To the Congress of the United States: It was just 3 years ago today that I took the oath of office as President. I opened my address that day by suggesting that some moments in history stand out "as moments of beginning," when "courses are set that shape decades or centuries." I went on to say that "this can be such a moment." Looking back 3 years later, I would suggest that it was such a moment--a time in which new courses were set on which we now are traveling. Just how profoundly these new courses will shape our decade or our century is still an unanswered question, however, as we enter the fourth year of this administration. For moments of beginning will mean very little in history unless we also have the determination to follow up on those beginnings. Setting the course is not enough. Staying the course is an equally important challenge. Good government involves both the responsibility for making fresh starts and the responsibility for perseverance. The responsibility for perseverance is one that is shared by the President, the public, and the Congress. --We have come a long way, for example, on the road to ending the Vietnam war and to improving relations with our adversaries. But these initiatives will depend for their lasting meaning on our persistence in seeing them through. --The magnificent cooperation of the American people has enabled us to make substantial progress in curbing inflation and in reinvigorating our economy. But the new prosperity we seek can be completed only if the public continues in its commitment to economic responsibility and discipline. --Encouraging new starts have also been made over the last 3 years in treating our domestic ills. But continued progress now requires the Congress to act on its large and growing backlog of pending legislation. America's agenda for action is already well established as we enter 1972. It will grow in the weeks ahead as we present still more initiatives. But we dare not let the emergence of new business obscure the urgency of old business. Our new agenda will be little more than an empty gesture if we abandon--or even de-emphasize-that part of the old agenda which is yet unfinished. GETTING OURSELVES TOGETHER One measure of the Nation's progress in these first years of the seventies is the improvement in our national morale. While the 1960'S were a time of great accomplishment, they were also a time of growing confusion. Our recovery from that condition is not complete, but we have made a strong beginning. Then we were a shaken and uncertain people, but now we are recovering our confidence. Then we were divided and suspicious, but now we are renewing our sense of common purpose. Then we were surrounded by shouting and posturing, but we have been learning once again to lower our voices. And we have also been learning to listen. A history of the 1960's was recently published under the title, Coming Apart. But today we can say with confidence that we are coming apart no longer. The "center" of American life has held, and once again we are getting ourselves together. THE SPIRIT OF REASON AND REALISM Under the pressures of an election year, it would be easy to look upon the legislative program merely as a political device and not as a serious agenda. We must resist this temptation. The year ahead of us holds precious time in which to accomplish good for this Nation and we must not, we dare not, waste it. Our progress depends on a continuing spirit of partnership between the President and the Congress, between the House and the Senate, between Republicans and Democrats. That spirit does not require us always to agree with one another but it does require us to approach our tasks, together, in a spirit of reason and realism. Clear words are the great servant of reason. Intemperate words are the great enemy of reason. The cute slogan, the glib headline, the clever retort, the appeal to passion--these are not the way to truth or to good public policy. To be dedicated to clear thinking, to place the interests of all above the interests of the few, to hold to ultimate values and to curb momentary passions, to think more about the next generation and less about the next election--these are now our special challenges. ENDING THE WAR The condition of a nation's spirit cannot be measured with precision, but some of the factors which influence that spirit can. I believe the most dramatic single measurement of the distance we have traveled in the last 36 months is found in the statistics concerning our involvement in the war in Vietnam. On January 20, 1969 our authorized troop ceiling in Vietnam was 549,500. And there was no withdrawal plan to bring these men home. On seven occasions since that time, I have announced withdrawal decisions--involving a total of 480,500 troops. As a result, our troop ceiling will be only 69,000 by May 1. This means that in 3 years we will have cut our troop strength in Vietnam by 87 percent. As we proceed toward our goal of a South Vietnam fully able to defend itself, we will reduce that level still further. In this same period, expenditures connected with the war have been cut drastically. There has been a drop of well over 50 percent in American air activity in all of Southeast Asia. Our ground combat role has been ended. Most importantly, there has been a reduction of 95 percent in combat deaths. Our aim is to cut the death and casualty toll by 100 percent, to obtain the release of those who are prisoners of war, and to end the fighting altogether. It is my hope that we can end this tragic conflict through negotiation. If we cannot, then we will end it through Vietnamization. But end it we shall in a way which fulfills our commitment to the people of South Vietnam and which gives them the chance for which they have already sacrificed so much--the chance to choose their own future. THE LESSONS OF CHANGE The American people have learned many lessons in the wake of Vietnam-some helpful and some dangerous. One important lesson is that we can best serve our own interests in the world by setting realistic limits on what we try to accomplish unilaterally. For the peace of the world will be more secure, and its progress more rapid, as more nations come to share more fully in the responsibilities for peace and for progress. At the same time, to conclude that the United States should now withdraw from all or most of its international responsibilities would be to make a dangerous error. There has been a tendency among some to swing from one extreme to the other in the wake of Vietnam, from wanting to do too much in the world to wanting to do too little. We must resist this temptation to over-react. We must stop the swinging pendulum before it moves to an opposite position, and forge instead an attitude toward the world which is balanced and sensible and realistic. America has an important role to play in international affairs, a great influence to exert for good. As we have throughout this century, we must continue our profound concern for advancing peace and freedom, by the most effective means possible, even as we shift somewhat our view of what means are most effective. This is our policy: --We will maintain a nuclear deterrent adequate to meet any threat to the security of the United States or of our allies. 
--We will help other nations develop the capability of defending themselves. 
--We will faithfully honor all of our treaty commitments. 
--We will act to defend our interests whenever and wherever they are threatened any place in the world. 
--But where our interests or our treaty commitments are not involved our role will be limited. 
--We will not intervene militarily. 
--But we will use our influence to prevent war. 
--If war comes we will use our influence to try to stop it. 
--Once war is over we will do our share in helping to bind up the wounds of those who have participated in it. OPENING NEW LINES OF COMMUNICATION Even as we seek to deal more realistically with our partners, so we must also deal more realistically with those who have been our adversaries. In the last year we have made a number of notable advances toward this goal. In our dealings with the Soviet Union, for example, we have been able, together with our allies, to reach an historic agreement concerning Berlin. We have advanced the prospects for limiting strategic armaments. We have moved toward greater cooperation in space research and toward improving our economic relationships. There have been disappointments such as South Asia and uncertainties such as the Middle East. But there has also been progress we can build on. It is to build on the progress of the past and to lay the foundations for greater progress in the future that I will soon be visiting the capitals of both the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union. These visits will help to fulfill the promise I made in my Inaugural address when I said "that during this administration our lines of communication will be open," so that we can help create "an open world-open to ideas, open to the exchange of goods and people, a world in which no people, great or small, will live in angry isolation." It is in this spirit that I will undertake these journeys. We must also be realistic, however, about the scope of our differences with these governments. My visits will mean. not that our differences have disappeared or will disappear in the near future. But peace depends on the ability of great powers to live together on the same planet despite their differences. The important thing is that we talk about these differences rather than fight about them. It would be a serious mistake to say that nothing can come of our expanded communications with Peking and Moscow. But it would also be a mistake to expect too much too quickly. It would also be wrong to focus so much attention on these new opportunities that we neglect our old friends. That is why I have met in the last few weeks with the leaders of two of our hemisphere neighbors, Canada and Brazil, with the leaders of three great European nations, and with the Prime Minister of Japan. I believe these meetings were extremely successful in cementing our understandings with these governments as we move forward together in a fast changing period. Our consultations with our allies may not receive as much attention as our talks with potential adversaries. But this makes them no less important. The cornerstone of our foreign policy remains--and will remain--our close bonds with our friends around the world. A STRONG DEFENSE: THE GUARDIAN OF PEACE There are two additional elements which are critical to our efforts to strengthen the structure of peace. The first of these is the military strength of the United States. In the last 3 years we have been moving from a wartime to a peacetime footing, from a period of continued confrontation and arms competition to a period of negotiation and potential arms limitation, from a period when America often acted as policeman for the world to a period when other nations are assuming greater responsibility for their own defense. I was recently encouraged, for example, by the decision of our European allies to increase their share of the NATO defense budget by some $1 billion. As a part of this process, we have ended the production of chemical and biological weaponry and have converted two of our largest facilities for such production to humanitarian research. We have been able to reduce and in some periods even to eliminate draft calls. In 1971, draft calls--which were as high as 382,000 at the peak of the Vietnam war--fell below 100,000, the lowest level since 1962. In the coming year they will be significantly lower. I am confident that by the middle of next year we can achieve our goal of reducing draft calls to zero. As a result of all these developments, our defense spending has fallen to 7 percent of our gross national product in the current fiscal year, compared with 8.3 percent in 1964 and 9.5 percent in 1968. That figure will be down to 6.4 percent in fiscal year 1973. Without sacrificing any of our security interests, we have been able to bring defense spending below the level of human resource spending for the first time in 20 years. This condition is maintained in my new budget--which also, for the first time, allocates more money to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare than to the Department of Defense. But just as we avoid extreme reactions in our political attitudes toward the world, so we must avoid over-reacting as we plan for our defense. We have reversed spending priorities, but we have never compromised our national security. And we never will. For any step which weakens America's defenses will also weaken the prospects for peace. Our plans for the next year call for an increase in defense spending. That increase is made necessary in part by rising research and development costs, in part by military pay increases--which, in turn, will help us eliminate the draft--and in part by the need to proceed with new weapon systems to maintain our security at an adequate level. Even as we seek with the greatest urgency stable controls on armaments, we cannot ignore the fact that others are going forward with major increases in their own arms programs. In the year ahead we will be working to improve and protect, to diversify and disperse our strategic forces in ways which make them even less vulnerable to attack and more effective in deterring war. I will request a substantial budget increase to preserve the sufficiency of our strategic nuclear deterrent, including an allocation of over $900 million to improve our seabased deterrent force. I recently directed the Department of Defense to develop a program to build additional missile launching submarines, carrying a new and far more effective missile. We will also proceed with programs to reoutfit our Polaris submarines with the Poseidon missile system, to replace older land-based missiles with Minuteman III, and to deploy the SAFEGUARD Antiballistic Missile System. At the same time, we must move to maintain our strength at sea. The Navy's budget was increased by $2 billion in the current fiscal year, and I will ask for a similar increase next year, with particular emphasis on our shipbuilding programs. Our military research and development program must also be stepped up. Our budget in this area was increased by $594 million in the current fiscal year and I will recommend a further increase for next year of $838 million. I will also propose a substantial program to develop and procure more effective weapons systems for our land and tactical air forces, and to improve the National Guard and Reserves, providing more modern weapons and better training. In addition, we will expand our strong program to attract volunteer career soldiers so that we can phase out the draft. With the cooperation of the Congress, we have been able to double the basic pay of first time enlistees. Further substantial military pay increases are planned. I will also submit to the Congress an overall reform of our military retirement and survivor benefit programs, raising the level of protection for military families. In addition, we will expand efforts to improve race relations, to equalize promotional opportunities, to control drug abuse, and generally to improve the quality of life in the Armed Forces. As we take all of these steps, let us remember that strong military defenses are not the enemy of peace; they are the guardians of peace. Our ability to build a stable and tranquil world--to achieve an arms control agreement, for example-depends on our ability to negotiate from a position of strength. We seek adequate power not as an end in itself but as a means for achieving our purpose. And our purpose is peace. In my Inaugural address 3 years ago I called for cooperation to reduce the burden of arms--and I am encouraged by the progress we have been making toward that goal. But I also added this comment: "... to all those who would be tempted by weakness, let us leave no doubt that we will be as strong as we need to be for as long as we need to he." Today I repeat that reminder. A REALISTIC PROGRAM OF FOREIGN ASSISTANCE Another important expression of America's interest and influence in the world is our foreign assistance effort. This effort has special significance at a time when we are reducing our direct military presence abroad and encouraging other countries to assume greater responsibilities. Their growing ability to undertake these responsibilities often depends on America's foreign assistance. We have taken significant steps to reform our foreign assistance programs in recent years, to eliminate waste and to give them greater impact. Now three further imperatives rest with the Congress: --to fund in full the levels of assistance which I have earlier recommended for the current fiscal year, before the present interim funding arrangement expires in late February; --to act upon the fundamental aid reform proposals submitted by this administration in 1971; --and to modify those statutes which govern our response to expropriation of American property by foreign governments, as I recommended in my recent statement on the security of overseas investments. These actions, taken together, will constitute not an exception to the emerging pattern for a more realistic American role in the world, but rather a fully consistent and crucially important element in that pattern. As we work to help our partners in the world community develop their economic potential and strengthen their military forces, we should also cooperate fully with them in meeting international challenges such as the menace of narcotics, the threat of pollution, the growth of population, the proper use of the seas and seabeds, and the plight of those who have been victimized by wars and natural disasters. All of these are global problems and they must be confronted on a global basis. The efforts of the United Nations to respond creatively to these challenges have been most promising, as has the work of NATO in the environmental field. Now we must build on these beginnings. AMERICA'S INFLUENCE FOR GOOD The United States is not the world's policeman nor the keeper of its moral conscience. But--whether we like it or not-we still represent a force for stability in what has too often been an unstable world, a force for justice in a world which is too often unjust, a force for progress in a world which desperately needs to progress, a force for peace in a world that is weary of war. We can have a great influence for good in our world--and for that reason we bear a great responsibility. Whether we fulfill that responsibility--whether we fully use our influence for good--these are questions we will be answering as we reshape our attitudes and policies toward other countries, as we determine our defensive capabilities, and as we make fundamental decisions about foreign assistance. I will soon discuss these and other concerns in greater detail in my annual report to the Congress on foreign policy. Our influence for good in the world depends, of course, not only on decisions which touch directly on international affairs but also on our internal strength-on our sense of pride and purpose, on the vitality of our economy, on the success of our efforts to build a better life for all our people. Let us turn then from the state of the Union abroad to the state of the Union at home. THE ECONOMY: TOWARD A NEW PROSPERITY Just as the Vietnam war occasioned much of our spiritual crisis, so it lay at the root of our economic problems 3 years ago. The attempt to finance that war through budget deficits in a period of full employment had produced a wave of price inflation as dangerous and as persistent as any in our history. It was more persistent, frankly, than I expected it would be when I first took office. And it only yielded slowly to our dual efforts to cool the war and to cool inflation. Our challenge was further compounded by the need to reabsorb more than 2 million persons who were released from the Armed Forces and from defense-related industries and by the substantial expansion of the labor force. In short, the escalation of the Vietnam war in the late 1960's destroyed price stability. And the de-escalation of that war in the early 1970's impeded full employment. Throughout these years, however, I have remained convinced that both price stability and full employment were realistic goals for this country. By last summer it became apparent that our efforts to eradicate inflation without wage and price controls would either take too long or-if they were to take effect quickly--would come at the cost of persistent high unemployment. This cost was unacceptable. On August 15th I therefore announced a series of new economic policies to speed our progress toward a new prosperity without inflation in peacetime. These policies have received the strong support of the Congress and the American people, and as a result they have been effective. To carry forward these policies, three important steps were taken this past December--all within a brief e-week period--which will also help to make the coming year a very good year for the American economy. On December 10, I signed into law the Revenue Act of 1971, providing tax cuts over the next 3 years of some $ 15 billion, cuts which I requested to stimulate the economy and to provide hundreds of thousands of new jobs. On December 22, I signed into law the Economic Stabilization Act Amendments of 1971, which will allow us to continue our program of wage and price restraints to break the back of inflation. Between these two events, on December 18, I was able to announce a major breakthrough on the international economic front--reached in cooperation with our primary economic partners. This breakthrough will mitigate the intolerable strains which were building up in the world's monetary and payments structure and will lead to a removal of trade barriers which have impeded American exports. It also sets the stage for broader reforms in the international monetary system so that we can avoid repeated monetary crises in the future. Both the monetary realignment--the first of its scope in history--and our progress in readjusting trade conditions will mean better markets for American goods abroad and more jobs for American workers at home. A BRIGHTER ECONOMIC PICTURE As a result of all these steps, the economic picture--which has brightened steadily during the last 5 months--will, I believe, continue to grow brighter. This is not my judgment alone; it is widely shared by the American people. Virtually every survey and forecast in recent weeks shows a substantial improvement in public attitudes about the economy--which are themselves so instrumental in shaping economic realities. The inflationary psychology which gripped our Nation so tightly for so long is on the ebb. Business and consumer confidence has been rising. Businessmen are planning a 9.1 percent increase in plant and equipment expenditures in 1972, more than four times as large as the increase in 1971. Consumer spending and retail sales are on the rise. Home building is booming--housing starts last year were up more than 40 percent from 1970, setting an all-time record. Interest rates are sharply down. Both income and production are rising. Real output in our economy in the last 3 months of 1971 grew at a rate that was about double that of the previous two quarters. Perhaps most importantly, total employment has moved above the 80 million mark--to a record high--and is growing rapidly. In the last 5 months of 1971, some 1.1 million additional jobs were created in our economy and only a very unusual increase in the size of our total labor force kept the unemployment rate from falling. But whatever the reason, 6 percent unemployment is too high. I am determined to cut that percentage--through a variety of measures. The budget I present to the Congress next week will be an expansionary budget--reflecting the impact of new job-creating tax cuts and job-creating expenditures. We will also push to increase employment through our programs for manpower training and public service employment, through our efforts to expand foreign markets, and through other new initiatives. Expanded employment in 1972 will be different, however, from many other periods of full prosperity. For it will come without the stimulus of war--and it will come without inflation. Our program of wage and price controls is working. The consumer price index, which rose at a yearly rate of slightly over 6 percent during 1969 and the first half of 1970, rose at a rate of only 1.7 percent from August through November of 1971. I would emphasize once again, however, that our ultimate objective is lasting price stability without controls. When we achieve an end to the inflationary psychology which developed in the 1960's, we will return to our traditional policy of relying on free market forces to determine wages and prices. I would also emphasize that while our new budget will be in deficit, the deficit will not be irresponsible. It will be less than this year's actual deficit and would disappear entirely under full employment conditions. While Federal spending continues to grow, the rate of increase in spending has been cut very sharply--to little more than half that experienced under the previous administration. The fact that our battle against inflation has led us to adopt a new policy of wage and price restraints should not obscure the continued importance of our fiscal and monetary policies in holding down the cost of living. It is most important that the Congress join now in resisting the temptation to overspend and in accepting the discipline of a balanced full employment budget. I will soon present a more complete discussion of all of these matters in my Budget Message and in my Economic Report. A NEW ERA IN INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS Just as we have entered a new period of negotiation in world politics, so we have also moved into a new period of negotiation on the international economic front. We expect these negotiations to help us build both a new international system for the exchange of money and a new system of international trade. These accomplishments, in turn, can open a new era of fair competition and constructive interdependence in the global economy. We have already made important strides in this direction. The realignment of exchange rates which was announced last month represents an important forward step--but now we also need basic long-range monetary reform. We have made an important beginning toward altering the conditions for international trade and investment--and we expect further substantial progress. I would emphasize that progress for some nations in these fields need not come at the expense of others. All nations will benefit from the right kind of monetary and trade reform. Certainly the United States has a high stake in such improvements. Our international economic position has been slowly deteriorating now for some time--a condition which could have dangerous implications for both our influence abroad and our prosperity at home. It has been estimated, for example, that full employment prosperity will depend on the creation of some 20 million additional jobs in this decade. And expanding our foreign markets is a most effective way to expand domestic employment. One of the major reasons for the weakening of our international economic position is that the ground rules for the exchange of goods and money have forced us to compete with one hand tied behind our back. One of our most important accomplishments in 1971 was our progress in changing this situation. COMPETING MORE EFFECTIVELY Monetary and trade reforms are only one part of this story. The ability of the United States to hold its own in world competition depends not only on the fairness of the rules, but also on the competitiveness of our economy. We have made great progress in the last few months in improving the terms of competition. Now we must also do all we can to strengthen the ability of our own economy to compete. We stand today at a turning point in the history of our country--and in the history of our planet. On the one hand, we have the opportunity to help bring a new economic order to the world, an open order in which nations eagerly face outward to build that network of interdependence which is the best foundation for prosperity and for peace. But we will also be tempted in the months ahead to take the opposite course--to withdraw from the world economically as some would have us withdraw politically, to build an economic "Fortress America" within which our growing weakness could be concealed. Like a child who will not go out to play with other children, we would probably be saved a few minor bumps and bruises in the short run if we were to adopt this course. But in the long run the world would surely pass us by. I reject this approach. I remain committed to that open world I discussed in my Inaugural address. That is why I have worked for a more inviting climate for America's economic activity abroad. That is why I have placed so much emphasis on increasing the productivity of our economy at home. And that is also why I believe so firmly that we must stimulate more long-range investment in our economy, find more effective ways to develop and use new technology, and do a better job of training and using skilled manpower. An acute awareness of the international economic challenge led to the creation just one year ago of the Cabinet-level Council on International Economic Policy. This new institution has helped us to understand this challenge better and to respond to it more effectively. As our understanding deepens, we will discover additional ways of improving our ability to compete. For example, we can enhance our competitive position by moving to implement the metric system of measurement, a proposal which the Secretary of Commerce presented in detail to the Congress last year. And we should also be doing far more to gain our fair share of the international tourism market, now estimated at $17 billion annually, one of the largest factors in world trade. A substantial part of our balance of payments deficit results from the fact that American tourists abroad spend $2.5 billion more than foreign tourists spend in the United States. We can help correct this situation by attracting more foreign tourists to our shores--especially as we enter our Bicentennial era. I am therefore requesting that the budget for the United States Travel Service be nearly doubled in the coming year. THE UNFINISHED AGENDA Our progress toward building a new economic order at home and abroad has been made possible by the cooperation and cohesion of the American people. I am sure that many Americans had misgivings about one aspect or another of the new economic policies I introduced last summer. But most have nevertheless been ready to accept this new effort in order to build the broad support which is essential for effective change. The time has now come for us to apply this same sense of realism and reasonability to other reform proposals which have been languishing on our domestic agenda. As was the case with our economic policies, most Americans agree that we need a change in our welfare system, in our health strategy, in our programs to improve the environment, in the way we finance State and local government, and in the organization of government at the Federal level. Most Americans are not satisfied with the status quo in education, in transportation, in law enforcement, in drug control, in community development. In each of these areas--and in others--I have put forward specific proposals which are responsive to this deep desire for change. And yet achieving change has often been difficult. There has been progress in some areas, but for the most part, as a nation we have not shown the same sense of self-discipline in our response to social challenges that we have developed in meeting our economic needs. We have not been as ready as we should have been to compromise our differences and to build a broad coalition for change. And so we often have found ourselves in a situation of stalemate--doing essentially nothing even though most of us agree that nothing is the very worst thing we can do. Two years ago this week, and again one year ago, my messages on the state of the Union contained broad proposals for domestic reform. I am presenting a number of new proposals in this year's message. But I also call once again, with renewed urgency, for action on our unfinished agenda. WELFARE REFORM The first item of unfinished business is welfare reform. Since I first presented my proposals in August of 1969, some 4 million additional persons have been added to our welfare rolls. The cost of our old welfare system has grown by an additional $4.2 billion. People have not been moving as fast as they should from welfare rolls to payrolls. Too much of the traffic has been the other way. Our antiquated welfare system is responsible for this calamity. Our new program of "workfare" would begin to end it. Today, more than ever, we need a new program which is based on the dignity of work, which provides strong incentives for work, and which includes for those who are able to work an effective work requirement. Today, more than ever, we need a new program which helps hold families together rather than driving them apart, which provides day care services so that low income mothers can trade dependence on government for the dignity of employment, which relieves intolerable fiscal pressures on State and local governments, and which replaces 54 administrative systems with a more efficient and reliable nationwide approach. I have now given prominent attention to this subject in three consecutive messages on the state of the Union. The House of Representatives has passed welfare reform twice. Now that the new economic legislation has been passed, I urge the Senate Finance Committee to place welfare reform at the top of its agenda. It is my earnest hope that when this Congress adjourns, welfare reform will not be an item of pending business but an accomplished reality. REVENUE SHARING: RETURNING POWER TO THE PEOPLE At the same time that I introduced my welfare proposals 2 1/2 years ago, I also presented a program for sharing Federal revenues with State and local governments. Last year I greatly expanded on this concept. Yet, despite undisputed evidence of compelling needs, despite overwhelming public support, despite the endorsement of both major political parties and most of the Nation's Governors and mayors, and despite the fact that most other nations with federal systems of government already have such a program, revenue sharing still remains on the list of unfinished business. I call again today for the enactment of revenue sharing. During its first full year of operation our proposed programs would spend $17.6 billion, both for general purposes and through six special purpose programs for law enforcement, manpower, education, transportation, rural community, development, and urban community development. As with welfare reform, the need for revenue sharing becomes more acute as time passes. The financial crisis of State and local government is deepening. The pattern of breakdown in State and municipal services grows more threatening. Inequitable tax pressures are mounting. The demand for more flexible and more responsive government--at levels closer to the problems and closer to the people--is building. Revenue sharing can help us meet these challenges. It can help reverse what has been the flow of power and resources toward Washington by sending power and resources back to the States, to the communities, and to the people. Revenue sharing can bring a new sense of accountability, a new burst of energy and a new spirit of creativity to our federal system. I am pleased that the House Ways and Means Committee has made revenue sharing its first order of business in the new session. I urge the Congress to enact in this session, not an empty program which bears the revenue sharing label while continuing the outworn system of categorical grants, but a bold, comprehensive program of genuine revenue sharing. I also presented last year a $100 million program of planning and management grants to help the States and localities do a better job of analyzing their problems and carrying out solutions. I hope this program will also be quickly accepted. For only as State and local governments get a new lease on life can we hope to bring government back to the people--and with it a stronger sense that each individual can be in control of his life, that every person can make a difference. OVERHAULING THE MACHINERY OF GOVERNMENT: EXECUTIVE REORGANIZATION As we work to make State and local government more responsive--and more responsible--let us also seek these same goals at the Federal level. I again urge the Congress to enact my proposals for reorganizing the executive branch of the Federal Government. Here again, support from the general public--as well as from those who have served in the executive branch under several Presidents has been most encouraging. So has the success of the important organizational reforms we have already made. These have included a restructured Executive Office of the President--with a new Domestic Council, a new Office of Management and Budget, and other units; reorganized field operations in Federal agencies; stronger mechanisms for interagency coordination, such as Federal Regional Councils; a new United States Postal Service; and new offices for such purposes as protecting the environment, coordinating communications policy, helping the consumer, and stimulating voluntary service. But the centerpiece of our efforts to streamline the executive branch still awaits approval. How the government is put together often determines how well the government can do its job. Our Founding Fathers understood this fact--and thus gave detailed attention to the most precise structural questions. Since that time, however, and especially in recent decades, new responsibilities and new constituencies have caused the structure they established to expand enormously--and in a piecemeal and haphazard fashion. As a result, our Federal Government today is too often a sluggish and unresponsive institution, unable to deliver a dollar's worth of service for a dollar's worth of taxes. My answer to this problem is to streamline the executive branch by reducing the overall number of executive departments and by creating four new departments in which existing responsibilities would be refocused in a coherent and comprehensive way. The rationale which I have advanced calls for organizing these new departments around the major purposes of the government by creating a Department of Natural Resources, a Department of Human Resources, a Department of Community Development, and a Department of Economic Affairs. I have revised my original plan so that we would not eliminate the Department of Agriculture but rather restructure that Department so it can focus more effectively on the needs of farmers. The Congress has recently reorganized its own operations, and the Chief Justice of the United States has led a major effort to reform and restructure the judicial branch. The impulse for reorganization is strong and the need for reorganization is clear. I hope the Congress will not let this opportunity for sweeping reform of the executive branch slip away. A NEW APPROACH TO THE DELIVERY OF SOCIAL SERVICES As a further step to put the machinery of government in proper working order, I will also propose new legislation to reform and rationalize the way in which social services are delivered to families and individuals. Today it often seems that our service programs are unresponsive to the recipients' needs and wasteful of the taxpayers' money. A major reason is their extreme fragmentation. Rather than pulling many services together, our present system separates them into narrow and rigid categories. The father of a family is helped by one program, his daughter by another, and his elderly parents by a third. An individual goes to one place for nutritional help, to another for health services, and to still another for educational counseling. A community finds that it cannot transfer Federal funds from one program area to another area in which needs are more pressing. Meanwhile, officials at all levels of government find themselves wasting enormous amounts of time, energy, and the taxpayers' money untangling Federal red tape--time and energy and dollars which could better be spent in meeting people's needs. We need a new approach to the delivery of social services--one which is built around people and not around programs. We need an approach which treats a person as a whole and which treats the family as a unit. We need to break through rigid categorical walls, to open up narrow bureaucratic compartments, to consolidate and coordinate related programs in a comprehensive approach to related problems. The Allied Services Act which will soon be submitted to the Congress offers one set of tools for carrying out that new approach in the programs of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. It would strengthen State and local planning and administrative capacities, allow for the transfer of funds among various HEW programs, and permit the waiver of certain cumbersome Federal requirements. . By streamlining and simplifying the delivery of services, it would help more people move more rapidly from public dependency toward the dignity of being self-sufficient. Good men and good money can be wasted on bad mechanisms. By giving those mechanisms a thorough overhaul, we can help to restore the confidence of the people in the capacities of their government. PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT A central theme of both my earlier messages on the state of the Union was the state of our environment--and the importance of making "our peace with nature." The last few years have been a time in which environmental values have become firmly embedded in our attitudes--and in our institutions. At the Federal level, we have established a new Environmental Protection Agency, a new Council on Environmental Quality and a new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and we have proposed an entire new Department of Natural Resources. New air quality standards have been set, and there is evidence that the air in many cities is becoming less polluted. Under authority granted by the Refuse Act of 1899, we have instituted a new permit program which, for the first time, allows the Federal Government to inventory all significant industrial sources of water pollution and to specify required abatement actions. Under the Refuse Act, more than 160 civil actions and 320 criminal actions to stop water pollution have been filed against alleged polluters in the last 12 months. Major programs have also been launched to build new municipal waste treatment facilities, to stop pollution from Federal facilities, to expand our wilderness areas, and to leave a legacy of parks for future generations. Our outlays for inner city parks have been significantly expanded, and 62 Federal tracts have been transferred to the States and to local governments for recreational uses. In the coming year, I hope to transfer to local park use much more Federal land which is suitable for recreation but which is now underutilized. I trust the Congress will not delay this process. The most striking fact about environmental legislation in the early 1970's is how much has been proposed and how little has been enacted. Of the major legislative proposals I made in my special message to the Congress on the environment last winter, 18 are still awaiting final action. They include measures to regulate pesticides and toxic substances, to control noise pollution, to restrict dumping in the oceans, in coastal waters, and in the Great Lakes, to create an effective policy for the use and development of land, to regulate the siting of power plants, to control strip mining, and to help achieve many other important environmental goals. The unfinished agenda also includes our National Resource Land Management Act, and other measures to improve environmental protection on federally owned lands. The need for action in these areas is urgent. The forces which threaten our environment will not wait while we procrastinate. Nor can we afford to rest on last year's agenda in the environmental field. For as our understanding of these problems increases, so must our range of responses. Accordingly, I will soon be sending to the Congress another message on the environment that will present further administrative and legislative initiatives. Altogether our new budget will contain more than three times as much money for environmental programs in fiscal year 1973 as we spent in fiscal year 1969. To fail in meeting the environmental challenge, however, would be even more costly. I urge the Congress to put aside narrow partisan perspectives that merely ask "whether" we should act to protect the environment and to focus instead on the more difficult question of "how" such action can most effectively be carried out. ABUNDANT CLEAN ENERGY In my message to the Congress on energy policy, last June, I outlined additional steps relating to the environment which also merit renewed attention. The challenge, as I defined it, is to produce a sufficient supply of energy to fuel our industrial civilization and at the same time to protect a beautiful and healthy environment. I am convinced that we can achieve both these goals, that we can respect our good earth without turning our back on progress. In that message last June, I presented a long list of means for assuring an ample supply of clean energy--including the liquid metal fast breeder reactor--and I again emphasize their importance. Because it often takes several years to bring new technologies into use in the energy field, there is no time for delay. Accordingly, I am including in my new budget increased funding for the most promising of these and other clean energy programs. By acting this year, we can avoid having to choose in some future year between too little energy, and too much pollution. KEEPING PEOPLE HEALTHY The National Health Strategy I outlined last February is designed to achieve one of the Nation's most important goals for the 1970's, improving the quality and availability of medical care, while fighting the trend toward runaway costs. Important elements of that strategy have already been enacted. The Comprehensive Health Manpower Training Act and the Nurse Training Act, which I signed on November 18, represent the most far-reaching effort in our history to increase the supply of doctors, nurses, dentists and other health professionals and to attract them to areas which are experiencing manpower shortages. The National Cancer Act, which I signed on December 23, marked the climax of a year-long effort to step up our campaign against cancer. During the past year, our cancer research budget has been increased by $100 million and the full weight of my office has been given to our all-out war on this disease. We have also expanded the fight against sickle cell anemia by an additional $5 million. I hope that action on these significant fronts during the first session of the 92nd Congress will now be matched by action in other areas during the second session. The Health Maintenance Organization Act, for example, is an essential tool for helping doctors deliver care more effectively and more efficiently with a greater emphasis on prevention and early treatment. By working to keep our people healthy instead of treating us only when we are sick, Health Maintenance Organizations can do a great deal to help us reduce medical costs. Our National Health Insurance Partnership legislation is also essential to assure that no American is denied basic medical care because of inability to pay. Too often, present health insurance leaves critical outpatient services uncovered, distorting the way in which facilities are used. It also fails to protect adequately against catastrophic costs and to provide sufficient assistance for the poor. The answer I have suggested is a comprehensive national plan--not one that nationalizes our private health insurance industry but one that corrects the weaknesses in that system while building on its considerable strengths. A large part of the enormous increase in the Nation's expenditures on health in recent years has gone not to additional services but merely to meet price inflation. Our efforts to balance the growing demand for care with an increased supply of services will help to change this picture. So will that part of our economic program which is designed to control medical costs. I am confident that with the continued cooperation of those who provide health services, we will succeed on this most important battlefront in our war against inflation. Our program for the next year will also include further funding increases for health research--including substantial new sums for cancer and sickle cell anemia--as well as further increases for medical schools and for meeting special problems such as drug addiction and alcoholism. We also plan to construct new veterans hospitals and expand the staffs at existing ones. In addition, we will be giving increased attention to the fight against diseases of the heart, blood vessels and lungs, which presently account for more than half of all the deaths in this country. It is deeply disturbing to realize that, largely because of heart disease, the mortality rate for men under the age of 55 is about twice as great in the United States as it is, for example, in some Scandinavian countries. I will shortly assign a panel of distinguished experts to help us determine why heart disease is so prevalent and so menacing and what we can do about it. I will also recommend an expanded budget for the National Heart and Lung Institute. The young father struck down by a heart attack in the prime of life, the productive citizen crippled by a stroke, an older person tortured by breathing difficulties during his later years--these are tragedies which can be reduced in number and we must do all that is possible to reduce them. NUTRITION One of the critical areas in which we have worked to advance the health of the Nation is that of combating hunger and improving nutrition. With the increases in our new budget, expenditures on our food stamp program will have increased ninefold since 1969, to the $2.3 billion level. Spending on school lunches for needy children will have increased more than sevenfold, from $107 million in 1969 to $770 million in 1973. Because of new regulations which will be implemented in the year ahead, we will be able to increase further both the equity of our food stamp program and the adequacy of its benefits. COPING WITH ACCIDENTS--AND PREVENTING THEM Last year, more than 115,000 Americans lost their lives in accidents. Four hundred thousand more were permanently disabled and 10 million were temporarily disabled. The loss to our economy from accidents last year is estimated at over $28 billion. These are sad and staggering figures--especially since this toll could be greatly reduced by upgrading our emergency medical services. Such improvement does not even require new scientific breakthroughs; it only requires that we apply our present knowledge more effectively. To help in this effort, I am directing the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to develop new ways of organizing emergency medical services and of providing care to accident victims. By improving communication, transportation, and the training of emergency personnel, we can save many thousands of lives which would otherwise be lost to accidents and sudden illnesses. One of the significant joint accomplishments of the Congress and this administration has been a vigorous new program to protect against job-related accidents and illnesses. Our occupational health and safety program will be further strengthened in the year ahead--as will our ongoing efforts to promote air traffic safety, boating safety, and safety on the highways. In the last 3 years, the motor vehicle death rate has fallen by 13 percent, but we still lose some 50,000 lives on our highways each year--more than we have lost in combat in the entire Vietnam war. Fully one-half of these deaths were directly linked to alcohol. This appalling reality is a blight on our entire Nation-and only the active concern of the entire Nation can remove it. The Federal Government will continue to help all it can, through its efforts to promote highway safety and automobile safety, and through stronger programs to help the problem drinker. YESTERDAY'S GOALS: TOMORROW'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS Welfare reform, revenue sharing, executive reorganization, environmental protection, and the new national health strategy--these, along with economic improvement, constituted the six great goals I emphasized in my last State of the Union address--six major components of a New American Revolution. They remain six areas of great concern today. With the cooperation of the Congress, they can be six areas of great accomplishment tomorrow. But the challenges we face cannot be reduced to six categories. Our problems-and our opportunities--are manifold, and action on many fronts is required. It is partly for this reason that my State of the Union address this year includes this written message to the Congress. For it gives me the chance to discuss more fully a number of programs which also belong on our list of highest priorities. ACTION FOR THE AGING Last month, I joined with thousands of delegates to the White House Conference on Aging in a personal commitment to make 1972 a year of action on behalf of 21 million older Americans. Today I call on the Congress to join me in that pledge. For unless the American dream comes true for our older generation it cannot be complete for any generation. We can begin to make this a year of action for the aging by acting on a number of proposals which have been pending since 1969. For older Americans, the most significant of these is the bill designated H.R.i. This legislation, which also contains our general welfare reform measures, would place a national floor under the income of all older Americans, guarantee inflation-proof social security benefits, allow social security recipients to earn more from their own work, increase benefits for widows, and provide a 5-percent across the-board increase in social security. Altogether, H.R. 1--as it now stands-would mean some $5.5 billion in increased benefits for America's older citizens. I hope the Congress will also take this opportunity to eliminate the $5.80 monthly fee now charged under Part B of Medicare--a step which would add an additional $1.5 billion to the income of the elderly. These additions would come on top of earlier social security increases totalling some $3 billion over the last 3 years. A number of newer proposals also deserve approval. I am requesting that the budget of the Administration on Aging be increased five-fold over last year's request, to $100 million, in part so that we can expand programs which help older citizens live dignified lives in their own homes. I am recommending substantially larger budgets for those programs which give older Americans a better chance to serve their countrymen--Retired Senior Volunteers, Foster Grandparents, and others. And we will also work to ease the burden of property taxes which so many older Americans find so inequitable and so burdensome. Other initiatives, including proposals for extending and improving the Older Americans Act, will be presented as we review the recommendations of the White House Conference on Aging. Our new Cabinet-level Domestic Council Committee on Aging has these recommendations at the top of its agenda. We will also be following up in 1972 on one of the most important of our 1971 initiatives--the crackdown on substandard nursing homes. Our follow-through will give special attention to providing alternative arrangements for those who are victimized by such facilities. The legislation I have submitted to provide greater financial security at retirement, both for those now covered by private pension plans and those who are not, also merits prompt action by the Congress. Only half the country's work force is now covered by tax deductible private pensions; the other half deserve a tax deduction for their retirement savings too. Those who are now covered by pension plans deserve the assurance that their plans are administered under strict fiduciary standards with full disclosure. And they should also have the security provided by prompt vesting--the assurance that even if one leaves a given job, he can still receive the pension he earned there when he retires. The legislation I have proposed would achieve these goals, and would also raise the limit on deductible pension savings for the self-employed. The state of our Union is strong today because of what older Americans have so long been giving to their country. The state of our Union will be stronger tomorrow if we recognize how much they still can contribute. The best thing our country can give to its older citizens is the chance to be a part of it, the chance to play a continuing role in the great American adventure. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR MINORITIES America cannot be at its best as it approaches its 200th birthday unless all Americans have the opportunity to be at their best. A free and open American society, one that is true to the ideals of its founders, must give each of its citizens an equal chance at the starting line and an equal opportunity to go as far and as high as his talents and energies will take him. The Nation can be proud of the progress it has made in assuring equal opportunity for members of minority groups in recent years. There are many measures of our progress. Since 1969, we have virtually eliminated the dual school system in the South. Three years ago, 68 percent of all black children in the South were attending all black schools; today only 9 percent are attending schools which are entirely black. Nationally, the number of 100 percent minority schools has decreased by 70 percent during the past 3 years. To further expand educational opportunity, my proposed budget for predominantly black colleges will exceed $200 million next year, more than double the level of 3 years ago. On the economic front, overall Federal aid to minority business enterprise has increased threefold in the last 3 years, and I will propose a further increase of $90 million. Federal hiring among minorities has been intensified, despite cutbacks in Federal employment, so that one-fifth of all Federal employees are now members of minority groups. Building on strong efforts such as the Philadelphia Plan, we will work harder to ensure that Federal contractors meet fair hiring standards. Compliance reviews will be stepped up, to a level more than 300 percent higher than in 1969. Our proposed budget for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will be up 36 percent next year, while our proposed budget for enforcing fair housing laws will grow by 20 percent. I also support legislation to strengthen the enforcement powers of the EEOC by providing the Commission with authority to seek court enforcement of its decisions and by giving it jurisdiction over the hiring practices of State and local governments. Overall, our proposed budget for civil rights activities is up 25 percent for next year, an increase which will give us nearly three times as much money for advancing civil rights as we had 3 years ago. We also plan a 42 percent increase in the budget for the Cabinet Committee on Opportunities for the Spanish Speaking. And I will propose that the Congress extend the operations of the Civil Rights Commission for another 5-year period. SELF-DETERMINATION FOR INDIANS One of the major initiatives in the second year of my Presidency was designed to bring a new era in which the future for American Indians is determined by Indian acts and Indian decisions. The comprehensive program I put forward sought to avoid the twin dangers of paternalism on the one hand and the termination of trust responsibility on the other. Some parts of this program have now become effective, including a generous settlement of the Alaska Native Claims and the return to the Taos Pueblo Indians of the sacred lands around Blue Lake. Construction grants have been authorized to assist the Navajo Community College, the first Indian-managed institution of higher education. We are also making progress toward Indian self-determination on the administrative front. A newly reorganized Bureau of Indian Affairs, with almost all-Indian leadership, will from now on be concentrating its resources on a program of reservation-by-reservation development, including redirection of employment assistance to strengthen reservation economies, creating local Indian Action Teams for manpower training, and increased contracting of education and other functions to Indian communities. I again urge the Congress to join in helping Indians help themselves in fields such as health, education, the protection of land and water rights, and economic development. We have talked about injustice to the first Americans long enough. As Indian leaders themselves have put it, the time has come for more rain and less thunder. EQUAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN This administration will also continue its strong efforts to open equal opportunities for women, recognizing clearly that women are often denied such opportunities today. While every woman may not want a career outside the home, every woman should have the freedom to choose whatever career she wishes--and an equal chance to pursue it. We have already moved vigorously against job discrimination based on sex in both the private and public sectors. For the first time, guidelines have been issued to require that Government contractors in the private sector have action plans for the hiring and promotion of women. We are committed to strong enforcement of equal employment opportunity for women under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. To help carry out these commitments I will propose to the Congress that the jurisdiction of the Commission on Civil Rights be broadened to encompass sex-based discrimination. Within the Government, more women have been appointed to high posts than ever before. As the result of my directives issued in April 1971 the number of women appointed to high-level Federal positions has more than doubled--and the number of women in Federal middle management positions has also increased dramatically. More women than ever before have been appointed to Presidential boards and commissions. Our vigorous program to recruit more women for Federal service will be continued and intensified in the coming year. OPPORTUNITY FOR VETERANS A grateful nation owes its servicemen and servicewomen every opportunity it can open to them when they return to civilian life. The Nation may be weary of war, but we dare not grow weary of doing right by those who have borne its heaviest burdens. The Federal Government is carrying out this responsibility in many ways: through the G.I. Bill for education-which will spend 2 1/2 times more in 1973 than in 1969; through home loan programs and disability and pension benefits-which also have been expanded; through better medical services--including strong new drug treatment programs; through its budget for veterans hospitals, which is already many times the 1969 level and will be stepped up further next year. We have been particularly concerned in the last 3 years with the employment of veterans--who experience higher unemployment rates than those who have not served in the Armed Forces. During this past year I announced a six-point national program to increase public awareness of this problem, to provide training and counseling to veterans seeking jobs and to help them find employment opportunities. Under the direction of the Secretary of Labor and with the help of our Jobs for Veterans Committee and the National Alliance of Businessmen, this program has been moving forward. During its first five months of operation, 122,000 Vietnamera veterans were placed in jobs by the Federal-State Employment Service and 40,000 were enrolled in job training programs. During the next six months, we expect the Federal-State Employment Service to place some 200,000 additional veterans in jobs and to enroll nearly 200,000 more in manpower training programs. But let us never forget, in this as in so many other areas, that the opportunity for any individual to contribute fully to his society depends in the final analysis on the response--in his own community---of other individuals. GREATER ROLE FOR AMERICAN YOUTH Full participation and first class citizenship--these must be our goals for America's young people. It was to help achieve these goals that I signed legislation to lower the minimum voting age to 18 in June of 1970, and moved to secure a court validation of its constitutionality. And I took special pleasure a year later in witnessing the certification of the amendment which placed this franchise guarantee in the Constitution. But a voice at election time alone is not enough. Young people should have a hearing in government on a day-by-day basis. To this end, and at my direction, agencies throughout the Federal Government have stepped up their hiring of young people and have opened new youth advisory channels. We have also convened the first White House Youth Conference--a wide-open forum whose recommendations have been receiving a thorough review by the Executive departments. Several other reforms also mean greater freedom and opportunity for America's young people. Draft calls have been substantially reduced, as a step toward our target of reducing them to zero by mid-1973. The lottery system and other new procedures and the contributions of youth advisory councils and younger members on local boards have made the draft far more fair than it was. My educational reform proposals embody the principle that no qualified student who wants to go to college should be barred by lack of money-a guarantee that would open doors of opportunity for many thousands of deserving young people. Our new career education emphasis can also be a significant springboard to good jobs and rewarding lives. Young America's "extra dimension" in the sixties and seventies has been a drive to help the less fortunate--an activist idealism bent on making the world a better place to live. Our new ACTION volunteer agency, building on the successful experiences of constituent units such as the Peace Corps and Vista, has already broadened service opportunities for the young-and more new programs are in prospect. The Congress can do its part in forwarding this positive momentum by assuring that the ACTION programs have sufficient funds to carry out their mission. THE AMERICAN FARMER As we face the challenge of competing more effectively abroad and of producing more efficiently at home, our entire Nation can take the American farmer as its model. While the productivity of our non-farm industries has gone up 60 percent during the last 20 years, agricultural productivity has gone up 200 percent, or nearly 3 1/2 times as much. One result has been better products and lower prices for American consumers. Another is that farmers have more than held their own in international markets. Figures for the last fiscal year show nearly a $900 million surplus for commercial agricultural trade. The strength of American agriculture is at the heart of the strength of America. American farmers deserve a fair share in the fruits of our prosperity. We still have much ground to cover before we arrive at that goal--but we have been moving steadily toward it. In 1950 the income of the average farmer was only 58 percent of that of his non-farm counterpart. Today that figure stands at 74 percent--not nearly high enough, but moving in the right direction. Gross farm income reached a record high in 1971, and for 1972 a further increase of $2 billion is predicted. Because of restraints on production costs, net farm income is expected to rise in 1972 by 6.4 percent or some $1 billion. Average income per farm is expected to go up 8 percent--to an all-time high--in the next 12 months. Still there are very serious farm problems-and we are taking strong action to meet them. I promised 3 years ago to end the sharp skid in farm exports--and I have kept that promise. In just 2 years, farm exports climbed by 37 percent, and last year they set an all-time record. Our expanded marketing programs, the agreement to sell 2 million tons of feed grains to the Soviet Union, our massive aid to South Asia under Public Law 480, and our efforts to halt transportation strikes--by doing all we can under the old law and by proposing a new and better one--these efforts and others are moving us toward our $10 billion farm export goal. I have also promised to expand domestic markets, to improve the management of surpluses, and to help in other ways to raise the prices received by farmers. I have kept that promise, too. A surprisingly large harvest drove corn prices down last year, but they have risen sharply since last November. Prices received by dairy farmers, at the highest level in history last year, will continue strong in 1972. Soybean prices will be at their highest level in two decades. Prices received by farmers for hogs, poultry and eggs are all expected to go higher. Expanded Government purchases and other assistance will also provide a greater boost to farm income. With the close cooperation of the Congress, we have expanded the farmers' freedom and flexibility through the Agricultural Act of 1970. We have strengthened the Farm Credit System and substantially increased the availability of farm credit. Programs for controlling plant and animal disease and for soil and water conservation have also been expanded. All these efforts will continue, as will our efforts to improve the legal climate for cooperative bargaining--an important factor in protecting the vitality of the family farm and in resisting excessive Government management. DEVELOPING RURAL AMERICA In my address to the Congress at this time 2 years ago, I spoke of the fact that one-third of our counties had lost population in the 1960's, that many of our rural areas were slowly being emptied of their people and their promise, and that we should work to reverse this picture by including rural America in a nationwide program to foster balanced growth. It is striking to realize that even if we had a population of one billion--nearly five times the current level---our area is so great that we would still not be as densely populated as many European nations are at present. Clearly, our problems are not so much those of numbers as they are of distribution. We must work to revitalize the American countryside. We have begun to make progress on this front in the last 3 years. Rural housing programs have been increased by more than 450 percent from 1969 to 1973. The number of families benefiting from rural water and sewer programs is now 75 percent greater than it was in 1969. We have worked to encourage sensible growth patterns through the location of Federal facilities. The first biennial Report on National Growth, which will be released in the near future, will further describe these patterns, their policy implications and the many ways we are responding to this challenge. But we must do more. The Congress can begin by passing my $ 1.1 billion program of Special Revenue Sharing for Rural Community Development. In addition, I will soon present a major proposal to expand significantly the credit authorities of the Farmers Home Administration, so that this agency--which has done so much to help individual farmers-can also help spur commercial, industrial and community development in rural America. Hopefully, the FHA will be able to undertake this work as a part of a new Department of Community Development. In all these ways, we can help ensure that rural America will be in the years ahead what it has been from our Nation's beginning--an area which looks eagerly to the future with a sense of hope and promise. A COMMITMENT TO OUR CITIES Our commitment to balanced growth also requires a commitment to our cities-to old cities threatened by decay, to suburbs now sprawling senselessly because of inadequate planning, and to new cities not yet born but clearly needed by our growing population. I discussed these challenges in my special message to the Congress on Population Growth and the American Future in the summer of 1969-and I have often discussed them since. My recommendations for transportation, education, health, welfare, revenue sharing, planning and management assistance, executive reorganization, the environment-especially the proposed Land Use Policy Act--and my proposals in many other areas touch directly on community development. One of the keys to better cities is better coordination of these many components. Two of my pending proposals go straight to the heart of this challenge. The first, a new Department of Community Development, would provide a single point of focus for our strategy for growth. The second, Special Revenue Sharing for Urban Community Development, would remove the rigidities of categorical project grants which now do so much to fragment planning, delay action, and discourage local responsibility. My new budget proposes a $300 million increase over the full year level which we proposed for this program a year ago. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has been working to foster orderly growth in our cities in a number of additional ways. A Planned Variation concept has been introduced into the Model Cities program which gives localities more control over their own future. HUD's own programs have been considerably decentralized. The New Communities Program has moved forward and seven projects have received final approval. The Department's efforts to expand mortgage capital, to more than double the level of subsidized housing, and to encourage new and more efficient building techniques through programs like Operation Breakthrough have all contributed to our record level of housing starts. Still more can be done if the Congress enacts the administration's Housing Consolidation and Simplification Act, proposed in 1970. The Federal Government is only one of many influences on development patterns across our land. Nevertheless, its influence is considerable. We must do all we can to see that its influence is good. IMPROVING TRANSPORTATION Although the executive branch and the Congress have been led by different parties during the last 3 years, we have cooperated with particular effectiveness in the field of transportation. Together we have shaped the Urban Mass Transportation Assistance Act of 1970--a 12-year, $10 billion effort to expand and improve our common carriers and thus make our cities more livable. We have brought into effect a 10-year, $3 billion ship construction program as well as increased research efforts and a modified program of operating subsidies to revamp our merchant marine. We have accelerated efforts to improve air travel under the new Airport and Airway Trust Fund and have been working in fresh ways to save and improve our railway passenger service. Great progress has also been made in promoting transportation safety and we have moved effectively against cargo thefts and skyjacking. I hope this strong record will be even stronger by the time the 92nd Congress adjourns. I hope that our Special Revenue Sharing program for transportation will by then be a reality--so that cities and States can make better long-range plans with greater freedom to achieve their own proper balance among the many modes of transportation. I hope, too, that our recommendations for revitalizing surface freight transportation will by then be accepted, including measures both to modernize railway equipment and operations and to update regulatory practices. By encouraging competition, flexibility and efficiency among freight carriers, these steps could save the American people billions of dollars in freight costs every year, helping to curb inflation, expand employment and improve our balance of trade. One of our most damaging and perplexing economic problems is that of massive and prolonged transportation strikes. There is no reason why the public should be the helpless victim of such strikes--but this is frequently what happens. The dock strike, for example, has been extremely costly for the American people, particularly for the farmer for whom a whole year's income can hinge on how promptly he can move his goods. Last year's railroad strike also dealt a severe blow to our 
economy. Both of these emergencies could have been met far more effectively if the Congress had enacted my Emergency Public Interest Protection Act, which I proposed in February, of 1970. By passing this legislation in this session, the Congress can give us the permanent machinery so badly needed for resolving future disputes. Historically, our transportation systems have provided the cutting edge for our development. Now, to keep our country from falling behind the times, we must keep well ahead of events in our transportation planning. This is why we are placing more emphasis and spending more money this year on transportation research and development. For this reason, too, I will propose a 65 percent increase--to the $1 billion level--in our budget for mass transportation. Highway building has been our first priority--and our greatest success story--in the past two decades. Now we must write a similar success story for mass transportation in the 1970's. PEACE AT HOME: FIGHTING CRIME Our quest for peace abroad over the last 3 years has been accompanied by an intensive quest for peace at home. And our success in stabilizing developments on the international scene has been matched by a growing sense of stability in America. Civil disorders no longer engulf our cities. Colleges and universities have again become places of learning. And while crime is still increasing, the rate of increase has slowed to a 5-year low. In the one city for which the Federal Government has a special responsibility--Washington, D.C.--the picture is even brighter, for here serious crime actually fell by 13 percent in the last year. Washington was one of 52 major cities which recorded a net reduction in crime in the first nine months of 1971, compared to 23 major cities which made comparable progress a year earlier. This encouraging beginning is not something that has just happened by itself---I believe it results directly from strong new crime fighting efforts by this administration, by the Congress, and by State and local governments. Federal expenditures on crime have increased 200 percent since 1969 and we are proposing another 18 percent increase in our new budget. The Organized Grime Control Act of 1970, the District of Columbia Court Reform Act, and the Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1970 have all provided new instruments for this important battle. So has our effort to expand the Federal strike force program as a weapon against organized crime. Late last year, we held the first National Conference on Corrections--and we will continue to move forward in this most critical field. I will also propose legislation to improve our juvenile delinquency prevention programs. And I again urge action on my Special Revenue Sharing proposal for law enforcement. By continuing our stepped up assistance to local law enforcement authorities through the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, by continuing to press for improved courts and correctional institutions, by continuing our intensified war on drug abuse, and by continuing to give vigorous support to the principles of order and respect for law, I believe that what has been achieved in the Nation's capital can be achieved in a growing number of other communities throughout the Nation. COMBATING DRUG ABUSE A problem of modern life which is of deepest concern to most Americans--and of particular anguish to many--is that of drug abuse. For increasing dependence on drugs will surely sap our Nation's strength and destroy our Nation's character. Meeting this challenge is not a task for government alone. I have been heartened by the efforts of millions of individual Americans from all walks of life who are trying to communicate across the barriers created by drug use, to reach out with compassion to those who have become drug dependent. The Federal Government will continue to lead in this effort. The last 3 years have seen an increase of nearly 600 percent in Federal expenditures for treatment and rehabilitation and an increase of more than 500 percent in program levels for research, education and training. I will propose further substantial increases for these programs in the coming year. In order to develop a national strategy for this effort and to coordinate activities which are spread through nine Federal agencies, I asked Congress last June to create a Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention. I also established an interim Office by Executive order, and that unit is beginning to have an impact. But now we must have both the legislative authority and the funds I requested if this Office is to move ahead with its critical mission. On another front, the United States will continue to press for a strong collective effort by nations throughout the world to eliminate drugs at their source. And we will intensify the world-wide attack on drug smugglers and all who protect them. The Cabinet Committee on International Narcotics Control which I created last September--is coordinating our diplomatic and law enforcement efforts in this area. We will also step up our program to curb illicit drug traffic at our borders and within our country. Over the last 3 years Federal expenditures for this work have more than doubled, and I will propose a further funding increase next year. In addition, I will soon initiate a major new program to drive drug traffickers and pushers off the streets of America. This program will be built around a nationwide network of investigative and prospective units, utilizing special grand juries established under the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, to assist State and local agencies in detecting, arresting, and convicting those who would profit from the misery of others. STRENGTHENING CONSUMER PROTECTION Our plans for 1972 include further steps to protect consumers against hazardous food and drugs and other dangerous products. These efforts will carry forward the campaign I launched in 1969 to establish a "Buyer's Bill of Rights" and to strengthen consumer protection. As a part of that campaign, we have established a new Office of Consumer Affairs, directed by my Special Assistant for Consumer Affairs, to give consumers greater access to government, to promote consumer education, to encourage voluntary efforts by business, to work with State and local governments, and to help the Federal Government improve its consumer-related activities. We have also established a new Consumer Product Information Coordinating Center in the General Services Administration to help us share a wider range of Federal research and buying expertise with the public. But many of our plans in this field still await Congressional action, including measures to insure product safety, to fight consumer fraud, to require full disclosure in warranties and guarantees, and to protect against unsafe medical devices. REFORMING AND RENEWING EDUCATION It was nearly 2 years ago, in March of 1970, that I presented my major proposals for reform and renewal in education. These proposals included student assistance measures to ensure that no qualified person would be barred from college by a lack of money, a National Institute of Education to bring new energy and new direction to educational research, and a National Foundation for Higher Education to encourage innovation in learning beyond high school. These initiatives are still awaiting final action by the Congress. They deserve prompt approval. I would also underscore my continuing confidence that Special Revenue Sharing for Education can do much to strengthen the backbone of our educational system, our public elementary and secondary schools. Special Revenue Sharing recognizes the Nation's interest in their improvement without compromising the principle of local control. I also call again for the enactment of my $1.5 billion program of Emergency School Aid to help local school districts desegregate wisely and well. This program has twice been approved by the House and once by the Senate in different versions. I hope the Senate will now send the legislation promptly to the conference committee so that an agreement can be reached on this important measure at an early date. This bill is designed to help local school districts with the problems incident to desegregation. We must have an end to the dual school system, as conscience and the Constitution both require--and we must also have good schools. In this connection, I repeat my own firm belief that educational quality--so vital to the future of all of our children---is not enhanced by unnecessary busing for the sole purpose of achieving an arbitrary racial balance. FINANCING OUR SCHOOLS I particularly hope that 1972 will be a year in which we resolve one of the most critical questions we face in education today: how best to finance our schools. In recent years the growing scope and rising costs of education have so overburdened local revenues that financial crisis has become a way of life in many school districts. As a result, neither the benefits nor the burdens of education have been equitably distributed. The brunt of the growing pressures has fallen on the property tax--one of the most inequitable and regressive of all public levies. Property taxes in the United States represent a higher proportion of public income than in almost any other nation. They have more than doubled in the last decade and have been particularly burdensome for our lower and middle income families and for older Americans. These intolerable pressures--on the property tax and on our schools--led me to establish the President's Commission on School Finance in March of 1970. I charged this Commission with the responsibility to review comprehensively both the revenue needs and the revenue resources of public and non-public elementary and secondary education. The Commission will make its final report to me in March. At the same time, the Domestic Council-and particularly the Secretaries of the Treasury and of Health, Education, and Welfare---have also been studying this difficult and tangled problem. The entire question has been given even greater urgency by recent court decisions in California, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Texas, which have held the conventional method of financing schools through local property taxes discriminatory and unconstitutional. Similar court actions are pending in more than half of our States. While these cases have not yet been reviewed by the Supreme Court, we cannot ignore the serious questions they have raised for our States, for our local school districts, and for the entire Nation. The overhaul of school finance involves two complex and interrelated sets of problems: those concerning support of the schools themselves, and also the basic relationships of Federal, State and local governments in any program of tax reform. We have been developing a set of comprehensive proposals to deal with these questions. Under the leadership of the Secretary of the Treasury, we are carefully reviewing the tax aspects of these proposals; and I have this week enlisted the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations in addressing the intergovernmental relations aspects. Members of the Congress and of the executive branch, Governors, State legislators, local officials and private citizens comprise this group. Later in the year, after I have received the reports of both the President's Commission on School Finance and the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, I shall make my final recommendations for relieving the burden of property taxes and providing both fair and adequate financing for our children's education--consistent with the principle of preserving the control by local school boards over local schools. A NEW EMPHASIS ON CAREER EDUCATION Career Education is another area of major new emphasis, an emphasis which grows out of my belief that our schools should be doing more to build self-reliance and self-sufficiency, to prepare students for a productive and fulfilling life. Too often, this has not been happening. Too many of our students, from all income groups, have been "turning off" or "tuning out" on their educational experiences. And-whether they drop out of school or proceed on to college--too many young people find themselves unmotivated and ill equipped for a rewarding social role. Many other Americans, who have already entered the world of work, find that they are dissatisfied with their jobs but feel that it is too late to change directions, that they already are "locked in." One reason for this situation is the inflexibility of our educational system, including the fact that it so rigidly separates academic and vocational curricula. Too often vocational education is foolishly stigmatized as being less desirable than academic preparation. And too often the academic curriculum offers very little preparation for viable careers. Most students are unable to combine the most valuable features of both vocational and academic education; once they have chosen one curriculum, it is difficult to move to the other. The present approach serves the best interests of neither our students nor our society. The unhappy result is high numbers of able people who are unemployed, underemployed, or unhappily employed on the one hand--while many challenging jobs go begging on the other. We need a new approach, and I believe the best new approach is to strengthen Career Education. Career Education provides people of all ages with broader exposure to and better preparation for the world of work. It not only helps the young, but also provides adults with an opportunity to adapt their skills to changing needs, changing technology, and their own changing interests. It would not prematurely force an individual into a specific area of work but would expand his ability to choose wisely from a wider range of options. Neither would it result in a slighting of academic preparation, which would remain a central part of the educational blend. Career Education is not a single specific program. It is more usefully thought of as a goal--and one that we can pursue through many methods. What we need today is a nationwide search for such methods--a search which involves every area of education and every level of government. To help spark this venture, I will propose an intensified Federal effort to develop model programs which apply and test the best ideas in this field. There is no more disconcerting waste than the waste of human potential. And there is no better investment than an investment in human fulfillment. Career Education can help make education and training more meaningful for the student, more rewarding for the teacher, more available to the adult, more relevant for the disadvantaged, and more productive for our country. MANPOWER PROGRAMS: TAPPING OUR FULL POTENTIAL Our trillion dollar economy rests in the final analysis on our 88 million member labor force. How well that force is used today, how well that force is prepared for tomorrow--these are central questions for our country. They are particularly important questions in a time of stiff economic challenge and burgeoning economic opportunity. At such a time, we must find better ways to tap the full potential of every citizen. This means doing all we can to open new education and employment opportunities for members of minority groups. It means a stronger effort to help the veteran find useful and satisfying work and to tap the enormous talents of the elderly. It means helping women--in whatever role they choose--to realize their full potential. It also means caring for the unemployed--sustaining them, retraining them and helping them find new employment. This administration has grappled directly with these assignments. We began by completely revamping the Manpower Administration in the Department of Labor. We have expanded our manpower programs to record levels. We proposed--and the Congress enacted--a massive reform of unemployment insurance, adding 9 million workers to the system and expanding the size and duration of benefits. We instituted a Job Bank to match jobs with available workers. The efforts of the National Alliance of Businessmen to train and hire the hard-core unemployed were given a new nationwide focus. That organization has also joined with our Jobs for Veterans program in finding employment for returning servicemen. We have worked to open more jobs for women. Through the Philadelphia Plan and other actions, we have expanded equal opportunity in employment for members of minority groups. Summer jobs for disadvantaged youths went up by one-third last summer. And on July 12 of last year I signed the Emergency Employment Act of 1971, providing more than 130,000 jobs in the public sector. In the manpower field, as in others, there is also an important unfinished agenda. At the top of this list is my Special Revenue Sharing program for manpower--a bill which would provide more Federal dollars for manpower training while increasing substantially the impact of each dollar by allowing States and cities to tailor training to local labor conditions. My welfare reform proposals are also pertinent in this context, since they are built around the goal of moving people from welfare rolls to payrolls. To help in this effort, H.R. 1 would provide transitional opportunities in community service employment for another 200,000 persons. The Career Education program can also have an important long-range influence on the way we use our manpower. And so can a major new thrust which I am announcing today to stimulate more imaginative use of America's great strength in science and technology. MARSHALLING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY As we work to build a more productive, more competitive, more prosperous America, we will do well to remember the keys to our progress in the past. There have been many, including the competitive nature of our free enterprise system; the energy, of our working men and women; and the abundant gifts of nature. One other quality which has always been a key to progress is our special bent for technology, our singular ability to harness the discoveries of science in the service of man. At least from the time of Benjamin Franklin, American ingenuity has enjoyed a wide international reputation. We have been known as a people who could "build a better mousetrap"--and this capacity has been one important reason for both our domestic prosperity and our international strength. In recent years, America has focused a large share of its technological energy on projects for defense and for space. These projects have had great value. Defense technology has helped us preserve our freedom and protect the peace. Space technology has enabled us to share unparalleled adventures and to lift our sights beyond earth's bounds. The daily life of the average man has also been improved by much of our defense and space research--for example, by work on radar, jet engines, nuclear reactors, communications and weather satellites, and computers. Defense and space projects have also enabled us to build and maintain our general technological capacity, which--as a result--can now be more readily applied to civilian purposes. America must continue with strong and sensible programs of research and development for defense and for space. I have felt for some time, however, that we should also be doing more to apply our scientific and technological genius directly to domestic opportunities. Toward this end, I have already increased our civilian research and development budget by more than 40 percent since 1969 and have directed the National Science Foundation to give more attention to this area. I have also reoriented our space program so that it will have even greater domestic benefits. As a part of this effort, I recently announced support for the development of a new earth orbital vehicle that promises to introduce a new era in space research. This vehicle, the space shuttle, is one that can be recovered and used again and again, lowering significantly both the cost and the risk of space operations. The space shuttle would also open new opportunities in fields such as weather forecasting, domestic and international communications, the monitoring of natural resources, and air traffic safety. The space shuttle is a wise national investment. I urge the Congress to approve this plan so that we can realize these substantial economies and these substantial benefits. Over the last several months, this administration has undertaken a major review of both the problems and the opportunities for American technology. Leading scientists and researchers from our universities and from industry have contributed to this study. One important conclusion we have reached is that much more needs to be known about the process of stimulating and applying research and development. In some cases, for example, the barriers to progress are financial. In others they are technical. In still other instances, customs, habits, laws, and regulations are the chief obstacles. We need to learn more about all these considerations-and we intend to do so. One immediate step in this effort will be the White House Conference on the Industrial World Ahead which will convene next month and will devote considerable attention to research and development questions. But while our knowledge in this field is still modest, there are nevertheless a number of important new steps which we can take at this time. I will soon present specific recommendations for such steps in a special message to the Congress. Among these proposals will be an increase next year of $700 million in civilian research and development spending, a 15 percent increase over last year's level and a 65 percent increase over 1969. We will place new emphasis on cooperation with private research and development, including new experimental programs for cost sharing and for technology transfers from the public to .the private sector. Our program will include special incentives for smaller high technology firms, which have an excellent record of cost effectiveness. In addition, our Federal agencies which are highly oriented toward technology, such as the Atomic Energy Commission and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration--will work more closely with agencies which have a primary social mission. For example, our outstanding capabilities in space technology should be used to help the Department of Transportation develop better mass transportation systems. As has been said so often in the last 2 years, a nation that can send three people across 240,000 miles of space to the moon should also be able to send 240,000 people 3 miles across a city to work. Finally, we will seek to set clear and intelligent targets for research and development, so ,that our resources can be focused on projects where an extra effort is most likely to produce a breakthrough and where the breakthrough is most likely to make a difference in our lives. Our initial efforts will include new or accelerated activities aimed at: 
--creating new sources of clean and abundant energy; 
--developing safe, fast, pollution-free transportation; 
--reducing the loss of life and property from earthquakes, hurricanes and other natural disasters; --developing effective emergency health care systems which could lead to the saving of as many as 30,000 lives each year; 
--finding new ways to curb drug traffic and rehabilitate drug users. 
And these are only the beginning. I cannot predict exactly where each of these new ,thrusts will eventually lead us in the years ahead. But I can say with assurance that the program I have outlined will open new employment opportunities for American workers, increase the productivity of the American economy, and expand foreign markets for American goods. I can also predict with confidence that this program will enhance our standard of living and improve the quality of our lives. Science and technology represent an enormous power in our life--and a unique opportunity. It is now for us to decide whether we will waste these magnificent energies--or whether we will use them to create a better world for ourselves and for our children. A GROWING AGENDA FOR ACTION The danger in presenting any substantial statement of concerns and requests is that any subject which is omitted from the list may for that reason be regarded as unimportant. I hope the Congress will vigorously resist any such suggestions, for there are many other important proposals before the House and the Senate which also deserve attention and enactment. I think, for example, of our program for the District of Columbia. In addition to proposals already before the Congress, I will soon submit additional legislation outlining a special balanced program of physical and social development for the Nation's capital as part of our Bicentennial celebration. In this and other ways, we can make that celebration both a fitting commemoration of our revolutionary origins and a bold further step to fulfill their promise. I think, too, of our program to help small businessmen, of our proposals concerning communications, of our recommendations involving the construction of public buildings, and of our program for the arts and humanities--where the proposed new budget is 6 times the level of 3 years ago. In all, some 90 pieces of major legislation which I have recommended to the Congress still await action. And that list is growing longer. It is now for the Congress to decide whether this agenda represents the beginning of new progress for America--or simply another false start. THIS NEED FOR REASON AND REALISM I have covered many subjects in this message. Clearly, our challenges are many and complex. But that is the way things must be for responsible government in our diverse and complicated world. We can choose, of course, to retreat from this world, pretending that our problems can be solved merely by trusting in a new philosophy, a single personality, or a simple formula. But such a retreat can only add to our difficulties and our disillusion. If we are to be equal to the complexity of our times we must learn to move on many fronts and to keep many commitments. We must learn to reckon our success not by how much we start but by how much we finish. We must learn to be tenacious. We must learn to persevere. If we are to master our moment, we must first be masters of ourselves. We must respond to the call which has been a central theme of this message--the call to reason and to realism. To meet the challenge of complexity we must also learn to disperse and decentralize power--at home and abroad-allowing more people in more places to release their creative energies. We must remember that the greatest resource for good in this world is the power of the people themselves--not moving in lockstep to the commands of the few--but providing their own discipline and discovering their own destiny. Above all, we must not lose our capacity to dream, to see, amid the realities of today, the possibilities for tomorrow. And then--if we believe in our dreams--we also must wake up and work for them. RICHARD NIXON 
THE WHITE HOUSE, 
January 20, 1972.
