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�S.O.T.U. Drafts
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�Draft 2/3/97 2:15pm
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
STATE-OF-THE-UNION ADDRESS
UNITED STATES CAPITOL
FEBRUARY 4,1997
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice-President, Members of the 105th Congress, distinguished guests:
I come before you tonight with a plan of action and a challenge as great as any in our
peacetime history -- to prepare our people for the next century.
We have much to be thankful for. With four years of growth, we have won back the basic
strength of our economy. With crime and welfare rolls all declining, we are winning back our
basic optimism, the enduring faith of America thai we can master any difficulty. We won the
Cold War, and now we are helping lo bring unrivaled peace and prosperity across the world.
It would be easy to be complacent, to rest at this moment. But we are not a people made
for complacency. America must not have won the struggles of the past only to lose this moment
of opportunity.
Though we face no threat to our existence, we do have an enemy: the enemy of our time
is inaction. It is the enemy within. The new promise of the global economy, the Information
Age, new careers, and life-enhancing technology are ours to seize for our people. But if we do
not choose action, the chance will slip from our grasp or even be turned to our disadvantage in
this vigorous new era of competition.
[Our moment of opportunity is fleeting. We must be shapers of events, not observers.
Our task is not to ask what the future means for us, but what meaning we can give to the future.]
My fellow Americans, the state of our union is strong, but now we must rise to the
decisive moment and make it even stronger. This is our honor and our challenge. We can make
a nation and a world better than we have ever known. But if we do not act, the moment will pass
- and we will lose the best possibilities of our future.
So tonight, I issue a call to action ~ by this Congress, by our states, by all our people, to
prepare America for the 21st Century. Action to keep our economy and democracy strong and
working for all our people; action to strengthen education and harness the forces of technology
and science; to build stronger families and stronger communities and a safer environment; to
keep America the world's strongest force for peace, freedom and prosperity. And above all,
action to build a stronger, more perfect union here at home.
The spirit we bring to our work will determine its success. The people of this nation
�elecled us all. They want us to be partners, not partisans. They pul us all in the same boat ...
gave us all oars ... and told us to row.
First we must move quickly tofinishthe unfinished business of our country —
balancing our budget, renewing our democracy, andfinishingthe job of welfare reform.
Over the last four years, we have brought new economic growth by investing in our
people, expanding exports, cutting our deficit and creating 11 million new jobs. Now we must
keep our economy the strongest in the world.
We here tonight have an historic opportunity. Let this Congress be the Congress that
finally balances the budget.
In two days, I will propose a detailed plan to balance the budget by the Year 2000.
This plan will balance the budget arid invest in our people so they can make the most of
their lives, protecting Medicare, Medicaid, education, and the environment. It will balance the
budget and build on the Vice President's work to make this government work better, even as it
costs less. It will balance the budget arid provide middle class tax relief to pay for education and
health care, to help raise a child, and to buy and sell a home.
Balancing the budget requires only your vote and my signature. It does not require us to
rewrite our Constitution. It is unnecessary and unwise to adopt a balanced budget amendment
that could cripple our country in time of crisis and force unthinkable results such as judges
impounding Social Security checks or increasing taxes. [I ask this Congress to join me in keeping
Social Security out of any such amendment.] We don't need an amendment — we need action.
Whatever our differences, we should balance the budget now, and then, for the long-term
health of our society, agree to a bipartisan process to safeguard Social Security and reform
Medicare so these fundamental programs will be as strong for our children as they are for our
parents.
Our second piece of unfinished business requires us to commit ourselves tonight, before
the eyes of America, to enacting bipartisan campaign finance reform.
Senators McCain and Feingold, Representatives Shays and Meehan have reached across
party lines to craft tough and fair campaign reform. [I ask them to stand.] Their proposal would
curb spending, reduce the role of special interests, create a level playing field between
challengers and incumbents and ban the large soft money contributions that both parties receive.
It would ban contributions from foreign owned companies and noncitizens.
Delay will mean the death of reform. So let's set our own deadline. Let's work together
to write campaign finance reform into law, [and pass McCain-Feingold-Shays-Meehan], by the
�lh
day we celebrate the birth of our democracy -- July 4 .
There is a third piece of unfinished business: Over the last four years, we moved a record
two and a quarter million people off the welfare rolls. Last year we enacted landmark welfare
reform, demanding that able-bodied recipients assume the responsibility of moving from welfare
to work. Now each and every one of us has to fulfill our responsibility - indeed, our moral
obligation - to make sure people who must work, can work. [Now we must act to meet a new
goal: two million more people from welfare to work by 2000.]
Here is my plan: Tax credits and other incentives to businesses that hire people off
welfare. Incentives for job placement firms and for states that create jobs for welfare recipients.
Training, transportation and childcare to help people go to work.
I challenge every state: turn welfare checks into private sector paychecks. I challenge
every religious congregation, every community non-profit, and especially every business: hire
someone off welfare. I say to every employer in this country who ever criticized the old welfare
system: You can't blame the old system anymore. We have torn it down. Now do your part.
Give someone on welfare the chance to work. If we all do that, we can solve this problem once
and for all.
Tonight, 1 am proud to announce that five major corporations - Sprint, Monsanto, UPS,
Burger King, and United Airlines — will be the first to join with us in a new national effort to
marshal America's businesses to hire people off welfare.
And we must join together to do something else — something Republican and Democratic
governors alike have asked - restore basic health, nutrition, and disability benefits to legal
immigrants who work hard, pay taxes, and obey the law. To do otherwise, is unworthy of a
nation of immigrants.
We passed welfare reform. We were right to do it. But no one can walk out of this
chamber with a clear conscience unless you are prepared to finish the job.
Then, the greatest step of all ~ the high threshold to the future that we must now
cross ~ and my number one priority as President for the next four years -- is to ensure that
Americans have the best education in the world. Let's work together to meet these goals:
Every 8 year old must be able to read; every 12 year old must be able to log on to the
Internet; every 18 year old must be able to go to college, and every adult American must be
able to keep on learning.
My balanced budget makes an unprecedented commitment to these goals — $51 billion
next year. But far more than money is required.
I have a Plan for American Education [tk], based on ten principles, to which we must
�commit ourselves tonight, [hold up booklet]
First, we must set rigorous national standards for education, and help our children to
reach them. We must finally say: Fourth graders must be able to read. Eighth graders must be
able to do algebra. All our children must master the basics.
To do this, we must begin a national crusade for standards - not federal government
standards, but national standards representing what students must know to succeed in the
knowledge economy of the 21st Century. Every state and every school must shape the
curriculum to reflect these standards, and train teachers to lift our students up to them. To help
schools meet the standards and measure their progress, we will lead an effort over the next two
years to develop national tests for student achievement.
Tonight. I issue a national challenge: Every state should adopt high national standards,
and by 1999. every state should test every 4th grader in reading and every 8th grader in math to
make sure these standards are met.
Raising standards will not be easy. Some of our children will not be able to meet them at
first. The point is not to put them down, but lift them up. Good tests will show us who needs
help, what changes in teaching to make, and which schools to improve. And they can help us
end social promotion, because no child should move from grade school to junior high, or junior
high to high school until he or she knows the basics.
These tests are far more than tests of our children. This is a test of our nation, of our will
to meet the challenges of the global economy and the Information Age.
\
£
0
j7
Last week, along with my strong partner in this effort, Secretary of Education Richard
Riley, I visited schools outside Chicago, where 8th grade students from 20 school districts, in a
project they called "First in the World," took the Third International Math and Science Study, the
TIMSS test — a test that reflects the world-class standards our children must meet for the new
era. Those Illinois students tied for first in the world in science, and second in math. Two of
them are here tonight, with their teacher, [introduce Kristin Tanner, and Chris Getsla; teacher:
Sue Winski] When we aim high and challenge our students, they will be the best in the world.
The second principle of my Plan recognizes this simple truth: to have the best schools, we
must have the best teachers. Most of us — including myself - would not be here tonight without
the help of such teachers. For years, many educators, led by North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt
and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, have worked hard to establish
nationally accepted credentials for excellence in teaching. 400 of these master teachers have
been certified since 1995. My budget will enable 100,000 more to seek national certification(JWe
should reward our best teachers, quickly and fairly remove those who don't measure up, and
challenge our finest young people to consider teaching as a career.
�Third: we must do more to help all our children read. 40% of our 8 year olds cannot read
on their own. We have just launched the Amenca Reads initiative — a critical national effort to
build a citizen army of one million volunteer tutors to make sure every child can read
independently by 3rd grade. We will use thousands of AmeriCorps volunteers to mobilize this
citizen army. We want at least 100,000 college students to help. And tonight, I am proud to
announce that 60 college presidents have answered my call, and pledged that tens of thousands of
their work study students will serve one year as reading tutors.
This is a challenge to every teacher and every principal: create a program to train and use
these tutors to help your children read. This is especially a challenge to parents: Read to your
children every night.
And that leads us to the fourth part of my plan: We can't start teaching our children too
early. We are learning more and more about young children's emotional and intellectual
development. Parents small moments with their children make a big difference throughout their
lives. Parents are children's first teachers, and every home must be a place of learning. The First
Lady has spent years studying and writing about this issue. And I am pleased to announce that
she and I will convene a White House Conference on Early Learning and the Brain this Spring, to
[help us learn more about the ways very young children learn]. We already know what a
difference good preschool can make, and that's why my plan expands Head Start to one million
children by 2002.
The fifth part of my plan calls on every parent to be involved in their children's
education, and calls on every state to give parents the power to choose the right public school for
them. Innovation and competition will make our public schools better. And we must do more to
encourage teachers and parents to start charter schools that set and meet the highest standards,
and survive only as long as they do. My balanced budget doubles the funding to help start
charter schools, so by in the new century, there will be 3,000 charter schools — nearly seven
times as many as today. We want parents to be more involved in their children's education - not
just choosing schools, but every step of the way, meeting their teachers, helping with homework.
In June, the Vice President and Mrs. Gore will host their sixth annual family conference to talk
about parents and learning.
Sixth: we must make sure character education is a part of every curriculum. We should
leach our children how to be good citizens, and continue to promote order and discipline,
supporting communities that introduce school uniforms, impose curfews, enforce truancy laws,
remove disruptive students from the classroom, and have zero tolerance for guns and drugs.
Seventh: we cannot expect our children to raise themselves up in schools that are literally
falling down. Traditionally, the federal budget has played no role in school construction. But
with the student population at record levels, and record numbers of school buildings in disrepair,
this has become a serious national concern. My budget includes $5 billion to help communities
finance $20 billion in school construction over the next four years. [Moseley-Braun]
�Eighth: In the 21st Century, we must expand the frontiers of learning across a lifetime.
We must make the 13th and 14th years of education -- at least two years of college - as universal
in America as high school is today.
To do that, I propose America's HOPE scholarship, based on Governor Zell Miller's
HOPE scholarship in Georgia: two years of a $1,500 tax credit for college tuition, enough to pay
for the typical community college. I propose a tax deduction of up to $10,000 a year for all
tuition after high school; an expanded IRA you can withdraw from tax free for education; and the
largest increase in Pell Grant scholarships for deserving students in 20 years.
This plan will give most families the ability to pay no taxes on money saved for college
tuition. I ask you to pass it -- to give every American who works hard the chance to go to
college.
Ninth: all our people must have the chance to leam new skills. Most American workers
live near a community college. The roads that take them there can be paths to a better future.
My G.I. Bill for Workers will transform the confusing tangle of federal training programs into a
single, simple skill grant that will go directly into eligible workers' hands. For far too long, this
bill has sat before you without action — and I ask you to pass it now.
s1
Tenth: we must harness the Information Age to make our schools worthy of the 21
Century. Last year, I challenged America to connect every classroom and library to the Internet
by the year 2000, so that, for the first time in history, a child in the poorest inner city, the most
isolated rural town, the most comfortable suburb, will all have access to the same universe of
knowledge. I ask your support to complete this historic mission.
h
One of the greatest sources of our national strength in the 20' century was a bipartisan
foreign policy; politics stopped at the water's edge. I ask you -- and I ask the governors from the
many states who have joined us here tonight - for a new bipartisan commitment to education because education is the national security of our future - and politics should stop at the
classroom door.
But this is far more than a challenge to government -- no matter what the level. All
Americans must enlist in this crusade for tomorrow's children - businesspeople, teachers and,
especially, parents. Tonight we have the strongest economy and the strongest democracy in the
world. To keep them for the next fifty years, we must make American education, like America
itself, the envy of the world.
Tonight, I pledge to take this Plan for American Education to the country. If we work
together, we can get this done.
To prepare America for the 21st century, we must harness the powerful forces of
kfiS^dedge, science and technology to benefit ah Americans.
�This is ihc first Slate of the Union carried live over the Internet. But we have only begun
to spread the benefits of a technology revolution that should be the modern birthright of every
citizen.
