Now, some insist that any further budget savings must be obtained by

reducing the portion spent on defense. This ignores the fact that

national defense is solely the responsibility of the Federal Government;

indeed, it is its prime responsibility. And yet defense spending is less

than a third of the total budget. During the years of President Kennedy

and of the years before that, defense was almost half the total budget.

And then came several years in which our military capability was allowed

to deteriorate to a very dangerous degree. We are just now restoring,

through the essential modernization of our conventional and strategic

forces, our capability to meet our present and future security needs. We

dare not shirk our responsibility to keep America free, secure, and at

peace.

The last decade saw domestic spending surge literally out of control.

But the basis for such spending had been laid in previous years. A

pattern of overspending has been in place for half a century. As the

national debt grew, we were told not to worry, that we owed it to

ourselves.

Now we know that deficits are a cause for worry. But there’s a

difference of opinion as to whether taxes should be increased, spending

cut, or some of both. Fear is expressed that government borrowing to

fund the deficit could inhibit the economic recovery by taking capital

needed for business and industrial expansion. Well, I think that debate

is missing an important point. Whether government borrows or increases

taxes, it will be taking the same amount of money from the private

sector, and, either way, that’s too much. Simple fairness dictates that

government must not raise taxes on families struggling to pay their

bills. The root of the problem is that government’s share is more than

we can afford if we’re to have a sound economy.

We must bring down the deficits to ensure continued economic growth. In

the budget that I will submit on February 1st, I will recommend measures

that will reduce the deficit over the next 5 years. Many of these will

be unfinished business from last year’s budget.

Some could be enacted quickly if we could join in a serious effort to

address this problem. I spoke today with Speaker of the House O’Neill,

Senate Majority Leader Baker, Senate Minority Leader Byrd, and House

Minority Leader Michel. I asked them if they would designate

congressional representatives to meet with representatives of the

administration to try to reach prompt agreement on a bipartisan deficit

reduction plan. I know it would take a long, hard struggle to agree on a

full-scale plan. So, what I have proposed is that we first see if we can

agree on a down payment.

Now, I believe there is basis for such an agreement, one that could

reduce the deficits by about a hundred billion dollars over the next 3

years. We could focus on some of the less contentious spending cuts that

are still pending before the Congress. These could be combined with

measures to close certain tax loopholes, measures that the Treasury

Department has previously said to be worthy of support. In addition, we

could examine the possibility of achieving further outlay savings based

on the work of the Grace commission.

If the congressional leadership is willing, my representatives will be

prepared to meet with theirs at the earliest possible time. I would hope

the leadership might agree on an expedited timetable in which to develop

and enact that down payment.

But a down payment alone is not enough to break us out of the deficit

problem. It could help us start on the right path. Yet, we must do more.

So, I propose that we begin exploring how together we can make

structural reforms to curb the built-in growth of spending.

I also propose improvements in the budgeting process. Some 43 of our 50

States grant their Governors the right to veto individual items in

appropriation bills without having to veto the entire bill. California

is one of those 43 States. As Governor, I found this line-item veto was

a powerful tool against wasteful or extravagant spending. It works in 43

States. Let’s put it to work in Washington for all the people.

It would be most effective if done by constitutional amendment. The

majority of Americans approve of such an amendment, just as they and I

approve of an amendment mandating a balanced Federal budget. Many States

also have this protection in their constitutions.

To talk of meeting the present situation by increasing taxes is a

Band-Aid solution which does nothing to cure an illness that’s been

coming on for half a century--to say nothing of the fact that it poses a

real threat to economic recovery. Let’s remember that a substantial

amount of income tax is presently owed and not paid by people in the

underground economy. It would be immoral to make those who are paying

taxes pay more to compensate for those who aren’t paying their share.

There’s a better way. Let us go forward with an historic reform for

fairness, simplicity, and incentives for growth. I am asking Secretary

Don Regan for a plan for action to simplify the entire tax code, so all

taxpayers, big and small, are treated more fairly. And I believe such a

plan could result in that underground economy being brought into the

sunlight of honest tax compliance. And it could make the tax base

broader, so personal tax rates could come down, not go up. I’ve asked

that specific recommendations, consistent with those objectives, be

presented to me by December 1984.

Our second great goal is to build on America’s pioneer spirit--I said

something funny? I said America’s next frontier--and that’s to develop

that frontier. A sparkling economy spurs initiatives, sunrise

industries, and makes older ones more competitive.

Nowhere is this more important than our next frontier: space. Nowhere do

we so effectively demonstrate our technological leadership and ability

to make life better on Earth. The Space Age is barely a quarter of a

century old. But already we’ve pushed civilization forward with our

advances in science and technology. Opportunities and jobs will multiply

as we cross new thresholds of knowledge and reach deeper into the

unknown.

Our progress in space--taking giant steps for all mankind--is a tribute

to American teamwork and excellence. Our finest minds in government,

industry, and academia have all pulled together. And we can be proud to

say: We are first; we are the best; and we are so because we’re free.

America has always been greatest when we dared to be great. We can reach

for greatness again. We can follow our dreams to distant stars, living

and working in space for peaceful, economic, and scientific gain.

Tonight, I am directing NASA to develop a permanently manned space

station and to do it within a decade.

A space station will permit quantum leaps in our research in science,

communications, in metals, and in lifesaving medicines which could be

manufactured only in space. We want our friends to help us meet these

challenges and share in their benefits. NASA will invite other countries

to participate so we can strengthen peace, build prosperity, and expand

freedom for all who share our goals.

Just as the oceans opened up a new world for clipper ships and Yankee

traders, space holds enormous potential for commerce today. The market

for space transportation could surpass our capacity to develop it.

Companies interested in putting payloads into space must have ready

access to private sector launch services. The Department of

Transportation will help an expendable launch services industry to get

off the ground. We’ll soon implement a number of executive initiatives,

develop proposals to ease regulatory constraints, and, with NASA’s help,

promote private sector investment in space.

And as we develop the frontier of space, let us remember our

responsibility to preserve our older resources here on Earth.

Preservation of our environment is not a liberal or conservative

challenge, it’s common sense.

Though this is a time of budget constraints, I have requested for EPA

one of the largest percentage budget increases of any agency. We will

begin the long, necessary effort to clean up a productive recreational

area and a special national resource--the Chesapeake Bay.

To reduce the threat posed by abandoned hazardous waste dumps, EPA will

spend $410 million. And I will request a supplemental increase of 50

million. And because the Superfund law expires in 1985, I’ve asked Bill

Ruckelshaus to develop a proposal for its extension so there’ll be

additional time to complete this important task.

On the question of acid rain, which concerns people in many areas of the

United States and Canada, I’m proposing a research program that doubles

our current funding. And we’ll take additional action to restore our

lakes and develop new technology to reduce pollution that causes acid

rain.

We have greatly improved the conditions of our natural resources. We’ll

ask the Congress for $157 million beginning in 1985 to acquire new park

and conservation lands. The Department of the Interior will encourage

careful, selective exploration and production on our vital resources in

an Exclusive Economic Zone within the 200-mile limit off our coasts--but

with strict adherence to environmental laws and with fuller State and

public participation.

But our most precious resources, our greatest hope for the future, are

the minds and hearts of our people, especially our children. We can help

them build tomorrow by strengthening our community of shared values.

This must be our third great goal. For us, faith, work, family,

neighborhood, freedom, and peace are not just words; they’re expressions

of what America means, definitions of what makes us a good and loving

people.

Families stand at the center of our society. And every family has a

personal stake in promoting excellence in education. Excellence does not

begin in Washington. A 600-percent increase in Federal spending on

education between 1960 and 1980 was accompanied by a steady decline in

Scholastic Aptitude Test scores. Excellence must begin in our homes and

neighborhood schools, where it’s the responsibility of every parent and

teacher and the right of every child.

Our children come first, and that’s why I established a bipartisan

National Commission on Excellence in Education, to help us chart a

commonsense course for better education. And already, communities are

implementing the Commission’s recommendations. Schools are reporting

progress in math and reading skills. But we must do more to restore

discipline to schools; and we must encourage the teaching of new basics,

reward teachers of merit, enforce tougher standards, and put our parents

back in charge.

I will continue to press for tuition tax credits to expand opportunities

for families and to soften the double payment for those paying public

school taxes and private school tuition. Our proposal would target

assistance to low- and middle-income families. Just as more incentives

are needed within our schools, greater competition is needed among our

schools. Without standards and competition, there can be no champions,

no records broken, no excellence in education or any other walk of life.

And while I’m on this subject, each day your Members observe a

200-year-old tradition meant to signify America is one nation under God.

I must ask: If you can begin your day with a member of the clergy

standing right here leading you in prayer, then why can’t freedom to

acknowledge God be enjoyed again by children in every schoolroom across

this land?

America was founded by people who believed that God was their rock of

safety. He is ours. I recognize we must be cautious in claiming that God

is on our side, but I think it’s all right to keep asking if we’re on

His side.

During our first 3 years, we have joined bipartisan efforts to restore

protection of the law to unborn children. Now, I know this issue is very

controversial. But unless and until it can be proven that an unborn

child is not a living human being, can we justify assuming without proof

that it isn’t? No one has yet offered such proof; indeed, all the

evidence is to the contrary. We should rise above bitterness and

reproach, and if Americans could come together in a spirit of

understanding and helping, then we could find positive solutions to the

tragedy of abortion.

Economic recovery, better education, rededication to values, all show

the spirit of renewal gaining the upper hand. And all will improve

family life in the eighties. But families need more. They need assurance

that they and their loved ones can walk the streets of America without

being afraid. Parents need to know their children will not be victims of

child pornography and abduction. This year we will intensify our drive

against these and other horrible crimes like sexual abuse and family

violence.

Already our efforts to crack down on career criminals, organized crime,

drugpushers, and to enforce tougher sentences and paroles are having

effect. In 1982 the crime rate dropped by 4.3 percent, the biggest

decline since 1972. Protecting victims is just as important as

safeguarding the rights of defendants.

Opportunities for all Americans will increase if we move forward in fair

housing and work to ensure women’s rights, provide for equitable

treatment in pension benefits and Individual Retirement Accounts,

facilitate child care, and enforce delinquent parent support payments.

It’s not just the home but the workplace and community that sustain our

values and shape our future. So, I ask your help in assisting more

communities to break the bondage of dependency. Help us to free

enterprise by permitting debate and voting “yes” on our proposal for

enterprise zones in America. This has been before you for 2 years. Its

passage can help high-unemployment areas by creating jobs and restoring

neighborhoods.

A society bursting with opportunities, reaching for its future with

confidence, sustained by faith, fair play, and a conviction that good

and courageous people will flourish when they’re free--these are the

secrets of a strong and prosperous America at peace with itself and the

world.

A lasting and meaningful peace is our fourth great goal. It is our

highest aspiration. And our record is clear: Americans resort to force

only when we must. We have never been aggressors. We have always

struggled to defend freedom and democracy.

We have no territorial ambitions. We occupy no countries. We build no

walls to lock people in. Americans build the future. And our vision of a

better life for farmers, merchants, and working people, from the

Americas to Asia, begins with a simple premise: The future is best

decided by ballots, not bullets.

Governments which rest upon the consent of the governed do not wage war

on their neighbors. Only when people are given a personal stake in

deciding their own destiny, benefiting from their own risks, do they

create societies that are prosperous, progressive, and free. Tonight, it

is democracies that offer hope by feeding the hungry, prolonging life,

and eliminating drudgery.

When it comes to keeping America strong, free, and at peace, there

should be no Republicans or Democrats, just patriotic Americans. We can

decide the tough issues not by who is right, but by what is right.