To the Congress of the United States: It was just 3 years ago today that I took the oath of office as President. I opened my address that day by suggesting that some moments in history stand out "as moments of beginning," when "courses are set that shape decades or centuries." I went on to say that "this can be such a moment." Looking back 3 years later, I would suggest that it was such a moment--a time in which new courses were set on which we now are traveling. Just how profoundly these new courses will shape our decade or our century is still an unanswered question, however, as we enter the fourth year of this administration. For moments of beginning will mean very little in history unless we also have the determination to follow up on those beginnings. Setting the course is not enough. Staying the course is an equally important challenge. Good government involves both the responsibility for making fresh starts and the responsibility for perseverance. The responsibility for perseverance is one that is shared by the President, the public, and the Congress. --We have come a long way, for example, on the road to ending the Vietnam war and to improving relations with our adversaries. But these initiatives will depend for their lasting meaning on our persistence in seeing them through. --The magnificent cooperation of the American people has enabled us to make substantial progress in curbing inflation and in reinvigorating our economy. But the new prosperity we seek can be completed only if the public continues in its commitment to economic responsibility and discipline. --Encouraging new starts have also been made over the last 3 years in treating our domestic ills. But continued progress now requires the Congress to act on its large and growing backlog of pending legislation. America's agenda for action is already well established as we enter 1972. It will grow in the weeks ahead as we present still more initiatives. But we dare not let the emergence of new business obscure the urgency of old business. Our new agenda will be little more than an empty gesture if we abandon--or even de-emphasize-that part of the old agenda which is yet unfinished. GETTING OURSELVES TOGETHER One measure of the Nation's progress in these first years of the seventies is the improvement in our national morale. While the 1960'S were a time of great accomplishment, they were also a time of growing confusion. Our recovery from that condition is not complete, but we have made a strong beginning. Then we were a shaken and uncertain people, but now we are recovering our confidence. Then we were divided and suspicious, but now we are renewing our sense of common purpose. Then we were surrounded by shouting and posturing, but we have been learning once again to lower our voices. And we have also been learning to listen. A history of the 1960's was recently published under the title, Coming Apart. But today we can say with confidence that we are coming apart no longer. The "center" of American life has held, and once again we are getting ourselves together. THE SPIRIT OF REASON AND REALISM Under the pressures of an election year, it would be easy to look upon the legislative program merely as a political device and not as a serious agenda. We must resist this temptation. The year ahead of us holds precious time in which to accomplish good for this Nation and we must not, we dare not, waste it. Our progress depends on a continuing spirit of partnership between the President and the Congress, between the House and the Senate, between Republicans and Democrats. That spirit does not require us always to agree with one another but it does require us to approach our tasks, together, in a spirit of reason and realism. Clear words are the great servant of reason. Intemperate words are the great enemy of reason. The cute slogan, the glib headline, the clever retort, the appeal to passion--these are not the way to truth or to good public policy. To be dedicated to clear thinking, to place the interests of all above the interests of the few, to hold to ultimate values and to curb momentary passions, to think more about the next generation and less about the next election--these are now our special challenges. ENDING THE WAR The condition of a nation's spirit cannot be measured with precision, but some of the factors which influence that spirit can. I believe the most dramatic single measurement of the distance we have traveled in the last 36 months is found in the statistics concerning our involvement in the war in Vietnam. On January 20, 1969 our authorized troop ceiling in Vietnam was 549,500. And there was no withdrawal plan to bring these men home. On seven occasions since that time, I have announced withdrawal decisions--involving a total of 480,500 troops. As a result, our troop ceiling will be only 69,000 by May 1. This means that in 3 years we will have cut our troop strength in Vietnam by 87 percent. As we proceed toward our goal of a South Vietnam fully able to defend itself, we will reduce that level still further. In this same period, expenditures connected with the war have been cut drastically. There has been a drop of well over 50 percent in American air activity in all of Southeast Asia. Our ground combat role has been ended. Most importantly, there has been a reduction of 95 percent in combat deaths. Our aim is to cut the death and casualty toll by 100 percent, to obtain the release of those who are prisoners of war, and to end the fighting altogether. It is my hope that we can end this tragic conflict through negotiation. If we cannot, then we will end it through Vietnamization. But end it we shall in a way which fulfills our commitment to the people of South Vietnam and which gives them the chance for which they have already sacrificed so much--the chance to choose their own future. THE LESSONS OF CHANGE The American people have learned many lessons in the wake of Vietnam-some helpful and some dangerous. One important lesson is that we can best serve our own interests in the world by setting realistic limits on what we try to accomplish unilaterally. For the peace of the world will be more secure, and its progress more rapid, as more nations come to share more fully in the responsibilities for peace and for progress. At the same time, to conclude that the United States should now withdraw from all or most of its international responsibilities would be to make a dangerous error. There has been a tendency among some to swing from one extreme to the other in the wake of Vietnam, from wanting to do too much in the world to wanting to do too little. We must resist this temptation to over-react. We must stop the swinging pendulum before it moves to an opposite position, and forge instead an attitude toward the world which is balanced and sensible and realistic. America has an important role to play in international affairs, a great influence to exert for good. As we have throughout this century, we must continue our profound concern for advancing peace and freedom, by the most effective means possible, even as we shift somewhat our view of what means are most effective. This is our policy: --We will maintain a nuclear deterrent adequate to meet any threat to the security of the United States or of our allies. --We will help other nations develop the capability of defending themselves. --We will faithfully honor all of our treaty commitments. --We will act to defend our interests whenever and wherever they are threatened any place in the world. --But where our interests or our treaty commitments are not involved our role will be limited. --We will not intervene militarily. --But we will use our influence to prevent war. --If war comes we will use our influence to try to stop it. --Once war is over we will do our share in helping to bind up the wounds of those who have participated in it. OPENING NEW LINES OF COMMUNICATION Even as we seek to deal more realistically with our partners, so we must also deal more realistically with those who have been our adversaries. In the last year we have made a number of notable advances toward this goal. In our dealings with the Soviet Union, for example, we have been able, together with our allies, to reach an historic agreement concerning Berlin. We have advanced the prospects for limiting strategic armaments. We have moved toward greater cooperation in space research and toward improving our economic relationships. There have been disappointments such as South Asia and uncertainties such as the Middle East. But there has also been progress we can build on. It is to build on the progress of the past and to lay the foundations for greater progress in the future that I will soon be visiting the capitals of both the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union. These visits will help to fulfill the promise I made in my Inaugural address when I said "that during this administration our lines of communication will be open," so that we can help create "an open world-open to ideas, open to the exchange of goods and people, a world in which no people, great or small, will live in angry isolation." It is in this spirit that I will undertake these journeys. We must also be realistic, however, about the scope of our differences with these governments. My visits will mean. not that our differences have disappeared or will disappear in the near future. But peace depends on the ability of great powers to live together on the same planet despite their differences. The important thing is that we talk about these differences rather than fight about them. It would be a serious mistake to say that nothing can come of our expanded communications with Peking and Moscow. But it would also be a mistake to expect too much too quickly. It would also be wrong to focus so much attention on these new opportunities that we neglect our old friends. That is why I have met in the last few weeks with the leaders of two of our hemisphere neighbors, Canada and Brazil, with the leaders of three great European nations, and with the Prime Minister of Japan. I believe these meetings were extremely successful in cementing our understandings with these governments as we move forward together in a fast changing period. Our consultations with our allies may not receive as much attention as our talks with potential adversaries. But this makes them no less important. The cornerstone of our foreign policy remains--and will remain--our close bonds with our friends around the world. A STRONG DEFENSE: THE GUARDIAN OF PEACE There are two additional elements which are critical to our efforts to strengthen the structure of peace. The first of these is the military strength of the United States. In the last 3 years we have been moving from a wartime to a peacetime footing, from a period of continued confrontation and arms competition to a period of negotiation and potential arms limitation, from a period when America often acted as policeman for the world to a period when other nations are assuming greater responsibility for their own defense. I was recently encouraged, for example, by the decision of our European allies to increase their share of the NATO defense budget by some $1 billion. As a part of this process, we have ended the production of chemical and biological weaponry and have converted two of our largest facilities for such production to humanitarian research. We have been able to reduce and in some periods even to eliminate draft calls. In 1971, draft calls--which were as high as 382,000 at the peak of the Vietnam war--fell below 100,000, the lowest level since 1962. In the coming year they will be significantly lower. I am confident that by the middle of next year we can achieve our goal of reducing draft calls to zero. As a result of all these developments, our defense spending has fallen to 7 percent of our gross national product in the current fiscal year, compared with 8.3 percent in 1964 and 9.5 percent in 1968. That figure will be down to 6.4 percent in fiscal year 1973. Without sacrificing any of our security interests, we have been able to bring defense spending below the level of human resource spending for the first time in 20 years. This condition is maintained in my new budget--which also, for the first time, allocates more money to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare than to the Department of Defense. But just as we avoid extreme reactions in our political attitudes toward the world, so we must avoid over-reacting as we plan for our defense. We have reversed spending priorities, but we have never compromised our national security. And we never will. For any step which weakens America's defenses will also weaken the prospects for peace. Our plans for the next year call for an increase in defense spending. That increase is made necessary in part by rising research and development costs, in part by military pay increases--which, in turn, will help us eliminate the draft--and in part by the need to proceed with new weapon systems to maintain our security at an adequate level. Even as we seek with the greatest urgency stable controls on armaments, we cannot ignore the fact that others are going forward with major increases in their own arms programs. In the year ahead we will be working to improve and protect, to diversify and disperse our strategic forces in ways which make them even less vulnerable to attack and more effective in deterring war. I will request a substantial budget increase to preserve the sufficiency of our strategic nuclear deterrent, including an allocation of over $900 million to improve our seabased deterrent force. I recently directed the Department of Defense to develop a program to build additional missile launching submarines, carrying a new and far more effective missile. We will also proceed with programs to reoutfit our Polaris submarines with the Poseidon missile system, to replace older land-based missiles with Minuteman III, and to deploy the SAFEGUARD Antiballistic Missile System. At the same time, we must move to maintain our strength at sea. The Navy's budget was increased by $2 billion in the current fiscal year, and I will ask for a similar increase next year, with particular emphasis on our shipbuilding programs. Our military research and development program must also be stepped up. Our budget in this area was increased by $594 million in the current fiscal year and I will recommend a further increase for next year of $838 million. I will also propose a substantial program to develop and procure more effective weapons systems for our land and tactical air forces, and to improve the National Guard and Reserves, providing more modern weapons and better training. In addition, we will expand our strong program to attract volunteer career soldiers so that we can phase out the draft. With the cooperation of the Congress, we have been able to double the basic pay of first time enlistees. Further substantial military pay increases are planned. I will also submit to the Congress an overall reform of our military retirement and survivor benefit programs, raising the level of protection for military families. In addition, we will expand efforts to improve race relations, to equalize promotional opportunities, to control drug abuse, and generally to improve the quality of life in the Armed Forces. As we take all of these steps, let us remember that strong military defenses are not the enemy of peace; they are the guardians of peace. Our ability to build a stable and tranquil world--to achieve an arms control agreement, for example-depends on our ability to negotiate from a position of strength. We seek adequate power not as an end in itself but as a means for achieving our purpose. And our purpose is peace. In my Inaugural address 3 years ago I called for cooperation to reduce the burden of arms--and I am encouraged by the progress we have been making toward that goal. But I also added this comment: "... to all those who would be tempted by weakness, let us leave no doubt that we will be as strong as we need to be for as long as we need to he." Today I repeat that reminder. A REALISTIC PROGRAM OF FOREIGN ASSISTANCE Another important expression of America's interest and influence in the world is our foreign assistance effort. This effort has special significance at a time when we are reducing our direct military presence abroad and encouraging other countries to assume greater responsibilities. Their growing ability to undertake these responsibilities often depends on America's foreign assistance. We have taken significant steps to reform our foreign assistance programs in recent years, to eliminate waste and to give them greater impact. Now three further imperatives rest with the Congress: --to fund in full the levels of assistance which I have earlier recommended for the current fiscal year, before the present interim funding arrangement expires in late February; --to act upon the fundamental aid reform proposals submitted by this administration in 1971; --and to modify those statutes which govern our response to expropriation of American property by foreign governments, as I recommended in my recent statement on the security of overseas investments. These actions, taken together, will constitute not an exception to the emerging pattern for a more realistic American role in the world, but rather a fully consistent and crucially important element in that pattern. As we work to help our partners in the world community develop their economic potential and strengthen their military forces, we should also cooperate fully with them in meeting international challenges such as the menace of narcotics, the threat of pollution, the growth of population, the proper use of the seas and seabeds, and the plight of those who have been victimized by wars and natural disasters. All of these are global problems and they must be confronted on a global basis. The efforts of the United Nations to respond creatively to these challenges have been most promising, as has the work of NATO in the environmental field. Now we must build on these beginnings. AMERICA'S INFLUENCE FOR GOOD The United States is not the world's policeman nor the keeper of its moral conscience. But--whether we like it or not-we still represent a force for stability in what has too often been an unstable world, a force for justice in a world which is too often unjust, a force for progress in a world which desperately needs to progress, a force for peace in a world that is weary of war. We can have a great influence for good in our world--and for that reason we bear a great responsibility. Whether we fulfill that responsibility--whether we fully use our influence for good--these are questions we will be answering as we reshape our attitudes and policies toward other countries, as we determine our defensive capabilities, and as we make fundamental decisions about foreign assistance. I will soon discuss these and other concerns in greater detail in my annual report to the Congress on foreign policy. Our influence for good in the world depends, of course, not only on decisions which touch directly on international affairs but also on our internal strength-on our sense of pride and purpose, on the vitality of our economy, on the success of our efforts to build a better life for all our people. Let us turn then from the state of the Union abroad to the state of the Union at home. THE ECONOMY: TOWARD A NEW PROSPERITY Just as the Vietnam war occasioned much of our spiritual crisis, so it lay at the root of our economic problems 3 years ago. The attempt to finance that war through budget deficits in a period of full employment had produced a wave of price inflation as dangerous and as persistent as any in our history. It was more persistent, frankly, than I expected it would be when I first took office. And it only yielded slowly to our dual efforts to cool the war and to cool inflation. Our challenge was further compounded by the need to reabsorb more than 2 million persons who were released from the Armed Forces and from defense-related industries and by the substantial expansion of the labor force. In short, the escalation of the Vietnam war in the late 1960's destroyed price stability. And the de-escalation of that war in the early 1970's impeded full employment. Throughout these years, however, I have remained convinced that both price stability and full employment were realistic goals for this country. By last summer it became apparent that our efforts to eradicate inflation without wage and price controls would either take too long or-if they were to take effect quickly--would come at the cost of persistent high unemployment. This cost was unacceptable. On August 15th I therefore announced a series of new economic policies to speed our progress toward a new prosperity without inflation in peacetime. These policies have received the strong support of the Congress and the American people, and as a result they have been effective. To carry forward these policies, three important steps were taken this past December--all within a brief e-week period--which will also help to make the coming year a very good year for the American economy. On December 10, I signed into law the Revenue Act of 1971, providing tax cuts over the next 3 years of some $ 15 billion, cuts which I requested to stimulate the economy and to provide hundreds of thousands of new jobs. On December 22, I signed into law the Economic Stabilization Act Amendments of 1971, which will allow us to continue our program of wage and price restraints to break the back of inflation. Between these two events, on December 18, I was able to announce a major breakthrough on the international economic front--reached in cooperation with our primary economic partners. This breakthrough will mitigate the intolerable strains which were building up in the world's monetary and payments structure and will lead to a removal of trade barriers which have impeded American exports. It also sets the stage for broader reforms in the international monetary system so that we can avoid repeated monetary crises in the future. Both the monetary realignment--the first of its scope in history--and our progress in readjusting trade conditions will mean better markets for American goods abroad and more jobs for American workers at home. A BRIGHTER ECONOMIC PICTURE As a result of all these steps, the economic picture--which has brightened steadily during the last 5 months--will, I believe, continue to grow brighter. This is not my judgment alone; it is widely shared by the American people. Virtually every survey and forecast in recent weeks shows a substantial improvement in public attitudes about the economy--which are themselves so instrumental in shaping economic realities. The inflationary psychology which gripped our Nation so tightly for so long is on the ebb. Business and consumer confidence has been rising. Businessmen are planning a 9.1 percent increase in plant and equipment expenditures in 1972, more than four times as large as the increase in 1971. Consumer spending and retail sales are on the rise. Home building is booming--housing starts last year were up more than 40 percent from 1970, setting an all-time record. Interest rates are sharply down. Both income and production are rising. Real output in our economy in the last 3 months of 1971 grew at a rate that was about double that of the previous two quarters. Perhaps most importantly, total employment has moved above the 80 million mark--to a record high--and is growing rapidly. In the last 5 months of 1971, some 1.1 million additional jobs were created in our economy and only a very unusual increase in the size of our total labor force kept the unemployment rate from falling. But whatever the reason, 6 percent unemployment is too high. I am determined to cut that percentage--through a variety of measures. The budget I present to the Congress next week will be an expansionary budget--reflecting the impact of new job-creating tax cuts and job-creating expenditures. We will also push to increase employment through our programs for manpower training and public service employment, through our efforts to expand foreign markets, and through other new initiatives. Expanded employment in 1972 will be different, however, from many other periods of full prosperity. For it will come without the stimulus of war--and it will come without inflation. Our program of wage and price controls is working. The consumer price index, which rose at a yearly rate of slightly over 6 percent during 1969 and the first half of 1970, rose at a rate of only 1.7 percent from August through November of 1971. I would emphasize once again, however, that our ultimate objective is lasting price stability without controls. When we achieve an end to the inflationary psychology which developed in the 1960's, we will return to our traditional policy of relying on free market forces to determine wages and prices. I would also emphasize that while our new budget will be in deficit, the deficit will not be irresponsible. It will be less than this year's actual deficit and would disappear entirely under full employment conditions. While Federal spending continues to grow, the rate of increase in spending has been cut very sharply--to little more than half that experienced under the previous administration. The fact that our battle against inflation has led us to adopt a new policy of wage and price restraints should not obscure the continued importance of our fiscal and monetary policies in holding down the cost of living. It is most important that the Congress join now in resisting the temptation to overspend and in accepting the discipline of a balanced full employment budget. I will soon present a more complete discussion of all of these matters in my Budget Message and in my Economic Report. A NEW ERA IN INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS Just as we have entered a new period of negotiation in world politics, so we have also moved into a new period of negotiation on the international economic front. We expect these negotiations to help us build both a new international system for the exchange of money and a new system of international trade. These accomplishments, in turn, can open a new era of fair competition and constructive interdependence in the global economy. We have already made important strides in this direction. The realignment of exchange rates which was announced last month represents an important forward step--but now we also need basic long-range monetary reform. We have made an important beginning toward altering the conditions for international trade and investment--and we expect further substantial progress. I would emphasize that progress for some nations in these fields need not come at the expense of others. All nations will benefit from the right kind of monetary and trade reform. Certainly the United States has a high stake in such improvements. Our international economic position has been slowly deteriorating now for some time--a condition which could have dangerous implications for both our influence abroad and our prosperity at home. It has been estimated, for example, that full employment prosperity will depend on the creation of some 20 million additional jobs in this decade. And expanding our foreign markets is a most effective way to expand domestic employment. One of the major reasons for the weakening of our international economic position is that the ground rules for the exchange of goods and money have forced us to compete with one hand tied behind our back. One of our most important accomplishments in 1971 was our progress in changing this situation. COMPETING MORE EFFECTIVELY Monetary and trade reforms are only one part of this story. The ability of the United States to hold its own in world competition depends not only on the fairness of the rules, but also on the competitiveness of our economy. We have made great progress in the last few months in improving the terms of competition. Now we must also do all we can to strengthen the ability of our own economy to compete. We stand today at a turning point in the history of our country--and in the history of our planet. On the one hand, we have the opportunity to help bring a new economic order to the world, an open order in which nations eagerly face outward to build that network of interdependence which is the best foundation for prosperity and for peace. But we will also be tempted in the months ahead to take the opposite course--to withdraw from the world economically as some would have us withdraw politically, to build an economic "Fortress America" within which our growing weakness could be concealed. Like a child who will not go out to play with other children, we would probably be saved a few minor bumps and bruises in the short run if we were to adopt this course. But in the long run the world would surely pass us by. I reject this approach. I remain committed to that open world I discussed in my Inaugural address. That is why I have worked for a more inviting climate for America's economic activity abroad. That is why I have placed so much emphasis on increasing the productivity of our economy at home. And that is also why I believe so firmly that we must stimulate more long-range investment in our economy, find more effective ways to develop and use new technology, and do a better job of training and using skilled manpower. An acute awareness of the international economic challenge led to the creation just one year ago of the Cabinet-level Council on International Economic Policy. This new institution has helped us to understand this challenge better and to respond to it more effectively. As our understanding deepens, we will discover additional ways of improving our ability to compete. For example, we can enhance our competitive position by moving to implement the metric system of measurement, a proposal which the Secretary of Commerce presented in detail to the Congress last year. And we should also be doing far more to gain our fair share of the international tourism market, now estimated at $17 billion annually, one of the largest factors in world trade. A substantial part of our balance of payments deficit results from the fact that American tourists abroad spend $2.5 billion more than foreign tourists spend in the United States. We can help correct this situation by attracting more foreign tourists to our shores--especially as we enter our Bicentennial era. I am therefore requesting that the budget for the United States Travel Service be nearly doubled in the coming year. THE UNFINISHED AGENDA Our progress toward building a new economic order at home and abroad has been made possible by the cooperation and cohesion of the American people. I am sure that many Americans had misgivings about one aspect or another of the new economic policies I introduced last summer. But most have nevertheless been ready to accept this new effort in order to build the broad support which is essential for effective change. The time has now come for us to apply this same sense of realism and reasonability to other reform proposals which have been languishing on our domestic agenda. As was the case with our economic policies, most Americans agree that we need a change in our welfare system, in our health strategy, in our programs to improve the environment, in the way we finance State and local government, and in the organization of government at the Federal level. Most Americans are not satisfied with the status quo in education, in transportation, in law enforcement, in drug control, in community development. In each of these areas--and in others--I have put forward specific proposals which are responsive to this deep desire for change. And yet achieving change has often been difficult. There has been progress in some areas, but for the most part, as a nation we have not shown the same sense of self-discipline in our response to social challenges that we have developed in meeting our economic needs. We have not been as ready as we should have been to compromise our differences and to build a broad coalition for change. And so we often have found ourselves in a situation of stalemate--doing essentially nothing even though most of us agree that nothing is the very worst thing we can do. Two years ago this week, and again one year ago, my messages on the state of the Union contained broad proposals for domestic reform. I am presenting a number of new proposals in this year's message. But I also call once again, with renewed urgency, for action on our unfinished agenda. WELFARE REFORM The first item of unfinished business is welfare reform. Since I first presented my proposals in August of 1969, some 4 million additional persons have been added to our welfare rolls. The cost of our old welfare system has grown by an additional $4.2 billion. People have not been moving as fast as they should from welfare rolls to payrolls. Too much of the traffic has been the other way. Our antiquated welfare system is responsible for this calamity. Our new program of "workfare" would begin to end it. Today, more than ever, we need a new program which is based on the dignity of work, which provides strong incentives for work, and which includes for those who are able to work an effective work requirement. Today, more than ever, we need a new program which helps hold families together rather than driving them apart, which provides day care services so that low income mothers can trade dependence on government for the dignity of employment, which relieves intolerable fiscal pressures on State and local governments, and which replaces 54 administrative systems with a more efficient and reliable nationwide approach. I have now given prominent attention to this subject in three consecutive messages on the state of the Union. The House of Representatives has passed welfare reform twice. Now that the new economic legislation has been passed, I urge the Senate Finance Committee to place welfare reform at the top of its agenda. It is my earnest hope that when this Congress adjourns, welfare reform will not be an item of pending business but an accomplished reality. REVENUE SHARING: RETURNING POWER TO THE PEOPLE At the same time that I introduced my welfare proposals 2 1/2 years ago, I also presented a program for sharing Federal revenues with State and local governments. Last year I greatly expanded on this concept. Yet, despite undisputed evidence of compelling needs, despite overwhelming public support, despite the endorsement of both major political parties and most of the Nation's Governors and mayors, and despite the fact that most other nations with federal systems of government already have such a program, revenue sharing still remains on the list of unfinished business. I call again today for the enactment of revenue sharing. During its first full year of operation our proposed programs would spend $17.6 billion, both for general purposes and through six special purpose programs for law enforcement, manpower, education, transportation, rural community, development, and urban community development. As with welfare reform, the need for revenue sharing becomes more acute as time passes. The financial crisis of State and local government is deepening. The pattern of breakdown in State and municipal services grows more threatening. Inequitable tax pressures are mounting. The demand for more flexible and more responsive government--at levels closer to the problems and closer to the people--is building. Revenue sharing can help us meet these challenges. It can help reverse what has been the flow of power and resources toward Washington by sending power and resources back to the States, to the communities, and to the people. Revenue sharing can bring a new sense of accountability, a new burst of energy and a new spirit of creativity to our federal system. I am pleased that the House Ways and Means Committee has made revenue sharing its first order of business in the new session. I urge the Congress to enact in this session, not an empty program which bears the revenue sharing label while continuing the outworn system of categorical grants, but a bold, comprehensive program of genuine revenue sharing. I also presented last year a $100 million program of planning and management grants to help the States and localities do a better job of analyzing their problems and carrying out solutions. I hope this program will also be quickly accepted. For only as State and local governments get a new lease on life can we hope to bring government back to the people--and with it a stronger sense that each individual can be in control of his life, that every person can make a difference. OVERHAULING THE MACHINERY OF GOVERNMENT: EXECUTIVE REORGANIZATION As we work to make State and local government more responsive--and more responsible--let us also seek these same goals at the Federal level. I again urge the Congress to enact my proposals for reorganizing the executive branch of the Federal Government. Here again, support from the general public--as well as from those who have served in the executive branch under several Presidents has been most encouraging. So has the success of the important organizational reforms we have already made. These have included a restructured Executive Office of the President--with a new Domestic Council, a new Office of Management and Budget, and other units; reorganized field operations in Federal agencies; stronger mechanisms for interagency coordination, such as Federal Regional Councils; a new United States Postal Service; and new offices for such purposes as protecting the environment, coordinating communications policy, helping the consumer, and stimulating voluntary service. But the centerpiece of our efforts to streamline the executive branch still awaits approval. How the government is put together often determines how well the government can do its job. Our Founding Fathers understood this fact--and thus gave detailed attention to the most precise structural questions. Since that time, however, and especially in recent decades, new responsibilities and new constituencies have caused the structure they established to expand enormously--and in a piecemeal and haphazard fashion. As a result, our Federal Government today is too often a sluggish and unresponsive institution, unable to deliver a dollar's worth of service for a dollar's worth of taxes. My answer to this problem is to streamline the executive branch by reducing the overall number of executive departments and by creating four new departments in which existing responsibilities would be refocused in a coherent and comprehensive way. The rationale which I have advanced calls for organizing these new departments around the major purposes of the government by creating a Department of Natural Resources, a Department of Human Resources, a Department of Community Development, and a Department of Economic Affairs. I have revised my original plan so that we would not eliminate the Department of Agriculture but rather restructure that Department so it can focus more effectively on the needs of farmers. The Congress has recently reorganized its own operations, and the Chief Justice of the United States has led a major effort to reform and restructure the judicial branch. The impulse for reorganization is strong and the need for reorganization is clear. I hope the Congress will not let this opportunity for sweeping reform of the executive branch slip away. A NEW APPROACH TO THE DELIVERY OF SOCIAL SERVICES As a further step to put the machinery of government in proper working order, I will also propose new legislation to reform and rationalize the way in which social services are delivered to families and individuals. Today it often seems that our service programs are unresponsive to the recipients' needs and wasteful of the taxpayers' money. A major reason is their extreme fragmentation. Rather than pulling many services together, our present system separates them into narrow and rigid categories. The father of a family is helped by one program, his daughter by another, and his elderly parents by a third. An individual goes to one place for nutritional help, to another for health services, and to still another for educational counseling. A community finds that it cannot transfer Federal funds from one program area to another area in which needs are more pressing. Meanwhile, officials at all levels of government find themselves wasting enormous amounts of time, energy, and the taxpayers' money untangling Federal red tape--time and energy and dollars which could better be spent in meeting people's needs. We need a new approach to the delivery of social services--one which is built around people and not around programs. We need an approach which treats a person as a whole and which treats the family as a unit. We need to break through rigid categorical walls, to open up narrow bureaucratic compartments, to consolidate and coordinate related programs in a comprehensive approach to related problems. The Allied Services Act which will soon be submitted to the Congress offers one set of tools for carrying out that new approach in the programs of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. It would strengthen State and local planning and administrative capacities, allow for the transfer of funds among various HEW programs, and permit the waiver of certain cumbersome Federal requirements. . By streamlining and simplifying the delivery of services, it would help more people move more rapidly from public dependency toward the dignity of being self-sufficient. Good men and good money can be wasted on bad mechanisms. By giving those mechanisms a thorough overhaul, we can help to restore the confidence of the people in the capacities of their government. PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT A central theme of both my earlier messages on the state of the Union was the state of our environment--and the importance of making "our peace with nature." The last few years have been a time in which environmental values have become firmly embedded in our attitudes--and in our institutions. At the Federal level, we have established a new Environmental Protection Agency, a new Council on Environmental Quality and a new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and we have proposed an entire new Department of Natural Resources. New air quality standards have been set, and there is evidence that the air in many cities is becoming less polluted. Under authority granted by the Refuse Act of 1899, we have instituted a new permit program which, for the first time, allows the Federal Government to inventory all significant industrial sources of water pollution and to specify required abatement actions. Under the Refuse Act, more than 160 civil actions and 320 criminal actions to stop water pollution have been filed against alleged polluters in the last 12 months. Major programs have also been launched to build new municipal waste treatment facilities, to stop pollution from Federal facilities, to expand our wilderness areas, and to leave a legacy of parks for future generations. Our outlays for inner city parks have been significantly expanded, and 62 Federal tracts have been transferred to the States and to local governments for recreational uses. In the coming year, I hope to transfer to local park use much more Federal land which is suitable for recreation but which is now underutilized. I trust the Congress will not delay this process. The most striking fact about environmental legislation in the early 1970's is how much has been proposed and how little has been enacted. Of the major legislative proposals I made in my special message to the Congress on the environment last winter, 18 are still awaiting final action. They include measures to regulate pesticides and toxic substances, to control noise pollution, to restrict dumping in the oceans, in coastal waters, and in the Great Lakes, to create an effective policy for the use and development of land, to regulate the siting of power plants, to control strip mining, and to help achieve many other important environmental goals. The unfinished agenda also includes our National Resource Land Management Act, and other measures to improve environmental protection on federally owned lands. The need for action in these areas is urgent. The forces which threaten our environment will not wait while we procrastinate. Nor can we afford to rest on last year's agenda in the environmental field. For as our understanding of these problems increases, so must our range of responses. Accordingly, I will soon be sending to the Congress another message on the environment that will present further administrative and legislative initiatives. Altogether our new budget will contain more than three times as much money for environmental programs in fiscal year 1973 as we spent in fiscal year 1969. To fail in meeting the environmental challenge, however, would be even more costly. I urge the Congress to put aside narrow partisan perspectives that merely ask "whether" we should act to protect the environment and to focus instead on the more difficult question of "how" such action can most effectively be carried out. ABUNDANT CLEAN ENERGY In my message to the Congress on energy policy, last June, I outlined additional steps relating to the environment which also merit renewed attention. The challenge, as I defined it, is to produce a sufficient supply of energy to fuel our industrial civilization and at the same time to protect a beautiful and healthy environment. I am convinced that we can achieve both these goals, that we can respect our good earth without turning our back on progress. In that message last June, I presented a long list of means for assuring an ample supply of clean energy--including the liquid metal fast breeder reactor--and I again emphasize their importance. Because it often takes several years to bring new technologies into use in the energy field, there is no time for delay. Accordingly, I am including in my new budget increased funding for the most promising of these and other clean energy programs. By acting this year, we can avoid having to choose in some future year between too little energy, and too much pollution. KEEPING PEOPLE HEALTHY The National Health Strategy I outlined last February is designed to achieve one of the Nation's most important goals for the 1970's, improving the quality and availability of medical care, while fighting the trend toward runaway costs. Important elements of that strategy have already been enacted. The Comprehensive Health Manpower Training Act and the Nurse Training Act, which I signed on November 18, represent the most far-reaching effort in our history to increase the supply of doctors, nurses, dentists and other health professionals and to attract them to areas which are experiencing manpower shortages. The National Cancer Act, which I signed on December 23, marked the climax of a year-long effort to step up our campaign against cancer. During the past year, our cancer research budget has been increased by $100 million and the full weight of my office has been given to our all-out war on this disease. We have also expanded the fight against sickle cell anemia by an additional $5 million. I hope that action on these significant fronts during the first session of the 92nd Congress will now be matched by action in other areas during the second session. The Health Maintenance Organization Act, for example, is an essential tool for helping doctors deliver care more effectively and more efficiently with a greater emphasis on prevention and early treatment. By working to keep our people healthy instead of treating us only when we are sick, Health Maintenance Organizations can do a great deal to help us reduce medical costs. Our National Health Insurance Partnership legislation is also essential to assure that no American is denied basic medical care because of inability to pay. Too often, present health insurance leaves critical outpatient services uncovered, distorting the way in which facilities are used. It also fails to protect adequately against catastrophic costs and to provide sufficient assistance for the poor. The answer I have suggested is a comprehensive national plan--not one that nationalizes our private health insurance industry but one that corrects the weaknesses in that system while building on its considerable strengths. A large part of the enormous increase in the Nation's expenditures on health in recent years has gone not to additional services but merely to meet price inflation. Our efforts to balance the growing demand for care with an increased supply of services will help to change this picture. So will that part of our economic program which is designed to control medical costs. I am confident that with the continued cooperation of those who provide health services, we will succeed on this most important battlefront in our war against inflation. Our program for the next year will also include further funding increases for health research--including substantial new sums for cancer and sickle cell anemia--as well as further increases for medical schools and for meeting special problems such as drug addiction and alcoholism. We also plan to construct new veterans hospitals and expand the staffs at existing ones. In addition, we will be giving increased attention to the fight against diseases of the heart, blood vessels and lungs, which presently account for more than half of all the deaths in this country. It is deeply disturbing to realize that, largely because of heart disease, the mortality rate for men under the age of 55 is about twice as great in the United States as it is, for example, in some Scandinavian countries. I will shortly assign a panel of distinguished experts to help us determine why heart disease is so prevalent and so menacing and what we can do about it. I will also recommend an expanded budget for the National Heart and Lung Institute. The young father struck down by a heart attack in the prime of life, the productive citizen crippled by a stroke, an older person tortured by breathing difficulties during his later years--these are tragedies which can be reduced in number and we must do all that is possible to reduce them. NUTRITION One of the critical areas in which we have worked to advance the health of the Nation is that of combating hunger and improving nutrition. With the increases in our new budget, expenditures on our food stamp program will have increased ninefold since 1969, to the $2.3 billion level. Spending on school lunches for needy children will have increased more than sevenfold, from $107 million in 1969 to $770 million in 1973. Because of new regulations which will be implemented in the year ahead, we will be able to increase further both the equity of our food stamp program and the adequacy of its benefits. COPING WITH ACCIDENTS--AND PREVENTING THEM Last year, more than 115,000 Americans lost their lives in accidents. Four hundred thousand more were permanently disabled and 10 million were temporarily disabled. The loss to our economy from accidents last year is estimated at over $28 billion. These are sad and staggering figures--especially since this toll could be greatly reduced by upgrading our emergency medical services. Such improvement does not even require new scientific breakthroughs; it only requires that we apply our present knowledge more effectively. To help in this effort, I am directing the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to develop new ways of organizing emergency medical services and of providing care to accident victims. By improving communication, transportation, and the training of emergency personnel, we can save many thousands of lives which would otherwise be lost to accidents and sudden illnesses. One of the significant joint accomplishments of the Congress and this administration has been a vigorous new program to protect against job-related accidents and illnesses. Our occupational health and safety program will be further strengthened in the year ahead--as will our ongoing efforts to promote air traffic safety, boating safety, and safety on the highways. In the last 3 years, the motor vehicle death rate has fallen by 13 percent, but we still lose some 50,000 lives on our highways each year--more than we have lost in combat in the entire Vietnam war. Fully one-half of these deaths were directly linked to alcohol. This appalling reality is a blight on our entire Nation-and only the active concern of the entire Nation can remove it. The Federal Government will continue to help all it can, through its efforts to promote highway safety and automobile safety, and through stronger programs to help the problem drinker. YESTERDAY'S GOALS: TOMORROW'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS Welfare reform, revenue sharing, executive reorganization, environmental protection, and the new national health strategy--these, along with economic improvement, constituted the six great goals I emphasized in my last State of the Union address--six major components of a New American Revolution. They remain six areas of great concern today. With the cooperation of the Congress, they can be six areas of great accomplishment tomorrow. But the challenges we face cannot be reduced to six categories. Our problems-and our opportunities--are manifold, and action on many fronts is required. It is partly for this reason that my State of the Union address this year includes this written message to the Congress. For it gives me the chance to discuss more fully a number of programs which also belong on our list of highest priorities. ACTION FOR THE AGING Last month, I joined with thousands of delegates to the White House Conference on Aging in a personal commitment to make 1972 a year of action on behalf of 21 million older Americans. Today I call on the Congress to join me in that pledge. For unless the American dream comes true for our older generation it cannot be complete for any generation. We can begin to make this a year of action for the aging by acting on a number of proposals which have been pending since 1969. For older Americans, the most significant of these is the bill designated H.R.i. This legislation, which also contains our general welfare reform measures, would place a national floor under the income of all older Americans, guarantee inflation-proof social security benefits, allow social security recipients to earn more from their own work, increase benefits for widows, and provide a 5-percent across the-board increase in social security. Altogether, H.R. 1--as it now stands-would mean some $5.5 billion in increased benefits for America's older citizens. I hope the Congress will also take this opportunity to eliminate the $5.80 monthly fee now charged under Part B of Medicare--a step which would add an additional $1.5 billion to the income of the elderly. These additions would come on top of earlier social security increases totalling some $3 billion over the last 3 years. A number of newer proposals also deserve approval. I am requesting that the budget of the Administration on Aging be increased five-fold over last year's request, to $100 million, in part so that we can expand programs which help older citizens live dignified lives in their own homes. I am recommending substantially larger budgets for those programs which give older Americans a better chance to serve their countrymen--Retired Senior Volunteers, Foster Grandparents, and others. And we will also work to ease the burden of property taxes which so many older Americans find so inequitable and so burdensome. Other initiatives, including proposals for extending and improving the Older Americans Act, will be presented as we review the recommendations of the White House Conference on Aging. Our new Cabinet-level Domestic Council Committee on Aging has these recommendations at the top of its agenda. We will also be following up in 1972 on one of the most important of our 1971 initiatives--the crackdown on substandard nursing homes. Our follow-through will give special attention to providing alternative arrangements for those who are victimized by such facilities. The legislation I have submitted to provide greater financial security at retirement, both for those now covered by private pension plans and those who are not, also merits prompt action by the Congress. Only half the country's work force is now covered by tax deductible private pensions; the other half deserve a tax deduction for their retirement savings too. Those who are now covered by pension plans deserve the assurance that their plans are administered under strict fiduciary standards with full disclosure. And they should also have the security provided by prompt vesting--the assurance that even if one leaves a given job, he can still receive the pension he earned there when he retires. The legislation I have proposed would achieve these goals, and would also raise the limit on deductible pension savings for the self-employed. The state of our Union is strong today because of what older Americans have so long been giving to their country. The state of our Union will be stronger tomorrow if we recognize how much they still can contribute. The best thing our country can give to its older citizens is the chance to be a part of it, the chance to play a continuing role in the great American adventure. