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SOTU [State fo the Union] 1999 Speech Drafts 1/17/99 - 1/18/99 [Binder] [3]
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Financial Architecture
Today, much of the world is in recession. Across emerging markets in Asia, an entire generation
of people who that have spent decades working their way into the middle class have seen their
progress put at risk.
This is the most critical financial crisis in half a century. To meet it we successfully called for a
new emphasis on global growth, empowered the International Monetary Fund with more
resources and new tools to contain the spread of the crisis, worked to restore stability in countries
willing to help themselves, and began a new process of working with both developed and
emerging markets to tame the destructive cycle of boom and bust. The turmoil is not over
however; and therefore our work is not done.
This June, I will meet with other world leaders to continue our efforts to create a new, more
modem world financial system. This new financial system must have rules that make clear that
countries in need of assistance must first open their books and cease reckless short term
borrowing; new rules that impose true discipline by ensuring that lenders bear their fair share of
the burden of their choices; a new focus on preventing crises and responding rapidly in order to
contain them; true protections and safety nets for the most innocent and vulnerable citizens in
those countries that are experiencing financial crisis.
There are no magic bullets, but if the United States continues to lead and work closely with
developed and emerging countries alike we can use this difficult period to create a new financial
architecture for a new century.
Child Labor
We must continue our cooperative efforts to eliminate sweatshops and we must end the most
exploitative labor practice of all: this year, America must lead the effort to conclude a new
international treaty to abolish the most abusive forms of child labor.
�Draft 1/17/99 11:30
sotu99.17
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
UNITED STATES CAPITOL
January 19,1999
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, honored guests, my fellow
Americans:
Tonight, I have the honor of reporting on the State of the Union.
Let me begin by saluting the new Speaker of the House, and thank him for extending
invitations to two special guests who are sitting in the gallery with Mrs. Hastert. Lyn Gibson and
Wei Ling Chestnut are the widows of the two brave Capitol Police Officers who gave their lives
to defend freedom's house.
Speaker Hastert: At your swearing in, you asked us to work in a spirit of civility and
bipartisanship. Mr. Speaker, let's do exactly that.
Tonight, we begin our work together for the people of America.
I stand before you to report that America has created the longest peacetime economic
expansion in our history — with nearly 18 million new jobs, wages rising more than twice the
rate of inflation, the highest homeownership in history, the smallest welfare rolls in 30 years and the lowest peacetime unemployment since 1957.
For the first time in three decades, the budget is balanced. From a deficit of $290 billion
in 1992, we had a budget surplus of $70 billion last year. We are on course for budget surpluses
for the next 25 years.
Violent crime is the lowest in a quarter century — and our environment is the cleanest in a
quarter century.
America is a strong force for peace from Northern Ireland, to Bosnia, to the Middle East.
Thanks to the pioneering leadership of Vice President Gore, we have a government for
the Information Age. Once again, our government is a progressive instrument of the common
good — offering opportunity to all, demanding responsibility from all, building a community of
all Americans. A modem government, devoted to fiscal responsibility and determined to give
our people the tools they need to make the most of their own lives. A 21st Century government
for 21st Century America.
My fellow Americans, I stand before you to report that the state of our union is strong.
America is working again. The promise of our future is limitless. But we cannot realize
that promise ifwe allow the hum of our prosperity to lull us into complacency. How we fare as a
nation far into the 21st Century depends upon what we do as a nation today.
�With our budget surplus growing, our economy expanding, and our confidence rising,
let's get to work. Now is the moment for this generation to meet our historic responsibility to the
21st Century.
THE AGING OF 21ST CENTURY AMERICA
Our fiscal discipline gives us an unsurpassed opportunity to address a remarkable new
challenge: the aging of America.
With the number of elderly Americans set to double by 2030, the Baby Boom will
become a Senior Boom.
So first and above all we must save Social Security for the 21st Century. Early in this
century, being old meant being poor.
T
When President Roosevelt created Social Security, thousands wrote to thank him for
eliminating what one woman called the "stark terror of penniless, helpless old age." Even
today, without Social Security, half our nation's elderly would be forced into poverty.
Today, Social Security is strong. But by 2032, the Trust Fund will be exhausted, and
Social Security will be unable to pay out the full benefits older Americans have been promised.
The best way to keep Social Security a rock-solid guarantee is not to make drastic cuts in
benefits; not to raise payroll tax rates; and not to drain resources from Social Security in the
name of saving it.
Instead, I propose that we make the historic decision to invest the surplus to save Social
Security.
Specifically, I propose that we commit half the budget surplus for the next 15 years to
Social Security, investing a small portion in the private sector just as any private or state
government pension would do. This will eam a higher return and keep Social Security sound for
50 years.
But we must aim higher. We should put Social Security on a sound footing for the next
75 years. And we should reduce poverty among elderly women, who are twice as likely to be
poor as other seniors — and eliminate the limits on what senior citizens on Social Security can
eam.
These changes will require difficult but achievable choices. They must be made on a
bipartisan basis. They should be made this year. Tonight, together, let us say: We will Save
Social Security now.
Last year, we wisely reserved all of the surplus until we knew what it would take to save
Social Security. Although our best analysis is that we will need just half of the surplus, again
this year we should not spend any of it until after Social Security is truly secure. First things
�IksL
Sficond, once we have set aside sufficient funds from the surplus to save Social Security,
we must fulfill our obligation to save and improve Medicare. Already, we have extended the life
of Medicare by 10 years - but it should be extended for at least another decade. Tonight I
propose that we use one out of every five dollars in the surplus over the next 15 years to
guarantee the soundness of Medicare, until the year 2020.
But again, we should aim higher. We must be willing to work in a bipartisan way and
look at new ideas, including the upcoming report of the bipartisan Medicare commission. Ifwe
work together, we secure Medicare for the next two decades and Medicare's quality by covering
seniors' greatest need, affordable prescription drugs.
Third, we must help all Americans, from their first day on the job, to save, to invest, to
create wealth. From its beginning, Social Security has been supplemented by private pensions
and savings. Yet today, tens of millions of people retire with little to live on other than Social
Security. Americans living longer than ever must save more than ever.
Tonight, in addition to saving Social Security and Medicare, I propose a new pension
initiative for retirement security in the 21st Century. I propose that we use 10% of the surplus to
establish Universal Savings Accounts - USA Accounts - to give all Americans the means to
save. With these new accounts, Americans can invest as they choose, and receive funds to match
a portion of their savings, with extra help for those least able to save.
USA Accounts will help all Americans to save, to share in the nation's wealth, and to
enjoy a more secure retirement.
Emirth, we must invest in long-term care. I propose a tax credit of $1,000 for the elderly
or disabled, or the families who care for them. This kind of care is invaluable. Let us show that
we honor and reward it.
I was bom in 1946, the first year of the Baby Boom. Our generation is determined not to
let our growing old place an intolerable burden on our children and their ability to raise our
grandchildren. There is no better use for America's surplus than lifting that burden.
With these four measures ~ saving Social Security, strengthening Medicare, establishing
USA Accounts, and supporting long-term care - we can begin to meet our historic responsibility
to establish true security for 21st Century seniors.
21st CENTURY STRONC, SCHOOLS AMERICA
There are more children, from more diverse backgrounds, in our public schools than at
any time in our history. Their education must provide the knowledge and nurture the creativity
our nation needs for the new economy.
Today we can say something we could not say six years ago: with more affordable
�student loans, more Pell grants and work-study jobs, education IRAs, and the new HOPE
scholarship tax cut that more than 5 million Americans will receive this year, we have opened the
doors of college to all.
With our help, nearly every state has set higher academic standards for public schools,
and we are developing a voluntary national test to measure the progress of our students. We are
marshaling a volunteer army of college students to teach young children to read, and to mentor
middle school children and prepare them for college.
With the leadership of Vice President Gore, we have helped communities connect more
than one million classrooms to the Internet. And with over one billion dollars in discounts
available this year, we can meet our goal of connecting every classroom and library to the
Internet.
Last fall, you passed our proposal to start hiring 100,000 new teachers to reduce class size
in the early grades. Now I call on Congress to finish the job.
Our children are doing better. SAT scores are up. Math scores haverisenin nearly all
grades. But there is a problem: While our fourth graders outperform their peers in other
countries in math and science, our eighth graders are around average, and our twelfth graders
rank near the bottom.
We must do better. Each year the national government invests over $20 billion in our
public schools. I believe we must change the way we invest that money, to support what works
and slop supporting what doesn't.
Later this year, I will send Congress a plan that for the first time holds states and school
districts accountable for progress and rewards them for results. The plan would require every
school district receiving federal help to take the following five steps.
First, all schools must end social promotion.
No child should graduate from high school with a diploma he or she can't read. We do
our children no favors when we allow them to pass from grade to grade without mastering the
material.
But we can't just hold students back when the system fails Ihem. So my balanced budget
triples the funding for summer school and after school programs. We can keep one million
students learning beyond regular school hours, when parents work and juvenile crime soars.
If you doubt this will work, look at Chicago, which ended social promotion and made
summer school mandatory for those who don't master the basics. Math and reading scores are up
three years running — with some of the biggest gains in some of the poorest neighborhoods.
Second, all states and school districts must turn around their worst-performing schools —
�or shut them down. That is the policy established by Gov. Jim Hunt in North Carolina, where
test scores made the biggest gains in the nation last year. My budget includes $200 million to
help states turn around their failing schools.
Third, all states and school districts must be held responsible for the quality of their
teachers. The great majority of teachers do afinejob. But in too many schools, teachers don't
have college majors - or even minors - in the subjects they teach. All new teachers should be
required to pass performance exams and to know the subject they are teaching. My balanced
budget contains new resources to help teachers reach these high standards.
To attract talented young teachers to the toughest assignments, I recommend a five-fold
increase in scholarships for college students who commit to teach in the inner cities, in isolated
rural areas and in Indian communities.
Eourth, we must empower parents, with more information and more choices. In too many
communities, it is easier to get information on the quality of local restaurants than the quality of
local schools. Every school district should issue report cards on every school.
And parents should have more choice in selecting their public schools. When I became
President, there was one independent, public charter school in all of America. With our support,
there are 900 today. My budget assures that early in the next century, there will be 3000.
Eiflh, all states and school districts must adopt discipline policies to ensure our
classrooms are places of learning.
Let's do one more thing for our children. Today, too many of our schools are so old
they're falling apart, or so overcrowded students must learn in trailers. Last fall. Congress
missed the opportunity to change that. This year, with more than 53 million children in our
schools, Congress must not miss that opportunity again. I ask you to pass our program to build or
modernize 5000 schools.
If we do these things — end social promotion, turn around failing schools, build modem
ones, support qualified teachers, and promote innovation, competition and discipline — we will
begin to meet our generation's historic responsibility to create 21st Century schools.
21st CENTURY SUPPORT FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES
We must do more to help the millions of parents who give their all every day at home and
at work.
The most basic tool of all is a decent income. Let's raise the minimum wage by one
dollar an hour over the next two years.
And let's make sure women and men get equal pay for equal work by strengthening
enforcement of equal pay laws.
�Working parents also need quality child care. Again, I ask the Congress to support our
plan for tax credits and subsidies for working families, training for child care providers, and
expanded after school programs. Our plan also includes a new tax credit for stay-at-home
parents. They need support too.
The Family Medical Leave Act — the first bill I signed into law — has helped millions of
Americans care for a new baby or an ailing relative without risking their jobs. We should extend
Family Leave to 10 million more Americans working in smaller companies.
Parents should never face discrimination in the workplace. 1 will ask Congress to
prohibit companies from refusing to hire or promote workers simply because they have children.
America's families deserve the world's best medical care.
Thanks to federal support for medical research, we have begun testing the first drugs to
prevent cancer, and introduced the first effective drugs to treat AIDS. With new discoveries
about the process of aging itself, we are on the verge of new treatments to prevent or delay
diseases from Parkinsons to Alzheimers to arthritis.
As we continue our advances in medical science, we cannot let our health care system lag
behind.
Managed care has transformed medicine in America — driving down costs, but
threatening to drive down quality as well. Every American should have the right to the best care,
not just the cheapest. The right to see a specialist. And the right to emergency care.
I am now extending these rights by executive authority to the 85 million Americans
served by Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health plans. But only Congress can enact the
Patients' Bill of Rights for all Americans. Last year. Congress missed that opportunity. This
year, for the sake of our families, Congress must not miss that opportunity again.
As more of our medical records are stored electronically, the threats to our privacy
increase. Either by an act of Congress or by executive authority we will protect the privacy of
medical records, this year.
Two years ago, we extended health insurance that will cover up to 5 million children.
Now, we should make it easier for small businesses to offer health insurance, and give people
between the ages of 55 and 65 who lose their health insurance the chance to buy in to Medicare.
No one should have to choose between keeping health care and taking a job. We should
pass the historic bipartisan legislation, proposed by Senators Jeffords, Kennedy, Roth and
Moynihan, to allow people with disabilities to keep Medicaid health insurance when they go to
work.
Many employers and working families still can't afford health insurance. We need to
enable community health centers and public hospitals to provide basic, affordable care for
�families without coverage. My budget makes a down payment toward that goal.
We must step up our efforts to treat and prevent mental illness. No American should ever
be afraid to recognize and treat this disease. This year, we will host a White House Conference
on Mental Health. With sensitivity and commitment, Tipper Gore is leading our efforts here and I thank her.
As everyone knows, our children are targets of a massive media campaign to hook them
on cigarettes. I ask this Congress to resist the tobacco lobby. Together, let's reaffirm the FDA's
authority to protect children from tobacco, hold the tobacco companies accountable, and protect
tobacco farmers.
Smoking has cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars under Medicare and other
programs. Tonight, I am announcing that the Department of Justice is preparing a litigation plan
to take the tobacco companies to court. American taxpayers shouldn't pay for the costs of lung
cancer, emphsyzema and other tobacco related illnesses — the tobacco companies should. And
with the funds we recover, we should strengthen Medicare.
In all these areas - minimum wage, family leave, child care, health care and the safety of
our children - we can begin to meet our historic responsibility to strengthen our families for the
21st Century.
A 21st CENTURY FCONOMY
Today, America is the most dynamic, competitive, job creating economy in history. A
century ago, the average American had to work a week to eam what the average American now
makes in a day.
But we can do better — if we act to build a 21st Century economy for all Americans.
Today's income gap is largely a skills gap. Because of a law I signed last year, workers
now can get a skills grant to choose the training they need. This year, I call for a half a billion
dollar investment for training Americans who lose their jobs and a national campaign to increase
adult literacy for the millions of working people who read at less than a fifth grade level.
In the last six years, we have cut the welfare rolls nearly in half. Two years ago, from
this podium, I asked five companies to lead a national effort to hire people off welfare. Tonight,
our Welfare to Work Partnership includes 10,000 companies who have hired hundreds of
thousands of people. My budget provides funds to help another 200,000 people move from the
dependency of welfare to the dignity and pride of work.
We also must bring the spark of private enterprise into inner cities, remote rural areas,
and Indian reservations, with more support for community development banks, empowerment
zones and 100,000 vouchers for affordable housing. I ask Congress to support our new plan to
help businesses raise up to $15 billion of private sector capital to bring jobs and oportunity to our
inner cities and rural areas — with tax credits and loan guarantees, including new American
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�Private Investment Companies modeled on our Overseas Private Investment Corproation. Our
greatest untapped markets are not overseas - they are right here at home.
We must bring prosperity back to the family farm. Dropping prices and the loss of
foreign markets have hurt too many of our farmers. I am ready to work with lawmakers of both
parties to create a farm safety net including crop insurance reform and farm income assistance.
We must strengthen our lead in technology.
Government investment in information technology led to the creation of the Internet. I
propose a 30% increase in long-term computing research.