Together, we can continue to advance our agenda for peace. We can

establish a more stable basis for peaceful relations with the Soviet

Union; strengthen allied relations across the board; achieve real and

equitable reductions in the levels of nuclear arms; reinforce our

peacemaking efforts in the Middle East, Central America, and southern

Africa; or assist developing countries, particularly our neighbors in

the Western Hemisphere; and assist in the development of democratic

institutions throughout the world.

The wisdom of our bipartisan cooperation was seen in the work of the

Scowcroft commission, which strengthened our ability to deter war and

protect peace. In that same spirit, I urge you to move forward with the

Henry Jackson plan to implement the recommendations of the Bipartisan

Commission on Central America.

Your joint resolution on the multinational peacekeeping force in Lebanon

is also serving the cause of peace. We are making progress in Lebanon.

For nearly 10 years, the Lebanese have lived from tragedy to tragedy

with no hope for their future. Now the multinational peacekeeping force

and our marines are helping them break their cycle of despair. There is

hope for a free, independent, and sovereign Lebanon. We must have the

courage to give peace a chance. And we must not be driven from our

objectives for peace in Lebanon by state-sponsored terrorism. We have

seen this ugly specter in Beirut, Kuwait, and Rangoon. It demands

international attention. I will forward shortly legislative proposals to

help combat terrorism. And I will be seeking support from our allies for

concerted action.

Our NATO alliance is strong. 1983 was a banner year for political

courage. And we have strengthened our partnerships and our friendships

in the Far East. We’re committed to dialog, deterrence, and promoting

prosperity. We’ll work with our trading partners for a new round of

negotiations in support of freer world trade, greater competition, and

more open markets.

A rebirth of bipartisan cooperation, of economic growth, and military

deterrence, and a growing spirit of unity among our people at home and

our allies abroad underline a fundamental and far-reaching change: The

United States is safer, stronger, and more secure in 1984 than before.

We can now move with confidence to seize the opportunities for peace,

and we will.

Tonight, I want to speak to the people of the Soviet Union, to tell them

it’s true that our governments have had serious differences, but our

sons and daughters have never fought each other in war. And if we

Americans have our way, they never will.

People of the Soviet Union, there is only one sane policy, for your

country and mine, to preserve our civilization in this modern age: A

nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. The only value in

our two nations possessing nuclear weapons is to make sure they will

never be used. But then would it not be better to do away with them

entirely?

People of the Soviet, President Dwight Eisenhower, who fought by your

side in World War II, said the essential struggle “is not merely man

against man or nation against nation. It is man against war.” Americans

are people of peace. If your government wants peace, there will be

peace. We can come together in faith and friendship to build a safer and

far better world for our children and our children’s children. And the

whole world will rejoice. That is my message to you.

Some days when life seems hard and we reach out for values to sustain us

or a friend to help us, we find a person who reminds us what it means to

be Americans.

Sergeant Stephen Trujillo, a medic in the 2d Ranger Battalion, 75th

Infantry, was in the first helicopter to land at the compound held by

Cuban forces in Grenada. He saw three other helicopters crash. Despite

the imminent explosion of the burning aircraft, he never hesitated. He

ran across 25 yards of open terrain through enemy fire to rescue wounded

soldiers. He directed two other medics, administered first aid, and

returned again and again to the crash site to carry his wounded friends

to safety.

Sergeant Trujillo, you and your fellow service men and women not only

saved innocent lives; you set a nation free. You inspire us as a force

for freedom, not for despotism; and, yes, for peace, not conquest. God

bless you.

And then there are unsung heroes: single parents, couples, church and

civic volunteers. Their hearts carry without complaint the pains of

family and community problems. They soothe our sorrow, heal our wounds,

calm our fears, and share our joy.

A person like Father Ritter is always there. His Covenant House programs

in New York and Houston provide shelter and help to thousands of

frightened and abused children each year. The same is true of Dr.

Charles Carson. Paralyzed in a plane crash, he still believed nothing is

impossible. Today in Minnesota, he works 80 hours a week without pay,

helping pioneer the field of computer-controlled walking. He has given

hope to 500,000 paralyzed Americans that some day they may walk again.

How can we not believe in the greatness of America? How can we not do

what is right and needed to preserve this last best hope of man on

Earth? After all our struggles to restore America, to revive confidence

in our country, hope for our future, after all our hard-won victories

earned through the patience and courage of every citizen, we cannot,

must not, and will not turn back. We will finish our job. How could we

do less? We’re Americans.

Carl Sandburg said, “I see America not in the setting sun of a black

night of despair... I see America in the crimson light of a rising sun

fresh from the burning, creative hand of God... I see great days ahead

for men and women of will and vision.”

I’ve never felt more strongly that America’s best days and democracy’s

best days lie ahead. We’re a powerful force for good. With faith and

courage, we can perform great deeds and take freedom’s next step. And we

will. We will carry on the tradition of a good and worthy people who

have brought light where there was darkness, warmth where there was

cold, medicine where there was disease, food where there was hunger, and

peace where there was only bloodshed.

Let us be sure that those who come after will say of us in our time,

that in our time we did everything that could be done. We finished the

race; we kept them free; we kept the faith.

Thank you very much. God bless you, and God bless America.

NOTE: The President spoke at 9:02 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

February 6, 1985

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, distinguished Members of the Congress,

honored guests, and fellow citizens:

I come before you to report on the state of our Union, and I’m pleased

to report that after 4 years of united effort, the American people have

brought forth a nation renewed, stronger, freer, and more secure than

before.

Four years ago we began to change, forever I hope, our assumptions about

government and its place in our lives. Out of that change has come great

and robust growth--in our confidence, our economy, and our role in the

world.

Tonight America is stronger because of the values that we hold dear. We

believe faith and freedom must be our guiding stars, for they show us

truth, they make us brave, give us hope, and leave us wiser than we

were. Our progress began not in Washington, DC, but in the hearts of our

families, communities, workplaces, and voluntary groups which, together,

are unleashing the invincible spirit of one great nation under God.

Four years ago we said we would invigorate our economy by giving people

greater freedom and incentives to take risks and letting them keep more

of what they earned. We did what we promised, and a great industrial

giant is reborn.

Tonight we can take pride in 25 straight months of economic growth, the

strongest in 34 years; a 3-year inflation average of 3.9 percent, the

lowest in 17 years; and 7.3 million new jobs in 2 years, with more of

our citizens working than ever before.

New freedom in our lives has planted the rich seeds for future success:

For an America of wisdom that honors the family, knowing that if (as)

the family goes, so goes our civilization;

For an America of vision that sees tomorrow’s dreams in the learning and

hard work we do today;

For an America of courage whose service men and women, even as we meet,

proudly stand watch on the frontiers of freedom;

For an America of compassion that opens its heart to those who cry out

for help.

We have begun well. But it’s only a beginning. We’re not here to

congratulate ourselves on what we have done but to challenge ourselves

to finish what has not yet been done.

We’re here to speak for millions in our inner cities who long for real

jobs, safe neighborhoods, and schools that truly teach. We’re here to

speak for the American farmer, the entrepreneur, and every worker in

industries fighting to modernize and compete. And, yes, we’re here to

stand, and proudly so, for all who struggle to break free from

totalitarianism, for all who know in their hearts that freedom is the

one true path to peace and human happiness.

Proverbs tell us, without a vision the people perish. When asked what

great principle holds our Union together, Abraham Lincoln said:

“Something in (the) Declaration giving liberty, not alone to the people

of this country, but hope to the world for all future time.”

We honor the giants of our history not by going back but forward to the

dreams their vision foresaw. My fellow citizens, this nation is poised

for greatness. The time has come to proceed toward a great new

challenge--a second American Revolution of hope and opportunity; a

revolution carrying us to new heights of progress by pushing back

frontiers of knowledge and space; a revolution of spirit that taps the

soul of America, enabling us to summon greater strength than we’ve ever

known; and a revolution that carries beyond our shores the golden

promise of human freedom in a world of peace.

Let us begin by challenging our conventional wisdom. There are no

constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no

barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect. Already,

pushing down tax rates has freed our economy to vault forward to record

growth.

In Europe, they’re calling it “the American Miracle.” Day by day, we’re

shattering accepted notions of what is possible. When I was growing up,

we failed to see how a new thing called radio would transform our

marketplace. Well, today, many have not yet seen how advances in

technology are transforming our lives.

In the late 1950’s workers at the AT&T semiconductor plant in

Pennsylvania produced five transistors a day for $7.50 apiece. They now

produce over a million for less than a penny apiece.

New laser techniques could revolutionize heart bypass surgery, cut

diagnosis time for viruses linked to cancer from weeks to minutes,

reduce hospital costs dramatically, and hold out new promise for saving

human lives.

Our automobile industry has overhauled assembly lines, increased worker

productivity, and is competitive once again.

We stand on the threshold of a great ability to produce more, do more,

be more. Our economy is not getting older and weaker; it’s getting

younger and stronger. It doesn’t need rest and supervision; it needs new

challenge, greater freedom. And that word “freedom” is the key to the

second American revolution that we need to bring about.

Let us move together with an historic reform of tax simplification for

fairness and growth. Last year I asked Treasury Secretary-then-Regan to

develop a plan to simplify the tax code, so all taxpayers would be

treated more fairly and personal tax rates could come further down.

We have cut tax rates by almost 25 percent, yet the tax system remains

unfair and limits our potential for growth. Exclusions and exemptions

cause similar incomes to be taxed at different levels. Low-income

families face steep tax barriers that make hard lives even harder. The

Treasury Department has produced an excellent reform plan, whose

principles will guide the final proposal that we will ask you to enact.

One thing that tax reform will not be is a tax increase in disguise. We

will not jeopardize the mortgage interest deduction that families need.

We will reduce personal tax rates as low as possible by removing many

tax preferences. We will propose a top rate of no more than 35 percent,

and possibly lower. And we will propose reducing corporate rates, while

maintaining incentives for capital formation.

To encourage opportunity and jobs rather than dependency and welfare, we

will propose that individuals living at or near the poverty line be

totally exempt from Federal income tax. To restore fairness to families,

we will propose increasing significantly the personal exemption.

And tonight, I am instructing Treasury Secretary James Baker--I have to

get used to saying that--to begin working with congressional authors and

committees for bipartisan legislation conforming to these principles. We

will call upon the American people for support and upon every man and

woman in this Chamber. Together, we can pass, this year, a tax bill for

fairness, simplicity, and growth, making this economy the engine of our

dreams and America the investment capital of the world. So let us begin.

Tax simplification will be a giant step toward unleashing the tremendous

pent-up power of our economy. But a second American revolution must

carry the promise of opportunity for all. It is time to liberate the

spirit of enterprise in the most distressed areas of our country.

This government will meet its responsibility to help those in need. But

policies that increase dependency, break up families, and destroy

self-respect are not progressive; they’re reactionary. Despite our

strides in civil rights, blacks, Hispanics, and all minorities will not

have full and equal power until they have full economic power.

We have repeatedly sought passage of enterprise zones to help those in

the abandoned corners of our land find jobs, learn skills, and build

better lives. This legislation is supported by a majority of you.

Mr. Speaker, I know we agree that there must be no forgotten Americans.

Let us place new dreams in a million hearts and create a new generation

of entrepreneurs by passing enterprise zones this year. And, Tip, you

could make that a birthday present.

Nor must we lose the chance to pass our youth employment opportunity

wage proposal. We can help teenagers, who have the highest unemployment

rate, find summer jobs, so they can know the pride of work and have

confidence in their futures.

We’ll continue to support the Job Training Partnership Act, which has a

nearly two-thirds job placement rate. Credits in education and health

care vouchers will help working families shop for services that they

need.

Our administration is already encouraging certain low-income public

housing residents to own and manage their own dwellings. It’s time that

all public housing residents have that opportunity of ownership.

The Federal Government can help create a new atmosphere of freedom. But

States and localities, many of which enjoy surpluses from the recovery,

must not permit their tax and regulatory policies to stand as barriers

to growth.