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR MINORITIES America cannot be at its best as it approaches its 200th birthday unless all Americans have the opportunity to be at their best. A free and open American society, one that is true to the ideals of its founders, must give each of its citizens an equal chance at the starting line and an equal opportunity to go as far and as high as his talents and energies will take him. The Nation can be proud of the progress it has made in assuring equal opportunity for members of minority groups in recent years. There are many measures of our progress. Since 1969, we have virtually eliminated the dual school system in the South. Three years ago, 68 percent of all black children in the South were attending all black schools; today only 9 percent are attending schools which are entirely black. Nationally, the number of 100 percent minority schools has decreased by 70 percent during the past 3 years. To further expand educational opportunity, my proposed budget for predominantly black colleges will exceed $200 million next year, more than double the level of 3 years ago. On the economic front, overall Federal aid to minority business enterprise has increased threefold in the last 3 years, and I will propose a further increase of $90 million. Federal hiring among minorities has been intensified, despite cutbacks in Federal employment, so that one-fifth of all Federal employees are now members of minority groups. Building on strong efforts such as the Philadelphia Plan, we will work harder to ensure that Federal contractors meet fair hiring standards. Compliance reviews will be stepped up, to a level more than 300 percent higher than in 1969. Our proposed budget for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will be up 36 percent next year, while our proposed budget for enforcing fair housing laws will grow by 20 percent. I also support legislation to strengthen the enforcement powers of the EEOC by providing the Commission with authority to seek court enforcement of its decisions and by giving it jurisdiction over the hiring practices of State and local governments. Overall, our proposed budget for civil rights activities is up 25 percent for next year, an increase which will give us nearly three times as much money for advancing civil rights as we had 3 years ago. We also plan a 42 percent increase in the budget for the Cabinet Committee on Opportunities for the Spanish Speaking. And I will propose that the Congress extend the operations of the Civil Rights Commission for another 5-year period. SELF-DETERMINATION FOR INDIANS One of the major initiatives in the second year of my Presidency was designed to bring a new era in which the future for American Indians is determined by Indian acts and Indian decisions. The comprehensive program I put forward sought to avoid the twin dangers of paternalism on the one hand and the termination of trust responsibility on the other. Some parts of this program have now become effective, including a generous settlement of the Alaska Native Claims and the return to the Taos Pueblo Indians of the sacred lands around Blue Lake. Construction grants have been authorized to assist the Navajo Community College, the first Indian-managed institution of higher education. We are also making progress toward Indian self-determination on the administrative front. A newly reorganized Bureau of Indian Affairs, with almost all-Indian leadership, will from now on be concentrating its resources on a program of reservation-by-reservation development, including redirection of employment assistance to strengthen reservation economies, creating local Indian Action Teams for manpower training, and increased contracting of education and other functions to Indian communities. I again urge the Congress to join in helping Indians help themselves in fields such as health, education, the protection of land and water rights, and economic development. We have talked about injustice to the first Americans long enough. As Indian leaders themselves have put it, the time has come for more rain and less thunder. EQUAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN This administration will also continue its strong efforts to open equal opportunities for women, recognizing clearly that women are often denied such opportunities today. While every woman may not want a career outside the home, every woman should have the freedom to choose whatever career she wishes--and an equal chance to pursue it. We have already moved vigorously against job discrimination based on sex in both the private and public sectors. For the first time, guidelines have been issued to require that Government contractors in the private sector have action plans for the hiring and promotion of women. We are committed to strong enforcement of equal employment opportunity for women under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. To help carry out these commitments I will propose to the Congress that the jurisdiction of the Commission on Civil Rights be broadened to encompass sex-based discrimination. Within the Government, more women have been appointed to high posts than ever before. As the result of my directives issued in April 1971 the number of women appointed to high-level Federal positions has more than doubled--and the number of women in Federal middle management positions has also increased dramatically. More women than ever before have been appointed to Presidential boards and commissions. Our vigorous program to recruit more women for Federal service will be continued and intensified in the coming year. OPPORTUNITY FOR VETERANS A grateful nation owes its servicemen and servicewomen every opportunity it can open to them when they return to civilian life. The Nation may be weary of war, but we dare not grow weary of doing right by those who have borne its heaviest burdens. The Federal Government is carrying out this responsibility in many ways: through the G.I. Bill for education-which will spend 2 1/2 times more in 1973 than in 1969; through home loan programs and disability and pension benefits-which also have been expanded; through better medical services--including strong new drug treatment programs; through its budget for veterans hospitals, which is already many times the 1969 level and will be stepped up further next year. We have been particularly concerned in the last 3 years with the employment of veterans--who experience higher unemployment rates than those who have not served in the Armed Forces. During this past year I announced a six-point national program to increase public awareness of this problem, to provide training and counseling to veterans seeking jobs and to help them find employment opportunities. Under the direction of the Secretary of Labor and with the help of our Jobs for Veterans Committee and the National Alliance of Businessmen, this program has been moving forward. During its first five months of operation, 122,000 Vietnamera veterans were placed in jobs by the Federal-State Employment Service and 40,000 were enrolled in job training programs. During the next six months, we expect the Federal-State Employment Service to place some 200,000 additional veterans in jobs and to enroll nearly 200,000 more in manpower training programs. But let us never forget, in this as in so many other areas, that the opportunity for any individual to contribute fully to his society depends in the final analysis on the response--in his own community---of other individuals. GREATER ROLE FOR AMERICAN YOUTH Full participation and first class citizenship--these must be our goals for America's young people. It was to help achieve these goals that I signed legislation to lower the minimum voting age to 18 in June of 1970, and moved to secure a court validation of its constitutionality. And I took special pleasure a year later in witnessing the certification of the amendment which placed this franchise guarantee in the Constitution. But a voice at election time alone is not enough. Young people should have a hearing in government on a day-by-day basis. To this end, and at my direction, agencies throughout the Federal Government have stepped up their hiring of young people and have opened new youth advisory channels. We have also convened the first White House Youth Conference--a wide-open forum whose recommendations have been receiving a thorough review by the Executive departments. Several other reforms also mean greater freedom and opportunity for America's young people. Draft calls have been substantially reduced, as a step toward our target of reducing them to zero by mid-1973. The lottery system and other new procedures and the contributions of youth advisory councils and younger members on local boards have made the draft far more fair than it was. My educational reform proposals embody the principle that no qualified student who wants to go to college should be barred by lack of money-a guarantee that would open doors of opportunity for many thousands of deserving young people. Our new career education emphasis can also be a significant springboard to good jobs and rewarding lives. Young America's "extra dimension" in the sixties and seventies has been a drive to help the less fortunate--an activist idealism bent on making the world a better place to live. Our new ACTION volunteer agency, building on the successful experiences of constituent units such as the Peace Corps and Vista, has already broadened service opportunities for the young-and more new programs are in prospect. The Congress can do its part in forwarding this positive momentum by assuring that the ACTION programs have sufficient funds to carry out their mission. THE AMERICAN FARMER As we face the challenge of competing more effectively abroad and of producing more efficiently at home, our entire Nation can take the American farmer as its model. While the productivity of our non-farm industries has gone up 60 percent during the last 20 years, agricultural productivity has gone up 200 percent, or nearly 3 1/2 times as much. One result has been better products and lower prices for American consumers. Another is that farmers have more than held their own in international markets. Figures for the last fiscal year show nearly a $900 million surplus for commercial agricultural trade. The strength of American agriculture is at the heart of the strength of America. American farmers deserve a fair share in the fruits of our prosperity. We still have much ground to cover before we arrive at that goal--but we have been moving steadily toward it. In 1950 the income of the average farmer was only 58 percent of that of his non-farm counterpart. Today that figure stands at 74 percent--not nearly high enough, but moving in the right direction. Gross farm income reached a record high in 1971, and for 1972 a further increase of $2 billion is predicted. Because of restraints on production costs, net farm income is expected to rise in 1972 by 6.4 percent or some $1 billion. Average income per farm is expected to go up 8 percent--to an all-time high--in the next 12 months. Still there are very serious farm problems-and we are taking strong action to meet them. I promised 3 years ago to end the sharp skid in farm exports--and I have kept that promise. In just 2 years, farm exports climbed by 37 percent, and last year they set an all-time record. Our expanded marketing programs, the agreement to sell 2 million tons of feed grains to the Soviet Union, our massive aid to South Asia under Public Law 480, and our efforts to halt transportation strikes--by doing all we can under the old law and by proposing a new and better one--these efforts and others are moving us toward our $10 billion farm export goal. I have also promised to expand domestic markets, to improve the management of surpluses, and to help in other ways to raise the prices received by farmers. I have kept that promise, too. A surprisingly large harvest drove corn prices down last year, but they have risen sharply since last November. Prices received by dairy farmers, at the highest level in history last year, will continue strong in 1972. Soybean prices will be at their highest level in two decades. Prices received by farmers for hogs, poultry and eggs are all expected to go higher. Expanded Government purchases and other assistance will also provide a greater boost to farm income. With the close cooperation of the Congress, we have expanded the farmers' freedom and flexibility through the Agricultural Act of 1970. We have strengthened the Farm Credit System and substantially increased the availability of farm credit. Programs for controlling plant and animal disease and for soil and water conservation have also been expanded. All these efforts will continue, as will our efforts to improve the legal climate for cooperative bargaining--an important factor in protecting the vitality of the family farm and in resisting excessive Government management. DEVELOPING RURAL AMERICA In my address to the Congress at this time 2 years ago, I spoke of the fact that one-third of our counties had lost population in the 1960's, that many of our rural areas were slowly being emptied of their people and their promise, and that we should work to reverse this picture by including rural America in a nationwide program to foster balanced growth. It is striking to realize that even if we had a population of one billion--nearly five times the current level---our area is so great that we would still not be as densely populated as many European nations are at present. Clearly, our problems are not so much those of numbers as they are of distribution. We must work to revitalize the American countryside. We have begun to make progress on this front in the last 3 years. Rural housing programs have been increased by more than 450 percent from 1969 to 1973. The number of families benefiting from rural water and sewer programs is now 75 percent greater than it was in 1969. We have worked to encourage sensible growth patterns through the location of Federal facilities. The first biennial Report on National Growth, which will be released in the near future, will further describe these patterns, their policy implications and the many ways we are responding to this challenge. But we must do more. The Congress can begin by passing my $ 1.1 billion program of Special Revenue Sharing for Rural Community Development. In addition, I will soon present a major proposal to expand significantly the credit authorities of the Farmers Home Administration, so that this agency--which has done so much to help individual farmers-can also help spur commercial, industrial and community development in rural America. Hopefully, the FHA will be able to undertake this work as a part of a new Department of Community Development. In all these ways, we can help ensure that rural America will be in the years ahead what it has been from our Nation's beginning--an area which looks eagerly to the future with a sense of hope and promise. A COMMITMENT TO OUR CITIES Our commitment to balanced growth also requires a commitment to our cities-to old cities threatened by decay, to suburbs now sprawling senselessly because of inadequate planning, and to new cities not yet born but clearly needed by our growing population. I discussed these challenges in my special message to the Congress on Population Growth and the American Future in the summer of 1969-and I have often discussed them since. My recommendations for transportation, education, health, welfare, revenue sharing, planning and management assistance, executive reorganization, the environment-especially the proposed Land Use Policy Act--and my proposals in many other areas touch directly on community development. One of the keys to better cities is better coordination of these many components. Two of my pending proposals go straight to the heart of this challenge. The first, a new Department of Community Development, would provide a single point of focus for our strategy for growth. The second, Special Revenue Sharing for Urban Community Development, would remove the rigidities of categorical project grants which now do so much to fragment planning, delay action, and discourage local responsibility. My new budget proposes a $300 million increase over the full year level which we proposed for this program a year ago. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has been working to foster orderly growth in our cities in a number of additional ways. A Planned Variation concept has been introduced into the Model Cities program which gives localities more control over their own future. HUD's own programs have been considerably decentralized. The New Communities Program has moved forward and seven projects have received final approval. The Department's efforts to expand mortgage capital, to more than double the level of subsidized housing, and to encourage new and more efficient building techniques through programs like Operation Breakthrough have all contributed to our record level of housing starts. Still more can be done if the Congress enacts the administration's Housing Consolidation and Simplification Act, proposed in 1970. The Federal Government is only one of many influences on development patterns across our land. Nevertheless, its influence is considerable. We must do all we can to see that its influence is good. IMPROVING TRANSPORTATION Although the executive branch and the Congress have been led by different parties during the last 3 years, we have cooperated with particular effectiveness in the field of transportation. Together we have shaped the Urban Mass Transportation Assistance Act of 1970--a 12-year, $10 billion effort to expand and improve our common carriers and thus make our cities more livable. We have brought into effect a 10-year, $3 billion ship construction program as well as increased research efforts and a modified program of operating subsidies to revamp our merchant marine. We have accelerated efforts to improve air travel under the new Airport and Airway Trust Fund and have been working in fresh ways to save and improve our railway passenger service. Great progress has also been made in promoting transportation safety and we have moved effectively against cargo thefts and skyjacking. I hope this strong record will be even stronger by the time the 92nd Congress adjourns. I hope that our Special Revenue Sharing program for transportation will by then be a reality--so that cities and States can make better long-range plans with greater freedom to achieve their own proper balance among the many modes of transportation. I hope, too, that our recommendations for revitalizing surface freight transportation will by then be accepted, including measures both to modernize railway equipment and operations and to update regulatory practices. By encouraging competition, flexibility and efficiency among freight carriers, these steps could save the American people billions of dollars in freight costs every year, helping to curb inflation, expand employment and improve our balance of trade. One of our most damaging and perplexing economic problems is that of massive and prolonged transportation strikes. There is no reason why the public should be the helpless victim of such strikes--but this is frequently what happens. The dock strike, for example, has been extremely costly for the American people, particularly for the farmer for whom a whole year's income can hinge on how promptly he can move his goods. Last year's railroad strike also dealt a severe blow to our economy. Both of these emergencies could have been met far more effectively if the Congress had enacted my Emergency Public Interest Protection Act, which I proposed in February, of 1970. By passing this legislation in this session, the Congress can give us the permanent machinery so badly needed for resolving future disputes. Historically, our transportation systems have provided the cutting edge for our development. Now, to keep our country from falling behind the times, we must keep well ahead of events in our transportation planning. This is why we are placing more emphasis and spending more money this year on transportation research and development. For this reason, too, I will propose a 65 percent increase--to the $1 billion level--in our budget for mass transportation. Highway building has been our first priority--and our greatest success story--in the past two decades. Now we must write a similar success story for mass transportation in the 1970's. PEACE AT HOME: FIGHTING CRIME Our quest for peace abroad over the last 3 years has been accompanied by an intensive quest for peace at home. And our success in stabilizing developments on the international scene has been matched by a growing sense of stability in America. Civil disorders no longer engulf our cities. Colleges and universities have again become places of learning. And while crime is still increasing, the rate of increase has slowed to a 5-year low. In the one city for which the Federal Government has a special responsibility--Washington, D.C.--the picture is even brighter, for here serious crime actually fell by 13 percent in the last year. Washington was one of 52 major cities which recorded a net reduction in crime in the first nine months of 1971, compared to 23 major cities which made comparable progress a year earlier. This encouraging beginning is not something that has just happened by itself---I believe it results directly from strong new crime fighting efforts by this administration, by the Congress, and by State and local governments. Federal expenditures on crime have increased 200 percent since 1969 and we are proposing another 18 percent increase in our new budget. The Organized Grime Control Act of 1970, the District of Columbia Court Reform Act, and the Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1970 have all provided new instruments for this important battle. So has our effort to expand the Federal strike force program as a weapon against organized crime. Late last year, we held the first National Conference on Corrections--and we will continue to move forward in this most critical field. I will also propose legislation to improve our juvenile delinquency prevention programs. And I again urge action on my Special Revenue Sharing proposal for law enforcement. By continuing our stepped up assistance to local law enforcement authorities through the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, by continuing to press for improved courts and correctional institutions, by continuing our intensified war on drug abuse, and by continuing to give vigorous support to the principles of order and respect for law, I believe that what has been achieved in the Nation's capital can be achieved in a growing number of other communities throughout the Nation. COMBATING DRUG ABUSE A problem of modern life which is of deepest concern to most Americans--and of particular anguish to many--is that of drug abuse. For increasing dependence on drugs will surely sap our Nation's strength and destroy our Nation's character. Meeting this challenge is not a task for government alone. I have been heartened by the efforts of millions of individual Americans from all walks of life who are trying to communicate across the barriers created by drug use, to reach out with compassion to those who have become drug dependent. The Federal Government will continue to lead in this effort. The last 3 years have seen an increase of nearly 600 percent in Federal expenditures for treatment and rehabilitation and an increase of more than 500 percent in program levels for research, education and training. I will propose further substantial increases for these programs in the coming year. In order to develop a national strategy for this effort and to coordinate activities which are spread through nine Federal agencies, I asked Congress last June to create a Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention. I also established an interim Office by Executive order, and that unit is beginning to have an impact. But now we must have both the legislative authority and the funds I requested if this Office is to move ahead with its critical mission. On another front, the United States will continue to press for a strong collective effort by nations throughout the world to eliminate drugs at their source. And we will intensify the world-wide attack on drug smugglers and all who protect them. The Cabinet Committee on International Narcotics Control which I created last September--is coordinating our diplomatic and law enforcement efforts in this area. We will also step up our program to curb illicit drug traffic at our borders and within our country. Over the last 3 years Federal expenditures for this work have more than doubled, and I will propose a further funding increase next year. In addition, I will soon initiate a major new program to drive drug traffickers and pushers off the streets of America. This program will be built around a nationwide network of investigative and prospective units, utilizing special grand juries established under the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, to assist State and local agencies in detecting, arresting, and convicting those who would profit from the misery of others. STRENGTHENING CONSUMER PROTECTION Our plans for 1972 include further steps to protect consumers against hazardous food and drugs and other dangerous products. These efforts will carry forward the campaign I launched in 1969 to establish a "Buyer's Bill of Rights" and to strengthen consumer protection. As a part of that campaign, we have established a new Office of Consumer Affairs, directed by my Special Assistant for Consumer Affairs, to give consumers greater access to government, to promote consumer education, to encourage voluntary efforts by business, to work with State and local governments, and to help the Federal Government improve its consumer-related activities. We have also established a new Consumer Product Information Coordinating Center in the General Services Administration to help us share a wider range of Federal research and buying expertise with the public. But many of our plans in this field still await Congressional action, including measures to insure product safety, to fight consumer fraud, to require full disclosure in warranties and guarantees, and to protect against unsafe medical devices. REFORMING AND RENEWING EDUCATION It was nearly 2 years ago, in March of 1970, that I presented my major proposals for reform and renewal in education. These proposals included student assistance measures to ensure that no qualified person would be barred from college by a lack of money, a National Institute of Education to bring new energy and new direction to educational research, and a National Foundation for Higher Education to encourage innovation in learning beyond high school. These initiatives are still awaiting final action by the Congress. They deserve prompt approval. I would also underscore my continuing confidence that Special Revenue Sharing for Education can do much to strengthen the backbone of our educational system, our public elementary and secondary schools. Special Revenue Sharing recognizes the Nation's interest in their improvement without compromising the principle of local control. I also call again for the enactment of my $1.5 billion program of Emergency School Aid to help local school districts desegregate wisely and well. This program has twice been approved by the House and once by the Senate in different versions. I hope the Senate will now send the legislation promptly to the conference committee so that an agreement can be reached on this important measure at an early date. This bill is designed to help local school districts with the problems incident to desegregation. We must have an end to the dual school system, as conscience and the Constitution both require--and we must also have good schools. In this connection, I repeat my own firm belief that educational quality--so vital to the future of all of our children---is not enhanced by unnecessary busing for the sole purpose of achieving an arbitrary racial balance. FINANCING OUR SCHOOLS I particularly hope that 1972 will be a year in which we resolve one of the most critical questions we face in education today: how best to finance our schools. In recent years the growing scope and rising costs of education have so overburdened local revenues that financial crisis has become a way of life in many school districts. As a result, neither the benefits nor the burdens of education have been equitably distributed. The brunt of the growing pressures has fallen on the property tax--one of the most inequitable and regressive of all public levies. Property taxes in the United States represent a higher proportion of public income than in almost any other nation. They have more than doubled in the last decade and have been particularly burdensome for our lower and middle income families and for older Americans. These intolerable pressures--on the property tax and on our schools--led me to establish the President's Commission on School Finance in March of 1970. I charged this Commission with the responsibility to review comprehensively both the revenue needs and the revenue resources of public and non-public elementary and secondary education. The Commission will make its final report to me in March. At the same time, the Domestic Council-and particularly the Secretaries of the Treasury and of Health, Education, and Welfare---have also been studying this difficult and tangled problem. The entire question has been given even greater urgency by recent court decisions in California, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Texas, which have held the conventional method of financing schools through local property taxes discriminatory and unconstitutional. Similar court actions are pending in more than half of our States. While these cases have not yet been reviewed by the Supreme Court, we cannot ignore the serious questions they have raised for our States, for our local school districts, and for the entire Nation. The overhaul of school finance involves two complex and interrelated sets of problems: those concerning support of the schools themselves, and also the basic relationships of Federal, State and local governments in any program of tax reform. We have been developing a set of comprehensive proposals to deal with these questions. Under the leadership of the Secretary of the Treasury, we are carefully reviewing the tax aspects of these proposals; and I have this week enlisted the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations in addressing the intergovernmental relations aspects. Members of the Congress and of the executive branch, Governors, State legislators, local officials and private citizens comprise this group. Later in the year, after I have received the reports of both the President's Commission on School Finance and the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, I shall make my final recommendations for relieving the burden of property taxes and providing both fair and adequate financing for our children's education--consistent with the principle of preserving the control by local school boards over local schools. A NEW EMPHASIS ON CAREER EDUCATION Career Education is another area of major new emphasis, an emphasis which grows out of my belief that our schools should be doing more to build self-reliance and self-sufficiency, to prepare students for a productive and fulfilling life. Too often, this has not been happening. Too many of our students, from all income groups, have been "turning off" or "tuning out" on their educational experiences. And-whether they drop out of school or proceed on to college--too many young people find themselves unmotivated and ill equipped for a rewarding social role. Many other Americans, who have already entered the world of work, find that they are dissatisfied with their jobs but feel that it is too late to change directions, that they already are "locked in." One reason for this situation is the inflexibility of our educational system, including the fact that it so rigidly separates academic and vocational curricula. Too often vocational education is foolishly stigmatized as being less desirable than academic preparation. And too often the academic curriculum offers very little preparation for viable careers. Most students are unable to combine the most valuable features of both vocational and academic education; once they have chosen one curriculum, it is difficult to move to the other. The present approach serves the best interests of neither our students nor our society. The unhappy result is high numbers of able people who are unemployed, underemployed, or unhappily employed on the one hand--while many challenging jobs go begging on the other. We need a new approach, and I believe the best new approach is to strengthen Career Education. Career Education provides people of all ages with broader exposure to and better preparation for the world of work. It not only helps the young, but also provides adults with an opportunity to adapt their skills to changing needs, changing technology, and their own changing interests. It would not prematurely force an individual into a specific area of work but would expand his ability to choose wisely from a wider range of options. Neither would it result in a slighting of academic preparation, which would remain a central part of the educational blend. Career Education is not a single specific program. It is more usefully thought of as a goal--and one that we can pursue through many methods. What we need today is a nationwide search for such methods--a search which involves every area of education and every level of government. To help spark this venture, I will propose an intensified Federal effort to develop model programs which apply and test the best ideas in this field. There is no more disconcerting waste than the waste of human potential. And there is no better investment than an investment in human fulfillment. Career Education can help make education and training more meaningful for the student, more rewarding for the teacher, more available to the adult, more relevant for the disadvantaged, and more productive for our country. MANPOWER PROGRAMS: TAPPING OUR FULL POTENTIAL Our trillion dollar economy rests in the final analysis on our 88 million member labor force. How well that force is used today, how well that force is prepared for tomorrow--these are central questions for our country. They are particularly important questions in a time of stiff economic challenge and burgeoning economic opportunity. At such a time, we must find better ways to tap the full potential of every citizen. This means doing all we can to open new education and employment opportunities for members of minority groups. It means a stronger effort to help the veteran find useful and satisfying work and to tap the enormous talents of the elderly. It means helping women--in whatever role they choose--to realize their full potential. It also means caring for the unemployed--sustaining them, retraining them and helping them find new employment. This administration has grappled directly with these assignments. We began by completely revamping the Manpower Administration in the Department of Labor. We have expanded our manpower programs to record levels. We proposed--and the Congress enacted--a massive reform of unemployment insurance, adding 9 million workers to the system and expanding the size and duration of benefits. We instituted a Job Bank to match jobs with available workers. The efforts of the National Alliance of Businessmen to train and hire the hard-core unemployed were given a new nationwide focus. That organization has also joined with our Jobs for Veterans program in finding employment for returning servicemen. We have worked to open more jobs for women. Through the Philadelphia Plan and other actions, we have expanded equal opportunity in employment for members of minority groups. Summer jobs for disadvantaged youths went up by one-third last summer. And on July 12 of last year I signed the Emergency Employment Act of 1971, providing more than 130,000 jobs in the public sector. In the manpower field, as in others, there is also an important unfinished agenda. At the top of this list is my Special Revenue Sharing program for manpower--a bill which would provide more Federal dollars for manpower training while increasing substantially the impact of each dollar by allowing States and cities to tailor training to local labor conditions. My welfare reform proposals are also pertinent in this context, since they are built around the goal of moving people from welfare rolls to payrolls. To help in this effort, H.R. 1 would provide transitional opportunities in community service employment for another 200,000 persons. The Career Education program can also have an important long-range influence on the way we use our manpower. And so can a major new thrust which I am announcing today to stimulate more imaginative use of America's great strength in science and technology. MARSHALLING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY As we work to build a more productive, more competitive, more prosperous America, we will do well to remember the keys to our progress in the past. There have been many, including the competitive nature of our free enterprise system; the energy, of our working men and women; and the abundant gifts of nature. One other quality which has always been a key to progress is our special bent for technology, our singular ability to harness the discoveries of science in the service of man. At least from the time of Benjamin Franklin, American ingenuity has enjoyed a wide international reputation. We have been known as a people who could "build a better mousetrap"--and this capacity has been one important reason for both our domestic prosperity and our international strength. In recent years, America has focused a large share of its technological energy on projects for defense and for space. These projects have had great value. Defense technology has helped us preserve our freedom and protect the peace. Space technology has enabled us to share unparalleled adventures and to lift our sights beyond earth's bounds. The daily life of the average man has also been improved by much of our defense and space research--for example, by work on radar, jet engines, nuclear reactors, communications and weather satellites, and computers. Defense and space projects have also enabled us to build and maintain our general technological capacity, which--as a result--can now be more readily applied to civilian purposes. America must continue with strong and sensible programs of research and development for defense and for space. I have felt for some time, however, that we should also be doing more to apply our scientific and technological genius directly to domestic opportunities. Toward this end, I have already increased our civilian research and development budget by more than 40 percent since 1969 and have directed the National Science Foundation to give more attention to this area. I have also reoriented our space program so that it will have even greater domestic benefits. As a part of this effort, I recently announced support for the development of a new earth orbital vehicle that promises to introduce a new era in space research. This vehicle, the space shuttle, is one that can be recovered and used again and again, lowering significantly both the cost and the risk of space operations. The space shuttle would also open new opportunities in fields such as weather forecasting, domestic and international communications, the monitoring of natural resources, and air traffic safety. The space shuttle is a wise national investment. I urge the Congress to approve this plan so that we can realize these substantial economies and these substantial benefits. Over the last several months, this administration has undertaken a major review of both the problems and the opportunities for American technology. Leading scientists and researchers from our universities and from industry have contributed to this study. One important conclusion we have reached is that much more needs to be known about the process of stimulating and applying research and development. In some cases, for example, the barriers to progress are financial. In others they are technical. In still other instances, customs, habits, laws, and regulations are the chief obstacles. We need to learn more about all these considerations-and we intend to do so. One immediate step in this effort will be the White House Conference on the Industrial World Ahead which will convene next month and will devote considerable attention to research and development questions. But while our knowledge in this field is still modest, there are nevertheless a number of important new steps which we can take at this time. I will soon present specific recommendations for such steps in a special message to the Congress. Among these proposals will be an increase next year of $700 million in civilian research and development spending, a 15 percent increase over last year's level and a 65 percent increase over 1969. We will place new emphasis on cooperation with private research and development, including new experimental programs for cost sharing and for technology transfers from the public to .the private sector. Our program will include special incentives for smaller high technology firms, which have an excellent record of cost effectiveness. In addition, our Federal agencies which are highly oriented toward technology, such as the Atomic Energy Commission and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration--will work more closely with agencies which have a primary social mission. For example, our outstanding capabilities in space technology should be used to help the Department of Transportation develop better mass transportation systems. As has been said so often in the last 2 years, a nation that can send three people across 240,000 miles of space to the moon should also be able to send 240,000 people 3 miles across a city to work. Finally, we will seek to set clear and intelligent targets for research and development, so ,that our resources can be focused on projects where an extra effort is most likely to produce a breakthrough and where the breakthrough is most likely to make a difference in our lives. Our initial efforts will include new or accelerated activities aimed at: --creating new sources of clean and abundant energy; --developing safe, fast, pollution-free transportation; --reducing the loss of life and property from earthquakes, hurricanes and other natural disasters; --developing effective emergency health care systems which could lead to the saving of as many as 30,000 lives each year; --finding new ways to curb drug traffic and rehabilitate drug users. And these are only the beginning. I cannot predict exactly where each of these new ,thrusts will eventually lead us in the years ahead. But I can say with assurance that the program I have outlined will open new employment opportunities for American workers, increase the productivity of the American economy, and expand foreign markets for American goods. I can also predict with confidence that this program will enhance our standard of living and improve the quality of our lives. Science and technology represent an enormous power in our life--and a unique opportunity. It is now for us to decide whether we will waste these magnificent energies--or whether we will use them to create a better world for ourselves and for our children. A GROWING AGENDA FOR ACTION The danger in presenting any substantial statement of concerns and requests is that any subject which is omitted from the list may for that reason be regarded as unimportant. I hope the Congress will vigorously resist any such suggestions, for there are many other important proposals before the House and the Senate which also deserve attention and enactment. I think, for example, of our program for the District of Columbia. In addition to proposals already before the Congress, I will soon submit additional legislation outlining a special balanced program of physical and social development for the Nation's capital as part of our Bicentennial celebration. In this and other ways, we can make that celebration both a fitting commemoration of our revolutionary origins and a bold further step to fulfill their promise. I think, too, of our program to help small businessmen, of our proposals concerning communications, of our recommendations involving the construction of public buildings, and of our program for the arts and humanities--where the proposed new budget is 6 times the level of 3 years ago. In all, some 90 pieces of major legislation which I have recommended to the Congress still await action. And that list is growing longer. It is now for the Congress to decide whether this agenda represents the beginning of new progress for America--or simply another false start. THIS NEED FOR REASON AND REALISM I have covered many subjects in this message. Clearly, our challenges are many and complex. But that is the way things must be for responsible government in our diverse and complicated world. We can choose, of course, to retreat from this world, pretending that our problems can be solved merely by trusting in a new philosophy, a single personality, or a simple formula. But such a retreat can only add to our difficulties and our disillusion. If we are to be equal to the complexity of our times we must learn to move on many fronts and to keep many commitments. We must learn to reckon our success not by how much we start but by how much we finish. We must learn to be tenacious. We must learn to persevere. If we are to master our moment, we must first be masters of ourselves. We must respond to the call which has been a central theme of this message--the call to reason and to realism. To meet the challenge of complexity we must also learn to disperse and decentralize power--at home and abroad-allowing more people in more places to release their creative energies. We must remember that the greatest resource for good in this world is the power of the people themselves--not moving in lockstep to the commands of the few--but providing their own discipline and discovering their own destiny. Above all, we must not lose our capacity to dream, to see, amid the realities of today, the possibilities for tomorrow. And then--if we believe in our dreams--we also must wake up and work for them. RICHARD NIXON THE WHITE HOUSE, January 20, 1972.