We must be ready for the 21st Century from its very first moment, by solving the "Y2K"
computer problem. We have already made sure Social Security checks will come on time. Ifwe
work hard and work together ~ business and government at all levels - the "Y2K problem" can
be remembered as the last headache of the 20th Century, not the first crisis of the 21st.
For our own prosperity, we must support economic growth abroad.
Until recently, one third of our economic growth came from exports. But over the past
year and a half,financialturmoil overseas has put that growth at risk. Today, much of the world
is in recession, with Asia hit especially hard.
This is the most serious financial crisis in a half century. To meet it, the U.S. and other
nations have reduced interest rates and we strengthened the International Monetary Fund. While
the turmoil is not over, we are working with other nations to contain it.
This June, I will meet with other world leaders to continue to build a global financial
system for the 21st Century that tames the cycles of boom and bust. Our new rules will call for
open accounting, stronger international bank regulations, an aggressive response to prevent
regional problems from becoming global crises, and a strong social safety net for the most
vulnerable victims of financial upheaval.
We must also create a freer and fairer trading system for the 21st Century. Trade has
divided Americans for too long. We must find the common ground on which business, workers,
environmentalists and government can stand together.
We must tear down barriers, open markets, and press for expanded trade. At the same
time, we must assure that ordinary citizens in all countries benefit from trade - pressing for trade
that promotes the dignity of work, the rights of workers and protection of the environment. And
we must insist that international trade organizations be open to public scrutiny.
With this new consensus, we can enact legislation granting the President the trade
authority long used to advance our prosperity. [We can pass the Africa Trade and Growth
Initiative. We can pass our Carribbean Basin Trade Initiative.] [Gene and I believe these should
go back here — to help bolster Democratic support for Fast Track. We can discuss tomorrow.]
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�Tonight, I issue a call to the nations of the world to join the United States in a new round
of global negotiations to expand exports of services, of manufactures, and most of all, of our
farm products.
We will work with the International Labor Organization on a new initiative to lift labor
standards around the world. And this year, we will lead the international community to conclude
a treaty to ban abusive child labor everywhere in the world.
As we do this, we must act now to help American manufacturers hit hard by the present
crisis — with loan guarantees to increase U.S. exports by $2 billion. And when imports
unlawfully flood our nation, we must enforce our trade laws. I have already informed the
government of Japan that if Japan's sudden surge of steel imports into our country is not
reversed, America will respond.
If we do these things — invest in our own people, invest in our own communities, invest
in our technology, and lead in the global economy — then we can begin to meet the historic
responsibility of this generation to build a 21st Century prosperity for America.
A STRONG AMERICA IN A NEW WORLD
No nation in history has had the opportunity and the responsibility we now have to shape
a world more peaceful, secure, and free.
All Americans should be proud that our leadership helped to bring peace in Northern
Ireland.
All Americans can be proud that our leadership has put Bosnia on the path to peace. And
we are working with our NATO allies in Kosovo to stop the bloody repression and find a
peaceful path to self government.
All Americans can be proud that our leadership renewed hope for lasting peace in the
Middle East. Some of you were with me in December as we watched the Palestinian National
Council completely renounce its call for the destruction of Israel. I ask Congress to act now to
provide resources to implement the Wye Agreement . . . to protect Israel's security, stimulate
the Palestinian economy, and support our friends in Jordan. We must not, we cannot, let them
down.
As we work for peace, we must also meet threats to our nation's security - including
increased dangers from outlaw nations and terrorism. We will defend our security wherever we
are threatened — as we did this summer when we struck at Osama bin Laden's network of terror.
The bombing of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania remind us of the risks faced every day by
those who represent America to the world. Let's give them our support, the safest possible
workplaces, and the resources they need so America can continue to lead.
We will work to keep terrorists from disrupting computer networks, to prepare local
communities for biological and chemical emergencies, and to support research into vaccines and
�treatments.
We must increase our efforts to restrain the spread of nuclear weapons, from North Korea
to India and Pakistan.
We must expand our work with Russia, Ukraine, and the other former Soviet nations to
safeguard nuclear weapons and technology so they never fall into the wrong hands. My balanced
budget will increase funding for these critical efforts by 70% for the next 5 years.
With Russia, we must continue to reduce our nuclear arsenals. With START II, the
framework we have already agreed to for a START III Treaty could cut them by 80% from their
Cold War height. We must keep moving forward.
There is another vital step Congress can take. It's been two years since I signed the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. If we don't act, other nations won't. By acting to ratify it now,
the Senate can make it harder for new nations to develop nuclear arms, and we can end nuclear
testing forever.
For nearly a decade, Iraq has defied its obligation to destroy its weapons of terror and the
missiles to deliver them. America will continue to contain Saddam - and we will work for the
day when Iraq has a government worthy of its people.
Last month, in our action over Iraq, our troops were superb. Their mission was so
flawlessly executed risk taking for granted the bravery and skill it required. Captain Jeff
Taliaferro [tolliver], pilot of an XX fighter, flew xx nightime missions as we attacked Saddam's
war machine. He is here with us tonight. Let us him and all the 10,000 men and women of
Desert Fox.
It is time to reverse the decline in defense spending that began in 1985. Since April,
together we have added nearly $6 billion to maintain our readiness. My balanced budget calls
for an increase of $12 billion for readiness and modernization, and for more support for our
troops and their families.
We are the heirs of a legacy of bravery represented today by millions of veterans.
America's defenders today stand ready at a moment's notice to go where comforts are few and
dangers are many, doing what needs to be done as no one else can. They always come through
for America. We must come through for them.
The new century demands new partnerships for peace and security.
[This spring, I will convene the leaders of NATO in Washington for its 50th anniversary
summit, to prepare for the missions of the next 50 years, to welcome Hungary, Poland and the
Czech Republic as our first new allies from Central Europe, and to reaffirm our determination
that Europe must never again be divided by concrete and barbed wire.] [cuttable]
The United Nations plays a crucial role in so many of the areas I have mentioned tonight.
10
�America needs a strong relationship with an effective UN. I want to work in this new year with
this new Congress to pay our dues and our debts.
We must also support stability in Asia. I have worked to strengthen the bonds with our
allies Japan and Korea. Last year, I also traveled to China because our relationship with the
world's largest country helps determine prospects for peace and security all across Asia. I said to
the leaders of China, and I say again tonight: Stability can no longer be bought at the expense of
liberty.
And I say again the American people: it is important not to isolate China. The more we
bring China into the world, the more the world will bring change and freedom to China.
Last spring, with some of you, I traveled to Africa, where I saw democracy and reform
rising, but still held back by violence and disease. We must fortify African democracy and peace
— and support transitions to democracy, including in Nigeria. And because trade and investment
are the keys to African development ~ we must finally pass the Africa Growth and Opportunity
Act.
We are strengthening our ties to the Americas — to educate children, fight drugs, deepen
democracy. We must increase shared prosperity with a Free Trade Area of the Americas and
increased trade with our neighbors in Central America and the Caribbean.
In our own hemisphere, every government but one is freely chosen by its people. We are
determined that Cuba, too, will know the blessings of liberty.
The American people have opened their arms and their hearts to our Central America and
Caribbean neighbors in the wake of devastating hurricanes ~ and working with Congress, we
will help them rebuild. When the First Lady led a mission there, she saw thousands of American
troops and volunteers. And she rededicated a hospital, rebuilt by Dominicans and Americans
workign arm in arm — and led by Sammy Sosa. Sammy represents our oldest traditions and the
best of the new America. He has been taken into our hearts — and he has not forgotten where he
came from. Thank you, Sammy, for your remarkable example, on the field and off.
And if we do all these things — pursue peace, fight terrorism, increase our strength, and
renew our alliances for shared progress — then we will begin to meet the historic responsibility of
our generation to build a safer and more secure 21st Century America in a freer and more
peaceful world.
21 ST CENTURY COMMUNITIES
As the world has changed, so have our own communities. We must make them safer,
more livable, and more united.
We will soon reach our goal of putting 100,000 community police officers on the street —
ahead of schedule and under budget. The Brady Bill has stopped a quarter million felons.
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�fugitives, and stalkers from buying guns. Now, the murder rate is the lowest in 30 years, and the
crime rate has dropped for six straight years.
Tonight, I propose a 21st Century Crime Bill to marshall the latest technologies and
tactics to make our communities even safer.
My budget provides funds to put up to 50,000 more police on the beat in the areas hardest
hit by crime, and equips them with new tools, from crime-mapping computers to digital mug
shots.
We must break the deadly cycle of drugs and crime. My budget strengthens support for
drug testing and treatment. It says to prisoners: If you stay on drugs, you must stay behind bars.
And it says to those on parole: To keep your freedom, keep free of drugs.
Congress should restore the mandatory 5-day waiting period for buying a handgun, and
extend the Brady Bill to prevent juveniles who commit violent crimes from ever buying a
handgun again.
And we must keep our schools the safest places in our communities.
Last year, we were horrified and heartbroken by the tragic killings in our schools ~ in
Jonesboro, Paducah, Pearl, Edinboro, Springfield. We will never forget the courage of the
parents who have dedicated themselves to keeping guns out of the hands of children - so no
other parent ever has to live through their loss.
One of them, Suzann Wilson of Jonesboro, Arkansas, is with us tonight in the gallery
with the First Lady's. After she lost her daughter, she came to the White House with a powerful
plea: "Please, please, for the sake of your children, lock up you guns. ... Don't let what happened
in Jonesboro happen in your town." In memory of all the children who lost their lives to school
violence, let us redouble our efforts to make our schools safe.
Let's pass legislation to require child trigger locks. Let's strengthen the Safe and DrugFree School Act. Let's keep our children safe.
A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt defined our "great, central task" as "leaving
this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us." Today, we are restoring the
Florida Everglades, saving Yellowstone, preserving the red-rock canyons of Utah, protecting
California's redwoods and our precious coasts.
But our most fateful new challenge is the threat of global warming. Last year's heat
waves, ice storms, and floods are but a hint of what future generations may endure if we don't act
now.
So tonight, I propose a new clean air fund to help communities reduce pollution, and tax
incentives and investiments to spur clean energy technologies. I will work with Congress to
reward companies that take early, voluntary action to reduce greenhouse gases.
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�All communities face a preservation challenge, as they grow and green space shrinks.
7,000 acres of farmland and open space are lost every day.
In response, I propose two major initiatives: first, a one billion dollar Livability Agenda
to help communities save open space, ease traffic congestion, and grow in ways that enhance
every citizen's quality oflife; second, a one billion dollar Lands Legacy Initiative to preserve
places of natural beauty all across America - from the most remote wilderness to the nearest city
park. I thank Vice President Gore for his visionary leadership in developing this historic
proposal.
To get the most out of your community, you have to give something back. That's why
we created AmeriCorps — our national service program that gives today's generation a chance to
serve their community and eam money for college.
So far, in just four years, 100,000 young people have built low-income homes with
Habitat for Humanity ... helped churches tutor children ... worked with FEMA to ease the burden
of natural disasters ... and performed countless other acts of service that have made America
better.
Some of them are here with us tonight. I thank them for their service — and I ask
Congress to give more young Americans the chance to follow their lead. And 1 challenge more
young Americans to give something back to the country that has given them so much.
We must work to renew our national community for the 21st Century.
Last year, the House passed the bipartisan campaign finance reform legislation sponsored
by Reps. Shays and Meehan and Sens. McCain and Feingold. But a partisan minority in the
Senate blocked reform. To the House I say: Pass it again, quickly. And to the Senate: Say yes to
a strong democracy in the Year 2000.
Since 1997, our Initiative on Race has sought to bridge the divides between our people.
In its report last fall, the Initiative's Advisory Board found that Americans want to bring our
people together across racial lines — but that we must do more to close the opportunity gaps that
remain. The economic, health care, and education initiatives in my balanced budget will do a lot
to close those gaps.
But we have more to do.
Discrimination or violence because of race or religion, ancestry or gender, disability or
sexual orientation, is wrong. It should be illegal. Therefore I call upon Congress to make the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Hate Crimes Prevention Act the law of the land.
Our newest immigrants must be part of One America. They are revitalizing our cities,
energizing our culture, building our new economy. We have a responsibility to make immigrants
welcome here, and they have a responsibility to enter the mainstream of American life. That
means learning English, and learning about our democratic system of government. There are
13
�now long waiting lines of immigrants seeking to do just that. Therefore, my budget contains a
substantial increase in funds to help them meet their responsibility.
Whether our ancestors came here on the Mayflower or on slave ships, whether they
landed on Ellis Island or at Los Angeles Airport, whether they arrived yesterday or walked this
land for thousands of years — we can be, and we must be One America. We have no greater
obligation to the 21st Century.
PERORATION: THE MILLENNIUM
Barely more than 300 days from now, we will cross that bridge into the new millennium.
This is a moment, as the First Lady has said, to honor the past and imagine the future.
I honor her - for leading our Millennium Project -- for all she has done for our children and for her historic role in serving our nation and advancing our best ideals at home and abroad.
Last year, I called on Congress and every citizen
to mark the millennium by saving America's treasures. Hillary has traveled across the country to
inspire recognition and support for saving places like Thomas Edison's Invention Factory and
Harriet Tubman's Home. We must preserve our treasures in every community.
I invite every American town, city, and county to become nationally recognized "Millennium
Communities" by launching projects that save our history, promote the arts and humanities, and
prepare our children for the 21 st Century.
Already, the response has been remarkable, and I thank Congress and our private sector
partners for their support. Because of you, the Star Spangled Banner will be preserved for the
ages.
We are keeping alive, in ways large and small, what George Washington called "the
sacred fire of liberty."
Six years ago tomorrow, I came to office in a time of doubt for America, with our
economy troubled, our deficit high, our people divided. Some even wondered whether our best
days were behind us. But across this nation, in a thousand neighborhoods, I had seen, even amid
the pain and uncertainty of recession, the heart and character of America.
I knew then we Americans could renew our country.
Tonight, as I deliver the last State of the Union message of the 20th Century, no one can
doubt the enduring resolve and boundless capacity of Americans to work toward that "more
perfect union" of our founders' dreams.
We near the end of a century when generations of Americans answered the call to
greatness, overcoming Depression, lifting up the dispossessed, bringing down barriers of racial
prejudice, building the largest middle class in history, winning two world wars and the "long
twilight struggle" of the Cold War.
14
�Perhaps in the daily press of events, in the clash of controversy, we do not see our time
for what it truly is - a new dawn for America.
A hundred years from tonight, an American President will stand in this place to report on
the State of the Union. He - or she - will look back on a 21st Century shaped in so many ways
by the decisions we make here and now.
Let it be said of us then that we were thinking not only of our time, but of their time; that
we reached as high as our ideals; that we put aside our divisions and found a new hour of healing
and hopefulness; that we joined together to serve and strengthen the country we love.
My fellow Americans, this is our moment. Let us lift our eyes as one nation, and from the
mountaintop of this American century, look ahead to the next one -- asking God's blessing on
our endeavors and our beloved country.
15
�Sarah A. Bianchi @ OVP
01/17/99 07:58:44 PM
Record Type:
To:
Record
Jeffrey A. Shesol/WHO/EOP
cc:
Subject: few more accuracy changes to the health care portion
Forwarded by Sarah A. Bianchi/OVP on 01/17/99 07:58 PM
Sarah A. Bianchi
01/17/99 05:47:30 PM
Record Type:
To:
Record
Michael Waldman/WHO/EOP @ EOP,
cc:
Subject: few more accuracy changes to the health care portion
(1) In Kennedy-Jeffords section you say -- "access Medicaid health care coverage" -- recommended
change is to just say "access health care coverage" as its both Medicaid and Medicare.
(2) The current draft does not reflect, I don't think, the changes we made the other night on
long-term care. I believe that it still says a "tax credit for caregivers" - but it is really important that
this say the initiative is for "elderly and disabled w i t h long-term care needs or the loved ones who
care for t h e m " as a major criticism of our proposal that it only helps caregivers.