,
Our effort to connect every classroom is just the beginning. I challenge the private sector . { j *
to help us connect every children's hospital to the Internet as soon as possible, so a child in bed
"^3
can stay in touch with school, family and friends.
^
We will build the second generation of the Internet so our leading universities and
national laboratories can communicate al speeds 1000 times faster than today, to develop new
medical treatments, new sources of energy, and new ways of working together.
But we cannot stop there. As ihe Internet becomes our new town square, a computer in I j/J^pv,
every home — a teacher of all subjects, a connection to all cultures - will no longer be a dream,
but a necessity. Over the next decade, that must be our goal.
We must continue to explore the heavens, pressing our mission of discovery with the
Mars probes, the international space station, and the project to discover the origins of life, all of
which will have practical applications here on Earth.
We must speed the remarkable advances in medical science. In the last year alone,
American scientists discovered genes linked to breast cancer and ovarian cancer, and medication
that stops a stroke in progress and begins to reverse its effects - and we have discovered
treatments that dramatically lengthen the lives of people with AIDS.
Since I took office, funding for AIDS research at the National Institutes of Health has
gone up 40%, to [$1.5 billion] next year. With these new resources, NIH will now become the
primary discovery engine for an AIDS vaccine. Every year we move up the discovery of an
AIDS vaccine, we will save [3 million] lives each year around the world. If you approve this
plan, scientists from business, universities and our national labs will be able to work together
more efficiently so we can end the threat of AIDS.
To prepare America for the 21st Century,(with new pressures on people in the way
they work and live"nwe must build stronger families and help parents pass on their values to
their children.
_)
^ ^Now we should expand the Family and Medical Leave Law so workers can take time off
N
for teacher conferences or a child's checkup. We should pass flextime so workers can choose to
be paid for overtime in income or trade it in for time off to be with their families.
We must continue, step-by-step, to give more families access to affordable, quality health
care.
�We must find a way to work together to cover the 40 million Americans — most in
working, taxpaying families, who still lack health insurance.
Today, 10 million American children lack health insurance -- 80% of them have working
parents who pay taxes. This is unacceptable. My balanced budget will extend health coverage to
up to five million children. It will help all working Americans by ensuring that people who
temporarily lose their jobs can still afford to keep their health insurance. No child should be
without a doctor just because a parent is without a job.
My Medicare plan helps the many families taking care of loved-ones afflicted with
Alzheimers — and for the first time, we would pay for annual mammograms.
Just as we ended drive through deliveries last year, we must end the dangerous and
demeaning practice of drive-through mastectomies. With us tonight is Dr. Kristen Zarfos, a
Connecticut surgeon whose outrage at this practice spurred a national movement and inspired
this legislation. Thank you, Dr. Zarfos.
We must protect our children by standing by our action to ban cigarette ads and marketing
that endangers their lives.
In the last four years, we have increased child support collections by 50%. Now, we
should make it a felony for any parent to cross state lines in an attempt to flee from his or her
most sacred obligations.
We must build stronger communities to prepare America for the 21st Century.
Our strong and growing economy has helped revive many urban areas, but we still have
more to do. Our approach is to empower poor urban and rural communities to create the
conditions in which families can flourish, and to create jobs through investment by business and
loans by banks.
We should double the number of empowerment zones. They have already brought hope
to communities like Detroit, where the unemployment rate has been cut in half in four years. We
should expand the network of community development banks. We should enact the brownfields
initiative to restore contaminated urban land and buildings to productive use.
And we, together, must pledge tonight that we will use this empowerment approach including private sector tax incentives - to renew this great capital city, so that Washington, D.C.
is once again the proud face America shows the world.
We must protect our environment in every community. In the last four years, we cleaned
up as many toxic waste sites as in the previous twelve; we cut the amount of toxic pollution in
half; we protected the 1.7 million acres of Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante.
�S.O.T.U. Drafts
2-4-97
ii
0 <f>
1 LU
�Withdrawal/Redaction Marker
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
AND TYPE
001. draft
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
State of the Union Address; RE: Phone number [partial] (1 page)
02/04/1997
RESTRICTION
P6/b(6)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Speechwriting
Michael Waldman
OA/Box Number: 14462
FOLDER TITLE:
State of the Union 1997 The Original Drafts Volume 2 [Binder] [4]
2006-0469-F
dbl956
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Presidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)|
Freedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.C. 552(b))
PI
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b(l) National security classified information [(bXl) of the FOIA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
an agency 1(b)(2) of the FOIA)
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b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
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2201(3).
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
�'37 FEB 4 AMI: 18
Draft 2/4/97 lam
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
STATE-OF-THE-UNION ADDRESS
UNITED STATES CAPITOL
FEBRUARY 4,1997
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice-President, Members of the 105th Congress, distinguished guests, my
fellow Americans:
Thank you for inviting me back.
I come before you tonight with a challenge as great as any in our peacetime history — and
a plan of action to meet that challenge, to prepare our people for the bold new world of the 21st
Century.
We have much to be thankful for. With four years of growth, we have won back the
•
basic strength of our economy. With crime and welfare rolls declining, we are winning back our
basic optimism, the enduring faith of America that we can master any difficulty. With the Cold
War receding and global commerce at record levels, we are helping to win unrivaled peace and
prosperity all across the world.
My fellow Americans, the state of our union is strong, but now we must rise to the
decisive moment, to make a nation and a world better than any we have ever known. The new
promise of the global economy, the Information*Age, brilliant new careers, life-enhancing
technology — are ours to seize. That is our honor and our challenge. [We must be shapers of
events, not observers. The question before us is not what the future means for us, but what
1
Clinton Library Photocopy
�meaning we can give to the future.] But if we do not act, the moment will pass -- and we will
lose the best possibilities of our future.
Tonight, we face no imminent threat, but we do have an enemy: The enemy of our time is
inaction.
So tonight, I issue a call to action ~ action by this Congress, by our states, by all our
people, to prepare America for the 21st Century. Action to keep our economy and our
democracy strong and working for all our people; action to strengthen education and harness the
forces of technology and science; action to build stronger families and stronger communities and
a safer environment; action to keep America the world's strongest force for peace and freedom
and prosperity. And above all, action to build a more perfect union here at home.
The spirit we bring to our work will determine its success. The people of this nation
elected us all. They want us to be partners, not partisans. They put us all right here in the same
boat.. . they gave us all oars . . . and they told us to row. Now let's get going.
First, we must move quickly to finish the unfinished business of our country — to
balance our budget, renew our democracy, finish the job of welfare reform.
Over the last four years, we brought new economic growth by investing in our people,
expanding our exports, cutting our deficits, creating over 11 million new jobs. Now we must
2
�keep our economy the strongest in the world.
We here tonight have an historic opportunity. Let this Congress be the Congress that
finally balances the budget.
In two days, I will propose a detailed plan to balance the budget by 2002.
This plan will balance the budget and invest in our people while protecting Medicare,
Medicaid, education, and the environment. It will balance the budget and build on the Vice
President's efforts to make our government work better, even as it costs less. It will balance the
budget and provide middle class tax relief to pay for education and health care, to help raise a
child, to buy and sell a home.
Balancing the budget requires only your vote and my signature. It does not require us to
rewrite our Constitution. I believe it is unnecessary and unwise to adopt a balanced budget
amendment that could cripple our country in time of crisis later on, and force unwanted results
such as judges impounding Social Security checks or increasing taxes. We don't need an
amendment — we need action.
Whatever our differences, we should balance the budget now, and then, for the long-term
health of our society, we must agree to a bipartisan process to preserve Social Security and
reform Medicare, so that these fundamental programs will be as strong for our children as they
3
�are for our parents./cart't read your writing on p. 4]
Our second piece of unfinished business requires us to commit ourselves, before the eyes
of America tonight, to enacting bipartisan campaign finance reform.
*
Senators McCain and Feingold, Representatives Shays and Meehan, have reached across
party lines to craft tough and fair campaign reform. [I ask them to stand.] Their proposal would
curb spending, reduce the role of special interests, create a level playing field between
challengers and incumbents and ban contributions from noncitizens and all corporate sources ~
the large soft money contributions that both parties receive.
You know and I know that delay will mean the death reform. So let's set our own
deadline. Let's work together to write bipartisan campaign finance reform into law, [and pass
th
McCain-Feingold] by the day we celebrate the birth of our democracy ~ July the 4 .
There is a third piece of unfinished business: Over the last four years, we moved a record
two and a quarter million people off the welfare rolls. Then last year we enacted landmark
welfare reform, demanding that able-bodied recipients assume the responsibility of moving from
welfare to work. Now each and every one of us has to fulfill our responsibility - indeed, our
moral obligation - to make sure that people who must work, can work. Now we must act to
meet a new goal: two million more people off the welfare rolls by the Year 2000.
�Here is my plan: Tax credits and other incentives to businesses that hire people off
welfare. Incentives for job placement firms and for states to create jobs for welfare recipients.
Training, transportation and child care to help people go to work.
Now I challenge every state: tum those welfare checks into private sector paychecks. I
challenge every religious congregation, every community non-profit, and every business: hire
someone off welfare. And I say especially to every employer in this country who has ever
criticized the old welfare system: You cannot blame the old system anymore. We have torn it
down. Now do your part. Give someone on welfare the chance to work.
If we all do that, we can end the permanent underclass by lifting it up into a growing
middle class.
Tonight, I am proud to announce that five major corporations - Sprint, Monsanto, UPS,
Burger King, and United Airlines ~ will be the first to join in a new national effort to marshal
America's businesses to hire people off welfare.
And we must join together to do something else too ~ something Republican and
Democratic governors alike have asked us to do ~ to restore basic health, nutrition, and disability
benefits when misfortune strikes immigrants who came to this country legally, who work hard,
pay taxes, and obey the law. To do otherwise is simply unworthy of a great nation of
immigrants.
�We passed welfare reform. We were rigjit to do it. But no one can walk out of this
chamber with a clear conscience unless you are prepared to finish the job.
Next, the greatest step of all — the high threshold to the future we now must cross —
and my number one priority as President for'the next four years -- is to ensure that
Americans have the best education in the world. Let's work together to meet these goals:
Every 8 year old must be able to read; every 12 year old must be able to log on to the
Internet; every 18 year old must be able to go to college, and every adult American must be
able to keep on learning.
My balanced budget makes an unprecedented commitment to these goals ~ $51 billion
dollars next year. But far more than money is required.
I have a plan, a Call to Action for American Education, with ten principles to which we
must commit ourselves tonight, [hold up booklet]
First, we must begin a national crusade for education standards — not federal government
standards, but national standards representing what all of our students must know to succeed in
the knowledge economy of the 21st Century. Every state and every school must shape the
curriculum to reflect these standards, and train teachers to lift students up to meet them. To help
the schools to meet the standards and to measure their progress, we will lead an effort over the
next two years to develop national tests of student achievement.
�Tonight. I issue a challenge to the nation: Everv state should adopt high national
standards, and bv 1999. everv state should test every 4th grader in reading and everv Rth grader
in math to make sure these standards are met.
Raising standards will not be easy, and some of our children will not be able to meet
them at first. The point is not to put our children down, but to lift them up. Good tests will show
us who needs help, what changes in teaching to make, and which schools to improve. And they
can help us to end social promotion. For no child should move from grade school to junior high,
or junior high to high school until he or she is ready.
Last month, along with my partner in this effort, Secretary of Education Dick Riley, I
visited schools in [tk] county in Northern Illinois, where 8th grade students from 20 school
districts, in a project they called "First in the World," took the Third International Math and
Science Study, called the TIMSS test ~ a test that reflects the world-class standards our children
must meet for the new era. And those students in Illinois were tied for first in the world in
science, and came in second only to Singapore in math. Two of them, Kristin Tanner, and Chris
Getsla are here tonight, with their teacher, Sue Winski. They prove that when we aim high and
challenge our students, they will be the best in the world.
The second point of my plan recognizes this simple truth: to have the best schools, we
must have the best teachers. Most of us - certainly including myself - would not be here
7
�tonight without the help of such teachers. For years, many educators, led by North Carolina's
Governor Jim Hunt and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, have worked
hard to establish nationally accepted credentials for excellence in teaching. 400 of these master
teachers have been certified since i'995. My budget will enable 100,000 more to seek national
certification as master teachers. We should reward our best teachers, quickly and fairly remove
those few who don't measure up, and challenge our finest young people to consider teaching as a
career.
Third: we must do more to help all our children read. 40% of our 8 year olds cannot read
on their own. That's why we have just launched the America Reads initiative ~ to build a citizen
army of one million volunteer tutors to make sure every child can read independently by the end
of 3rd grade. We will use thousands of AmeriCorps volunteers to mobilize this citizen army. We
want at least 100,000 college students to help. And tonight, I am pleased that 60 college
presidents have answered my call, and pledged that thousands of their work study students will
serve for one year as reading tutors.
This is also a challenge to every teacher and every principal: create a system to use these
tutors to help your children read. And it's especially a challenge to our parents: Read with your
children every night.