Let us resolve that we will stop spreading dependency and start

spreading opportunity; that we will stop spreading bondage and start

spreading freedom.

There are some who say that growth initiatives must await final action

on deficit reductions. Well, the best way to reduce deficits is through

economic growth. More businesses will be started, more investments made,

more jobs created, and more people will be on payrolls paying taxes. The

best way to reduce government spending is to reduce the need for

spending by increasing prosperity. Each added percentage point per year

of real GNP growth will lead to cumulative reduction in deficits of

nearly $200 billion over 5 years.

To move steadily toward a balanced budget, we must also lighten

government’s claim on our total economy. We will not do this by raising

taxes. We must make sure that our economy grows faster than the growth

in spending by the Federal Government. In our fiscal year 1986 budget,

overall government program spending will be frozen at the current level.

It must not be one dime higher than fiscal year 1985, and three points

are key.

First, the social safety net for the elderly, the needy, the disabled,

and unemployed will be left intact. Growth of our major health care

programs, Medicare and Medicaid, will be slowed, but protections for the

elderly and needy will be preserved.

Second, we must not relax our efforts to restore military strength just

as we near our goal of a fully equipped, trained, and ready professional

corps. National security is government’s first responsibility; so in

past years defense spending took about half the Federal budget. Today it

takes less than a third. We’ve already reduced our planned defense

expenditures by nearly a hundred billion dollars over the past 4 years

and reduced projected spending again this year.

You know, we only have a military-industrial complex until a time of

danger, and then it becomes the arsenal of democracy. Spending for

defense is investing in things that are priceless--peace and freedom.

Third, we must reduce or eliminate costly government subsidies. For

example, deregulation of the airline industry has led to cheaper

airfares, but on Amtrak taxpayers pay about $35 per passenger every time

an Amtrak train leaves the station, It’s time we ended this huge Federal

subsidy.

Our farm program costs have quadrupled in recent years. Yet I know from

visiting farmers, many in great financial distress, that we need an

orderly transition to a market-oriented farm economy. We can help

farmers best not by expanding Federal payments but by making fundamental

reforms, keeping interest rates heading down, and knocking down foreign

trade barriers to American farm exports.

We’re moving ahead with Grace commission reforms to eliminate waste and

improve government’s management practices. In the long run, we must

protect the taxpayers from government. And I ask again that you pass, as

32 States have now called for, an amendment mandating the Federal

Government spend no more than it takes in. And I ask for the authority,

used responsibly by 43 Governors, to veto individual items in

appropriation bills. Senator Mattingly has introduced a bill permitting

a 2-year trial run of the line-item veto. I hope you’ll pass and send

that legislation to my desk.

Nearly 50 years of government living beyond its means has brought us to

a time of reckoning. Ours is but a moment in history. But one moment of

courage, idealism, and bipartisan unity can change American history

forever.

Sound monetary policy is key to long-running economic strength and

stability. We will continue to cooperate with the Federal Reserve Board,

seeking a steady policy that ensures price stability without keeping

interest rates artificially high or needlessly holding down growth.

Reducing unneeded red tape and regulations, and deregulating the energy,

transportation, and financial industries have unleashed new competition,

giving consumers more choices, better services, and lower prices. In

just one set of grant programs we have reduced 905 pages of regulations

to 31. We seek to fully deregulate natural gas to bring on new supplies

and bring us closer to energy independence. Consistent with safety

standards, we will continue removing restraints on the bus and railroad

industries, we will soon end up legislation--or send up legislation, I

should say--to return Conrail to the private sector where it belongs,

and we will support further deregulation of the trucking industry.

Every dollar the Federal Government does not take from us, every

decision it does not make for us will make our economy stronger, our

lives more abundant, our future more free.

Our second American revolution will push on to new possibilities not

only on Earth but in the next frontier of space. Despite budget

restraints, we will seek record funding for research and development.

We’ve seen the success of the space shuttle. Now we’re going to develop

a permanently manned space station and new opportunities for free

enterprise, because in the next decade Americans and our friends around

the world will be living and working together in space.

In the zero gravity of space, we could manufacture in 30 days lifesaving

medicines it would take 30 years to make on Earth. We can make crystals

of exceptional purity to produce super computers, creating jobs,

technologies, and medical breakthroughs beyond anything we ever dreamed

possible.

As we do all this, we’ll continue to protect our natural resources. We

will seek reauthorization and expanded funding for the Superfund program

to continue cleaning up hazardous waste sites which threaten human

health and the environment.

Now, there’s another great heritage to speak of this evening. Of all the

changes that have swept America the past 4 years, none brings greater

promise than our rediscovery of the values of faith, freedom, family,

work, and neighborhood.

We see signs of renewal in increased attendance in places of worship;

renewed optimism and faith in our future; love of country rediscovered

by our young, who are leading the way. We’ve rediscovered that work is

good in and of itself, that it ennobles us to create and contribute no

matter how seemingly humble our jobs. We’ve seen a powerful new current

from an old and honorable tradition--American generosity.

From thousands answering Peace Corps appeals to help boost food

production in Africa, to millions volunteering time, corporations

adopting schools, and communities pulling together to help the neediest

among us at home, we have refound our values. Private sector initiatives

are crucial to our future.

I thank the Congress for passing equal access legislation giving

religious groups the same right to use classrooms after school that

other groups enjoy. But no citizen need tremble, nor the world shudder,

if a child stands in a classroom and breathes a prayer. We ask you

again, give children back a right they had for a century and a half or

more in this country.

The question of abortion grips our nation. Abortion is either the taking

of a human life or it isn’t. And if it is--and medical technology is

increasingly showing it is--it must be stopped. It is a terrible irony

that while some turn to abortion, so many others who cannot become

parents cry out for children to adopt. We have room for these children.

We can fill the cradles of those who want a child to love. And tonight I

ask you in the Congress to move this year on legislation to protect the

unborn.

In the area of education, we’re returning to excellence, and again, the

heroes are our people, not government. We’re stressing basics of

discipline, rigorous testing, and homework, while helping children

become computer-smart as well. For 20 years scholastic aptitude test

scores of our high school students went down, but now they have gone up

2 of the last 3 years. We must go forward in our commitment to the new

basics, giving parents greater authority and making sure good teachers

are rewarded for hard work and achievement through merit pay.

Of all the changes in the past 20 years, none has more threatened our

sense of national well-being than the explosion of violent crime. One

does not have to be attacked to be a victim. The woman who must run to

her car after shopping at night is a victim. The couple draping their

door with locks and chains are victims; as is the tired, decent cleaning

woman who can’t ride a subway home without being afraid.

We do not seek to violate the rights of defendants. But shouldn’t we

feel more compassion for the victims of crime than for those who commit

crime? For the first time in 20 years, the crime index has fallen 2

years in a row. We’ve convicted over 7,400 drug offenders and put them,

as well as leaders of organized crime, behind bars in record numbers.

But we must do more. I urge the House to follow the Senate and enact

proposals permitting use of all reliable evidence that police officers

acquire in good faith. These proposals would also reform the habeas

corpus laws and allow, in keeping with the will of the overwhelming

majority of Americans, the use of the death penalty where necessary.

There can be no economic revival in ghettos when the most violent among

us are allowed to roam free. It’s time we restored domestic tranquility.

And we mean to do just that.

Just as we’re positioned as never before to secure justice in our

economy, we’re poised as never before to create a safer, freer, more

peaceful world. Our alliances are stronger than ever. Our economy is

stronger than ever. We have resumed our historic role as a leader of the

free world. And all of these together are a great force for peace.

Since 1981 we’ve been committed to seeking fair and verifiable arms

agreements that would lower the risk of war and reduce the size of

nuclear arsenals. Now our determination to maintain a strong defense has

influenced the Soviet Union to return to the bargaining table. Our

negotiators must be able to go to that table with the united support of

the American people. All of us have no greater dream than to see the day

when nuclear weapons are banned from this Earth forever.

Each Member of the Congress has a role to play in modernizing our

defenses, thus supporting our chances for a meaningful arms agreement.

Your vote this spring on the Peacekeeper missile will be a critical test

of our resolve to maintain the strength we need and move toward mutual

and verifiable arms reductions.

For the past 20 years we’ve believed that no war will be launched as

long as each side knows it can retaliate with a deadly counterstrike.

Well, I believe there’s a better way of eliminating the threat of

nuclear war. It is a Strategic Defense Initiative aimed ultimately at

finding a nonnuclear defense against ballistic missiles. It’s the most

hopeful possibility of the nuclear age. But it’s not very well

understood.

Some say it will bring war to the heavens, but its purpose is to deter

war in the heavens and on Earth. Now, some say the research would be

expensive. Perhaps, but it could save millions of lives, indeed humanity

itself. And some say if we build such a system, the Soviets will build a

defense system of their own. Well, they already have strategic defenses

that surpass ours; a civil defense system, where we have almost none;

and a research program covering roughly the same areas of technology

that we’re now exploring. And finally some say the research will take a

long time. Well, the answer to that is: Let’s get started.

Harry Truman once said that, ultimately, our security and the world’s

hopes for peace and human progress “lie not in measures of defense or in

the control of weapons, but in the growth and expansion of freedom and

self-government.”

And tonight, we declare anew to our fellow citizens of the world:

Freedom is not the sole prerogative of a chosen few; it is the universal

right of all God’s children. Look to where peace and prosperity flourish

today. It is in homes that freedom built. Victories against poverty are

greatest and peace most secure where people live by laws that ensure

free press, free speech, and freedom to worship, vote, and create

wealth.

Our mission is to nourish and defend freedom and democracy, and to

communicate these ideals everywhere we can. America’s economic success

is freedom’s success; it can be repeated a hundred times in a hundred

different nations. Many countries in east Asia and the Pacific have few

resources other than the enterprise of their own people. But through low

tax rates and free markets they’ve soared ahead of centralized

economies. And now China is opening up its economy to meet its needs.

We need a stronger and simpler approach to the process of making and

implementing trade policy, and we’ll be studying potential changes in

that process in the next few weeks. We’ve seen the benefits of free

trade and lived through the disasters of protectionism. Tonight I ask

all our trading partners, developed and developing alike, to join us in

a new round of trade negotiations to expand trade and competition and

strengthen the global economy--and to begin it in this next year.

There are more than 3 billion human beings living in Third World

countries with an average per capita income of $650 a year. Many are

victims of dictatorships that impoverished them with taxation and

corruption. Let us ask our allies to join us in a practical program of

trade and assistance that fosters economic development through personal

incentives to help these people climb from poverty on their own.

We cannot play innocents abroad in a world that’s not innocent; nor can

we be passive when freedom is under siege. Without resources, diplomacy

cannot succeed. Our security assistance programs help friendly

governments defend themselves and give them confidence to work for

peace. And I hope that you in the Congress will understand that, dollar

for dollar, security assistance contributes as much to global security

as our own defense budget.

We must stand by all our democratic allies. And we must not break faith

with those who are risking their lives--on every continent, from

Afghanistan to Nicaragua--to defy Soviet-supported aggression and secure

rights which have been ours from birth.

The Sandinista dictatorship of Nicaragua, with full Cuban-Soviet bloc

support, not only persecutes its people, the church, and denies a free

press, but arms and provides bases for Communist terrorists attacking

neighboring states. Support for freedom fighters is self-defense and

totally consistent with the OAS and U.N. Charters. It is essential that

the Congress continue all facets of our assistance to Central America. I

want to work with you to support the democratic forces whose struggle is

tied to our own security.

And tonight, I’ve spoken of great plans and great dreams. They’re dreams

we can make come true. Two hundred years of American history should have

taught us that nothing is impossible.