(3) when you refer to long-term care again at the end when you are listing the many things we are
doing for older Americans - can we in that place say "long-term care services" rather than just
refering to the tax credit as we have already done tax once. It is extremely important to our base
Dems that this be characterized as a broader proposal.
(4) Finally, in the Shalala public health safety net sentence that comes after the can we revise it in
a way that does not describe communities health centers and clinics. Here's our recommendation:
",And for those families without health care coverage we should give more support to the
doctors,nurses,
and hospitals
who are providing basic care to these vulnerable Americans. "
thanks,
sb
^
(
/'
J
�• in
Draft 1/17/99 1:30AM
•
sotu99.15
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
STATEOTTffiLiJNION ADDRESS
UNITED STATES CAPITOL
January 19, 1999
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, honored guests, my fellow
Americans:
Tonight, we begin anew our work together for the people of America. Let me start by
saluting the new Speaker. First, I thank you for inviting to sit with Mrs. Hastert tonight Lyn
Gibson and Wei Ling Chestnut ~ the widows of the two Capitol PoNce Officers who gave
their lives to defend freedom's house. Second, I thank you for your words at your swearing
in. You asked us to work in a spirit of civility and bipartisanship. Mr. Speaker, let's do
exactly that.
Tonight, I have the honor of reporting on the State of our Union.
I stand before you to report that America has created the longest peacetime economic
expansion in our history - with wages rising at nearly twice the rate of inflation and nearly 18 ^
million new jobs.
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I stand before you to report that homeownership is the highest in history - welfare
rolls are the smallest in 29 years - and peacetime unemployment is the lowest it has been
since 1957.
I stand before you to report that for the first time in three decades, the budget is
balanced. From a budget deficit of $290 billion in 1992, we now have a budget surplus of $70
billion this year. We are on course for a budget surplus each year for the next 25 years.
Violent crime is the lowest in a quarter century — and the environment is the cleanest
in a quarter century.
America stands strong - a peacemaker from Northern Ireland, to Bosnia, to the Middle
East.
Once again, our government is a progressive instrument of the common good 1
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�offering opportunity to all, demanding responsibility from all, and building a community of all
Americans. Thanks to the pioneering leadership of Vice President Gore, we have a
government for the Information Age - a flexible, creative government, devoted to fiscal
responsibility and determined to give the American people the tools they need to make the
most of their own lives. A 21st Century government for 21st Century America.
My fellow Americans, I stand before you to report that the state of our union is strong.
America is working again. The promise of our future is limitless. But we cannot
realize that promise if we allow the hum of our prosperity to lull us into complacency. How
we fare as a nation far into the 21st Century depends [not upon what we enjoy today, but]
upon what we do today. [The prosperity we have built and the progress we have made are
proof that this generation has begun to fulfill its duty. But to face the challenges and seize the
opportunities of the new century, we have more to do.] So with our budget surplus growing,
our economy expanding, and our confidence rising, let's get to work.
AGING OF AMERICA
Our fiscal discipline gives us an unsurpassed opportunity to address a remarkable new
challenge: the aging of America.
With the number of elderly Americans set to double by 2030, the Baby Boom will
become a Senior Boom.
So first and above all, we must save Social Security for the 21st Century. Early in this
century, being old meant being poor.
When President Roosevelt created Social Security, thousands wrote to thank him for
eliminating what one woman called the "stark terror of penniless, helpless old age." Even
today, without Social Security, half our nation's elderly would be forced into poverty.
Today, Social Security is strong. But by 2013, payroll taxes will not cover retirement
obligations. And by 2032, the Trust Fund will be exhausted, and Social Security will be
unable to pay out the full benefits older Americans have been promised.
The best way to keep Social Security a rock-solid guarantee is not to make drastic cuts
in benefits; not to raise payroll tax rates; and not to drain resources from Social Security in the
name of saving it.
�Instead, I propose that we make the historic decision to invest the surplus to save Social
Security.
Specifically, I propose that we commit half the budget surplus for the next 15 years to
Social Security, investing a small portion of the surplus in the private sector just as any private
or state government pension would do. That will earn a higher return and keep Social
Security sound for 50 years.
But we must aim higher. We should put Social Security on a sound footing for the
next 75 years. And we should reduce poverty among elderly widows, who are twice as likely
to be poor as other seniors - and eliminate the limits on what senior citizens on Social
Security can earn.
These changes will require difficult but achievable choices. They must be made on a
bipartisan basis. They should be made this year. Tonight, together, let us say: we will Save
Social Security now.
Second, once we have set aside sufficient funds from the surplus to save Social
Security, we must fulfill our obligation to save and improve Medicare. Already, we have
extended the life of Medicare by 10 years - but it should be extended for at least another
decade. Tonight I propose that we use one out of every five dollars in the surplus over the
next 15 years to guarantee the soundness of Medicare, until the year 2020.
But again, we should aim higher. We must be willing to work in a bipartisan way and
look at new ideas, including the upcoming report of the Medicare panel chaired by Sen. John
Breaux and Rep. Bill Thomas.
If we do this, we can improve the quality of Medicare by covering seniors' greatest and
growing need, affordable prescription drugs - and still secure Medicare for the next two
decades.
Third, we must help all Americans, from their first day on the job, to gave, to invest,
to create wealth. From its beginning, Social Security has been supplemented by private
pensions and savings. Yet today, tens of millions of people retire with little to live on other
than Social Security. Americans living longer than ever must save more than ever.
Tonight, in addition to saving Social Security and Medicare, I propose a new pension
initiative for retirement security in the 21st Century. I propose that we use 10% of the surplus
to establish Universal Savings Accounts - USA Accounts. Americans who save in these new
accounts can invest as they choose, and receive funds to match a portion of their savings, with
extra help for those least able to save.
�USA Accounts will give all Americans the means to save, to share in the nation's
wealth, and enjoy a more secure retirement.
Fourth, we must invest in long-term care. I propose a tax credit of $1,000 for those
who care for aged, ailing, or disabled loved ones. This kind of care is invaluable. Let us
show that we honor and reward it.
I was born in 1946, in the first year of the Baby Boom. Our generation is determined
not to let our growing old place an intolerable burden on our children and their ability to raise
our grandchildren. There is no better use for the surplus than lifting that burden.
With these four measures - saving Social Security, strengthening Medicare,
establishing USA Accounts, and providing the long-term care tax credit — we can begin to
meet our historic responsibility to establish true security for 21st Century seniors.
STRONG SCHOOLS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
There are more children, from more diverse backgrounds, in our public schools than at
any time in our history. Their education must provide the knowledge and nurture the
creativity so they can thrive in the new economy.
Today we can say something about their future we could not say six years ago: with
more affordable student loans, more Pell grants, 1 million new work-study jobs, education
IRAs, and the new HOPE scholarship tax cut that more than 5 million Americans will receive
this year, we have opened the doors of college to aU.
Nearly every state has set higher academic standards for public schools, and we will
soon have a voluntary national test to measure the progress of our students. Schools are
cracking down on drugs and gangs and guns and violence. Many are improving learning and
discipline with school uniforms, teaching values, finding a proper place for religious faith.
We are supporting these developments. And we are marshaling a volunteer army of college
students to teach young children to read, and to mentor middle school children and prepare
them for college.
With the leadership of Vice President Gore, we have helped communities connect more
than one million classrooms to the Internet. This year, with over one billion additional dollars
to make Internet connections affordable, we can meet our goal: every classroom and every
library connected to the Internet by the dawn of the new century.
�Last fall, we began to hire 100,000 new highly-trained teachers to reduce class size in
the early grades. We know this will improve learning. Now we must finish the job.
Our children are doing better. SAT scores are up. Math scores have risen in nearly all
grades. But there is a problem: While our fourth graders outperform their peers in other
developed countries in math and science, our eighth graders are around average, and our
twelfth graders rank near the bottom.
We must do better. Each year the national government invests over $20 billion in our
public schools. I believe we must change the way we invest that money, to support what
works and stop supporting what doesn't.
Later this year, I will send Congress a plan that for the first time holds states and
school districts accountable for progress and rewards them for results. The plan would require
every school district receiving federal help to take the following four steps.
First, all schools must end social promotion.
No child should graduate from high school with a diploma he or she can't read. We do
our children no favors when we allow them to pass from grade to grade without mastering the
material. We have a moral obligation to insist that our children learn.
But we can't just hold students back when the system fails them. So my balanced
budget triples the funding for summer school and after school programs. We can keep one
million students learning beyond regular school hours, when parents work and juvenile crime
soars.
If you doubt this will work, look at Chicago, which ended social promotion and made
summer school mandatory for those who don't master the basics. Math and reading scores are
up three years running - with some of the biggest gains in some of the poorest neighborhoods.
Second, all states and school districts must turn around their worst-performing schools
- or shut them down. That is the policy established by Gov. Jim Hunt in North Carolina,
where test scores made the biggest gains in the nation last year. My budget includes $200
million to help states turn around their failing schools. We must do this.
Third, all states and school districts must be held responsible for the quality of their
teachers. The great majority of teachers do afinejob. But in too many schools, teachers
�don't have college majors - or even minors - in the subjects they teach. All new teachers
should be required to pass skills tests and to know the subject they are teaching. My balanced
budget contains new resources to help all teachers reach these high standards.
To attract talented young teachers to the toughest assignments, I recommend a five-fold
increase in scholarships for college students who commit to teach in the inner cities, in isolated
rural areas and in schools in Indian communities.
Fourth, we must empower parents, with more information and more choices. In too
many communities, it is easier to get information on the quality of local restaurants than the
quality of local schools. Every school district should issue report cards on every school.
And parents and students should have more choice in selecting their public schools.
When I became President, there was one independent, public charter school in all of America.
With our support, there are 900 today. My budget assures that early in the next century, there
will be 3000.
Fifth, all states and school districts must adopt and enforce a strict discipline code.
Classrooms must be places of learning.
If we do these things - end social promotion, turn around failing schools, demand and
support qualified teachers, and promote innovation, competition and discipline - we will begin
to meet our generation's historic responsibility to create 21st Century schools.
Let's do one more thing for our children. Today, too many of our schools are so old
that they're falling apart, or so overcrowded students must learn in trailers.
Last fall, Congress missed an opportunity to create a tax break to modernize or build 5000
schools. This year, for the sake of our 53 million schoolchildren, Congress must not miss that
opportunity again.
BUILDING STRONG FAMILIES FOR THE 21st CENTURY
We must do more to help the millions of working American parents who give their all
every day at home and at work.
The most basic tool of all is a decent income. Let's raise the minimum wage by one
dollar an hour over the next two years.
One of the greatest needs for working parents is quality child care. Again, I ask the
Congress to support our plan for tax credits for working families, child care subsidies for
families and small business, high standards and training for child care providers, and expanded
after school programs. Our plan also includes a new tax credit for stay-at-home parents.
�They need support too.
The Family Medical Leave Act - the first bill I signed into law - has helped nearly 20
million Americans care for a new baby or an ailing relative without risking their jobs, at
minimal cost to employers. We should extend Family Leave to 10 million more Americans
working in smaller companies.
Parents should never face discrimination in the workplace. I will ask Congress to
prohibit companies from refusing to hire or promote workers simply because they have
children.
America's families deserve the world's best medical care.
We have begun testing the first drugs to prevent cancer. Medical researchers have
introduced the first effective drugs to treat AIDS. They have made new discoveries about the
process of aging itself - nearing new treatments to prevent or delay diseases from Parkinsons
to Alzheimers to arthritis.
As we continue our advances in medical science, we cannot let our health care system
lag behind.
Managed care has transformed medicine in America ~ driving down costs, but
threatening to drive down quality as well. Let's make all Americans a promise:
This year, we will pass a strong and enforceable Patients' Bill of Rights ... so every American
can have the right to the best care, not just the cheapest. The right to see a specialist. And
the right to emergency care.
I am now extending these rights by executive authority to the 85 million Americans
served by Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health plans. But only Congress can enact
the Patients' Bill of Rights for all Americans. Last year, Congress missed that opportunity.
This year, for the sake of our families. Congress must not miss that opportunity again. [I ask
Congress to pass the Patients' Bill of Rights by [date].]
As more of our medical records are stored electronically, the threats to our privacy
increase. Either by an act of Congress or by executive authority we will protect the privacy of
medical records, this year.
Two years ago, we extended health insurance to up to 5 million children. Now, we
should give people between the ages of 55 and 65 who lose their health insurance the chance to
buy in to Medicare. We should make it easier for small businesses to offer health insurance to
their employees. And we should pass the historic bipartisan legislation, introduced by
�Senators Jeffords, Kennedy, Roth and Moynihan, to allow people with disabilities to keep
Medicaid health insurance when they go to work. No one should have to choose between
keeping health care and taking a job.
And I ask the Congress to increase support for community health centers and public
hospitals so that they better provide basic care for families who lack coverage altogether.
We must step up our efforts to treat and to prevent a condition that brings pain to
millions of families - mental illness. No American should ever be afraid to recognize and
treat this disease. This year, we will host the first-ever White House Conference on Mental
Health. With sensitivity and commitment. Tipper Gore is leading our efforts here - and I
thank her.
As everyone knows, our children - whom the tobacco industry has called "replacement
smokers" - are targets of a massive media campaign to hook them on cigarettes. I ask this
Congress to resist the tobacco lobby and pass a bipartisan bill that safeguards our children
while protecting farmers.
In all these areas - minimum wage, child care, health care, family leave and the safety
of our children - we can begin to meet our historic responsibility to strengthen our families
for the 21st Century.
A 21st CENTURY ECONOMY
Next, we must build a 21st Century economy for all Americans.
Today, America is the most dynamic, competitive, job creating economy in history.
But we can do better.
We must make a place for all our people in the new economy.
Today's income gap is largely a skills gap. Last year, I signed bipartisan legislation to
transform our worker training system. Now, with a simple skills grant, eligible workers can
choose the training they need.
This year, I recommend a five year investment in this new system so that we can provide that
training for aU Americans who lose their jobs. And let us launch a national campaign to
increase adult literacy for the millions of working people who read at less than a fifth grade
level.
In the last six years, we have cut the welfare rolls nearly in half. Two years ago, from
this podium, I asked five companies to lead a national effort to hire people off the welfare
rolls. Tonight, our Welfare to Work Partnership includes 10,000 companies who have hired
8
�hundreds of thousands of people.
My budget provides funds to help another 200,000 people move from the indignity of welfare
to the dignity and pride of work.
We also must bring the spark of private enterprise into inner cities and remote rural
areas. I ask Congress to support new community development banks and 100,000 vouchers
for affordable housing. And I ask Congress to support tax credits, incentives and loan
guarantees to help businesses raise up to $15 billion to bring jobs and opportunity to our inner
cities and rural areas. Our greatest untapped markets are not overseas - they are right here at
home.
And we must bring prosperity back to rural America - back to the family farm that
remains a powerful symbol of American plenty. Dropping prices and the loss of foreign
markets, have led to dire economic conditions for too many family farmers. The safety net
for rural America should include crop insurance reform and farm income assistance. I am
ready to work with lawmakers of both parties to get it done.
We must strengthen our lead in technology.
Government investment in information technology led to the creation of the Internet. I
propose a 30% increase in long-term computer research.
We must be ready for the 21st Century from its very first moment, by solving the
"Y2K" computer problem. We have already made sure Social Security checks will keep
coming on time. But every government department, every business, every state and city,
every university must be ready - so the "Y2K problem" will be remembered as the last
headache of the 20st Century, not the first crisis of the 21st.
And we must recognize: Economic growth at home also depends upon economic
growth abroad.
Until recently, one third of our economic growth came from exports. But over the past
year and a half, financial turmoil overseas has put that growth at risk. Today, much of the
world is in recession. Across Asia, an entire generation that worked its way into the middle
class has plunged into poverty.
