Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of the 104th Congress, distinguished guests, my fellow Americans all across our land: Let me begin tonight by saying to our men and women in uniform around the world and especially those helping peace take root in Bosnia and to their families, I thank you. America is very, very proud of you. My duty tonight is to report on the state of the Union, not the state of our Government but of our American community, and to set forth our responsibilities, in the words of our Founders, to form a more perfect Union. The state of the Union is strong. Our economy is the healthiest it has been in three decades. We have the lowest combined rates of unemployment and inflation in 27 years. We have completed—created nearly 8 million new jobs, over a million of them in basic industries like construction and automobiles. America is selling more cars than Japan for the first time since the 1970's. And for 3 years in a row, we have had a record number of new businesses started in our country. Our leadership in the world is also strong, bringing hope for new peace. And perhaps most important, we are gaining ground in restoring our fundamental values. The crime rate, the welfare and food stamp rolls, the poverty rate, and the teen pregnancy rate are all down. And as they go down, prospects for America's future go up. We live in an age of possibility. A hundred years ago we moved from farm to factory. Now we move to an age of technology, information, and global competition. These changes have opened vast new opportunities for our people, but they have also presented them with stiff challenges. While more Americans are living better, too many of our fellow citizens are working harder just to keep up, and they are rightly concerned about the security of their families. We must answer here three fundamental questions: First, how do we make the American dream of opportunity for all a reality for all Americans who are willing to work for it? Second, how do we preserve our old and enduring values as we move into the future? And third, how do we meet these challenges together, as one America? We know big Government does not have all the answers. We know there's not a program for every problem. We know, and we have worked to give the American people a smaller, less bureaucratic Government in Washington. And we have to give the American people one that lives within its means. The era of big Government is over. But we cannot go back to the time when our citizens were left to fend for themselves. Instead, we must go forward as one America, one nation working together to meet the challenges we face together. Self-reliance and teamwork are not opposing virtues; we must have both. I believe our new, smaller Government must work in an old-fashioned American way, together with all of our citizens through State and local governments, in the workplace, in religious, charitable, and civic associations. Our goal must be to enable all our people to make the most of their own lives, with stronger families, more educational opportunity, economic security, safer streets, a cleaner environment in a safer world. To improve the state of our Union, we must ask more of ourselves, we must expect more of each other, and we must face our challenges together. Here, in this place, our responsibility begins with balancing the budget in a way that is fair to all Americans. There is now broad bipartisan agreement that permanent deficit spending must come to an end. I compliment the Republican leadership and the membership for the energy and determination you have brought to this task of balancing the budget. And I thank the Democrats for passing the largest deficit reduction plan in history in 1993, which has already cut the deficit nearly in half in 3 years. Since 1993, we have all begun to see the benefits of deficit reduction. Lower interest rates have made it easier for businesses to borrow and to invest and to create new jobs. Lower interest rates have brought down the cost of home mortgages, car payments, and credit card rates to ordinary citizens. Now it is time to finish the job and balance the budget. Though differences remain among us which are significant, the combined total of the proposed savings that are common to both plans is more than enough, using the numbers from your Congressional Budget Office, to balance the budget in 7 years and to provide a modest tax cut. These cuts are real. They will require sacrifice from everyone. But these cuts do not undermine our fundamental obligations to our parents, our children, and our future by endangering Medicare or Medicaid or education or the environment or by raising taxes on working families. I have said before, and let me say again, many good ideas have come out of our negotiations. I have learned a lot about the way both Republicans and Democrats view the debate before us. I have learned a lot about the good ideas that each side has that we could all embrace. We ought to resolve our remaining differences. I am willing to work to resolve them. I am ready to meet tomorrow. But I ask you to consider that we should at least enact these savings that both plans have in common and give the American people their balanced budget, a tax cut, lower interest rates, and a brighter future. We should do that now and make permanent deficits yesterday's legacy. Now it is time for us to look also to the challenges of today and tomorrow, beyond the burdens of yesterday. The challenges are significant. But our Nation was built on challenges. America was built on challenges, not promises. And when we work together to meet them, we never fail. That is the key to a more perfect Union. Our individual dreams must be realized by our common efforts. Tonight I want to speak to you about the challenges we all face as a people. Our first challenge is to cherish our children and strengthen America's families. Family is the foundation of American life. If we have stronger families, we will have a stronger America. Before I go on, I'd like to take just a moment to thank my own family and to thank the person who has taught me more than anyone else over 25 years about the importance of families and children, a wonderful wife, a magnificent mother, and a great First Lady. Thank you, Hillary. All strong families begin with taking more responsibility for our children. I've heard Mrs. Gore say that it's hard to be a parent today, but it's even harder to be a child. So all of us, not just as parents but all of us in our other roles—our media, our schools, our teachers, our communities, our churches and synagogues, our businesses, our governments—all of us have a responsibility to help our children to make it and to make the most of their lives and their God-given capacities. To the media, I say you should create movies and CD's and television shows you'd want your own children and grandchildren to enjoy. I call on Congress to pass the requirement for a V-chip in TV sets so that parents can screen out programs they believe are inappropriate for their children. When parents control what their young children see, that is not censorship; that is enabling parents to assume more personal responsibility for their children's upbringing. And I urge them to do it. The Vchip requirement is part of the important telecommunications bill now pending in this Congress. It has bipartisan support, and I urge you to pass it now. To make the V-chip work, I challenge the broadcast industry to do what movies have done, to identify your program in ways that help parents to protect their children. And I invite the leaders of major media corporations in the entertainment industry to come to the White House next month to work with us in a positive way on concrete ways to improve what our children see on television. I am ready to work with you. I say to those who make and market cigarettes, every year a million children take up smoking, even though it's against the law. Three hundred thousand of them will have their lives shortened as a result. Our administration has taken steps to stop the massive marketing campaigns that appeal to our children. We are simply saying: Market your products to adults, if you wish, but draw the line on children. I say to those who are on welfare, and especially to those who have been trapped on welfare for a long time: For too long our welfare system has undermined the values of family and work instead of supporting them. The Congress and I are near agreement on sweeping welfare reform. We agree on time limits, tough work requirements, and the toughest possible child support enforcement. But I believe we must also provide child care so that mothers who are required to go to work can do so without worrying about what is happening to their children. I challenge this Congress to send me a bipartisan welfare reform bill that will really move people from welfare to work and do the right thing by our children. I will sign it immediately. Let us be candid about this difficult problem. Passing a law, even the best possible law, is only a first step. The next step is to make it work. I challenge people on welfare to make the most of this opportunity for independence. I challenge American businesses to give people on welfare the chance to move into the work force. I applaud the work of religious groups and others who care for the poor. More than anyone else in our society, they know the true difficulty of the task before us, and they are in a position to help. Every one of us should join them. That is the only way we can make real welfare reform a reality in the lives of the American people. To strengthen the family we must do everything we can to keep the teen pregnancy rate going down. I am gratified, as I'm sure all Americans are, that it has dropped for 2 years in a row. But we all know it is still far too high. Tonight I am pleased to announce that a group of prominent Americans is responding to that challenge by forming an organization that will support grassroots community efforts all across our country in a national campaign against teen pregnancy. And I challenge all of us and every American to join their efforts. I call on American men and women in families to give greater respect to one another. We must end the deadly scourge of domestic violence in our country. And I challenge America's families to work harder to stay together. For families who stay together not only do better economically, their children do better as well. In particular, I challenge the fathers of this country to love and care for their children. If your family has separated, you must pay your child support. We're doing more than ever to make sure you do, and we're going to do more. But let's all admit something about that, too: A check will never substitute for a parent's love and guidance. And only you—only you can make the decision to help raise your children. No matter who you are, how low or high your station in life, it is the most basic human duty of every American to do that job to the best of his or her ability. Our second challenge is to provide Americans with the educational opportunities we'll all need for this new century. In our schools, every classroom in America must be connected to the information superhighway, with computers and good software and well-trained teachers. We are working with the telecommunications industry, educators, and parents to connect 20 percent of California's classrooms by this spring, and every classroom and every library in the entire United States by the year 2000. I ask Congress to support this education technology initiative so that we can make sure this national partnership succeeds. Every diploma ought to mean something. I challenge every community, every school, and every State to adopt national standards of excellence, to measure whether schools are meeting those standards, to cut bureaucratic redtape so that schools and teachers have more flexibility for grassroots reform, and to hold them accountable for results. That's what our Goals 2000 initiative is all about. I challenge every State to give all parents the right to choose which public school their children will attend and to let teachers form new schools with a charter they can keep only if they do a good job. I challenge all our schools to teach character education, to teach good values and good citizenship. And if it means that teenagers will stop killing each other over designer jackets, then our public schools should be able to require their students to wear school uniforms. I challenge our parents to become their children's first teachers. Turn off the TV. See that the homework is done. And visit your children's classroom. No program, no teacher, no one else can do that for you. My fellow Americans, higher education is more important today than ever before. We've created a new student loan program that's made it easier to borrow and repay those loans, and we have dramatically cut the student loan default rate. That's something we should all be proud of because it was unconscionably high just a few years ago. Through AmeriCorps, our national service program, this year 25,000 young people will earn college money by serving their local communities to improve the lives of their friends and neighbors. These initiatives are right for America, and we should keep them going. And we should also work hard to open the doors of college even wider. I challenge Congress to expand work-study and help one million young Americans work their way through college by the year 2000, to provide a $1,000 merit scholarship for the top 5 percent of graduates in every high school in the United States, to expand Pell grant scholarships for deserving and needy students, and to make up to $10,000 a year of college tuition tax deductible. It's a good idea for America. Our third challenge is to help every American who is willing to work for it achieve economic security in this new age. People who work hard still need support to get ahead in the new economy. They need education and training for a lifetime. They need more support for families raising children. They need retirement security. They need access to health care. More and more Americans are finding that the education of their childhood simply doesn't last a lifetime. So I challenge Congress to consolidate 70 overlapping, antiquated job training programs into a simple voucher worth $2,600 for unemployed or underemployed workers to use as they please for community college tuition or other training. This is a "GI bill" for America's workers we should all be able to agree on. More and more Americans are working hard without a raise. Congress sets the minimum wage. Within a year, the minimum wage will fall to a 40-year low in purchasing power. Four dollars and 25 cents an hour is no longer a minimum wage, but millions of Americans and their children are trying to live on it. I challenge you to raise their minimum wage. In 1993, Congress cut the taxes of 15 million hard-pressed working families to make sure that no parents who work full time would have to raise their children in poverty and to encourage people to move from welfare to work. This expanded earned-income tax credit is now worth about $1,800 a year to a family of four living on $20,000. The budget bill I vetoed would have reversed this achievement and raised taxes on nearly 8 million of these people. We should not do that. We should not do that. But I also agree that the people who are helped under this initiative are not all those in our country who are working hard to do a good job raising their children and at work. I agree that we need a tax credit for working families with children. That's one of the things most of us in this Chamber, I hope, can agree on. I know it is strongly supported by the Republican majority. And it should be part of any final budget agreement. I want to challenge every business that can possibly afford it to provide pensions for your employees. And I challenge Congress to pass a proposal recommended by the White House Conference on Small Business that would make it easier for small businesses and farmers to establish their own pension plans. That is something we should all agree on. We should also protect existing pension plans. Two years ago, with bipartisan support that was almost unanimous on both sides of the aisle, we moved to protect the pensions of 8 million working people and to stabilize the pensions of 32 million more. Congress should not now let companies endanger those workers' pension funds. I know the proposal to liberalize the ability of employers to take money out of pension funds for other purposes would raise money for the Treasury, but I believe it is false economy. I vetoed that proposal last year, and I would have to do so again. Finally, if our working families are going to succeed in the new economy, they must be able to buy health insurance policies that they do not lose when they change jobs or when someone in their family gets sick. Over the past 2 years, over one million Americans in working families have lost their health insurance. We have to do more to make health care available to every American. And Congress should start by passing the bipartisan bill sponsored by Senator Kennedy and Senator Kassebaum that would require insurance companies to stop dropping people when they switch jobs and stop denying coverage for preexisting conditions. Let's all do that. And even as we enact savings in these programs, we must have a common commitment to preserve the basic protections of Medicare and Medicaid, not just to the poor but to people in working families, including children, people with disabilities, people with AIDS, senior citizens in nursing homes. In the past 3 years, we've saved $15 billion just by fighting health care fraud and abuse. We have all agreed to save much more. We have all agreed to stabilize the Medicare Trust Fund. But we must not abandon our fundamental obligations to the people who need Medicare and Medicaid. America cannot become stronger if they become weaker. The "GI bill" for workers, tax relief for education and childrearing, pension availability and protection, access to health care, preservation of Medicare and Medicaid, these things, along with the Family and Medical Leave Act passed in 1993, these things will help responsible, hardworking American families to make the most of their own lives. But employers and employees must do their part as well, as they are doing in so many of our finest companies, working together, putting the long-term prosperity ahead of the short-term gain. As workers increase their hours and their productivity, employers should make sure they get the skills they need and share the benefits of the good years as well as the burdens of the bad ones. When companies and workers work as a team they do better, and so does America. Our fourth great challenge is to take our streets back from crime and gangs and drugs. At last we have begun to find a way to reduce crime, forming community