future.
I believe that faith in America ia vibrant only when it is free.
That. is why I have strongly backed, ancl vic)oroualy enforced, the
Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which qats qovarnment off the
.
'
ba~
of religion.
I believe that the spirit of America is the spirit of service.
And th•t is why I fouqht so hard for AmeriCorps --· a proqram that
will qi ve 100, ooo Americans the chance to
s~e
their country,
and to earn support for education and traininq as they do.
To me, national service is America at its bast -- offerinq
20
�,·
-
..
~.'
opportunity, damandinq responsibility, and buildinq camaunity.
To~iqht 1
we have with, us XXX mabera of Alaaricorps [ask th- to ·
stand and be recOC!Jil:i.zed, briefly tall their stories)
Many Republicans think that we can do without this prograa.
couldn't· diaaqrea 110ra. With all tba
for~
I.-
tearing our
c01111unitiaa apart in ·America, how can anyone opPose one force:
. . that is drawing us toqather?
I. ¥ant to say to avery Aaerican ..
toniqht: I·will fiqht anyon• who aaekato end AaeriCorpa.
ADd:I
'do not intend to lose.
Deep down, I think we agree on the qreatest challenges we faaa as
a nation.
On this, we agree. One year ago tomorrow, fraa this
same spot, I said: "We cannot, renew our country
wban
within a.'
decade more than half of tha children will bel born into fuailiwhere there has bean no marriaqa ••• when 13-yaar-old boys qat
. semi-automatic weapons to shoot 9-yaar-olda for kicks • • • wban
children are havinq children and the fathers walk away as if the
kids don't amount to anything."
I was struck by somethinq Speaker Gingrich said on this vary spot
a month ago: "No civilization can sUrvive with
12~year-olda
havinq babies, 15-yaar-olds killing each other, 17-yaar-olds
dyinq of AIDS, and 18-year-olds racaivinq diplomas they cannot
read." {ck quote}
21
�-
This isn't a Democratic issue or a Republican issue.
What's at
stake is the vary soul of our country. But the question is not
what· we say about it. The question is, wbat are we finally goinq
to do about it?
It is wrong. when
our
citizens cannot axarQiaa their
constitutionally protected right to make tba •oat personal
choices about their lives witbout;fear of daath --and we sboald
· condemn and punish those who would. aubatitute violance for. reaaon
on the issue of abortion. But that does not relieve us of th•.
responsibility to do avarythlng witbin oUr power to make abortion
less necessary -- when there ar.a .over 3 oo' abortions for avery
1,000 births in our country.
Wa have to say to teenagers tb&t it: ia wronq to gat praqnant" or
father a child if you aren't marriad.and if you aren't ready to
.
I
raise that child, love that child and taka responsibility for
that child' a future. Wa can no .longer tolerate the explosion of
. teenage pregnancies that is tearing apart our' families, puttinq
new strains on all ourcommunities and turning out one generation
after another that no one has aver taught what it means ·to
be
caring, responsible parent.· [action?]
We cannot go on using the paople's.money for a welfare system
that undermines their basic values.
We have to put an end to
something for nothing, and see to it that anyone who can work
22
a
�#
must 90 to work.
'
In a way, I have appreciated this debate about.orpbanaqaa, evan
thou9h .I do not believe we should put another 90Vermaental
institution in. plapa of the parents who ouqbt to raise their
own
children. But at least
the dGbate haa focussed
our attention
'
.
.
where. it ou9ht to be: on the children. I want you to s81ld .
.
.
-
the
.
tou9hest laws you can to crack down on unpai~ child support,
because when fathers walk, away
fr~
children pay forever and so do we.
their r . .ponaibilitiaa, their
We've qat to strengthen
. families, not tear them apart:., · because we all know that
90vernments don't raise children, parenta:do.
We must never forget the people i~ this country who want . to .
change the system moat
the people who are on welfare. I've·'
talked to them -- lots .of them -- and moat of those people
. trapped on welfare have the same c:treams for themselvas and their
children that we do:
They want to 90 to work to win back some
dignity in the eyes of their chlldran, and they want those
I.
children to have a chance to do better than they have. · Let me
· say to the people in this cb••bar.:
punish poor people.