•
That leads to the fourth part of my plan: We can't start teaching children too soon. My
budget expands Head Start to one million children by 2002.
8
�Yet what we are learning more and more now about very young children's emotional and
intellectual development teaches us we must start even earlier. Parents' quiet moments with their
children makes a big difference in their lives. The First Lady has spent years studying and
*
writing about this issue. She and I-will convene a White House Conference on Early Learning
and the Brain this Spring, to explore how parents and educators can best use these startling new
scientific discoveries. Then, in June, the Vice President and Mrs. Gore will host their sixth
annual family conference. This one will focus on the importance of parents' involvement
throughout a child's education.
Fifth, every state should give parents the power to choose the right public school for their
children. Innovation and competition will make' Our public schools better. And we must do
more to encourage parents and teachers to start charter schools, schools that set and meet the
highest standards, and survive only as long as they do. Our plan will help America create 3,000
of these charter schools by the next century ~ that's nearly seven times as many as there are
today — so that parents will have more choice in sending their children to the best public schools.
Sixth: character education must be taught in our schools. We must teach our children to
be good citizens, and continue to promote order and discipline, supporting communities that
introduce school uniforms, impose curfews, enforce truancy laws, remove disruptive students
from the classroom, and have zero tolerance for guns and drugs.
Seventh: we cannot expect our children to raise themselves up in schools that are literally
9
�falling down. Traditionally, the federal government has played no role in school construction.
But with the student population at an all time high, and record numbers of school buildings
falling into disrepair, this has become a serious national concern. My budget, therefore, includes
$5 billion to help communities finance $20 billion in school construction over the next four
years. [Moseley-Braun]
Eighth: We must make the 13th and 14th years of education ~ at least two years of
college ~ just as universal in America as a high school education is today, and open the doors of
college to all..
To do that, I propose America's HOPE scholarship, based on Governor Zell Miller's
pioneering program in Georgia: two years of a $1,500 tax credit for college tuition, enough to
pay for the typical community college. I also propose a tax deduction of up to $10,000 a year for
all tuition after high school; an expanded IRA you can withdraw from tax free for education; and
the largest increase in Pell Grant scholarships in 20 years. This plan will give most families the
ability to pay no taxes on money saved for college tuition. I ask you to pass it ~ to give every
*
American who works hard the chance to go to college.
Ninth: In the 21st Century, we must expand thefrontiersof learning across a lifetime.
All our people, of whatever age, must have the chance to leam new skills. Most American
workers live near a community college. The roads that take them there can be paths to a better
future. My G.I. Bill for Workers will transform the confusing tangle of federal training programs
10
�into a simple skill grant that will go directly into eligible workers' hands. For too long, this bill
has sat before you without action ~ and I ask you to pass it now. Let's give more of our workers
the chance to leam what they need, to earn a better life.
Tenth: we must harness the Information Age to make our schools equal to the 21
st
Century. Last year, I challenged America to connect every classroom and library to the Internet
by the year 2000, so that, for the first time in history, a child in the poorest inner city school, the
most isolated rural town, the most comfortable suburb, will have the same access to the same
universe of knowledge. I ask your support to complete this historic mission.
That is my plan — a Call to Action for American Education.
It reflects a basic insight: One of the greatest sources of our national strength throughout
th
the 20 Century has been a bipartisan foreign policy; politics stopped at the water's edge. Now I
ask you — and I ask the governors from the many-states who have joined us here tonight — and
teachers, parents and citizens all across America ~ for a new nonpartisan commitment to
education — because education is the national security issue of our future — and politics should
stop at the classroom door.
We have the strongest economy and the strongest democracy in the world. If we want
tomorrow's children to enjoy these blessings 50 years from now, we dare not fall prey to inaction
and miss this moment of opportunity in education.
�I pledge to take this Call to Action to the country, so that together, we can make
American education, like America itself, the envy of the world.
To prepare America for the 21st century, we must harness the powerful forces of
science and technology to benefit aU Americans.
This is the first State of the Union carried live over the Internet. But we have only begun
to spread the benefits of a technology revolution that should be the modem birthright of every
citizen.
Our effort to connect every classroom is just the beginning. I challenge the private sector
to help us connect every children's hospital to the Internet as soon as possible, so a child in bed
can stay in touch with school, family and friends. A sick child should not be a child alone.
We will build the second generation of the Internet so our leading universities and
national laboratories can communicate at speeds 1000 times faster than today, to develop new
medical treatments, new sources of energy, and new ways of working together.
But we cannot stop there. As the Internet becomes our new town square, a computer in
every home ~ a teacher of all subjects, a connection to all cultures ~ this will no longer be a
dream, but a necessity. And over the next decade; that must be our goal.
12
�We must continue to explore the heavens, pressing on with the Mars probes, the
international space station, both of which will have practical applications for our everyday living.
We must speed the remarkable advances in medical science. The human genome project
is now decoding the genetic mysteries of life. In the last year alone, American scientists
discovered genes linked to breast cancer and ovarian cancer, and medication that stops a stroke in
progress and begins to reverse its effects ~ and we have discovered treatments that dramatically
lengthen the lives of people with HIV and AIDS.
Since I took office, funding for AIDS research at the National Institutes of Health has
increased dramatically, to $1.5 billion next year. With these new resources, NIH will now
become the primary discovery engine for an AIDS vaccine. And every year we move up the
discovery of an AIDS vaccine, we can save 3 million lives around the world. If you approve this
budget, scientists from the private sector, universities, and our national labs will be able to work
together more efficiently so that we can end the threat of AIDS.
To prepare America for the 21st Century, we must build stronger families and help
parents pass on their values to their children.
•
With new pressures on people in the way they work and live, we should expand the
Family and Medical Leave Law so workers can take time off for teacher conferences and a
child's medical checkup. Now we should pass flextime so workers can choose to be paid for
13
�overtime in income, or trade it in for time off to be with their families.
We must continue, step-by-step, to give more families access to affordable, quality health
care. 40 million Americans ~ moat of them in working, taxpaying families, still lack health
insurance.
10 million children lack health insurance — 80% of them have working parents who pay
taxes. That is wrong. My balanced budget will extend health coverage to up to five million of
those children. It will help all working Americans by ensuring that people who temporarily lose
their jobs can still afford to keep their health insurance. No child should be without a doctor just
because a parent is without a job.
My Medicare plan provides support for respite care for the many families taking care of
loved-ones afflicted with Alzheimers ~ and for the first time, it would pay for annual
mammograms.
Just as we ended drive through deliveries of babies last year, we must now end the
* *
dangerous and demeaningjpractice of{|endi^g)women home from the hospital only hours after a
mastectomy. With us tonight is Dr. Kristen Zarfos, a Connecticut surgeon whose outrage at this
practice spurred a national movement and inspired this legislation. We thank her for her efforts.
•
In the last four years, we have increased child support collections by 50%. Now, we
14
�should go further and make it a felony for any parent to cross state lines in an attempt to flee
from his or her most sacred obligations.
We must protect our children by standing by our action to ban the advertising and
marketing of cigarettes that endangers their lives.
To prepare America for the 21st Century, we must build stronger communities.
Our growing economy has helped revive poor urban and rural neighborhoods. But we
have more to do, to empower them to create the conditions in which families can flourish, and to
create jobs through investment by business and loans by banks.
We should double the number of empowerment zones. They have already brought hope
to communities like Detroit, where the unemployment rate has been cut in half in four years. We
should expand the network of community development banks. We should restore contaminated
urban land and buildings to productive use.
And together, we must pledge tonight that we will use this empowerment approach ~
including private sector tax incentives - to renew this great capital city, so that Washington,
D.C. is a great place to live, and is once again the proud face America shows to the world.
We must protect our environment in every community. In the last four years, we cleaned
15
�up 250 toxic waste sites, as many as in the previous twelve. Now we should clean up 500 more
of the worst toxic waste sites, so our children grow up next to parks, not poison. We should pass
my proposal to make big polluters live by this sfmple rule: If you pollute our environment, you
pay to clean it up.
In the last four years, we strengthened the nation's safe food and clean water laws. We
protected some of America's rarest, most beautiful land in Utah's Red Rocks region, created
three new national parks in the California desert, and began to protect Florida's Everglades. Now
we must be as vigilant with our rivers as we are with our land. Tonight, I announce that this year
I will designate 10 American Heritage Rivers, and help communities develop their waterfronts
and clean up pollution in their rivers, proving once again that we can grow the economy as we
protect the environment.
And we must also protect our global environment, working to ban the worst toxic
chemicals and to reduce greenhouse gasses that challenge our health as they change our climate.
Next, we must press our fight against crime and violence. Serious crime has dropped five
years in a row. The key has been community policing ~ and we must finish the job of putting
100,000 community police on our streets. We should pass the Victims' Rights Amendment to
the Constitution. And I ask you to join me in mounting a full scale assault on juvenile crime,
with legislation that: declares war on gangs, with new prosecutors and tougher penalties; that
extends the Brady Bill so violent teenage criminals will not be able to buy handguns; that
16
�requires child safety locks on handguns to prevent unauthorized use; and helps keep our schools
open after dark, on weekends, and in the summer, so young people have someplace to go and
something to say yes to.
My balanced budget includes the largest'anti-drug effort ever: fo stop drugs at their
source, punish those who push them, and steer young people away from them.
Because so many of our young children do not have what they need to grow and leam in
their homes, schools and neighborhoods, the rest of us must do more. That is why President
Bush, General Colin Powell, and former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros will join Vice
President Gore and me to lead the Presidents's Summit of Service in Philadelphia in April. We
intend to mobilize millions of Americans to serve in thousands of ways. Our national service
program, Americorps, has already helped 70,000 young people work their way through college
as they serve America. It is an American responsibility, which all Americans should embrace in
their daily lives.
I'd like to make one last point about our national community. Our economy is measured
in numbers and statistics. But the enduring worth of our nation lies in our values and our soaring
spirit. So instead of cutting back on our modest efforts to support the arts and humanities, we
should stand by them, and challenge our artists and writers, our museums and our theaters, to
join with all Americans to make the Year 2000 a national celebration of the American spirit in
every community - a celebration of our culture in the century that has passed, and in the new one
17
�to come, so that we can remain the world's beacon of liberty and creativity, long after the
fireworks have faded.
»
To prepare America for the 21st Century, we must master the forces of change in
the world and keep American leadership strong and sure for an uncharted time.
Fifty years ago, a farsighted America le<f in creating the institutions that secured victory
in the Cold War and built a growing world economy. As a result, today, more people than ever
embrace our ideals and share our interests.
*
Already, we have dismantled many of the blocs and barriers that divided our parents'
world. For the first time, more people live under democracy than dictatorship, including every
nation in our own hemisphere but one - and its day too will come.
Now, we stand at another moment of change and choice - and another time to be
farsighted, to bring America 50 more years of security and prosperity.
Our first task is to help build, for the first time, an undivided, democratic Europe. When
Europe is stable, prosperous and at peace, America is more secure.
We must expand NATO by 1999, so countries that were once our adversaries can become
our allies. At the special NATO summit this summer, that is what we will do. In addition, we
18
�must strengthen NATO's Partnership for Peace with non-member allies. And we must build a
stable partnership between NATO and a democratic Russia. An expanded NATO is good for
America. And a Europe in which all democracies define their future not in terms of what they
can do to each other, but in terms of what they can do together for the good of all, that kind of
Europe is good for America.
Second, America must look to the East no less than the West. Our security demands it:
Americans have fought three wars in Asia this century. Our prosperity requires it: more than 2
million American jobs depend upon trade with Asia.
There, too, we are helping to shape an Asian Pacific community of cooperation, not
conflict. But we must not let our progress mask.the peril that remains. Together with South
Korea, we must advance peace talks with North Korea and bridge the Cold War's last divide.
And I call on Congress to fund our share of the agreement under which North Korea must
continue to freeze ~ and then dismantle ~ its nuclear weapons program.
We must pursue a deeper dialogue with China ~ for the sake of our interests and our
ideals. An isolated China is not good for America. A China playing its proper role in the world
is. I will go to China and I have invited China's president to come here, not because we agree on
everything, but because engaging with China is the best way to work on common challenges like
ending nuclear testing ~ and to deal frankly with fundamental differences like human rights.
19
�Third, the American people must prosper in the global economy. We have made it our
mission to tear down trade barriers abroad, so that we can create good jobs at home, and to
promote prosperity andfreedomaround the world. I am proud to tell you that today, America is
once again the most competitive nation, and the number one exporter in the world.
Now, we must act to expand our exports, especially to Asia and Latin America, the two
fastest growing regions on earth ~ or be left behind as these emerging economies forge new ties
with other nations. That is why we need authority now to conclude trade agreements that open
markets to our goods and services even as we preserve our values.
We cannot shrink from the challenge of the global economy. We have the best workers
and the best products. Give Americans the opportunity of an open market, and we can out
compete anyone in the world.