to the congress of the united states it was just 3 years ago today that i took the oath of office as president i opened my address that day by suggesting that some moments in history stand out as moments of beginning when courses are set that shape decades or centuries i went on to say that this can be such a moment looking back 3 years later i would suggest that it was such a moment a time in which new courses were set on which we now are traveling just how profoundly these new courses will shape our decade or our century is still an unanswered question however as we enter the fourth year of this administration for moments of beginning will mean very little in history unless we also have the determination to follow up on those beginnings setting the course is not enough staying the course is an equally important challenge good government involves both the responsibility for making fresh starts and the responsibility for perseverance the responsibility for perseverance is one that is shared by the president the public and the congress we have come a long way for example on the road to ending the vietnam war and to improving relations with our adversaries but these initiatives will depend for their lasting meaning on our persistence in seeing them through the magnificent cooperation of the american people has enabled us to make substantial progress in curbing inflation and in reinvigorating our economy but the new prosperity we seek can be completed only if the public continues in its commitment to economic responsibility and discipline encouraging new starts have also been made over the last 3 years in treating our domestic ills but continued progress now requires the congress to act on its large and growing backlog of pending legislation america agenda for action is already well established as we enter 1972 it will grow in the weeks ahead as we present still more initiatives but we dare not let the emergence of new business obscure the urgency of old business our new agenda will be little more than an empty gesture if we abandon or even part of the old agenda which is yet unfinished getting ourselves together one measure of the nation progress in these first years of the seventies is the improvement in our national morale while the 1960 were a time of great accomplishment they were also a time of growing confusion our recovery from that condition is not complete but we have made a strong beginning then we were a shaken and uncertain people but now we are recovering our confidence then we were divided and suspicious but now we are renewing our sense of common purpose then we were surrounded by shouting and posturing but we have been learning once again to lower our voices and we have also been learning to listen a history of the 1960 was recently published under the title coming apart but today we can say with confidence that we are coming apart no longer the center of american life has held and once again we are getting ourselves together the spirit of reason and realism under the pressures of an election year it would be easy to look upon the legislative program merely as a political device and not as a serious agenda we must resist this temptation the year ahead of us holds precious time in which to accomplish good for this nation and we must not we dare not waste it our progress depends on a continuing spirit of partnership between the president and the congress between the house and the senate between republicans and democrats that spirit does not require us always to agree with one another but it does require us to approach our tasks together in a spirit of reason and realism clear words are the great servant of reason intemperate words are the great enemy of reason the cute slogan the glib headline the clever retort the appeal to passion these are not the way to truth or to good public policy to be dedicated to clear thinking to place the interests of all above the interests of the few to hold to ultimate values and to curb momentary passions to think more about the next generation and less about the next election these are now our special challenges ending the war the condition of a nation spirit can not be measured with precision but some of the factors which influence that spirit can i believe the most dramatic single measurement of the distance we have traveled in the last 36 months is found in the statistics concerning our involvement in the war in vietnam on january 20 1969 our authorized troop ceiling in vietnam was and there was no withdrawal plan to bring these men home on seven occasions since that time i have announced withdrawal decisions involving a total of troops as a result our troop ceiling will be only by may 1 this means that in 3 years we will have cut our troop strength in vietnam by 87 percent as we proceed toward our goal of a south vietnam fully able to defend itself we will reduce that level still further in this same period expenditures connected with the war have been cut drastically there has been a drop of well over 50 percent in american air activity in all of southeast asia our ground combat role has been ended most importantly there has been a reduction of 95 percent in combat deaths our aim is to cut the death and casualty toll by 100 percent to obtain the release of those who are prisoners of war and to end the fighting altogether it is my hope that we can end this tragic conflict through negotiation if we can not then we will end it through vietnamization but end it we shall in a way which fulfills our commitment to the people of south vietnam and which gives them the chance for which they have already sacrificed so much the chance to choose their own future the lessons of change the american people have learned many lessons in the wake of helpful and some dangerous one important lesson is that we can best serve our own interests in the world by setting realistic limits on what we try to accomplish unilaterally for the peace of the world will be more secure and its progress more rapid as more nations come to share more fully in the responsibilities for peace and for progress at the same time to conclude that the united states should now withdraw from all or most of its international responsibilities would be to make a dangerous error there has been a tendency among some to swing from one extreme to the other in the wake of vietnam from wanting to do too much in the world to wanting to do too little we must resist this temptation to we must stop the swinging pendulum before it moves to an opposite position and forge instead an attitude toward the world which is balanced and sensible and realistic america has an important role to play in international affairs a great influence to exert for good as we have throughout this century we must continue our profound concern for advancing peace and freedom by the most effective means possible even as we shift somewhat our view of what means are most effective this is our policy we will maintain a nuclear deterrent adequate to meet any threat to the security of the united states or of our allies we will help other nations develop the capability of defending themselves we will faithfully honor all of our treaty commitments we will act to defend our interests whenever and wherever they are threatened any place in the world but where our interests or our treaty commitments are not involved our role will be limited we will not intervene militarily but we will use our influence to prevent war if war comes we will use our influence to try to stop it once war is over we will do our share in helping to bind up the wounds of those who have participated in it opening new lines of communication even as we seek to deal more realistically with our partners so we must also deal more realistically with those who have been our adversaries in the last year we have made a number of notable advances toward this goal in our dealings with the soviet union for example we have been able together with our allies to reach an historic agreement concerning berlin we have advanced the prospects for limiting strategic armaments we have moved toward greater cooperation in space research and toward improving our economic relationships there have been disappointments such as south asia and uncertainties such as the middle east but there has also been progress we can build on it is to build on the progress of the past and to lay the foundations for greater progress in the future that i will soon be visiting the capitals of both the people republic of china and the soviet union these visits will help to fulfill the promise i made in my inaugural address when i said that during this administration our lines of communication will be open so that we can help create an open to ideas open to the exchange of goods and people a world in which no people great or small will live in angry isolation it is in this spirit that i will undertake these journeys we must also be realistic however about the scope of our differences with these governments my visits will mean not that our differences have disappeared or will disappear in the near future but peace depends on the ability of great powers to live together on the same planet despite their differences the important thing is that we talk about these differences rather than fight about them it would be a serious mistake to say that nothing can come of our expanded communications with peking and moscow but it would also be a mistake to expect too much too quickly it would also be wrong to focus so much attention on these new opportunities that we neglect our old friends that is why i have met in the last few weeks with the leaders of two of our hemisphere neighbors canada and brazil with the leaders of three great european nations and with the prime minister of japan i believe these meetings were extremely successful in cementing our understandings with these governments as we move forward together in a fast changing period our consultations with our allies may not receive as much attention as our talks with potential adversaries but this makes them no less important the cornerstone of our foreign policy remains and will remain our close bonds with our friends around the world a strong defense the guardian of peace there are two additional elements which are critical to our efforts to strengthen the structure of peace the first of these is the military strength of the united states in the last 3 years we have been moving from a wartime to a peacetime footing from a period of continued confrontation and arms competition to a period of negotiation and potential arms limitation from a period when america often acted as policeman for the world to a period when other nations are assuming greater responsibility for their own defense i was recently encouraged for example by the decision of our european allies to increase their share of the nato defense budget by some 1 billion as a part of this process we have ended the production of chemical and biological weaponry and have converted two of our largest facilities for such production to humanitarian research we have been able to reduce and in some periods even to eliminate draft calls in 1971 draft calls which were as high as at the peak of the vietnam war fell below the lowest level since 1962 in the coming year they will be significantly lower i am confident that by the middle of next year we can achieve our goal of reducing draft calls to zero as a result of all these developments our defense spending has fallen to 7 percent of our gross national product in the current fiscal year compared with percent in 1964 and percent in 1968 that figure will be down to percent in fiscal year 1973 without sacrificing any of our security interests we have been able to bring defense spending below the level of human resource spending for the first time in 20 years this condition is maintained in my new budget which also for the first time allocates more money to the department of health education and welfare than to the department of defense but just as we avoid extreme reactions in our political attitudes toward the world so we must avoid as we plan for our defense we have reversed spending priorities but we have never compromised our national security and we never will for any step which weakens america defenses will also weaken the prospects for peace our plans for the next year call for an increase in defense spending that increase is made necessary in part by rising research and development costs in part by military pay increases which in turn will help us eliminate the draft and in part by the need to proceed with new weapon systems to maintain our security at an adequate level even as we seek with the greatest urgency stable controls on armaments we can not ignore the fact that others are going forward with major increases in their own arms programs in the year ahead we will be working to improve and protect to diversify and disperse our strategic forces in ways which make them even less vulnerable to attack and more effective in deterring war i will request a substantial budget increase to preserve the sufficiency of our strategic nuclear deterrent including an allocation of over 900 million to improve our seabased deterrent force i recently directed the department of defense to develop a program to build additional missile launching submarines carrying a new and far more effective missile we will also proceed with programs to reoutfit our polaris submarines with the poseidon missile system to replace older missiles with minuteman iii and to deploy the safeguard antiballistic missile system at the same time we must move to maintain our strength at sea the navy budget was increased by 2 billion in the current fiscal year and i will ask for a similar increase next year with particular emphasis on our shipbuilding programs our military research and development program must also be stepped up our budget in this area was increased by 594 million in the current fiscal year and i will recommend a further increase for next year of 838 million i will also propose a substantial program to develop and procure more effective weapons systems for our land and tactical air forces and to improve the national guard and reserves providing more modern weapons and better training in addition we will expand our strong program to attract volunteer career soldiers so that we can phase out the draft with the cooperation of the congress we have been able to double the basic pay of first time enlistees further substantial military pay increases are planned i will also submit to the congress an overall reform of our military retirement and survivor benefit programs raising the level of protection for military families in addition we will expand efforts to improve race relations to equalize promotional opportunities to control drug abuse and generally to improve the quality of life in the armed forces as we take all of these steps let us remember that strong military defenses are not the enemy of peace they are the guardians of peace our ability to build a stable and tranquil world to achieve an arms control agreement for on our ability to negotiate from a position of strength we seek adequate power not as an end in itself but as a means for achieving our purpose and our purpose is peace in my inaugural address 3 years ago i called for cooperation to reduce the burden of arms and i am encouraged by the progress we have been making toward that goal but i also added this comment to all those who would be tempted by weakness let us leave no doubt that we will be as strong as we need to be for as long as we need to he today i repeat that reminder a realistic program of foreign assistance another important expression of america interest and influence in the world is our foreign assistance effort this effort has special significance at a time when we are reducing our direct military presence abroad and encouraging other countries to assume greater responsibilities their growing ability to undertake these responsibilities often depends on america foreign assistance we have taken significant steps to reform our foreign assistance programs in recent years to eliminate waste and to give them greater impact now three further imperatives rest with the congress to fund in full the levels of assistance which i have earlier recommended for the current fiscal year before the present interim funding arrangement expires in late february to act upon the fundamental aid reform proposals submitted by this administration in 1971 and to modify those statutes which govern our response to expropriation of american property by foreign governments as i recommended in my recent statement on the security of overseas investments these actions taken together will constitute not an exception to the emerging pattern for a more realistic american role in the world but rather a fully consistent and crucially important element in that pattern as we work to help our partners in the world community develop their economic potential and strengthen their military forces we should also cooperate fully with them in meeting international challenges such as the menace of narcotics the threat of pollution the growth of population the proper use of the seas and seabeds and the plight of those who have been victimized by wars and natural disasters all of these are global problems and they must be confronted on a global basis the efforts of the united nations to respond creatively to these challenges have been most promising as has the work of nato in the environmental field now we must build on these beginnings america influence for good the united states is not the world policeman nor the keeper of its moral conscience but whether we like it or still represent a force for stability in what has too often been an unstable world a force for justice in a world which is too often unjust a force for progress in a world which desperately needs to progress a force for peace in a world that is weary of war we can have a great influence for good in our world and for that reason we bear a great responsibility whether we fulfill that responsibility whether we fully use our influence for good these are questions we will be answering as we reshape our attitudes and policies toward other countries as we determine our defensive capabilities and as we make fundamental decisions about foreign assistance i will soon discuss these and other concerns in greater detail in my annual report to the congress on foreign policy our influence for good in the world depends of course not only on decisions which touch directly on international affairs but also on our internal our sense of pride and purpose on the vitality of our economy on the success of our efforts to build a better life for all our people let us turn then from the state of the union abroad to the state of the union at home the economy toward a new prosperity just as the vietnam war occasioned much of our spiritual crisis so it lay at the root of our economic problems 3 years ago the attempt to finance that war through budget deficits in a period of full employment had produced a wave of price inflation as dangerous and as persistent as any in our history it was more persistent frankly than i expected it would be when i first took office and it only yielded slowly to our dual efforts to cool the war and to cool inflation our challenge was further compounded by the need to reabsorb more than 2 million persons who were released from the armed forces and from industries and by the substantial expansion of the labor force in short the escalation of the vietnam war in the late 1960 destroyed price stability and the of that war in the early 1970 impeded full employment throughout these years however i have remained convinced that both price stability and full employment were realistic goals for this country by last summer it became apparent that our efforts to eradicate inflation without wage and price controls would either take too long they were to take effect quickly would come at the cost of persistent high unemployment this cost was unacceptable on august 15th i therefore announced a series of new economic policies to speed our progress toward a new prosperity without inflation in peacetime these policies have received the strong support of the congress and the american people and as a result they have been effective to carry forward these policies three important steps were taken this past december all within a brief period which will also help to make the coming year a very good year for the american economy on december 10 i signed into law the revenue act of 1971 providing tax cuts over the next 3 years of some 15 billion cuts which i requested to stimulate the economy and to provide hundreds of thousands of new jobs on december 22 i signed into law the economic stabilization act amendments of 1971 which will allow us to continue our program of wage and price restraints to break the back of inflation between these two events on december 18 i was able to announce a major breakthrough on the international economic front reached in cooperation with our primary economic partners this breakthrough will mitigate the intolerable strains which were building up in the world monetary and payments structure and will lead to a removal of trade barriers which have impeded american exports it also sets the stage for broader reforms in the international monetary system so that we can avoid repeated monetary crises in the future both the monetary realignment the first of its scope in history and our progress in readjusting trade conditions will mean better markets for american goods abroad and more jobs for american workers at home a brighter economic picture as a result of all these steps the economic picture which has brightened steadily during the last 5 months will i believe continue to grow brighter this is not my judgment alone it is widely shared by the american people virtually every survey and forecast in recent weeks shows a substantial improvement in public attitudes about the economy which are themselves so instrumental in shaping economic realities the inflationary psychology which gripped our nation so tightly for so long is on the ebb business and consumer confidence has been rising businessmen are planning a percent increase in plant and equipment expenditures in 1972 more than four times as large as the increase in 1971 consumer spending and retail sales are on the rise home building is booming housing starts last year were up more than 40 percent from 1970 setting an record interest rates are sharply down both income and production are rising real output in our economy in the last 3 months of 1971 grew at a rate that was about double that of the previous two quarters perhaps most importantly total employment has moved above the 80 million mark to a record high and is growing rapidly in the last 5 months of 1971 some million additional jobs were created in our economy and only a very unusual increase in the size of our total labor force kept the unemployment rate from falling but whatever the reason 6 percent unemployment is too high i am determined to cut that percentage through a variety of measures the budget i present to the congress next week will be an expansionary budget reflecting the impact of new tax cuts and expenditures we will also push to increase employment through our programs for manpower training and public service employment through our efforts to expand foreign markets and through other new initiatives expanded employment in 1972 will be different however from many other periods of full prosperity for it will come without the stimulus of war and it will come without inflation our program of wage and price controls is working the consumer price index which rose at a yearly rate of slightly over 6 percent during 1969 and the first half of 1970 rose at a rate of only percent from august through november of 1971 i would emphasize once again however that our ultimate objective is lasting price stability without controls when we achieve an end to the inflationary psychology which developed in the 1960 we will return to our traditional policy of relying on free market forces to determine wages and prices i would also emphasize that while our new budget will be in deficit the deficit will not be irresponsible it will be less than this year actual deficit and would disappear entirely under full employment conditions while federal spending continues to grow the rate of increase in spending has been cut very sharply to little more than half that experienced under the previous administration the fact that our battle against inflation has led us to adopt a new policy of wage and price restraints should not obscure the continued importance of our fiscal and monetary policies in holding down the cost of living it is most important that the congress join now in resisting the temptation to overspend and in accepting the discipline of a balanced full employment budget i will soon present a more complete discussion of all of these matters in my budget message and in my economic report a new era in international economics just as we have entered a new period of negotiation in world politics so we have also moved into a new period of negotiation on the international economic front we expect these negotiations to help us build both a new international system for the exchange of money and a new system of international trade these accomplishments in turn can open a new era of fair competition and constructive interdependence in the global economy we have already made important strides in this direction the realignment of exchange rates which was announced last month represents an important forward step but now we also need basic monetary reform we have made an important beginning toward altering the conditions for international trade and investment and we expect further substantial progress i would emphasize that progress for some nations in these fields need not come at the expense of others all nations will benefit from the right kind of monetary and trade reform certainly the united states has a high stake in such improvements our international economic position has been slowly deteriorating now for some time a condition which could have dangerous implications for both our influence abroad and our prosperity at home it has been estimated for example that full employment prosperity will depend on the creation of some 20 million additional jobs in this decade and expanding our foreign markets is a most effective way to expand domestic employment one of the major reasons for the weakening of our international economic position is that the ground rules for the exchange of goods and money have forced us to compete with one hand tied behind our back one of our most important accomplishments in 1971 was our progress in changing this situation competing more effectively monetary and trade reforms are only one part of this story the ability of the united states to hold its own in world competition depends not only on the fairness of the rules but also on the competitiveness of our economy we have made great progress in the last few months in improving the terms of competition now we must also do all we can to strengthen the ability of our own economy to compete we stand today at a turning point in the history of our country and in the history of our planet on the one hand we have the opportunity to help bring a new economic order to the world an open order in which nations eagerly face outward to build that network of interdependence which is the best foundation for prosperity and for peace but we will also be tempted in the months ahead to take the opposite course to withdraw from the world economically as some would have us withdraw politically to build an economic fortress america within which our growing weakness could be concealed like a child who will not go out to play with other children we would probably be saved a few minor bumps and bruises in the short run if we were to adopt this course but in the long run the world would surely pass us by i reject this approach i remain committed to that open world i discussed in my inaugural address that is why i have worked for a more inviting climate for america economic activity abroad that is why i have placed so much emphasis on increasing the productivity of our economy at home and that is also why i believe so firmly that we must stimulate more investment in our economy find more effective ways to develop and use new technology and do a better job of training and using skilled manpower an acute awareness of the international economic challenge led to the creation just one year ago of the council on international economic policy this new institution has helped us to understand this challenge better and to respond to it more effectively as our understanding deepens we will discover additional ways of improving our ability to compete for example we can enhance our competitive position by moving to implement the metric system of measurement a proposal which the secretary of commerce presented in detail to the congress last year and we should also be doing far more to gain our fair share of the international tourism market now estimated at 17 billion annually one of the largest factors in world trade a substantial part of our balance of payments deficit results from the fact that american tourists abroad spend billion more than foreign tourists spend in the united states we can help correct this situation by attracting more foreign tourists to our shores especially as we enter our bicentennial era i am therefore requesting that the budget for the united states travel service be nearly doubled in the coming year the unfinished agenda our progress toward building a new economic order at home and abroad has been made possible by the cooperation and cohesion of the american people i am sure that many americans had misgivings about one aspect or another of the new economic policies i introduced last summer but most have nevertheless been ready to accept this new effort in order to build the broad support which is essential for effective change the time has now come for us to apply this same sense of realism and reasonability to other reform proposals which have been languishing on our domestic agenda as was the case with our economic policies most americans agree that we need a change in our welfare system in our health strategy in our programs to improve the environment in the way we finance state and local government and in the organization of government at the federal level most americans are not satisfied with the status quo in education in transportation in law enforcement in drug control in community development in each of these areas and in others i have put forward specific proposals which are responsive to this deep desire for change and yet achieving change has often been difficult there has been progress in some areas but for the most part as a nation we have not shown the same sense of in our response to social challenges that we have developed in meeting our economic needs we have not been as ready as we should have been to compromise our differences and to build a broad coalition for change and so we often have found ourselves in a situation of stalemate doing essentially nothing even though most of us agree that nothing is the very worst thing we can do two years ago this week and again one year ago my messages on the state of the union contained broad proposals for domestic reform i am presenting a number of new proposals in this year message but i also call once again with renewed urgency for action on our unfinished agenda welfare reform the first item of unfinished business is welfare reform since i first presented my proposals in august of 1969 some 4 million additional persons have been added to our welfare rolls the cost of our old welfare system has grown by an additional billion people have not been moving as fast as they should from welfare rolls to payrolls too much of the traffic has been the other way our antiquated welfare system is responsible for this calamity our new program of workfare would begin to end it today more than ever we need a new program which is based on the dignity of work which provides strong incentives for work and which includes for those who are able to work an effective work requirement today more than ever we need a new program which helps hold families together rather than driving them apart which provides day care services so that low income mothers can trade dependence on government for the dignity of employment which relieves intolerable fiscal pressures on state and local governments and which replaces 54 administrative systems with a more efficient and reliable nationwide approach i have now given prominent attention to this subject in three consecutive messages on the state of the union the house of representatives has passed welfare reform twice now that the new economic legislation has been passed i urge the senate finance committee to place welfare reform at the top of its agenda it is my earnest hope that when this congress adjourns welfare reform will not be an item of pending business but an accomplished reality revenue sharing returning power to the people at the same time that i introduced my welfare proposals 2 years ago i also presented a program for sharing federal revenues with state and local governments last year i greatly expanded on this concept yet despite undisputed evidence of compelling needs despite overwhelming public support despite the endorsement of both major political parties and most of the nation governors and mayors and despite the fact that most other nations with federal systems of government already have such a program revenue sharing still remains on the list of unfinished business i call again today for the enactment of revenue sharing during its first full year of operation our proposed programs would spend billion both for general purposes and through six special purpose programs for law enforcement manpower education transportation rural community development and urban community development as with welfare reform the need for revenue sharing becomes more acute as time passes the financial crisis of state and local government is deepening the pattern of breakdown in state and municipal services grows more threatening inequitable tax pressures are mounting the demand for more flexible and more responsive government at levels closer to the problems and closer to the people is building revenue sharing can help us meet these challenges it can help reverse what has been the flow of power and resources toward washington by sending power and resources back to the states to the communities and to the people revenue sharing can bring a new sense of accountability a new burst of energy and a new spirit of creativity to our federal system i am pleased that the house ways and means committee has made revenue sharing its first order of business in the new session i urge the congress to enact in this session not an empty program which bears the revenue sharing label while continuing the outworn system of categorical grants but a bold comprehensive program of genuine revenue sharing i also presented last year a 100 million program of planning and management grants to help the states and localities do a better job of analyzing their problems and carrying out solutions i hope this program will also be quickly accepted for only as state and local governments get a new lease on life can we hope to bring government back to the people and with it a stronger sense that each individual can be in control of his life that every person can make a difference overhauling the machinery of government executive reorganization as we work to make state and local government more responsive and more responsible let us also seek these same goals at the federal level i again urge the congress to enact my proposals for reorganizing the executive branch of the federal government here again support from the general public as well as from those who have served in the executive branch under several presidents has been most encouraging so has the success of the important organizational reforms we have already made these have included a restructured executive office of the president with a new domestic council a new office of management and budget and other units reorganized field operations in federal agencies stronger mechanisms for interagency coordination such as federal regional councils a new united states postal service and new offices for such purposes as protecting the environment coordinating communications policy helping the consumer and stimulating voluntary service but the centerpiece of our efforts to streamline the executive branch still awaits approval how the government is put together often determines how well the government can do its job our founding fathers understood this fact and thus gave detailed attention to the most precise structural questions since that time however and especially in recent decades new responsibilities and new constituencies have caused the structure they established to expand enormously and in a piecemeal and haphazard fashion as a result our federal government today is too often a sluggish and unresponsive institution unable to deliver a dollar worth of service for a dollar worth of taxes my answer to this problem is to streamline the executive branch by reducing the overall number of executive departments and by creating four new departments in which existing responsibilities would be refocused in a coherent and comprehensive way the rationale which i have advanced calls for organizing these new departments around the major purposes of the government by creating a department of natural resources a department of human resources a department of community development and a department of economic affairs i have revised my original plan so that we would not eliminate the department of agriculture but rather restructure that department so it can focus more effectively on the needs of farmers the congress has recently reorganized its own operations and the chief justice of the united states has led a major effort to reform and restructure the judicial branch the impulse for reorganization is strong and the need for reorganization is clear i hope the congress will not let this opportunity for sweeping reform of the executive branch slip away a new approach to the delivery of social services as a further step to put the machinery of government in proper working order i will also propose new legislation to reform and rationalize the way in which social services are delivered to families and individuals today it often seems that our service programs are unresponsive to the recipients needs and wasteful of the taxpayers money a major reason is their extreme fragmentation rather than pulling many services together our present system separates them into narrow and rigid categories the father of a family is helped by one program his daughter by another and his elderly parents by a third an individual goes to one place for nutritional help to another for health services and to still another for educational counseling a community finds that it can not transfer federal funds from one program area to another area in which needs are more pressing meanwhile officials at all levels of government find themselves wasting enormous amounts of time energy and the taxpayers money untangling federal red tape time and energy and dollars which could better be spent in meeting people needs we need a new approach to the delivery of social services one which is built around people and not around programs we need an approach which treats a person as a whole and which treats the family as a unit we need to break through rigid categorical walls to open up narrow bureaucratic compartments to consolidate and coordinate related programs in a comprehensive approach to related problems the allied services act which will soon be submitted to the congress offers one set of tools for carrying out that new approach in the programs of the department of health education and welfare it would strengthen state and local planning and administrative capacities allow for the transfer of funds among various hew programs and permit the waiver of certain cumbersome federal requirements by streamlining and simplifying the delivery of services it would help more people move more rapidly from public dependency toward the dignity of being good men and good money can be wasted on bad mechanisms by giving those mechanisms a thorough overhaul we can help to restore the confidence of the people in the capacities of their government protecting the environment a central theme of both my earlier messages on the state of the union was the state of our environment and the importance of making our peace with nature the last few years have been a time in which environmental values have become firmly embedded in our attitudes and in our institutions at the federal level we have established a new environmental protection agency a new council on environmental quality and a new national oceanic and atmospheric administration and we have proposed an entire new department of natural resources new air quality standards have been set and there is evidence that the air in many cities is becoming less polluted under authority granted by the refuse act of 1899 we have instituted a new permit program which for the first time allows the federal government to inventory all significant industrial sources of water pollution and to specify required abatement actions under the refuse act more than 160 civil actions and 320 criminal actions to stop water pollution have been filed against alleged polluters in the last 12 months major programs have also been launched to build new municipal waste treatment facilities to stop pollution from federal facilities to expand our wilderness areas and to leave a legacy of parks for future generations our outlays for inner city parks have been significantly expanded and 62 federal tracts have been transferred to the states and to local governments for recreational uses in the coming year i hope to transfer to local park use much more federal land which is suitable for recreation but which is now underutilized i trust the congress will not delay this process the most striking fact about environmental legislation in the early 1970 is how much has been proposed and how little has been enacted of the major legislative proposals i made in my special message to the congress on the environment last winter 18 are still awaiting final action they include measures to regulate pesticides and toxic substances to control noise pollution to restrict dumping in the oceans in coastal waters and in the great lakes to create an effective policy for the use and development of land to regulate the siting of power plants to control strip mining and to help achieve many other important environmental goals the unfinished agenda also includes our national resource land management act and other measures to improve environmental protection on federally owned lands the need for action in these areas is urgent the forces which threaten our environment will not wait while we procrastinate nor can we afford to rest on last year agenda in the environmental field for as our understanding of these problems increases so must our range of responses accordingly i will soon be sending to the congress another message on the environment that will present further administrative and legislative initiatives altogether our new budget will contain more than three times as much money for environmental programs in fiscal year 1973 as we spent in fiscal year 1969 to fail in meeting the environmental challenge however would be even more costly i urge the congress to put aside narrow partisan perspectives that merely ask whether we should act to protect the environment and to focus instead on the more difficult question of how such action can most effectively be carried out abundant clean energy in my message to the congress on energy policy last june i outlined additional steps relating to the environment which also merit renewed attention the challenge as i defined it is to produce a sufficient supply of energy to fuel our industrial civilization and at the same time to protect a beautiful and healthy environment i am convinced that we can achieve both these goals that we can respect our good earth without turning our back on progress in that message last june i presented a long list of means for assuring an ample supply of clean energy including the liquid metal fast breeder reactor and i again emphasize their importance because it often takes several years to bring new technologies into use in the energy field there is no time for delay accordingly i am including in my new budget increased funding for the most promising of these and other clean energy programs by acting this year we can avoid having to choose in some future year between too little energy and too much pollution keeping people healthy the national health strategy i outlined last february is designed to achieve one of the nation most important goals for the 1970 improving the quality and availability of medical care while fighting the trend toward runaway costs important elements of that strategy have already been enacted the comprehensive health manpower training act and the nurse training act which i signed on november 18 represent the most effort in our history to increase the supply of doctors nurses dentists and other health professionals and to attract them to areas which are experiencing manpower shortages the national cancer act which i signed on december 23 marked the climax of a effort to step up our campaign against cancer during the past year our cancer research budget has been increased by 100 million and the full weight of my office has been given to our war on this disease we have also expanded the fight against sickle cell anemia by an additional 5 million i hope that action on these significant fronts during the first session of the 92nd congress will now be matched by action in other areas during the second session the health maintenance organization act for example is an essential tool for helping doctors deliver care more effectively and more efficiently with a greater emphasis on prevention and early treatment by working to keep our people healthy instead of treating us only when we are sick health maintenance organizations can do a great deal to help us reduce medical costs our national health insurance partnership legislation is also essential to assure that no american is denied basic medical care because of inability to pay too often present health insurance leaves critical outpatient services uncovered distorting the way in which facilities are used it also fails to protect adequately against catastrophic costs and to provide sufficient assistance for the poor the answer i have suggested is a comprehensive national plan not one that nationalizes our private health insurance industry but one that corrects the weaknesses in that system while building on its considerable strengths a large part of the enormous increase in the nation expenditures on health in recent years has gone not to additional services but merely to meet price inflation our efforts to balance the growing demand for care with an increased supply of services will help to change this picture so will that part of our economic program which is designed to control medical costs i am confident that with the continued cooperation of those who provide health services we will succeed on this most important battlefront in our war against inflation our program for the next year will also include further funding increases for health research including substantial new sums for cancer and sickle cell anemia as well as further increases for medical schools and for meeting special problems such as drug addiction and alcoholism we also plan to construct new veterans hospitals and expand the staffs at existing ones in addition we will be giving increased attention to the fight against diseases of the heart blood vessels and lungs which presently account for more than half of all the deaths in this country it is deeply disturbing to realize that largely because of heart disease the mortality rate for men under the age of 55 is about twice as great in the united states as it is for example in some scandinavian countries i will shortly assign a panel of distinguished experts to help us determine why heart disease is so prevalent and so menacing and what we can do about it i will also recommend an expanded budget for the national heart and lung institute the young father struck down by a heart attack in the prime of life the productive citizen crippled by a stroke an older person tortured by breathing difficulties during his later years these are tragedies which can be reduced in number and we must do all that is possible to reduce them nutrition one of the critical areas in which we have worked to advance the health of the nation is that of combating hunger and improving nutrition with the increases in our new budget expenditures on our food stamp program will have increased ninefold since 1969 to the billion level spending on school lunches for needy children will have increased more than sevenfold from 107 million in 1969 to 770 million in 1973 because of new regulations which will be implemented in the year ahead we will be able to increase further both the equity of our food stamp program and the adequacy of its benefits coping with accidents and preventing them last year more than americans lost their lives in accidents four hundred thousand more were permanently disabled and 10 million were temporarily disabled the loss to our economy from accidents last year is estimated at over 28 billion these are sad and staggering figures especially since this toll could be greatly reduced by upgrading our emergency medical services such improvement does not even require new scientific breakthroughs it only requires that we apply our present knowledge more effectively to help in this effort i am directing the department of health education and welfare to develop new ways of organizing emergency medical services and of providing care to accident victims by improving communication transportation and the training of emergency personnel we can save many thousands of lives which would otherwise be lost to accidents and sudden illnesses one of the significant joint accomplishments of the congress and this administration has been a vigorous new program to protect against accidents and illnesses our occupational health and safety program will be further strengthened in the year ahead as will our ongoing efforts to promote air traffic safety boating safety and safety on the highways in the last 3 years the motor vehicle death rate has fallen by 13 percent but we still lose some lives on our highways each year more than we have lost in combat in the entire vietnam war fully of these deaths were directly linked to alcohol this appalling reality is a blight on our entire only the active concern of the entire nation can remove it the federal government will continue to help all it can through its efforts to promote highway safety and automobile safety and through stronger programs to help the problem drinker yesterday goals tomorrow accomplishments welfare reform revenue sharing executive reorganization environmental protection and the new national health strategy these along with economic improvement constituted the six great goals i emphasized in my last state of the union address six major components of a new american revolution they remain six areas of great concern today with the cooperation of the congress they can be six areas of great accomplishment tomorrow but the challenges we face can not be reduced to six categories our our opportunities are manifold and action on many fronts is required it is partly for this reason that my state of the union address this year includes this written message to the congress for it gives me the chance to discuss more fully a number of programs which also belong on our list of highest priorities action for the aging last month i joined with thousands of delegates to the white house conference on aging in a personal commitment to make 1972 a year of action on behalf of 21 million older americans today i call on the congress to join me in that pledge for unless the american dream comes true for our older generation it can not be complete for any generation we can begin to make this a year of action for the aging by acting on a number of proposals which have been pending since 1969 for older americans the most significant of these is the bill designated this legislation which also contains our general welfare reform measures would place a national floor under the income of all older americans guarantee social security benefits allow social security recipients to earn more from their own work increase benefits for widows and provide a across increase in social security altogether 1 as it now mean some billion in increased benefits for america older citizens i hope the congress will also take this opportunity to eliminate the monthly fee now charged under part b of medicare a step which would add an additional billion to the income of the elderly these additions would come on top of earlier social security increases totalling some 3 billion over the last 3 years a number of newer proposals also deserve approval i am requesting that the budget of the administration on aging be increased over last year request to 100 million in part so that we can expand programs which help older citizens live dignified lives in their own homes i am recommending substantially larger budgets for those programs which give older americans a better chance to serve their countrymen retired senior volunteers foster grandparents and others and we will also work to ease the burden of property taxes which so many older americans find so inequitable and so burdensome other initiatives including proposals for extending and improving the older americans act will be presented as we review the recommendations of the white house conference on aging our new domestic council committee on aging has these recommendations at the top of its agenda we will also be following up in 1972 on one of the most important of our 1971 initiatives the crackdown on substandard nursing homes our will give special attention to providing alternative arrangements for those who are victimized by such facilities the legislation i have submitted to provide greater financial security at retirement both for those now covered by private pension plans and those who are not also merits prompt action by the congress only half the country work force is now covered by tax deductible private pensions the other half deserve a tax deduction for their retirement savings too those who are now covered by pension plans deserve the assurance that their plans are administered under strict fiduciary standards with full disclosure and they should also have the security provided by prompt vesting the assurance that even if one leaves a given job he can still receive the pension he earned there when he retires the legislation i have proposed would achieve these goals and would also raise the limit on deductible pension savings for the the state of our union is strong today because of what older americans have so long been giving to their country the state of our union will be stronger tomorrow if we recognize how much they still can contribute the best thing our country can give to its older citizens is the chance to be a part of it the chance to play a continuing role in the great american adventure equal opportunity for minorities america can not be at its best as it approaches its 200th birthday unless all americans have the opportunity to be at their best a free and open american society one that is true to the ideals of its founders must give each of its citizens an equal chance at the starting line and an equal opportunity to go as far and as high as his talents and energies will take him the nation can be proud of the progress it has made in assuring equal opportunity for members of minority groups in recent years there are many measures of our progress since 1969 we have virtually eliminated the dual school system in the south three years ago 68 percent of all black children in the south were attending all black schools today only 9 percent are attending schools which are entirely black nationally the number of 100 percent minority schools has decreased by 70 percent during the past 3 years to further expand educational opportunity my proposed budget for predominantly black colleges will exceed 200 million next year more than double the level of 3 years ago on the economic front overall federal aid to minority business enterprise has increased threefold in the last 3 years and i will propose a further increase of 90 million federal hiring among minorities has been intensified despite cutbacks in federal employment so that of all federal employees are now members of minority groups building on strong efforts such as the philadelphia plan we will work harder to ensure that federal contractors meet fair hiring standards compliance reviews will be stepped up to a level more than 300 percent higher than in 1969 our proposed budget for the equal employment opportunity commission will be up 36 percent next year while our proposed budget for enforcing fair housing laws will grow by 20 percent i also support legislation to strengthen the enforcement powers of the eeoc by providing the commission with authority to seek court enforcement of its decisions and by giving it jurisdiction over the hiring practices of state and local governments overall our proposed budget for civil rights activities is up 25 percent for next year an increase which will give us nearly three times as much money for advancing civil rights as we had 3 years ago we also plan a 42 percent increase in the budget for the cabinet committee on opportunities for the spanish speaking and i will propose that the congress extend the operations of the civil rights commission for another period for indians one of the major initiatives in the second year of my presidency was designed to bring a new era in which the future for american indians is determined by indian acts and indian decisions the comprehensive program i put forward sought to avoid the twin dangers of paternalism on the one hand and the termination of trust responsibility on the other some parts of this program have now become effective including a generous settlement of the alaska native claims and the return to the taos pueblo indians of the sacred lands around blue lake construction grants have been authorized to assist the navajo community college the first institution of higher education we are also making progress toward indian on the administrative front a newly reorganized bureau of indian affairs with almost leadership will from now on be concentrating its resources on a program of development including redirection of employment assistance to strengthen reservation economies creating local indian action teams for manpower training and increased contracting of education and other functions to indian communities i again urge the