Allericana don't want to
Americans want a system that puts an end to
welfare, puts people to· work, · and lets them be responsible . ·
parents anq 9et off
welfare:inste~d
of just havin9 kids.·
so, let this be the year when we finally end welfare as we know·
23
�-
it. And let this year also put an end to the efforts. by anyone to
use welfare.to divide us. We have too much at stake -- a whole
qeneration of our. cbilc:lren -- to. play qaaaa anymore.
On welfare and on ·too· many other i-u••, let' a atop the aJl9ZY
words tbat divide ua and qat dawn to the bard job of citizenabip.
If we really
car~
about our ch.ilc:lren, we have .to paaa on to thala
the conviction that we can work tOgether,
~t
we can solve our
problema, toqether ~-and that we can do it in. civil way tbat:is
the very .heart and soul· of
daaocr~cy.
It is time to return to the moat basic ideas of citizenship, to
put.an end to .the nasty name-callinq .tbat poisons
so much of our
.
public discourse.
It·ia time for all Aaaricana to do mora to
condemn violence, whereever wa see it.
And I want _to speak for a moment to the entertainment industry,
which has done so much to build up our cultural life· hare and
around the world:
You hold qreat power in your ·hands to shape
.
I
the values of .our chilc:lren. You must stop_portrayinq violence and
.druqs and sex as qlamorous and unharmful. Not because anyone
makes you do it. But because it is the responsible thinq to do.•
This nation has learned to its sorrow before --and today is
learninq aqain --that sowinq ' the seeds of hate and' violence can
'
· reap a bitter harvest and that violent talk can lead to violent
deeds.
24
•
�-
We must learn to diaaC)ree witbaalt cantellpt; to cballeDCJ• our
opponents without rancor. If we cannot ·all love one &DOtbar, a:a
the Saripturaa command, let .ua learn to r88pect one &DOtbar.
To our fellow-citizens, tbat
;a
the least wa owe. ·
Let ua . here· in W~ 't8,u tba lead ill tba waya of civility.
Maybe it will help us if we r-·hftr ,maatbtnq vary illportaDt .
about our country.
In the end,
wbat Jiattarll 11011t is ·not tba billa
we pass here, but the valuea we paaa on to tha next qaneratiOD.
Americans ,care more about what is closer to th- -- about their
.families and friends -- and '.mora about the hiqber purpo- that
give meaning to their· lives·-- the God tbay worship, the country
they love - thaD they will ever care about politica. ADd ·that· is
the way it should be.
So as we go
fo~
from this cba•ber toniqbt, I aak every parson
here and every American who can hear my voice to join toqether
to l;)uild a new dream that is as old as
~ica.
That dreaa is so
familiar, and yet we must reJd.DClle it now in our
QWD
tillea, juat
as those who have gone before U. rekindled it in theirs: Of a
great and enduring nation, in which we the people, in order to
form a
~-
perfect union, set ourselves again upon a true course
to secure the blessings of liberty, not just for ourselves, but
_for our
posterity~
25
�
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
A name given to the resource
Don Baer
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Office of Communications
Don Baer
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1994-1997
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36008" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7431981" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0458-F
Description
An account of the resource
Donald Baer was Assistant to the President and Director of Communications in the White House Communications Office. The records in this collection contain copies of speeches, speech drafts, talking points, letters, notes, memoranda, background material, correspondence, reports, excerpts from manuscripts and books, news articles, presidential schedules, telephone message forms, and telephone call lists.
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
An entity responsible for making the resource available
William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
537 folders in 34 boxes
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
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
A name given to the resource
SOTU [State of the Union] - Edits by Admin. Officials [2]
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Office of Communications
Don Baer
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0458-F
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 3
<a href="http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/2006/2006-0458-F.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7431981" 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
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Adobe Acrobat Document
Medium
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Reproduction-Reference
Date Created
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1/12/2015
Source
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42-t-7431981-20060458F-003-002-2014
7431981