partnerships with local police forces to catch criminals and prevent crime. This strategy, called community policing, is clearly working. Violent crime is coming down all across America. In New York City, murders are down 25 percent; in St. Louis, 18 percent; in Seattle, 32 percent. But we still have a long way to go before our streets are safe and our people are free from fear. The crime bill of 1994 is critical to the success of community policing. It provides funds for 100,000 new police in communities of all sizes. We're already a third of the way there. And I challenge the Congress to finish the job. Let us stick with a strategy that's working and keep the crime rate coming down. Community policing also requires bonds of trust between citizens and police. I ask all Americans to respect and support our law enforcement officers. And to our police, I say, our children need you as role models and heroes. Don't let them down. The Brady bill has already stopped 44,000 people with criminal records from buying guns. The assault weapons ban is keeping 19 kinds of assault weapons out of the hands of violent gangs. I challenge the Congress to keep those laws on the books. Our next step in the fight against crime is to take on gangs the way we once took on the mob. I'm directing the FBI and other investigative agencies to target gangs that involve juveniles in violent crime, and to seek authority to prosecute as adults teenagers who maim and kill like adults. And I challenge local housing authorities and tenant associations: Criminal gang members and drug dealers are destroying the lives of decent tenants. From now on, the rule for residents who commit crime and peddle drugs should be "one strike and you're out." I challenge every State to match Federal policy to assure that serious violent criminals serve at least 85 percent of their sentence. More police and punishment are important, but they're not enough. We have got to keep more of our young people out of trouble, with prevention strategies not dictated by Washington but developed in communities. I challenge all of our communities, all of our adults, to give our children futures to say yes to. And I challenge Congress not to abandon the crime bill's support of these grassroots prevention efforts. Finally, to reduce crime and violence we have to reduce the drug problem. The challenge begins in our homes, with parents talking to their children openly and firmly. It embraces our churches and synagogues, our youth groups and our schools. I challenge Congress not to cut our support for drug-free schools. People like the D.A.R.E. officers are making a real impression on grade-school children that will give them the strength to say no when the time comes. Meanwhile, we continue our efforts to cut the flow of drugs into America. For the last 2 years, one man in particular has been on the front lines of that effort. Tonight I am nominating him, a hero of the Persian Gulf war and the commander in chief of the United States Military Southern Command, General Barry McCaffrey, as America's new drug czar. General McCaffrey has earned three Purple Hearts and two Silver Stars fighting for this country. Tonight I ask that he lead our Nation's battle against drugs at home and abroad. To succeed, he needs a force far larger than he has ever commanded before. He needs all of us. Every one of us has a role to play on this team. Thank you, General McCaffrey, for agreeing to serve your country one more time. Our fifth challenge: to leave our environment safe and clean for the next generation. Because of a generation of bipartisan effort we do have cleaner water and air, lead levels in children's blood has been cut by 70 percent, toxic emissions from factories cut in half. Lake Erie was dead, and now it's a thriving resource. But 10 million children under 12 still live within 4 miles of a toxic waste dump. A third of us breathe air that endangers our health. And in too many communities the water is not safe to drink. We still have much to do. Yet Congress has voted to cut environmental enforcement by 25 percent. That means more toxic chemicals in our water, more smog in our air, more pesticides in our food. Lobbyists for polluters have been allowed to write their own loopholes into bills to weaken laws that protect the health and safety of our children. Some say that the taxpayer should pick up the tab for toxic waste and let polluters who can afford to fix it off the hook. I challenge Congress to reexamine those policies and to reverse them. This issue has not been a partisan issue. The most significant environmental gains in the last 30 years were made under a Democratic Congress and President Richard Nixon. We can work together. We have to believe some basic things. Do you believe we can expand the economy without hurting the environment? I do. Do you believe we can create more jobs over the long run by cleaning the environment up? I know we can. That should be our commitment. We must challenge businesses and communities to take more initiative in protecting the environment, and we have to make it easier for them to do it. To businesses this administration is saying, if you can find a cheaper, more efficient way than Government regulations require to meet tough pollution standards, do it, as long as you do it right. To communities we say, we must strengthen community right-toknow laws requiring polluters to disclose their emissions, but you have to use the information to work with business to cut pollution. People do have a right to know that their air and their water are safe. Our sixth challenge is to maintain America's leadership in the fight for freedom and peace throughout the world. Because of American leadership, more people than ever before live free and at peace. And Americans have known 50 years of prosperity and security. We owe thanks especially to our veterans of World War II. I would like to say to Senator Bob Dole and to all others in this Chamber who fought in World War II, and to all others on both sides of the aisle who have fought bravely in all our conflicts since: I salute your service, and so do the American people. All over the world, even after the cold war, people still look to us and trust us to help them seek the blessings of peace and freedom. But as the cold war fades into memory, voices of isolation say America should retreat from its responsibilities. I say they are wrong. The threats we face today as Americans respect no nation's borders. Think of them: terrorism, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, organized crime, drug trafficking, ethnic and religious hatred, aggression by rogue states, environmental degradation. If we fail to address these threats today, we will suffer the consequences in all our tomorrows. Of course, we can't be everywhere. Of course, we can't do everything. But where our interests and our values are at stake, and where we can make a difference, America must lead. We must not be isolationist. We must not be the world's policeman. But we can and should be the world's very best peacemaker. By keeping our military strong, by using diplomacy where we can and force where we must, by working with others to share the risk and the cost of our efforts, America is making a difference for people here and around the world. For the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age—for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age—there is not a single Russian missile pointed at America's children. North Korea has now frozen its dangerous nuclear weapons program. In Haiti, the dictators are gone, democracy has a new day, the flow of desperate refugees to our shores has subsided. Through tougher trade deals for America, over 80 of them, we have opened markets abroad, and now exports are at an all-time high, growing faster than imports and creating good American jobs. We stood with those taking risks for peace: in Northern Ireland, where Catholic and Protestant children now tell their parents violence must never return; in the Middle East, where Arabs and Jews who once seemed destined to fight forever now share knowledge and resources and even dreams. And we stood up for peace in Bosnia. Remember the skeletal prisoners, the mass graves, the campaign to rape and torture, the endless lines of refugees, the threat of a spreading war. All these threats, all these horrors have now begun to give way to the promise of peace. Now our troops and a strong NATO, together with our new partners from central Europe and elsewhere, are helping that peace to take hold. As all of you know, I was just there with a bipartisan congressional group, and I was so proud not only of what our troops were doing but of the pride they evidenced in what they were doing. They knew what America's mission in this world is, and they were proud to be carrying it out. Through these efforts, we have enhanced the security of the American people, but make no mistake about it: Important challenges remain. The START II treaty with Russia will cut our nuclear stockpiles by another 25 percent. I urge the Senate to ratify it now. We must end the race to create new nuclear weapons by signing a truly comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty this year. As we remember what happened in the Japanese subway, we can outlaw poison gas forever if the Senate ratifies the Chemical Weapons Convention this year. We can intensify the fight against terrorists and organized criminals at home and abroad if Congress passes the antiterrorism legislation I proposed after the Oklahoma City bombing, now. We can help more people move from hatred to hope all across the world in our own interest if Congress gives us the means to remain the world's leader for peace. My fellow Americans, the six challenges I have just discussed are for all of us. Our seventh challenge is really America's challenge to those of us in this hallowed Hall tonight: to reinvent our Government and make our democracy work for them. Last year this Congress applied to itself the laws it applies to everyone else. This Congress banned gifts and meals from lobbyists. This Congress forced lobbyists to disclose who pays them and what legislation they are trying to pass or kill. This Congress did that, and I applaud you for it. Now I challenge Congress to go further, to curb special interest influence in politics by passing the first truly bipartisan campaign finance reform bill in a generation. You, Republicans and Democrats alike, can show the American people that we can limit spending and we can open the airwaves to all candidates. I also appeal to Congress to pass the line item veto you promised the American people. Our administration is working hard to give the American people a Government that works better and costs less. Thanks to the work of Vice President Gore, we are eliminating 16,000 pages of unnecessary rules and regulations, shifting more decisionmaking out of Washington, back to States and local communities. As we move into the era of balanced budgets and smaller Government, we must work in new ways to enable people to make the most of their own lives. We are helping America's communities, not with more bureaucracy but with more opportunities. Through our successful empowerment zones and community development banks, we're helping people to find jobs, to start businesses. And with tax incentives for companies that clean up abandoned industrial property, we can bring jobs back to places that desperately, desperately need them. But there are some areas that the Federal Government should not leave and should address and address strongly. One of these areas is the problem of illegal immigration. After years of neglect, this administration has taken a strong stand to stiffen the protection of our borders. We are increasing border controls by 50 percent. We are increasing inspections to prevent the hiring of illegal immigrants. And tonight I announce I will sign an Executive order to deny Federal contracts to businesses that hire illegal immigrants. Let me be very clear about this: We are still a nation of immigrants; we should be proud of it. We should honor every legal immigrant here, working hard to be a good citizen, working hard to become a new citizen. But we are also a nation of laws. I want to say a special word now to those who work for our Federal Government. Today the Federal work force is 200,000 employees smaller than it was the day I took office as President. Our Federal Government today is the smallest it has been in 30 years, and it's getting smaller every day. Most of our fellow Americans probably don't know that. And there's a good reason—a good reason: The remaining Federal work force is composed of hard-working Americans who are now working harder and working smarter than ever before to make sure the quality of our services does not decline. I'd like to give you one example. His name is Richard Dean. He's a 49-year-old Vietnam veteran who's worked for the Social Security Administration for 22 years now. Last year he was hard at work in the Federal Building in Oklahoma City when the blast killed 169 people and brought the rubble down all around him. He reentered that building four times. He saved the lives of three women. He's here with us this evening, and I want to recognize Richard and applaud both his public service and his extraordinary personal heroism. But Richard Dean's story doesn't end there. This last November, he was forced out of his office when the Government shut down. And the second time the Government shut down he continued helping Social Security recipients, but he was working without pay. On behalf of Richard Dean and his family, and all the other people who are out there working every day doing a good job for the American people, I challenge all of you in this Chamber: Let's never, ever shut the Federal Government down again. On behalf of all Americans, especially those who need their Social Security payments at the beginning of March, I also challenge the Congress to preserve the full faith and credit of the United States, to honor the obligations of this great Nation as we have for 220 years, to rise above partisanship and pass a straightforward extension of the debt limit and show people America keeps its word. I know that this evening I have asked a lot of Congress and even more from America. But I am confident: When Americans work together in their homes, their schools, their churches, their synagogues, their civic groups, their workplace, they can meet any challenge. I say again, the era of big Government is over. But we can't go back to the era of fending for yourself. We have to go forward to the era of working together as a community, as a team, as one America, with all of us reaching across these lines that divide us—the division, the discrimination, the rancor—we have to reach across it to find common ground. We have got to work together if we want America to work. I want you to meet two more people tonight who do just that. Lucius Wright is a teacher in the Jackson, Mississippi, public school system. A Vietnam veteran, he has created groups to help inner-city children turn away from gangs and build futures they can believe in. Sergeant Jennifer Rodgers is a police officer in Oklahoma City. Like Richard Dean, she helped to pull her fellow citizens out of the rubble and deal with that awful tragedy. She reminds us that in their response to that atrocity the people of Oklahoma City lifted all of us with their basic sense of decency and community. Lucius Wright and Jennifer Rodgers are special Americans. And I have the honor to announce tonight that they are the very first of several thousand Americans who will be chosen to carry the Olympic torch on its long journey from Los Angeles to the centennial of the modern Olympics in Atlanta this summer, not because they are star athletes but because they are star citizens, community heroes meeting America's challenges. They are our real champions. Please stand up. [ ] Now each of us must hold high the torch of citizenship in our own lives. None of us can finish the race alone. We can only achieve our destiny together, one hand, one generation, one American connecting to another. There have always been things we could do together, dreams we could make real which we could never have done on our own. We Americans have forged our identity, our very Union, from the very point of view that we can accommodate every point on the planet, every different opinion. But we must be bound together by a faith more powerful than any doctrine that divides us, by our belief in progress, our love of liberty, and our relentless search for common ground. America has always sought and always risen to every challenge. Who would say that having come so far together, we will not go forward from here? Who would say that this age of possibility is not for all Americans? Our country is and always has been a great and good nation. But the best is yet to come if we all do our parts. Thank you. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of the 104th Congress, distinguished guests, my fellow Americans all across our land: Let me begin tonight by saying to our men and women in uniform around the world and especially those helping peace take root in Bosnia and to their families, I thank you. America is very, very proud of you. My duty tonight is to report on the state of the Union, not the state of our Government but of our American community, and to set forth our responsibilities, in the words of our Founders, to form a more perfect Union. The state of the Union is strong. Our economy is the healthiest it has been in three decades. We have the lowest combined rates of unemployment and inflation in 27 years. We have completed—created nearly 8 million new jobs, over a million of them in basic industries like construction and automobiles. America is selling more cars than Japan for the first time since the 1970's. And for 3 years in a row, we have had a record number of new businesses started in our country. Our leadership in the world is also strong, bringing hope for new peace. And perhaps most important, we are gaining ground in restoring our fundamental values. The crime rate, the welfare and food stamp rolls, the poverty rate, and the teen pregnancy rate are all down. And as they go down, prospects for America's future go up. We live in an age of possibility. A hundred years ago we moved from farm to factory. Now we move to an age of technology, information, and global competition. These changes have opened vast new opportunities for our people, but they have also presented them with stiff challenges. While more Americans are living better, too many of our fellow citizens are working harder just to keep up, and they are rightly concerned about the security of their families. We must answer here three fundamental questions: First, how do we make the American dream of opportunity for all a reality for all Americans who are willing to work for it? Second, how do we preserve our old and enduring values as we move into the future? And third, how do we meet these challenges together, as one America? We know big Government does not have all the answers. We know there is not a program for every problem. We know, and we have worked to give the American people a smaller, less bureaucratic Government in Washington. And we have to give the American people one that lives within its means. The era of big Government is over. But we cannot go back to the time when our citizens were left to fend for themselves. Instead, we must go forward as one America, one nation working together to meet the challenges we face together. Self-reliance and teamwork are not opposing virtues; we must have both. I believe our new, smaller Government must work in an old-fashioned American way, together with all of our citizens through State and local governments, in the workplace, in religious, charitable, and civic associations. Our goal must be to enable all our people to make the most of their own lives, with stronger families, more educational opportunity, economic security, safer streets, a cleaner environment in a safer world. To improve the state of our Union, we must ask more of ourselves, we must expect more of each other, and we must face our challenges together. Here, in this place, our responsibility begins with balancing the budget in a way that is fair to all Americans. There is now broad bipartisan agreement that permanent deficit spending must come to an end. I compliment the Republican leadership and the membership for the energy and determination you have brought to this task of balancing the budget. And I thank the Democrats for passing the largest deficit reduction plan in history in 1993, which has already cut the deficit nearly in half in 3 years. Since 1993, we have all begun to see the benefits of deficit reduction. Lower interest rates have made it easier for businesses to borrow and to invest and to create new jobs. Lower interest rates have brought down the cost of home mortgages, car payments, and credit card rates to ordinary citizens. Now it is time to finish the job and balance the budget. Though differences remain among us which are significant, the combined total of the proposed savings that are common to both plans is more than enough, using the numbers from your Congressional Budget Office, to balance the budget in 7 years and to provide a modest tax cut. These cuts are real. They will require sacrifice from everyone. But these cuts do not undermine our fundamental obligations to our parents, our children, and our future by endangering Medicare or Medicaid or education or the environment or by raising taxes on working families. I have said before, and let me say again, many good ideas have come out of our negotiations. I have learned a lot about the way both Republicans and Democrats view the debate before us. I have learned a lot about the good ideas that each side has that we could all embrace. We ought to resolve our remaining differences. I am willing to work to resolve them. I am ready to meet tomorrow. But I ask you to consider that we should at least enact these savings that both plans have in common and give the American people their balanced budget, a tax cut, lower interest rates, and a brighter future. We should do that now and make permanent deficits yesterday's legacy. Now it is time for us to look also to the challenges of today and tomorrow, beyond the burdens of yesterday. The challenges are significant. But our Nation was built on challenges. America was built on challenges, not promises. And when we work together to meet them, we never fail. That is the key to a more perfect Union. Our individual dreams must be realized by our common efforts. Tonight I want to speak to you about the challenges we all face as a people. Our first challenge is to cherish our children and strengthen America's families. Family is the foundation of American life. If we have stronger families, we will have a stronger America. Before I go on, I would like to take just a moment to thank my own family and to thank the person who has taught me more than anyone else over 25 years about the importance of families and children, a wonderful wife, a magnificent mother, and a great First Lady. Thank you, Hillary. All strong families begin with taking more responsibility for our children. I have heard Mrs. Gore say that it is hard to be a parent today, but it is even harder to be a child. So all of us, not just as parents but all of us in our other roles—our media, our schools, our teachers, our communities, our churches and synagogues, our businesses, our governments—all of us have a responsibility to help our children to make it and to make the most of their lives and their God-given capacities. To the media, I say you should create movies and CD's and television shows you would want your own children and grandchildren to enjoy. I call on Congress to pass the requirement for a V-chip in TV sets so that parents can screen out programs they believe are inappropriate for their children. When parents control what their young children see, that is not censorship; that is enabling parents to assume more personal responsibility for their children's upbringing. And I urge them to do it. The Vchip requirement is part of the important telecommunications bill now pending in this Congress. It has bipartisan support, and I urge you to pass it now. To make the V-chip work, I challenge the broadcast industry to do what movies have done, to identify your program in ways that help parents to protect their children. And I invite the leaders of major media corporations in the entertainment industry to come to the White House next month to work with us in a positive way on concrete ways to improve what our children see on television. I am ready to work with you. I say to those who make and market cigarettes, every year a million children take up smoking, even though it is against the law. Three hundred thousand of them will have their lives shortened as a result. Our administration has taken steps to stop the massive marketing campaigns that appeal to our children. We are simply saying: Market your products to adults, if you wish, but draw the line on children. I say to those who are on welfare, and especially to those who have been trapped on welfare for a long time: For too long our welfare system has undermined the values of family and work instead of supporting them. The Congress and I are near agreement on sweeping welfare reform. We agree on time limits, tough work requirements, and the toughest possible child support enforcement. But I believe we must also provide child care so that mothers who are required to go to work can do so without worrying about what is happening to their children. I challenge this Congress to send me a bipartisan welfare reform bill that will really move people from welfare to work and do the right thing by our children. I will sign it immediately. Let us be candid about this difficult problem. Passing a law, even the best possible law, is only a first step. The next step is to make it work. I challenge people on welfare to make the most of this opportunity for independence. I challenge American businesses to give people on welfare the chance to move into the work force. I applaud the work of religious groups and others who care for the poor. More than anyone else in our society, they know the true difficulty of the task before us, and they are in a position to help. Every one of us should join them. That is the only way we can make real welfare reform a reality in the lives of the American people. To strengthen the family we must do everything we can to keep the teen pregnancy rate going down. I am gratified, as I am sure all Americans are, that it has dropped for 2 years in a row. But we all know it is still far too high. Tonight I am pleased to announce that a group of prominent Americans is responding to that challenge by forming an organization that will support grassroots community efforts all across our country in a national campaign against teen pregnancy. And I challenge all of us and every American to join their efforts. I call on American men and women in families to give greater respect to one another. We must end the deadly scourge of domestic violence in our country. And I challenge America's families to work harder to stay together. For families who stay together not only do better economically, their children do better as well. In particular, I challenge the fathers of this country to love and care for their children. If your family has separated, you must pay your child support. We are doing more than ever to make sure you do, and we are going to do more. But let us all admit something about that, too: A check will never substitute for a parent's love and guidance. And only you—only you can make the decision to help raise your children. No matter who you are, how low or high your station in life, it is the most basic human duty of every American to do that job to the best of his or her ability. Our second challenge is to provide Americans with the educational opportunities we will all need for this new century. In our schools, every classroom in America must be connected to the information superhighway, with computers and good software and well-trained teachers. We are working with the telecommunications industry, educators, and parents to connect 20 percent of California's classrooms by this spring, and every classroom and every library in the entire United States by the year 2000. I ask Congress to support this education technology initiative so that we can make sure this national partnership succeeds. Every diploma ought to mean something. I challenge every community, every school, and every State to adopt national standards of excellence, to measure whether schools are meeting those standards, to cut bureaucratic redtape so that schools and teachers have more flexibility for grassroots reform, and to hold them accountable for results. That is what our Goals 2000 initiative is all about. I challenge every State to give all parents the right to choose which public school their children will attend and to let teachers form new schools with a charter they can keep only if they do a good job. I challenge all our schools to teach character education, to teach good values and good citizenship. And if it means that teenagers will stop killing each other over designer jackets, then our public schools should be able to require their students to wear school uniforms. I challenge our parents to become their children's first teachers. Turn off the TV. See that the homework is done. And visit your children's classroom. No program, no teacher, no one else can do that for you. My fellow Americans, higher education is more important today than ever before. We have created a new student loan program that is made it easier to borrow and repay those loans, and we have dramatically cut the student loan default rate. That is something we should all be proud of because it was unconscionably high just a few years ago. Through AmeriCorps, our national service program, this year 25,000 young people will earn college money by serving their local communities to improve the lives of their friends and neighbors. These initiatives are right for America, and we should keep them going. And we should also work hard to open the doors of college even wider. I challenge Congress to expand work-study and help one million young Americans work their way through college by the year 2000, to provide a $1,000 merit scholarship for the top 5 percent of graduates in every high school in the United States, to expand Pell grant scholarships for deserving and needy students, and to make up to $10,000 a year of college tuition tax deductible. It is a good idea for America. Our third challenge is to help every American who is willing to work for it achieve economic security in this new age. People who work hard still need support to get ahead in the new economy. They need education and training for a lifetime. They need more support for families raising children. They need retirement security. They need access to health care. More and more Americans are finding that the education of their childhood simply does not last a lifetime. So I challenge Congress to consolidate 70 overlapping, antiquated job training programs into a simple voucher worth $2,600 for unemployed or underemployed workers to use as they please for community college tuition or other training. This is a "GI bill" for America's workers we should all be able to agree on. More and more Americans are working hard without a raise. Congress sets the minimum wage. Within a year, the minimum wage will fall to a 40-year low in purchasing power. Four dollars and 25 cents an hour is no longer a minimum wage, but millions of Americans and their children are trying to live on it. I challenge you to raise their minimum wage. In 1993, Congress cut the taxes of 15 million hard-pressed working families to make sure that no parents who work full time would have to raise their children in poverty and to encourage people to move from welfare to work. This expanded earned-income tax credit is now worth about $1,800 a year to a family of four living on $20,000. The budget bill I vetoed would have reversed this achievement and raised taxes on nearly 8 million of these people. We should not do that. We should not do that. But I also agree that the people who are helped under this initiative are not all those in our country who are working hard to do a good job raising their children and at work. I agree that we need a tax credit for working families with children. That is one of the things most of us in this Chamber, I hope, can agree on. I know it is strongly supported by the Republican majority. And it should be part of any final budget agreement. I want to challenge every business that can possibly afford it to provide pensions for your employees. And I challenge Congress to pass a proposal recommended by the White House Conference on Small Business that would make it easier for small businesses and farmers to establish their own pension plans. That is something we should all agree on. We should also protect existing pension plans. Two years ago, with bipartisan support that was almost unanimous on both sides of the aisle, we moved to protect the pensions of 8 million working people and to stabilize the pensions of 32 million more. Congress should not now let companies endanger those workers' pension funds. I know the proposal to liberalize the ability of employers to take money out of pension funds for other purposes would raise money for the Treasury, but I believe it is false economy. I vetoed that proposal last year, and I would have to do so again. Finally, if our working families are going to succeed in the new economy, they must be able to buy health insurance policies that they do not lose when they change jobs or when someone in their family gets sick. Over the past 2 years, over one million Americans in working families have lost their health insurance. We have to do more to make health care available to every American. And Congress should start by passing the bipartisan bill sponsored by Senator Kennedy and Senator Kassebaum that would require insurance companies to stop dropping people when they switch jobs and stop denying coverage for preexisting conditions. Let us all do that. And even as we enact savings in these programs, we must have a common commitment to preserve the basic protections of Medicare and Medicaid, not just to the poor but to people in working families, including children, people with disabilities, people with AIDS, senior citizens in nursing homes. In the past 3 years, we have saved $15 billion just by fighting health care fraud and abuse. We have all agreed to save much more. We have all agreed to stabilize the Medicare Trust Fund. But we must not abandon our fundamental obligations to the people who need Medicare and Medicaid. America cannot become stronger if they become weaker. The "GI bill" for workers, tax relief for education and childrearing, pension availability and protection, access to health care, preservation of Medicare and Medicaid, these things, along with the Family and Medical Leave Act passed in 1993, these things will help responsible, hardworking American families to make the most of their own lives. But employers and employees must do their part as well, as they are doing in so many of our finest companies, working together, putting the long-term prosperity ahead of the short-term gain. As workers increase their hours and their productivity, employers should make sure they get the skills they need and share the benefits of the good years as well as the burdens of the bad ones. When companies and workers work as a team they do better, and so does America. Our fourth great challenge is to take our streets back from crime and gangs and drugs. At last we have begun to find a way to reduce crime, forming community partnerships with local police forces to catch criminals and prevent crime. This strategy, called community policing, is clearly working. Violent crime is coming down all across America. In New York City, murders are down 25 percent; in St. Louis, 18 percent; in Seattle, 32 percent. But we still have a long way to go before our streets are safe and our people are free from fear. The crime bill of 1994 is critical to the success of community policing. It provides funds for 100,000 new police in communities of all sizes. We are already a third of the way there. And I challenge the Congress to finish the job. Let us stick with a strategy that is working and keep the crime rate coming down. Community policing also requires bonds of trust between citizens and police. I ask all Americans to respect and support our law enforcement officers. And to our police, I say, our children need you as role models and heroes. Do not let them down. The Brady bill has already stopped 44,000 people with criminal records from buying guns. The assault weapons ban is keeping 19 kinds of assault weapons out of the hands of violent gangs. I challenge the Congress to keep those laws on the books. Our next step in the fight against crime is to take on gangs the way we once took on the mob. I am directing the FBI and other investigative agencies to target gangs that involve juveniles in violent crime, and to seek authority to prosecute as adults teenagers who maim and kill like adults. And I challenge local housing authorities and tenant associations: Criminal gang members and drug dealers are destroying the lives of decent tenants. From now on, the rule for residents who commit crime and peddle drugs should be "one strike and you are out." I challenge every State to match Federal policy to assure that serious violent criminals serve at least 85 percent of their sentence. More police and punishment are important, but they are not enough. We have got to keep more of our young people out of trouble, with