keep that edge, and to do so we need to begin renewing the basics--starting
with our educational system. While we grew complacent, others have acted.
Japan, with a population only about half the size of ours, graduates from
its universities more engineers than we do. If a child doesn't receive
adequate math and science teaching by the age of 16, he or she has lost the
chance to be a scientist or an engineer. We must join together--parents,
teachers, grass roots groups, organized labor, and the business
community--to revitalize American education by setting a standard of
excellence.
In 1983 we seek four major education goals: a quality education initiative
to encourage a substantial upgrading of math and science instruction
through block grants to the States; establishment of education savings
accounts that will give middle and lower-income families an incentive to
save for their children's college education and, at the same time,
encourage a real increase in savings for economic growth; passage of
tuition tax credits for parents who want to send their children to private
or religiously affiliated schools; a constitutional amendment to permit
voluntary school prayer. God should never have been expelled from America's
classrooms in the first place.
Our commitment to fairness means that we must assure legal and economic
equity for women, and eliminate, once and for all, all traces of unjust
discrimination against women from the United States Code. We will not
tolerate wage discrimination based on sex, and we intend to strengthen
enforcement of child support laws to ensure that single parents, most of
whom are women, do not suffer unfair financial hardship. We will also take
action to remedy inequities in pensions. These initiatives will be joined
by others to continue our efforts to promote equity for women.
Also in the area of fairness and equity, we will ask for extension of the
Civil Rights Commission, which is due to expire this year. The Commission
is an important part of the ongoing struggle for justice in America, and we
strongly support its reauthorization. Effective enforcement of our nation's
fair housing laws is also essential to ensuring equal opportunity. In the
year ahead, we'll work to strengthen enforcement of fair housing laws for
all Americans.
The time has also come for major reform of our criminal justice statutes
and acceleration of the drive against organized crime and drug trafficking.
It's high time that we make our cities safe again. This administration
hereby declares an all-out war on big-time organized crime and the drug
racketeers who are poisoning our young people. We will also implement
recommendations of our Task Force on Victims of Crime, which will report to
me this week.
American agriculture, the envy of the world, has become the victim of its
own successes. With one farmer now producing enough food to feed himself
and 77 other people, America is confronted with record surplus crops and
commodity prices below the cost of production. We must strive, through
innovations like the payment-in-kind crop swap approach and an aggressive
export policy, to restore health and vitality to rural America. Meanwhile,
I have instructed the Department of Agriculture to work individually with
farmers with debt problems to help them through these tough times.
Over the past year, our Task Force on Private Sector Initiatives has
successfully forged a working partnership involving leaders of business,
labor, education, and government to address the training needs of American
workers. Thanks to the Task Force, private sector initiatives are now
underway in all 50 States of the Union, and thousands of working people
have been helped in making the shift from dead-end jobs and low-demand
skills to the growth areas of high technology and the service economy.
Additionally, a major effort will be focused on encouraging the expansion
of private community child care. The new advisory council on private sector
initiatives will carry on and extend this vital work of encouraging private
initiative in 1983.
In the coming year, we will also act to improve the quality of life for
Americans by curbing the skyrocketing cost of health care that is becoming
an unbearable financial burden for so many. And we will submit legislation
to provide catastrophic illness insurance coverage for older Americans.
I will also shortly submit a comprehensive federalism proposal that will
continue our efforts to restore to States and local governments their roles
as dynamic laboratories of change in a creative society.
During the next several weeks, I will send to the Congress a series of
detailed proposals on these and other topics and look forward to working
with you on the development of these initiatives.
So far, now, I've concentrated mainly on the problems posed by the future.
But in almost every home and workplace in America, we're already witnessing
reason for great hope--the first flowering of the manmade miracles of high
technology, a field pioneered and still led by our country.
To many of us now, computers, silicon chips, data processing, cybernetics,
and all the other innovations of the dawning high technology age are as
mystifying as the workings of the combustion engine must have been when
that first Model T rattled down Main Street, U.S.A. But as surely as
America's pioneer spirit made us the industrial giant of the 20th century,
the same pioneer spirit today is opening up on another vast front of
opportunity, the frontier of high technology.
In conquering the frontier we cannot write off our traditional industries,
but we must develop the skills and industries that will make us a pioneer
of tomorrow. This administration is committed to keeping America the
technological leader of the world now and into the 21st century.
But let us turn briefly to the international arena. America's leadership in
the world came to us because of our own strength and because of the values
which guide us as a society: free elections, a free press, freedom of
religious choice, free trade unions, and above all, freedom for the
individual and rejection of the arbitrary power of the state. These values
are the bedrock of our strength. They unite us in a stewardship of peace
and freedom with our allies and friends in NATO, in Asia, in Latin America,
and elsewhere. They are also the values which in the recent past some among
us had begun to doubt and view with a cynical eye.