This is the most critical financial crisis in a half century. To meet it, America has
reduced interest rates, met our obligations to the International Monetary Fund, and worked
with other nations to contain the crisis. The turmoil is not over, but thanks to lawmakers of
both parties, we have a chance to contain it.
Now we must build a global financial system for the 21st Century that tames the cycles
9
�of boom and bust. This spring, I will meet with other world leaders to lay plans for a system
with clear, open accounting; stronger international bank regulations; an aggressive response to
prevent regional problems from becoming global crises; and a strong social safety net for the
most vulnerable victims offinancialturmoil.
We must also build a freer and fairer trading system for the 21st Century. Trade has
divided Americans for too long. We must find the common ground on which business,
workers, environmentalists and government can stand together.
We must do more to help American manufacturers hit hard by the present crisis. I ask
Congress to boost U.S. manufacturing exports with $2 billion in new credit. When imports
unlawfully flood our nation, we must enforce our trade laws. Free trade must be fair trade. I
have already informed the government of Japan that if Japan's sudden surge of steel imports
into our country is not reversed, I will respond.
But let me make clear: the best course for the United States and the world is increased
trade. Therefore, I call for a new round of global negotiations to expand our exports of farm
products, services and manufactures.
We must also press for trade that promotes the dignity of work and the rights of
workers. We must insist that international trade organizations be open to public scrutiny, and
that trade rules never be used as a pretext to destroy environmental protections. We must
never let vigorous international competition become a race to the bottom among nations.
I ask Congress to join me in this common approach and pass legislation granting the
President the trade authority long used to advance our prosperity.
We will work with the International Labor Organization on a new initiative to lift labor
standards around the world. And we must act to end the most abusive trade practice of all:
This year I will sign a new international agreement to ban child labor everywhere in the
world.
If we do these things, then we can begin to meet the historic responsibility of this
generation to build a 21st Century prosperity for America.
10
�A STRONG AMERICA IN A NEW WORLD
No nation in history has had the opportunity and the responsibility we now have to help
shape a world more peaceful, secure, and free.
All Americans should be proud that our leadership helped to bring peace in Northern
Ireland - and America should help them build it.
All Americans can be proud that our leadership has put Bosnia on the path to peace.
This year, we will help that peace take deeper root - as we continue to bring our troops home.
And in Kosovo we will work to stop the bloody repression and find a peaceful path to self
government.
All Americans can be proud that our leadership renewed hope for lasting peace in the
Middle East. Some of you were with me in December as we watched the Palestinian National
Council completely renounce its call for the destruction of Israel. I ask Congress to act now to
provide resources to support the Wye Agreement
. . . to protect Israel's security, stimulate the Palestinian economy, and support our friends in
Jordan. We must not, we cannot, let them down.
As we work for peace, we must also meet threats to our nation's security - including
increased dangers from outlaw nations and terrorism. We will fight terror and defend our
security wherever we are threatened - as we did this summer when we struck at Osama bin
Laden's network of terror. The bombing of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania remind us of
the risks faced every day by those who represent America to the world. They deserve
protection, recognition and support. Let's give them the resources they need so America can
continue to lead.
We will work to keep terrorists from disrupting computer networks, to prepare local
communities for biological and chemical emergencies, and to support research into vaccines
and treatments.
We will work to restrain the spread of nuclear weapons, from North Korea to India and
Pakistan.
My balanced budget will expand our work with Russia, Ukraine, and the other former
Soviet nations to safeguard their weapons and technology so they never fall into the wrong
hands.
11
�There is another vital step Congress can take. In 1963, the Senate approved the
Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty just two months after President Kennedy signed it. It's been
two years since I signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. By acting now, the Senate can
make it harder for new nations to develop nuclear arms, and we can end nuclear testing
forever.
And with Russia, we must continue to reduce our nuclear arsenals. The framework we
have already agreed to for a START III Treaty could cut them by 80% from their Cold War
height. We must keep moving forward.
For nearly a decade, Iraq has defied its obligation to destroy its weapons of terror and
the missiles to deliver them. America will continue to contain Saddam - and we will work for
the day when Iraq has a government worthy of its people.
Last month, when America struck at Saddam's war machine, our troops were superb.
Their mission was so flawlessly executed that we risk taking for granted the bravery and skill
it required. Captain Jeff Taliaferro [TAH-la-ver], pilot of an XX fighter, destroyed
Republican Guard barracks in XX city. He is here with us tonight. Let us all honor the
10,000 men and women of Desert Fox.
It is time to reverse the decline in defense spending that began in 1985. Last year, I
asked and Congress agreed to add nearly $6 billion to maintain our readiness. My balanced
budget calls for an increase of $12 billion for readiness and modernization. It will ensure that
our troops can deploy rapidly, with the best training and weapons in the world. And it will
provide for them and their families.
We are the heirs of a legacy of bravery that spans the generations - including millions
of veterans. America's defenders today stand ready at a moment's notice to go where
comforts are few and dangers are many, doing what needs to be done as no one else can.
They always come through for America. We must come through for them.
The new century demands new partnerships for peace and security.
This spring, I will convene the leaders of NATO in Washington for its 50th
anniversary summit, to prepare for the missions of the next 50 years. We will welcome
Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic as our first new allies from Central Europe. And we
will reaffirm our determination that Europe must never again be divided by concrete and
barbed wire.
More than ever, we know the security of America is also bound to the stability of Asia.
I have worked to strengthen the bonds with our allies Japan and Korea. Last year, I also
traveled to China because our relationship with the world's largest country helps determine
prospects for peace and security across Asia. I said to the leaders of China, and I say again
12
�tonight: Stability can no longer be bought at the expense of liberty.
But we must reaffirm that it is important not to isolate China. The more we bring
China into the world, the more the world will bring change and freedom to China.
Last spring, with some of you, I traveled to Africa, where I saw democracy and reform
rising, but still held back by violence and disease. We must fortify African peace and
democracy - nowhere more important than in Nigeria. And because trade and investment are
the keys to African prosperity - we must finally pass the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act.
We are strengthening our ties to the Americas - to educate children, fight drugs,
deepen democracy and increase shared prosperity, with a Free Trade Area of the Americas
and increased trade with our neighbors in Central America and the Caribbean.
In our own hemisphere, every government but one is freely chosen by its people. We
are determined that Cuba, too, will know the blessings of liberty.
The American people have opened their arms and their hearts to our neighbors in
Central America and the Caribbean in the wake of devastating hurricanes. More than 5000
American troops have helped rebuild roads and homes and lives. Many are still at work. I am
proud of them - and proud of the generosity of the American people. I will work with
Members of Congress of both parties to help our neighbors rebuild.
The United Nations plays a crucial role in so many of the areas I have mentioned
tonight. America needs a strong relationship with an effective UN. I want to work in this
new year with this new Congress to pay our dues and our debts.
And if we do all these things, then we can meet the historic responsibility of our
generation to build a safer and more secure 21st Century America in a freer and more peaceful
world.
13
�21 ST CENTURY COMMUNITIES [10 minutes]
As the world has changed, so have our own communities. We must continue to
strengthen them for these new times.
Strong communities are safer communities.
We are months away from our goal of putting 100,000 community police officers on
the street - ahead of schedule and under budget. The Brady Bill has stopped a quarter million
felons, fugitives, and stalkers from buying guns. The murder rate is the lowest in 30 years,
and last year, the crime rate dropped for the sixth straight year.
Tonight, I propose a 21st Century crime bill to marshall the latest technologies and
tactics to make our communities even safer.
My budget provides fiinds to put up to 50,000 more police on the beat in the areas
hardest hit by crime, and equips them with 21st Century tools, from crime-mapping computers
to digital mug shots.
We must break the deadly cycle of drugs and crime. My budget strengthens support
for drug testing and treatment. It says to prisoners: If you stay on drugs, you must stay
behind bars. And it says to those on parole: To keep your freedom, keep free of drugs.
Congress should restore the mandatory 5-day waiting period for buying a handgun, and
extend the Brady Bill to prevent juveniles who commit violent crimes from ever buying
handguns.
And we must make our schools the safest places in our communities.
Last year, our nation was horrified and heartbroken by the tragic killings in our schools
- in Jonesboro, Paducah, Pearl, Edinboro, Springfield. We will never forget the courage of
the parents who have dedicated themselves to keeping guns out of the hands of children - so
no parent ever has to live through their loss.
Suzann Wilson lost her daughter, Brittheny, when a student opened fire on his
classmates in Jonesboro. When she came to visit me at the White House, she issued a
powerful plea to us all: "Please, please, for the sake of your children, lock up your guns.
Don't let your gun become an instrument of murder. Don't let what happened in Jonesboro
happen in your town." Suzann is here with us in the First Lady's box. In her presence, and
in memory of all the children who lost their lives this year to school violence, let us pledge
tonight to redouble our efforts to make our schools safe.
I ask Congress to pass my plan to strengthen the Safe and Drug-Free School Act, and
to hire and train 2,000 new community police and school resource officers to keep our
14
�children safe.
Strong communities are livable communities.
A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt defined our "great, central task" as
"leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us." Today, we are
restoring the Florida Everglades, saving Yellowstone, preserving the red-rock canyons of
Utah, protecting California's redwoods and our precious coasts.
But our most fateful new challenge is the threat of global warming. Last year's heat
waves, ice storms, and floods are but a hint of what future generations may endure if we don't
act now.
So tonight, I propose a new clean air fund to help communities reduce both pollution;
new funds for clean energy technology; tax cuts for energy-efficient cars and homes and
appliances; and vigorous diplomatic efforts to involve other countries. And I will work with
Congress to reward companies that take early, voluntary action to reduce greenhouse
pollution.
Our next challenge is visible today in every community. As more citizens buy new
homes and share in the American Dream, the frontier recedes; 7,000 acres of farmland and
open space are lost every day.
In response, Vice President Gore and I propose two major initiatives: first, a
Livability Agenda to help communities save open space, ease traffic congestion, and grow in
ways that enhance every citizen's quality of life; second, a historic one billion dollar Lands
Legacy Initiative to preserve places of natural beauty all across America - from the most
remote wilderness to the nearest city park.
To get the most out of your community, you have to give something back. That's why
we created AmeriCorps - our national service program that gives today's generation a chance
to serve their community and earn money for college.
So far, in just four years, 100,000 young people have built low-income homes with
Habitat for Humanity ... helped churches tutor children ... worked with FEMA to ease the
burden of natural disasters ... and performed countless other acts of service that have made
America better.
Some of them are here with us tonight. I thank them for their service - and I ask
Congress to give more young Americans the chance to follow their lead.
As we work to strengthen our community, we must work to renew our national
15
�democracy.
Last year, the House passed the bipartisan campaignfinancereform legislation
sponsored by Reps. Shays and Meehan and Sens. McCain and Feingold. But a partisan
minority in the Senate blocked reform. To the House I say: Pass reform again, quickly. And
to the Senate: Say no to big money and yes to a strong democracy in the Year 2000.
Most important, to build strong communities, we must be truly One America.
Since 1997, our Initiative on Race has sought to bridge the divides between our people.
In its report last fall, the Initiative's Advisory Board found that Americans want to bring our
people together across racial lines - but that we must do more to close the opportunity gap
that deepens the divides between the races. The economic, health care, and education
initiatives in my balanced budget will do a lot to close those gaps.
But we have more to do.
Discrimination or violence because of race or religion, ancestry or gender, disability or
sexual orientation, is wrong. It should be illegal. Therefore I call upon Congress to make the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Hate Crimes Prevention Act the law of the land.
Our newest immigrants must be part of One America. They are revitalizing our cities,
energizing our culture, building our new economy. We have a responsibility to make
immigrants welcome here, and they have a responsibility to enter the mainstream of American
life.
That means learning English, and learning about our democratic system of government. There
are now long waiting lines of immigrants seeking to do just that. Therefore, my budget
contains a substantial increase in fiinds to help them exercise their responsibility. That's part
of our responsibility.
Whether our ancestors came here on the Mayflower or on slave ships, whether they
landed on Ellis Island or at Los Angeles Airport, whether they arrived yesterday or walked
this land for thousands of years - we can be, and we must be One America. We have no
greater obligation to the 21st Century.
PERORATION: THE MILLENNIUM [5 minutes]
Barely more than 300 days from now, we will cross that bridge into a new millennium.
This is a moment, as the First Lady has said, to honor the past and imagine the future.
I honor her - for leading our Millennium Project - for all she has done to represent
our country at home and abroad - for all she has done for our children - and for her historic
role in serving this nation and advancing our best ideals.
16
�Last year, I called on the Congress and every citizen
to mark the millennium by saving America's treasures. Hillary has traveled across the country
to inspire recognition and support for saving places like Thomas Edison's Invention Factory
and Harriet Tubman's Home.
The response has been remarkable, and I thank Congress and our private sector
partners for their support. Because of you, the Star Spangled Banner will be preserved for
the ages. We must preserve the treasures in every community. I invite every American town,
city, and county to become nationally recognized "Millennium Communities" by launching
projects that save our history and prepare our children for the 21st Century.
We must keep alive, in ways large and small, what George Washington called "the sacred fire
of liberty."
Six years ago tomorrow, I came to office in a time of doubt for America, with our
economy troubled, our deficit high, our people divided. Some even wondered whether our
best days were behind us. But across this nation, in a thousand neighborhoods, I had seen,
even amid the pain and uncertainty of recession, the heart and character of America.
I had no doubt then of what we Americans could do for our country.
Tonight, as I deliver the last State of the Union message of the 20th Century, no one
can doubt the enduring resolve of Americans to work toward that "more perfect union" of our
founders' dreams.
We near the end of a century when generations of Americans answered the call to
greatness, overcoming Depression, lifting up the dispossessed, bringing down barriers of
racial prejudice, building up the largest middle class in history, winning two world wars, and
the "long twilight struggle" of the Cold War.
Perhaps in the daily press of events, in the clash of controversy, we do not see our time
for what it truly is - a new dawn for America.
A hundred years from tonight, an American President will stand in this place to report
on the State of our Union. He - or she - will look back on a 21st Century shaped in so many
ways by the decisions we make here and now.
Let it be said of us then that we were thinking not only of our time, but of their time;
that we reached as high as our ideals; that we put aside our divisions and found a new hour of
healing and hopefulness; that we joined together to serve and strengthen the country we love.
Let us lift our eyes as one nation, and from the mountaintop of this American century,
look ahead to the next one.
17
�Let us join our spirits and our wills for the work before us. We ask God's blessing on
our endeavors and our beloved country.
18
�Draft 1/17/99 1:30AM
sotu99.15
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
UNITED STATES CAPITOL
January 19,1999
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, honored guests, my fellow
Americans: [intro 4 minutes]
Tonight, we begin anew our work together for the people of America. Let me start by
saluting the new Speaker. First, I thank you for inviting to sit with Mrs. Hastert tonight Lyn
Gibson and Wei Ling Chestnut - the widows of the two Capitol Police Officers who gave
their lives to defend freedom's house. Second, I thank you for your words at your swearing
in. You asked us to work in a spirit of civility and bipartisanship. Mr. Speaker, let's do
exactly that.
Tonight, I have the honor of reporting on the State of our Union.
I stand before you to report that America has created the longest peacetime economic
expansion in our history - with wages rising at nearly twice the rate of inflation and nearly 18
million new jobs.
I stand before you to report that homeownership is the highest in history ~ welfare rolls
are the smallest in 29 years — and peacetime unemployment is the lowest it has been since 1957.
I stand before you to report that for the first time in three decades, the budget is balanced.
From a budget deficit of $290 billion in 1992, we now have a budget surplus of $70 billion this
year. We are on course for a budget surplus each year for the next 25 years.
Violent crime is the lowest in a quarter century — and the environment is the cleanest in a
quarter century.
America stands strong - a peacemaker from Northern Ireland, to Bosnia, to the Middle
East.