We should all be proud that America led the effort to rescue our neighbor Mexico from
its economic crisis ~ and we should all be proud that last month, Mexico repaid the United
States, three full years ahead of schedule, with a half a billion dollars profit for us. And today
our exports to Mexico are at an all time high.
The events of the last few years prove that if we can link this entire hemisphere in a
network of open and fair trade, it will not only increase our prosperity, it will advance the cause
of freedom and democracy.
20
�Fourth, America must continue to be an pnrelenting force for peace ~ from the Middle
East to Haiti.. . from Northern Ireland to Africa. Taking reasonable risks for peace keeps us
from being drawn into far more costly conflicts later.
With American leadership, the killing has stopped in Bosnia. Now, the habits of peace
must take hold. The new NATO force will allow reconstruction and reconciliation to accelerate.
Tonight, I ask Congress to continue its strong support for our troops there. They are doing a
remarkable job for America — and America must do right by them.
*
Fifth, we must strongly move against new threats to our security: weapons of mass
destruction . . . terrorism . . . international crime and drugs. In the past four years, we agreed to
ban nuclear testing; with Russia, we dramatically cut our nuclear arsenals, and stopped targeting
•
each others citizens. We are acting to rid the world of landmines, and prevent nuclear materials
from falling into the wrong hands. We are working with other nations, with renewed intensity, to
stop terrorists and drug traffickers before they act, and to hold them fully accountable if they do.
#
Now, we must rise to a new test of leadership: ratifying the Chemical Weapons
Convention. It will make our troops safer from chemical attack. It will help us to fight terrorism.
This treaty has been bipartisan from the beginning, supported by Republican and Democratic
administrations alike ~ and already approved by 68 nations. Together, we must make the
Chemical Weapons Convention law, so that we can begin to outlaw poison gas from this earth.
21
�Finally, we must have the tools to meet all these challenges.
We must maintain a strong and ready military. We must increase funding for weapons
modernization and we must take good care of our men and women in uniform.
We must also renew our commitment to America's diplomacy - and pay our debts and
dues to international financial institutions such as the World Bank, and to a reforming United
Nations. Every dollar we devote to preventing conflicts . . . to promoting democracy . . . to
stopping the spread of disease and starvation . . . brings a sure return in security and savings. Yet
international affairs spending today is just one percent of the federal budget ~ a smallfractionof
what America invested to choose engagement over escapism at the start of the Cold War. I f
America is to continue to lead the world, we here who lead America simply must find the will
and pay our way.
A farsighted America moved the world to a better place over these last fifty years. And it
can do so for another fifty years. But the words of a shortsighted America would soon fall on
deaf ears all around the world.
•
Almost exactly fifty years ago, in the first winter of the Cold War, President Harry
Truman stood before a Republican Congress and called upon our country to meet its
responsibilities of leadership. "If we falter," he warned, "we may endanger the peace of the
world ~ and we shall surely endanger the welfare of this nation." That Congress, led by
22
�Republicans like Senator Arthur Vandenberg, answered President Truman's call. Together, they
made the commitments that strengthened our country for fifty years. Now let us do the same.
Let us do what it takes to remain the indispensable nation ~ to keep America strong, secure and
prosperous for another fifty years.
In the end, more than anything else, our world leadership grows out of the power of
our example, out of our ability to remain strong as one America.
•
All over the world, people are being torn asunder by racial, ethnic, and religious conflicts
that fuel fanaticism and terror. We are the world's most diverse democracy. And the world
looks to us to show that it is possible to live and advance together across those kinds of
differences.
»
America has always been a nation of immigrants. From the start, a steady stream of
people, in search of freedom and opportunity, have left their own lands to make this land their
home. We started as an experiment in democracy fueled by Europeans. We have grown into an
experiment in democratic diversity fueled by openness and promise.
My fellow Americans, we must never believe that this diversity is a weakness ~ it is our
greatest strength. For people on every continent can look to us and see the reflection of their
own greatness, as long as we give all of our citizens, whatever their background, an opportunity
to achieve their greatness.
23
�We have not done that yet. Evidence of lingering division is all around us. We see it
every day in the sullen, hopeless faces worn by too many of our young people. Too often, we see
it in the corridors of power, in the schoolyards, in the streets of our cities. We see it in burnedout houses of worship and bombed-out clinics. Too many people still seek to exploit our
differences. We must respect our differences, and each other. And we'must never hate. We must
never, ever hate.
A few days before my second inauguration, one of America's best known pastors, Rev.
Robert Schuller, suggested I read Isaiah 58:12. It says: "Thou shalt raise up the foundations of
many generations, and thou shalt be called, the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to
dwell in." I placed my hand on that verse when I took the oath of office, on behalf of all
Americans. For no matter what our differences ~ in our faiths, our backgrounds, our politics —
we must all be repairers of the breach. We may not all share a common past, but surely we share
a common ftiture.
I want to say a word about two other Americans whose lives show us the way to that
common ftiture. Congressman Frank Tejeda was buried yesterday, [a proud American whose
family came from Mexico.] He was only 51 years old. He earned the Silver Star, the Bronze
Star and the Purple Heart fighting in Vietaam, and he went on to serve Texas and America
fighting for our ftiture in this chamber. We are honored to have his mother, Lillie Tejeda, with us
tonight.
24
�Gary Locke, [a proud American whose family came from China], is the newly elected
Governor of Washington, the son of two of the millions of Asian American immigrants who
have strengthened America with their hard work, family values, and good citizenship.
Rev. Schuller, Congressman Tejeda, Governor Locke, along with Kristin Tanner, Chris
Getsla, Sue Winski and Dr. Kristen Zarfos - Americans from different roots, whose lives reflect
our shared values and the best of what we can become when we are one America.
Building that one America is our most important mission, "the foundation of many
generations," of every other strength we must build for the new century. Money cannot buy it.
Power cannot compel it. Technology cannot create it. It must rise from the human spirit.
America is far more than a place. It is an idea, the most powerful idea in the history of
nations. We are now the bearers of that idea, leading a great people into a new world. We don't
have a moment to waste. The children bom tonight will have almost no memory of the 20th
Century. Everything they will know of America, .they will know only through the work we do
now to build a new century.
Tomorrow morning, there will be just over 1,000 days until the Year 2000. 1,000 days to
prepare our people. 1,000 days to work together. 1,000 days to our land of new promise. My
fellow Americans, we have work to do. Let us seize the days and the century.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.
25
�1
S.O.T.U. FINAL
2-4-97
O co
X LU
JLCC
a.
�Draft 2/4/97 6pm
Check Against Delivery
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
STATE-OF-THE-UNION ADDRESS
UNITED STATES CAPITOL
FEBRUARY 4,1997
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice-President, Members of the 105t h Congress, distinguished guests,
my fellow Americans:
I come before you tonight with a challenge as great as any in our peacetime history ~ and
a plan of action to meet that challenge, to prepare our people for the bold new world of the 21st
Century.
We have much to be thankful for. With four years of growth, we have won back the
basic strength of our economy. With crime and welfare rolls declining, we are winning back our
basic optimism, the enduring faith that we can master any difficulty. With the Cold War
receding and global commerce at record levels, we are helping to win unrivaled peace and
prosperity all across the world.
My fellow Americans, the state of our union is strong, but now we must rise to the
decisive moment, to make a nation and a world better than any we have ever known. The new
promise of the global economy, the Information Age, unimagined new work, life-enhancing
technology — all are ours to seize. That is our honor and our challenge. We must be shapers of
events, not observers. For if we do not act, the moment will pass - and we will lose the best
possibilities of our future.
We face no imminent threat, but we do have an enemy: The enemy of our time is
inaction.
So tonight, I issue a call to action ~ action by this Congress, by our states, by all our
people, to prepare America for the 21st Century. Action to keep our economy and our
democracy strong and working for all our people; action to strengthen education and harness the
forces of technology and science; action to build stronger families and stronger communities and
a safer environment; action to keep America the world's strongest force for peace and freedom
and prosperity. And above all, action to build a more perfect union here at home.
The spirit we bring to our work will determine its success. We must all be committed to
the pursuit of opportunity for all Americans, and responsibility from all Americans, in a
community of all Americans, and to a new kind of government — not to solve all our problems
for us, but to give all our people the tools to make the most of their own lives.
And we must work together. The people of this nation elected us all. They want us to be
partners, not partisans. They put us all here in the same boat. . . they gave us all oars . . . and
they told us to row. Here's the direction I think we should take.
�First, we must move quickly to complete the unfinished business of our country — to
balance our budget, renew our democracy, andfinishthe job of welfare reform.
Over the last four years, we brought new economic growth by investing in our people,
expanding our exports, cutting our deficits, creating over 11 million new jobs. Now we must
keep our economy the strongest in the world.
We here tonight have an historic opportunity. Let this Congress be the Congress that
finally balances the budget.
In two days, I will propose a detailed plan to balance the budget by 2002.
This plan will balance the budget and invest in our people while protecting Medicare,
Medicaid, education, and the environment. It will balance the budget and build on the Vice
President's efforts to make our government work better, even as it costs less. It will balance the
budget and provide middle class tax relief to pay for education and health care, to help raise a
child, to buy and sell a home.
Balancing the budget requires only your vote and my signature. It does not require us to
rewrite our Constitution. I believe it is unnecessary and unwise to adopt a balanced budget
amendment that could cripple our country in time of crisis later on, and force unwanted results
such as judges halting Social Security checks or increasing taxes. Let us agree: We should not
pass any measure that threatens Social Security. We don't need a Constitutional amendment —
we need action.
Whatever our differences, we should balance the budget now, and then, for the long-term
health of our society, we must agree to a bipartisan process to preserve Social Security and
reform Medicare, so that these fundamental programs will be as strong for our children as they
are for our parents.
Our second piece of unfinished business requires us to commit ourselves tonight, before
the eyes of America, to enacting bipartisan campaign finance reform.
Senators McCain and Feingold, Representatives Shays and Meehan, have reached across
party lines to craft tough and fair campaign reform. Their proposal would curb spending, reduce
the role of special interests, create a level playing field between challengers and incumbents and
ban contributions from noncitizens and all corporate sources, and the other large soft money
contributions that both parties receive.
You know and I know that delay will mean the death of reform. So let's set our own
deadline. Let's work together to write bipartisan campaign finance reform into law, and pass
McCain-Feingold by the day we celebrate the birth of our democracy ~ July the 4 .
th
�There is a third piece of unfinished business: Over the last four years, we moved a record
two and a quarter million people off the welfare rolls. Then last year we enacted landmark
welfare reform, demanding that able-bodied recipients assume the responsibility of moving from
welfare to work.
Now each and every one of us has to fulfill our responsibility — indeed, our moral
obligation — to make sure that people who must work, can work. Now we must act to meet a
new goal: two million more people off the welfare rolls by the Year 2000.
Here is my plan: Tax credits and other incentives to businesses that hire people off
welfare. Incentives for job placement firms and for states to create more jobs for welfare
recipients. Training, transportation and child care to help people go to work.
Now I challenge every state: tum those welfare checks into private sector paychecks. I
challenge every religious congregation, every community non-profit, and every business: hire
someone off welfare. And I say especially to every employer in this country who has ever
criticized the old welfare system: You cannot blame that old system anymore. We have torn it
down. Now do your part. Give someone on welfare the chance to work.
Tonight, I am pleased to announce that five major corporations - Sprint, Monsanto, UPS,
Burger King, and United Airlines - will be the first to join in a new national effort to marshal
America's businesses, large and small, to create jobs so people on welfare can move to work.
We passed welfare reform. We were right to do it. But no one can walk out of this
chamber with a clear conscience unless you are prepared to finish the job.
And we must join together to do something else too ~ something both Republican and
Democratic governors have asked us to do - to restore basic health and disability benefits when
misfortune strikes immigrants who came to this country legally, who work hard, pay taxes, and
obey the law. To do otherwise is simply unworthy of a great nation of immigrants.
Next, the greatest step of all — the high threshold to the future we now must cross —
and my number one priority as President for the next four years ~ is to ensure that
Americans have the best education in the world.
Let's work together to meet these goals: Every 8 year old must be able to read;
every 12 year old must be able to log on to the Internet; every 18 year old must be able to
go to college, and every adult American must be able to keep on learning.
My balanced budget makes an unprecedented commitment to these goals ~ $51 billion
dollars next year. But far more than money is required.
I have a plan, a Call to Action for American Education, based on these ten principles.
3
�First, a national crusade for education standards ~ not federal government standards, but
national standards representing what all of our students must know to succeed in the knowledge
economy of the 21st Century. Every state and school must shape the curriculum to reflect these
standards, and train teachers to lift students up to meet them. To help schools meet the standards
and measure their progress, we will lead an effort over the next two years to develop national
tests of student achievement in reading and math.
Tonight. I issue a challenge to the nation: Every state should adopt high national
standards, and by 1999. every state should test every 4th grader in reading and every 8th grader
in math to make sure these standards are met.