Fortunately, we and our allies have rediscovered the strength of our common
democratic values, and we're applying them as a cornerstone of a
comprehensive strategy for peace with freedom. In London last year, I
announced the commitment of the United States to developing the
infrastructure of democracy throughout the world. We intend to pursue this
democratic initiative vigorously. The future belongs not to governments and
ideologies which oppress their peoples, but to democratic systems of
self-government which encourage individual initiative and guarantee
personal freedom.
But our strategy for peace with freedom must also be based on
strength--economic strength and military strength. A strong American
economy is essential to the well-being and security of our friends and
allies. The restoration of a strong, healthy American economy has been and
remains one of the central pillars of our foreign policy. The progress I've
been able to report to you tonight will, I know, be as warmly welcomed by
the rest of the world as it is by the American people.
We must also recognize that our own economic well-being is inextricably
linked to the world economy. We export over 20 percent of our industrial
production, and 40 percent of our farmland produces for export. We will
continue to work closely with the industrialized democracies of Europe and
Japan and with the International Monetary Fund to ensure it has adequate
resources to help bring the world economy back to strong, noninflationary
growth.
As the leader of the West and as a country that has become great and rich
because of economic freedom, America must be an unrelenting advocate of
free trade. As some nations are tempted to turn to protectionism, our
strategy cannot be to follow them, but to lead the way toward freer trade.
To this end, in May of this year America will host an economic summit
meeting in Williamsburg, Virginia.
As we begin our third year, we have put in place a defense program that
redeems the neglect of the past decade. We have developed a realistic
military strategy to deter threats to peace and to protect freedom if
deterrence fails. Our Armed Forces are finally properly paid; after years
of neglect are well trained and becoming better equipped and supplied. And
the American uniform is once again worn with pride. Most of the major
systems needed for modernizing our defenses are already underway, and we
will be addressing one key system, the MX missile, in consultation with the
Congress in a few months.
America's foreign policy is once again based on bipartisanship, on realism,
strength, full partnership, in consultation with our allies, and
constructive negotiation with potential adversaries. From the Middle East
to southern Africa to Geneva, American diplomats are taking the initiative
to make peace and lower arms levels. We should be proud of our role as
peacemakers.
In the Middle East last year, the United States played the major role in
ending the tragic fighting in Lebanon and negotiated the withdrawal of the
PLO from Beirut.
Last September, I outlined principles to carry on the peace process begun
so promisingly at Camp David. All the people of the Middle East should know
that in the year ahead we will not flag in our efforts to build on that
foundation to bring them the blessings of peace.
In Central America and the Caribbean Basin, we are likewise engaged in a
partnership for peace, prosperity, and democracy. Final passage of the
remaining portions of our Caribbean Basin Initiative, which passed the
House last year, is one of this administration's top legislative priorities
for 1983.
The security and economic assistance policies of this administration in
Latin America and elsewhere are based on realism and represent a critical
investment in the future of the human race. This undertaking is a joint
responsibility of the executive and legislative branches, and I'm counting
on the cooperation and statesmanship of the Congress to help us meet this
essential foreign policy goal.
At the heart of our strategy for peace is our relationship with the Soviet
Union. The past year saw a change in Soviet leadership. We're prepared for
a positive change in Soviet-American relations. But the Soviet Union must
show by deeds as well as words a sincere commitment to respect the rights
and sovereignty of the family of nations. Responsible members of the world
community do not threaten or invade their neighbors. And they restrain
their allies from aggression.
For our part, we're vigorously pursuing arms reduction negotiations with
the Soviet Union. Supported by our allies, we've put forward draft
agreements proposing significant weapon reductions to equal and verifiable
lower levels. We insist on an equal balance of forces. And given the
overwhelming evidence of Soviet violations of international treaties
concerning chemical and biological weapons, we also insist that any
agreement we sign can and will be verifiable.
In the case of intermediate-range nuclear forces, we have proposed the
complete elimination of the entire class of land-based missiles. We're also
prepared to carefully explore serious Soviet proposals. At the same time,
let me emphasize that allied steadfastness remains a key to achieving arms
reductions.
With firmness and dedication, we'll continue to negotiate. Deep down, the
Soviets must know it's in their interest as well as ours to prevent a
wasteful arms race. And once they recognize our unshakable resolve to
maintain adequate deterrence, they will have every reason to join us in the
search for greater security and major arms reductions. When that moment
comes--and I'm confident that it will--we will have taken an important step
toward a more peaceful future for all the world's people.