Once again, our government is a progressive instrument of the common good — offering
opportunity to all, demanding responsibility from all, and building a community of all
Americans. Thanks to the pioneering leadership of Vice President Gore, we have a government
for the Information Age — a flexible, creative government, devoted to fiscal responsibility and
determined to give the American people the tools they need to make the most of their own lives.
A 21st Century government for 21st Century America.
My fellow Americans, I stand before you to report that the state of our union is strong.
�America is working again. The promise of our future is limitless. But we cannot
realize that promise if we allow the hum of our prosperity to lull us into complacency. How
we fare as a nation far into the 21st Century depends [not upon what we enjoy today, but]
upon what we do today. [The prosperity we have built and the progress we have made are
proof that this generation has begun to fulfill its duty. But to face the challenges and seize the
opportunities of the new century, we have more to do.] So with our budget surplus growing,
our economy expanding, and our confidence rising, let's get to work.
AGING OF AMERICA
Our fiscal discipline gives us an unsurpassed opportunity to address a remarkable new
challenge: the aging of America.
With the number of elderly Americans set to double by 2030, the Baby Boom will
become a Senior Boom.
So first and above all, we must save Social Security for the 21 st Century. Early in this
century, being old meant being poor. When President Roosevelt created Social Security,
thousands wrote to thank him for eliminating what one woman called the "stark terror of
penniless, helpless old age." Even today, without Social Security, half our nation's elderly
would be forced into poverty.
Today, Social Security is strong. But by 2013, payroll taxes will not cover retirement
obligations. And by 2032, the Trust Fund will be exhausted, and Social Security will be unable
to pay out the full benefits older Americans have been promised.
The best way to keep Social Security a rock-solid guarantee is not to make drastic cuts in
benefits; not to raise payroll tax rates; and not to drain resources from Social Security in the
name of saving it.
Instead, I propose that we make the historic decision to invest the surplus to save Social
Security.
Specifically, I propose that we commit half the budget surplus for the next 15 years to
Social Security, investing a small portion of the surplus in the private sector just as any private or
state government pension would do. That will earn a higher return and keep Social Security
sound for 50 years.
But we must aim higher. We should put Social Security on a sound footing for the next
75 years. And we should reduce poverty among elderly widows, who are twice as likely to be
poor as other seniors ~ and eliminate the limits on what senior citizens on Social Security can
eam.
�These changes will require difficult but achievable choices. They must be made on a
bipartisan basis. They should be made this year. Tonight, together, let us say: we will Save
Social Security now.
Second, once we have set aside sufficient funds from the surplus to save Social Security,
we must fulfill our obligation to save and improve Medicare. Already, we have extended the life
of Medicare by 10 years ~ but it should be extended for at least another decade. Tonight I
propose that we use one out of every five dollars in the surplus over the next 15 years to
guarantee the soundness of Medicare, until the year 2020.
But again, we should aim higher. We must be willing to work in a bipartisan way and
look at new ideas, including the upcoming report of the Medicare panel chaired by Sen. John
Breaux and Rep. Bill Thomas. If we do this, we can improve the quality of Medicare by
covering seniors' greatest and growing need, affordable prescription drugs ~ and still secure
Medicare for the next two decades.
Third, we must help all Americans, from their first day on the job, to save, to invest, to
create wealth. From its beginning. Social Security has been supplemented by private pensions
and savings. Yet today, tens of millions of people retire with little to live on other than Social
Security. Americans living longer than ever must save more than ever.
Tonight, in addition to saving Social Security and Medicare, I propose a new pension
initiative for retirement security in the 21st Century. I propose that we use 10% of the surplus to
establish Universal Savings Accounts ~ USA Accounts. Americans who save in these new
accounts can invest as they choose, and receive funds to match a portion of their savings, with
extra help for those least able to save.
USA Accounts will give all Americans the means to save, to share in the nation's wealth,
and enjoy a more secure retirement.
Fourth, we must invest in long-term care. I propose a tax credit of $1,000 for those who
care for aged, ailing, or disabled loved ones. This kind of care is invaluable. Let us show that
we honor and reward it.
I was bom in 1946, in the first year of the Baby Boom. Our generation is determined not
to let our growing old place an intolerable burden on our children and their ability to raise our
grandchildren. There is no better use for the surplus than lifting that burden.
With these four measures - saving Social Security, strengthening Medicare, establishing
USA Accounts, and providing the long-term care tax credit — we can begin to meet our historic
responsibility to establish true security for 21st Century seniors.
�STRONG SCHOOLS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
There are more children, from more diverse backgrounds, in our public schools than at
any time in our history. Their education must provide the knowledge and nurture the
creativity so they can thrive in the new economy.
Today we can say something about their future we could not say six years ago: with
more affordable student loans, more Pell grants, 1 million new work-study jobs, education
IRAs, and the new HOPE scholarship tax cut that more than 5 million Americans will receive
this year, we have opened the doors of college to aU.
Nearly every state has set higher academic standards for public schools, and we will
soon have a voluntary national test to measure the progress of our students. Schools are
cracking down on drugs and gangs and guns and violence. Many are improving learning and
discipline with school uniforms, teaching values, finding a proper place for religious faith.
We are supporting these developments. And we are marshaling a volunteer army of college
students to teach young children to read, and to mentor middle school children and prepare
them for college.
With the leadership of Vice President Gore, we have helped communities connect more
than one million classrooms to the Internet. This year, with over one billion additional dollars
to make Internet connections affordable, we can meet our goal: every classroom and every
library connected to the Internet by the dawn of the new century.
Last fall, we began to hire 100,000 new highly-trained teachers to reduce class size in
the early grades. We know this will improve learning. Now we must finish the job.
Our children are doing better. SAT scores are up. Math scores have risen in nearly all
grades. But there is a problem: While our fourth graders outperform their peers in other
developed countries in math and science, our eighth graders are around average, and our twelfth
graders rank near the bottom.
We must do better. Each year the national government invests over $20 billion in our
public schools. I believe we must change the way we invest that money, to support what works
and stop supporting what doesn't.
Later this year, I will send Congress a plan that for the first time holds states and school
districts accountable for progress and rewards them for results. The plan would require every
school district receiving federal help to take the following four steps.
First, all schools must end social promotion.
No child should graduate from high school with a diploma he or she can't read. We do
�our children no favors when we allow them to pass from grade to grade without mastering the
material. We have a moral obligation to insist that our children learn.
But we can't just hold students back when the system fails them. So my balanced budget
triples the funding for summer school and after school programs. We can keep one million
students learning beyond regular school hours, when parents work and juvenile crime soars.
If you doubt this will work, look at Chicago, which ended social promotion and made
summer school mandatory for those who don't master the basics. Math and reading scores are up
three years running — with some of the biggest gains in some of the poorest neighborhoods.
Second, aU states and school districts must turn around their worst-performing schools
- or shut them down. That is the policy established by Gov. Jim Hunt in North Carolina,
where test scores made the biggest gains in the nation last year. My budget includes $200
million to help states turn around their failing schools. We must do this.
Third, aU states and school districts must be held responsible for the quality of their
teachers. The great majority of teachers do a fine job. But in too many schools, teachers
don't have college majors - or even minors - in the subjects they teach. All new teachers
should be required to pass skills tests and to know the subject they are teaching. My balanced
budget contains new resources to help all teachers reach these high standards.
To attract talented young teachers to the toughest assignments, I recommend a five-fold
increase in scholarships for college students who commit to teach in the inner cities, in isolated
rural areas and in schools in Indian communities.
Fourth, we must empower parents, with more information and more choices. In too
many communities, it is easier to get information on the quality of local restaurants than the
quality of local schools. Every school district should issue report cards on every school.
And parents and students should have more choice in selecting their public schools.
When I became President, there was one independent, public charter school in all of America.
With our support, there are 900 today. My budget assures that early in the next century,
there will be 3000.
Fifth, all states and school districts must adopt and enforce a strict discipline code.
Classrooms must be places of learning.
If we do these things - end social promotion, turn around failing schools, demand and
support qualified teachers, and promote innovation, competition and discipline - we will begin
to meet our generation's historic responsibility to create 21st Century schools.
Let's do one more thing for our children. Today, too many of our schools are so old
5
�that they're falling apart, or so overcrowded students must learn in trailers. Last fall,
Congress missed an opportunity to create a tax break to modernize or build 5000 schools.
This year, for the sake of our 53 million schoolchildren, Congress must not miss that
opportunity again.
BUILDING STRONG FAMILIES FOR THE 21st CENTURY
We must do more to help the millions of working American parents who give their all
every day at home and at work.
The most basic tool of all is a decent income. Let's raise the minimum wage by one
dollar an hour over the next two years.
One of the greatest needs for working parents is quality child care. Again, I ask the
Congress to support our plan for tax credits for working families, child care subsidies for families
and small business, high standards and training for child care providers, and expanded after
school programs. Our plan also includes a new tax credit for stay-at-home parents. They need
support too.
The Family Medical Leave Act — the first bill I signed into law ~ has helped nearly 20
million Americans care for a new baby or an ailing relative without risking their jobs, at minimal
cost to employers. We should extend Family Leave to 10 million more Americans working in
smaller companies.
Parents should never face discrimination in the workplace. I will ask Congress to
prohibit companies from refusing to hire or promote workers simply because they have children.
America's families deserve the world's best medical care.
We have begun testing the first drugs to prevent cancer. Medical researchers have
introduced the first effective drugs to treat AIDS. They have made new discoveries about the
process of aging itself - nearing new treatments to prevent or delay diseases from Parkinsons to
Alzheimers to arthritis.
As we continue our advances in medical science, we cannot let our health care system lag
behind.
Managed care has transformed medicine in America — driving down costs, but
threatening to drive down quality as well. Let's make all Americans a promise: This year, we
will pass a strong and enforceable Patients' Bill of Rights ... so every American can have the
right to the best care, not just the cheapest. The right to see a specialist. And the right to
emergency care.
�I am now extending these rights by executive authority to the 85 million Americans
served by Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health plans. But only Congress can enact the
Patients' Bill of Rights for all Americans. Last year, Congress missed that opportunity. This
year, for the sake of our families. Congress must not miss that opportunity again. [I ask Congress
to pass the Patients' Bill of Rights by [date].]
As more of our medical records are stored electronically, the threats to our privacy
increase. Either by an act of Congress or by executive authority we will protect the privacy of
medical records, this year.
Two years ago, we extended health insurance to up to 5 million children. Now, we
should give people between the ages of 55 and 65 who lose their health insurance the chance to
buy in to Medicare. We should make it easier for small businesses to offer health insurance to
their employees. And we should pass the historic bipartisan legislation, introduced by Senators
Jeffords, Kennedy, Roth and Moynihan, to allow people with disabilities to keep Medicaid health
insurance when they go to work. No one should have to choose between keeping health care and
taking a job.
And I ask the Congress to increase support for community health centers and public
hospitals so that they better provide basic care for families who lack coverage altogether.
We must step up our efforts to treat and to prevent a condition that brings pain to millions
of families — mental illness. No American should ever be afraid to recognize and treat this
disease. This year, we will host thefirst-everWhite House Conference on Mental Health. With
sensitivity and commitment. Tipper Gore is leading our efforts here - and I thank her.
As everyone knows, our children - whom the tobacco industry has called "replacement
smokers" ~ are targets of a massive media campaign to hook them on cigarettes. I ask this
Congress to resist the tobacco lobby and pass a bipartisan bill that safeguards our children while
protecting farmers.
For decades the tobacco industry has passed too much of the real cost of smoking —
medical care for illnesses from cancer to emphysema ~ onto you, the taxpayers. It is time to
recover those costs, as the states have done.
Tonight, I am directing the Department of Justice to prepare and bring a lawsuit against
the tobacco companies for the costs to Medicare of tobacco-related illnesses.
In all these areas ~ minimum wage, child care, health care, family leave and the safety of
our children - we can begin to meet our historic responsibility to strengthen our families for the
21st Century.
A 21st CENTURY ECONOMY
�Next, we must build a 21st Century economy for all Americans.
Today, America is the most dynamic, competitive, job creating economy in history.
But we can do better.
We must make a place for all our people in the new economy.
Today's income gap is largely a skills gap. Last year, I signed bipartisan legislation to
transform our worker training system. Now, with a simple skills grant, eligible workers can
choose the training they need. This year, I recommend a five year investment in this new system
so that we can provide that training for all Americans who lose their jobs. And let us launch a
national campaign to increase adult literacy for the millions of working people who read at less
than a fifth grade level.
In the last six years, we have cut the welfare rolls nearly in half. Two years ago, from
this podium, I asked five companies to lead a national effort to hire people off the welfare rolls.
Tonight, our Welfare to Work Partnership includes 10,000 companies who have hired hundreds
of thousands of people. My budget provides funds to help another 200,000 people move from
the indignity of welfare to the dignity and pride of work.
We also must bring the spark of private enterprise into inner cities and remote rural areas.
I ask Congress to support new community development banks and 100,000 vouchers for
affordable housing. And I ask Congress to support tax credits, incentives and loan guarantees to
help businesses raise up to $15 billion to bring jobs and opportunity to our inner cities and rural
areas. Our greatest untapped markets are not overseas — they are right here at home.
And we must bring prosperity back to rural America — back to the family farm that
remains a powerful symbol of American plenty. Dropping prices and the loss of foreign markets,
have led to dire economic conditions for too many family farmers. The safety net for rural
America should include crop insurance reform and farm income assistance. I am ready to work
with lawmakers of both parties to get it done.
We must strengthen our lead in technology.
Government investment in information technology led to the creation of the Internet. I
propose a 30% increase in long-term computer research.
We must be ready for the 21st Century from its very first moment, by solving the "Y2K"
computer problem. We have already made sure Social Security checks will keep coming on time.
But every government department, every business, every state and city, every university must be
ready - so the "Y2K problem" will be remembered as the last headache of the 20st Century, not
8
�the first crisis of the 21st.
And we must recognize: Economic growth at home also depends upon economic growth
abroad.
Until recently, one third of our economic growth came from exports. But over the past
year and a half, financial turmoil overseas has put that growth at risk. Today, much of the world
is in recession. Across Asia, an entire generation that worked its way into the middle class has
plunged into poverty.
This is the most critical financial crisis in a half century. To meet it, America has
reduced interest rates, met our obligations to the International Monetary Fund, and worked with
other nations to contain the crisis. The turmoil is not over, but thanks to lawmakers of both
parties, we have a chance to contain it.
Now we must build a global financial system for the 21 st Century that tames the cycles of
boom and bust. This spring, I will meet with other world leaders to lay plans for a system with
clear, open accounting; stronger international bank regulations; an aggressive response to prevent
regional problems from becoming global crises; and a strong social safety net for the most
vulnerable victims of financial turmoil.
We must also build a freer and fairer trading system for the 21st Century. Trade has
divided Americans for too long. We must find the common ground on which business, workers,
environmentalists and government can stand together.
We must do more to help American manufacturers hit hard by the present crisis. I ask
Congress to boost U.S. manufacturing exports with $2 billion in new credit. When imports
unlawfully flood our nation, we must enforce our trade laws. Free trade must be fair trade. I
have already informed the government of Japan that if Japan's sudden surge of steel imports into
our country is not reversed, I will respond.
But let me make clear: the best course for the United States and the world is increased
trade. Therefore, I call for a new round of global negotiations to expand our exports of farm
products, services and manufactures.
We must also press for trade that promotes the dignity of work and the rights of workers.
We must insist that international trade organizations be open to public scrutiny, and that trade
rules never be used as a pretext to destroy environmental protections. We must never let
vigorous international competition become a race to the bottom among nations.
1 ask Congress to join me in this common approach and pass legislation granting the
President the trade authority long used to advance our prosperity.
�We will work with the International Labor Organization on a new initiative to lift labor
standards around the world. And we must act to end the most abusive trade practice of all: This
year I will sign a new international agreement to ban child labor everywhere in the world.
If we do these things, then we can begin to meet the historic responsibility of this
generation to build a 21st Century prosperity for America.