Ten years ago a young girl left Vietnam with her family, part of the

exodus that followed the fall of Saigon. They came to the United States

with no possessions and not knowing a word of English. Ten years

ago--the young girl studied hard, learned English, and finished high

school in the top of her class. And this May, May 22d to be exact, is a

big date on her calendar. Just 10 years from the time she left Vietnam,

she will graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point.

I thought you might like to meet an American hero named Jean Nguyen.

Now, there’s someone else here tonight, born 79 years ago. She lives in

the inner city, where she cares for infants born of mothers who are

heroin addicts. The children, born in withdrawal, are sometimes even

dropped on her doorstep. She helps them with love. Go to her house some

night, and maybe you’ll see her silhouette against the window as she

walks the floor talking softly, soothing a child in her arms--Mother

Hale of Harlem, and she, too, is an American hero.

Jean, Mother Hale, your lives tell us that the oldest American saying is

new again: Anything is possible in America if we have the faith, the

will, and the heart. History is asking us once again to be a force for

good in the world. Let us begin in unity, with justice, and love.

Thank you, and God bless you.

NOTE: The President spoke at 9:05 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

February 4, 1986

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, distinguished Members of the Congress,

honored guests, and fellow citizens:

Thank you for allowing me to delay my address until this evening. We

paused together to mourn and honor the valor of our seven Challenger

heroes. And I hope that we are now ready to do what they would want us

to do: Go forward, America, and reach for the stars. We will never

forget those brave seven, but we shall go forward.

Mr. Speaker, before I begin my prepared remarks, may I point out that

tonight marks the 10th and last State of the Union Message that you’ve

presided over. And on behalf of the American people, I want to salute

you for your service to Congress and country. Here’s to you!

I have come to review with you the progress of our nation, to speak of

unfinished work, and to set our sights on the future. I am pleased to

report the state of our Union is stronger than a year ago and growing

stronger each day. Tonight we look out on a rising America, firm of

heart, united in spirit, powerful in pride and patriotism. America is on

the move! But it wasn’t long ago that we looked out on a different land:

locked factory gates, long gasoline lines, intolerable prices, and

interest rates turning the greatest country on Earth into a land of

broken dreams. Government growing beyond our consent had become a

lumbering giant, slamming shut the gates of opportunity, threatening to

crush the very roots of our freedom. What brought America back? The

American people brought us back with quiet courage and common sense,

with undying faith that in this nation under God the future will be

ours; for the future belongs to the free.

Tonight the American people deserve our thanks for 37 straight months of

economic growth, for sunrise firms and modernized industries creating 9

million new jobs in 3 years, interest rates cut in half, inflation

falling over from 12 percent in 1980 to under 4 today, and a mighty

river of good works--a record $74 billion in voluntary giving just last

year alone. And despite the pressures of our modern world, family and

community remain the moral core of our society, guardians of our values

and hopes for the future. Family and community are the costars of this

great American comeback. They are why we say tonight: Private values

must be at the heart of public policies.

What is true for families in America is true for America in the family

of free nations. History is no captive of some inevitable force. History

is made by men and women of vision and courage. Tonight freedom is on

the march. The United States is the economic miracle, the model to which

the world once again turns. We stand for an idea whose time is now: Only

by lifting the weights from the shoulders of all can people truly

prosper and can peace among all nations be secure. Teddy Roosevelt said

that a nation that does great work lives forever. We have done well, but

we cannot stop at the foothills when Everest beckons. It’s time for

America to be all that we can be.

We speak tonight of an agenda for the future, an agenda for a safer,

more secure world. And we speak about the necessity for actions to steel

us for the challenges of growth, trade, and security in the next decade

and the year 2000. And we will do it--not by breaking faith with bedrock

principles but by breaking free from failed policies. Let us begin where

storm clouds loom darkest--right here in Washington, DC. This week I

will send you our detailed proposals; tonight let us speak of our

responsibility to redefine government’s role: not to control, not to

demand or command, not to contain us, but to help in times of need and,

above all, to create a ladder of opportunity to full employment so that

all Americans can climb toward economic power and justice on their own.

But we cannot win the race to the future shackled to a system that can’t

even pass a Federal budget. We cannot win that race held back by

horse-and-buggy programs that waste tax dollars and squander human

potential. We cannot win that race if we’re swamped in a sea of red ink.

Now, Mr. Speaker, you know, I know, and the American people know the

Federal budget system is broken. It doesn’t work. Before we leave this

city, let’s you and I work together to fix it, and then we can finally

give the American people a balanced budget.

Members of Congress, passage of Gramm-Rudman-Hollings gives us an

historic opportunity to achieve what has eluded our national leadership

for decades: forcing the Federal Government to live within its means.

Your schedule now requires that the budget resolution be passed by April

15th, the very day America’s families have to foot the bill for the

budgets that you produce. How often we read of a husband and wife both

working, struggling from paycheck to paycheck to raise a family, meet a

mortgage, pay their taxes and bills. And yet some in Congress say taxes

must be raised. Well, I’m sorry; they’re asking the wrong people to

tighten their belts. It’s time we reduce the Federal budget and left the

family budget alone. We do not face large deficits because American

families are undertaxed; we face those deficits because the Federal

Government overspends.

The detailed budget that we will submit will meet the

Gramm-Rudman-Hollings target for deficit reductions, meet our commitment

to ensure a strong national defense, meet our commitment to protect

Social Security and the truly less fortunate, and, yes, meet our

commitment to not raise taxes. How should we accomplish this? Well, not

by taking from those in need. As families take care of their own,

government must provide shelter and nourishment for those who cannot

provide for themselves. But we must revise or replace programs enacted

in the name of compassion that degrade the moral worth of work,

encourage family breakups, and drive entire communities into a bleak and

heartless dependency. Gramm-Rudman-Hollings can mark a dramatic

improvement. But experience shows that simply setting deficit targets

does not assure they’ll be met. We must proceed with Grace commission

reforms against waste.

And tonight I ask you to give me what 43 Governors have: Give me a

line-item veto this year. Give me the authority to veto waste, and I’ll

take the responsibility, I’ll make the cuts, I’ll take the heat. This

authority would not give me any monopoly power, but simply prevent

spending measures from sneaking through that could not pass on their own

merit. And you can sustain or override my veto; that’s the way the

system should work. Once we’ve made the hard choices, we should lock in

our gains with a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

I mentioned that we will meet our commitment to national defense. We

must meet it. Defense is not just another budget expense. Keeping

America strong, free, and at peace is solely the responsibility of the

Federal Government; it is government’s prime responsibility. We have

devoted 5 years trying to narrow a dangerous gap born of illusion and

neglect, and we’ve made important gains. Yet the threat from Soviet

forces, conventional and strategic, from the Soviet drive for

domination, from the increase in espionage and state terror remains

great. This is reality. Closing our eyes will not make reality

disappear. We pledged together to hold real growth in defense spending

to the bare minimum. My budget honors that pledge, and I’m now asking

you, the Congress, to keep its end of the bargain. The Soviets must know

that if America reduces her defenses, it will be because of a reduced

threat, not a reduced resolve.

Keeping America strong is as vital to the national security as

controlling Federal spending is to our economic security. But, as I have

said before, the most powerful force we can enlist against the Federal

deficit is an ever-expanding American economy, unfettered and free. The

magic of opportunity--unreserved, unfailing, unrestrained--isn’t this

the calling that unites us? I believe our tax rate cuts for the people

have done more to spur a spirit of risk-taking and help America’s

economy break free than any program since John Kennedy’s tax cut almost

a quarter century ago.

Now history calls us to press on, to complete efforts for an historic

tax reform providing new opportunity for all and ensuring that all pay

their fair share, but no more. We’ve come this far. Will you join me

now, and we’ll walk this last mile together? You know my views on this.

We cannot and we will not accept tax reform that is a tax increase in

disguise. True reform must be an engine of productivity and growth, and

that means a top personal rate no higher than 35 percent. True reform

must be truly fair, and that means raising personal exemptions to

$2,000. True reform means a tax system that at long last is profamily,

projobs, profuture, and pro-America.

As we knock down the barriers to growth, we must redouble our efforts

for freer and fairer trade. We have already taken actions to counter

unfair trading practices and to pry open closed foreign markets. We will

continue to do so. We will also oppose legislation touted as providing

protection that in reality pits one American worker against another, one

industry against another, one community against another, and that raises

prices for us all. If the United States can trade with other nations on

a level playing field, we can outproduce, outcompete, and outsell

anybody, anywhere in the world.

The constant expansion of our economy and exports requires a sound and

stable dollar at home and reliable exchange rates around the world. We

must never again permit wild currency swings to cripple our farmers and

other exporters. Farmers, in particular, have suffered from past unwise

government policies. They must not be abandoned with problems they did

not create and cannot control. We’ve begun coordinating economic and

monetary policy among our major trading partners. But there’s more to

do, and tonight I am directing Treasury Secretary Jim Baker to determine

if the nations of the world should convene to discuss the role and

relationship of our currencies.

Confident in our future and secure in our values, Americans are striving

forward to embrace the future. We see it not only in our recovery but in

3 straight years of falling crime rates, as families and communities

band together to fight pornography, drugs, and lawlessness and to give

back to their children the safe and, yes, innocent childhood they

deserve. We see it in the renaissance in education, the rising SAT

scores for 3 years--last year’s increase, the greatest since 1963. It

wasn’t government and Washington lobbies that turned education around;

it was the American people who, in reaching for excellence, knew to

reach back to basics. We must continue the advance by supporting

discipline in our schools, vouchers that give parents freedom of choice;

and we must give back to our children their lost right to acknowledge

God in their classrooms.

We are a nation of idealists, yet today there is a wound in our national

conscience. America will never be whole as long as the right to life

granted by our Creator is denied to the unborn. For the rest of my time,

I shall do what I can to see that this wound is one day healed.

As we work to make the American dream real for all, we must also look to

the condition of America’s families. Struggling parents today worry how

they will provide their children the advantages that their parents gave

them. In the welfare culture, the breakdown of the family, the most

basic support system, has reached crisis proportions--in female and

child poverty, child abandonment, horrible crimes, and deteriorating

schools. After hundreds of billions of dollars in poverty programs, the

plight of the poor grows more painful. But the waste in dollars and

cents pales before the most tragic loss: the sinful waste of human

spirit and potential. We can ignore this terrible truth no longer. As

Franklin Roosevelt warned 51 years ago, standing before this Chamber, he

said, “Welfare is a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit.”

And we must now escape the spider’s web of dependency.

Tonight I am charging the White House Domestic Council to present me by

December 1, 1986, an evaluation of programs and a strategy for immediate

action to meet the financial, educational, social, and safety concerns

of poor families. I’m talking about real and lasting emancipation,

because the success of welfare should be judged by how many of its

recipients become independent of welfare. Further, after seeing how

devastating illness can destroy the financial security of the family, I

am directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Otis Bowen,

to report to me by year end with recommendations on how the private

sector and government can work together to address the problems of

affordable insurance for those whose life savings would otherwise be

threatened when catastrophic illness strikes.

And tonight I want to speak directly to America’s younger generation,

because you hold the destiny of our nation in your hands. With all the

temptations young people face, it sometimes seems the allure of the

permissive society requires superhuman feats of self-control. But the

call of the future is too strong, the challenge too great to get lost in

the blind alleyways of dissolution, drugs, and despair. Never has there

been a more exciting time to be alive, a time of rousing wonder and

heroic achievement. As they said in the film “Back to the Future,”

“Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”

Well, today physicists peering into the infinitely small realms of

subatomic particles find reaffirmations of religious faith. Astronomers

build a space telescope that can see to the edge of the universe and

possibly back to the moment of creation. So, yes, this nation remains

fully committed to America’s space program. We’re going forward with our

shuttle flights. We’re going forward to build our space station. And we

are going forward with research on a new Orient Express that could, by

the end of the next decade, take off from Dulles Airport, accelerate up

to 25 times the speed of sound, attaining low Earth orbit or flying to

Tokyo within 2 hours. And the same technology transforming our lives can

solve the greatest problem of the 20th century. A security shield can

one day render nuclear weapons obsolete and free mankind from the prison

of nuclear terror. America met one historic challenge and went to the

Moon. Now America must meet another: to make our strategic defense real

for all the citizens of planet Earth.