A very wise man, Bernard Baruch, once said that America has never forgotten
the nobler things that brought her into being and that light her path. Our
country is a special place, because we Americans have always been
sustained, through good times and bad, by a noble vision--a vision not only
of what the world around us is today but what we as a free people can make
it be tomorrow.
We're realists; we solve our problems instead of ignoring them, no matter
how loud the chorus of despair around us. But we're also idealists, for it
was an ideal that brought our ancestors to these shores from every corner
of the world.
Right now we need both realism and idealism. Millions of our neighbors are
without work. It is up to us to see they aren't without hope. This is a
task for all of us. And may I say, Americans have rallied to this cause,
proving once again that we are the most generous people on Earth.
We who are in government must take the lead in restoring the economy. And
here all that time, I thought you were reading the paper.
The single thing--the single thing that can start the wheels of industry
turning again is further reduction of interest rates. Just another 1 or 2
points can mean tens of thousands of jobs.
Right now, with inflation as low as it is, 3.9 percent, there is room for
interest rates to come down. Only fear prevents their reduction. A lender,
as we know, must charge an interest rate that recovers the depreciated
value of the dollars loaned. And that depreciation is, of course, the
amount of inflation. Today, interest rates are based on fear--fear that
government will resort to measures, as it has in the past, that will send
inflation zooming again.
We who serve here in this Capital must erase that fear by making it
absolutely clear that we will not stop fighting inflation; that, together,
we will do only those things that will lead to lasting economic growth.
Yes, the problems confronting us are large and forbidding. And, certainly,
no one can or should minimize the plight of millions of our friends and
neighbors who are living in the bleak emptiness of unemployment. But we
must and can give them good reason to be hopeful.
Back over the years, citizens like ourselves have gathered within these
walls when our nation was threatened; sometimes when its very existence was
at stake. Always with courage and common sense, they met the crises of
their time and lived to see a stronger, better, and more prosperous
country. The present situation is no worse and, in fact, is not as bad as
some of those they faced. Time and again, they proved that there is nothing
we Americans cannot achieve as free men and women.
Yes, we still have problems--plenty of them. But it's just plain
wrong--unjust to our country and unjust to our people--to let those
problems stand in the way of the most important truth of all: America is on
the mend.
We owe it to the unfortunate to be aware of their plight and to help them
in every way we can. No one can quarrel with that. We must and do have
compassion for all the victims of this economic crisis. But the big story
about America today is the way that millions of confident, caring
people--those extraordinary "ordinary" Americans who never make the
headlines and will never be interviewed--are laying the foundation, not
just for recovery from our present problems but for a better tomorrow for
all our people.
From coast to coast, on the job and in classrooms and laboratories, at new
construction sites and in churches and community groups, neighbors are
helping neighbors. And they've already begun the building, the research,
the work, and the giving that will make our country great again.
I believe this, because I believe in them--in the strength of their hearts
and minds, in the commitment that each one of them brings to their daily
lives, be they high or humble. The challenge for us in government is to be
worthy of them--to make government a help, not a hindrance to our people in
the challenging but promising days ahead.
If we do that, if we care what our children and our children's children
will say of us, if we want them one day to be thankful for what we did here
in these temples of freedom, we will work together to make America better
for our having been here--not just in this year or this decade but in the
next century and beyond.
Thank you, and God bless you.
NOTE: The President spoke at 9:03 p.m. in the House Chamber of the Capitol.
He was introduced by Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Speaker of the House of
Representatives. The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio
and television.
***
State of the Union Address
Ronald Reagan
January 25, 1984
Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, distinguished Members of the Congress, honored
guests, and fellow citizens:
Once again, in keeping with time-honored tradition, I have come to report
to you on the state of the Union, and I'm pleased to report that America is
much improved, and there's good reason to believe that improvement will
continue through the days to come.
You and I have had some honest and open differences in the year past. But
they didn't keep us from joining hands in bipartisan cooperation to stop a
long decline that had drained this nation's spirit and eroded its health.
There is renewed energy and optimism throughout the land. America is back,
standing tall, looking to the eighties with courage, confidence, and hope.
The problems we're overcoming are not the heritage of one person, party, or
even one generation. It's just the tendency of government to grow, for
practices and programs to become the nearest thing to eternal life we'll
ever see on this Earth. And there's always that well-intentioned chorus of
voices saying, "With a little more power and a little more money, we could
do so much for the people." For a time we forgot the American dream isn't
one of making government bigger; it's keeping faith with the mighty spirit
of free people under God.