A STRONG AMERICA IN A NEW WORLD
No nation in history has had the opportunity and the responsibility we now have to help
shape a world more peaceful, secure, and free.
All Americans should be proud that our leadership helped to bring peace in Northern
Ireland - and America should help them build it.
All Americans can be proud that our leadership has put Bosnia on the path to peace. This
year, we will help that peace take deeper root - as we continue to bring our troops home. And in
Kosovo we will work to stop the bloody repression and find a peaceful path to self government.
All Americans can be proud that our leadership renewed hope for lasting peace in the
Middle East. Some of you were with me in December as we watched the Palestinian National
Council completely renounce its call for the destruction of Israel. I ask Congress to act now to
provide resources to support the Wye Agreement . . . to protect Israel's security, stimulate the
Palestinian economy, and support our friends in Jordan. We must not, we cannot, let them
down.
As we work for peace, we must also meet threats to our nation's security - including
increased dangers from outlaw nations and terrorism. We will fight terror and defend our
security wherever we are threatened — as we did this summer when we struck at Osama bin
Laden's network of terror. The bombing of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania remind us of
the risks faced every day by those who represent America to the world. They deserve protection,
recognition and support. Let's give them the resources they need so America can continue to
lead.
We will work to keep terrorists from disrupting computer networks, to prepare local
communities for biological and chemical emergencies, and to support research into vaccines and
treatments.
We will work to restrain the spread of nuclear weapons, from North Korea to India and
Pakistan.
My balanced budget will expand our work with Russia, Ukraine, and the other former
Soviet nations to safeguard their weapons and technology so they never fall into the wrong
10
�hands.
There is another vital step Congress can take. In 1963, the Senate approved the Limited
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty just two months after President Kennedy signed it. It's been two years
since I signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. By acting now, the Senate can make it
harder for new nations to develop nuclear arms, and we can end nuclear testing forever.
And with Russia, we must continue to reduce our nuclear arsenals. The framework we
have already agreed to for a START III Treaty could cut them by 80% from their Cold War
height. We must keep moving forward.
For nearly a decade, Iraq has defied its obligation to destroy its weapons of terror and the
missiles to deliver them. America will continue to contain Saddam - and we will work for the
day when Iraq has a government worthy of its people.
Last month, when America struck at Saddam's war machine, our troops were superb.
Their mission was soflawlesslyexecuted that we risk taking for granted the bravery and skill it
required. Captain Jeff Taliaferro [TAH-la-ver], pilot of an XX fighter, destroyed Republican
Guard barracks in XX city. He is here with us tonight. Let us all honor the 10,000 men and
women of Desert Fox.
It is time to reverse the decline in defense spending that began in 1985. Last year, I asked
and Congress agreed to add nearly $6 billion to maintain our readiness. My balanced budget
calls for an increase of $12 billion for readiness and modernization. It will ensure that our troops
can deploy rapidly, with the best training and weapons in the world. And it will provide for them
and their families.
We are the heirs of a legacy of bravery that spans the generations ~ including millions of
veterans. America's defenders today stand ready at a moment's notice to go where comforts are
few and dangers are many, doing what needs to be done as no one else can. They always come
through for America. We must come through for them.
The new century demands new partnerships for peace and security.
This spring, I will convene the leaders of NATO in Washington for its 50th anniversary
summit, to prepare for the missions of the next 50 years. We will welcome Hungary, Poland and
the Czech Republic as our first new allies from Central Europe. And we will reaffirm our
determination that Europe must never again be divided by concrete and barbed wire.
More than ever, we know the security of America is also bound to the stability of Asia. I
have worked to strengthen the bonds with our allies Japan and Korea. Last year, I also traveled
to China because our relationship with the world's largest country helps determine prospects for
peace and security across Asia. I said to the leaders of China, and I say again tonight: Stability
11
�can no longer be bought at the expense of liberty.
But we must reaffirm that it is important not to isolate China. The more we bring China
into the world, the more the world will bring change and freedom to China.
Last spring, with some of you, I traveled to Africa, where I saw democracy and reform
rising, but still held back by violence and disease. We must fortify African peace and democracy
- nowhere more important than in Nigeria. And because trade and investment are the keys to
African prosperity — we must finally pass the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act.
We are strengthening our ties to the Americas - to educate children, fight drugs, deepen
democracy and increase shared prosperity, with a Free Trade Area of the Americas and increased
trade with our neighbors in Central America and the Caribbean.
In our own hemisphere, every government but one is freely chosen by its people. We are
determined that Cuba, too, will know the blessings of liberty.
The American people have opened their arms and their hearts to our neighbors in Central
America and the Caribbean in the wake of devastating hurricanes. More than 5000 American
troops have helped rebuild roads and homes and lives. Many are still at work. I am proud of
them ~ and proud of the generosity of the American people. I will work with Members of
Congress of both parties to help our neighbors rebuild.
The United Nations plays a crucial role in so many of the areas I have mentioned tonight.
America needs a strong relationship with an effective UN. I want to work in this new year with
this new Congress to pay our dues and our debts.
And if we do all these things, then we can meet the historic responsibility of our
generation to build a safer and more secure 21st Century America in a freer and more peaceful
world.
21ST CENTURY COMMUNITIES [10 minutes]
As the world has changed, so have our own communities. We must continue to
strengthen them for these new times.
Strong communities are safer communities.
We are months away from our goal of putting 100,000 community police officers on the
street — ahead of schedule and under budget. The Brady Bill has stopped a quarter million
felons, fugitives, and stalkers from buying guns. The murder rate is the lowest in 30 years, and
last year, the crime rate dropped for the sixth straight year.
12
�Tonight, I propose a 21st Century crime bill to marshall the latest technologies and tactics
to make our communities even safer.
My budget provides funds to put up to 50,000 more police on the beat in the areas hardest
hit by crime, and equips them with 21st Century tools, from crime-mapping computers to digital
mug shots.
We must break the deadly cycle of drugs and crime. My budget strengthens support for
drug testing and treatment. It says to prisoners: If you stay on drugs, you must stay behind bars.
And it says to those on parole: To keep your freedom, keep free of drugs.
Congress should restore the mandatory 5-day waiting period for buying a handgun, and
extend the Brady Bill to prevent juveniles who commit violent crimes from ever buying
handguns.
And we must make our schools the safest places in our communities.
Last year, our nation was horrified and heartbroken by the tragic killings in our schools —
in Jonesboro, Paducah, Pearl, Edinboro, Springfield. We will never forget the courage of the
parents who have dedicated themselves to keeping guns out of the hands of children ~ so no
parent ever has to live through their loss.
Suzann Wilson lost her daughter, Brittheny, when a student opened fire on his classmates
in Jonesboro. When she came to visit me at the White House, she issued a powerful plea to us
all: "Please, please, for the sake of your children, lock up your guns. Don't let your gun become
an instrument of murder. Don't let what happened in Jonesboro happen in your town." Suzann
is here with us in the First Lady's box. In her presence, and in memory of aU the children who
lost their lives this year to school violence, let us pledge tonight to redouble our efforts to make
our schools safe.
I ask Congress to pass my plan to strengthen the Safe and Drug-Free School Act, and to
hire and train 2,000 new community police and school resource officers to keep our children
safe.
Strong communities are livable communities.
A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt defined our "great, central task" as
"leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us." Today, we are
restoring the Florida Everglades, saving Yellowstone, preserving the red-rock canyons of
Utah, protecting California's redwoods and our precious coasts.
But our most fateful new challenge is the threat of global warming. Last year's heat
waves, ice storms, and floods are but a hint of what fiiture generations may endure if we don't
13
�act now.
So tonight, I propose a new clean air fund to help communities reduce both pollution;
new fimds for clean energy technology; tax cuts for energy-efficient cars and homes and
appliances; and vigorous diplomatic efforts to involve other countries. And I will work with
Congress to reward companies that take early, voluntary action to reduce greenhouse
pollution.
Our next challenge is visible today in every community. As more citizens buy new
homes and share in the American Dream, the frontier recedes; 7,000 acres of farmland and
open space are lost every day.
In response, Vice President Gore and I propose two major initiatives: first, a
Livability Agenda to help communities save open space, ease traffic congestion, and grow in
ways that enhance every citizen's quality of life; second, a historic one billion dollar Lands
Legacy Initiative to preserve places of natural beauty all across America - from the most
remote wilderness to the nearest city park.
To get the most out of your community, you have to give something back. That's why
we created AmeriCorps - our national service program that gives today's generation a chance
to serve their community and earn money for college.
So far, in just four years, 100,000 young people have built low-income homes with
Habitat for Humanity ... helped churches tutor children ... worked with FEMA to ease the
burden of natural disasters ... and performed countless other acts of service that have made
America better.
Some of them are here with us tonight. I thank them for their service - and I ask
Congress to give more young Americans the chance to follow their lead.
As we work to strengthen our community, we must work to renew our national
democracy.
Last year, the House passed the bipartisan campaign finance reform legislation
sponsored by Reps. Shays and Meehan and Sens. McCain and Feingold. But a partisan
minority in the Senate blocked reform. To the House I say: Pass reform again, quickly. And
to the Senate: Say no to big money and yes to a strong democracy in the Year 2000.
Most important, to build strong communities, we must be truly One America.
Since 1997, our Initiative on Race has sought to bridge the divides between our people.
In its report last fall, the Initiative's Advisory Board found that Americans want to bring our
people together across racial lines ~ but that we must do more to close the opportunity gap
14
�that deepens the divides between the races. The economic, health care, and education
initiatives in my balanced budget will do a lot to close those gaps.
But we have more to do.
Discrimination or violence because of race or religion, ancestry or gender, disability or
sexual orientation, is wrong. It should be illegal. Therefore I call upon Congress to make the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Hate Crimes Prevention Act the law of the land.
Our newest immigrants must be part of One America. They are revitalizing our cities,
energizing our culture, building our new economy. We have a responsibility to make immigrants
welcome here, and they have a responsibility to enter the mainstream of American life. That
means learning English, and learning about our democratic system of government. There are
now long waiting lines of immigrants seeking to do just that. Therefore, my budget contains a
substantial increase in funds to help them exercise their responsibility. That's part of our
responsibility.
Whether our ancestors came here on the Mayflower or on slave ships, whether they
landed on Ellis Island or at Los Angeles Airport, whether they arrived yesterday or walked
this land for thousands of years - we can be, and we must be One America. We have no
greater obligation to the 21st Century.
PERORATION: THE MILLENNIUM [5 minutes]
Barely more than 300 days from now, we will cross that bridge into a new millennium.
This is a moment, as the First Lady has said, to honor the past and imagine the future.
I honor her - for leading our Millennium Project - for all she has done to represent
our country at home and abroad - for all she has done for our children - and for her historic
role in serving this nation and advancing our best ideals.
Last year, I called on the Congress and every citizen to mark the millennium by saving
America's treasures. Hillary has traveled across the country to inspire recognition and support
for saving places like Thomas Edison's Invention Factory and Harriet Tubman's Home.
The response has been remarkable, and I thank Congress and our private sector partners
for their support. Because of you, the Star Spangled Banner will be preserved for the ages. We
must preserve the treasures in every community. I invite every American town, city, and county
to become nationally recognized "Millennium Communities" by launching projects that save our
history and prepare our children for the 21st Century. We must keep alive, in ways large and
small, what George Washington called "the sacred fire of liberty."
Six years ago tomorrow, I came to office in a time of doubt for America, with our
15
�economy troubled, our deficit high, our people divided. Some even wondered whether our best
days were behind us. But across this nation, in a thousand neighborhoods, I had seen, even amid
the pain and uncertainty of recession, the heart and character of America.
I had no doubt then of what we Americans could do for our country.
Tonight, as I deliver the last State of the Union message of the 20th Century, no one can
doubt the enduring resolve of Americans to work toward that "more perfect union" of our
founders' dreams.
We near the end of a century when generations of Americans answered the call to
greatness, overcoming Depression, lifting up the dispossessed, bringing down barriers of racial
prejudice, building up the largest middle class in history, winning two world wars, and the "long
twilight struggle" of the Cold War.
Perhaps in the daily press of events, in the clash of controversy, we do not see our time
for what it truly is - a new dawn for America.
A hundred years from tonight, an American President will stand in this place to report on
the State of our Union. He - or she - will look back on a 21st Century shaped in so many ways
by the decisions we make here and now.
Let it be said of us then that we were thinking not only of our time, but of their time; that
we reached as high as our ideals; that we put aside our divisions and found a new hour of healing
and hopefulness; that we joined together to serve and strengthen the country we love.
Let us lift our eyes as one nation, and from the mountaintop of this American century,
look ahead to the next one.
Let us join our spirits and our wills for the work before us. We ask God's blessing on our
endeavors and our beloved country.
16
�Draft 1/17/99 1:30AM
sotu99.15
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
UNITED STATES CAPITOL
January 19,1999
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, honored guests, my fellow
Americans:
^Tuiiighl, we begin dmw um svork togetirorfbr-the-pcoplo of-Amgffca. Let me start by
'saluting the new Speaker. First, I thank you for inviting to sit with Mrs. Hastert tonight Lyn
Gibson and Wei Ling Chestnut - the widows of the <fl&. Capitol Police Officers who gave
their lives to defend freedom's house. Second, I thank you for your words at your swearing
in. You asked us to work in a spirit of civility and bipartisanship. Mr. Speaker, let's do
exactly that.
Tonight, I have the honor of reporting on the State of our Union.
created
I stand before you to report that Ajnerica has create the longest peacetime economic
expansion in our history ~ with wagei nsinga^n^ny^twice the rate of inflation aH^nctlriy+S
•million wow jobs.
^
T ilmnl linfiHi j'liii in IHIIIIII lliiirliiiiin HI in i liiji iailio highcat in history — welfare rolls
are-thc smaHest in 29 years ~ and peacetime unemployment is tho lowect it hao been since 1957.
"3.
I stand bofore you to report that for the first time in three decades, the budget is balanced.
From a budget deficit of $290 billion in 1992, we now have a budget surplus of $70 billion this
year. We are on course for a\budget surplus each year for the next 25 years.
Violent crime is the lowest in a quarter century — anCbtiw environment is the cleanest in a
quarter century.
America stand strong" '<frpoaoema*tor from Northern Ireland, to Bosnia, to the Middle
East.
Once again, our government is a progressive instrument of the common good ~ offering
opportunity to all, demanding responsibility from all, and building a community of all
Americans. Thanks to the pioneering leadership of Vice President Gore, we have a\govemment
for the Information Age ~ a rttJ.iiL, creative government, devoted to fiscal responsibility and
determined to give thi Amiiiii9nn people the tools they need to make the most of their own lives.
A 21st Century government for 21st Century America.
�My fellow Americans, I stand before you to report that the state of our union is strong.
America is working again. The promise of our future is limitless. But we cannot
realize that promise if we allow the hum of our prosperity to lull us into complacency. How
we fare as a nation "fe inte the 21st Century depends [not upon what we enjoy today, but]
unonwhat we do today. [The prosperity we have built and the progress wc-have mada arc
jfrooffifoat this generatiotlhaD begun to fiilfiimta duty. But to face tho challcngcc and ocize the
opportunities of the new century, wc have muie Urtte-.l_j£o With our budget surplus growing,
our economy expanding, and our confidence rising, 1I.I J |i,iH U wnuL wV^x> <^WAWr»!j>
u
t
T
AGING OF AMERICA
Our fiscal discipline gives us an unsurpassed opportunity to address a remarkable new
challenge: the aging of America.
With the number of elderly Americans set to double by 2030, the Baby Boom will
become a Senior Boom.
So first and above all, we must save Social Security for the 21st Century. Early in this
century, being old meant being poor.
When President Roosevelt created Social Security, thousands wrote to thank him for eliminating
what one woman called the "stark terror of penniless, helpless old age." Even today, without
Social Security, half our nation's elderly would be forced into poverty.