congress to join in helping indians help themselves in fields such as health education the protection of land and water rights and economic development we have talked about injustice to the first americans long enough as indian leaders themselves have put it the time has come for more rain and less thunder equal rights for women this administration will also continue its strong efforts to open equal opportunities for women recognizing clearly that women are often denied such opportunities today while every woman may not want a career outside the home every woman should have the freedom to choose whatever career she wishes and an equal chance to pursue it we have already moved vigorously against job discrimination based on sex in both the private and public sectors for the first time guidelines have been issued to require that government contractors in the private sector have action plans for the hiring and promotion of women we are committed to strong enforcement of equal employment opportunity for women under title vii of the civil rights act to help carry out these commitments i will propose to the congress that the jurisdiction of the commission on civil rights be broadened to encompass discrimination within the government more women have been appointed to high posts than ever before as the result of my directives issued in april 1971 the number of women appointed to federal positions has more than doubled and the number of women in federal middle management positions has also increased dramatically more women than ever before have been appointed to presidential boards and commissions our vigorous program to recruit more women for federal service will be continued and intensified in the coming year opportunity for veterans a grateful nation owes its servicemen and servicewomen every opportunity it can open to them when they return to civilian life the nation may be weary of war but we dare not grow weary of doing right by those who have borne its heaviest burdens the federal government is carrying out this responsibility in many ways through the bill for will spend 2 times more in 1973 than in 1969 through home loan programs and disability and pension also have been expanded through better medical services including strong new drug treatment programs through its budget for veterans hospitals which is already many times the 1969 level and will be stepped up further next year we have been particularly concerned in the last 3 years with the employment of veterans who experience higher unemployment rates than those who have not served in the armed forces during this past year i announced a national program to increase public awareness of this problem to provide training and counseling to veterans seeking jobs and to help them find employment opportunities under the direction of the secretary of labor and with the help of our jobs for veterans committee and the national alliance of businessmen this program has been moving forward during its first five months of operation vietnamera veterans were placed in jobs by the employment service and were enrolled in job training programs during the next six months we expect the employment service to place some additional veterans in jobs and to enroll nearly more in manpower training programs but let us never forget in this as in so many other areas that the opportunity for any individual to contribute fully to his society depends in the final analysis on the response in his own community other individuals greater role for american youth full participation and first class citizenship these must be our goals for america young people it was to help achieve these goals that i signed legislation to lower the minimum voting age to 18 in june of 1970 and moved to secure a court validation of its constitutionality and i took special pleasure a year later in witnessing the certification of the amendment which placed this franchise guarantee in the constitution but a voice at election time alone is not enough young people should have a hearing in government on a basis to this end and at my direction agencies throughout the federal government have stepped up their hiring of young people and have opened new youth advisory channels we have also convened the first white house youth conference a forum whose recommendations have been receiving a thorough review by the executive departments several other reforms also mean greater freedom and opportunity for america young people draft calls have been substantially reduced as a step toward our target of reducing them to zero by the lottery system and other new procedures and the contributions of youth advisory councils and younger members on local boards have made the draft far more fair than it was my educational reform proposals embody the principle that no qualified student who wants to go to college should be barred by lack of guarantee that would open doors of opportunity for many thousands of deserving young people our new career education emphasis can also be a significant springboard to good jobs and rewarding lives young america extra dimension in the sixties and seventies has been a drive to help the less fortunate an activist idealism bent on making the world a better place to live our new action volunteer agency building on the successful experiences of constituent units such as the peace corps and vista has already broadened service opportunities for the more new programs are in prospect the congress can do its part in forwarding this positive momentum by assuring that the action programs have sufficient funds to carry out their mission the american farmer as we face the challenge of competing more effectively abroad and of producing more efficiently at home our entire nation can take the american farmer as its model while the productivity of our industries has gone up 60 percent during the last 20 years agricultural productivity has gone up 200 percent or nearly 3 times as much one result has been better products and lower prices for american consumers another is that farmers have more than held their own in international markets figures for the last fiscal year show nearly a 900 million surplus for commercial agricultural trade the strength of american agriculture is at the heart of the strength of america american farmers deserve a fair share in the fruits of our prosperity we still have much ground to cover before we arrive at that goal but we have been moving steadily toward it in 1950 the income of the average farmer was only 58 percent of that of his counterpart today that figure stands at 74 percent not nearly high enough but moving in the right direction gross farm income reached a record high in 1971 and for 1972 a further increase of 2 billion is predicted because of restraints on production costs net farm income is expected to rise in 1972 by percent or some 1 billion average income per farm is expected to go up 8 percent to an high in the next 12 months still there are very serious farm we are taking strong action to meet them i promised 3 years ago to end the sharp skid in farm exports and i have kept that promise in just 2 years farm exports climbed by 37 percent and last year they set an record our expanded marketing programs the agreement to sell 2 million tons of feed grains to the soviet union our massive aid to south asia under public law 480 and our efforts to halt transportation strikes by doing all we can under the old law and by proposing a new and better one these efforts and others are moving us toward our 10 billion farm export goal i have also promised to expand domestic markets to improve the management of surpluses and to help in other ways to raise the prices received by farmers i have kept that promise too a surprisingly large harvest drove corn prices down last year but they have risen sharply since last november prices received by dairy farmers at the highest level in history last year will continue strong in 1972 soybean prices will be at their highest level in two decades prices received by farmers for hogs poultry and eggs are all expected to go higher expanded government purchases and other assistance will also provide a greater boost to farm income with the close cooperation of the congress we have expanded the farmers freedom and flexibility through the agricultural act of 1970 we have strengthened the farm credit system and substantially increased the availability of farm credit programs for controlling plant and animal disease and for soil and water conservation have also been expanded all these efforts will continue as will our efforts to improve the legal climate for cooperative bargaining an important factor in protecting the vitality of the family farm and in resisting excessive government management developing rural america in my address to the congress at this time 2 years ago i spoke of the fact that of our counties had lost population in the 1960 that many of our rural areas were slowly being emptied of their people and their promise and that we should work to reverse this picture by including rural america in a nationwide program to foster balanced growth it is striking to realize that even if we had a population of one billion nearly five times the current level area is so great that we would still not be as densely populated as many european nations are at present clearly our problems are not so much those of numbers as they are of distribution we must work to revitalize the american countryside we have begun to make progress on this front in the last 3 years rural housing programs have been increased by more than 450 percent from 1969 to 1973 the number of families benefiting from rural water and sewer programs is now 75 percent greater than it was in 1969 we have worked to encourage sensible growth patterns through the location of federal facilities the first biennial report on national growth which will be released in the near future will further describe these patterns their policy implications and the many ways we are responding to this challenge but we must do more the congress can begin by passing my billion program of special revenue sharing for rural community development in addition i will soon present a major proposal to expand significantly the credit authorities of the farmers home administration so that this agency which has done so much to help individual also help spur commercial industrial and community development in rural america hopefully the fha will be able to undertake this work as a part of a new department of community development in all these ways we can help ensure that rural america will be in the years ahead what it has been from our nation beginning an area which looks eagerly to the future with a sense of hope and promise a commitment to our cities our commitment to balanced growth also requires a commitment to our old cities threatened by decay to suburbs now sprawling senselessly because of inadequate planning and to new cities not yet born but clearly needed by our growing population i discussed these challenges in my special message to the congress on population growth and the american future in the summer of i have often discussed them since my recommendations for transportation education health welfare revenue sharing planning and management assistance executive reorganization the the proposed land use policy act and my proposals in many other areas touch directly on community development one of the keys to better cities is better coordination of these many components two of my pending proposals go straight to the heart of this challenge the first a new department of community development would provide a single point of focus for our strategy for growth the second special revenue sharing for urban community development would remove the rigidities of categorical project grants which now do so much to fragment planning delay action and discourage local responsibility my new budget proposes a 300 million increase over the full year level which we proposed for this program a year ago the department of housing and urban development has been working to foster orderly growth in our cities in a number of additional ways a planned variation concept has been introduced into the model cities program which gives localities more control over their own future hud own programs have been considerably decentralized the new communities program has moved forward and seven projects have received final approval the department efforts to expand mortgage capital to more than double the level of subsidized housing and to encourage new and more efficient building techniques through programs like operation breakthrough have all contributed to our record level of housing starts still more can be done if the congress enacts the administration housing consolidation and simplification act proposed in 1970 the federal government is only one of many influences on development patterns across our land nevertheless its influence is considerable we must do all we can to see that its influence is good improving transportation although the executive branch and the congress have been led by different parties during the last 3 years we have cooperated with particular effectiveness in the field of transportation together we have shaped the urban mass transportation assistance act of 1970 a 10 billion effort to expand and improve our common carriers and thus make our cities more livable we have brought into effect a 3 billion ship construction program as well as increased research efforts and a modified program of operating subsidies to revamp our merchant marine we have accelerated efforts to improve air travel under the new airport and airway trust fund and have been working in fresh ways to save and improve our railway passenger service great progress has also been made in promoting transportation safety and we have moved effectively against cargo thefts and skyjacking i hope this strong record will be even stronger by the time the 92nd congress adjourns i hope that our special revenue sharing program for transportation will by then be a reality so that cities and states can make better plans with greater freedom to achieve their own proper balance among the many modes of transportation i hope too that our recommendations for revitalizing surface freight transportation will by then be accepted including measures both to modernize railway equipment and operations and to update regulatory practices by encouraging competition flexibility and efficiency among freight carriers these steps could save the american people billions of dollars in freight costs every year helping to curb inflation expand employment and improve our balance of trade one of our most damaging and perplexing economic problems is that of massive and prolonged transportation strikes there is no reason why the public should be the helpless victim of such strikes but this is frequently what happens the dock strike for example has been extremely costly for the american people particularly for the farmer for whom a whole year income can hinge on how promptly he can move his goods last year railroad strike also dealt a severe blow to our economy both of these emergencies could have been met far more effectively if the congress had enacted my emergency public interest protection act which i proposed in february of 1970 by passing this legislation in this session the congress can give us the permanent machinery so badly needed for resolving future disputes historically our transportation systems have provided the cutting edge for our development now to keep our country from falling behind the times we must keep well ahead of events in our transportation planning this is why we are placing more emphasis and spending more money this year on transportation research and development for this reason too i will propose a 65 percent increase to the 1 billion level in our budget for mass transportation highway building has been our first priority and our greatest success story in the past two decades now we must write a similar success story for mass transportation in the 1970 peace at home fighting crime our quest for peace abroad over the last 3 years has been accompanied by an intensive quest for peace at home and our success in stabilizing developments on the international scene has been matched by a growing sense of stability in america civil disorders no longer engulf our cities colleges and universities have again become places of learning and while crime is still increasing the rate of increase has slowed to a low in the one city for which the federal government has a special responsibility washington the picture is even brighter for here serious crime actually fell by 13 percent in the last year washington was one of 52 major cities which recorded a net reduction in crime in the first nine months of 1971 compared to 23 major cities which made comparable progress a year earlier this encouraging beginning is not something that has just happened by itself believe it results directly from strong new crime fighting efforts by this administration by the congress and by state and local governments federal expenditures on crime have increased 200 percent since 1969 and we are proposing another 18 percent increase in our new budget the organized grime control act of 1970 the district of columbia court reform act and the omnibus crime control act of 1970 have all provided new instruments for this important battle so has our effort to expand the federal strike force program as a weapon against organized crime late last year we held the first national conference on corrections and we will continue to move forward in this most critical field i will also propose legislation to improve our juvenile delinquency prevention programs and i again urge action on my special revenue sharing proposal for law enforcement by continuing our stepped up assistance to local law enforcement authorities through the law enforcement assistance administration by continuing to press for improved courts and correctional institutions by continuing our intensified war on drug abuse and by continuing to give vigorous support to the principles of order and respect for law i believe that what has been achieved in the nation capital can be achieved in a growing number of other communities throughout the nation combating drug abuse a problem of modern life which is of deepest concern to most americans and of particular anguish to many is that of drug abuse for increasing dependence on drugs will surely sap our nation strength and destroy our nation character meeting this challenge is not a task for government alone i have been heartened by the efforts of millions of individual americans from all walks of life who are trying to communicate across the barriers created by drug use to reach out with compassion to those who have become drug dependent the federal government will continue to lead in this effort the last 3 years have seen an increase of nearly 600 percent in federal expenditures for treatment and rehabilitation and an increase of more than 500 percent in program levels for research education and training i will propose further substantial increases for these programs in the coming year in order to develop a national strategy for this effort and to coordinate activities which are spread through nine federal agencies i asked congress last june to create a special action office for drug abuse prevention i also established an interim office by executive order and that unit is beginning to have an impact but now we must have both the legislative authority and the funds i requested if this office is to move ahead with its critical mission on another front the united states will continue to press for a strong collective effort by nations throughout the world to eliminate drugs at their source and we will intensify the attack on drug smugglers and all who protect them the cabinet committee on international narcotics control which i created last september is coordinating our diplomatic and law enforcement efforts in this area we will also step up our program to curb illicit drug traffic at our borders and within our country over the last 3 years federal expenditures for this work have more than doubled and i will propose a further funding increase next year in addition i will soon initiate a major new program to drive drug traffickers and pushers off the streets of america this program will be built around a nationwide network of investigative and prospective units utilizing special grand juries established under the organized crime control act of 1970 to assist state and local agencies in detecting arresting and convicting those who would profit from the misery of others strengthening consumer protection our plans for 1972 include further steps to protect consumers against hazardous food and drugs and other dangerous products these efforts will carry forward the campaign i launched in 1969 to establish a buyer bill of rights and to strengthen consumer protection as a part of that campaign we have established a new office of consumer affairs directed by my special assistant for consumer affairs to give consumers greater access to government to promote consumer education to encourage voluntary efforts by business to work with state and local governments and to help the federal government improve its activities we have also established a new consumer product information coordinating center in the general services administration to help us share a wider range of federal research and buying expertise with the public but many of our plans in this field still await congressional action including measures to insure product safety to fight consumer fraud to require full disclosure in warranties and guarantees and to protect against unsafe medical devices reforming and renewing education it was nearly 2 years ago in march of 1970 that i presented my major proposals for reform and renewal in education these proposals included student assistance measures to ensure that no qualified person would be barred from college by a lack of money a national institute of education to bring new energy and new direction to educational research and a national foundation for higher education to encourage innovation in learning beyond high school these initiatives are still awaiting final action by the congress they deserve prompt approval i would also underscore my continuing confidence that special revenue sharing for education can do much to strengthen the backbone of our educational system our public elementary and secondary schools special revenue sharing recognizes the nation interest in their improvement without compromising the principle of local control i also call again for the enactment of my billion program of emergency school aid to help local school districts desegregate wisely and well this program has twice been approved by the house and once by the senate in different versions i hope the senate will now send the legislation promptly to the conference committee so that an agreement can be reached on this important measure at an early date this bill is designed to help local school districts with the problems incident to desegregation we must have an end to the dual school system as conscience and the constitution both require and we must also have good schools in this connection i repeat my own firm belief that educational quality so vital to the future of all of our children not enhanced by unnecessary busing for the sole purpose of achieving an arbitrary racial balance financing our schools i particularly hope that 1972 will be a year in which we resolve one of the most critical questions we face in education today how best to finance our schools in recent years the growing scope and rising costs of education have so overburdened local revenues that financial crisis has become a way of life in many school districts as a result neither the benefits nor the burdens of education have been equitably distributed the brunt of the growing pressures has fallen on the property tax one of the most inequitable and regressive of all public levies property taxes in the united states represent a higher proportion of public income than in almost any other nation they have more than doubled in the last decade and have been particularly burdensome for our lower and middle income families and for older americans these intolerable pressures on the property tax and on our schools led me to establish the president commission on school finance in march of 1970 i charged this commission with the responsibility to review comprehensively both the revenue needs and the revenue resources of public and elementary and secondary education the commission will make its final report to me in march at the same time the domestic particularly the secretaries of the treasury and of health education and welfare also been studying this difficult and tangled problem the entire question has been given even greater urgency by recent court decisions in california minnesota new jersey and texas which have held the conventional method of financing schools through local property taxes discriminatory and unconstitutional similar court actions are pending in more than half of our states while these cases have not yet been reviewed by the supreme court we can not ignore the serious questions they have raised for our states for our local school districts and for the entire nation the overhaul of school finance involves two complex and interrelated sets of problems those concerning support of the schools themselves and also the basic relationships of federal state and local governments in any program of tax reform we have been developing a set of comprehensive proposals to deal with these questions under the leadership of the secretary of the treasury we are carefully reviewing the tax aspects of these proposals and i have this week enlisted the advisory commission on intergovernmental relations in addressing the intergovernmental relations aspects members of the congress and of the executive branch governors state legislators local officials and private citizens comprise this group later in the year after i have received the reports of both the president commission on school finance and the advisory commission on intergovernmental relations i shall make my final recommendations for relieving the burden of property taxes and providing both fair and adequate financing for our children education consistent with the principle of preserving the control by local school boards over local schools a new emphasis on career education career education is another area of major new emphasis an emphasis which grows out of my belief that our schools should be doing more to build and to prepare students for a productive and fulfilling life too often this has not been happening too many of our students from all income groups have been turning off or tuning out on their educational experiences they drop out of school or proceed on to college too many young people find themselves unmotivated and ill equipped for a rewarding social role many other americans who have already entered the world of work find that they are dissatisfied with their jobs but feel that it is too late to change directions that they already are locked in one reason for this situation is the inflexibility of our educational system including the fact that it so rigidly separates academic and vocational curricula too often vocational education is foolishly stigmatized as being less desirable than academic preparation and too often the academic curriculum offers very little preparation for viable careers most students are unable to combine the most valuable features of both vocational and academic education once they have chosen one curriculum it is difficult to move to the other the present approach serves the best interests of neither our students nor our society the unhappy result is high numbers of able people who are unemployed underemployed or unhappily employed on the one hand while many challenging jobs go begging on the other we need a new approach and i believe the best new approach is to strengthen career education career education provides people of all ages with broader exposure to and better preparation for the world of work it not only helps the young but also provides adults with an opportunity to adapt their skills to changing needs changing technology and their own changing interests it would not prematurely force an individual into a specific area of work but would expand his ability to choose wisely from a wider range of options neither would it result in a slighting of academic preparation which would remain a central part of the educational blend career education is not a single specific program it is more usefully thought of as a goal and one that we can pursue through many methods what we need today is a nationwide search for such methods a search which involves every area of education and every level of government to help spark this venture i will propose an intensified federal effort to develop model programs which apply and test the best ideas in this field there is no more disconcerting waste than the waste of human potential and there is no better investment than an investment in human fulfillment career education can help make education and training more meaningful for the student more rewarding for the teacher more available to the adult more relevant for the disadvantaged and more productive for our country manpower programs tapping our full potential our trillion dollar economy rests in the final analysis on our 88 million member labor force how well that force is used today how well that force is prepared for tomorrow these are central questions for our country they are particularly important questions in a time of stiff economic challenge and burgeoning economic opportunity at such a time we must find better ways to tap the full potential of every citizen this means doing all we can to open new education and employment opportunities for members of minority groups it means a stronger effort to help the veteran find useful and satisfying work and to tap the enormous talents of the elderly it means helping women in whatever role they choose to realize their full potential it also means caring for the unemployed sustaining them retraining them and helping them find new employment this administration has grappled directly with these assignments we began by completely revamping the manpower administration in the department of labor we have expanded our manpower programs to record levels we proposed and the congress enacted a massive reform of unemployment insurance adding 9 million workers to the system and expanding the size and duration of benefits we instituted a job bank to match jobs with available workers the efforts of the national alliance of businessmen to train and hire the unemployed were given a new nationwide focus that organization has also joined with our jobs for veterans program in finding employment for returning servicemen we have worked to open more jobs for women through the philadelphia plan and other actions we have expanded equal opportunity in employment for members of minority groups summer jobs for disadvantaged youths went up by last summer and on july 12 of last year i signed the emergency employment act of 1971 providing more than jobs in the public sector in the manpower field as in others there is also an important unfinished agenda at the top of this list is my special revenue sharing program for manpower a bill which would provide more federal dollars for manpower training while increasing substantially the impact of each dollar by allowing states and cities to tailor training to local labor conditions my welfare reform proposals are also pertinent in this context since they are built around the goal of moving people from welfare rolls to payrolls to help in this effort 1 would provide transitional opportunities in community service employment for another persons the career education program can also have an important influence on the way we use our manpower and so can a major new thrust which i am announcing today to stimulate more imaginative use of america great strength in science and technology marshalling science and technology as we work to build a more productive more competitive more prosperous america we will do well to remember the keys to our progress in the past there have been many including the competitive nature of our free enterprise system the energy of our working men and women and the abundant gifts of nature one other quality which has always been a key to progress is our special bent for technology our singular ability to harness the discoveries of science in the service of man at least from the time of benjamin franklin american ingenuity has enjoyed a wide international reputation we have been known as a people who could build a better mousetrap and this capacity has been one important reason for both our domestic prosperity and our international strength in recent years america has focused a large share of its technological energy on projects for defense and for space these projects have had great value defense technology has helped us preserve our freedom and protect the peace space technology has enabled us to share unparalleled adventures and to lift our sights beyond earth bounds the daily life of the average man has also been improved by much of our defense and space research for example by work on radar jet engines nuclear reactors communications and weather satellites and computers defense and space projects have also enabled us to build and maintain our general technological capacity which as a result can now be more readily applied to civilian purposes america must continue with strong and sensible programs of research and development for defense and for space i have felt for some time however that we should also be doing more to apply our scientific and technological genius directly to domestic opportunities toward this end i have already increased our civilian research and development budget by more than 40 percent since 1969 and have directed the national science foundation to give more attention to this area i have also reoriented our space program so that it will have even greater domestic benefits as a part of this effort i recently announced support for the development of a new earth orbital vehicle that promises to introduce a new era in space research this vehicle the space shuttle is one that can be recovered and used again and again lowering significantly both the cost and the risk of space operations the space shuttle would also open new opportunities in fields such as weather forecasting domestic and international communications the monitoring of natural resources and air traffic safety the space shuttle is a wise national investment i urge the congress to approve this plan so that we can realize these substantial economies and these substantial benefits over the last several months this administration has undertaken a major review of both the problems and the opportunities for american technology leading scientists and researchers from our universities and from industry have contributed to this study one important conclusion we have reached is that much more needs to be known about the process of stimulating and applying research and development in some cases for example the barriers to progress are financial in others they are technical in still other instances customs habits laws and regulations are the chief obstacles we need to learn more about all these we intend to do so one immediate step in this effort will be the white house conference on the industrial world ahead which will convene next month and will devote considerable attention to research and development questions but while our knowledge in this field is still modest there are nevertheless a number of important new steps which we can take at this time i will soon present specific recommendations for such steps in a special message to the congress among these proposals will be an increase next year of 700 million in civilian research and development spending a 15 percent increase over last year level and a 65 percent increase over 1969 we will place new emphasis on cooperation with private research and development including new experimental programs for cost sharing and for technology transfers from the public to private sector our program will include special incentives for smaller high technology firms which have an excellent record of cost effectiveness in addition our federal agencies which are highly oriented toward technology such as the atomic energy commission and the national aeronautics and space administration will work more closely with agencies which have a primary social mission for example our outstanding capabilities in space technology should be used to help the department of transportation develop better mass transportation systems as has been said so often in the last 2 years a nation that can send three people across miles of space to the moon should also be able to send people 3 miles across a city to work finally we will seek to set clear and intelligent targets for research and development so that our resources can be focused on projects where an extra effort is most likely to produce a breakthrough and where the breakthrough is most likely to make a difference in our lives our initial efforts will include new or accelerated activities aimed at creating new sources of clean and abundant energy developing safe fast transportation reducing the loss of life and property from earthquakes hurricanes and other natural disasters developing effective emergency health care systems which could lead to the saving of as many as lives each year finding new ways to curb drug traffic and rehabilitate drug users and these are only the beginning i can not predict exactly where each of these new thrusts will eventually lead us in the years ahead but i can say with assurance that the program i have outlined will open new employment opportunities for american workers increase the productivity of the american economy and expand foreign markets for american goods i can also predict with confidence that this program will enhance our standard of living and improve the quality of our lives science and technology represent an enormous power in our life and a unique opportunity it is now for us to decide whether we will waste these magnificent energies or whether we will use them to create a better world for ourselves and for our children a growing agenda for action the danger in presenting any substantial statement of concerns and requests is that any subject which is omitted from the list may for that reason be regarded as unimportant i hope the congress will vigorously resist any such suggestions for there are many other important proposals before the house and the senate which also deserve attention and enactment i think for example of our program for the district of columbia in addition to proposals already before the congress i will soon submit additional legislation outlining a special balanced program of physical and social development for the nation capital as part of our bicentennial celebration in this and other ways we can make that celebration both a fitting commemoration of our revolutionary origins and a bold further step to fulfill their promise i think too of our program to help small businessmen of our proposals concerning communications of our recommendations involving the construction of public buildings and of our program for the arts and humanities where the proposed new budget is 6 times the level of 3 years ago in all some 90 pieces of major legislation which i have recommended to the congress still await action and that list is growing longer it is now for the congress to decide whether this agenda represents the beginning of new progress for america or simply another false start this need for reason and realism i have covered many subjects in this message clearly our challenges are many and complex but that is the way things must be for responsible government in our diverse and complicated world we can choose of course to retreat from this world pretending that our problems can be solved merely by trusting in a new philosophy a single personality or a simple formula but such a retreat can only add to our difficulties and our disillusion if we are to be equal to the complexity of our times we must learn to move on many fronts and to keep many commitments we must learn to reckon our success not by how much we start but by how much we finish we must learn to be tenacious we must learn to persevere if we are to master our moment we must first be masters of ourselves we must respond to the call which has been a central theme of this message the call to reason and to realism to meet the challenge of complexity we must also learn to disperse and decentralize power at home and more people in more places to release their creative energies we must remember that the greatest resource for good in this world is the power of the people themselves not moving in lockstep to the commands of the few but providing their own discipline and discovering their own destiny above all we must not lose our capacity to dream to see amid the realities of today the possibilities for tomorrow and then if we believe in our dreams we also must wake up and work for them richard nixon the white house january 20 1972
congress united states 3 years ago today took oath office president opened address day suggesting moments history stand moments beginning courses set shape decades centuries went say moment looking back 3 years later would suggest moment time new courses set traveling profoundly new courses shape decade century still unanswered question however enter fourth year administration moments beginning mean little history unless also determination follow beginnings setting course enough staying course equally important challenge good government involves responsibility making fresh starts responsibility perseverance responsibility perseverance one shared president public congress come long way example road ending vietnam war improving relations adversaries initiatives depend lasting meaning persistence seeing magnificent cooperation american people enabled us make substantial progress curbing inflation reinvigorating economy new prosperity seek completed public continues commitment economic responsibility discipline encouraging new starts also made last 3 years treating domestic ills continued progress requires congress act large growing backlog pending legislation america agenda action already well established enter 1972 grow weeks ahead present still initiatives dare let emergence new business obscure urgency old business new agenda little empty gesture abandon even part old agenda yet unfinished getting together one measure nation progress first years seventies improvement national morale 1960 time great accomplishment also time growing confusion recovery condition complete made strong beginning shaken uncertain people recovering confidence divided suspicious renewing sense common purpose surrounded shouting posturing learning lower voices also learning listen history 1960 recently published title coming apart today say confidence coming apart longer center american life held getting together spirit reason realism pressures election year would easy look upon legislative program merely political device serious agenda must resist temptation year ahead us holds precious time accomplish good nation must dare waste progress depends continuing spirit partnership president congress house senate republicans democrats spirit require us always agree one another require us approach tasks together spirit reason realism clear words great servant reason intemperate words great enemy reason cute slogan glib headline clever retort appeal passion way truth good public policy dedicated clear thinking place interests interests hold ultimate values curb momentary passions think next generation less next election special challenges ending war condition nation spirit measured precision factors influence spirit believe dramatic single measurement distance traveled last 36 months found statistics concerning involvement war vietnam january 20 1969 authorized troop ceiling vietnam withdrawal plan bring men home seven occasions since time announced withdrawal decisions involving total troops result troop ceiling may 1 means 3 years cut troop strength vietnam 87 percent proceed toward goal south vietnam fully able defend reduce level still period expenditures connected war cut drastically drop well 50 percent american air activity southeast asia ground combat role ended importantly reduction 95 percent combat deaths aim cut death casualty toll 100 percent obtain release prisoners war end fighting altogether hope end tragic conflict negotiation end vietnamization end shall way fulfills commitment people south vietnam gives chance already sacrificed much chance choose future lessons change american people learned many lessons wake helpful dangerous one important lesson best serve interests world setting realistic limits try accomplish unilaterally peace world secure progress rapid nations come share fully responsibilities peace progress time conclude united states withdraw international responsibilities would make dangerous error tendency among swing one extreme wake vietnam wanting much world wanting little must resist temptation must stop swinging pendulum moves opposite position forge instead attitude toward world balanced sensible realistic america important role play international affairs great influence exert good throughout century must continue profound concern advancing peace freedom effective means possible even shift somewhat view means effective policy maintain nuclear deterrent adequate meet threat security united states allies help nations develop capability defending faithfully honor treaty commitments act defend interests whenever wherever threatened place world interests treaty commitments involved role limited intervene militarily use influence prevent war war comes use influence try stop war share helping bind wounds participated opening new lines communication even seek deal realistically partners must also deal realistically adversaries last year made number notable advances toward goal dealings soviet union example able together allies reach historic agreement concerning berlin advanced prospects limiting strategic armaments moved toward greater cooperation space research toward improving economic relationships disappointments south asia uncertainties middle east also progress build build progress past lay foundations greater progress future soon visiting capitals people republic china soviet union visits help fulfill promise made inaugural address said administration lines communication open help create open ideas open exchange goods people world people great small live angry isolation spirit undertake journeys must also realistic however scope differences governments visits mean differences disappeared disappear near future peace depends ability great powers live together planet despite differences important thing talk differences rather fight would serious mistake say nothing come expanded communications peking moscow would also mistake expect much quickly would also wrong focus much attention new opportunities neglect old friends met last weeks leaders two hemisphere neighbors canada brazil leaders three great european nations prime minister japan believe meetings extremely successful cementing understandings governments move forward together fast changing period consultations allies may receive much attention talks potential adversaries makes less important cornerstone foreign policy remains remain close bonds friends around world strong defense guardian peace two additional elements critical efforts strengthen structure peace first military strength united states last 3 years moving wartime peacetime footing period continued confrontation arms competition period negotiation potential arms limitation period america often acted policeman world period nations assuming greater responsibility defense recently encouraged example decision european allies increase share nato defense budget 1 billion part process ended production chemical biological weaponry converted two largest facilities production humanitarian research able reduce periods even eliminate draft calls 1971 draft calls high peak vietnam war fell lowest level since 1962 coming year significantly lower confident middle next year achieve goal reducing draft calls zero result developments defense spending fallen 7 percent gross national product current fiscal year compared percent 1964 percent 1968 figure percent fiscal year 1973 without sacrificing security interests able bring defense spending level human resource spending first time 20 years condition maintained new budget also first time allocates money department health education welfare department defense avoid extreme reactions political attitudes toward world must avoid plan defense reversed spending priorities never compromised national security never step weakens america defenses also weaken prospects peace plans next year call increase defense spending increase made necessary part rising research development costs part military pay increases turn help us eliminate draft part need proceed new weapon systems maintain security adequate level even seek greatest urgency stable controls armaments ignore fact others going forward major increases arms programs year ahead working improve protect diversify disperse strategic forces ways make even less vulnerable attack effective deterring war request substantial budget increase preserve sufficiency strategic nuclear deterrent including allocation 900 million improve seabased deterrent force recently directed department defense develop program build additional missile launching submarines carrying new far effective missile also proceed programs reoutfit polaris submarines poseidon missile system replace older missiles minuteman iii deploy safeguard antiballistic missile system time must move maintain strength sea navy budget increased 2 billion current fiscal year ask similar increase next year particular emphasis shipbuilding programs military research development program must also stepped budget area increased 594 million current fiscal year recommend increase next year 838 million also propose substantial program develop procure effective weapons systems land tactical air forces improve national guard reserves providing modern weapons better training addition expand strong program attract volunteer career soldiers phase draft cooperation congress able double basic pay first time enlistees substantial military pay increases planned also submit congress overall reform military retirement survivor benefit programs raising level protection military families addition expand efforts improve race relations equalize promotional opportunities control drug abuse generally improve quality life armed forces take steps let us remember strong military defenses enemy peace guardians peace ability build stable tranquil world achieve arms control agreement ability negotiate position strength seek adequate power end means achieving purpose purpose peace inaugural address 3 years ago called cooperation reduce burden arms encouraged progress making toward goal also added comment would tempted weakness let us leave doubt strong need long need today repeat reminder realistic program foreign assistance another important expression america interest influence world foreign assistance effort effort special significance time reducing direct military presence abroad encouraging countries assume greater responsibilities growing ability undertake responsibilities often depends america foreign assistance taken significant steps reform foreign assistance programs recent years eliminate waste give greater impact three imperatives rest congress fund full levels assistance earlier recommended current fiscal year present interim funding arrangement expires late february act upon fundamental aid reform proposals submitted administration 1971 modify statutes govern response expropriation american property foreign governments recommended recent statement security overseas investments actions taken together constitute exception emerging pattern realistic american role world rather fully consistent crucially important element pattern work help partners world community develop economic potential strengthen military forces also cooperate fully meeting international challenges menace narcotics threat pollution growth population proper use seas seabeds plight victimized wars natural disasters global problems must confronted global basis efforts united nations respond creatively challenges promising work nato environmental field must build beginnings america influence good united states world policeman keeper moral conscience whether like still represent force stability often unstable world force justice world often unjust force progress world desperately needs progress force peace world weary war great influence good world reason bear great responsibility whether fulfill responsibility whether fully use influence good questions answering reshape attitudes policies toward countries determine defensive capabilities make fundamental decisions foreign assistance soon discuss concerns greater detail annual report congress foreign policy influence good world depends course decisions touch directly international affairs also internal sense pride purpose vitality economy success efforts build better life people let us turn state union abroad state union home economy toward new prosperity vietnam war occasioned much spiritual crisis lay root economic problems 3 years ago attempt finance war budget deficits period full employment produced wave price inflation dangerous persistent history persistent frankly expected would first took office yielded slowly dual efforts cool war cool inflation challenge compounded need reabsorb 2 million persons released armed forces industries substantial expansion labor force short escalation vietnam war late 1960 destroyed price stability war early 1970 impeded full employment throughout years however remained convinced price stability full employment realistic goals country last summer became apparent efforts eradicate inflation without wage price controls would either take long take effect quickly would come cost persistent high unemployment cost unacceptable august 15th therefore announced series new economic policies speed progress toward new prosperity without inflation peacetime policies received strong support congress american people result effective carry forward policies three important steps taken past december within brief period also help make coming year good year american economy december 10 signed law revenue act 1971 providing tax cuts next 3 years 15 billion cuts requested stimulate economy provide hundreds thousands new jobs december 22 signed law economic stabilization act amendments 1971 allow us continue program wage price restraints break back inflation two events december 18 able announce major breakthrough international economic front reached cooperation primary economic partners breakthrough mitigate intolerable strains building world monetary payments structure lead removal trade barriers impeded american exports also sets stage broader reforms international monetary system avoid repeated monetary crises future monetary realignment first scope history progress readjusting trade conditions mean better markets american goods abroad jobs american workers home brighter economic picture result steps economic picture brightened steadily last 5 months believe continue grow brighter judgment alone widely shared american people virtually every survey forecast recent weeks shows substantial improvement public attitudes economy instrumental shaping economic realities inflationary psychology gripped nation tightly long ebb business consumer confidence rising businessmen planning percent increase plant equipment expenditures 1972 four times large increase 1971 consumer spending retail sales rise home building booming housing starts last year 40 percent 1970 setting record interest rates sharply income production rising real output economy last 3 months 1971 grew rate double previous two quarters perhaps importantly total employment moved 80 million mark record high growing rapidly last 5 months 1971 million additional jobs created economy unusual increase size total labor force kept unemployment rate falling whatever reason 6 percent unemployment high determined cut percentage variety measures budget present congress next week expansionary budget reflecting impact new tax cuts expenditures also push increase employment programs manpower training public service employment efforts expand foreign markets new initiatives expanded employment 1972 different however many periods full prosperity come without stimulus war come without inflation program wage price controls working consumer price index rose yearly rate slightly 6 percent 1969 first half 1970 rose rate percent august november 1971 would emphasize however ultimate objective lasting price stability without controls achieve end inflationary psychology developed 1960 return traditional policy relying free market forces determine wages prices would also emphasize new budget deficit deficit irresponsible less year actual deficit would disappear entirely full employment conditions federal spending continues grow rate increase spending cut sharply little half experienced previous administration fact battle inflation led us adopt new policy wage price restraints obscure continued importance fiscal monetary policies holding cost living important congress join resisting temptation overspend accepting discipline balanced full employment budget soon present complete discussion matters budget message economic report new era international economics entered new period negotiation world politics also moved new period negotiation international economic front expect negotiations help us build new international system exchange money new system international trade accomplishments turn open new era fair competition constructive interdependence global economy already made important strides direction realignment exchange rates announced last month represents important forward step also need basic monetary reform made important beginning toward altering conditions international trade investment expect substantial progress would emphasize progress nations fields need come expense others nations benefit right kind monetary trade reform certainly united states high stake improvements international economic position slowly deteriorating time condition could dangerous implications influence abroad prosperity home estimated example full employment prosperity depend creation 20 million additional jobs decade expanding foreign markets effective way expand domestic employment one major reasons weakening international economic position ground rules exchange goods money forced us compete one hand tied behind back one important accomplishments 1971 progress changing situation competing effectively monetary trade reforms one part story ability united states hold world competition depends fairness