Raising standards will not be easy, and some of our children will not be able to meet
them at first. The point is not to put our children down, but to lift them up. Good tests will show
us who needs help, what changes in teaching to make, and which schools to improve. They can
help us to end social promotion. For no child should move from grade school to junior high, or
junior high to high school until he or she is ready.
Last month. Secretary of Education Dick Riley and I visited Northern Illinois, where 8th
grade students from 20 school districts, in a project called "First in the World," took the Third
International Math and Science Study — a test that reflects the world-class standards our children
must meet for the new era. And those students in Illinois tied for first in the world in science,
and came in second in math. Two of them, Kristin Tanner, and Chris Getsla are here tonight,
with their teacher, Sue Winski. They prove that when we aim high and challenge our students,
they will be the best in the world.
Second, to have the best schools, we must have the best teachers. Most of us would not
be here tonight without the help of such teachers. I know I wouldn't be. For years, many
educators, led by North Carolina's Governor Jim Hunt and the National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards, have worked hard to establish nationally accepted credentials for excellence
in teaching. Just 500 of these master teachers have been certified since 1995. My budget will
enable 100,000 more to seek national certification as master teachers. We should reward our best
teachers, quickly and fairly remove those few who don't measure up, and challenge our finest
young people to consider teaching as a career.
Third: we must do more to help all our children read. 40% of our 8 year olds cannot read
on their own. That's why we have just launched the America Reads initiative ~ to build a citizen
army of one million volunteer tutors to make sure every child can read independently by the end
of the 3rd grade. We will use thousands of AmeriCorps volunteers to mobilize this citizen army.
We want at least 100,000 college students to help. And tonight, I am pleased that 60 college
presidents have answered my call, pledging that thousands of their work study students will serve
for one year as reading tutors.
�This is also a challenge to every teacher and every principal: use these tutors to help
students read. And it is especially a challenge to our parents: Read with your children every
night.
This leads to the fourth principle: Learning begins in the first days of life. Scientists are
now discovering how young children develop emotionally and intellectually from their first days,
and, therefore, how important it is for parents to begin immediately talking, singing, even
reading to their infants. The First Lady has spent years studying and writing about this issue. She
and I will convene a White House Conference on Early Learning and the Brain this Spring, to
explore how parents and educators can best use these startling new findings.
We already know we should start teaching children before they start schools. That's why
my budget expands Head Start to one million children by 2002. And, in June, the Vice President
and Mrs. Gore will host their annual family conference. This one will focus on the importance of
parents' involvement throughout a child's education.
Fifth, every state should give parents the power to choose the right public school for their
children. Their right to choose will foster the competition and innovation that can make our
public schools better. We should also make it possible for more parents and teachers to start
charter schools, schools that set and meet the highest standards, and survive only as long as they
do. Our plan will help America create 3,000 of these charter schools by the next century nearly seven times as many as there are today ~ so that parents will have even more choices in
sending their children to the best public schools.
Sixth: character education must be taught in our schools. We must teach our children to
be good citizens. And we must continue to promote order and discipline, supporting
communities that introduce school uniforms, impose curfews, enforce truancy laws, remove
disruptive students from the classroom, and have zero tolerance for guns and drugs.
Seventh: we cannot expect our children to raise themselves up in schools that are literally
falling down. With the student population at an all time high, and record numbers of school
buildings falling into disrepair, this has now become a serious national concern. My budget
includes a new initiative: $5 billion to help communitiesfinance$20 billion in school
construction over the next four years.
Eighth: We must make the 13th and 14th years of education ~ at least two years of
college - just as universal in America as a high school education is today, and we must open the
doors of college to all.
To do that, I propose America's HOPE scholarship, based on Georgia's pioneering
program: two years of a $1,500 tax credit for college tuition, enough to pay for the typical
community college. I also propose a tax deduction of up to $10,000 a year for all tuition after
high school; an expanded IRA you can withdraw from tax free for education; and the largest
�increase in Pell Grant scholarships in 20 years. This plan will give most families the ability to
pay no taxes on money saved for college tuition. I ask you to pass it ~ to give every American
who works hard the chance to go to college.
Ninth: In the 21st Century, we must expand the frontiers of learning across a lifetime.
All our people, of whatever age, must have a chance to leam new skills. Most Americans live
near a community college. The roads that take them there can be paths to a better future. My
G.I. Bill for Workers will transform the confusing tangle of federal training programs into a
simple skill grant that will go directly into eligible workers' hands. For too long, this bill has
been sitting on that desk down there without action — and I ask you to pass it now. Let's give
more of our workers the ability to learn and to earn.
Tenth: we must bring the power of the Information Age into all our schools. Last year, I
challenged America to connect every classroom and library to the Internet by the year 2000, so
that, for the first time in history, a child in the most isolated rural town, the most comfortable
suburb, the poorest inner city school, will have the same access to the same universe of
knowledge. I ask your support to complete this historic mission.
That is my plan - a Call to Action for American Education.
We must understand the significance of this endeavor: One of the greatest sources of our
strength throughout the Cold War was a bipartisan foreign policy; because our future was at
stake, politics stopped at the water's edge. Now I ask you ~ I ask all our nation's governors ~
and I ask teachers, parents and citizens all across America - for a new nonpartisan commitment
to education ~ because education is one of the critical national security issues for our future ~
and politics must stop at the classroom door.
I pledge to take this Call to Action to our country, so that together, we can make
American education, like America itself, the envy of the world.
To prepare America for the 21st century, we must harness the powerful forces of
science and technology to benefit all Americans.
This is the first State of the Union carried live over the Internet. But we have only begun
to spread the benefits of a technology revolution that should be the modem birthright of every
citizen.
Our effort to connect every classroom is just the beginning. Now, we should connect
every hospital to the Internet, so doctors can instantly share data about their patients with the best
specialists in the field. And I challenge the private sector to start by connecting every children's
hospital as soon as possible, so that a child in bed can stay in touch with school, family and
friends. A sick child need no longer be a child alone.
�We must build the second generation of the Internet so our leading universities and
national laboratories can communicate at speeds 1000 times faster than today, to develop new
medical treatments, new sources of energy, and new ways of working together.
But we cannot stop there. As the Internet becomes our new town square, a computer in
every home - a teacher of all subjects, a connection to all cultures ~ this will no longer be a
dream, but a necessity. And over the next decade, that must be our goal.
We must continue to explore the heavens, pressing on with the Mars probes and the
international space station, both of which will have practical applications for our everyday living.
We must speed the remarkable advances in medical science. The human genome project
is now decoding the genetic mysteries of life. American scientists have discovered genes linked
to breast cancer and ovarian cancer, and medication that stops a stroke in progress and begins to
reverse its effects - and treatments that dramatically lengthen the lives of people with HIV and
AIDS.
Since I took office, funding for AIDS research at the National Institutes of Health has
increased dramatically, to $1.5 billion. With new resources, NIH will now become the most
powerful discovery engine for an AIDS vaccine, working with other scientists to finally end the
threat of AIDS. Every year we move up the discovery of an AIDS vaccine, we can save millions
of lives around the world.
To prepare America for the 21st Century, we must build stronger families.
Over the past 4 years, the Family and Medical Leave Act has helped millions of
Americans take time off to be with their families. With new pressures on people in the way they
work and live, we should expand Family Leave so that workers can take time off for teacher
conferences and a child's medical checkup. We should pass flextime so workers can choose to
be paid for overtime in income, or trade it in for time off to be with their families.
We must continue, step-by-step, to give more families access to affordable, quality health
care. 40 million Americans still lack health insurance. 10 million children still lack health
insurance. 80% of them have working parents who pay taxes. That is wrong. My balanced
budget will extend health coverage to up to five million of those children. Since nearly half of
all children who lose their insurance do so because their parents lose or change jobs, my budget
will also ensure that people who temporarily lose their jobs can still afford to keep their health
insurance. No child should be without a doctor just because a parent is without a job.
My Medicare plan modernizes Medicare, increases the life of the Trust Fund to 10 years,
provides support for respite care for the many families with loved-ones afflicted with Alzheimers
~ and for the first time, it would fully pay for annual mammograms.
�Just as we ended drive through deliveries of babies last year, we must now end the
dangerous and demeaning practice of forcing women home from the hospital only hours after a
mastectomy. I ask your support for bipartisan legislation to guarantee that women can stay in the
hospital for 48 hours after a mastectomy. With us tonight is Dr. Kristen Zarfos, a Connecticut
surgeon whose outrage at this practice spurred a national movement and inspired this legislation.
We thank her for her efforts.
In the last four years, we have increased child support collections by 50%. Now, we
should go further, and make it a felony for any parent to cross state lines in an attempt to flee
from this, his or her most sacred obligation.
Finally, we must also protect our children by standing firm in our determination to ban
the advertising and marketing of cigarettes that endanger their lives.
To prepare America for the 21st Century, we must build stronger communities.
We should start with safe streets. Serious crime has dropped five years in a row. The key
has been community policing ~ and we must finish the job of putting 100,000 community police
on our streets. We should pass the Victims' Rights Amendment to the Constitution.
And I ask you to join me in mounting a full scale assault on juvenile crime, with
legislation that: declares war on gangs, with new prosecutors and tougher penalties; extends the
Brady Bill so violent teen criminals will never be able to buy handguns; requires child safety
locks on handguns to prevent unauthorized use; and helps to keep our schools open after hours,
on weekends, and in the summer, so young people will have someplace to go and something to
say yes to.
My balanced budget includes the largest anti-drug effort ever: to stop drugs at their
source, punish those who push them, and teach our young people that drugs are wrong, drugs are
illegal, and drugs will kill them.
Our growing economy has helped to revive poor urban and rural neighborhoods. But we
must do more, to empower them to create the conditions in which families can flourish, and to
create jobs through investment by business and loans by banks.
We should double the number of empowerment zones. They have already brought hope
to communities like Detroit, where the unemployment rate has been cut in half in four years.
We should restore contaminated urban land and buildings to productive use. We should expand
the network of community development banks.
And together, we must pledge tonight that we will use this empowerment approach ~
including private sector tax incentives ~ to renew our capital city, so that Washington is a great
place to live and work, and is once again the proud face America shows to the world.
8
�We must protect our environment in every community. In the last four years, we cleaned
up 250 toxic waste sites, as many as in the previous twelve. Now we should clean up 500 more
of them, so that our children grow up next to parks, not poison. Big polluters must live by this
simple rule: If you pollute our environment, you pay to clean it up.
In the last four years, we strengthened the nation's safe food and clean drinking water
laws. We protected some of America's rarest, most beautiful land in Utah's Red Rocks region,
created three new national parks in the California desert, and began to restore Florida's
Everglades. Now we must be as vigilant with our rivers as we are with our land. Tonight, I
announce that this year I will designate 10 American Heritage Rivers, to help communities
alongside them revitalize their waterfronts and clean up pollution in the rivers, proving once
again that we can grow the economy as we protect the environment.
We must also protect our global environment, working to ban the worst toxic chemicals
and to reduce the greenhouse gasses that challenge our health even as they change our climate.
We all know that in all of our communities, some of our children simply do not have
what they need to grow and leam in their homes, or schools, or neighborhoods. The rest ofus
must do more, for they are our children too. That is why President Bush, General Colin Powell,
and former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros will join Vice President Gore and me to lead the
Presidents's Summit of Service in Philadelphia in April.
Our national service program, Americorps, has already helped 70,000 young people work
their way through college as they serve America. Now we intend to mobilize millions of
Americans to serve in thousands of ways. Citizen service is an American responsibility, which
all Americans should embrace.
I'd like to make one last point about our national community. Our economy is measured
in numbers and statistics, and it's very important. But the enduring worth of our nation lies in
our values and our soaring spirit. So instead of cutting back on our modest efforts to support the
arts and humanities, I believe we should stand by them, and challenge our artists, musicians and
writers, our museums, libraries and theaters, to join with all Americans to make the Year 2000 a
national celebration of the American spirit in every community — a celebration of our common
culture in the century that has passed, and in the new one to come in the new millennium, so that
we can remain the world's beacon of liberty and creativity, long after the fireworks have faded.
To prepare America for the 21st Century, we must master the forces of change in
the world and keep American leadership strong and sure for an uncharted time.
Fifty years ago, a farsighted America led in creating the institutions that secured victory
in the Cold War and built a growing world economy. As a result, today more people than ever
embrace our ideals and share our interests.
�Already, we have dismantled many of the blocs and barriers that divided our parents'
world. For the first time, more people live under democracy than dictatorship, including every
nation in our hemisphere but one ~ and its day too will come.
Now, we stand at another moment of change and choice ~ and another time to be
farsighted, to bring America 50 more years of security and prosperity.
Our first task is to help build, for the first time, an undivided, democratic Europe. When
Europe is stable, prosperous and at peace, America is more secure.
To that end, we must expand NATO by 1999, so that countries that were once our
adversaries can become our allies. At the special NATO summit this summer, that is what we
will begin to do. We must strengthen NATO's Partnership for Peace with non-member allies.