Today, Social Security is strong. But by 2013, payroll taxes will not cover retirement
obligations. And by 2032, the Trust Fund will be exhausted, and Social Security will be unable
to pay out the full benefits older Americans have been promised.
The best way to keep Social Security a rock-solid guarantee is not to make drastic cuts in
benefits; not to raise payroll tax rates; and not to drain resources from Social Security in the
name of saving it.
Instead, I propose that we make the historic decision to invest the surplus to save Social
Security.
Specifically, I propose that we commit half the budget surplus for the next 15 years to
Social Security, investing a small portion of thtiourpluc in the private sector just as any private or
state government pension would do. That will eam a higher return and keep Social Security
�sound for 50 years.
But we must aim higher. We should put Social Security on a sound footing for the next
75 years. And we should reduce poverty among elderly vwtaws, who are twice as likely to be
poor as other seniors - and eliminate the limits on what senior citizens on Social Security can
earn.
These changes will require difficult but achievable choices. They must be made on a
bipartisan basis. They should be made this year. Tonight, together, let us say: we will Save
Social Security now.
Second, once we have set aside sufficient funds from the surplus to save Social Security,
we must fulfill our obligation to save and improve Medicare. Already, we have extended the life
of Medicare by 10 years ~ but it should be extended for at least another decade. Tonight I
propose that we use one out of every five dollars in the surplus over the next 15 years to
guarantee the soundness of Medicare, until the year 2020.
But again, we should aim higher. We must be willing to work in a bipartisan way and
look at new ideas, including the upcoming report of the Medicare panel chaired by Sen. John
Breaux and Rep. Bill Thomas.
If we do this, we can improve the quality of Medicare by covering seniors' greatest and"gi>wwing
need, affordable prescription drugs ~ and still secure Medicare for the next two decades.
Third, we must help all Americans, from their first day on the job, to save, to invest, to
create wealth. From its beginning, Social Security has been supplemented by private pensions
and savings. Yet today, tens of millions of people retire with little to live on other than Social
Security. Americans living longer than ever must save more than ever.
Tonight, in addition to saving Social Security and Medicare, I propose a new pension
initiative for retirement security in the 21st Century. I propose that we use 10% of the surplus to
establish Universal Savings Accounts ~ USA Accounts. Americans who save in these new
accounts can invest as they choose, and receive funds to match a portion of their savings, with
extra help for those least able to save.
USA Accounts will give all Americans the means to save, to share in the nation's wealth,
and enjoy a more secure retirement.
Fourth, we must invest in long-term care. I propose a tax credit of $ 1,000 for those who
care for aged, ailing, or disabled loved ones. This kind of care is invaluable. Let us show that
6
�we honor and reward it.
I was bom in 1946, in the first year of the Baby Boom. Our generation is determined not
to let our growing old place an intolerable burden on our children and their ability to raise our
grandchildren. There is no better use for the surplus than lifting that burden.
With these four measures ~ saving Social Security, strengthening Medicare, establishing
USA Accounts, and providing the long-term care tax credit ~ we can begin to meet our historic
responsibility to establish true security for 21st Century seniors.
S^reMSG SCHOOLS FOR THE 213T C B N W t Y
There are more children, from more diverse backgrounds, in our public schools than at
any time in our history. Their education must provide the knowledge and nurture the
creativity sirHicy ram thrive in the new economy.
1
Today we can say something about lliwi futmo-we could not say six years ago: with
more affordable student loans, more Pell grants, 1 million new work-study jobs, education
IRAs, and the new HOPE scholarship tax cut^iat more than 5 million Americans will receive
this year^we have opened the doors of college to aU.
Nearly every state has set higher academic standards for public schools, and we will
soon have a voluntary national test to measure the progress of our students. Schools are
cracking down on drugs and gangs and guns and violence. Many are improving learning and
discipline with school uniforms; teaching valuco, finding a proper place for religiouo faith.
We are supporting these developments. And we are marshaling a volunteer army of college
students to teach young children to read, and to mentor middle school children and prepare
them for college.
With the leadership of Vice President Gore, we have helped communities connect more
than one million classrooms to the Internet. This year, with over one billion additional dollars
to make Internet connections affordable, we can meet our goal: every classroom and every
library connected to the Internet by the dawn of the new century.
Last fall, we began to hire 100,000 new higUtytramed teachers to reduce class size in
the early grades. We know this will improve learning. Now we must finish the job.
Our children are doing better. SAT scores are up. Math scores have risen in nearly all
grades. But there is a problem: While our fourth graders outperform their peers in other
�developed countries in math and science, our eighth graders are around average, and our twelfth
graders rank near the bottom.
We must do better. Each year the national government invests over $20 billion in our
public schools. I believe we must change the way we invest that money, to support what works
and stop supporting what doesn't.
Later this year, I will send Congress a plan that for the first time holds states and school
districts accountable for progress and rewards them for resuj^s. The plan would require every
school district receiving federal help to take the followingfeursteps.
First, aU schools must end social promotion.
No child should graduate from high school with a diploma he or she can't read. We do
our children no favors when we allow them to pass from grade to grade without mastering the
material. We have a inuial ubligdtiun tu insist thai um children lemtu
But we can't just hold students back when the system fails them. So my balanced budget
triples the funding for summer school and after school programs. We can keep one million
students learning beyond regular school hours, when parents work and juvenile crime soars.
If you doubt this will work, look at Chicago, which ended social promotion and made
summer school mandatory for those who don't master the basics. Math and reading scores are up
three years running - with some of the biggest gains in some of the poorest neighborhoods.
Second, all states and school districts must turn around their worst-performing schools
~ or shut them down. That is the policy established by Gov. Jim Hunt in North Carolina,
where test scores made the biggest gains in the nation last year. My budget includes $200
million to help states turn around their failing schools. Wc muat do this.
y
Third, all states and school districts must be held responsible for the quality of their
teachers. The great majority of teachers do a fine job. But in too many schools, teachers
don't have college majors - or even minors - in the subjects they teach. All new teachers
should be required to pass skills tests and to know the subject they are teaching. My balanced
budget contains new resources to help all teachers reach these high standards.
To attract talented young teachers to the toughest assignments, I recommend a five-fold
increase in scholarships for college students who commit to teach in the inner cities, in isolated
rural areas and in schools in Indian communities.
Fourth, we must empower parents, with more information and more choices. In too
�many communities, it is easier to get information on the quality of local restaurants than the
quality of local schools. Every school district should issue report cards on every school.
And parents and students should have more choice in selecting their public schools.
When I became President, there was one independent, public charter school in all of America.
With our support, there are 900 today. My budget assures that early in the next century,
there will be 3000.
Fifth, all states and school districts must adopt and enforce a strict discipline code.
Classrooms must be places of learning.
f we do these things - end social promotion, turn around failing schools, demand and
support qualified teachers, md promote innovation, competition and discipline A we will begin
to meet our generation's historic responsibility to create 21st Century schools.
Let's do one more thing for our children. Today, too many of our schools are so old
that they're falling apart, or so overcrowded students must learn in trailers.
Last fall, Congress missed an opportunity to create a tax break to modernize or build 5000
schools. This year, for the sake of our 53 million schoolchildren, Congress must not miss that
opportunity again.
BUILDING ST-fthNCLFAMTT TFS FOP THF *>4^ CFNTIIRV
We must do more to help the millions of working American parents who give their all
every day at home and at work.
The most basic tool of all is a decent income. Let's raise the minimum wage by one
dollar an hour over the next two years.
One of the greatest needs for Working parents quality child care. Again, I ask the
Congress to support our plan for tax credits for working families, child care subsidies for families
and small business, high standards and training for child care providers, and expanded after
school programs. Our plan also includes a new tax credit for stay-at-home parents. They need
support too.
The Family Medical Leave Act ~ the first bill I signed into law ~ has helped nearly 20
million Americans care for a new baby or an ailing relative without risking their jobs, at minimal
cost to employers. We should extend Family Leave to 10 million more Americans working in
smaller companies.
.
�Parents should never face discrimination in the workplace. I will ask Congress to
prohibit companies from refusing to hire or promote workers simply because they have children.
America's families deserve the world's best medical care.
We have begun testing the first drugs to prevent cancer. Medical researchers have
introduced the first effective drugs to treat AIDS. They have made new discoveries about the
process of aging itself - nearing new treatments to prevent or delay diseases from Parkinsons to
Alzheimers to arthritis.
As we continue our advances in medical science, we cannot let our health care system lag
behind.
Managed care has transformed medicine in America ~ driving down costs, but
threatening to drive down quality as well. Let's make all Americans a promise:
This year, we will pass a strong and enforceable Patients' Bill of Rights ... so every American
eejwSave the right to the best care, not just the cheapest. The right to see a specialist. And the
right to emergency care.
I am now extending these rights by executive authority to the 85 million Americans
served by Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health plans. But only Congress can enact the
Patients' Bill of Rights for all Americans. Last year, Congress missed that opportunity. This
year, for the sake of our families. Congress must not miss that opportunity again. [I-ask-Congress
to pass the Patiuits' Bill uf Rights by [datej.]
As more of our medical records are stored electronically, the threats to our privacy
increase. Either by an act of Congress or by executive authority we will protect the privacy of
medical records, this year.
Two years ago, we extended health insurance to up to 5 million children. Now, we
should give people between the ages of 55 and 65 who lose their health insurance the chance to
buy in to Medicare. We should make it easier for small businesses to offer health insurance to
their employees. And we should pass the historic bipartisan legislation, introduced by Senators
Jeffords, Kennedy, Roth and Moynihan, to allow people with disabilities to keep Medicaid health
insurance when they go to work. No one should have to choose between keeping health care and
taking a job.
And I ask the Congress to increase support for community health centers and public "1
hospitals so that they better provide basic care for families who lack coverage altogether. J
We must step up our efforts to treat and to preventa condition tliiil iHili^'panrtgaatlikms
(Jf~famtlj»s ~ mental illness. No Amerjcan should ever be afraid to recognize and treat this
disease. This year, we will host thi;' fii 'it rmy White House Conference on Mental Health. With
sensitivity and commitment, Tipper Gore is leading our efforts here ~ and I thank her.
�As everyone knows, our children - whom the tobacco industry has called "replacement
smokers" ~ are targets of a massive media campaign to hook them on cigarettes. I ask this
Congress to resist the tobacco lobby and pass a bipartisan bill that safeguards our children while
protecting farmers.
For decades the tobacco industry has passed too much of the real cost of smoking ~
medical care for illnesses from cancer to emphysema — onto you, the taxpayers. It is time to
recover those costs, as the states have done.
Tonight, I am directing the Department of Justice to prepare and bring a lawsuit against
the tobacco companies for the costs to Medicare of tobacco-related illnesses.
In all these areas ~ minimum wage, child care, health care, family leave and tho oafoty ef
,.our-children*-- we can begin to meet our historic responsibility to strengthen our families for the
21st Century.
A 21st CENTURY ECONOMY
Next, we must build a 21st Century economy for all Americans.
Today, America is the most dynamic, competitive, job creating economy in history.
But we can do better.
We must make a place for all our people in the new economy.
Today's income gap is largely a skills gap. Last year, I signed bipartisan legislation to
transform our worker training system. Now, with a simple skills grant, eligible workers can
choose the training they need.
'This year, I recommend a five year investment in this new system so that we can provide that
training for aU Americans who lose, their jobs. And let us launch a national campaign to increase
adult literacy for the millions of working people who read at less than a fifth grade level.
In the last six years, we have cut the welfare rolls nearly in half. Two years ago, from
this podium, I asked five companies to lead a national effort to hire people off the welfare rolls.
Tonight, our Welfare to Work Partnership includes 10,000 companies who have hired hundreds
of thousands of people.
My budget provides funds to help another 200,000 people move from the indignity of welfare to
the dignity and pride of work.
8
�L^We also rgust bring the spark of private enterprise into inner cities and remote rural areas.
^^^SBgrossj^t^ppor^mw community development banks and 100^000 vTJuCtiiij for
affordable housing. And I ask Congre^Osupport tax-credits, inrpntivec and loan guarantees to
help businesses raise up to $15-billion to bring jobs arid opportunity to our inner cities and rural ,
areasJ^Our greatest untapped markets are not overseas - they are right here at home.
/SRi we must bring prosperity -bariite-TuralAmowoa^back to the family farm tl«L
-remains a powerful symbol of Amoncai^plenty. Dropping prices and tjjjgjoss of foreign markets.
have led to dire economic conditionolbrloo many family farmersr^He^afety net for-rural
Amoriaa ihmilri includc^crop insurance reform and farm incomea^sistance. I am ready to work
with lawmakers of both parties to gnMt linRe.OAjj^K.^. —
—
/
.
v
We must strengthen our lead in technology.
Government investment in information technology led to the creation of the Internet. I
propose a 30% increase in long-term computer research.
We must be ready for the 21st Century from its very first moment, by solving the "Y2K"
computer problem. We have already made sure Social Security checks will keep coming on time.
But every government department, every business, every state and city, every university must be
ready ~ so the "Y2K problem" will be remembered as the last headache of the 20st Century, not
the first crisis of the 21 st.
we musfrecsgnizei Economic growth-atrhoine~also depends upon-eeenormfe-grpwth
—abroad^
r
*
^
Until recently, one third of our economic growth came from exports. But over the past
year and a half, financial turnjoifov^^as^^^ut that growth at risk. Today, much of the world
is in recession^ Aoioss A^ia, aSicnHi^\gcncration that workccUts way into the iniiklfe-^lass-h^s
plunged into poyerty.
//
This is the most critical financial crisis in a half century. To meet it, America has
reduced interest rates, met our obligations to the International Monetary Fund, and worked with
other nations to contain the crisis. The turmoil is not over, but thanks to lawpialtcrs.of both- £
-partie&, we have a chance to contain it.
Now we must build a global financial system for the 21st Century that tames the cycles of
boom and bust. This spring, I will meet with other world leaders to lay plans for a system with
clear, open accounting; stronger international bank regulations; an aggressive response to prevent
regional problems from becoming global crises; and a strong social safety net for the most
vulnerable victims of financial turmoil.
We must also bmW a freer and fairer trading system for the 21st Century. Trade has
^
�divided Americans for too long. We must find the common ground on which business, workers,
environmentalists and government can stand together.
We must do more to help American manufacturers hit hard by the present crisis. I ask
Congress to boost U.S. manufacturing exports with $2 billion in new creditXwhen imports
unlawfully flood our nation, we must enforce our trade laws. Free trade must be fair trade. I
have already informed the government of Japan that if Japan's sudden surge of steel imports into
our country is not reversed.ftwill respond.
-But let mcmakc clean the best course for the United States and the world is increased
trade. Therefore, I call for a new found of global negotiations to expand our exports of farm
products, services and manufactures.
We must also press for trade that promotes the dignity of work a*d the rights of workers^ ^ ^wy^ui^
We must insist that international trade organizations be open to public scrutiny, and that trade
V^HihK.
3
r r r W n m r p r hp nrpri
n prntwrt t n doglrny environmp.ntnl prntrrtioHS
W e must never4et Q » U U \ ( K Q >
vign|rin<; i tr»mntiona1 r n m p o r i t i i n i 1w>i iSlliH A i ^ i f In llip l u i l l i i m ^ m n n g nntinnr.
t1
I ask Congress to join me in this common approach and pass legislation granting the
President the trade authority long used to advance our prosperity.
We will work with the International Labor Organization on a new initiative to lift labor
standards around the world. And we must act to end the most abusive trade practice of all: This
year I will sign a new international agreement to ban child labor everywhere in the world.
If we do these things, then we can begin to meet the historic responsibility of this
generation to build a 21st Century prosperity for America.
10
�A STRONG AMERIOt1N-A-NEWAVQR£D
No nation in history has had the opportunity and the responsibility we now have to help
shape a world more peaceful, secure, and free.