prevention strategies not dictated by Washington but developed in communities. I challenge all of our communities, all of our adults, to give our children futures to say yes to. And I challenge Congress not to abandon the crime bill's support of these grassroots prevention efforts. Finally, to reduce crime and violence we have to reduce the drug problem. The challenge begins in our homes, with parents talking to their children openly and firmly. It embraces our churches and synagogues, our youth groups and our schools. I challenge Congress not to cut our support for drug-free schools. People like the D.A.R.E. officers are making a real impression on grade-school children that will give them the strength to say no when the time comes. Meanwhile, we continue our efforts to cut the flow of drugs into America. For the last 2 years, one man in particular has been on the front lines of that effort. Tonight I am nominating him, a hero of the Persian Gulf war and the commander in chief of the United States Military Southern Command, General Barry McCaffrey, as America's new drug czar. General McCaffrey has earned three Purple Hearts and two Silver Stars fighting for this country. Tonight I ask that he lead our Nation's battle against drugs at home and abroad. To succeed, he needs a force far larger than he has ever commanded before. He needs all of us. Every one of us has a role to play on this team. Thank you, General McCaffrey, for agreeing to serve your country one more time. Our fifth challenge: to leave our environment safe and clean for the next generation. Because of a generation of bipartisan effort we do have cleaner water and air, lead levels in children's blood has been cut by 70 percent, toxic emissions from factories cut in half. Lake Erie was dead, and now it is a thriving resource. But 10 million children under 12 still live within 4 miles of a toxic waste dump. A third of us breathe air that endangers our health. And in too many communities the water is not safe to drink. We still have much to do. Yet Congress has voted to cut environmental enforcement by 25 percent. That means more toxic chemicals in our water, more smog in our air, more pesticides in our food. Lobbyists for polluters have been allowed to write their own loopholes into bills to weaken laws that protect the health and safety of our children. Some say that the taxpayer should pick up the tab for toxic waste and let polluters who can afford to fix it off the hook. I challenge Congress to reexamine those policies and to reverse them. This issue has not been a partisan issue. The most significant environmental gains in the last 30 years were made under a Democratic Congress and President Richard Nixon. We can work together. We have to believe some basic things. Do you believe we can expand the economy without hurting the environment? I do. Do you believe we can create more jobs over the long run by cleaning the environment up? I know we can. That should be our commitment. We must challenge businesses and communities to take more initiative in protecting the environment, and we have to make it easier for them to do it. To businesses this administration is saying, if you can find a cheaper, more efficient way than Government regulations require to meet tough pollution standards, do it, as long as you do it right. To communities we say, we must strengthen community right-toknow laws requiring polluters to disclose their emissions, but you have to use the information to work with business to cut pollution. People do have a right to know that their air and their water are safe. Our sixth challenge is to maintain America's leadership in the fight for freedom and peace throughout the world. Because of American leadership, more people than ever before live free and at peace. And Americans have known 50 years of prosperity and security. We owe thanks especially to our veterans of World War II. I would like to say to Senator Bob Dole and to all others in this Chamber who fought in World War II, and to all others on both sides of the aisle who have fought bravely in all our conflicts since: I salute your service, and so do the American people. All over the world, even after the cold war, people still look to us and trust us to help them seek the blessings of peace and freedom. But as the cold war fades into memory, voices of isolation say America should retreat from its responsibilities. I say they are wrong. The threats we face today as Americans respect no nation's borders. Think of them: terrorism, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, organized crime, drug trafficking, ethnic and religious hatred, aggression by rogue states, environmental degradation. If we fail to address these threats today, we will suffer the consequences in all our tomorrows. Of course, we cannot be everywhere. Of course, we cannot do everything. But where our interests and our values are at stake, and where we can make a difference, America must lead. We must not be isolationist. We must not be the world's policeman. But we can and should be the world's very best peacemaker. By keeping our military strong, by using diplomacy where we can and force where we must, by working with others to share the risk and the cost of our efforts, America is making a difference for people here and around the world. For the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age—for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age—there is not a single Russian missile pointed at America's children. North Korea has now frozen its dangerous nuclear weapons program. In Haiti, the dictators are gone, democracy has a new day, the flow of desperate refugees to our shores has subsided. Through tougher trade deals for America, over 80 of them, we have opened markets abroad, and now exports are at an all-time high, growing faster than imports and creating good American jobs. We stood with those taking risks for peace: in Northern Ireland, where Catholic and Protestant children now tell their parents violence must never return; in the Middle East, where Arabs and Jews who once seemed destined to fight forever now share knowledge and resources and even dreams. And we stood up for peace in Bosnia. Remember the skeletal prisoners, the mass graves, the campaign to rape and torture, the endless lines of refugees, the threat of a spreading war. All these threats, all these horrors have now begun to give way to the promise of peace. Now our troops and a strong NATO, together with our new partners from central Europe and elsewhere, are helping that peace to take hold. As all of you know, I was just there with a bipartisan congressional group, and I was so proud not only of what our troops were doing but of the pride they evidenced in what they were doing. They knew what America's mission in this world is, and they were proud to be carrying it out. Through these efforts, we have enhanced the security of the American people, but make no mistake about it: Important challenges remain. The START II treaty with Russia will cut our nuclear stockpiles by another 25 percent. I urge the Senate to ratify it now. We must end the race to create new nuclear weapons by signing a truly comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty this year. As we remember what happened in the Japanese subway, we can outlaw poison gas forever if the Senate ratifies the Chemical Weapons Convention this year. We can intensify the fight against terrorists and organized criminals at home and abroad if Congress passes the antiterrorism legislation I proposed after the Oklahoma City bombing, now. We can help more people move from hatred to hope all across the world in our own interest if Congress gives us the means to remain the world's leader for peace. My fellow Americans, the six challenges I have just discussed are for all of us. Our seventh challenge is really America's challenge to those of us in this hallowed Hall tonight: to reinvent our Government and make our democracy work for them. Last year this Congress applied to itself the laws it applies to everyone else. This Congress banned gifts and meals from lobbyists. This Congress forced lobbyists to disclose who pays them and what legislation they are trying to pass or kill. This Congress did that, and I applaud you for it. Now I challenge Congress to go further, to curb special interest influence in politics by passing the first truly bipartisan campaign finance reform bill in a generation. You, Republicans and Democrats alike, can show the American people that we can limit spending and we can open the airwaves to all candidates. I also appeal to Congress to pass the line item veto you promised the American people. Our administration is working hard to give the American people a Government that works better and costs less. Thanks to the work of Vice President Gore, we are eliminating 16,000 pages of unnecessary rules and regulations, shifting more decisionmaking out of Washington, back to States and local communities. As we move into the era of balanced budgets and smaller Government, we must work in new ways to enable people to make the most of their own lives. We are helping America's communities, not with more bureaucracy but with more opportunities. Through our successful empowerment zones and community development banks, we are helping people to find jobs, to start businesses. And with tax incentives for companies that clean up abandoned industrial property, we can bring jobs back to places that desperately, desperately need them. But there are some areas that the Federal Government should not leave and should address and address strongly. One of these areas is the problem of illegal immigration. After years of neglect, this administration has taken a strong stand to stiffen the protection of our borders. We are increasing border controls by 50 percent. We are increasing inspections to prevent the hiring of illegal immigrants. And tonight I announce I will sign an Executive order to deny Federal contracts to businesses that hire illegal immigrants. Let me be very clear about this: We are still a nation of immigrants; we should be proud of it. We should honor every legal immigrant here, working hard to be a good citizen, working hard to become a new citizen. But we are also a nation of laws. I want to say a special word now to those who work for our Federal Government. Today the Federal work force is 200,000 employees smaller than it was the day I took office as President. Our Federal Government today is the smallest it has been in 30 years, and it is getting smaller every day. Most of our fellow Americans probably do not know that. And there is a good reason—a good reason: The remaining Federal work force is composed of hard-working Americans who are now working harder and working smarter than ever before to make sure the quality of our services does not decline. I would like to give you one example. His name is Richard Dean. He is a 49-year-old Vietnam veteran who is worked for the Social Security Administration for 22 years now. Last year he was hard at work in the Federal Building in Oklahoma City when the blast killed 169 people and brought the rubble down all around him. He reentered that building four times. He saved the lives of three women. He is here with us this evening, and I want to recognize Richard and applaud both his public service and his extraordinary personal heroism. But Richard Dean's story does not end there. This last November, he was forced out of his office when the Government shut down. And the second time the Government shut down he continued helping Social Security recipients, but he was working without pay. On behalf of Richard Dean and his family, and all the other people who are out there working every day doing a good job for the American people, I challenge all of you in this Chamber: Let us never, ever shut the Federal Government down again. On behalf of all Americans, especially those who need their Social Security payments at the beginning of March, I also challenge the Congress to preserve the full faith and credit of the United States, to honor the obligations of this great Nation as we have for 220 years, to rise above partisanship and pass a straightforward extension of the debt limit and show people America keeps its word. I know that this evening I have asked a lot of Congress and even more from America. But I am confident: When Americans work together in their homes, their schools, their churches, their synagogues, their civic groups, their workplace, they can meet any challenge. I say again, the era of big Government is over. But we cannot go back to the era of fending for yourself. We have to go forward to the era of working together as a community, as a team, as one America, with all of us reaching across these lines that divide us—the division, the discrimination, the rancor—we have to reach across it to find common ground. We have got to work together if we want America to work. I want you to meet two more people tonight who do just that. Lucius Wright is a teacher in the Jackson, Mississippi, public school system. A Vietnam veteran, he has created groups to help inner-city children turn away from gangs and build futures they can believe in. Sergeant Jennifer Rodgers is a police officer in Oklahoma City. Like Richard Dean, she helped to pull her fellow citizens out of the rubble and deal with that awful tragedy. She reminds us that in their response to that atrocity the people of Oklahoma City lifted all of us with their basic sense of decency and community. Lucius Wright and Jennifer Rodgers are special Americans. And I have the honor to announce tonight that they are the very first of several thousand Americans who will be chosen to carry the Olympic torch on its long journey from Los Angeles to the centennial of the modern Olympics in Atlanta this summer, not because they are star athletes but because they are star citizens, community heroes meeting America's challenges. They are our real champions. Please stand up. [ ] Now each of us must hold high the torch of citizenship in our own lives. None of us can finish the race alone. We can only achieve our destiny together, one hand, one generation, one American connecting to another. There have always been things we could do together, dreams we could make real which we could never have done on our own. We Americans have forged our identity, our very Union, from the very point of view that we can accommodate every point on the planet, every different opinion. But we must be bound together by a faith more powerful than any doctrine that divides us, by our belief in progress, our love of liberty, and our relentless search for common ground. America has always sought and always risen to every challenge. Who would say that having come so far together, we will not go forward from here? Who would say that this age of possibility is not for all Americans? Our country is and always has been a great and good nation. But the best is yet to come if we all do our parts. Thank you. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. Thank you.
thank you very much speaker vice president members of the 104th congress distinguished guests my fellow americans all across our land let me begin tonight by saying to our men and women in uniform around the world and especially those helping peace take root in bosnia and to their families i thank you america is very very proud of you my duty tonight is to report on the state of the union not the state of our government but of our american community and to set forth our responsibilities in the words of our founders to form a more perfect union the state of the union is strong our economy is the healthiest it has been in three decades we have the lowest combined rates of unemployment and inflation in 27 years we have nearly 8 million new jobs over a million of them in basic industries like construction and automobiles america is selling more cars than japan for the first time since the 1970 and for 3 years in a row we have had a record number of new businesses started in our country our leadership in the world is also strong bringing hope for new peace and perhaps most important we are gaining ground in restoring our fundamental values the crime rate the welfare and food stamp rolls the poverty rate and the teen pregnancy rate are all down and as they go down prospects for america future go up we live in an age of possibility a hundred years ago we moved from farm to factory now we move to an age of technology information and global competition these changes have opened vast new opportunities for our people but they have also presented them with stiff challenges while more americans are living better too many of our fellow citizens are working harder just to keep up and they are rightly concerned about the security of their families we must answer here three fundamental questions first how do we make the american dream of opportunity for all a reality for all americans who are willing to work for it second how do we preserve our old and enduring values as we move into the future and third how do we meet these challenges together as one america we know big government does not have all the answers we know there is not a program for every problem we know and we have worked to give the american people a smaller less bureaucratic government in washington and we have to give the american people one that lives within its means the era of big government is over but we can not go back to the time when our citizens were left to fend for themselves instead we must go forward as one america one nation working together to meet the challenges we face together and teamwork are not opposing virtues we must have both i believe our new smaller government must work in an american way together with all of our citizens through state and local governments in the workplace in religious charitable and civic associations our goal must be to enable all our people to make the most of their own lives with stronger families more educational opportunity economic security safer streets a cleaner environment in a safer world to improve the state of our union we must ask more of ourselves we must expect more of each other and we must face our challenges together here in this place our responsibility begins with balancing the budget in a way that is fair to all americans there is now broad bipartisan agreement that permanent deficit spending must come to an end i compliment the republican leadership and the membership for the energy and determination you have brought to this task of balancing the budget and i thank the democrats for passing the largest deficit reduction plan in history in 1993 which has already cut the deficit nearly in half in 3 years since 1993 we have all begun to see the benefits of deficit reduction lower interest rates have made it easier for businesses to borrow and to invest and to create new jobs lower interest rates have brought down the cost of home mortgages car payments and credit card