And we must build a stable partnership between NATO and a democratic Russia.
An expanded NATO is good for America. And a Europe in which all democracies define
their future not in terms of what they can do to each other, but in terms of what they can do
together for the good of all ~ that kind of Europe is good for America.
Second, America must look to the East no less than the West. Our security demands it:
Americans have fought three wars in Asia this century. Our prosperity requires it: more than 2
million American jobs depend upon trade with Asia.
There, too, we are helping to shape an Asian Pacific community of cooperation, not
conflict. But we must not let our progress there mask the peril that remains. Together with
South Korea, we must advance peace talks with North Korea and bridge the Cold War's last
divide. And I call on this Congress to fund our share of the agreement under which North Korea
must continue to freeze and then dismantle its nuclear weapons program.
We must pursue a deeper dialogue with China ~ for the sake of our interests and our
ideals. An isolated China is not good for America. A China playing its proper role in the world
is. I will go to China and I have invited China's president to come here, not because we agree on
everything, but because engaging China is the best way to work on common challenges like
ending nuclear testing - and to deal frankly with fundamental differences like human rights.
Third, the American people must prosper in the global economy. We have worked hard
to tear down trade barriers abroad, so that we can create good jobs at home. I am proud to say
that today, America is once again the most competitive nation, and the number one exporter in
the world.
Now, we must act to expand our exports, especially to Asia and Latin America, the two
fastest growing regions on earth - or be left behind as these emerging economies forge new ties
with other nations. That is why we need the authority now to conclude new trade agreements
10
�that open markets to our goods and services even as we preserve our values.
We need not shrink from the challenge of the global economy. We have the best workers
and the best products. In a truly open market, and we can out-compete anyone in the world.
But this is about more than economics. By expanding trade, we can advance the cause of
freedom and democracy around the world.
We should all be proud that America led the effort to rescue our neighbor Mexico from
its economic crisis ~ and we should all be proud that last month, Mexico repaid the United
States, three years ahead of schedule, with a half a billion dollars profit for us. And today our
exports to Mexico are at an all time high.
Fourth, America must continue to be an unrelenting force for peace — from the Middle
East to H a i t i . . . from Northern Ireland to Africa. Taking reasonable risks for peace keeps us
from being drawn into far more costly conflicts later.
With American leadership, the killing has stopped in Bosnia. Now, the habits of peace
must take hold. The new NATO force will allow reconstruction and reconciliation to accelerate.
Tonight, I ask Congress to continue its strong support for our troops there. They are doing a
remarkable job for America - and America must do right by them.
Fifth, we must move strongly against new threats to our security. In the past four years,
we agreed to ban nuclear testing. With Russia, we dramatically cut our nuclear arsenals; we
stopped targeting each others citizens. We are acting to rid the world of landmines, and prevent
nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands. We are working with other nations, with
renewed intensity, to stop terrorists and drug traffickers before they act, and to hold them fully
accountable if they do.
Now, we must rise to a new test of leadership: ratifying the Chemical Weapons
Convention. It will make our troops safer from chemical attack. It will help us to fight
terrorism.
We have no more important obligations - especially in the wake of what we now know about the
Gulf War. This treaty has been bipartisan from the beginning, supported by Republican and
Democratic administrations alike ~ and Republican and Democratic Members of Congress alike
— and already approved by 68 nations. If we do not act by April 29 — when this Convention
goes into force, with us or without us — we will lose the chance to have Americans leading and
enforcing this effort. Together, we must make the Chemical Weapons Convention law, so that at
last we can begin to outlaw poison gas from the earth.
Finally, we must have the tools to meet all these challenges.
We must maintain a strong and ready military. We must increase funding for weapons
11
�modernization by the Year 2000, and we must take good care of our men and women in uniform.
They are the world's finest.
We must also renew our commitment to America's diplomacy — and pay our debts and
dues to international financial institutions like the World Bank, and to a reforming United
Nations. Every dollar we devote to preventing conflicts . . . to promoting democracy . . . to
stopping the spread of disease and starvation . . . brings a sure return in security and savings.
Yet international affairs spending today is just one percent of the federal budget ~ a tiny fraction
of what America invested in diplomacy to choose leadership over escapism at the start of the
Cold War. If America is to continue to lead the world, we here who lead America simply must
find the will to pay our way.
A farsighted America moved the world to a better place over these last fifty years. And it
can do so for another fifty years. But a shortsighted America will soon find its words falling on
deaf ears all around the world.
Almost exactly fifty years ago, in the first winter of the Cold War, President Harry
Truman stood before a Republican Congress and called upon our country to meet its
responsibilities of leadership. This is was his warning: " I f we falter, we may endanger the peace
of the world ~ and we shall surely endanger the welfare of this nation." That Congress, led by
Republicans like Senator Arthur Vandenberg, answered President Truman's call. Together, they
made the commitments that strengthened our country for fifty years. Now let us do the same.
Let us do what it takes to remain the indispensable nation ~ to keep America strong, secure and
prosperous for another fifty years.
In the end, more than anything else, our world leadership grows out of the power of
our example here at home, out of our ability to remain strong as one America.
All over the world, people are being torn asunder by racial, ethnic, and religious conflicts
that fuel fanaticism and terror. We are the world's most diverse democracy. And the world
looks to us to show that it is possible to live and advance together across those kinds of
differences.
America has always been a nation of immigrants. From the start, a steady stream of
people, in search of freedom and opportunity, have left their own lands to make this land their
home. We started as an experiment in democracy fueled by Europeans. We have grown into an
experiment in democratic diversity fueled by openness and promise.
My fellow Americans, we must never believe that diversity is a weakness — it is our
greatest strength. Americans speak every language, know every country. People on every
continent can look to us and see the reflection of their own greatness, as long as we give all of
our citizens, whatever their background, an opportunity to achieve their greatness.
12
�We are not there yet. We still see evidence of abiding bigotry and intolerance, in ugly
words and awful violence, in burned churches and bombed buildings. We must fight against
this, in our country and in our hearts.
A few days before my second inauguration, one of America's best known pastors, Rev.
Robert Schuller, suggested that I read Isaiah 58:12. It says: "Thou shalt raise up the foundations
of many generations, and thou shalt be called, the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to
dwell in." I placed my hand on that verse when I took the oath of office, on behalf of all
Americans. For no matter what our differences ~ in our faiths, our backgrounds, our politics ~
we must all be repairers of the breach. We may not share a common past, but surely we share a
common future.
I want to say a word about two other Americans who show us the way to that common
future. Congressman Frank Tejeda was buried yesterday, a proud American whose family came
from Mexico. He was only 51 years old. He earned the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and the
Purple Heart fighting for his country in Vietnam, and he went on to serve Texas and America
fighting for our future in this chamber. We are grateful for his service and honored to have his
mother, Lillie Tejeda, with us tonight.
Gary Locke, the newly elected Governor of Washington State, is our first ChineseAmerican Governor, the proud son of two of the millions of Asian-American immigrants who
have strengthened America with their hard work, family values, and good citizenship.
Rev. Schuller, Congressman Tejeda, Governor Locke, along with Kristin Tanner, Chris
Getsla, Sue Winski and Dr. Kristen Zarfos ~ all Americans from different roots, whose lives
reflect our shared values and the best of what we can become when we are one America.
Building that one America is our most important mission, "the foundation of many
generations," of every other strength we must build for the new century. Money cannot buy it.
Power cannot compel it. Technology cannot create it. It must rise from the human spirit.
America is far more than a place. It is an idea, the most powerful idea in the history of
nations. We are now the bearers of that idea, leading a great people into a new world. A child
bom tonight will have almost no memory of the 20th Century. Everything that child will know
of America, will be because of what we do now to build a new century.
We don't have a moment to waste. Tomorrow morning, there will be just over 1,000
days until the Year 2000. 1,000 days to prepare our people. 1,000 days to work together. My
fellow Americans, we have work to do. Let us seize the days and the century.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.
13
�State of the Union Address
as delivered by the P.O.T.U.S.
2-4-97
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�THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
February 4, 1997
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
IN STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
United States Capitol
9:15 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of the 105th Congress,
distinguished guests, and my fellow Americans:
I think I should start by saying, thanks for inviting me back. (Applause.) I come before
you tonight with a challenge as great as any in our peacetime history, and a plan of action to meet
that challenge, to prepare our people for the bold new world of the 21st century.
We have much to be thankful for. With four years of growth, we have won back the
basic strength of our economy. With crime and welfare rolls declining, we are winning back our
optimism, the enduring faith that we can master any difficulty. With the Cold War receding and
global commerce at record levels, we are helping to win unrivaled peace and prosperity all across
the world.
My fellow Americans, the state of our union is strong. (Applause.) But now we must
rise to the decisive moment, to make a nation and a world better than any we have ever known.
The new promise of the global economy, the Information Age, unimagined new work,
life-enhancing technology — all these are ours to seize. That is our honor and our challenge. We
must be shapers of events, not observers. For if we do not act, the moment will pass ~ and we
will lose the best possibilities of our future.
We face no imminent threat, but we do have an enemy — the enemy of our time is
inaction. So, tonight, I issue a call to action ~ action by this Congress, action by our states, by
our people, to prepare America for the 21st century. Action to keep our economy and our
democracy strong and working for all our people; action to strengthen education and harness the
forces of technology and science; action to build stronger families and stronger communities and
a safer environment; action to keep America the world's strongest force for peace, freedom and
prosperity. And above all, action to build a more perfect union here at home.
�The spirit we bring to our work will make all the difference. We must be committed to
the pursuit of opportunity for all Americans, responsibility from all Americans, in a community
of all Americans. And we must be committed to a new kind of government - not to solve all our
problems for us, but to give our people ~ all our people ~ the tools they need to make the most
of their own lives.
And we must work together. The people of this nation elected us all. They want us to be
partners, not partisans. They put us all right here in the same boat, they gave us all oars, and
they told us to row. Now, here is the direction I believe we should take.
First, we must move quickly to complete the unfinished business of our country ~ to
balance our budget, renew our democracy, and finish the job of welfare reform.
Over the last four years, we have brought new economic growth by investing in our
people, expanding our exports, cutting our deficits, creating over 11 million new jobs, a four-year
record. (Applause.) Now we must keep our economy the strongest in the world. We here
tonight have an historic opportunity. Let this Congress be the Congress that finally balances the
budget. (Applause.)
In two days, I will propose a detailed plan to balance the budget by 2002. This plan will
balance the budget and invest in our people while protecting Medicare, Medicaid, education, and
the environment. It will balance the budget and build on the Vice President's efforts to make our
government work better, even as it costs less. It will balance the budget and provide middle class
tax relief to pay for education and health care, to help to raise a child, to buy and sell a home.
Balancing the budget requires only your vote and my signature. It does not require us to
rewrite our Constitution. (Applause.) I believe it is both unnecessary and unwise to adopt a
balanced budget amendment that could cripple our country in time of crisis, and force unwanted
results, such as judges halting Social Security checks or increasing taxes. Let us at least agree,
we should not pass any measure ~ no measure should be passed that threatens Social Security.
(Applause.) Whatever your view on that, we all must concede we don't need a constitutional
amendment, we need action. (Applause.)
Whatever our differences, we should balance the budget now. And then, for the
long-term health of our society, we must agree to a bipartisan process to preserve Social Security
and reform Medicare for the long run, so that these fundamental programs will be as strong for
our children as they are for our parents.
And let me say something that's not in my script tonight. I know this is not going to be
easy. But I really believe one of the reasons the American people gave me a second term was to
take the tough decisions in the next four years that will carry our country through the next 50
years. I know it is easier for me than for you to say or do. But another reason I was elected is to
support all of you, without regard to party, to give you what is necessary to join in these
�decisions. We owe it to our country and to our future. (Applause.)
Our second piece of unfinished business requires us to commit ourselves tonight, before
the eyes of America, to finally enacting bipartisan campaign finance reform. (Applause.)
Now, Senators McCain and Feingold, Representatives Shays and Meehan, have reached
across party lines here to craft tough and fair reform. Their proposal would curb spending,
reduce the role of special interests, create a level playing field between challengers and
incumbents, and ban contributions from noncitizens, all corporate sources, and the other large
soft money contributions that both parties receive.
You know and I know that this can be delayed. And you know and I know the delay will
mean the death of reform. So let's set our own deadline. Let's work together to write bipartisan
campaign finance reform into law and pass McCain-Feingold by the day we celebrate the birth of
our democracy ~ July the 4th. (Applause.)
There is a third piece of unfinished business. Over the last four years, we moved a
record 2.25 million people off the welfare rolls. Then last year. Congress enacted landmark
welfare reform legislation, demanding that all able-bodied recipients assume the responsibility of
moving from welfare to work.
Now each and every one of us has to fulfill our responsibility — indeed, our moral
obligation - to make sure that people who now must work, can work. (Applause.) Now we
must act to meet a new goal: 2 million more people off the welfare rolls by the year 2000.