Let us speak of our deepest longing for the future: to leave our

children a land that is free and just and a world at peace. It is my

hope that our fireside summit in Geneva and Mr. Gorbachev’s upcoming

visit to America can lead to a more stable relationship. Surely no

people on Earth hate war or love peace more than we Americans. But we

cannot stroll into the future with childlike faith. Our differences with

a system that openly proclaims and practices an alleged right to command

people’s lives and to export its ideology by force are deep and abiding.

Logic and history compel us to accept that our relationship be guided by

realism--rock-hard, cleareyed, steady, and sure. Our negotiators in

Geneva have proposed a radical cut in offensive forces by each side with

no cheating. They have made clear that Soviet compliance with the letter

and spirit of agreements is essential. If the Soviet Government wants an

agreement that truly reduces nuclear arms, there will be such an

agreement.

But arms control is no substitute for peace. We know that peace follows

in freedom’s path and conflicts erupt when the will of the people is

denied. So, we must prepare for peace not only by reducing weapons but

by bolstering prosperity, liberty, and democracy however and wherever we

can. We advance the promise of opportunity every time we speak out on

behalf of lower tax rates, freer markets, sound currencies around the

world. We strengthen the family of freedom every time we work with

allies and come to the aid of friends under siege. And we can enlarge

the family of free nations if we will defend the unalienable rights of

all God’s children to follow their dreams.

To those imprisoned in regimes held captive, to those beaten for daring

to fight for freedom and democracy--for their right to worship, to

speak, to live, and to prosper in the family of free nations--we say to

you tonight: You are not alone, freedom fighters. America will support

with moral and material assistance your right not just to fight and die

for freedom but to fight and win freedom--to win freedom in Afghanistan,

in Angola, in Cambodia, and in Nicaragua. This is a great moral

challenge for the entire free world.

Surely no issue is more important for peace in our own hemisphere, for

the security of our frontiers, for the protection of our vital

interests, than to achieve democracy in Nicaragua and to protect

Nicaragua’s democratic neighbors. This year I will be asking Congress

for the means to do what must be done for that great and good cause. As

(former Senator Henry M.)Scoop Jackson, the inspiration for our

Bipartisan Commission on Central America, once said, “In matters of

national security, the best politics is no politics.”

What we accomplish this year, in each challenge we face, will set our

course for the balance of the decade, indeed, for the remainder of the

century. After all we’ve done so far, let no one say that this nation

cannot reach the destiny of our dreams. America believes, America is

ready, America can win the race to the future--and we shall. The

American dream is a song of hope that rings through night winter air;

vivid, tender music that warms our hearts when the least among us aspire

to the greatest things: to venture a daring enterprise; to unearth new

beauty in music, literature, and art; to discover a new universe inside

a tiny silicon chip or a single human cell.

We see the dream coming true in the spirit of discovery of Richard

Cavoli. All his life he’s been enthralled by the mysteries of medicine.

And, Richard, we know that the experiment that you began in high school

was launched and lost last week, yet your dream lives. And as long as

it’s real, work of noble note will yet be done, work that could reduce

the harmful effects of x rays on patients and enable astronomers to view

the golden gateways of the farthest stars.

We see the dream glow in the towering talent of a 12-year-old, Tyrone

Ford. A child prodigy of gospel music, he has surmounted personal

adversity to become an accomplished pianist and singer. He also directs

the choirs of three churches and has performed at the Kennedy Center.

With God as your composer, Tyrone, your music will be the music of

angels.

We see the dream being saved by the courage of the 13-year-old Shelby

Butler, honor student and member of her school’s safety patrol. Seeing

another girl freeze in terror before an out-of-control school bus, she

risked her life and pulled her to safety. With bravery like yours,

Shelby, America need never fear for our future.

And we see the dream born again in the joyful compassion of a 13 year

old, Trevor Ferrell. Two years ago, age 11, watching men and women

bedding down in abandoned doorways--on television he was

watching--Trevor left his suburban Philadelphia home to bring blankets

and food to the helpless and homeless. And now 250 people help him

fulfill his nightly vigil. Trevor, yours is the living spirit of

brotherly love.

Would you four stand up for a moment? Thank you, thank you. You are

heroes of our hearts. We look at you and know it’s true: In this land of

dreams fulfilled, where greater dreams may be imagined, nothing is

impossible, no victory is beyond our reach, no glory will ever be too

great.

So, now it’s up to us, all of us, to prepare America for that day when

our work will pale before the greatness of America’s champions in the

21st century. The world’s hopes rest with America’s future; America’s

hopes rest with us. So, let us go forward to create our world of

tomorrow in faith, in unity, and in love.

God bless you, and God bless America.

NOTE: The President spoke at 8:04 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 27, 1987

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, distinguished Members of Congress, honored

guests, and fellow citizens:

May I congratulate all of you who are Members of this historic 100th

Congress of the United States of America. In this 200th anniversary year

of our Constitution, you and I stand on the shoulders of giants--men

whose words and deeds put wind in the sails of freedom. However, we must

always remember that our Constitution is to be celebrated not for being

old, but for being young--young with the same energy, spirit, and

promise that filled each eventful day in Philadelphia’s statehouse. We

will be guided tonight by their acts, and we will be guided forever by

their words.

Now, forgive me, but I can’t resist sharing a story from those historic

days. Philadelphia was bursting with civic pride in the spring of 1787,

and its newspapers began embellishing the arrival of the Convention

delegates with elaborate social classifications. Governors of States

were called Excellency. Justices and Chancellors had reserved for them

honorable with a capital “H.” For Congressmen, it was honorable with a

small “h.” And all others were referred to as “the following respectable

characters.” Well, for this 100th Congress, I invoke special executive

powers to declare that each of you must never be titled less than

honorable with a capital “H.” Incidentally, I’m delighted you are

celebrating the 100th birthday of the Congress. It’s always a pleasure

to congratulate someone with more birthdays than I’ve had.

Now, there’s a new face at this place of honor tonight. And please join

me in warm congratulations to the Speaker of the House, Jim Wright. Mr.

Speaker, you might recall a similar situation in your very first session

of Congress 32 years ago. Then, as now, the speakership had changed

hands and another great son of Texas, Sam Rayburn--“Mr. Sam”--sat in

your chair. I cannot find better words than those used by President

Eisenhower that evening. He said, “We shall have much to do together; I

am sure that we will get it done and that we shall do it in harmony and

good will.” Tonight I renew that pledge. To you, Mr. Speaker, and to

Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd, who brings 34 years of distinguished

service to the Congress, may I say: Though there are changes in the

Congress, America’s interests remain the same. And I am confident that,

along with Republican leaders Bob Michel and Bob Dole, this Congress can

make history.

Six years ago I was here to ask the Congress to join me in America’s new

beginning. Well, the results are something of which we can all be proud.

Our inflation rate is now the lowest in a quarter of a century. The

prime interest rate has fallen from the 21 1/2 percent the month before

we took office to 7 1/2 percent today. And those rates have triggered

the most housing starts in 8 years. The unemployment rate--still too

high--is the lowest in nearly 7 years, and our people have created

nearly 13 million new jobs. Over 61 percent of everyone over the age of

16, male and female, is employed--the highest percentage on record.

Let’s roll up our sleeves and go to work and put America’s economic

engine at full throttle. We can also be heartened by our progress across

the world. Most important, America is at peace tonight, and freedom is

on the march. And we’ve done much these past years to restore our

defenses, our alliances, and our leadership in the world. Our sons and

daughters in the services once again wear their uniforms with pride.

But though we’ve made much progress, I have one major regret: I took a

risk with regard to our action in Iran. It did not work, and for that I

assume full responsibility. The goals were worthy. I do not believe it

was wrong to try to establish contacts with a country of strategic

importance or to try to save lives. And certainly it was not wrong to

try to secure freedom for our citizens held in barbaric captivity. But

we did not achieve what we wished, and serious mistakes were made in

trying to do so. We will get to the bottom of this, and I will take

whatever action is called for. But in debating the past, we must not

deny ourselves the successes of the future. Let it never be said of this

generation of Americans that we became so obsessed with failure that we

refused to take risks that could further the cause of peace and freedom

in the world. Much is at stake here, and the Nation and the world are

watching to see if we go forward together in the national interest or if

we let partisanship weaken us. And let there be no mistake about

American policy: We will not sit idly by if our interests or our friends

in the Middle East are threatened, nor will we yield to terrorist

blackmail.

And now, ladies and gentlemen of the Congress, why don’t we get to work?

I am pleased to report that because of our efforts to rebuild the

strength of America, the world is a safer place. Earlier this month I

submitted a budget to defend America and maintain our momentum to make

up for neglect in the last decade. Well, I ask you to vote out a defense

and foreign affairs budget that says yes to protecting our country.

While the world is safer, it is not safe.

Since 1970 the Soviets have invested $500 billion more on their military

forces than we have. Even today, though nearly 1 in 3 Soviet families is

without running hot water and the average family spends 2 hours a day

shopping for the basic necessities of life, their government still found

the resources to transfer $75 billion in weapons to client states in the

past 5 years--clients like Syria, Vietnam, Cuba, Libya, Angola,

Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and Nicaragua. With 120,000 Soviet combat and

military personnel and 15,000 military advisers in Asia, Africa, and

Latin America, can anyone still doubt their single-minded determination

to expand their power? Despite this, the Congress cut my request for

critical U.S. security assistance to free nations by 21 percent this

year, and cut defense requests by $85 billion in the last 3 years.

These assistance programs serve our national interests as well as mutual

interests. And when the programs are devastated, American interests are

harmed. My friends, it’s my duty as President to say to you again

tonight that there is no surer way to lose freedom than to lose our

resolve. Today the brave people of Afghanistan are showing that resolve.

The Soviet Union says it wants a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan, yet

it continues a brutal war and props up a regime whose days are clearly

numbered. We are ready to support a political solution that guarantees

the rapid withdrawal of all Soviet troops and genuine self-determination

for the Afghan people.

In Central America, too, the cause of freedom is being tested. And our

resolve is being tested there as well. Here, especially, the world is

watching to see how this nation responds. Today over 90 percent of the

people of Latin America live in democracy. Democracy is on the march in

Central and South America. Communist Nicaragua is the odd man

out--suppressing the church, the press, and democratic dissent and

promoting subversion in the region. We support diplomatic efforts, but

these efforts can never succeed if the Sandinistas win their war against

the Nicaraguan people.

Our commitment to a Western Hemisphere safe from aggression did not

occur by spontaneous generation on the day that we took office. It began

with the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 and continues our historic bipartisan

American policy. Franklin Roosevelt said we “are determined to do

everything possible to maintain peace on this hemisphere.” President

Truman was very blunt: “International communism seeks to crush and

undermine and destroy the independence of the Americas. We cannot let

that happen here.” And John F. Kennedy made clear that “Communist

domination in this hemisphere can never be negotiated.” Some in this

Congress may choose to depart from this historic commitment, but I will

not.

This year we celebrate the second century of our Constitution. The

Sandinistas just signed theirs 2 weeks ago, and then suspended it. We

won’t know how my words tonight will be reported there for one simple

reason: There is no free press in Nicaragua. Nicaraguan freedom fighters

have never asked us to wage their battle, but I will fight any effort to

shut off their lifeblood and consign them to death, defeat, or a life

without freedom. There must be no Soviet beachhead in Central America.