rates to ordinary citizens now it is time to finish the job and balance the budget though differences remain among us which are significant the combined total of the proposed savings that are common to both plans is more than enough using the numbers from your congressional budget office to balance the budget in 7 years and to provide a modest tax cut these cuts are real they will require sacrifice from everyone but these cuts do not undermine our fundamental obligations to our parents our children and our future by endangering medicare or medicaid or education or the environment or by raising taxes on working families i have said before and let me say again many good ideas have come out of our negotiations i have learned a lot about the way both republicans and democrats view the debate before us i have learned a lot about the good ideas that each side has that we could all embrace we ought to resolve our remaining differences i am willing to work to resolve them i am ready to meet tomorrow but i ask you to consider that we should at least enact these savings that both plans have in common and give the american people their balanced budget a tax cut lower interest rates and a brighter future we should do that now and make permanent deficits yesterday legacy now it is time for us to look also to the challenges of today and tomorrow beyond the burdens of yesterday the challenges are significant but our nation was built on challenges america was built on challenges not promises and when we work together to meet them we never fail that is the key to a more perfect union our individual dreams must be realized by our common efforts tonight i want to speak to you about the challenges we all face as a people our first challenge is to cherish our children and strengthen america families family is the foundation of american life if we have stronger families we will have a stronger america before i go on i would like to take just a moment to thank my own family and to thank the person who has taught me more than anyone else over 25 years about the importance of families and children a wonderful wife a magnificent mother and a great first lady thank you hillary all strong families begin with taking more responsibility for our children i have heard gore say that it is hard to be a parent today but it is even harder to be a child so all of us not just as parents but all of us in our other media our schools our teachers our communities our churches and synagogues our businesses our of us have a responsibility to help our children to make it and to make the most of their lives and their capacities to the media i say you should create movies and cd and television shows you would want your own children and grandchildren to enjoy i call on congress to pass the requirement for a in tv sets so that parents can screen out programs they believe are inappropriate for their children when parents control what their young children see that is not censorship that is enabling parents to assume more personal responsibility for their children upbringing and i urge them to do it the vchip requirement is part of the important telecommunications bill now pending in this congress it has bipartisan support and i urge you to pass it now to make the work i challenge the broadcast industry to do what movies have done to identify your program in ways that help parents to protect their children and i invite the leaders of major media corporations in the entertainment industry to come to the white house next month to work with us in a positive way on concrete ways to improve what our children see on television i am ready to work with you i say to those who make and market cigarettes every year a million children take up smoking even though it is against the law three hundred thousand of them will have their lives shortened as a result our administration has taken steps to stop the massive marketing campaigns that appeal to our children we are simply saying market your products to adults if you wish but draw the line on children i say to those who are on welfare and especially to those who have been trapped on welfare for a long time for too long our welfare system has undermined the values of family and work instead of supporting them the congress and i are near agreement on sweeping welfare reform we agree on time limits tough work requirements and the toughest possible child support enforcement but i believe we must also provide child care so that mothers who are required to go to work can do so without worrying about what is happening to their children i challenge this congress to send me a bipartisan welfare reform bill that will really move people from welfare to work and do the right thing by our children i will sign it immediately let us be candid about this difficult problem passing a law even the best possible law is only a first step the next step is to make it work i challenge people on welfare to make the most of this opportunity for independence i challenge american businesses to give people on welfare the chance to move into the work force i applaud the work of religious groups and others who care for the poor more than anyone else in our society they know the true difficulty of the task before us and they are in a position to help every one of us should join them that is the only way we can make real welfare reform a reality in the lives of the american people to strengthen the family we must do everything we can to keep the teen pregnancy rate going down i am gratified as i am sure all americans are that it has dropped for 2 years in a row but we all know it is still far too high tonight i am pleased to announce that a group of prominent americans is responding to that challenge by forming an organization that will support grassroots community efforts all across our country in a national campaign against teen pregnancy and i challenge all of us and every american to join their efforts i call on american men and women in families to give greater respect to one another we must end the deadly scourge of domestic violence in our country and i challenge america families to work harder to stay together for families who stay together not only do better economically their children do better as well in particular i challenge the fathers of this country to love and care for their children if your family has separated you must pay your child support we are doing more than ever to make sure you do and we are going to do more but let us all admit something about that too a check will never substitute for a parent love and guidance and only you can make the decision to help raise your children no matter who you are how low or high your station in life it is the most basic human duty of every american to do that job to the best of his or her ability our second challenge is to provide americans with the educational opportunities we will all need for this new century in our schools every classroom in america must be connected to the information superhighway with computers and good software and teachers we are working with the telecommunications industry educators and parents to connect 20 percent of california classrooms by this spring and every classroom and every library in the entire united states by the year 2000 i ask congress to support this education technology initiative so that we can make sure this national partnership succeeds every diploma ought to mean something i challenge every community every school and every state to adopt national standards of excellence to measure whether schools are meeting those standards to cut bureaucratic redtape so that schools and teachers have more flexibility for grassroots reform and to hold them accountable for results that is what our goals 2000 initiative is all about i challenge every state to give all parents the right to choose which public school their children will attend and to let teachers form new schools with a charter they can keep only if they do a good job i challenge all our schools to teach character education to teach good values and good citizenship and if it means that teenagers will stop killing each other over designer jackets then our public schools should be able to require their students to wear school uniforms i challenge our parents to become their children first teachers turn off the tv see that the homework is done and visit your children classroom no program no teacher no one else can do that for you my fellow americans higher education is more important today than ever before we have created a new student loan program that is made it easier to borrow and repay those loans and we have dramatically cut the student loan default rate that is something we should all be proud of because it was unconscionably high just a few years ago through americorps our national service program this year young people will earn college money by serving their local communities to improve the lives of their friends and neighbors these initiatives are right for america and we should keep them going and we should also work hard to open the doors of college even wider i challenge congress to expand and help one million young americans work their way through college by the year 2000 to provide a merit scholarship for the top 5 percent of graduates in every high school in the united states to expand pell grant scholarships for deserving and needy students and to make up to a year of college tuition tax deductible it is a good idea for america our third challenge is to help every american who is willing to work for it achieve economic security in this new age people who work hard still need support to get ahead in the new economy they need education and training for a lifetime they need more support for families raising children they need retirement security they need access to health care more and more americans are finding that the education of their childhood simply does not last a lifetime so i challenge congress to consolidate 70 overlapping antiquated job training programs into a simple voucher worth for unemployed or underemployed workers to use as they please for community college tuition or other training this is a gi bill for america workers we should all be able to agree on more and more americans are working hard without a raise congress sets the minimum wage within a year the minimum wage will fall to a low in purchasing power four dollars and 25 cents an hour is no longer a minimum wage but millions of americans and their children are trying to live on it i challenge you to raise their minimum wage in 1993 congress cut the taxes of 15 million working families to make sure that no parents who work full time would have to raise their children in poverty and to encourage people to move from welfare to work this expanded tax credit is now worth about a year to a family of four living on the budget bill i vetoed would have reversed this achievement and raised taxes on nearly 8 million of these people we should not do that we should not do that but i also agree that the people who are helped under this initiative are not all those in our country who are working hard to do a good job raising their children and at work i agree that we need a tax credit for working families with children that is one of the things most of us in this chamber i hope can agree on i know it is strongly supported by the republican majority and it should be part of any final budget agreement i want to challenge every business that can possibly afford it to provide pensions for your employees and i challenge congress to pass a proposal recommended by the white house conference on small business that would make it easier for small businesses and farmers to establish their own pension plans that is something we should all agree on we should also protect existing pension plans two years ago with bipartisan support that was almost unanimous on both sides of the aisle we moved to protect the pensions of 8 million working people and to stabilize the pensions of 32 million more congress should not now let companies endanger those workers pension funds i know the proposal to liberalize the ability of employers to take money out of pension funds for other purposes would raise money for the treasury but i believe it is false economy i vetoed that proposal last year and i would have to do so again finally if our working families are going to succeed in the new economy they must be able to buy health insurance policies that they do not lose when they change jobs or when someone in their family gets sick over the past 2 years over one million americans in working families have lost their health insurance we have to do more to make health care available to every american and congress should start by passing the bipartisan bill sponsored by senator kennedy and senator kassebaum that would require insurance companies to stop dropping people when they switch jobs and stop denying coverage for preexisting conditions let us all do that and even as we enact savings in these programs we must have a common commitment to preserve the basic protections of medicare and medicaid not just to the poor but to people in working families including children people with disabilities people with aids senior citizens in nursing homes in the past 3 years we have saved 15 billion just by fighting health care fraud and abuse we have all agreed to save much more we have all agreed to stabilize the medicare trust fund but we must not abandon our fundamental obligations to the people who need medicare and medicaid america can not become stronger if they become weaker the gi bill for workers tax relief for education and childrearing pension availability and protection access to health care preservation of medicare and medicaid these things along with the family and medical leave act passed in 1993 these things will help responsible hardworking american families to make the most of their own lives but employers and employees must do their part as well as they are doing in so many of our finest companies working together putting the prosperity ahead of the gain as workers increase their hours and their productivity employers should make sure they get the skills they need and share the benefits of the good years as well as the burdens of the bad ones when companies and workers work as a team they do better and so does america our fourth great challenge is to take our streets back from crime and gangs and drugs at last we have begun to find a way to reduce crime forming community partnerships with local police forces to catch criminals and prevent crime this strategy called community policing is clearly working violent crime is coming down all across america in new york city murders are down 25 percent in louis 18 percent in seattle 32 percent but we still have a long way to go before our streets are safe and our people are free from fear the crime bill of 1994 is critical to the success of community policing it provides funds for new police in communities of all sizes we are already a third of the way there and i challenge the congress to finish the job let us stick with a strategy that is working and keep the crime rate coming down community policing also requires bonds of trust between citizens and police i ask all americans to respect and support our law enforcement officers and to our police i say our children need you as role models and heroes do not let them down the brady bill has already stopped people with criminal records from buying guns the assault weapons ban is keeping 19 kinds of assault weapons out of the hands of violent gangs i challenge the congress to keep those laws on the books our next step in the fight against crime is to take on gangs the way we once took on the mob i am directing the fbi and other investigative agencies to target gangs that involve juveniles in violent crime and to seek authority to prosecute as adults teenagers who maim and kill like adults and i challenge local housing authorities and tenant associations criminal gang members and drug dealers are destroying the lives of decent tenants from now on the rule for residents who commit crime and peddle drugs should be one strike and you are out i challenge every state to match federal policy to assure that serious violent criminals serve at least 85 percent of their sentence more police and punishment are important but they are not enough we have got to keep more of our young people out of trouble with prevention strategies not dictated by washington but developed in communities i challenge all of our communities all of our adults to give our children futures to say yes to and i challenge congress not to abandon the crime bill support of these grassroots prevention efforts finally to reduce crime and violence we have to reduce the drug problem the challenge begins in our homes with parents talking to their children openly and firmly it embraces our churches and synagogues our youth groups and our schools i challenge congress not to cut our support for schools people like the officers are making a real impression on children that will give them the strength to say no when the time comes meanwhile we continue our efforts to cut the flow of drugs into america for the last 2 years one man in particular has been on the front lines of that effort tonight i am nominating him a hero of the persian gulf war and the commander in chief of the united states military southern command general barry mccaffrey as america new drug czar general mccaffrey has earned three purple hearts and two silver stars fighting for this country tonight i ask that he lead our nation battle against drugs at home and abroad to succeed he needs a force far larger than he has ever commanded before he needs all of us every one of us has a role to play on this team thank you general mccaffrey for agreeing to serve your country one more time our fifth challenge to leave our environment safe and clean for the next generation because of a generation of bipartisan effort we do have cleaner water and air lead levels in children blood has been cut by 70 percent toxic emissions from factories cut in half lake erie was dead and now it is a thriving resource but 10 million children under 12 still live within 4 miles of a toxic waste dump a third of us breathe air that endangers our health and in too many communities the water is not safe to drink we still have much to do yet congress has voted to cut environmental enforcement by 25 percent that means more toxic chemicals in our water more smog in our air more pesticides in our food lobbyists for polluters have been allowed to write their own loopholes into bills to weaken laws that protect the health and safety of our children some say that the taxpayer should pick up the tab for toxic waste and let polluters who can afford to fix it off the hook i challenge congress to reexamine those policies and to reverse them this issue has not been a partisan issue the most significant environmental gains in the last 30 years were made under