Here is my plan: Tax credits and other incentives for businesses that hire people off
welfare; incentives for job placement firms and states to create more jobs for welfare recipients;
training, transportation, and child care to help people go to work.
Now I challenge every state: Turn those welfare checks into private sector paychecks. I
challenge every religious congregation, every community nonprofit, every business to hire
someone off welfare. And I'd like to say especially to every employer in our country who ever
criticized the old welfare system, you can't blame that old system anymore, we have torn it down.
Now do your part. Give someone on welfare the chance to go to work. (Applause.)
Tonight, I am pleased to announce that five major corporations ~ Sprint, Monsanto,
UPS, Burger King and United Airlines - will be the first to join in a new national effort to
marshal America's businesses, large and small, to create jobs so that people can move from
welfare to work. (Applause.)
We passed welfare reform. All of you know I believe we were right to do it. But no one
can walk out of this chamber with a clear conscience unless you are prepared to finish the job.
(Applause.)
�And we must join together to do something else, too ~ something both Republican and
Democratic governors have asked us to do ~ to restore basic health and disability benefits when
misfortune strikes immigrants who came to this country legally, who work hard, pay taxes and
obey the law. To do otherwise is simply unworthy of a great nation of immigrants. (Applause.)
Now, looking ahead, the greatest step of all - the high threshold of the future we now
must cross - and my number one priority for the next four years is to ensure that all Americans
have the best education in the world. (Applause.)
Let's work together to meet these three goals: Every 8-year-old must be able to read;
every 12-year-old must be able to log on to the Internet; every 18-year-old must be able to go to
college; and every adult American must be able to keep on learning for a lifetime. (Applause.)
My balanced budget makes an unprecedented commitment to these goals — $51 billion
next year. But far more than money is required. I have a plan, a Call to Action for American
Education, based on these 10 principles.
First, a national crusade for education standards - not federal government standards, but
national standards, representing what all our students must know to succeed in the knowledge
economy of the 21 st century. Every state and school must shape the curriculum to reflect these
standards, and train teachers to lift students up to them. To help schools meet the standards and
measure their progress, we will lead an effort over the next two years to develop national tests of
student achievement in reading and math.
Tonight, I issue a challenge to the nation: Every state should adopt high national
standards, and by 1999, every state should test every 4th grader in reading and every 8th grader
in math to make sure these standards are met. (Applause.)
Raising standards will not be easy, and some of our children will not be able to meet
them at first. The point is not to put our children down, but to lift them up. Good tests will show
us who needs help, what changes in teaching to make, and which schools need to improve. They
can help us to end social promotion. For no child should move from grade school to junior high,
or junior high to high school until he or she is ready.
Last month, our Secretary of Education Dick Riley and I visited Northern Illinois, where
8th grade students from 20 school districts, in a project aptly called "First in the World," took the
Third International Math and Science Study. That's a test that reflects the world-class standards
our children must meet for the new era. And those students in Illinois tied for first in the world
in science and came in second in math. Two of them, Kristin Tanner and Chris Getsla, are here
tonight, along with their teacher. Sue Winski; they're up there with the First Lady. And they
prove that when we aim high and challenge our students, they will be the best in the world. Let's
give them a hand. Stand up, please. (Applause.)
�Second, to have the best schools, we must have the best teachers. Most of us in this
chamber would not be here tonight without the help of those teachers. I know that I wouldn't be
here. For years, many of our educators, led by North Carolina's Governor Jim Hunt and the
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, have worked very hard to establish
nationally accepted credentials for excellence in teaching. Just 500 of these teachers have been
certified since 1995. My budget will enable 100,000 more to seek national certification as
master teachers. We should reward and recognize our best teachers. (Applause.) And as we
reward them, we should quickly and fairly remove those few who don't measure up, and we
should challenge more of our finest young people to consider teaching as a career.
Third, we must do more to help all our children read. Forty percent ~ forty percent — of
our 8-year-olds cannot read on their own. That's why we have just launched the America Reads
initiative ~ to build a citizen army of one million volunteer tutors to make sure every child can
read independently by the end of the 3rd grade. We will use thousands of AmeriCorps
volunteers to mobilize this citizen army. We want at least 100,000 college students to help. And
tonight I am pleased that 60 college presidents have answered my call, pledging that thousands of
their work-study students will serve for one year as reading tutors. (Applause.)
This is also a challenge to every teacher and every principal. You must use these tutors
to help students read. And it is especially a challenge to our parents. You must read with your
children every night.
This leads to the fourth principle: Learning begins in the first days of life. Scientists are
now discovering how young children develop emotionally and intellectually from their very first
days, and how important it is for parents to begin immediately talking, singing, even reading to
their infants. The First Lady has spent years writing about this issue, studying it. And she and I
are going to convene a White House Conference on Early Learning and the Brain this spring, to
explore how parents and educators can best use these startling new findings.
We already know we should start teaching children before they start school. That's why
this balanced budget expands Head Start to one million children by 2002. (Applause.) And that
is why the Vice President and Mrs. Gore will host their annual family conference this June on
what we can do to make sure that parents are an active part of their children's learning all the way
through school.
They've done a great deal to highlight the importance of family in our life, and now
they're turning their attention to getting more parents involved in their children's learning all the
way through school. And I thank you, Mr. Vice President, and 1 thank you especially, Tipper,
for what you do. (Applause.)
Fifth, every state should give parents the power to choose the right public school for their
children. Their right to choose will foster competition and innovation that can make public
schools better. We should also make it possible for more parents and teachers to start charter
�schools, schools that set and meet the highest standards, and exist only as long as they do. Our
plan will help America to create 3,000 of these charter schools by the next century — nearly
seven times as there are in the country today -- so that parents will have even more choices in
sending their children to the best schools.
Sixth: Character education must be taught in our schools. We must teach our children to
be good citizens. (Applause.) And we must continue to promote order and discipline,
supporting communities that introduce school uniforms, impose curfews enforce truancy laws,
remove disruptive students from the classroom, and have zero tolerance for guns and drugs in
school. (Applause.)
Seventh: We cannot expect our children to raise themselves up in schools that are
literally falling down. With the student population at an all-time high, and record numbers of
school buildings falling into disrepair, this has now become a serious national concern.
Therefore, my budget includes a new initiative —$5 billion to help communities finance $20
billion in school construction over the next four years. (Applause.)
Eighth: We must make the 13th and 14th years of education — at least two years of
college — just as universal in America by the 21st century as a high school education is today,
and we must open the doors of college to Americans. (Applause.)
To do that, I propose America's HOPE Scholarship, based on Georgia's pioneering
program: two years of a $1,500 tax credit for college tuition, enough to pay for the typical
community college. I also propose a tax deduction of up to $10,000 a year for all tuition after
high school; an expanded IRA you can withdraw from tax free for education; and the largest
increase in Pell Grant scholarships in 20 years. (Applause.) Now, this plan will give most
families the ability to pay no taxes on money they save for college tuition. I ask you to pass it ~
and give every American who works hard the chance to go to college.
Ninth: In the 21st century, we must expand the frontiers of learning across a lifetime.
All our people, of whatever age, must have a chance to learn new skills. Most Americans live
near a community college. The roads that take them there can be paths to a better future. My
G.I. Bill for America's Workers will transform the confusing tangle of federal training programs
into a simple skill grant to go directly into eligible workers' hands. For too long, this bill has
been sitting on that desk there without action — I ask you to pass it now. Let's give more of our
workers the ability to learn and to earn for a lifetime. (Applause.)
Tenth: We must bring the power of the Information Age into all our schools. Last year,
I challenged America to connect every classroom and library to the Internet by the year 2000, so
that, for the first time in our history, children in the most isolated rural towns, the most
comfortable suburbs, the poorest inner city schools, will have the same access to the same
universe of knowledge. (Applause.) That is my plan ~ a Call to Action for American Education.
Some may say that it is unusual for a President to pay this kind of attention to education. Some
�may say it is simply because the President and his wonderful wife have been obsessed with this
subject for more years than they can recall. That is not what is driving these proposals.
We must understand the significance of this endeavor: One of the greatest sources of our
strength throughout the Cold War was a bipartisan foreign policy; because our future was at
stake, politics stopped at the water's edge. Now I ask you ~ and I ask all our nation's governors;
I ask parents, teachers, and citizens all across America — for a new nonpartisan commitment to
education — because education is a critical national security issue for our future, and politics
must stop at the schoolhouse door. (Applause.)
To prepare America for the 21 st century we must harness the powerful forces of science
and technology to benefit all Americans. This is the first State of the Union carried live in
video over the Internet. But we've only begun to spread the benefits of a technology revolution
that should become the modem birthright of every citizen.
Our effort to connect every classroom is just the beginning. Now, we should connect
every hospital to the Internet, so that doctors can instantly share data about their patients with the
best specialists in the field. And I challenge the private sector tonight to start by connecting
every children's hospital as soon as possible, so that a child in bed can stay in touch with school,
family and friends. A sick child need no longer be a child alone. (Applause.)
We must build the second generation of the Internet so that our leading universities and
national laboratories can communicate in speeds 1,000 times faster than today, to develop new
medical treatments, new sources of energy, new ways of working together.
But we cannot stop there. As the Internet becomes our new town square, a computer in
every home ~ a teacher of all subjects, a connection to all cultures ~ this will no longer be a
dream, but a necessity. And over the next decade, that must be our goal. (Applause.)
We must continue to explore the heavens ~ pressing on with the Mars probes and the
international space station, both of which will have practical applications for our everyday living.
We must speed the remarkable advances in medical science. The human genome project
is now decoding the genetic mysteries of life. American scientists have discovered genes linked
to breast cancer and ovarian cancer, and medication that stops a stroke in progress and begins to
reverse its effect, and treatments that dramatically lengthen the lives of people with HIV and
AIDS.
Since I took office, funding for AIDS research at the National Institutes of Health has
increased dramatically ~ to $1.5 billion. With new resources, NIH will now become the most
powerful discovery engine for an AIDS vaccine, working with other scientists to finally end the
threat of AIDS. (Applause.) Remember that every year - every year we move up the discovery
�of an AIDS vaccine will save millions of lives around the world. We must reinforce our
commitment to medical science.
To prepare America for the 21st century, we must build stronger families. Over the past
four years, the Family and Medical Leave law has helped millions of Americans to take time off
to be with their families. With new pressures on people in the way they work and live, I believe
we must expand family leave so that workers can take time off for teacher conferences and a
child's medical checkup. We should pass flex-time, so workers can choose to be paid for
overtime in income or trade it in for time off to be with their families. (Applause.)
We must continue ~ we must continue, step by step, to give more families access to
affordable, quality health care. Forty million Americans still lack health insurance. Ten million
children still lack health insurance ~ 80 percent of them have working parents who pay taxes.
That is wrong. (Applause.)
My balanced budget will extend health coverage to up to 5 million of those children.
Since nearly half of all children who lose their insurance do so because their parents lose or
change a job, my budget will also ensure that people who temporarily lose their jobs can still
afford to keep their health insurance. No child should be without a doctor just because a parent
is without a job. (Applause.)
My Medicare plan modernizes Medicare, increases the life of the trust fund to 10 years,
provides support for respite care for the many families with loved ones afflicted with
Alzheimer's. And for the first time, it would fully pay for annual mammograms. (Applause.)
Just as we ended drive-through deliveries of babies last year, we must now end the
dangerous and demeaning practice of forcing women home from the hospital only hours after a
mastectomy. (Applause.) I ask your support for bipartisan legislation to guarantee that a woman
can stay in the hospital for 48 hours after a mastectomy. With us tonight is Dr. Kristen Zarfos, a
Connecticut surgeon whose outrage at this practice spurred a national movement and inspired
this legislation. I'd like her to stand so we thank her for her efforts. Dr. Zarfos, thank you.
(Applause.)
In the last four years, we have increased child support collections by 50 percent. Now
we should go further and do better by making it a felony for any parent to cross a state line in an
attempt to flee from this, his or her most sacred obligation. (Applause.)
Finally, we must also protect our children by standing firm in our determination to ban
the advertising and marketing of cigarettes that endanger their lives. (Applause.)
To prepare America for the 21st century, we must build stronger communities. We
should start with safe streets. Serious crime has dropped five years in a row. The key has been
community policing. We must finish the job of putting 100,000 community police on the streets
8
�of the United States. (Applause.) We should pass the Victims Rights Amendment to the
Constitution.
And I ask you to mount a full-scale assault on juvenile crime, with legislation that
declares war on gangs, with new prosecutors and tougher penalties; extends the Brady Bill so
violent teen criminals will not be able to buy handguns; requires child safety locks on handguns
to prevent unauthorized use; and helps to keep our schools open after hours, on weekends, and in
the summer, so our young people will have someplace to go and something to say yes to.
(Applause.)
This balanced budget includes the largest antidrug effort ever: to stop drugs at their
source, punish those who push them, and teach our young people that drugs are wrong, drugs are
illegal, and drugs will kill them. I hope you will support it. (Applause.)