You know, we Americans have always preferred dialog to conflict, and so,

we always remain open to more constructive relations with the Soviet

Union. But more responsible Soviet conduct around the world is a key

element of the U.S.-Soviet agenda. Progress is also required on the

other items of our agenda as well--real respect for human rights and

more open contacts between our societies and, of course, arms reduction.

In Iceland, last October, we had one moment of opportunity that the

Soviets dashed because they sought to cripple our Strategic Defense

Initiative, SDI. I wouldn’t let them do it then; I won’t let them do it

now or in the future. This is the most positive and promising defense

program we have undertaken. It’s the path, for both sides, to a safer

future--a system that defends human life instead of threatening it. SDI

will go forward. The United States has made serious, fair, and

far-reaching proposals to the Soviet Union, and this is a moment of rare

opportunity for arms reduction. But I will need, and American

negotiators in Geneva will need, Congress’ support. Enacting the Soviet

negotiating position into American law would not be the way to win a

good agreement. So, I must tell you in this Congress I will veto any

effort that undercuts our national security and our negotiating

leverage.

Now, today, we also find ourselves engaged in expanding peaceful

commerce across the world. We will work to expand our opportunities in

international markets through the Uruguay round of trade negotiations

and to complete an historic free trade arrangement between the world’s

two largest trading partners, Canada and the United States. Our basic

trade policy remains the same: We remain opposed as ever to

protectionism, because America’s growth and future depend on trade. But

we would insist on trade that is fair and free. We are always willing to

be trade partners but never trade patsies.

Now, from foreign borders let us return to our own, because America in

the world is only as strong as America at home. This 100th Congress has

high responsibilities. I begin with a gentle reminder that many of these

are simply the incomplete obligations of the past. The American people

deserve to be impatient, because we do not yet have the public house in

order. We’ve had great success in restoring our economic integrity, and

we’ve rescued our nation from the worst economic mess since the

Depression. But there’s more to do. For starters, the Federal deficit is

outrageous. For years I’ve asked that we stop pushing onto our children

the excesses of our government. And what the Congress finally needs to

do is pass a constitutional amendment that mandates a balanced budget

and forces government to live within its means. States, cities, and the

families of America balance their budgets. Why can’t we?

Next, the budget process is a sorry spectacle. The missing of deadlines

and the nightmare of monstrous continuing resolutions packing hundreds

of billions of dollars of spending into one bill must be stopped. We ask

the Congress once again: Give us the same tool that 43 Governors have--a

lineitem veto so we can carve out the boondoggles and pork, those items

that would never survive on their own. I will send the Congress broad

recommendations on the budget, but first I’d like to see yours. Let’s go

to work and get this done together.

But now let’s talk about this year’s budget. Even though I have

submitted it within the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings deficit reduction target,

I have seen suggestions that we might postpone that timetable. Well, I

think the American people are tired of hearing the same old excuses.

Together we made a commitment to balance the budget. Now let’s keep it.

As for those suggestions that the answer is higher taxes, the American

people have repeatedly rejected that shop-worn advice. They know that we

don’t have deficits because people are taxed too little. We have

deficits because big government spends too much.

Now, next month I’ll place two additional reforms before the Congress.

We’ve created a welfare monster that is a shocking indictment of our

sense of priorities. Our national welfare system consists of some 59

major programs and over 6,000 pages of Federal laws and regulations on

which more than $132 billion was spent in 1985. I will propose a new

national welfare strategy, a program of welfare reform through

State-sponsored, community-based demonstration projects. This is the

time to reform this outmoded social dinosaur and finally break the

poverty trap. Now, we will never abandon those who, through no fault of

their own, must have our help. But let us work to see how many can be

freed from the dependency of welfare and made self-supporting, which the

great majority of welfare recipients want more than anything else. Next,

let us remove a financial specter facing our older Americans: the fear

of an illness so expensive that it can result in having to make an

intolerable choice between bankruptcy and death. I will submit

legislation shortly to help free the elderly from the fear of

catastrophic illness.

Now let’s turn to the future. It’s widely said that America is losing

her competitive edge. Well, that won’t happen if we act now. How well

prepared are we to enter the 21st century? In my lifetime, America set

the standard for the world. It is now time to determine that we should

enter the next century having achieved a level of excellence unsurpassed

in history. We will achieve this, first, by guaranteeing that government

does everything possible to promote America’s ability to compete.

Second, we must act as individuals in a quest for excellence that will

not be measured by new proposals or billions in new funding. Rather, it

involves an expenditure of American spirit and just plain American grit.

The Congress will soon receive my comprehensive proposals to enhance our

competitiveness, including new science and technology centers and strong

new funding for basic research. The bill will include legal and

regulatory reforms and weapons to fight unfair trade practices.

Competitiveness also means giving our farmers a shot at participating

fairly and fully in a changing world market.

Preparing for the future must begin, as always, with our children. We

need to set for them new and more rigorous goals. We must demand more of

ourselves and our children by raising literacy levels dramatically by

the year 2000. Our children should master the basic concepts of math and

science, and let’s insist that students not leave high school until they

have studied and understood the basic documents of our national

heritage. There’s one more thing we can’t let up on: Let’s redouble our

personal efforts to provide for every child a safe and drug-free

learning environment. If our crusade against drugs succeeds with our

children, we will defeat that scourge all over the country.

Finally, let’s stop suppressing the spiritual core of our national

being. Our nation could not have been conceived without divine help. Why

is it that we can build a nation with our prayers, but we can’t use a

schoolroom for voluntary prayer? The 100th Congress of the United States

should be remembered as the one that ended the expulsion of God from

America’s classrooms.

The quest for excellence into the 21st century begins in the schoolroom

but must go next to the workplace. More than 20 million new jobs will be

created before the new century unfolds, and by then, our economy should

be able to provide a job for everyone who wants to work. We must also

enable our workers to adapt to the rapidly changing nature of the

workplace. And I will propose substantial, new Federal commitments keyed

to retraining and job mobility.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sending the Congress a complete series

of these special messages--on budget reform, welfare reform,

competitiveness, including education, trade, worker training and

assistance, agriculture, and other subjects. The Congress can give us

these tools, but to make these tools work, it really comes down to just

being our best. And that is the core of American greatness. The

responsibility of freedom presses us towards higher knowledge and, I

believe, moral and spiritual greatness. Through lower taxes and smaller

government, government has its ways of freeing people’s spirits. But

only we, each of us, can let the spirit soar against our own individual

standards. Excellence is what makes freedom ring. And isn’t that what we

do best?

We’re entering our third century now, but it’s wrong to judge our nation

by its years. The calendar can’t measure America because we were meant

to be an endless experiment in freedom--with no limit to our reaches, no

boundaries to what we can do, no end point to our hopes. The United

States Constitution is the impassioned and inspired vehicle by which we

travel through history. It grew out of the most fundamental inspiration

of our existence: that we are here to serve Him by living free--that

living free releases in us the noblest of impulses and the best of our

abilities; that we would use these gifts for good and generous purposes

and would secure them not just for ourselves and for our children but

for all mankind.

Over the years--I won’t count if you don’t--nothing has been so

heartwarming to me as speaking to America’s young, and the little ones

especially, so fresh-faced and so eager to know. Well, from time to time

I’ve been with them--they will ask about our Constitution. And I hope

you Members of Congress will not deem this a breach of protocol if

you’ll permit me to share these thoughts again with the young people who

might be listening or watching this evening. I’ve read the constitutions

of a number of countries, including the Soviet Union’s. Now, some people

are surprised to hear that they have a constitution, and it even

supposedly grants a number of freedoms to its people. Many countries

have written into their constitution provisions for freedom of speech

and freedom of assembly. Well, if this is true, why is the Constitution

of the United States so exceptional?

Well, the difference is so small that it almost escapes you, but it’s so

great it tells you the whole story in just three words: We the people.

In those other constitutions, the Government tells the people of those

countries what they’re allowed to do. In our Constitution, we the people

tell the Government what it can do, and it can do only those things

listed in that document and no others. Virtually every other revolution

in history has just exchanged one set of rulers for another set of

rulers. Our revolution is the first to say the people are the masters

and government is their servant. And you young people out there, don’t

ever forget that. Someday you could be in this room, but wherever you

are, America is depending on you to reach your highest and be your

best--because here in America, we the people are in charge.

Just three words: We the people--those are the kids on Christmas Day

looking out from a frozen sentry post on the 38th parallel in Korea or

aboard an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean. A million miles from

home, but doing their duty.

We the people--those are the warmhearted whose numbers we can’t begin to

count, who’ll begin the day with a little prayer for hostages they will

never know and MIA families they will never meet. Why? Because that’s

the way we are, this unique breed we call Americans.

We the people--they’re farmers on tough times, but who never stop

feeding a hungry world. They’re the volunteers at the hospital choking

back their tears for the hundredth time, caring for a baby struggling

for life because of a mother who used drugs. And you’ll forgive me a

special memory--it’s a million mothers like Nelle Reagan who never knew

a stranger or turned a hungry person away from her kitchen door.

We the people--they refute last week’s television commentary downgrading

our optimism and our idealism. They are the entrepreneurs, the builders,

the pioneers, and a lot of regular folks--the true heroes of our land

who make up the most uncommon nation of doers in history. You know

they’re Americans because their spirit is as big as the universe and

their hearts are bigger than their spirits.

We the people--starting the third century of a dream and standing up to

some cynic who’s trying to tell us we’re not going to get any better.

Are we at the end? Well, I can’t tell it any better than the real

thing--a story recorded by James Madison from the final moments of the

Constitutional Convention, September 17th, 1787. As the last few members

signed the document, Benjamin Franklin--the oldest delegate at 81 years

and in frail health--looked over toward the chair where George

Washington daily presided. At the back of the chair was painted the

picture of a Sun on the horizon. And turning to those sitting next to

him, Franklin observed that artists found it difficult in their painting

to distinguish between a rising and a setting Sun.

Well, I know if we were there, we could see those delegates sitting

around Franklin--leaning in to listen more closely to him. And then Dr.

Franklin began to share his deepest hopes and fears about the outcome of

their efforts, and this is what he said: “I have often looked at that

picture behind the President without being able to tell whether it was a

rising or setting Sun: But now at length I have the happiness to know

that it is a rising and not a setting Sun.” Well, you can bet it’s

rising because, my fellow citizens, America isn’t finished. Her best

days have just begun.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

NOTE: The President spoke at 9:03 p.m. in the House Chamber of the

Capitol. He was introduced by Jim Wright, 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, 1988

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, and distinguished Members of the House and

Senate: When we first met here 7 years ago--many of us for the first

time--it was with the hope of beginning something new for America. We

meet here tonight in this historic Chamber to continue that work. If

anyone expects just a proud recitation of the accomplishments of my

administration, I say let’s leave that to history; we’re not finished

yet. So, my message to you tonight is put on your work shoes; we’re

still on the job.

History records the power of the ideas that brought us here those 7

years ago--ideas like the individual’s right to reach as far and as high

as his or her talents will permit; the free market as an engine of

economic progress. And as an ancient Chinese philosopher, Lao-tzu, said:

“Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish; do not overdo

it.” Well, these ideas were part of a larger notion, a vision, if you

will, of America herself--an America not only rich in opportunity for

the individual but an America, too, of strong families and vibrant

neighborhoods; an America whose divergent but harmonizing communities

were a reflection of a deeper community of values: the value of work, of

family, of religion, and of the love of freedom that God places in each

of us and whose defense He has entrusted in a special way to this

nation.

All of this was made possible by an idea I spoke of when Mr. Gorbachev

was here--the belief that the most exciting revolution ever known to

humankind began with three simple words: “We the People,” the

revolutionary notion that the people grant government its rights, and

not the other way around. And there’s one lesson that has come home

powerfully to me, which I would offer to you now. Just as those who

created this Republic pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes,

and their sacred honor, so, too, America’s leaders today must pledge to

each other that we will keep foremost in our hearts and minds not what

is best for ourselves or for our party but what is best for America.