a democratic congress and president richard nixon we can work together we have to believe some basic things do you believe we can expand the economy without hurting the environment i do do you believe we can create more jobs over the long run by cleaning the environment up i know we can that should be our commitment we must challenge businesses and communities to take more initiative in protecting the environment and we have to make it easier for them to do it to businesses this administration is saying if you can find a cheaper more efficient way than government regulations require to meet tough pollution standards do it as long as you do it right to communities we say we must strengthen community laws requiring polluters to disclose their emissions but you have to use the information to work with business to cut pollution people do have a right to know that their air and their water are safe our sixth challenge is to maintain america leadership in the fight for freedom and peace throughout the world because of american leadership more people than ever before live free and at peace and americans have known 50 years of prosperity and security we owe thanks especially to our veterans of world war ii i would like to say to senator bob dole and to all others in this chamber who fought in world war ii and to all others on both sides of the aisle who have fought bravely in all our conflicts since i salute your service and so do the american people all over the world even after the cold war people still look to us and trust us to help them seek the blessings of peace and freedom but as the cold war fades into memory voices of isolation say america should retreat from its responsibilities i say they are wrong the threats we face today as americans respect no nation borders think of them terrorism the spread of weapons of mass destruction organized crime drug trafficking ethnic and religious hatred aggression by rogue states environmental degradation if we fail to address these threats today we will suffer the consequences in all our tomorrows of course we can not be everywhere of course we can not do everything but where our interests and our values are at stake and where we can make a difference america must lead we must not be isolationist we must not be the world policeman but we can and should be the world very best peacemaker by keeping our military strong by using diplomacy where we can and force where we must by working with others to share the risk and the cost of our efforts america is making a difference for people here and around the world for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear the first time since the dawn of the nuclear is not a single russian missile pointed at america children north korea has now frozen its dangerous nuclear weapons program in haiti the dictators are gone democracy has a new day the flow of desperate refugees to our shores has subsided through tougher trade deals for america over 80 of them we have opened markets abroad and now exports are at an high growing faster than imports and creating good american jobs we stood with those taking risks for peace in northern ireland where catholic and protestant children now tell their parents violence must never return in the middle east where arabs and jews who once seemed destined to fight forever now share knowledge and resources and even dreams and we stood up for peace in bosnia remember the skeletal prisoners the mass graves the campaign to rape and torture the endless lines of refugees the threat of a spreading war all these threats all these horrors have now begun to give way to the promise of peace now our troops and a strong nato together with our new partners from central europe and elsewhere are helping that peace to take hold as all of you know i was just there with a bipartisan congressional group and i was so proud not only of what our troops were doing but of the pride they evidenced in what they were doing they knew what america mission in this world is and they were proud to be carrying it out through these efforts we have enhanced the security of the american people but make no mistake about it important challenges remain the start ii treaty with russia will cut our nuclear stockpiles by another 25 percent i urge the senate to ratify it now we must end the race to create new nuclear weapons by signing a truly comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty this year as we remember what happened in the japanese subway we can outlaw poison gas forever if the senate ratifies the chemical weapons convention this year we can intensify the fight against terrorists and organized criminals at home and abroad if congress passes the antiterrorism legislation i proposed after the oklahoma city bombing now we can help more people move from hatred to hope all across the world in our own interest if congress gives us the means to remain the world leader for peace my fellow americans the six challenges i have just discussed are for all of us our seventh challenge is really america challenge to those of us in this hallowed hall tonight to reinvent our government and make our democracy work for them last year this congress applied to itself the laws it applies to everyone else this congress banned gifts and meals from lobbyists this congress forced lobbyists to disclose who pays them and what legislation they are trying to pass or kill this congress did that and i applaud you for it now i challenge congress to go further to curb special interest influence in politics by passing the first truly bipartisan campaign finance reform bill in a generation you republicans and democrats alike can show the american people that we can limit spending and we can open the airwaves to all candidates i also appeal to congress to pass the line item veto you promised the american people our administration is working hard to give the american people a government that works better and costs less thanks to the work of vice president gore we are eliminating pages of unnecessary rules and regulations shifting more decisionmaking out of washington back to states and local communities as we move into the era of balanced budgets and smaller government we must work in new ways to enable people to make the most of their own lives we are helping america communities not with more bureaucracy but with more opportunities through our successful empowerment zones and community development banks we are helping people to find jobs to start businesses and with tax incentives for companies that clean up abandoned industrial property we can bring jobs back to places that desperately desperately need them but there are some areas that the federal government should not leave and should address and address strongly one of these areas is the problem of illegal immigration after years of neglect this administration has taken a strong stand to stiffen the protection of our borders we are increasing border controls by 50 percent we are increasing inspections to prevent the hiring of illegal immigrants and tonight i announce i will sign an executive order to deny federal contracts to businesses that hire illegal immigrants let me be very clear about this we are still a nation of immigrants we should be proud of it we should honor every legal immigrant here working hard to be a good citizen working hard to become a new citizen but we are also a nation of laws i want to say a special word now to those who work for our federal government today the federal work force is employees smaller than it was the day i took office as president our federal government today is the smallest it has been in 30 years and it is getting smaller every day most of our fellow americans probably do not know that and there is a good good reason the remaining federal work force is composed of americans who are now working harder and working smarter than ever before to make sure the quality of our services does not decline i would like to give you one example his name is richard dean he is a vietnam veteran who is worked for the social security administration for 22 years now last year he was hard at work in the federal building in oklahoma city when the blast killed 169 people and brought the rubble down all around him he reentered that building four times he saved the lives of three women he is here with us this evening and i want to recognize richard and applaud both his public service and his extraordinary personal heroism but richard dean story does not end there this last november he was forced out of his office when the government shut down and the second time the government shut down he continued helping social security recipients but he was working without pay on behalf of richard dean and his family and all the other people who are out there working every day doing a good job for the american people i challenge all of you in this chamber let us never ever shut the federal government down again on behalf of all americans especially those who need their social security payments at the beginning of march i also challenge the congress to preserve the full faith and credit of the united states to honor the obligations of this great nation as we have for 220 years to rise above partisanship and pass a straightforward extension of the debt limit and show people america keeps its word i know that this evening i have asked a lot of congress and even more from america but i am confident when americans work together in their homes their schools their churches their synagogues their civic groups their workplace they can meet any challenge i say again the era of big government is over but we can not go back to the era of fending for yourself we have to go forward to the era of working together as a community as a team as one america with all of us reaching across these lines that divide division the discrimination the have to reach across it to find common ground we have got to work together if we want america to work i want you to meet two more people tonight who do just that lucius wright is a teacher in the jackson mississippi public school system a vietnam veteran he has created groups to help children turn away from gangs and build futures they can believe in sergeant jennifer rodgers is a police officer in oklahoma city like richard dean she helped to pull her fellow citizens out of the rubble and deal with that awful tragedy she reminds us that in their response to that atrocity the people of oklahoma city lifted all of us with their basic sense of decency and community lucius wright and jennifer rodgers are special americans and i have the honor to announce tonight that they are the very first of several thousand americans who will be chosen to carry the olympic torch on its long journey from los angeles to the centennial of the modern olympics in atlanta this summer not because they are star athletes but because they are star citizens community heroes meeting america challenges they are our real champions please stand up now each of us must hold high the torch of citizenship in our own lives none of us can finish the race alone we can only achieve our destiny together one hand one generation one american connecting to another there have always been things we could do together dreams we could make real which we could never have done on our own we americans have forged our identity our very union from the very point of view that we can accommodate every point on the planet every different opinion but we must be bound together by a faith more powerful than any doctrine that divides us by our belief in progress our love of liberty and our relentless search for common ground america has always sought and always risen to every challenge who would say that having come so far together we will not go forward from here who would say that this age of possibility is not for all americans our country is and always has been a great and good nation but the best is yet to come if we all do our parts thank you god bless you and god bless the united states of america thank you
thank much speaker vice president members 104th congress distinguished guests fellow americans across land let begin tonight saying men women uniform around world especially helping peace take root bosnia families thank america proud duty tonight report state union state government american community set forth responsibilities words founders form perfect union state union strong economy healthiest three decades lowest combined rates unemployment inflation 27 years nearly 8 million new jobs million basic industries like construction automobiles america selling cars japan first time since 1970 3 years row record number new businesses started country leadership world also strong bringing hope new peace perhaps important gaining ground restoring fundamental values crime rate welfare food stamp rolls poverty rate teen pregnancy rate go prospects america future go live age possibility hundred years ago moved farm factory move age technology information global competition changes opened vast new opportunities people also presented stiff challenges americans living better many fellow citizens working harder keep rightly concerned security families must answer three fundamental questions first make american dream opportunity reality americans willing work second preserve old enduring values move future third meet challenges together one america know big government answers know program every problem know worked give american people smaller less bureaucratic government washington give american people one lives within means era big government go back time citizens left fend instead must go forward one america one nation working together meet challenges face together teamwork opposing virtues must believe new smaller government must work american way together citizens state local governments workplace religious charitable civic associations goal must enable people make lives stronger families educational opportunity economic security safer streets cleaner environment safer world improve state union must ask must expect must face challenges together place responsibility begins balancing budget way fair americans broad bipartisan agreement permanent deficit spending must come end compliment republican leadership membership energy determination brought task balancing budget thank democrats passing largest deficit reduction plan history 1993 already cut deficit nearly half 3 years since 1993 begun see benefits deficit reduction lower interest rates made easier businesses borrow invest create new jobs lower interest rates brought cost home mortgages car payments credit card rates ordinary citizens time finish job balance budget though differences remain among us significant combined total proposed savings common plans enough using numbers congressional budget office balance budget 7 years provide modest tax cut cuts real require sacrifice everyone cuts undermine fundamental obligations parents children future endangering medicare medicaid education environment raising taxes working families said let say many good ideas come negotiations learned lot way republicans democrats view debate us learned lot good ideas side could embrace ought resolve remaining differences willing work resolve ready meet tomorrow ask consider least enact savings plans common give american people balanced budget tax cut lower interest rates brighter future make permanent deficits yesterday legacy time us look also challenges today tomorrow beyond burdens yesterday challenges significant nation built challenges america built challenges promises work together meet never fail key perfect union individual dreams must realized common efforts tonight want speak challenges face people first challenge cherish children strengthen america families family foundation american life stronger families stronger america go would like take moment thank family thank person taught anyone else 25 years importance families children wonderful wife magnificent mother great first lady thank hillary strong families begin taking responsibility children heard gore say hard parent today even harder child us parents us media schools teachers communities churches synagogues businesses us responsibility help children make make lives capacities media say create movies cd television shows would want children grandchildren enjoy call congress pass requirement tv sets parents screen programs believe inappropriate children parents control young children see censorship enabling parents assume personal responsibility children upbringing urge vchip requirement part important telecommunications bill pending congress bipartisan support urge pass make work challenge broadcast industry movies done identify program ways help parents protect children invite leaders major media corporations entertainment industry come white house next month work us positive way concrete ways improve children see television ready work say make market cigarettes every year million children take smoking even though law three hundred thousand lives shortened result administration taken steps stop massive marketing campaigns appeal children simply saying market products adults wish draw line children say welfare especially trapped welfare long time long welfare system undermined values family work instead supporting congress near agreement sweeping welfare reform agree time limits tough work requirements toughest possible child support enforcement believe must also provide child care mothers required go work without worrying happening children challenge congress send bipartisan welfare reform bill really move people welfare work right thing children sign immediately let us candid difficult problem passing law even best possible law first step next step make work challenge people welfare make opportunity independence challenge american businesses give people welfare chance move work force applaud work religious groups others care poor anyone else society know true difficulty task us position help every one us join way make real welfare reform reality lives american people strengthen family must everything keep teen pregnancy rate going gratified sure americans dropped 2 years row know still far high tonight pleased announce group prominent americans responding challenge forming organization support grassroots community efforts across country national campaign teen pregnancy challenge us every american join efforts call american men women families give greater respect one another must end deadly scourge domestic violence country challenge america families work harder stay together families stay together better economically children better well particular challenge fathers country love care children family separated must pay child support ever make sure going let us admit something check never substitute parent love guidance make decision help raise children matter low high station life basic human duty every american job best ability second challenge provide americans educational opportunities