rules also competitiveness economy made great progress last months improving terms competition must also strengthen ability economy compete stand today turning point history country history planet one hand opportunity help bring new economic order world open order nations eagerly face outward build network interdependence best foundation prosperity peace also tempted months ahead take opposite course withdraw world economically would us withdraw politically build economic fortress america within growing weakness could concealed like child go play children would probably saved minor bumps bruises short run adopt course long run world would surely pass us reject approach remain committed open world discussed inaugural address worked inviting climate america economic activity abroad placed much emphasis increasing productivity economy home also believe firmly must stimulate investment economy find effective ways develop use new technology better job training using skilled manpower acute awareness international economic challenge led creation one year ago council international economic policy new institution helped us understand challenge better respond effectively understanding deepens discover additional ways improving ability compete example enhance competitive position moving implement metric system measurement proposal secretary commerce presented detail congress last year also far gain fair share international tourism market estimated 17 billion annually one largest factors world trade substantial part balance payments deficit results fact american tourists abroad spend billion foreign tourists spend united states help correct situation attracting foreign tourists shores especially enter bicentennial era therefore requesting budget united states travel service nearly doubled coming year unfinished agenda progress toward building new economic order home abroad made possible cooperation cohesion american people sure many americans misgivings one aspect another new economic policies introduced last summer nevertheless ready accept new effort order build broad support essential effective change time come us apply sense realism reasonability reform proposals languishing domestic agenda case economic policies americans agree need change welfare system health strategy programs improve environment way finance state local government organization government federal level americans satisfied status quo education transportation law enforcement drug control community development areas others put forward specific proposals responsive deep desire change yet achieving change often difficult progress areas part nation shown sense response social challenges developed meeting economic needs ready compromise differences build broad coalition change often found situation stalemate essentially nothing even though us agree nothing worst thing two years ago week one year ago messages state union contained broad proposals domestic reform presenting number new proposals year message also call renewed urgency action unfinished agenda welfare reform first item unfinished business welfare reform since first presented proposals august 1969 4 million additional persons added welfare rolls cost old welfare system grown additional billion people moving fast welfare rolls payrolls much traffic way antiquated welfare system responsible calamity new program workfare would begin end today ever need new program based dignity work provides strong incentives work includes able work effective work requirement today ever need new program helps hold families together rather driving apart provides day care services low income mothers trade dependence government dignity employment relieves intolerable fiscal pressures state local governments replaces 54 administrative systems efficient reliable nationwide approach given prominent attention subject three consecutive messages state union house representatives passed welfare reform twice new economic legislation passed urge senate finance committee place welfare reform top agenda earnest hope congress adjourns welfare reform item pending business accomplished reality revenue sharing returning power people time introduced welfare proposals 2 years ago also presented program sharing federal revenues state local governments last year greatly expanded concept yet despite undisputed evidence compelling needs despite overwhelming public support despite endorsement major political parties nation governors mayors despite fact nations federal systems government already program revenue sharing still remains list unfinished business call today enactment revenue sharing first full year operation proposed programs would spend billion general purposes six special purpose programs law enforcement manpower education transportation rural community development urban community development welfare reform need revenue sharing becomes acute time passes financial crisis state local government deepening pattern breakdown state municipal services grows threatening inequitable tax pressures mounting demand flexible responsive government levels closer problems closer people building revenue sharing help us meet challenges help reverse flow power resources toward washington sending power resources back states communities people revenue sharing bring new sense accountability new burst energy new spirit creativity federal system pleased house ways means committee made revenue sharing first order business new session urge congress enact session empty program bears revenue sharing label continuing outworn system categorical grants bold comprehensive program genuine revenue sharing also presented last year 100 million program planning management grants help states localities better job analyzing problems carrying solutions hope program also quickly accepted state local governments get new lease life hope bring government back people stronger sense individual control life every person make difference overhauling machinery government executive reorganization work make state local government responsive responsible let us also seek goals federal level urge congress enact proposals reorganizing executive branch federal government support general public well served executive branch several presidents encouraging success important organizational reforms already made included restructured executive office president new domestic council new office management budget units reorganized field operations federal agencies stronger mechanisms interagency coordination federal regional councils new united states postal service new offices purposes protecting environment coordinating communications policy helping consumer stimulating voluntary service centerpiece efforts streamline executive branch still awaits approval government put together often determines well government job founding fathers understood fact thus gave detailed attention precise structural questions since time however especially recent decades new responsibilities new constituencies caused structure established expand enormously piecemeal haphazard fashion result federal government today often sluggish unresponsive institution unable deliver dollar worth service dollar worth taxes answer problem streamline executive branch reducing overall number executive departments creating four new departments existing responsibilities would refocused coherent comprehensive way rationale advanced calls organizing new departments around major purposes government creating department natural resources department human resources department community development department economic affairs revised original plan would eliminate department agriculture rather restructure department focus effectively needs farmers congress recently reorganized operations chief justice united states led major effort reform restructure judicial branch impulse reorganization strong need reorganization clear hope congress let opportunity sweeping reform executive branch slip away new approach delivery social services step put machinery government proper working order also propose new legislation reform rationalize way social services delivered families individuals today often seems service programs unresponsive recipients needs wasteful taxpayers money major reason extreme fragmentation rather pulling many services together present system separates narrow rigid categories father family helped one program daughter another elderly parents third individual goes one place nutritional help another health services still another educational counseling community finds transfer federal funds one program area another area needs pressing meanwhile officials levels government find wasting enormous amounts time energy taxpayers money untangling federal red tape time energy dollars could better spent meeting people needs need new approach delivery social services one built around people around programs need approach treats person whole treats family unit need break rigid categorical walls open narrow bureaucratic compartments consolidate coordinate related programs comprehensive approach related problems allied services act soon submitted congress offers one set tools carrying new approach programs department health education welfare would strengthen state local planning administrative capacities allow transfer funds among various hew programs permit waiver certain cumbersome federal requirements streamlining simplifying delivery services would help people move rapidly public dependency toward dignity good men good money wasted bad mechanisms giving mechanisms thorough overhaul help restore confidence people capacities government protecting environment central theme earlier messages state union state environment importance making peace nature last years time environmental values become firmly embedded attitudes institutions federal level established new environmental protection agency new council environmental quality new national oceanic atmospheric administration proposed entire new department natural resources new air quality standards set evidence air many cities becoming less polluted authority granted refuse act 1899 instituted new permit program first time allows federal government inventory significant industrial sources water pollution specify required abatement actions refuse act 160 civil actions 320 criminal actions stop water pollution filed alleged polluters last 12 months major programs also launched build new municipal waste treatment facilities stop pollution federal facilities expand wilderness areas leave legacy parks future generations outlays inner city parks significantly expanded 62 federal tracts transferred states local governments recreational uses coming year hope transfer local park use much federal land suitable recreation underutilized trust congress delay process striking fact environmental legislation early 1970 much proposed little enacted major legislative proposals made special message congress environment last winter 18 still awaiting final action include measures regulate pesticides toxic substances control noise pollution restrict dumping oceans coastal waters great lakes create effective policy use development land regulate siting power plants control strip mining help achieve many important environmental goals unfinished agenda also includes national resource land management act measures improve environmental protection federally owned lands need action areas urgent forces threaten environment wait procrastinate afford rest last year agenda environmental field understanding problems increases must range responses accordingly soon sending congress another message environment present administrative legislative initiatives altogether new budget contain three times much money environmental programs fiscal year 1973 spent fiscal year 1969 fail meeting environmental challenge however would even costly urge congress put aside narrow partisan perspectives merely ask whether act protect environment focus instead difficult question action effectively carried abundant clean energy message congress energy policy last june outlined additional steps relating environment also merit renewed attention challenge defined produce sufficient supply energy fuel industrial civilization time protect beautiful healthy environment convinced achieve goals respect good earth without turning back progress message last june presented long list means assuring ample supply clean energy including liquid metal fast breeder reactor emphasize importance often takes several years bring new technologies use energy field time delay accordingly including new budget increased funding promising clean energy programs acting year avoid choose future year little energy much pollution keeping people healthy national health strategy outlined last february designed achieve one nation important goals 1970 improving quality availability medical care fighting trend toward runaway costs important elements strategy already enacted comprehensive health manpower training act nurse training act signed november 18 represent effort history increase supply doctors nurses dentists health professionals attract areas experiencing manpower shortages national cancer act signed december 23 marked climax effort step campaign cancer past year cancer research budget increased 100 million full weight office given war disease also expanded fight sickle cell anemia additional 5 million hope action significant fronts first session 92nd congress matched action areas second session health maintenance organization act example essential tool helping doctors deliver care effectively efficiently greater emphasis prevention early treatment working keep people healthy instead treating us sick health maintenance organizations great deal help us reduce medical costs national health insurance partnership legislation also essential assure american denied basic medical care inability pay often present health insurance leaves critical outpatient services uncovered distorting way facilities used also fails protect adequately catastrophic costs provide sufficient assistance poor answer suggested comprehensive national plan one nationalizes private health insurance industry one corrects weaknesses system building considerable strengths large part enormous increase nation expenditures health recent years gone additional services merely meet price inflation efforts balance growing demand care increased supply services help change picture part economic program designed control medical costs confident continued cooperation provide health services succeed important battlefront war inflation program next year also include funding increases health research including substantial new sums cancer sickle cell anemia well increases medical schools meeting special problems drug addiction alcoholism also plan construct new veterans hospitals expand staffs existing ones addition giving increased attention fight diseases heart blood vessels lungs presently account half deaths country deeply disturbing realize largely heart disease mortality rate men age 55 twice great united states example scandinavian countries shortly assign panel distinguished experts help us determine heart disease prevalent menacing also recommend expanded budget national heart lung institute young father struck heart attack prime life productive citizen crippled stroke older person tortured breathing difficulties later years tragedies reduced number must possible reduce nutrition one critical areas worked advance health nation combating hunger improving nutrition increases new budget expenditures food stamp program increased ninefold since 1969 billion level spending school lunches needy children increased sevenfold 107 million 1969 770 million 1973 new regulations implemented year ahead able increase equity food stamp program adequacy benefits coping accidents preventing last year americans lost lives accidents four hundred thousand permanently disabled 10 million temporarily disabled loss economy accidents last year estimated 28 billion sad staggering figures especially since toll could greatly reduced upgrading emergency medical services improvement even require new scientific breakthroughs requires apply present knowledge effectively help effort directing department health education welfare develop new ways organizing emergency medical services providing care accident victims improving communication transportation training emergency personnel save many thousands lives would otherwise lost accidents sudden illnesses one significant joint accomplishments congress administration vigorous new program protect accidents illnesses occupational health safety program strengthened year ahead ongoing efforts promote air traffic safety boating safety safety highways last 3 years motor vehicle death rate fallen 13 percent still lose lives highways year lost combat entire vietnam war fully deaths directly linked alcohol appalling reality blight entire active concern entire nation remove federal government continue help efforts promote highway safety automobile safety stronger programs help problem drinker yesterday goals tomorrow accomplishments welfare reform revenue sharing executive reorganization environmental protection new national health strategy along economic improvement constituted six great goals emphasized last state union address six major components new american revolution remain six areas great concern today cooperation congress six areas great accomplishment tomorrow challenges face reduced six categories opportunities manifold action many fronts required partly reason state union address year includes written message congress gives chance discuss fully number programs also belong list highest priorities action aging last month joined thousands delegates white house conference aging personal commitment make 1972 year action behalf 21 million older americans today call congress join pledge unless american dream comes true older generation complete generation begin make year action aging acting number proposals pending since 1969 older americans significant bill designated legislation also contains general welfare reform measures would place national floor income older americans guarantee social security benefits allow social security recipients earn work increase benefits widows provide across increase social security altogether 1 mean billion increased benefits america older citizens hope congress also take opportunity eliminate monthly fee charged part b medicare step would add additional billion income elderly additions would come top earlier social security increases totalling 3 billion last 3 years number newer proposals also deserve approval requesting budget administration aging increased last year request 100 million part expand programs help older citizens live dignified lives homes recommending substantially larger budgets programs give older americans better chance serve countrymen retired senior volunteers foster grandparents others also work ease burden property taxes many older americans find inequitable burdensome initiatives including proposals extending improving older americans act presented review recommendations white house conference aging new domestic council committee aging recommendations top agenda also following 1972 one important 1971 initiatives crackdown substandard nursing homes give special attention providing alternative arrangements victimized facilities legislation submitted provide greater financial security retirement covered private pension plans also merits prompt action congress half country work force covered tax deductible private pensions half deserve tax deduction retirement savings covered pension plans deserve assurance plans administered strict fiduciary standards full disclosure also security provided prompt vesting assurance even one leaves given job still receive pension earned retires legislation proposed would achieve goals would also raise limit deductible pension savings state union strong today older americans long giving country state union stronger tomorrow recognize much still contribute best thing country give older citizens chance part chance play continuing role great american adventure equal opportunity minorities america best approaches 200th birthday unless americans opportunity best free open american society one true ideals founders must give citizens equal chance starting line equal opportunity go far high talents energies take nation proud progress made assuring equal opportunity members minority groups recent years many measures progress since 1969 virtually eliminated dual school system south three years ago 68 percent black children south attending black schools today 9 percent attending schools entirely black nationally number 100 percent minority schools decreased 70 percent past 3 years expand educational opportunity proposed budget predominantly black colleges exceed 200 million next year double level 3 years ago economic front overall federal aid minority business enterprise increased threefold last 3 years propose increase 90 million federal hiring among minorities intensified despite cutbacks federal employment federal employees members minority groups building strong efforts philadelphia plan work harder ensure federal contractors meet fair hiring standards compliance reviews stepped level 300 percent higher 1969 proposed budget equal employment opportunity commission 36 percent next year proposed budget enforcing fair housing laws grow 20 percent also support legislation strengthen enforcement powers eeoc providing commission authority seek court enforcement decisions giving jurisdiction hiring practices state local governments overall proposed budget civil rights activities 25 percent next year increase give us nearly three times much money advancing civil rights 3 years ago also plan 42 percent increase budget cabinet committee opportunities spanish speaking propose congress extend operations civil rights commission another period indians one major initiatives second year presidency designed bring new era future american indians determined indian acts indian decisions comprehensive program put forward sought avoid twin dangers paternalism one hand termination trust responsibility parts program become effective including generous settlement alaska native claims return taos pueblo indians sacred lands around blue lake construction grants authorized assist navajo community college first institution higher education also making progress toward indian administrative front newly reorganized bureau indian affairs almost leadership concentrating resources program development including redirection employment assistance strengthen reservation economies creating local indian action teams manpower training increased contracting education functions indian communities urge congress join helping indians help fields health education protection land water rights economic development talked injustice first americans long enough indian leaders put time come rain less thunder equal rights women administration also continue strong efforts open equal opportunities women recognizing clearly women often denied opportunities today every woman may want career outside home every woman freedom choose whatever career wishes equal chance pursue already moved vigorously job discrimination based sex private public sectors first time guidelines issued require government contractors private sector action plans hiring promotion women committed strong enforcement equal employment opportunity women title vii civil rights act help carry commitments propose congress jurisdiction commission civil rights broadened encompass discrimination within government women appointed high posts ever result directives issued april 1971 number women appointed federal positions doubled number women federal middle management positions also increased dramatically women ever appointed presidential boards commissions vigorous program recruit women federal service continued intensified coming year opportunity veterans grateful nation owes servicemen servicewomen every opportunity open return civilian life nation may weary war dare grow weary right borne heaviest burdens federal government carrying responsibility many ways bill spend 2 times 1973 1969 home loan programs disability pension also expanded better medical services including strong new drug treatment programs budget veterans hospitals already many times 1969 level stepped next year particularly concerned last 3 years employment veterans experience higher unemployment rates served armed forces past year announced national program increase public awareness problem provide training counseling veterans seeking jobs help find employment opportunities direction secretary labor help jobs veterans committee national alliance businessmen program moving forward first five months operation vietnamera veterans placed jobs employment service enrolled job training programs next six months expect employment service place additional veterans jobs enroll nearly manpower training programs let us never forget many areas opportunity individual contribute fully society depends final analysis response community individuals greater role american youth full participation first class citizenship must goals america young people help achieve goals signed legislation lower minimum voting age 18 june 1970 moved secure court validation constitutionality took special pleasure year later witnessing certification amendment placed franchise guarantee constitution voice election time alone enough young people hearing government basis end direction agencies throughout federal government stepped hiring young people opened new youth advisory channels also convened first white house youth conference forum whose recommendations receiving thorough review executive departments several reforms also mean greater freedom opportunity america young people draft calls substantially reduced step toward target reducing zero lottery system new procedures contributions youth advisory councils younger members local boards made draft far fair educational reform proposals embody principle qualified student wants go college barred lack guarantee would open doors opportunity many thousands deserving young people new career education emphasis also significant springboard good jobs rewarding lives young america extra dimension sixties seventies drive help less fortunate activist idealism bent making world better place live new action volunteer agency building successful experiences constituent units peace corps vista already broadened service opportunities new programs prospect congress part forwarding positive momentum assuring action programs sufficient funds carry mission american farmer face challenge competing effectively abroad producing efficiently home entire nation take american farmer model productivity industries gone 60 percent last 20 years agricultural productivity gone 200 percent nearly 3 times much one result better products lower prices american consumers another farmers held international markets figures last fiscal year show nearly 900 million surplus commercial agricultural trade strength american agriculture heart strength america american farmers deserve fair share fruits prosperity still much ground cover arrive goal moving steadily toward 1950 income average farmer 58 percent counterpart today figure stands 74 percent nearly high enough moving right direction gross farm income reached record high 1971 1972 increase 2 billion predicted restraints production costs net farm income expected rise 1972 percent 1 billion average income per farm expected go 8 percent high next 12 months still serious farm taking strong action meet promised 3 years ago end sharp skid farm exports kept promise 2 years farm exports climbed 37 percent last year set record expanded marketing programs agreement sell 2 million tons feed grains soviet union massive aid south asia public law 480 efforts halt transportation strikes old law proposing new better one efforts others moving us toward 10 billion farm export goal also promised expand domestic markets improve management surpluses help ways raise prices received farmers kept promise surprisingly large harvest drove corn prices last year risen sharply since last november prices received dairy farmers highest level history last year continue strong 1972 soybean prices highest level two decades prices received farmers hogs poultry eggs expected go higher expanded government purchases assistance also provide greater boost farm income close cooperation congress expanded farmers freedom flexibility agricultural act 1970 strengthened farm credit system substantially increased availability farm credit programs controlling plant animal disease soil water conservation also expanded efforts continue efforts improve legal climate cooperative bargaining important factor protecting vitality family farm resisting excessive government management developing rural america address congress time 2 years ago spoke fact counties lost population 1960 many rural areas slowly emptied people promise work reverse picture including rural america nationwide program foster balanced growth striking realize even population one billion nearly five times current level area great would still densely populated many european nations present clearly problems much numbers distribution must work revitalize american countryside begun make progress front last 3 years rural housing programs increased 450 percent 1969 1973 number families benefiting rural water sewer programs 75 percent greater 1969 worked encourage sensible growth patterns location federal facilities first biennial report national growth released near future describe patterns policy implications many ways responding challenge must congress begin passing billion program special revenue sharing rural community development addition soon present major proposal expand significantly credit authorities farmers home administration agency done much help individual also help spur commercial industrial community development rural america hopefully fha able undertake work part new department community development ways help ensure rural america years ahead nation beginning area looks eagerly future sense hope promise commitment cities commitment balanced growth also requires commitment old cities threatened decay suburbs sprawling senselessly inadequate planning new cities yet born clearly needed growing population discussed challenges special message congress population growth american future summer often discussed since recommendations transportation education health welfare revenue sharing planning management assistance executive reorganization proposed land use policy act proposals many areas touch directly community development one keys better cities better coordination many components two pending proposals go straight heart challenge first new department community development would provide single point focus strategy growth second special revenue sharing urban community development would remove rigidities categorical project grants much fragment planning delay action discourage local responsibility new budget proposes 300 million increase full year level proposed program year ago department housing urban development working foster orderly growth cities number additional ways planned variation concept introduced model cities program gives localities control future hud programs considerably decentralized new communities program moved forward seven projects received final approval department efforts expand mortgage capital double level subsidized housing encourage new efficient building techniques programs like operation breakthrough contributed record level housing starts still done congress enacts administration housing consolidation simplification act proposed 1970 federal government one many influences development patterns across land nevertheless influence considerable must see influence good improving transportation although executive branch congress led different parties last 3 years cooperated particular effectiveness field transportation together shaped urban mass transportation assistance act 1970 10 billion effort expand improve common carriers thus make cities livable brought effect 3 billion ship construction program well increased research efforts modified program operating subsidies revamp merchant marine accelerated efforts improve air travel new airport airway trust fund working fresh ways save improve railway passenger service great progress also made promoting transportation safety moved effectively cargo thefts skyjacking hope strong record even stronger time 92nd congress adjourns hope special revenue sharing program transportation reality cities states make better plans greater freedom achieve proper balance among many modes transportation hope recommendations revitalizing surface freight transportation accepted including measures modernize railway equipment operations update regulatory practices encouraging competition flexibility efficiency among freight carriers steps could save american people billions dollars freight costs every year helping curb inflation expand employment improve balance trade one damaging perplexing economic problems massive prolonged transportation strikes reason public helpless victim strikes frequently happens dock strike example extremely costly american people particularly farmer whole year income hinge promptly move goods last year railroad strike also dealt severe blow economy emergencies could met far effectively congress enacted emergency public interest protection act proposed february 1970 passing legislation session congress give us permanent machinery badly needed resolving future disputes historically transportation systems provided cutting edge development keep country falling behind times must keep well ahead events transportation planning placing emphasis spending money year transportation research development reason propose 65 percent increase 1 billion level budget mass transportation highway building first priority greatest success story past two decades must write similar success story mass transportation 1970 peace home fighting crime quest peace abroad last 3 years accompanied intensive quest peace home success stabilizing developments international scene matched growing sense stability america civil disorders longer engulf cities colleges universities become places learning crime still increasing rate increase slowed low one city federal government special responsibility washington picture even brighter serious crime actually fell 13 percent last year washington one 52 major cities recorded net reduction crime first nine months 1971 compared 23 major cities made comparable progress year earlier encouraging beginning something happened believe results directly strong new crime fighting efforts administration congress state local governments federal expenditures crime increased 200 percent since 1969 proposing another 18 percent increase new budget organized grime control act 1970 district columbia court reform act omnibus crime control act 1970 provided new instruments important battle effort expand federal strike force program weapon organized crime late last year held first national conference corrections continue move forward critical field also propose legislation improve juvenile delinquency prevention programs urge action special revenue sharing proposal law enforcement continuing stepped assistance local law enforcement authorities law enforcement assistance administration continuing press improved courts correctional institutions continuing intensified war drug abuse continuing give vigorous support principles order respect law believe achieved nation capital achieved growing number communities throughout nation combating drug abuse problem modern life deepest concern americans particular anguish many drug abuse increasing dependence drugs surely sap nation strength destroy nation character meeting challenge task government alone heartened efforts millions individual americans walks life trying communicate across barriers created drug use reach compassion become drug dependent federal government continue lead effort last 3 years seen increase nearly 600 percent federal expenditures treatment rehabilitation increase 500 percent program levels research education training propose substantial increases programs coming year order develop national strategy effort coordinate activities spread nine federal agencies asked congress last june create special action office drug abuse prevention also established interim office executive order unit beginning impact must legislative authority funds requested office move ahead critical mission another front united states continue press strong collective effort nations throughout world eliminate drugs source intensify attack drug smugglers protect cabinet committee international narcotics control created last september coordinating diplomatic law enforcement efforts area also step program curb illicit drug traffic borders within country last 3 years federal expenditures work doubled propose funding increase next year addition soon initiate major new program drive drug traffickers pushers streets america program built around nationwide network investigative prospective units utilizing special grand juries established organized crime control act 1970 assist state local agencies detecting arresting convicting would profit misery others strengthening consumer protection plans 1972 include steps protect consumers hazardous food drugs dangerous products efforts carry forward campaign launched 1969 establish buyer bill rights strengthen consumer protection part campaign established new office consumer affairs directed special assistant consumer affairs give consumers greater access government promote consumer education encourage voluntary efforts business work state local governments help federal government improve activities also established new consumer product information coordinating center general services administration help us share wider range federal research buying expertise public many plans field still await congressional action including measures insure product safety fight consumer fraud require full disclosure warranties guarantees protect unsafe medical devices reforming renewing education nearly 2 years ago march 1970 presented major proposals reform renewal education proposals included student assistance measures ensure qualified person would barred college lack money national institute education bring new energy new direction educational research national foundation higher education encourage innovation learning beyond high school initiatives still awaiting final action congress deserve prompt approval would also underscore continuing confidence special revenue sharing education much strengthen backbone educational system public elementary secondary schools special revenue sharing recognizes nation interest improvement without compromising principle local control also call enactment billion program emergency school aid help local school districts desegregate wisely well program twice approved house senate different versions hope senate send legislation promptly conference committee agreement reached important measure early date bill designed help local school districts problems incident desegregation must end dual school system conscience constitution require must also good schools connection repeat firm belief educational quality vital future children enhanced unnecessary busing sole purpose achieving arbitrary racial balance financing schools particularly hope 1972 year resolve one critical questions face education today best finance schools recent years growing scope rising costs education overburdened local revenues financial crisis become way life many school districts result neither benefits burdens education equitably distributed brunt growing pressures fallen property tax one inequitable regressive public levies property taxes united states represent higher proportion public income almost nation doubled last decade particularly burdensome lower middle income families older americans intolerable pressures property tax schools led establish president commission school finance march 1970 charged commission responsibility review comprehensively revenue needs revenue resources public elementary secondary education commission make final report march time domestic particularly secretaries treasury health education welfare also studying difficult tangled problem entire question given even greater urgency recent court decisions california minnesota new jersey texas held conventional method financing schools local property taxes discriminatory unconstitutional similar court actions pending half states cases yet reviewed supreme court ignore serious questions raised states local school districts entire nation overhaul school finance involves two complex interrelated sets problems concerning support schools also basic relationships federal state local governments program tax reform developing set comprehensive proposals deal questions leadership secretary treasury carefully reviewing tax aspects proposals week enlisted advisory commission intergovernmental relations addressing intergovernmental relations aspects members congress executive branch governors state legislators local officials private citizens comprise group later year received reports president commission school finance advisory commission intergovernmental relations shall make final recommendations relieving burden property taxes providing fair adequate financing children education consistent principle preserving control local school boards local schools new emphasis career education career education another area major new emphasis emphasis grows belief schools build prepare students productive fulfilling life often happening many students income groups turning tuning educational experiences drop school proceed college many young people find unmotivated ill equipped rewarding social role many americans already entered world work find dissatisfied jobs feel late change directions already locked one reason situation inflexibility educational system including fact rigidly separates academic vocational curricula often vocational education foolishly stigmatized less desirable academic preparation often academic curriculum offers little preparation viable careers students unable combine valuable features vocational academic education chosen one curriculum difficult move present approach serves best interests neither students society unhappy result high numbers able people unemployed underemployed unhappily employed one hand many challenging jobs go begging need new approach believe best new approach strengthen career education career education provides people ages broader exposure better preparation world work helps young also provides adults opportunity adapt skills changing needs changing technology changing interests would prematurely force individual specific area work would expand ability choose wisely wider range options neither would result slighting academic preparation would remain central part educational blend career education single specific program usefully thought goal one pursue many methods need today nationwide search methods search involves every area education every level government help spark venture propose intensified federal effort develop model programs apply test best ideas field disconcerting waste waste human potential better investment investment human fulfillment career education help make education training meaningful student rewarding teacher available adult relevant disadvantaged productive country manpower programs tapping full potential trillion dollar economy rests final analysis 88 million member labor force well force used today well force prepared tomorrow central questions country particularly important questions time stiff economic challenge burgeoning economic opportunity time must find better ways tap full potential every citizen means open new education employment opportunities members minority groups means stronger effort help veteran find useful satisfying work tap enormous talents elderly means helping women whatever role choose realize full potential also means caring unemployed sustaining retraining helping find new employment administration grappled directly assignments began completely revamping manpower administration department labor expanded manpower programs record levels proposed congress enacted massive reform unemployment insurance adding 9 million workers system expanding size duration benefits instituted job bank match jobs available workers efforts national alliance businessmen train hire unemployed given new nationwide focus organization also joined jobs veterans program finding employment returning servicemen worked open jobs women philadelphia plan actions expanded equal opportunity employment members minority groups summer jobs disadvantaged youths went last summer july 12 last year signed emergency employment act 1971 providing jobs public sector manpower field others also important unfinished agenda top list special revenue sharing program manpower bill would provide federal dollars manpower training increasing substantially impact dollar allowing states cities tailor training local labor conditions welfare reform proposals also pertinent context since built around goal moving people welfare rolls payrolls help effort 1 would provide transitional opportunities community service employment another persons career education program also important influence way use manpower major new thrust announcing today stimulate imaginative use america great strength science technology marshalling science technology work build productive competitive prosperous america well remember keys progress past many including competitive nature free enterprise system energy working men women abundant gifts nature one quality always key progress special bent technology singular ability harness discoveries science service man least time benjamin franklin american ingenuity enjoyed wide international reputation known people could build better mousetrap capacity one important reason domestic prosperity international strength recent years america focused large share technological energy projects defense space projects great value defense technology helped us preserve freedom protect peace space technology enabled us share unparalleled adventures lift sights beyond earth bounds daily life average man also improved much defense space research example work radar jet engines nuclear reactors communications weather satellites computers defense space projects also enabled us build maintain general technological capacity result readily applied civilian purposes america must continue strong sensible programs research development defense space felt time however also apply scientific technological genius directly domestic opportunities toward end already increased civilian research development budget 40 percent since 1969 directed national science foundation give attention area also reoriented space program even greater domestic benefits part effort recently announced support development new earth orbital vehicle promises introduce new era space research vehicle space shuttle one recovered used lowering significantly cost risk space operations space shuttle would also open new opportunities fields weather forecasting domestic international communications monitoring natural resources air traffic safety space shuttle wise national investment urge congress approve plan realize substantial economies substantial benefits last several months administration undertaken major review problems opportunities american technology leading scientists researchers universities industry contributed study one important conclusion reached much needs known process stimulating applying research development cases example barriers progress financial others technical still instances customs habits laws regulations chief obstacles need learn intend one immediate step effort white house conference industrial world ahead convene next month devote considerable attention research development questions knowledge field still modest nevertheless number important new steps take time soon present specific recommendations steps special message congress among proposals increase next year 700 million civilian research development spending 15 percent increase last year level 65 percent increase 1969 place new emphasis cooperation private research development including new experimental programs cost sharing technology transfers public private sector program include special incentives smaller high technology firms excellent record cost effectiveness addition federal agencies highly oriented toward technology atomic energy commission national aeronautics space administration work closely agencies primary social mission example outstanding capabilities space technology used help department transportation develop better mass transportation systems said often last 2 years nation send three people across miles space moon also able send people 3 miles across city work finally seek set clear intelligent targets research development resources focused projects extra effort likely produce breakthrough breakthrough likely make difference lives initial efforts include new accelerated activities aimed creating new sources clean abundant energy developing safe fast transportation reducing loss life property earthquakes hurricanes natural disasters developing effective emergency health care systems could lead saving many lives year finding new ways curb drug traffic rehabilitate drug users beginning predict exactly new thrusts eventually lead us years ahead say assurance program outlined open new employment opportunities american workers increase productivity american economy expand foreign markets american goods also predict confidence program enhance standard living improve quality lives science technology represent enormous power life unique opportunity us decide whether waste magnificent energies whether use create better world children growing agenda action danger presenting substantial statement concerns requests subject omitted list may reason regarded unimportant hope congress vigorously resist suggestions many important proposals house senate also deserve attention enactment think example program district columbia addition proposals already congress soon submit additional legislation outlining special balanced program physical social development nation capital part bicentennial celebration ways make celebration fitting commemoration revolutionary origins bold step fulfill promise think program help small businessmen proposals concerning communications recommendations involving construction public buildings program arts humanities proposed new budget 6 times level 3 years ago 90 pieces major legislation recommended congress still await action list growing longer congress decide whether agenda represents beginning new progress america simply another false start need reason realism covered many subjects message clearly challenges many complex way things must responsible government diverse complicated world choose course retreat world pretending problems solved merely trusting new philosophy single personality simple formula retreat add difficulties disillusion equal complexity times must learn move many fronts keep many commitments must learn reckon success much start much finish must learn tenacious must learn persevere master moment must first masters must respond call central theme message call reason realism meet challenge complexity must also learn disperse decentralize power home people places release creative energies must remember greatest resource good world power people moving lockstep commands providing discipline discovering destiny must lose capacity dream see amid realities today possibilities tomorrow believe dreams also must wake work richard nixon white house january 20 1972