In the spirit of Jefferson, let us affirm that in this Chamber tonight

there are no Republicans, no Democrats--just Americans. Yes, we will

have our differences, but let us always remember what unites us far

outweighs whatever divides us. Those who sent us here to serve them--the

millions of Americans watching and listening tonight--expect this of us.

Let’s prove to them and to ourselves that democracy works even in an

election year. We’ve done this before. And as we have worked together to

bring down spending, tax rates, and inflation, employment has climbed to

record heights; America has created more jobs and better, higher paying

jobs; family income has risen for 4 straight years, and America’s poor

climbed out of poverty at the fastest rate in more than 10 years.

Our record is not just the longest peacetime expansion in history but an

economic and social revolution of hope based on work, incentives,

growth, and opportunity; a revolution of compassion that led to private

sector initiatives and a 77-percent increase in charitable giving; a

revolution that at a critical moment in world history reclaimed and

restored the American dream.

In international relations, too, there’s only one description for what,

together, we have achieved: a complete turnabout, a revolution. Seven

years ago, America was weak, and freedom everywhere was under siege.

Today America is strong, and democracy is everywhere on the move. From

Central America to East Asia, ideas like free markets and democratic

reforms and human rights are taking hold. We’ve replaced “Blame America”

with “Look up to America.” We’ve rebuilt our defenses. And of all our

accomplishments, none can give us more satisfaction than knowing that

our young people are again proud to wear our country’s uniform.

And in a few moments, I’m going to talk about three developments--arms

reduction, the Strategic Defense Initiative, and the global democratic

revolution--that, when taken together, offer a chance none of us would

have dared imagine 7 years ago, a chance to rid the world of the two

great nightmares of the postwar era. I speak of the startling hope of

giving our children a future free of both totalitarianism and nuclear

terror.

Tonight, then, we’re strong, prosperous, at peace, and we are free. This

is the state of our Union. And if we will work together this year, I

believe we can give a future President and a future Congress the chance

to make that prosperity, that peace, that freedom not just the state of

our Union but the state of our world.

Toward this end, we have four basic objectives tonight. First, steps we

can take this year to keep our economy strong and growing, to give our

children a future of low inflation and full employment. Second, let’s

check our progress in attacking social problems, where important gains

have been made, but which still need critical attention. I mean schools

that work, economic independence for the poor, restoring respect for

family life and family values. Our third objective tonight is global:

continuing the exciting economic and democratic revolutions we’ve seen

around the world. Fourth and finally, our nation has remained at peace

for nearly a decade and a half, as we move toward our goals of world

prosperity and world freedom. We must protect that peace and deter war

by making sure the next President inherits what you and I have a moral

obligation to give that President: a national security that is

unassailable and a national defense that takes full advantage of new

technology and is fully funded.

This is a full agenda. It’s meant to be. You see, my thinking on the

next year is quite simple: Let’s make this the best of 8. And that means

it’s all out--right to the finish line. I don’t buy the idea that this

is the last year of anything, because we’re not talking here tonight

about registering temporary gains but ways of making permanent our

successes. And that’s why our focus is the values, the principles, and

ideas that made America great. Let’s be clear on this point. We’re for

limited government, because we understand, as the Founding Fathers did,

that it is the best way of ensuring personal liberty and empowering the

individual so that every American of every race and region shares fully

in the flowering of American prosperity and freedom.

One other thing we Americans like--the future--like the sound of it, the

idea of it, the hope of it. Where others fear trade and economic growth,

we see opportunities for creating new wealth and undreamed-of

opportunities for millions in our own land and beyond. Where others seek

to throw up barriers, we seek to bring them down. Where others take

counsel of their fears, we follow our hopes. Yes, we Americans like the

future and like making the most of it. Let’s do that now.

And let’s begin by discussing how to maintain economic growth by

controlling and eventually eliminating the problem of Federal deficits.

We have had a balanced budget only eight times in the last 57 years. For

the first time in 14 years, the Federal Government spent less in real

terms last year than the year before. We took $73 billion off last

year’s deficit compared to the year before. The deficit itself has moved

from 6.3 percent of the gross national product to only 3.4 percent. And

perhaps the most important sign of progress has been the change in our

view of deficits. You know, a few of us can remember when, not too many

years ago, those who created the deficits said they would make us

prosperous and not to worry about the debt, because we owe it to

ourselves. Well, at last there is agreement that we can’t spend

ourselves rich.

Our recent budget agreement, designed to reduce Federal deficits by $76

billion over the next 2 years, builds on this consensus. But this

agreement must be adhered to without slipping into the errors of the

past: more broken promises and more unchecked spending. As I indicated

in my first State of the Union, what ails us can be simply put: The

Federal Government is too big, and it spends too much money. I can

assure you, the bipartisan leadership of Congress, of my help in

fighting off any attempt to bust our budget agreement. And this includes

the swift and certain use of the veto power.

Now, it’s also time for some plain talk about the most immediate

obstacle to controlling Federal deficits. The simple but frustrating

problem of making expenses match revenues--something American families

do and the Federal Government can’t--has caused crisis after crisis in

this city. Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, I will say to you tonight what I

have said before and will continue to say: The budget process has broken

down; it needs a drastic overhaul. With each ensuing year, the spectacle

before the American people is the same as it was this Christmas: budget

deadlines delayed or missed completely, monstrous continuing resolutions

that pack hundreds of billions of dollars worth of spending into one

bill, and a Federal Government on the brink of default.

I know I’m echoing what you here in the Congress have said, because you

suffered so directly. But let’s recall that in 7 years, of 91

appropriations bills scheduled to arrive on my desk by a certain date,

only 10 made it on time. Last year, of the 13 appropriations bills due

by October 1st, none of them made it. Instead, we had four continuing

resolutions lasting 41 days, then 36 days, and 2 days, and 3 days,

respectively.

And then, along came these behemoths. This is the conference

report--1,053 pages, report weighing 14 pounds. Then this--a

reconciliation bill 6 months late that was 1,186 pages long, weighing 15

pounds. And the long-term continuing resolution--this one was 2 months

late, and it’s 1,057 pages long, weighing 14 pounds. That was a total of

43 pounds of paper and ink. You had 3 hours--yes, 3 hours--to consider

each, and it took 300 people at my Office of Management and Budget just

to read the bill so the Government wouldn’t shut down. Congress

shouldn’t send another one of these. No, and if you do, I will not sign

it.

Let’s change all this. Instead of a Presidential budget that gets

discarded and a congressional budget resolution that is not enforced,

why not a simple partnership, a joint agreement that sets out the

spending priorities within the available revenues? And let’s remember

our deadline is October 1st, not Christmas. Let’s get the people’s work

done in time to avoid a footrace with Santa Claus. And, yes, this

year--to coin a phrase--a new beginning: 13 individual bills, on time

and fully reviewed by Congress.

I’m also certain you join me in saying: Let’s help ensure our future of

prosperity by giving the President a tool that, though I will not get to

use it, is one I know future Presidents of either party must have. Give

the President the same authority that 43 Governors use in their States:

the right to reach into massive appropriation bills, pare away the

waste, and enforce budget discipline. Let’s approve the line-item veto.

And let’s take a partial step in this direction. Most of you in this

Chamber didn’t know what was in this catchall bill and report. Over the

past few weeks, we’ve all learned what was tucked away behind a little

comma here and there. For example, there’s millions for items such as

cranberry research, blueberry research, the study of crawfish, and the

commercialization of wildflowers. And that’s not to mention the five or

so million ($.5 million) that--so that people from developing nations

could come here to watch Congress at work. I won’t even touch that. So,

tonight I offer you this challenge. In 30 days I will send back to you

those items as rescissions, which if I had the authority to line them

out I would do so.

Now, review this multibillion-dollar package that will not undercut our

bipartisan budget agreement. As a matter of fact, if adopted, it will

improve our deficit reduction goals. And what an example we can set,

that we’re serious about getting our financial accounts in order. By

acting and approving this plan, you have the opportunity to override a

congressional process that is out of control.

There is another vital reform. Yes, Gramm-Rudman-Hollings has been

profoundly helpful, but let us take its goal of a balanced budget and

make it permanent. Let us do now what so many States do to hold down

spending and what 32 State legislatures have asked us to do. Let us heed

the wishes of an overwhelming plurality of Americans and pass a

constitutional amendment that mandates a balanced budget and forces the

Federal Government to live within its means. Reform of the budget

process--including the line-item veto and balanced budget

amendment--will, together with real restraint on government spending,

prevent the Federal budget from ever again ravaging the family budget.

Let’s ensure that the Federal Government never again legislates against

the family and the home. Last September 1 signed an Executive order on

the family requiring that every department and agency review its

activities in light of seven standards designed to promote and not harm

the family. But let us make certain that the family is always at the

center of the public policy process not just in this administration but

in all future administrations. It’s time for Congress to consider, at

the beginning, a statement of the impact that legislation will have on

the basic unit of American society, the family.

And speaking of the family, let’s turn to a matter on the mind of every

American parent tonight: education. We all know the sorry story of the

sixties and seventies--soaring spending, plummeting test scores--and

that hopeful trend of the eighties, when we replaced an obsession with

dollars with a commitment to quality, and test scores started back up.

There’s a lesson here that we all should write on the blackboard a

hundred times: In a child’s education, money can never take the place of

basics like discipline, hard work, and, yes, homework.

As a nation we do, of course, spend heavily on education--more than we

spend on defense. Yet across our country, Governors like New Jersey’s

Tom Kean are giving classroom demonstrations that how we spend is as

important as how much we spend. Opening up the teaching profession to

all qualified candidates, merit pay--so that good teachers get A’s as

well as apples--and stronger curriculum, as Secretary Bennett has

proposed for high schools--these imaginative reforms are making common

sense the most popular new kid in America’s schools. How can we help?

Well, we can talk about and push for these reforms. But the most

important thing we can do is to reaffirm that control of our schools

belongs to the States, local communities and, most of all, to the

parents and teachers.

My friends, some years ago, the Federal Government declared war on

poverty, and poverty won. Today the Federal Government has 59 major

welfare programs and spends more than $100 billion a year on them. What

has all this money done? Well, too often it has only made poverty harder

to escape. Federal welfare programs have created a massive social

problem. With the best of intentions, government created a poverty trap

that wreaks havoc on the very support system the poor need most to lift

themselves out of poverty: the family. Dependency has become the one

enduring heirloom, passed from one generation to the next, of too many

fragmented families.

It is time--this may be the most radical thing I’ve said in 7 years in

this office--it’s time for Washington to show a little humility. There

are a thousand sparks of genius in 50 States and a thousand communities

around the Nation. It is time to nurture them and see which ones can

catch fire and become guiding lights. States have begun to show us the

way. They’ve demonstrated that successful welfare programs can be built

around more effective child support enforcement practices and innovative

programs requiring welfare recipients to work or prepare for work. Let

us give the States more flexibility and encourage more reforms. Let’s

start making our welfare system the first rung on America’s ladder of

opportunity, a boost up from dependency, not a graveyard but a

birthplace of hope.

And now let me turn to three other matters vital to family values and

the quality of family life. The first is an untold American success

story. Recently, we released our annual survey of what graduating high

school seniors have to say about drugs. Cocaine use is declining, and

marijuana use was the lowest since surveying began. We can be proud that

our students are just saying no to drugs. But let us remember what this

menace requires: commitment from every part of America and every single

American, a commitment to a drugfree America. The war against drugs is a

war of individual battles, a crusade with many heroes, including

America’s young people and also someone very special to me. She has

helped so many of our young people to say no to drugs. Nancy, much

credit belongs to you, and I want to express to you your husband’s pride

and your country’s thanks.’. Surprised you, didn’t I?