need new century schools every classroom america must connected information superhighway computers good software teachers working telecommunications industry educators parents connect 20 percent california classrooms spring every classroom every library entire united states year 2000 ask congress support education technology initiative make sure national partnership succeeds every diploma ought mean something challenge every community every school every state adopt national standards excellence measure whether schools meeting standards cut bureaucratic redtape schools teachers flexibility grassroots reform hold accountable results goals 2000 initiative challenge every state give parents right choose public school children attend let teachers form new schools charter keep good job challenge schools teach character education teach good values good citizenship means teenagers stop killing designer jackets public schools able require students wear school uniforms challenge parents become children first teachers turn tv see homework done visit children classroom program teacher one else fellow americans higher education important today ever created new student loan program made easier borrow repay loans dramatically cut student loan default rate something proud unconscionably high years ago americorps national service program year young people earn college money serving local communities improve lives friends neighbors initiatives right america keep going also work hard open doors college even wider challenge congress expand help one million young americans work way college year 2000 provide merit scholarship top 5 percent graduates every high school united states expand pell grant scholarships deserving needy students make year college tuition tax deductible good idea america third challenge help every american willing work achieve economic security new age people work hard still need support get ahead new economy need education training lifetime need support families raising children need retirement security need access health care americans finding education childhood simply last lifetime challenge congress consolidate 70 overlapping antiquated job training programs simple voucher worth unemployed underemployed workers use please community college tuition training gi bill america workers able agree americans working hard without raise congress sets minimum wage within year minimum wage fall low purchasing power four dollars 25 cents hour longer minimum wage millions americans children trying live challenge raise minimum wage 1993 congress cut taxes 15 million working families make sure parents work full time would raise children poverty encourage people move welfare work expanded tax credit worth year family four living budget bill vetoed would reversed achievement raised taxes nearly 8 million people also agree people helped initiative country working hard good job raising children work agree need tax credit working families children one things us chamber hope agree know strongly supported republican majority part final budget agreement want challenge every business possibly afford provide pensions employees challenge congress pass proposal recommended white house conference small business would make easier small businesses farmers establish pension plans something agree also protect existing pension plans two years ago bipartisan support almost unanimous sides aisle moved protect pensions 8 million working people stabilize pensions 32 million congress let companies endanger workers pension funds know proposal liberalize ability employers take money pension funds purposes would raise money treasury believe false economy vetoed proposal last year would finally working families going succeed new economy must able buy health insurance policies lose change jobs someone family gets sick past 2 years one million americans working families lost health insurance make health care available every american congress start passing bipartisan bill sponsored senator kennedy senator kassebaum would require insurance companies stop dropping people switch jobs stop denying coverage preexisting conditions let us even enact savings programs must common commitment preserve basic protections medicare medicaid poor people working families including children people disabilities people aids senior citizens nursing homes past 3 years saved 15 billion fighting health care fraud abuse agreed save much agreed stabilize medicare trust fund must abandon fundamental obligations people need medicare medicaid america become stronger become weaker gi bill workers tax relief education childrearing pension availability protection access health care preservation medicare medicaid things along family medical leave act passed 1993 things help responsible hardworking american families make lives employers employees must part well many finest companies working together putting prosperity ahead gain workers increase hours productivity employers make sure get skills need share benefits good years well burdens bad ones companies workers work team better america fourth great challenge take streets back crime gangs drugs last begun find way reduce crime forming community partnerships local police forces catch criminals prevent crime strategy called community policing clearly working violent crime coming across america new york city murders 25 percent louis 18 percent seattle 32 percent still long way go streets safe people free fear crime bill 1994 critical success community policing provides funds new police communities sizes already third way challenge congress finish job let us stick strategy working keep crime rate coming community policing also requires bonds trust citizens police ask americans respect support law enforcement officers police say children need role models heroes let brady bill already stopped people criminal records buying guns assault weapons ban keeping 19 kinds assault weapons hands violent gangs challenge congress keep laws books next step fight crime take gangs way took mob directing fbi investigative agencies target gangs involve juveniles violent crime seek authority prosecute adults teenagers maim kill like adults challenge local housing authorities tenant associations criminal gang members drug dealers destroying lives decent tenants rule residents commit crime peddle drugs one strike challenge every state match federal policy assure serious violent criminals serve least 85 percent sentence police punishment important enough got keep young people trouble prevention strategies dictated washington developed communities challenge communities adults give children futures say yes challenge congress abandon crime bill support grassroots prevention efforts finally reduce crime violence reduce drug problem challenge begins homes parents talking children openly firmly embraces churches synagogues youth groups schools challenge congress cut support schools people like officers making real impression children give strength say time comes meanwhile continue efforts cut flow drugs america last 2 years one man particular front lines effort tonight nominating hero persian gulf war commander chief united states military southern command general barry mccaffrey america new drug czar general mccaffrey earned three purple hearts two silver stars fighting country tonight ask lead nation battle drugs home abroad succeed needs force far larger ever commanded needs us every one us role play team thank general mccaffrey agreeing serve country one time fifth challenge leave environment safe clean next generation generation bipartisan effort cleaner water air lead levels children blood cut 70 percent toxic emissions factories cut half lake erie dead thriving resource 10 million children 12 still live within 4 miles toxic waste dump third us breathe air endangers health many communities water safe drink still much yet congress voted cut environmental enforcement 25 percent means toxic chemicals water smog air pesticides food lobbyists polluters allowed write loopholes bills weaken laws protect health safety children say taxpayer pick tab toxic waste let polluters afford fix hook challenge congress reexamine policies reverse issue partisan issue significant environmental gains last 30 years made democratic congress president richard nixon work together believe basic things believe expand economy without hurting environment believe create jobs long run cleaning environment know commitment must challenge businesses communities take initiative protecting environment make easier businesses administration saying find cheaper efficient way government regulations require meet tough pollution standards long right communities say must strengthen community laws requiring polluters disclose emissions use information work business cut pollution people right know air water safe sixth challenge maintain america leadership fight freedom peace throughout world american leadership people ever live free peace americans known 50 years prosperity security owe thanks especially veterans world war ii would like say senator bob dole others chamber fought world war ii others sides aisle fought bravely conflicts since salute service american people world even cold war people still look us trust us help seek blessings peace freedom cold war fades memory voices isolation say america retreat responsibilities say wrong threats face today americans respect nation borders think terrorism spread weapons mass destruction organized crime drug trafficking ethnic religious hatred aggression rogue states environmental degradation fail address threats today suffer consequences tomorrows course everywhere course everything interests values stake make difference america must lead must isolationist must world policeman world best peacemaker keeping military strong using diplomacy force must working others share risk cost efforts america making difference people around world first time since dawn nuclear first time since dawn nuclear single russian missile pointed america children north korea frozen dangerous nuclear weapons program haiti dictators gone democracy new day flow desperate refugees shores subsided tougher trade deals america 80 opened markets abroad exports high growing faster imports creating good american jobs stood taking risks peace northern ireland catholic protestant children tell parents violence must never return middle east arabs jews seemed destined fight forever share knowledge resources even dreams stood peace bosnia remember skeletal prisoners mass graves campaign rape torture endless lines refugees threat spreading war threats horrors begun give way promise peace troops strong nato together new partners central europe elsewhere helping peace take hold know bipartisan congressional group proud troops pride evidenced knew america mission world proud carrying efforts enhanced security american people make mistake important challenges remain start ii treaty russia cut nuclear stockpiles another 25 percent urge senate ratify must end race create new nuclear weapons signing truly comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty year remember happened japanese subway outlaw poison gas forever senate ratifies chemical weapons convention year intensify fight terrorists organized criminals home abroad congress passes antiterrorism legislation proposed oklahoma city bombing help people move hatred hope across world interest congress gives us means remain world leader peace fellow americans six challenges discussed us seventh challenge really america challenge us hallowed hall tonight reinvent government make democracy work last year congress applied laws applies everyone else congress banned gifts meals lobbyists congress forced lobbyists disclose pays legislation trying pass kill congress applaud challenge congress go curb special interest influence politics passing first truly bipartisan campaign finance reform bill generation republicans democrats alike show american people limit spending open airwaves candidates also appeal congress pass line item veto promised american people administration working hard give american people government works better costs less thanks work vice president gore eliminating pages unnecessary rules regulations shifting decisionmaking washington back states local communities move era balanced budgets smaller government must work new ways enable people make lives helping america communities bureaucracy opportunities successful empowerment zones community development banks helping people find jobs start businesses tax incentives companies clean abandoned industrial property bring jobs back places desperately desperately need areas federal government leave address address strongly one areas problem illegal immigration years neglect administration taken strong stand stiffen protection borders increasing border controls 50 percent increasing inspections prevent hiring illegal immigrants tonight announce sign executive order deny federal contracts businesses hire illegal immigrants let clear still nation immigrants proud honor every legal immigrant working hard good citizen working hard become new citizen also nation laws want say special word work federal government today federal work force employees smaller day took office president federal government today smallest 30 years getting smaller every day fellow americans probably know good good reason remaining federal work force composed americans working harder working smarter ever make sure quality services decline would like give one example name richard dean vietnam veteran worked social security administration 22 years last year hard work federal building oklahoma city blast killed 169 people brought rubble around reentered building four times saved lives three women us evening want recognize richard applaud public service extraordinary personal heroism richard dean story end last november forced office government shut second time government shut continued helping social security recipients working without pay behalf richard dean family people working every day good job american people challenge chamber let us never ever shut federal government behalf americans especially need social security payments beginning march also challenge congress preserve full faith credit united states honor obligations great nation 220 years rise partisanship pass straightforward extension debt limit show people america keeps word know evening asked lot congress even america confident americans work together homes schools churches synagogues civic groups workplace meet challenge say era big government go back era fending go forward era working together community team one america us reaching across lines divide division discrimination reach across find common ground got work together want america work want meet two people tonight lucius wright teacher jackson mississippi public school system vietnam veteran created groups help children turn away gangs build futures believe sergeant jennifer rodgers police officer oklahoma city like richard dean helped pull fellow citizens rubble deal awful tragedy reminds us response atrocity people oklahoma city lifted us basic sense decency community lucius wright jennifer rodgers special americans honor announce tonight first several thousand americans chosen carry olympic torch long journey los angeles centennial modern olympics atlanta summer star athletes star citizens community heroes meeting america challenges real champions please stand us must hold high torch citizenship lives none us finish race alone achieve destiny together one hand one generation one american connecting another always things could together dreams could make real could never done americans forged identity union point view accommodate every point planet every different opinion must bound together faith powerful doctrine divides us belief progress love liberty relentless search common ground america always sought always risen every challenge would say come far together go forward would say age possibility americans country always great good nation best yet come parts thank god bless god bless united states america thank
thank much speaker vice president member 104th congress distinguish guest fellow american across land let begin tonight say men woman uniform around world especially help peace take root bosnia family thank america proud duty tonight report state union state government american community set forth responsibility word founder form perfect union state union strong economy healthy three decade lowest combine rate unemployment inflation 27 year nearly 8 million new job million basic industry like construction automobile america sell car japan first time since 1970 3 year row record number new business start country leadership world also strong bring hope new peace perhaps important gain ground restore fundamental value crime rate welfare food stamp roll poverty rate teen pregnancy rate go prospect america future go live age possibility hundred year ago move farm factory move age technology information global competition change open vast new opportunity people also present stiff challenge americans live well many fellow citizen work harder keep rightly concerned security family must answer three fundamental question first make american dream opportunity reality americans willing work second preserve old enduring value move future third meet challenge together one america know big government answer know program every problem know work give american people small less bureaucratic government washington give american people one live within mean era big government go back time citizen leave fend instead must go forward one america one nation work together meet challenge face together teamwork oppose virtue must believe new small government must work american way together citizens state local government workplace religious charitable civic association goal must enable people make life strong family educational opportunity economic security safer street cleaner environment safer world improve state union must ask must expect must face challenge together place responsibility begin balance budget way fair american broad bipartisan agreement permanent deficit spending must come end compliment republican leadership membership energy determination bring task balance budget thank democrat pass large deficit reduction plan history 1993 already cut deficit nearly half 3 year since 1993 begin see benefit deficit reduction low interest rate make easy business borrow invest create new job low interest rate bring cost home mortgage car payment credit card rate ordinary citizen time finish job balance budget though difference remain among u significant combine total proposed saving common plan enough use number congressional budget office balance budget 7 year provide modest tax cut cut real require sacrifice everyone cut undermine fundamental obligation parent child future endanger medicare medicaid education environment raise tax work family say let say many good idea