Dates of addresses by William J. Clinton in this eBook:
January 25, 1994
January 24, 1995
January 23, 1996
February 4, 1997
January 27, 1998
January 19, 1999
January 27, 2000
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State of the Union Address
William J. Clinton
January 25, 1994
Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, members of the 103rd Congress, my fellow
Americans:
I am not sure what speech is in the TelePrompTer tonight, but I hope we can
talk about the State of the Union.
I ask you to begin by recalling the memory of the giant who presided over
this chamber with such force and grace. Tip O'Neill liked to call himself
"A Man of the House" and he surely was that. But even more, he was a man of
the people, a bricklayer's son who helped to build the great American
middle class. Tip O'Neill never forgot who he was, where he came from, or
who sent him here. Tonight he's smiling down on us for the first time from
the Lord's gallery. But in his honor, may we too also remember who we are,
where we come from, and who sent us here.
If we do that we will return over and over again to the principle that if
we simply give ordinary people equal opportunity, quality education, and a
fair shot at the American dream, they will do extraordinary things.
We gather tonight in a world of changes so profound and rapid that all
nations are tested. Our American heritage has always been to master such
change, to use it to expand opportunity at home, and our leadership abroad.
But for too long and in too many ways, that heritage was abandoned, and our
country drifted.
For 30 years family life in America has been breaking down. For 20 years
the wages of working people have been stagnant or declining. For the 12
years of trickle down economics we built a false prosperity on a hollow
base as our national debt quadrupled. From 1989 to 1992 we experienced the
slowest growth in a half century. For too many families, even when both
parents were working, the American dream has been slipping away.
In 1992 the American people demanded that we change. I year ago I asked all
of you to join me in accepting responsibility for the future of our
country.
Well, we did. We replaced drift and deadlock with renewal and reform. And I
want to thank every one of you here who heard the American people, who
broke gridlock, who gave them the most successful teamwork between a
president and a Congress in 30 years.