As we came to the decade of the eighties, we faced the worst crisis in our
postwar history. In the seventies were years of rising problems and falling
confidence. There was a feeling government had grown beyond the consent of
the governed. Families felt helpless in the face of mounting inflation and
the indignity of taxes that reduced reward for hard work, thrift, and
risktaking. All this was overlaid by an evergrowing web of rules and
regulations.
On the international scene, we had an uncomfortable feeling that we'd lost
the respect of friend and foe. Some questioned whether we had the will to
defend peace and freedom. But America is too great for small dreams. There
was a hunger in the land for a spiritual revival; if you will, a crusade
for renewal. The American people said: Let us look to the future with
confidence, both at home and abroad. Let us give freedom a chance.
Americans were ready to make a new beginning, and together we have done it.
We're confronting our problems one by one. Hope is alive tonight for
millions of young families and senior citizens set free from unfair tax
increases and crushing inflation. Inflation has been beaten down from 12.4
to 3.2 percent, and that's a great victory for all the people. The prime
rate has been cut almost in half, and we must work together to bring it
down even more.
Together, we passed the first across-the-board tax reduction for everyone
since the Kennedy tax cuts. Next year, tax rates will be indexed so
inflation can't push people into higher brackets when they get
cost-of-living pay raises. Government must never again use inflation to
profit at the people's expense.
Today a working family earning $25,000 has $1,100 more in purchasing power
than if tax and inflation rates were still at the 1980 levels. Real
after-tax income increased 5 percent last year. And economic deregulation
of key industries like transportation has offered more chances--or
choices, I should say, to consumers and new changes--or chances for
entrepreneurs and protecting safety. Tonight, we can report and be proud of
one of the best recoveries in decades. Send away the handwringers and the
doubting Thomases. Hope is reborn for couples dreaming of owning homes and
for risktakers with vision to create tomorrow's opportunities.
The spirit of enterprise is sparked by the sunrise industries of high-tech
and by small business people with big ideas--people like Barbara Proctor,
who rose from a ghetto to build a multimillion-dollar advertising agency in
Chicago; Carlos Perez, a Cuban refugee, who turned $27 and a dream into a
successful importing business in Coral Gables, Florida.
People like these are heroes for the eighties. They helped 4 million
Americans find jobs in 1983. More people are drawing paychecks tonight than
ever before. And Congress helps--or progress helps everyone--well, Congress
does too----everyone. In 1983 women filled 73 percent of all the new jobs
in managerial, professional, and technical fields.
But we know that many of our fellow countrymen are still out of work,
wondering what will come of their hopes and dreams. Can we love America and
not reach out to tell them: You are not forgotten; we will not rest until
each of you can reach as high as your God-given talents will take you.
The heart of America is strong; it's good and true. The cynics were wrong;
America never was a sick society. We're seeing rededication to bedrock
values of faith, family, work, neighborhood, peace, and freedom--values
that help bring us together as one people, from the youngest child to the
most senior citizen.
The Congress deserves America's thanks for helping us restore pride and
credibility to our military. And I hope that you're as proud as I am of the
young men and women in uniform who have volunteered to man the ramparts in
defense of freedom and whose dedication, valor, and skill increases so much
our chance of living in a world at peace.
People everywhere hunger for peace and a better life. The tide of the
future is a freedom tide, and our struggle for democracy cannot and will
not be denied. This nation champions peace that enshrines liberty,
democratic rights, and dignity for every individual. America's new
strength, confidence, and purpose are carrying hope and opportunity far
from our shores. A world economic recovery is underway. It began here.
We've journeyed far, but we have much farther to go. Franklin Roosevelt
told us 50 years ago this month: "Civilization can not go back;
civilization must not stand still. We have undertaken new methods. It is
our task to perfect, to improve, to alter when necessary, but in all cases
to go forward."
It's time to move forward again, time for America to take freedom's next
step. Let us unite tonight behind four great goals to keep America free,
secure, and at peace in the eighties together.
We can ensure steady economic growth. We can develop America's next
frontier. We can strengthen our traditional values. And we can build a
meaningful peace to protect our loved ones and this shining star of faith
that has guided millions from tyranny to the safe harbor of freedom,
progress, and hope.
Doing these things will open wider the gates of opportunity, provide
greater security for all, with no barriers of bigotry or discrimination.
The key to a dynamic decade is vigorous economic growth, our first great
goal. We might well begin with common sense in Federal budgeting:
government spending no more than government takes in.
We must bring Federal deficits down. But how we do that makes all the
difference.
We can begin by limiting the size and scope of government. Under the
leadership of Vice President Bush, we have reduced the growth of Federal
regulations by more than 25 percent and cut well over 300 million hours of
government-required paperwork each year. This will save the public more
than $150 billion over the next 10 years.