congress unite state 3 year ago today take oath office president open address day suggest moment history stand moment begin course set shape decade century go say moment look back 3 year later would suggest moment time new course set travel profoundly new course shape decade century still unanswered question however enter fourth year administration moment begin mean little history unless also determination follow beginning set course enough staying course equally important challenge good government involve responsibility make fresh start responsibility perseverance responsibility perseverance one share president public congress come long way example road end vietnam war improve relation adversary initiative depend last mean persistence see magnificent cooperation american people enable u make substantial progress curb inflation reinvigorate economy new prosperity seek complete public continue commitment economic responsibility discipline encourage new start also make last 3 year treat domestic ill continue progress require congress act large grow backlog pending legislation america agenda action already well establish enter 1972 grow week ahead present still initiatives dare let emergence new business obscure urgency old business new agenda little empty gesture abandon even part old agenda yet unfinished get together one measure nation progress first year seventies improvement national morale 1960 time great accomplishment also time grow confusion recovery condition complete make strong begin shake uncertain people recover confidence divide suspicious renew sense common purpose surround shout posture learn low voice also learn listen history 1960 recently publish title come apart today say confidence come apart longer center american life hold get together spirit reason realism pressure election year would easy look upon legislative program merely political device serious agenda must resist temptation year ahead u hold precious time accomplish good nation must dare waste progress depend continue spirit partnership president congress house senate republican democrats spirit require u always agree one another require u approach task together spirit reason realism clear word great servant reason intemperate word great enemy reason cute slogan glib headline clever retort appeal passion way truth good public policy dedicate clear think place interest interest hold ultimate value curb momentary passion think next generation less next election special challenge end war condition nation spirit measure precision factor influence spirit believe dramatic single measurement distance travel last 36 month find statistic concern involvement war vietnam january 20 1969 authorized troop ceiling vietnam withdrawal plan bring men home seven occasion since time announce withdrawal decision involve total troop result troop ceiling may 1 mean 3 year cut troop strength vietnam 87 percent proceed toward goal south vietnam fully able defend reduce level still period expenditure connect war cut drastically drop well 50 percent american air activity southeast asia ground combat role end importantly reduction 95 percent combat death aim cut death casualty toll 100 percent obtain release prisoner war end fight altogether hope end tragic conflict negotiation end vietnamization end shall way fulfill commitment people south vietnam give chance already sacrifice much chance choose future lesson change american people learn many lesson wake helpful dangerous one important lesson best serve interest world set realistic limit try accomplish unilaterally peace world secure progress rapid nation come share fully responsibilities peace progress time conclude united state withdraw international responsibility would make dangerous error tendency among swing one extreme wake vietnam want much world want little must resist temptation must stop swing pendulum move opposite position forge instead attitude toward world balance sensible realistic america important role play international affair great influence exert good throughout century must continue profound concern advance peace freedom effective mean possible even shift somewhat view mean effective policy maintain nuclear deterrent adequate meet threat security united state ally help nation develop capability defend faithfully honor treaty commitment act defend interest whenever wherever threaten place world interest treaty commitment involve role limited intervene militarily use influence prevent war war come use influence try stop war share help bind wound participate open new line communication even seek deal realistically partner must also deal realistically adversary last year make number notable advance toward goal dealing soviet union example able together ally reach historic agreement concern berlin advance prospect limit strategic armament move toward great cooperation space research toward improve economic relationship disappointment south asia uncertainty middle east also progress build build progress past lay foundation great progress future soon visit capital people republic china soviet union visit help fulfill promise make inaugural address say administration line communication open help create open idea open exchange good people world people great small live angry isolation spirit undertake journey must also realistic however scope difference government visit mean difference disappear disappear near future peace depend ability great power live together planet despite difference important thing talk difference rather fight would serious mistake say nothing come expand communication peking moscow would also mistake expect much quickly would also wrong focus much attention new opportunity neglect old friend meet last week leader two hemisphere neighbor canada brazil leader three great european nation prime minister japan believe meeting extremely successful cement understandings government move forward together fast change period consultation ally may receive much attention talk potential adversary make less important cornerstone foreign policy remain remain close bond friends around world strong defense guardian peace two additional element critical effort strengthen structure peace first military strength unite state last 3 year move wartime peacetime footing period continue confrontation arm competition period negotiation potential arm limitation period america often act policeman world period nation assume great responsibility defense recently encourage example decision european ally increase share nato defense budget 1 billion part process end production chemical biological weaponry convert two large facility production humanitarian research able reduce period even eliminate draft call 1971 draft call high peak vietnam war fell low level since 1962 come year significantly low confident middle next year achieve goal reduce draft call zero result development defense spending fall 7 percent gross national product current fiscal year compare percent 1964 percent 1968 figure percent fiscal year 1973 without sacrifice security interest able bring defense spending level human resource spending first time 20 year condition maintain new budget also first time allocate money department health education welfare department defense avoid extreme reaction political attitude toward world must avoid plan defense reverse spending priority never compromise national security never step weaken america defense also weaken prospect peace plan next year call increase defense spending increase make necessary part rise research development cost part military pay increase turn help u eliminate draft part need proceed new weapon system maintain security adequate level even seek great urgency stable control armament ignore fact others go forward major increase arm program year ahead work improve protect diversify disperse strategic force way make even less vulnerable attack effective deterring war request substantial budget increase preserve sufficiency strategic nuclear deterrent include allocation 900 million improve seabased deterrent force recently direct department defense develop program build additional missile launch submarine carry new far effective missile also proceed program reoutfit polaris submarine poseidon missile system replace old missile minuteman iii deploy safeguard antiballistic missile system time must move maintain strength sea navy budget increase 2 billion current fiscal year ask similar increase next year particular emphasis shipbuilding program military research development program must also step budget area increase 594 million current fiscal year recommend increase next year 838 million also propose substantial program develop procure effective weapon system land tactical air force improve national guard reserve provide modern weapon well train addition expand strong program attract volunteer career soldier phase draft cooperation congress able double basic pay first time enlistees substantial military pay increase plan also submit congress overall reform military retirement survivor benefit program raise level protection military family addition expand effort improve race relation equalize promotional opportunity control drug abuse generally improve quality life arm force take step let u remember strong military defense enemy peace guardian peace ability build stable tranquil world achieve arm control agreement ability negotiate position strength seek adequate power end mean achieve purpose purpose peace inaugural address 3 year ago call cooperation reduce burden arm encourage progress make toward goal also add comment would tempt weakness let u leave doubt strong need long need today repeat reminder realistic program foreign assistance another important expression america interest influence world foreign assistance effort effort special significance time reduce direct military presence abroad encouraging country assume great responsibility grow ability undertake responsibility often depend america foreign assistance take significant step reform foreign assistance program recent year eliminate waste give great impact three imperative rest congress fund full level assistance earlier recommend current fiscal year present interim funding arrangement expire late february act upon fundamental aid reform proposal submit administration 1971 modify statute govern response expropriation american property foreign government recommend recent statement security overseas investment action take together constitute exception emerge pattern realistic american role world rather fully consistent crucially important element pattern work help partner world community develop economic potential strengthen military force also cooperate fully meet international challenge menace narcotic threat pollution growth population proper use sea seabed plight victimized war natural disaster global problem must confront global basis effort unite nation respond creatively challenge promise work nato environmental field must build beginning america influence good unite state world policeman keeper moral conscience whether like still represent force stability often unstable world force justice world often unjust force progress world desperately need progress force peace world weary war great influence good world reason bear great responsibility whether fulfill responsibility whether fully use influence good question answer reshape attitude policy toward country determine defensive capability make fundamental decision foreign assistance soon discuss concern great detail annual report congress foreign policy influence good world depend course decision touch directly international affair also internal sense pride purpose vitality economy success effort build good life people let u turn state union abroad state union home economy toward new prosperity vietnam war occasion much spiritual crisis lay root economic problem 3 year ago attempt finance war budget deficit period full employment produce wave price inflation dangerous persistent history persistent frankly expect would first take office yield slowly dual effort cool war cool inflation challenge compound need reabsorb 2 million person release armed force industry substantial expansion labor force short escalation vietnam war late 1960 destroyed price stability war early 1970 impede full employment throughout year however remain convinced price stability full employment realistic goal country last summer become apparent effort eradicate inflation without wage price control would either take long take effect quickly would come cost persistent high unemployment cost unacceptable august 15th therefore announce series new economic policy speed progress toward new prosperity without inflation peacetime policy receive strong support congress american people result effective carry forward policy three important step take past december within brief period also help make coming year good year american economy december 10 sign law revenue act 1971 provide tax cut next 3 year 15 billion cut request stimulate economy provide hundred thousand new job december 22 sign law economic stabilization act amendment 1971 allow u continue program wage price restraint break back inflation two event december 18 able announce major breakthrough international economic front reach cooperation primary economic partner breakthrough mitigate intolerable strain build world monetary payment structure lead removal trade barrier impede american export also set stage broader reform international monetary system avoid repeat monetary crisis future monetary realignment first scope history progress readjust trade condition mean good market american good abroad job american worker home brighter economic picture result step economic picture brighten steadily last 5 month believe continue grow bright judgment alone widely share american people virtually every survey forecast recent week show substantial improvement public attitude economy instrumental shaping economic reality inflationary psychology grip nation tightly long ebb business consumer confidence rise businessmen plan percent increase plant equipment expenditures 1972 four time large increase 1971 consumer spending retail sale rise home building boom housing start last year 40 percent 1970 setting record interest rate sharply income production rise real output economy last 3 month 1971 grow rate double previous two quarter perhaps importantly total employment move 80 million mark record high grow rapidly last 5 month 1971 million additional job create economy unusual increase size total labor force keep unemployment rate fall whatever reason 6 percent unemployment high determine cut percentage variety measure budget present congress next week expansionary budget reflect impact new tax cut expenditures also push increase employment program manpower train public service employment effort expand foreign market new initiative expand employment 1972 different however many period full prosperity come without stimulus war come without inflation program wage price control work consumer price index rise yearly rate slightly 6 percent 1969 first half 1970 rise rate percent august november 1971 would emphasize however ultimate objective lasting price stability without control achieve end inflationary psychology develop 1960 return traditional policy rely free market force determine wage price would also emphasize new budget deficit deficit irresponsible less year actual deficit would disappear entirely full employment condition federal spending continue grow rate increase spending cut sharply little half experience previous administration fact battle inflation lead u adopt new policy wage price restraint obscure continue importance fiscal monetary policy hold cost living important congress join resist temptation overspend accept discipline balance full employment budget soon present complete discussion matter budget message economic report new era international economics enter new period negotiation world politics also move new period negotiation international economic front expect negotiation help u build new international system exchange money new system international trade accomplishment turn open new era fair competition constructive interdependence global economy already make important stride direction realignment exchange rate announce last month represent important forward step also need basic monetary reform make important begin toward alter condition international trade investment expect substantial progress would emphasize progress nation field need come expense others nation benefit right kind monetary trade reform certainly united state high stake improvement international economic position slowly deteriorating time condition could dangerous implication influence abroad prosperity home estimate example full employment prosperity depend creation 20 million additional job decade expand foreign market effective way expand domestic employment one major reason weaken international economic position ground rule exchange good money force u compete one hand tie behind back one important accomplishment 1971 progress change situation compete effectively monetary trade reform one part story ability united state hold world competition depend fairness rule also competitiveness economy make great progress last month improve term competition must also strengthen ability economy compete stand today turn point history country history planet one hand opportunity help bring new economic order world open order nation eagerly face outward build network interdependence best foundation prosperity peace also tempt month ahead take opposite course withdraw world economically would u withdraw politically build economic fortress america within grow weakness could conceal like child go play child would probably save minor bump bruise short run adopt course long run world would surely pass u reject approach remain commit open world discuss inaugural address work inviting climate america economic activity abroad place much emphasis increase productivity economy home also believe firmly must stimulate investment economy find effective way develop use new technology well job train use skilled manpower acute awareness international economic challenge lead creation one year ago council international economic policy new institution help u understand challenge good respond effectively understand deepens discover additional way improve ability compete example enhance competitive position move implement metric system measurement proposal secretary commerce present detail congress last year also far gain fair share international tourism market estimate 17 billion annually one large factor world trade substantial part balance payment deficit result fact american tourist abroad spend billion foreign tourist spend united state help correct situation attract foreign tourist shore especially enter bicentennial era therefore request budget united state travel service nearly double coming year unfinished agenda progress toward build new economic order home abroad make possible cooperation cohesion american people sure many american misgivings one aspect another new economic policy introduce last summer nevertheless ready accept new effort order build broad support essential effective change time come u apply sense realism reasonability reform proposal languish domestic agenda case economic policy american agree need change welfare system health strategy program improve environment way finance state local government organization government federal level american satisfied status quo education transportation law enforcement drug control community development area others put forward specific proposal responsive deep desire change yet achieve change often difficult progress area part nation show sense response social challenge develop meet economic need ready compromise difference build broad coalition change often find situation stalemate essentially nothing even though u agree nothing bad thing two year ago week one year ago message state union contain broad proposal domestic reform present number new proposal year message also call renew urgency action unfinished agenda welfare reform first item unfinished business welfare reform since first present proposal august 1969 4 million additional person add welfare roll cost old welfare system grown additional billion people move fast welfare roll payrolls much traffic way antiquate welfare system responsible calamity new program workfare would begin end today ever need new program base dignity work provide strong incentive work include able work effective work requirement today ever need new program help hold family together rather drive apart provide day care service low income mother trade dependence government dignity employment relieve intolerable fiscal pressure state local government replace 54 administrative system efficient reliable nationwide approach give prominent attention subject three consecutive message state union house representative pass welfare reform twice new economic legislation pass urge senate finance committee place welfare reform top agenda earnest hope congress adjourns welfare reform item pending business accomplish reality revenue share return power people time introduce welfare proposal 2 year ago also present program share federal revenue state local government last year greatly expand concept yet despite undisputed evidence compel need despite overwhelm public support despite endorsement major political party nation governor mayor despite fact nation federal system government already program revenue share still remain list unfinished business call today enactment revenue share first full year operation propose program would spend billion general purpose six special purpose program law enforcement manpower education transportation rural community development urban community development welfare reform need revenue share becomes acute time pass financial crisis state local government deepen pattern breakdown state municipal service grow threaten inequitable tax pressure mount demand flexible responsive government level closer problem closer people build revenue share help u meet challenge help reverse flow power resource toward washington send power resource back state community people revenue share bring new sense accountability new burst energy new spirit creativity federal system pleased house way mean committee make revenue share first order business new session urge congress enact session empty program bear revenue share label continue outworn system categorical grant bold comprehensive program genuine revenue share also present last year 100 million program planning management grant help state locality well job analyze problem carry solution hope program also quickly accept state local government get new lease life hope bring government back people strong sense individual control life every person make difference overhaul machinery government executive reorganization work make state local government responsive responsible let u also seek goal federal level urge congress enact proposal reorganize executive branch federal government support general public well serve executive branch several president encourage success important organizational reform already make include restructured executive office president new domestic council new office management budget unit reorganize field operation federal agency strong mechanisms interagency coordination federal regional council new united state postal service new office purpose protect environment coordinate communication policy help consumer stimulate voluntary service centerpiece effort streamline executive branch still await approval government put together often determine well government job found father understood fact thus give detailed attention precise structural question since time however especially recent decade new responsibility new constituency cause structure establish expand enormously piecemeal haphazard fashion result federal government today often sluggish unresponsive institution unable deliver dollar worth service dollar worth tax answer problem streamline executive branch reduce overall number executive department create four new department exist responsibility would refocus coherent comprehensive way rationale advance call organize new department around major purpose government create department natural resource department human resource department community development department economic affair revise original plan would eliminate department agriculture rather restructure department focus effectively need farmer congress recently reorganize operation chief justice unite state lead major effort reform restructure judicial branch impulse reorganization strong need reorganization clear hope congress let opportunity sweep reform executive branch slip away new approach delivery social service step put machinery government proper work order also propose new legislation reform rationalize way social service deliver family individual today often seem service program unresponsive recipient need wasteful taxpayer money major reason extreme fragmentation rather pull many service together present system separate narrow rigid category father family help one program daughter another elderly parent third individual go one place nutritional help another health service still another educational counseling community find transfer federal fund one program area another area need press meanwhile official level government find waste enormous amount time energy taxpayer money untangle federal red tape time energy dollar could better spent meeting people need need new approach delivery social service one build around people around program need approach treat person whole treat family unit need break rigid categorical wall open narrow bureaucratic compartment consolidate coordinate relate program comprehensive approach relate problem ally service act soon submit congress offer one set tool carry new approach program department health education welfare would strengthen state local plan administrative capacity allow transfer fund among various hew program permit waiver certain cumbersome federal requirement streamline simplify delivery service would help people move rapidly public dependency toward dignity good men good money waste bad mechanism give mechanism thorough overhaul help restore confidence people capacity government protect environment central theme earlier message state union state environment importance make peace nature last year time environmental value become firmly embedded attitude institution federal level establish new environmental protection agency new council environmental quality new national oceanic atmospheric administration propose entire new department natural resource new air quality standard set evidence air many city become less polluted authority grant refuse act 1899 institute new permit program first time allow federal government inventory significant industrial source water pollution specify require abatement action refuse act 160 civil action 320 criminal action stop water pollution file alleged polluter last 12 month major program also launch build new municipal waste treatment facility stop pollution federal facility expand wilderness area leave legacy park future generation outlay inner city park significantly expand 62 federal tract transfer state local government recreational us come year hope transfer local park use much federal land suitable recreation underutilized trust congress delay process strike fact environmental legislation early 1970 much propose little enacted major legislative proposal make special message congress environment last winter 18 still await final action include measure regulate pesticide toxic substance control noise pollution restrict dump ocean coastal water great lakes create effective policy use development land regulate sit power plant control strip mining help achieve many important environmental goal unfinished agenda also include national resource land management act measure improve environmental protection federally own land need action area urgent force threaten environment wait procrastinate afford rest last year agenda environmental field understand problem increase must range response accordingly soon send congress another message environment present administrative legislative initiative altogether new budget contain three time much money environmental program fiscal year 1973 spent fiscal year 1969 fail meeting environmental challenge however would even costly urge congress put aside narrow partisan perspective merely ask whether act protect environment focus instead difficult question action effectively carry abundant clean energy message congress energy policy last june outline additional step relate environment also merit renew attention challenge define produce sufficient supply energy fuel industrial civilization time protect beautiful healthy environment convince achieve goal respect good earth without turn back progress message last june present long list mean assure ample supply clean energy include liquid metal fast breeder reactor emphasize importance often take several year bring new technology use energy field time delay accordingly include new budget increase funding promise clean energy program act year avoid choose future year little energy much pollution keep people healthy national health strategy outline last february design achieve one nation important goal 1970 improve quality availability medical care fight trend toward runaway cost important element strategy already enact comprehensive health manpower training act nurse train act sign november 18 represent effort history increase supply doctor nurse dentist health professional attract area experience manpower shortage national cancer act sign december 23 mark climax effort step campaign cancer past year cancer research budget increase 100 million full weight office give war disease also expand fight sickle cell anemia additional 5 million hope action significant front first session 92nd congress match action area second session health maintenance organization act example essential tool help doctor deliver care effectively efficiently great emphasis prevention early treatment work keep people healthy instead treat u sick health maintenance organization great deal help u reduce medical cost national health insurance partnership legislation also essential assure american deny basic medical care inability pay often present health insurance leave critical outpatient service uncover distort way facility use also fail protect adequately catastrophic cost provide sufficient assistance poor answer suggest comprehensive national plan one nationalizes private health insurance industry one correct weaknesses system build considerable strength large part enormous increase nation expenditures health recent year go additional service merely meet price inflation effort balance grow demand care increase supply service help change picture part economic program design control medical cost confident continued cooperation provide health service succeed important battlefront war inflation program next year also include fund increase health research include substantial new sum cancer sickle cell anemia well increase medical school meet special problem drug addiction alcoholism also plan construct new veteran hospital expand staff exist one addition give increased attention fight disease heart blood vessel lung presently account half death country deeply disturb realize largely heart disease mortality rate men age 55 twice great united state example scandinavian country shortly assign panel distinguish expert help u determine heart disease prevalent menace also recommend expand budget national heart lung institute young father struck heart attack prime life productive citizen cripple stroke old person torture breathe difficulty later year tragedy reduce number must possible reduce nutrition one critical area work advance health nation combat hunger improve nutrition increase new budget expenditures food stamp program increase ninefold since 1969 billion level spending school lunch needy child increase sevenfold 107 million 1969 770 million 1973 new regulation implement year ahead able increase equity food stamp program adequacy benefit cop accident prevent last year americans lose life accident four hundred thousand permanently disable 10 million temporarily disabled loss economy accident last year estimate 28 billion sad stagger figure especially since toll could greatly reduce upgrading emergency medical service improvement even require new scientific breakthrough require apply present knowledge effectively help effort direct department health education welfare develop new way organize emergency medical service provide care accident victim improve communication transportation training emergency personnel save many thousand life would otherwise lose accident sudden illness one significant joint accomplishment congress administration vigorous new program protect accident illnesses occupational health safety program strengthen year ahead ongoing effort promote air traffic safety boat safety safety highway last 3 year motor vehicle death rate fall 13 percent still lose life highway year lose combat entire vietnam war fully death directly link alcohol appal reality blight entire active concern entire nation remove federal government continue help effort promote highway safety automobile safety strong program help problem drinker yesterday goal tomorrow accomplishment welfare reform revenue share executive reorganization environmental protection new national health strategy along economic improvement constitute six great goal emphasize last state union address six major component new american revolution remain six area great concern today cooperation congress six area great accomplishment tomorrow challenge face reduce six category opportunity manifold action many front require partly reason state union address year include write message congress give chance discus fully number program also belong list high priority action age last month join thousand delegate white house conference age personal commitment make 1972 year action behalf 21 million old american today call congress join pledge unless american dream come true old generation complete generation begin make year action age act number proposal pending since 1969 old american significant bill designate legislation also contain general welfare reform measure would place national floor income old american guarantee social security benefit allow social security recipient earn work increase benefit widow provide across increase social security altogether 1 mean billion increase benefit america old citizen hope congress also take opportunity eliminate monthly fee charge part b medicare step would add additional billion income elderly addition would come top earlier social security increase total 3 billion last 3 year number newer proposal also deserve approval request budget administration age increase last year request 100 million part expand program help old citizen live dignify life home recommend substantially large budget program give old american well chance serve countryman retire senior volunteer foster grandparent others also work ease burden property tax many old american find inequitable burdensome initiative include proposal extend improve old american act present review recommendation white house conference age new domestic council committee age recommendation top agenda also follow 1972 one important 1971 initiative crackdown substandard nurse home give special attention provide alternative arrangement victimize facility legislation submit provide great financial security retirement cover private pension plan also merit prompt action congress half country work force cover tax deductible private pension half deserve tax deduction retirement saving cover pension plan deserve assurance plan administer strict fiduciary standard full disclosure also security provide prompt vest assurance even one leave give job still receive pension earn retires legislation propose would achieve goal would also raise limit deductible pension saving state union strong today old american long give country state union stronger tomorrow recognize much still contribute best thing country give old citizen chance part chance play continue role great american adventure equal opportunity minority america best approach 200th birthday unless american opportunity best free open american society one true ideal founder must give citizen equal chance start line equal opportunity go far high talent energy take nation proud progress make assure equal opportunity member minority group recent year many measure progress since 1969 virtually eliminate dual school system south three year ago 68 percent black child south attend black school today 9 percent attend school entirely black nationally number 100 percent minority school decrease 70 percent past 3 year expand educational opportunity propose budget predominantly black college exceed 200 million next year double level 3 year ago economic front overall federal aid minority business enterprise increase threefold last 3 year propose increase 90 million federal hiring among minority intensify despite cutback federal employment federal employee member minority group build strong effort philadelphia plan work harder ensure federal contractor meet fair hiring standard compliance review step level 300 percent high 1969 propose budget equal employment opportunity commission 36 percent next year propose budget enforce fair housing law grow 20 percent also support legislation strengthen enforcement power eeoc provide commission authority seek court enforcement decision give jurisdiction hiring practice state local government overall propose budget civil right activity 25 percent next year increase give u nearly three time much money advance civil right 3 year ago also plan 42 percent increase budget cabinet committee opportunity spanish speak propose congress extend operation civil right commission another period indians one major initiative second year presidency design bring new era future american indian determine indian act indian decision comprehensive program put forward seek avoid twin danger paternalism one hand termination trust responsibility part program become effective include generous settlement alaska native claim return taos pueblo indian sacred land around blue lake construction grant authorize assist navajo community college first institution high education also make progress toward indian administrative front newly reorganize bureau indian affair almost leadership concentrating resource program development include redirection employment assistance strengthen reservation economy create local indian action team manpower train increase contract education function indian community urge congress join help indian help field health education protection land water right economic development talk injustice first americans long enough indian leader put time come rain less thunder equal right woman administration also continue strong effort open equal opportunity woman recognize clearly woman often deny opportunity today every woman may want career outside home every woman freedom choose whatever career wish equal chance pursue already move vigorously job discrimination base sex private public sector first time guideline issue require government contractor private sector action plan hire promotion woman commit strong enforcement equal employment opportunity woman title vii civil right act help carry commitment propose congress jurisdiction commission civil right broaden encompass discrimination within government woman appoint high post ever result directive issue april 1971 number woman appoint federal position double number woman federal middle management position also increase dramatically woman ever appoint presidential board commission vigorous program recruit woman federal service continue intensified come year opportunity veteran grateful nation owe serviceman servicewomen every opportunity open return civilian life nation may weary war dare grow weary right borne heavy burden federal government carry responsibility many way bill spend 2 time 1973 1969 home loan program disability pension also expand well medical service include strong new drug treatment program budget veteran hospital already many time 1969 level step next year particularly concern last 3 year employment veteran experience high unemployment rate serve armed force past year announce national program increase public awareness problem provide train counseling veteran seek job help find employment opportunity direction secretary labor help job veteran committee national alliance businessmen program move forward first five month operation vietnamera veteran place job employment service enrol job training program next six month expect employment service place additional veteran job enroll nearly manpower training program let u never forget many area opportunity individual contribute fully society depend final analysis response community individual great role american youth full participation first class citizenship must goals america young people help achieve goal sign legislation lower minimum voting age 18 june 1970 move secure court validation constitutionality take special pleasure year later witness certification amendment place franchise guarantee constitution voice election time alone enough young people hear government basis end direction agency throughout federal government step hire young people open new youth advisory channel also convene first white house youth conference forum whose recommendation receive thorough review executive department several reform also mean great freedom opportunity america young people draft call substantially reduce step toward target reduce zero lottery system new procedure contribution youth advisory council young member local board make draft far fair educational reform proposal embody principle qualified student want go college bar lack guarantee would open door opportunity many thousand deserve young people new career education emphasis also significant springboard good job reward life young america extra dimension sixty seventy drive help less fortunate activist idealism bent make world well place live new action volunteer agency build successful experience constituent unit peace corps vista already broaden service opportunity new program prospect congress part forward positive momentum assure action program sufficient fund carry mission american farmer face challenge compete effectively abroad produce efficiently home entire nation take american farmer model productivity industry go 60 percent last 20 year agricultural productivity go 200 percent nearly 3 time much one result well product low price american consumer another farmer hold international market figure last fiscal year show nearly 900 million surplus commercial agricultural trade strength american agriculture heart strength america american farmer deserve fair share fruit prosperity still much ground cover arrive goal move steadily toward 1950 income average farmer 58 percent counterpart today figure stand 74 percent nearly high enough move right direction gross farm income reach record high 1971 1972 increase 2 billion predict restraint production cost net farm income expect rise 1972 percent 1 billion average income per farm expect go 8 percent high next 12 month still serious farm taking strong action meet promise 3 year ago end sharp skid farm export keep promise 2 year farm export climb 37 percent last year set record expand marketing program agreement sell 2 million ton fee grain soviet union massive aid south asia public law 480 effort halt transportation strike old law propose new well one effort others move u toward 10 billion farm export goal also promise expand domestic market improve management surplus help way raise price receive farmer keep promise surprisingly large harvest drove corn price last year rise sharply since last november price receive dairy farmer high level history last year continue strong 1972 soybean price high level two decade price receive farmer hog poultry egg expect go higher expanded government purchase assistance also provide great boost farm income close cooperation congress expand farmer freedom flexibility agricultural act 1970 strengthen farm credit system substantially increase availability farm credit program control plant animal disease soil water conservation also expand effort continue effort improve legal climate cooperative bargaining important factor protect vitality family farm resist excessive government management develop rural america address congress time 2 year ago speak fact county lose population 1960 many rural area slowly emptied people promise work reverse picture include rural america nationwide program foster balance growth strike realize even population one billion nearly five time current level area great would still densely populate many european nation present clearly problem much number distribution must work revitalize american countryside begin make progress front last 3 year rural housing program increase 450 percent 1969 1973 number family benefit rural water sewer program 75 percent great 1969 work encourage sensible growth pattern location federal facility first biennial report national growth release near future describe pattern policy implication many way respond challenge must congress begin pass billion program special revenue share rural community development addition soon present major proposal expand significantly credit authority farmer home administration agency do much help individual also help spur commercial industrial community development rural america hopefully fha able undertake work part new department community development way help ensure rural america year ahead nation begin area look eagerly future sense hope promise commitment city commitment balance growth also require commitment old city threaten decay suburb sprawl senselessly inadequate plan new city yet bear clearly need grow population discuss challenge special message congress population growth american future summer often discuss since recommendation transportation education health welfare revenue share plan management assistance executive reorganization propose land use policy act proposal many area touch directly community development one key good city well coordination many component two pending proposal go straight heart challenge first new department community development would provide single point focus strategy growth second special revenue share urban community development would remove rigidity categorical project grant much fragment planning delay action discourage local responsibility new budget propose 300 million increase full year level propose program year ago department housing urban development work foster orderly growth city number additional way plan variation concept introduce model city program give locality control future hud program considerably decentralize new community program move forward seven project receive final approval department effort expand mortgage capital double level subsidize housing encourage new efficient building technique program like operation breakthrough contributed record level housing start still do congress enact administration housing consolidation simplification act propose 1970 federal government one many influence development pattern across land nevertheless influence considerable must see influence good improve transportation although executive branch congress lead different party last 3 year cooperate particular effectiveness field transportation together shape urban mass transportation assistance act 1970 10 billion effort expand improve common carrier thus make city livable brought effect 3 billion ship construction program well increase research effort modify program operating subsidy revamp merchant marine accelerate effort improve air travel new airport airway trust fund work fresh way save improve railway passenger service great progress also make promote transportation safety move effectively cargo theft skyjack hope strong record even strong time 92nd congress adjourns hope special revenue share program transportation reality city state make good plan great freedom achieve proper balance among many mode transportation hope recommendation revitalize surface freight transportation accept include measure modernize railway equipment operation update regulatory practice encourage competition flexibility efficiency among freight carrier step could save american people billion dollar freight cost every year help curb inflation expand employment improve balance trade one damaging perplex economic problem massive prolong transportation strike reason public helpless victim strike frequently happen dock strike example extremely costly american people particularly farmer whole year income hinge promptly move good last year railroad strike also deal severe blow economy emergency could meet far effectively congress enact emergency public interest protection act propose february 1970 pass legislation session congress give u permanent machinery badly need resolve future dispute historically transportation system provide cut edge development keep country fall behind time must keep well ahead event transportation plan place emphasis spending money year transportation research development reason propose 65 percent increase 1 billion level budget mass transportation highway build first priority great success story past two decade must write similar success story mass transportation 1970 peace home fighting crime quest peace abroad last 3 year accompany intensive quest peace home success stabilize development international scene match grow sense stability america civil disorder longer engulf city colleges university become place learn crime still increase rate increase slow low one city federal government special responsibility washington picture even brighter serious crime actually fell 13 percent last year washington one 52 major city record net reduction crime first nine month 1971 compare 23 major city make comparable progress year earlier encourage begin something happen believe result directly strong new crime fighting effort administration congress state local government federal expenditure crime increase 200 percent since 1969 propose another 18 percent increase new budget organize grime control act 1970 district columbia court reform act omnibus crime control act 1970 provide new instrument important battle effort expand federal strike force program weapon organize crime late last year hold first national conference correction continue move forward critical field also propose legislation improve juvenile delinquency prevention program urge action special revenue share proposal law enforcement continue step assistance local law enforcement authority law enforcement assistance administration continue press improve court correctional institution continue intensified war drug abuse continue give vigorous support principle order respect law believe achieve nation capital achieve grow number community throughout nation combat drug abuse problem modern life deep concern americans particular anguish many drug abuse increase dependence drug surely sap nation strength destroy nation character meeting challenge task government alone hearten effort million individual american walk life try communicate across barrier create drug use reach compassion become drug dependent federal government continue lead effort last 3 year see increase nearly 600 percent federal expenditure treatment rehabilitation increase 500 percent program level research education train propose substantial increase program come year order develop national strategy effort coordinate activity spread nine federal agency ask congress last june create special action office drug abuse prevention also establish interim office executive order unit begin impact must legislative authority fund request office move ahead critical mission another front united state continue press strong collective effort nation throughout world eliminate drug source intensify attack drug smuggler protect cabinet committee international narcotic control create last september coordinate diplomatic law enforcement effort area also step program curb illicit drug traffic border within country last 3 year federal expenditure work double propose funding increase next year addition soon initiate major new program drive drug trafficker pusher street america program build around nationwide network investigative prospective unit utilize special grand jury establish organize crime control act 1970 assist state local agency detect arrest convict would profit misery others strengthen consumer protection plan 1972 include step protect consumer hazardous food drug dangerous product effort carry forward campaign launched 1969 establish buyer bill right strengthen consumer protection part campaign establish new office consumer affair direct special assistant consumer affair give consumer great access government promote consumer education encourage voluntary effort business work state local government help federal government improve activity also establish new consumer product information coordinate center general service administration help u share wider range federal research buy expertise public many plan field still await congressional action include measure insure product safety fight consumer fraud require full disclosure warranty guarantee protect unsafe medical device reform renew education nearly 2 year ago march 1970 presented major proposal reform renewal education proposal include student assistance measure ensure qualify person would bar college lack money national institute education bring new energy new direction educational research national foundation high education encourage innovation learn beyond high school initiative still await final action congress deserve prompt approval would also underscore continue confidence special revenue share education much strengthen backbone educational system public elementary secondary school special revenue share recognizes nation interest improvement without compromise principle local control also call enactment billion program emergency school aid help local school district desegregate wisely well program twice approve house senate different version hope senate send legislation promptly conference committee agreement reach important measure early date bill design help local school district problem incident desegregation must end dual school system conscience constitution require must also good school connection repeat firm belief educational quality vital future child enhance unnecessary busing sole purpose achieve arbitrary racial balance financing school particularly hope 1972 year resolve one critical question face education today best finance school recent year grow scope rise cost education overburden local revenue financial crisis become way life many school district result neither benefit burden education equitably distribute brunt grow pressure fall property tax one inequitable regressive public levy property tax united state represent high proportion public income almost nation double last decade particularly burdensome low middle income family older american intolerable pressure property tax school lead establish president commission school finance march 1970 charge commission responsibility review comprehensively revenue need revenue resource public elementary secondary education commission make final report march time domestic particularly secretary treasury health education welfare also study difficult tangle problem entire question give even great urgency recent court decision california minnesota new jersey texas hold conventional method financing school local property tax discriminatory unconstitutional similar court action pending half state case yet review supreme court ignore serious question raise state local school district entire nation overhaul school finance involve two complex interrelate set problem concern support school also basic relationship federal state local government program tax reform develop set comprehensive proposal deal question leadership secretary treasury carefully review tax aspect proposal week enlist advisory commission intergovernmental relation address intergovernmental relation aspect member congress executive branch governor state legislator local official private citizen comprise group later year receive report president commission school finance advisory commission intergovernmental relation shall make final recommendation relieve burden property tax provide fair adequate financing child education consistent principle preserve control local school board local school new emphasis career education career education another area major new emphasis emphasis grow belief school build prepare student productive fulfilling life often happen many student income group turn tune educational experience drop school proceed college many young people find unmotivated ill equip reward social role many american already enter world work find dissatisfied job feel late change direction already lock one reason situation inflexibility educational system include fact rigidly separate academic vocational curriculum often vocational education foolishly stigmatize less desirable academic preparation often academic curriculum offer little preparation viable career student unable combine valuable feature vocational academic education choose one curriculum difficult move present approach serve best interest neither student society unhappy result high number able people unemployed underemployed unhappily employ one hand many challenging job go beg need new approach believe best new approach strengthen career education career education provide people age broader exposure good preparation world work help young also provide adult opportunity adapt skill change need change technology change interest would prematurely force individual specific area work would expand ability choose wisely wide range option neither would result slight academic preparation would remain central part educational blend career education single specific program usefully think goal one pursue many method need today nationwide search method search involve every area education every level government help spark venture propose intensified federal effort develop model program apply test best idea field disconcert waste waste human potential well investment investment human fulfillment career education help make education training meaningful student reward teacher available adult relevant disadvantage productive country manpower program tap full potential trillion dollar economy rest final analysis 88 million member labor force well force use today well force prepared tomorrow central question country particularly important question time stiff economic challenge burgeon economic opportunity time must find good way tap full potential every citizen mean open new education employment opportunities member minority group mean strong effort help veteran find useful satisfy work tap enormous talent elderly mean help woman whatever role choose realize full potential also mean care unemployed sustain retrain help find new employment administration grapple directly assignment begin completely revamp manpower administration department labor expand manpower program record level propose congress enact massive reform unemployment insurance add 9 million worker system expand size duration benefit institute job bank match job available worker effort national alliance businessmen train hire unemployed give new nationwide focus organization also join job veteran program find employment return serviceman work open job woman philadelphia plan action expand equal opportunity employment member minority group summer job disadvantage youth go last summer july 12 last year sign emergency employment act 1971 provide job public sector manpower field others also important unfinished agenda top list special revenue share program manpower bill would provide federal dollar manpower train increase substantially impact dollar allow state city tailor train local labor condition welfare reform proposal also pertinent context since build around goal move people welfare roll payroll help effort 1 would provide transitional opportunity community service employment another person career education program also important influence way use manpower major new thrust announce today stimulate imaginative use america great strength science technology marshal science technology work build productive competitive prosperous america well remember key progress past many include competitive nature free enterprise system energy work men woman abundant gifts nature one quality always key progress special bent technology singular ability harness discovery science service man least time benjamin franklin american ingenuity enjoy wide international reputation know people could build good mousetrap capacity one important reason domestic prosperity international strength recent year america focus large share technological energy project defense space project great value defense technology help u preserve freedom protect peace space technology enable u share unparalleled adventure lift sight beyond earth bound daily life average man also improve much defense space research example work radar jet engine nuclear reactor communication weather satellite computer defense space project also enable u build maintain general technological capacity result readily apply civilian purpose america must continue strong sensible program research development defense space felt time however also apply scientific technological genius directly domestic opportunity toward end already increased civilian research development budget 40 percent since 1969 direct national science foundation give attention area also reorient space program even great domestic benefit part effort recently announce support development new earth orbital vehicle promise introduce new era space research vehicle space shuttle one recover use lower significantly cost risk space operation space shuttle would also open new opportunity field weather forecast domestic international communication monitor natural resource air traffic safety space shuttle wise national investment urge congress approve plan realize substantial economy substantial benefit last several month administration undertaken major review problem opportunity american technology lead scientist researcher university industry contribute study one important conclusion reach much need know process stimulate apply research development case example barrier progress financial others technical still instance custom habit law regulation chief obstacle need learn intend one immediate step effort white house conference industrial world ahead convene next month devote considerable attention research development question knowledge field still modest nevertheless number important new step take time soon present specific recommendation step special message congress among proposal increase next year 700 million civilian research development spending 15 percent increase last year level 65 percent increase 1969 place new emphasis cooperation private research development include new experimental program cost share technology transfer public private sector program include special incentive small high technology firm excellent record cost effectiveness addition federal agency highly orient toward technology atomic energy commission national aeronautics space administration work closely agency primary social mission example outstanding capability space technology use help department transportation develop good mass transportation system say often last 2 year nation send three people across mile space moon also able send people 3 mile across city work finally seek set clear intelligent target research development resource focus project extra effort likely produce breakthrough breakthrough likely make difference life initial effort include new accelerated activity aim create new source clean abundant energy develop safe fast transportation reduce loss life property earthquake hurricane natural disaster develop effective emergency health care system could lead save many life year find new way curb drug traffic rehabilitate drug user begin predict exactly new thrust eventually lead u year ahead say assurance program outline open new employment opportunity american worker increase productivity american economy expand foreign market american good also predict confidence program enhance standard live improve quality live science technology represent enormous power life unique opportunity u decide whether waste magnificent energy whether use create well world child grow agenda action danger present substantial statement concern request subject omit list may reason regard unimportant hope congress vigorously resist suggestion many important proposal house senate also deserve attention enactment think example program district columbia addition proposal already congress soon submit additional legislation outline special balanced program physical social development nation capital part bicentennial celebration way make celebration fitting commemoration revolutionary origin bold step fulfill promise think program help small businessmen proposal concern communication recommendation involve construction public building program art humanity propose new budget 6 time level 3 year ago 90 piece major legislation recommend congress still await action list grow long congress decide whether agenda represent begin new progress america simply another false start need reason realism cover many subject message clearly challenge many complex way thing must responsible government diverse complicate world choose course retreat world pretend problem solve merely trust new philosophy single personality simple formula retreat add difficulty disillusion equal complexity time must learn move many front keep many commitment must learn reckon success much start much finish must learn tenacious must learn persevere master moment must first master must respond call central theme message call reason realism meet challenge complexity must also learn disperse decentralize power home people place release creative energy must remember great resource good world power people move lockstep command provide discipline discover destiny must lose capacity dream see amid reality today possibility tomorrow believe dream also must wake work richard nixon white house january 20 1972