Well, now we come to a family issue that we must have the courage to

confront. Tonight, I call America--a good nation, a moral people--to

charitable but realistic consideration of the terrible cost of abortion

on demand. To those who say this violates a woman’s right to control of

her own body: Can they deny that now medical evidence confirms the

unborn child is a living human being entitled to life, liberty, and the

pursuit of happiness? Let us unite as a nation and protect the unborn

with legislation that would stop all Federal funding for abortion and

with a human life amendment making, of course, an exception where the

unborn child threatens the life of the mother. Our Judeo-Christian

tradition recognizes the right of taking a life in self-defense. But

with that one exception, let us look to those others in our land who cry

out for children to adopt. I pledge to you tonight I will work to remove

barriers to adoption and extend full sharing in family life to millions

of Americans so that children who need homes can be welcomed to families

who want them and love them.

And let me add here: So many of our greatest statesmen have reminded us

that spiritual values alone are essential to our nation’s health and

vigor. The Congress opens its proceedings each day, as does the Supreme

Court, with an acknowledgment of the Supreme Being. Yet we are denied

the right to set aside in our schools a moment each day for those who

wish to pray. I believe Congress should pass our school prayer

amendment.

Now, to make sure there is a full nine member Supreme Court to interpret

the law, to protect the rights of all Americans, I urge the Senate to

move quickly and decisively in confirming Judge Anthony Kennedy to the

highest Court in the land and to also confirm 27 nominees now waiting to

fill vacancies in the Federal judiciary.

Here then are our domestic priorities. Yet if the Congress and the

administration work together, even greater opportunities lie ahead to

expand a growing world economy, to continue to reduce the threat of

nuclear arms, and to extend the frontiers of freedom and the growth of

democratic institutions.

Our policies consistently received the strongest support of the late

Congressman Dan Daniel of Virginia. I’m sure all of you join me in

expressing heartfelt condolences on his passing.

One of the greatest contributions the United States can make to the

world is to promote freedom as the key to economic growth. A creative,

competitive America is the answer to a changing world, not trade wars

that would close doors, create greater barriers, and destroy millions of

jobs. We should always remember: Protectionism is destructionism.

America’s jobs, America’s growth, America’s future depend on

trade--trade that is free, open, and fair.

This year, we have it within our power to take a major step toward a

growing global economy and an expanding cycle of prosperity that reaches

to all the free nations of this Earth. I’m speaking of the historic free

trade agreement negotiated between our country and Canada. And I can

also tell you that we’re determined to expand this concept, south as

well as north. Next month I will be traveling to Mexico, where trade

matters will be of foremost concern. And over the next several months,

our Congress and the Canadian Parliament can make the start of such a

North American accord a reality. Our goal must be a day when the free

flow of trade, from the tip of Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic Circle,

unites the people of the Western Hemisphere in a bond of mutually

beneficial exchange, when all borders become what the U.S.-Canadian

border so long has been: a meeting place rather than a dividing line.

This movement we see in so many places toward economic freedom is

indivisible from the worldwide movement toward political freedom and

against totalitarian rule. This global democratic revolution has removed

the specter, so frightening a decade ago, of democracy doomed to

permanent minority status in the world. In South and Central America,

only a third of the people enjoyed democratic rule in 1976. Today over

90 percent of Latin Americans live in nations committed to democratic

principles. And the resurgence of democracy is owed to these courageous

people on almost every continent who have struggled to take control of

their own destiny.

In Nicaragua the struggle has extra meaning, because that nation is so

near our own borders. The recent revelations of a former high-level

Sandinista major, Roger Miranda, show us that, even as they talk peace,

the Communist Sandinista government of Nicaragua has established plans

for a large 600,000-man army. Yet even as these plans are made, the

Sandinista regime knows the tide is turning, and the cause of Nicaraguan

freedom is riding at its crest. Because of the freedom fighters, who are

resisting Communist rule, the Sandinistas have been forced to extend

some democratic rights, negotiate with church authorities, and release a

few political prisoners.

The focus is on the Sandinistas, their promises and their actions. There

is a consensus among the four Central American democratic Presidents

that the Sandinistas have not complied with the plan to bring peace and

democracy to all of Central America. The Sandinistas again have promised

reforms. Their challenge is to take irreversible steps toward democracy.

On Wednesday my request to sustain the freedom fighters will be

submitted, which reflects our mutual desire for peace, freedom, and

democracy in Nicaragua. I ask Congress to pass this request. Let us be

for the people of Nicaragua what Lafayette, Pulaski, and Von Steuben

were for our forefathers and the cause of American independence.

So, too, in Afghanistan, the freedom fighters are the key to peace. We

support the Mujahidin. There can be no settlement unless all Soviet

troops are removed and the Afghan people are allowed genuine

self-determination. I have made my views on this matter known to Mr.

Gorbachev. But not just Nicaragua or Afghanistan--yes, everywhere we see

a swelling freedom tide across the world: freedom fighters rising up in

Cambodia and Angola, fighting and dying for the same democratic

liberties we hold sacred. Their cause is our cause: freedom.

Yet even as we work to expand world freedom, we must build a safer peace

and reduce the danger of nuclear war. But let’s have no illusions. Three

years of steady decline in the value of our annual defense investment

have increased the risk of our most basic security interests,

jeopardizing earlier hard-won goals. We must face squarely the

implications of this negative trend and make adequate, stable defense

spending a top goal both this year and in the future.

This same concern applies to economic and security assistance programs

as well. But the resolve of America and its NATO allies has opened the

way for unprecedented achievement in arms reduction. Our recently signed

INF treaty is historic, because it reduces nuclear arms and establishes

the most stringent verification regime in arms control history,

including several forms of short-notice, on-site inspection. I submitted

the treaty today, and I urge the Senate to give its advice and consent

to ratification of this landmark agreement. Thank you very much.

In addition to the INF treaty, we’re within reach of an even more

significant START agreement that will reduce U.S. and Soviet long-range

missile--or strategic arsenals by half. But let me be clear. Our

approach is not to seek agreement for agreement’s sake but to settle

only for agreements that truly enhance our national security and that of

our allies. We will never put our security at risk--or that of our

allies--just to reach an agreement with the Soviets. No agreement is

better than a bad agreement.

As I mentioned earlier, our efforts are to give future generations what

we never had--a future free of nuclear terror. Reduction of strategic

offensive arms is one step, SDI another. Our funding request for our

Strategic Defense Initiative is less than 2 percent of the total defense

budget. SDI funding is money wisely appropriated and money well spent.

SDI has the same purpose and supports the same goals of arms reduction.

It reduces the risk of war and the threat of nuclear weapons to all

mankind. Strategic defenses that threaten no one could offer the world a

safer, more stable basis for deterrence. We must also remember that SDI

is our insurance policy against a nuclear accident, a Chernobyl of the

sky, or an accidental launch or some madman who might come along.

We’ve seen such changes in the world in 7 years. As totalitarianism

struggles to avoid being overwhelmed by the forces of economic advance

and the aspiration for human freedom, it is the free nations that are

resilient and resurgent. As the global democratic revolution has put

totalitarianism on the defensive, we have left behind the days of

retreat. America is again a vigorous leader of the free world, a nation

that acts decisively and firmly in the furtherance of her principles and

vital interests. No legacy would make me more proud than leaving in

place a bipartisan consensus for the cause of world freedom, a consensus

that prevents a paralysis of American power from ever occurring again.

But my thoughts tonight go beyond this, and I hope you’ll let me end

this evening with a personal reflection. You know, the world could never

be quite the same again after Jacob Shallus, a trustworthy and

dependable clerk of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, took his pen and

engrossed those words about representative government in the preamble of

our Constitution. And in a quiet but final way, the course of human

events was forever altered when, on a ridge overlooking the Emmitsburg

Pike in an obscure Pennsylvania town called Gettysburg, Lincoln spoke of

our duty to government of and by the people and never letting it perish

from the Earth.

At the start of this decade, I suggested that we live in equally

momentous times, that it is up to us now to decide whether our form of

government would endure and whether history still had a place of

greatness for a quiet, pleasant, greening land called America. Not

everything has been made perfect in 7 years, nor will it be made perfect

in seven times 70 years, but before us, this year and beyond, are great

prospects for the cause of peace and world freedom.

It means, too, that the young Americans I spoke of 7 years ago, as well

as those who might be coming along the Virginia or Maryland shores this

night and seeing for the first time the lights of this Capital City--the

lights that cast their glow on our great halls of government and the

monuments to the memory of our great men--it means those young Americans

will find a city of hope in a land that is free.

We can be proud that for them and for us, as those lights along the

Potomac are still seen this night signaling as they have for nearly two

centuries and as we pray God they always will, that another generation

of Americans has protected and passed on lovingly this place called

America, this shining city on a hill, this government of, by, and for

the people.

Thank you, and God bless you.

NOTE: The President spoke at 9:07 p.m. in the House Chamber of the

Capitol. He was introduced by Jim Wright, Speaker of the House of

Representatives. The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and

television.

***

State of the Union Address

by George Herbert Walker Bush

February 9, 1989

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, and distinguished Members of the House and

Senate, honored guests, and fellow citizens:

Less than 3 weeks ago, I joined you on the West Front of this very

building and, looking over the monuments to our proud past, offered you

my hand in filling the next page of American history with a story of

extended prosperity and continued peace. And tonight I’m back to offer

you my plans as well. The hand remains extended; the sleeves are rolled

up; America is waiting; and now we must produce. Together, we can build

a better America.

It is comforting to return to this historic Chamber. Here, 22 years ago,

I first raised my hand to be sworn into public life. So, tonight I feel

as if I’m returning home to friends. And I intend, in the months and

years to come, to give you what friends deserve: frankness, respect,

and my best judgment about ways to improve America’s future. In return,

I ask for an honest commitment to our common mission of progress. If we

seize the opportunities on the road before us, there’ll be praise

enough for all. The people didn’t send us here to bicker, and it’s time

to govern.

And many Presidents have come to this Chamber in times of great crisis:

war and depression, loss of national spirit. And 8 years ago, I sat in

that very chair as President Reagan spoke of punishing inflation and

devastatingly high interest rates and people out of work--American

confidence on the wane. And our challenge is different. We’re fortunate--a

much changed landscape lies before us tonight. So, I don’t propose

to reverse direction. We’re headed the right way, but we cannot rest.

We’re a people whose energy and drive have fueled our rise to greatness.

And we’re a forward-looking nation--generous, yes, but ambitious, not

for ourselves but for the world. Complacency is not in our character--not

before, not now, not ever.

And so, tonight we must take a strong America and make it even better.

We must address some very real problems. We must establish some very

clear priorities. And we must make a very substantial cut in the

Federal budget deficit. Some people find that agenda impossible, but

I’m presenting to you tonight a realistic plan for tackling it. My plan

has four broad features: attention to urgent priorities, investment in

the future, an attack on the deficit, and no new taxes. This budget

represents my best judgment of how we can address our priorities. There

are many areas in which we would all like to spend more than I propose;

I understand that. But we cannot until we get our fiscal house in order.

Next year alone, thanks to economic growth, without any change in the

law, the Federal Government will take in over $80 billion more than it

does this year. That’s right--over $80 billion in new revenues, with

no increases in taxes. And our job is to allocate those new resources

wisely. We can afford to increase spending by a modest amount, but

enough to invest in key priorities and still cut the deficit by almost

40 percent in 1 year. And that will allow us to meet the targets set

forth in the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings law. But to do that, we must

recognize that growth above inflation in Federal programs is not

preordained, that not all spending initiatives were designed to be

immortal.

I make this pledge tonight: My team and I are ready to work with the

Congress, to form a special leadership group, to negotiate in good

faith, to work day and night--if that’s what it takes--to meet the

budget targets and to produce a budget on time.