come negotiation learn lot way republicans democrat view debate u learned lot good idea side could embrace ought resolve remain difference willing work resolve ready meet tomorrow ask consider least enact saving plan common give american people balance budget tax cut low interest rate brighter future make permanent deficit yesterday legacy time u look also challenge today tomorrow beyond burden yesterday challenge significant nation build challenge america build challenge promise work together meet never fail key perfect union individual dream must realize common effort tonight want speak challenge face people first challenge cherish child strengthen america family family foundation american life strong family stronger america go would like take moment thank family thank person teach anyone else 25 year importance family child wonderful wife magnificent mother great first lady thank hillary strong family begin take responsibility child hear gore say hard parent today even hard child u parent u medium school teacher community church synagogues business u responsibility help child make make life capacity medium say create movie cd television show would want child grandchildren enjoy call congress pas requirement tv set parent screen program believe inappropriate child parent control young child see censorship enable parent assume personal responsibility child upbringing urge vchip requirement part important telecommunication bill pending congress bipartisan support urge pas make work challenge broadcast industry movie do identify program way help parent protect child invite leader major medium corporation entertainment industry come white house next month work u positive way concrete way improve child see television ready work say make market cigarette every year million child take smoke even though law three hundred thousand life shorten result administration take step stop massive marketing campaign appeal child simply say market product adults wish draw line child say welfare especially trap welfare long time long welfare system undermined value family work instead support congress near agreement sweep welfare reform agree time limit tough work requirement toughest possible child support enforcement believe must also provide child care mother require go work without worry happen child challenge congress send bipartisan welfare reform bill really move people welfare work right thing child sign immediately let u candid difficult problem passing law even best possible law first step next step make work challenge people welfare make opportunity independence challenge american business give people welfare chance move work force applaud work religious group others care poor anyone else society know true difficulty task u position help every one u join way make real welfare reform reality live american people strengthen family must everything keep teen pregnancy rate go gratified sure american drop 2 year row know still far high tonight please announce group prominent american respond challenge form organization support grassroots community effort across country national campaign teen pregnancy challenge u every american join effort call american men woman family give great respect one another must end deadly scourge domestic violence country challenge america family work hard stay together family stay together well economically child well well particular challenge father country love care child family separate must pay child support ever make sure go let u admit something check never substitute parent love guidance make decision help raise child matter low high station life basic human duty every american job best ability second challenge provide americans educational opportunity need new century school every classroom america must connect information superhighway computer good software teacher work telecommunication industry educator parent connect 20 percent california classroom spring every classroom every library entire unite state year 2000 ask congress support education technology initiative make sure national partnership succeed every diploma ought mean something challenge every community every school every state adopt national standard excellence measure whether school meet standard cut bureaucratic redtape school teacher flexibility grassroots reform hold accountable result goal 2000 initiative challenge every state give parent right choose public school child attend let teacher form new school charter keep good job challenge school teach character education teach good value good citizenship mean teenager stop kill designer jacket public school able require student wear school uniform challenge parent become child first teacher turn tv see homework do visit child classroom program teacher one else fellow american high education important today ever create new student loan program make easier borrow repay loan dramatically cut student loan default rate something proud unconscionably high year ago americorps national service program year young people earn college money serve local community improve live friend neighbor initiative right america keep go also work hard open door college even wider challenge congress expand help one million young american work way college year 2000 provide merit scholarship top 5 percent graduate every high school united state expand pell grant scholarship deserve needy student make year college tuition tax deductible good idea america third challenge help every american willing work achieve economic security new age people work hard still need support get ahead new economy need education training lifetime need support family raise child need retirement security need access health care americans find education childhood simply last lifetime challenge congress consolidate 70 overlap antiquate job train program simple voucher worth unemployed underemployed worker use please community college tuition train gi bill america worker able agree american work hard without raise congress set minimum wage within year minimum wage fall low purchase power four dollar 25 cent hour longer minimum wage million americans child try live challenge raise minimum wage 1993 congress cut tax 15 million work family make sure parent work full time would raise child poverty encourage people move welfare work expand tax credit worth year family four living budget bill vetoed would reverse achievement raise tax nearly 8 million people also agree people help initiative country work hard good job raise child work agree need tax credit work family child one thing u chamber hope agree know strongly support republican majority part final budget agreement want challenge every business possibly afford provide pension employee challenge congress pas proposal recommend white house conference small business would make easy small business farmer establish pension plan something agree also protect exist pension plan two year ago bipartisan support almost unanimous side aisle move protect pension 8 million work people stabilize pension 32 million congress let company endanger worker pension fund know proposal liberalize ability employer take money pension fund purpose would raise money treasury believe false economy veto proposal last year would finally work family go succeed new economy must able buy health insurance policy lose change job someone family get sick past 2 year one million american work family lose health insurance make health care available every american congress start pass bipartisan bill sponsor senator kennedy senator kassebaum would require insurance company stop drop people switch job stop denying coverage preexist condition let u even enact saving program must common commitment preserve basic protection medicare medicaid poor people work family include child people disability people aid senior citizen nurse home past 3 year save 15 billion fight health care fraud abuse agree save much agree stabilize medicare trust fund must abandon fundamental obligation people need medicare medicaid america become strong become weak gi bill worker tax relief education childrearing pension availability protection access health care preservation medicare medicaid thing along family medical leave act passed 1993 thing help responsible hardworking american family make live employer employee must part well many fine company work together put prosperity ahead gain worker increase hour productivity employer make sure get skill need share benefit good year well burdens bad one company worker work team well america fourth great challenge take street back crime gang drug last begin find way reduce crime form community partnership local police force catch criminal prevent crime strategy call community police clearly work violent crime come across america new york city murder 25 percent louis 18 percent seattle 32 percent still long way go street safe people free fear crime bill 1994 critical success community police provide fund new police community size already third way challenge congress finish job let u stick strategy work keep crime rate come community policing also require bond trust citizen police ask american respect support law enforcement officer police say child need role model hero let brady bill already stop people criminal record buy gun assault weapon ban keep 19 kind assault weapon hand violent gang challenge congress keep law book next step fight crime take gang way take mob directing fbi investigative agency target gang involve juvenile violent crime seek authority prosecute adult teenager maim kill like adult challenge local housing authority tenant association criminal gang member drug dealer destroy life decent tenant rule resident commit crime peddle drug one strike challenge every state match federal policy assure serious violent criminal serve least 85 percent sentence police punishment important enough get keep young people trouble prevention strategy dictate washington develop community challenge community adult give child future say yes challenge congress abandon crime bill support grassroots prevention effort finally reduce crime violence reduce drug problem challenge begin home parent talk child openly firmly embrace church synagogue youth group school challenge congress cut support school people like officer make real impression child give strength say time come meanwhile continue effort cut flow drug america last 2 year one man particular front line effort tonight nominate hero persian gulf war commander chief united state military southern command general barry mccaffrey america new drug czar general mccaffrey earn three purple hearts two silver star fight country tonight ask lead nation battle drug home abroad succeed need force far large ever command need u every one u role play team thank general mccaffrey agree serve country one time fifth challenge leave environment safe clean next generation generation bipartisan effort cleaner water air lead level child blood cut 70 percent toxic emission factory cut half lake erie dead thrive resource 10 million child 12 still live within 4 mile toxic waste dump third u breathe air endangers health many community water safe drink still much yet congress vote cut environmental enforcement 25 percent mean toxic chemical water smog air pesticide food lobbyists polluter allow write loophole bill weaken law protect health safety child say taxpayer pick tab toxic waste let polluter afford fix hook challenge congress reexamine policy reverse issue partisan issue significant environmental gain last 30 year make democratic congress president richard nixon work together believe basic thing believe expand economy without hurt environment believe create job long run clean environment know commitment must challenge business community take initiative protecting environment make easy business administration say find cheap efficient way government regulation require meet tough pollution standard long right community say must strengthen community law require polluter disclose emission use information work business cut pollution people right know air water safe sixth challenge maintain america leadership fight freedom peace throughout world american leadership people ever live free peace american know 50 year prosperity security owe thanks especially veterans world war ii would like say senator bob dole others chamber fought world war ii others side aisle fought bravely conflict since salute service american people world even cold war people still look u trust u help seek blessing peace freedom cold war fade memory voice isolation say america retreat responsibility say wrong threat face today american respect nation border think terrorism spread weapon mass destruction organize crime drug traffic ethnic religious hatred aggression rogue state environmental degradation fail address threat today suffer consequence tomorrow course everywhere course everything interest value stake make difference america must lead must isolationist must world policeman world best peacemaker keep military strong use diplomacy force must work others share risk cost effort america make difference people around world first time since dawn nuclear first time since dawn nuclear single russian missile point america child north korea frozen dangerous nuclear weapon program haiti dictator go democracy new day flow desperate refugee shore subside tough trade deal america 80 open market abroad export high grow faster import create good american job stand take risk peace northern ireland catholic protestant child tell parent violence must never return middle east arab jew seem destined fight forever share knowledge resource even dream stand peace bosnia remember skeletal prisoner mass graf campaign rape torture endless line refugee threat spread war threat horror begin give way promise peace troop strong nato together new partner central europe elsewhere help peace take hold know bipartisan congressional group proud troop pride evidence knew america mission world proud carry effort enhance security american people make mistake important challenge remain start ii treaty russia cut nuclear stockpile another 25 percent urge senate ratify must end race create new nuclear weapon sign truly comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty year remember happen japanese subway outlaw poison gas forever senate ratifies chemical weapon convention year intensify fight terrorist organize criminal home abroad congress pass antiterrorism legislation propose oklahoma city bombing help people move hatred hope across world interest congress give u mean remain world leader peace fellow american six challenge discuss u seventh challenge really america challenge u hallow hall tonight reinvent government make democracy work last year congress apply law applies everyone else congress ban gift meal lobbyist congress force lobbyist disclose pay legislation try pas kill congress applaud challenge congress go curb special interest influence politics pass first truly bipartisan campaign finance reform bill generation republicans democrat alike show american people limit spend open airwave candidate also appeal congress pas line item veto promise american people administration work hard give american people government work well cost less thanks work vice president gore eliminating page unnecessary rule regulation shift decisionmaking washington back state local community move era balance budget small government must work new way enable people make life help america community bureaucracy opportunity successful empowerment zone community development bank help people find job start business tax incentive company clean abandon industrial property bring job back place desperately desperately need area federal government leave address address strongly one area problem illegal immigration year neglect administration take strong stand stiffen protection border increase border control 50 percent increase inspection prevent hire illegal immigrant tonight announce sign executive order deny federal contract business hire illegal immigrant let clear still nation immigrant proud honor every legal immigrant work hard good citizen work hard become new citizen also nation law want say special word work federal government today federal work force employee small day take office president federal government today small 30 year get small every day fellow americans probably know good good reason remain federal work force compose american work harder work smarter ever make sure quality service decline would like give one example name richard dean vietnam veteran work social security administration 22 year last year hard work federal building oklahoma city blast kill 169 people bring rubble around reentered building four time save life three woman u even want recognize richard applaud public service extraordinary personal heroism richard dean story end last november force office government shut second time government shut continue help social security recipient work without pay behalf richard dean family people work every day good job american people challenge chamber let u never ever shut federal government behalf american especially need social security payment begin march also challenge congress preserve full faith credit united state honor obligation great nation 220 year rise partisanship pas straightforward extension debt limit show people america keep word know even ask lot congress even america confident american work together home school church synagogue civic group workplace meet challenge say era big government go back era fending go forward era work together community team one america u reach across line divide division discrimination reach across find common ground get work together want america work want meet two people tonight lucius wright teacher jackson mississippi public school system vietnam veteran create group help child turn away gang build future believe sergeant jennifer rodgers police officer oklahoma city like richard dean help pull fellow citizen rubble deal awful tragedy remind u response atrocity people oklahoma city lift u basic sense decency community lucius wright jennifer rodgers special american honor announce tonight first several thousand american choose carry olympic torch long journey los angeles centennial modern olympics atlanta summer star athlete star citizen community hero meet america challenge real champion please stand u must hold high torch citizenship live none u finish race alone achieve destiny together one hand one generation one american connect another always thing could together dream could make real could never do american forge identity union point view accommodate every point planet every different opinion must bind together faith powerful doctrine divide u belief progress love liberty relentless search common ground america always seek always rise every challenge would say come far together go forward would say age possibility americans country always great good nation best yet come part thank god bless god bless united state america thank