All Americans should be proud that our leadership helped to bring peace in Northern
Ireland - amFAmerica should help Ihem-buUd-it,
All Americans can be proud that our leadership has put Bosnia on the path to peace. This
y^^Aj^ year, we will help that peacg take deeper root - as-we cuiUinue tu brtBg-eurtroops-home. And in,
U T t A ^ Kosovo we will work to stop the bloody repression and find a peaceful path to self government.
(
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ntfcjo
All Americans can be proud that our leadership renewed hope for lasting peace in the
Middle East. £J>ome of you were with m^in Decembei{§s we watche^the Palestinian National
Council completely renounce its call for the destruction of Israel. I ask Congress to act now to
provide resources to support the Wye Agreement
. . . to protect Israel's security, stimulate the Palestinian economy, and support our friends in
Jordan. We must not, we cannot, let them down.
As we work for peace, we must also meet threats to our nation's security - including
increased dangers from outlaw nations and terrorism. We will fight terror and defend our
security wherever we are threatened ~ as we did this summer when we struck at Osama bin
Laden's network of terror. The bombing of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania remind us of
-^i^jt
the risks faced every day by those who represent America to the world. They deserve prmc^on, btt*XipK»uj
recognition and stEpport. Let's give them the resources they need so America can continue to
^c^^Md*lead.
^
We will work to keep terrorists from disrupting computer networks, to prepare local
communities for biological and chemical emergencies, and to support research into vaccines and
treatments.
We will work to restrain the spread of nuclear weapons, from North Korea to India and
Pakistan.
My bateiced budgot^'ftt^expand. our^SSk with Russia, Ukraine, and the other former
Soviet nations to safeguard their weapons and technology so they never fall into the wrong
hands.
There is another vital step Congress can take. In 1963, the Senate approved the Limited
11
%
�r
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty just two months after President Kennedy signed it. It's been two years
since I signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. By acting now, the Senate can make it
harder for new nations to develop nuclear arms, and we can end nuclear testing forever.
And with Russia, we must continue to reduce our nuclear arsenals. The framework we
have already agreed to for a START III Treaty could cut them by 80% from their Cold War
height. We must keep moving, forward.
For nearly a decade, Iraq has defied its obligation to destroy its weapons of terror and the
missiles to deliver them. America will continue to contain Saddam ~ and we will work for the
day when Iraq has a government worthy of its people.
Last month, when America struck at Saddam's war machine, our troops were superb.
Their mission was soflawlesslyexecuted that we risk taking for granted the bravery and skill it
required. Captain Jeff Taliaferro [TAH-la-ver], pilot of an XX fighter, destroyed Republican
Guard barracks in XX city. He is here with us tonight. Let us all honor the 10,000 men and
women of Desert Fox.
^ ^ I t is time to reverse t^e decline in defense spending that began in 1985. Last year, frmkod
anduongross agreetko add nearly $6 billion to maintain our readiness. My balanced budget
calls for an increase of $12 billion for readinessjjafta modemizationj It will onenre thnt nnrlrnnps
can deploy rapidly, with tho beet training and weapons in the world. And it will provide for them
and their families.
^ . ^ ^ ^ U ,
We are the heirs of a legacy of bravery that opano tho gehcrationo—mcludmg millions of
veterans. America's defenders today stand ready at a moment's notice to go where comforts are
few and dangers are many, doing what needs to be done as no one else can.
They always come through for America. We must come through for them.
The new century demands new partnerships for peace and security.
This spring, I will convene the leaders of NATO in Washington for its 50th anniversary
summit, to prepare for the missions of the next 50 yearsj^e-will welcome Hungary, Poland and
the Czech Republic as our first new allies from Central Europej And we-wUl reaffirm our
determination that Europe must never again be divided by concrete and barbed wire.
Ote ^^JJJ^VaSl^o Ate (V^ycr^ f ^ ^ V ^ ^ Nk^
Moro than over, wo know tho sceumy of Amofica is also bound-to the stability of Ask. I
have worked to strengthen the bonds with our allies Japan and Korea. Last year, I also traveled
to China because our relationship with the world's largest country helps determine prospects for
peace and security across Asia. I said to the leaders of China, and I say again tonight: Stability
can no longer be bought at the expense of liberty.
But we must reaffirm that it is important not to isolate China. The more we bring China
12
of"
X
�into the world, the more the world will bring change and freedom to China.
Last spring, with some of you, I traveled to Africa, where I saw democracy and reform
rising, but still held back by violence and disease. We must fortify African peace and democracy
- nowhere more important than in Nigeria. And because trade and investment are the keys to
African prosperity — we must finally pass the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act.
We are strengthening our ties to the Americas - to educate children, fight drugs, deepen
democracy and increase shared prosperity, with a Free Trade Area of the Americas and increased
trade with our neighbors in Central America and the Caribbean.
In our own hemisphere, every government but one is freely chosen by its people. We are
determined that Cuba, too, will know the blessings of liberty.
The American people have opened their arms and their hearts to our neighbors in Central
America and the Caribbean in the wake of devastating hurricanes. More than 5000 American
troops have helped rebuild roads and homes and lives. Many are still at work. I am proud of
them ~ and proud of the generosity of the American people. I will work with Members of
Congress of both parties to help our neighbors rebuild.
The United Nations plays a crucial role in so many of the areas I have mentioned tonight.
America needs a strong relationship with an effective UN. I want to work in this new year with
this new Congress to pay our dues and our debts.
And if we do all these things, then we can meet the historic responsibility of our
generation to build a safer and more secure 21st Century America in a freer and more peaceful
world.
13
�21ST CENTURY COMMUNITIES [10 minutes]
As the world has changed, so have our own communities. We must continue to
^-strengthen them for these new times. U!a H\us<*? m ^ V ^ 1*4^, IKMH UiHfc^o^
StfOng tunpnunitics^c^oafcr communitios.
We are monflio away from our goal of putting 100,000 community police officers on the
street ~ ahead of schedule and under budget. ^hg Brady Bill has stopped a quarter million
felons, fugitives, and stalkers from buying guns.j The murder rate is the lowest in 30 years, and
ttthe crime rateipropped for the sixlii straight yearSv
r
T
Tonight, I propose a 21st Century crime bill to marshall the latest technologies and tactics
to make our communities even safer.
My budget provides fimds to put up to 50,000 more police on the beat in the areas hardest
hit by crime, and equips them with 21st Century tools, from crime-mapping computers to digital
mug shots.
We must break the deadly cycle of drugs and crime. My budget strengthens support for
drug testing and treatment. It says to prisoners: If you stay on drugs, you must stay behind bars.
And it says to those on parole: To keep your freedom, keepfreeof drugs.
Congress should restore the mandatory 5-day waiting period for buying a handgun, and
extend the Brady Bill to prevent juveniles who commit violent crimes from ever buying
handguns.
AStL^ie must lisaliL our schools the safest places in our communities.
Last year, our nation was horrified and heartbroken by the tragic killings in our schools —
in Jonesboro, Paducah, Pearl, Edinboro, Springfield. We will never forget the courage of the
parents who have dedicated themselves to keeping guns out of the hands of children ~ so no
parent ever has to live through their loss.
w^fcU^taA.
Suzann Wilsonjloet hci-daughjgr, Brigbf ny, when a -stydent Qpen^-fire mi his Uassgiates
-iTrjftmecboro. When she came to ygit my at the White House, ghe iasufed a powerful plea:t»^s
all-: "Please, please, fui the sake uf yum childron, luck up~ye«f-guns^-Duu t let yum gun become^
-aft-mstmmcnt of murder. Don't let what happened in Jonesboro happen in your town." Sttzaufi
l!a here With us in the First Lady's bex. hi hu prcaciiccraftd in memory of aU the children who
lost their lives^ts^ear to school violence, let us plod&in luwi^hUu. redouble our efforts to make
our schools safe.
?
1
I ask Congress to pass my plan to strengthen the Safe and Drug-Free School Act, and to
14
o\
�hire and train 2,000 new community police and school resource officers to keep our children
safe.
Strong communiileij are livable coimnuniiies.
A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt defined our "great, central task" as
"leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us." Today, we are
restoring the Florida Everglades, saving Yellowstone, preserving the red-rock canyons of
Utah, protecting California's redwoods and our precious coasts.
But our most fateful new challenge is the threat of global warming. Last year's heat
waves, ice storms, and floods are but a hint of what future generations may endure if we don't
act now.
So tonight, I propose a new clean air fund to help communities reduce teth pollution;
new funds for clean energy technology; tax cuts for energy-efficient cars and homes and
appliances; and vigorous diplomatic efforts to involve other countries. And I will work with
Congress to reward companies that take early, voluntary action to reduce greenhouse
pollution.
Qui next Uidilenge It; Visible today ih evefry community. A-s rftore citizens buy now'
-teimac-tHiil i l u n
iiidl'i.
Ampriran TWam
thp f r n n t i p r regffte*; 7 , 0 0 0 acres o f f a r m l a n d and
open space afro-last every day.
"
^
In response, YlUil Piuuiilmit Cmw I^LI I propose two major initiatives: first, a
^
Livability Agenda to help communities saveopBn space, ease traffic congestion, and grow in
ways that enhance every citizen's quality of life; second, a historicv^one billion dollar Lands
Legacy Initiative to preserve places of natural beauty all across America — from the most
remote wilderness to the nearest city p a r k . T V ^ ^ (tv k& l^N»v.iM&<uO^T* I M W ^ '
To get the most out of your community, you have to give something back. That's why
we created AmeriCorps - our national service program that gives today's generation a chance
to serve their community and earn money for college.
So far, in just four years, 100,000 young people have built low-income homes with
Habitat for Humanity ... helped churches tutor children ... worked with FEMA to ease the
burden of natural disasters ... and performed countless other acts of service that have made
America better.
Some of them are here with us tonight. I thank them for their service - and I ask
Congress to give more young Americans the chance to follow their lead.
15
�n um u.^iV in
notion nnr pnmmnnity We must work to renew our national
dcmocf aey O*^*^ ty&k**Last year, the House passed the bipartisan campaign finance reform legislation
sponsored by Reps. Shays and Meehan and Sens. McCain and Feingold. But a partisan
minority in the Senate blocked reform. To the House I say: Pass reform again, quickly. And
to the Senate: Say HO to big money and yes to a strong democracy kjthe Year 2000.
Most important, to build strong contmunities, we must be tru^yQne Amerieft.
Since 1997, our Initiative on Race has sought to bridge the divides between our people.
In its report last fall, the Initiative's Advisory Board found that Americans want to bring our
people together across racial lines - but that we must do more to close the opportunity gap
that deepens the divides between the races. The economic, health care, and education
initiatives in my balanced budget will do a lot to close those gaps.
But we have more to do.
Discrimination or violence because of race or religion, ancestry or gender, disability or
sexual orientation, is wrong. It should be illegal. Therefore I call upon Congress to make the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Hate Crimes Prevention Act the law of the land.
Our newest immigrants must be part of One America. They are revitalizing our cities,
energizing our culture, building our new economy. We have a responsibility to make immigrants
welcome here, and they have a responsibility to enter the mainstream of American life.
That means learning English, and learning about our democratic system of government. There
are now long waiting lines of immigrants seeking to do just that. Therefore, my budget contains
a substantial increase in funds to help them-exereioe their responsibility. ThHt^*^aFtP3te«t
rooponeibility.
Whether our ancestors came here on the Mayflower or on slave ships, whether they
landed on Ellis Island or at Los Angeles Airport, whether they arrived yesterday or walked
this land for thousands of years - we can be, and we must be One America. We have no
greater obligation to the 21st Century.
PERORATION; THE MILLENNIUM [5 minutes]
Barely more than 300 days from now, we will cross that bridge into a new millennium.
This is a moment, as the First Lady has said, to honor the past and imagine the future.
I honor her - for leading our Millennium Project - for aH oho has done- te-represent
our coimtiy at home and abroad - for all she has done for our children - and for her historic
role in serving this natjoniand advancing our best ideals.
-^fk^
16
�Last year, I called on the Congress and every citizen
to mark the millennium by saving America's treasures. Hillary has traveled across the country to
inspire recognition and support for saving places like Thomas Edison's Invention Factory and
Harriet Tubman's H o m e ^ * ^ W * » * * < ^ W * .
The response has been remarkable, and I thank Congress and our private sector partners
for their support. Because of you, the Star Spangled Banner will be preserved for the ages. 'We
must preserve the treasures in every community. I invite every American town, city, and county
to become nationally recognized "Millennium Communities" by launching projects that save our
history and prepare our children for the 21st Century.
We must keep alive, in ways large and small, what George Washington called "the sacred fire of
liberty."
Six years ago tomorrow, I came to office in a time of doubt for America, with our
economy troubled, our deficit high, our people divided. Some even wondered whether our best
days were behind us. But across this nation, in a thousand neighborhoods, I had seen, even amid
the pain and uncertainty of recession, the heart and character of America.
I Itttd uu Uuwbt then tZP*tert we Americans could dwfir our country.
Tonight, as I deliver the last State of the Union message of the 20th Century, no one can
doubt the enduring resolve of Americans to work toward that "more perfect union" of our
founders'dreams.
f ^
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0
i
9
m
We near the end of a century when generations of Americans answered the call to
greatness, overcoming Depression, lifting up the dispossessed, bringing down barriers of racial
prejudice, building up the largest middle class in history, winning two world wars, and the "long
twilight struggle" of the Cold War.
Perhaps in the daily press of events, in the clash of controversy, we do not see our time
for what it truly is - a new dawn for America.
A hundred years from tonight, an American President will stand in this place to report on
the State of our Union. He - or she - will look back on a 21st Century shaped in so many ways
by the decisions we make here and now.
Let it be said of us then that we were thinking not only of our time, but of their time; -that
weTgarircd as high aj> QUI ideals; that we put aside our divisions and found a new hour of healing
arrcHiopoiu&ess; that we joined together4e. serve and strengthen the oountry wo love.
1
Let us lift our eyes as one nation, and from the mountaintop of this American century,
look ahead to the next one.
X
�Let us join our spirits and our wills for the work before us. We ask God's blessing on our
endeavors and our beloved country.
18
�
Dublin Core
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Title
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Michael Waldman
Description
An account of the resource
<p>Michael Waldman was Assistant to the President and Director of Speechwriting from 1995-1999. His responsibilities were writing and editing nearly 2,000 speeches, which included four State of the Union speeches and two Inaugural Addresses. From 1993 -1995 he served as Special Assistant to the President for Policy Coordination.</p>
<p>The collection generally consists of copies of speeches and speech drafts, talking points, memoranda, background material, correspondence, reports, handwritten notes, articles, clippings, and presidential schedules. A large volume of this collection was for the State of the Union speeches. Many of the speech drafts are heavily annotated with additions or deletions. There are a lot of articles and clippings in this collection.</p>
<p>Due to the size of this collection it has been divided into two segments. Use links below for access to the individual segments:<br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=43&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=2006-0469-F+Segment+1">Segment One</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=43&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=2006-0469-F+Segment+2">Segment Two</a></p>
Creator
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Michael Waldman
Office of Speechwriting
Date
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1993-1999
Identifier
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2006-0469-F
Extent
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Segment One contains 1071 folders in 72 boxes.
Segment Two contains 868 folders in 66 boxes.
Provenance
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Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
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Adobe Acrobat Document
Still Image
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Original Format
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paper
Dublin Core
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Title
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SOTU [State of the Union] 1999 Speech Drafts 1/17/99 - 1/18/99 [Binder] [3]
Creator
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Office of Speechwriting
Michael Waldman
Is Part Of
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Box 46
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36403"> Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7763296">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Identifier
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2006-0469-F Segment 1
Provenance
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White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
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Adobe Acrobat Document
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Preservation-Reproduction-Reference
Date Created
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6/3/2015
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7763296
42-t-7763296-20060469F-Seg1-046-007-2015