Our growing economy has helped to revive poor urban and rural neighborhoods. But we
must do more to empower them to create the conditions in which all families can flourish and to
create jobs through investment by business and loans by banks.
We should double the number of empowerment zones. They've already brought so much
hope to communities like Detroit, where the unemployment rate has been cut in half in four
years. We should restore contaminated urban land and buildings to productive use. We should
expand the network of community development banks. And together we must pledge tonight
that we will use this empowerment approach ~ including private sector tax incentives — to renew
our Capital City, so that Washington is a great place to work and live, and once again the proud
face America shows to world. (Applause.)
We must protect our environment in every community. In the last four years, we cleaned
up 250 toxic waste sites, as many as in the previous 12. Now, we should clean up 500 more, so
that our children grow up next to parks, not poison. I urge you to pass my proposal to make big
polluters live by a simple rule: If you pollute our environment, you should pay to clean it up.
(Applause.)
In the last four years, we strengthened our nation's safe food and clean drinking water
laws; we protected some of America's rarest, most beautiful land in Utah's Red Rocks region;
created three new national parks in the California desert; and began to restore the Florida
Everglades. Now we must be as vigilant with our rivers as we are with our lands. Tonight, I
announce that this year I will designate 10 American Heritage Rivers, to help communities
alongside them revitalize their waterfronts and clean up pollution in the rivers, proving once
again that we can grow the economy as we protect the environment. (Applause.)
We must also protect our global environment, working to ban the worst toxic chemicals
and to reduce the greenhouse gases that challenge our health even as they change our climate.
�Now, we all know that in all of our communities, some of our children simply don't have
what they need to grow and leam in their own homes, or schools or neighborhoods. And that
means the rest of us must do more, for they are our children, too. That's why President Bush,
General Colin Powell, former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros will join the Vice President and
me to lead the President's Summit of Service in Philadelphia in April.
Our national service program, AmeriCorps, has already helped 70,000 young people to
work their way through college as they serve America. Now we intend to mobilize millions of
Americans to serve in thousands of ways. Citizen service is an American responsibility which all
Americans should embrace, and I ask your support for that endeavor. (Applause.)
I'd like to make just one last point about our national community. Our economy is
measured in numbers and statistics, and it's very important. But the enduring worth of our nation
lies in our shared values and our soaring spirit. So instead of cutting back on our modest efforts
to support the arts and humanities, I believe we should stand by them and challenge our artists,
musicians, and writers — (applause) ~ challenge our museums, libraries and theaters — (applause)
— we should ~ we should challenge all Americans in the arts and humanities to join with our
fellow citizens to make the year 2000 a national celebration of the American spirit in every
community ~ a celebration of our common culture in the century that has passed, and in the new
one to come in a new millennium, so that we can remain the world's beacon not only of liberty,
but of creativity, long after the fireworks have faded.
To prepare America for the 21st century we must master the forces of change in the
world and keep American leadership strong and sure for an uncharted time.
Fifty years ago, a farsighted America led in creating the institutions that secured victory
in the Cold War and built a growing world economy. As a result, today more people than ever
embrace our ideals and share our interests. Already, we have dismantled many of the blocs and
barriers that divided our parents' world. For the first time, more people live under democracy
than dictatorship, including every nation in our own hemisphere, but one ~ and its day, too, will
come. (Applause.)
Now, we stand at another moment of change and choice —and another time to be
farsighted, to bring America 50 more years of security and prosperity. In this endeavor, our first
task is to help to build, for the first time, an undivided, democratic Europe. When Europe is
stable, prosperous and at peace, America is more secure.
To that end, we must expand NATO by 1999, so that countries that were once our
adversaries can become our allies. At the special NATO summit this summer, that is what we
will begin to do. We must strengthen NATO's Partnership for Peace with non-member
allies. And we must build a stable partnership between NATO and a democratic Russia.
(Applause.) An expanded NATO is good for America. And a Europe in which all democracies
define their future not in terms of what they can do to each other, but in terms of what they can
10
�do together for the good of all — that kind of Europe is good for America.
Second, America must look to the East no less than to the West. Our security demands
it. Americans fought three wars in Asia in this century. Our prosperity requires it. More than
two million American jobs depend upon trade with Asia.
There, too, we are helping to shape an Asian Pacific community of cooperation, not
conflict. Let our progress there not mask the peril that remains. Together with South Korea, we
must advance peace talks with North Korea and bridge the Cold War's last divide. And I call on
Congress to fund our share of the agreement under which North Korea must continue to freeze
and then dismantle its nuclear weapons program. (Applause.)
We must pursue a deeper dialogue with China — for the sake of our interests and our
ideals. An isolated China is not good for America. A China playing its proper role in the world
is. I will go to China, and I have invited China's President to come here, not because we agree on
everything, but because engaging China is the best way to work on our common challenges like
ending nuclear testing, and to deal frankly with our fundamental differences like human rights.
(Applause.)
The American people must prosper in the global economy. We've worked hard to tear
down trade barriers abroad so that we can create good jobs at home. I am proud to say that
today, America is once again the most competitive nation and the number one exporter in
the world. (Applause.)
Now we must act to expand our exports, especially to Asia and Latin America ~ two of
the fastest growing regions on Earth ~ or be left behind as these emerging economies forge new
ties with other nations. That is why we need the authority now to conclude new trade agreements
that open markets to our goods and services even as we preserve our values. (Applause.)
We need not shrink form the challenge of the global economy. After all, we have the
best workers and the best products. In a truly open market, we can out-compete anyone,
anywhere on Earth.
But this is about more than economics. By expanding trade, we can advance the cause of
freedom and democracy around the world. There is no better example of this truth than Latin
America where democracy and open markets are on the march together. That is why I will visit
there in the spring to reinforce our important tie.
We should all be proud that America led the effort to rescue our neighbor, Mexico, from
its economic crises. And we should all be proud that last month Mexico repaid the United States
- three full years ahead of schedule ~ with half a billion dollar profit to us. (Applause.)
America must continue to be an unrelenting force for peace — from the Middle East to
11
�Haiti, from Northern Ireland to Africa. Taking reasonable risks for peace keeps us from being
drawn into far more costly conflicts later.
With American leadership, the killing has stopped in Bosnia. Now the habits of peace
must take hold. The new NATO force will allow reconstruction and reconciliation to accelerate.
Tonight, I ask Congress to continue its strong support for our troops. They are doing a
remarkable job there for America, and America must do right by them. (Applause.)
Fifth, we must move strongly against new threats to our security. In the past four years,
we agreed to ban ~ we led the way to a worldwide agreement to ban nuclear testing. With
Russia, we dramatically cut nuclear arsenals and we stopped targeting each others citizens. We
are acting to prevent nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands and to rid the world of
land mines. (Applause.) We are working with other nations with renewed intensity
to fight drug traffickers and to stop terrorists before they act, and
hold them fully accountable if they do. (Applause.)
Now, we must rise to a new test of leadership: ratifying the Chemical Weapons
Convention. (Applause.) Make no mistake about it, it will make our troops safer from chemical
attack; it will help us to fight terrorism. We have no more important obligations — especially in
the wake of what we now know about the Gulf War. This treaty has been bipartisan from the
beginning — supported by Republican and Democratic administrations and Republican and
Democratic members of Congress ~ and already approved by 68 nations.
But if we do not act by April the 29th ~ when this Convention goes into force, with or
without us ~ we will lose the chance to have Americans leading and enforcing this effort.
Together we must make the Chemical Weapons Convention law, so that at last we can begin to
outlaw poison gas from the Earth. (Applause.)
Finally, we must have the tools to meet all these challenges. We must maintain a strong
and ready military. We must increase funding for weapons modernization by the year 2000, and
we must take good care of our men and women in uniform. They are the world's finest.
(Applause.)
We must also renew our commitment to America's diplomacy, and pay our debts and
dues to international financial institutions like the World Bank, and to a reforming United
Nations. (Applause.) Every dollar we devote to preventing conflicts, to promoting democracy,
to stopping the spread of disease and starvation, brings a sure return in security and savings. Yet
international affairs spending today is just one percent of the federal budget - a small fraction of
what America invested in diplomacy to choose leadership over escapism at the start of the Cold
War. If America is to continue to lead the world, we here who lead America simply must find
the will to pay our way.
A farsighted America moved the world to a better place over these last 50 years. And so
12
�it can be for another 50 years. But a shortsighted America will soon find its words falling on
deaf ears all around the world. (Applause.)
Almost exactly 50 years ago, in the first winter of the Cold War, President Truman stood
before a Republican Congress and called upon our country to meet its responsibilities of
leadership. This was his warning - he said, "If we falter, we may endanger the peace of the
world, and we shall surely endanger the welfare of this nation." That Congress, led by
Republicans like Senator Arthur Vandenberg, answered President Truman's call. Together, they
made the commitments that strengthened our country for 50 years.
Now let us do the same. Let us do what it takes to remain the indispensable nation — to
keep America strong, secure and prosperous for another 50 years. (Applause.)
In the end, more than anything else, our world leadership grows out of the power of our
example here at home, out of our ability to remain strong as one America.
All over the world, people are being torn asunder by racial, ethnic, and religious conflicts
that fuel fanaticism and terror. We are the world's most diverse democracy, and the world
looks to us to show that it is possible to live and advance together across those kinds of
differences.
America has always been a nation of immigrants. From the start, a steady stream of
people, in search of freedom and opportunity, have left their own lands to make this land their
home. We started as an experiment in democracy fueled by Europeans. We have grown into an
experiment in democratic diversity fueled by openness and promise.
My fellow Americans, we must never, ever believe that our diversity is a weakness — it
is our greatest strength. (Applause.) Americans speak every language, know every county.
People on every continent can look to us and see the reflection of their own great potential - and
they always will, as long as we strive to give all of our citizens, whatever their background, an
opportunity to achieve their own greatness.
We're not there yet. We still see evidence of abiding bigotry and intolerance, in ugly
words and awful violence, in burned churches and bombed buildings. We must fight against
this, in our country and in our hearts.
Just a few days before my second Inauguration, one of country's best known pastors,
Reverend Robert Schuller, suggested that I read Isaiah 58:12. Here's what it says: "Thou shalt
raise up the foundations of many generations, and thou shalt be called, the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of paths to dwell in." I placed my hand on that verse when I took the oath of office,
on behalf of all Americans. For no matter what our differences - in our faiths,
our backgrounds, our politics - we must all be repairers of the breach.
13
�I want to say a word about two other Americans who show us how. Congressman Frank
Tejeda was buried yesterday, a proud American whose family came from Mexico. He was only
51 years old. He was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart, fighting for
his country in Vietnam. And he went on to serve Texas and America fighting for our future in
this chamber. We are grateful for his service and honored that his mother, Lillie Tejeda, and his
sister, Mary Alice, have come from Texas to be with us here tonight. And we welcome you.
(Applause.)
Gary Locke, the newly elected Governor of Washington State, is the first
Chinese-American governor in the history of our country. He's the proud son of two of the
millions of Asian-American immigrants who have strengthened America with their hard work,
family values and good citizenship. He represents the future we can all achieve. Thank you,
Governor, for being here. Please stand up. (Applause.)
Reverend Schuller, Congressman Tejeda, Governor Locke, along with Kristin Tanner
and Chris Getsla, Sue Winski and Dr. Kristen Zarfos ~ they're all Americans from different
roots, whose lives reflect the best of what we can become when we are one America. We may
not share a common past, but we surely do share a common future.
Building one America is our most important mission — "the foundation for many
generations," of every other strength we must build for this new century. Money cannot buy it.
Power cannot compel it. Technology cannot create it. It can only come from the human spirit.
America is far more than a place. It is an idea, the most powerful idea in the history of
nations. And all of us in this chamber, we are now the bearers of that idea, leading a great people
into a new world. A child born tonight will have almost no memory of the 20th century.
Everything that child will know about America will be because of what we do now to build a
new century.
We don't have a moment to waste. Tomorrow there will be just over 1,000 days until the
year 2000. One thousand days to prepare our people. One thousand days to work together. One
thousand days to build a bridge to a land of new promise. My fellow Americans, we have work
to do. Let us seize those days and the century.
Thank you, God bless you and God bless America. (Applause.)
END
10:15 P.M. EST
14
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
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
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1993-1999
Identifier
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2006-0469-F
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
Segment One contains 1071 folders in 72 boxes.
Segment Two contains 868 folders in 66 boxes.
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Adobe Acrobat Document
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
State of the Union 1997 The Original Drafts Volume 2 [Binder] [4]
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Office of Speechwriting
Michael Waldman
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 49
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36404"> Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7763296">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0469-F Segment 2
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Adobe Acrobat Document
Medium
The material or physical carrier of the resource.
Preservation-Reproduction-Reference
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
6/3/2015
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
7763296
42-t-7763296-20060469F-Seg2-049-004-2015