We cannot settle for business as usual. Government by continuing

resolution, or government by crisis, will not do. And I ask the

Congress tonight to approve several measures which will make budgeting

more sensible. We could save time and improve efficiency by enacting

2-year budgets. Forty-three Governors have the line-item veto. Presidents

should have it, too. And at the very least, when a President proposes

to rescind Federal spending, the Congress should be required to vote on

that proposal instead of killing it by inaction. And I ask the Congress

to honor the public’s wishes by passing a constitutional amendment to

require a balanced budget. Such an amendment, once phased in, will

discipline both the Congress and the executive branch.

Several principles describe the kind of America I hope to build with

your help in the years ahead. We will not have the luxury of taking the

easy, spendthrift approach to solving problems because higher spending

and higher taxes put economic growth at risk. Economic growth provides

jobs and hope. Economic growth enables us to pay for social programs.

Economic growth enhances the security of the Nation, and low tax rates

create economic growth.

I believe in giving Americans greater freedom and greater choice. And I

will work for choice for American families, whether in the housing in

which they live, the schools to which they send their children, or the

child care they select for their young. You see, I believe that we have

an obligation to those in need, but that government should not be the

provider of first resort for things that the private sector can produce

better. I believe in a society that is free from discrimination and

bigotry of any kind. And I will work to knock down the barriers left by

past discrimination and to build a more tolerant society that will stop

such barriers from ever being built again.

I believe that family and faith represent the moral compass of the

Nation. And I’ll work to make them strong, for as Benjamin Franklin

said: “If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, can

a great nation rise without His aid? And I believe in giving people the

power to make their own lives better through growth and opportunity.

And together, let’s put power in the hands of people.

Three weeks ago, we celebrated the bicentennial inaugural, the 200th

anniversary of the first Presidency. And if you look back, one thing is

so striking about the way the Founding Fathers looked at America. They

didn’t talk about themselves. They talked about posterity. They talked

about the future. And we, too, must think in terms bigger than

ourselves. We must take actions today that will ensure a better

tomorrow. We must extend American leadership in technology, increase

long-term investment, improve our educational system, and boost

productivity. These are the keys to building a better future, and here

are some of my recommendations:

I propose almost $2.2 billion for the National Science Foundation to

promote basic research and keep us on track to double its budget by

1993.

I propose to make permanent the tax credit for research and development.

I’ve asked Vice President Quayle to chair a new Task Force on

Competitiveness.

And I request funding for NASA [National Aeronautics and Space

Administration] and a strong space program, an increase of almost $2.4

billion over the current fiscal year. We must have a manned space

station; a vigorous, safe space shuttle program; and more commercial

development in space. The space program should always go “full

throttle up. And that’s not just our ambition; it’s our destiny.

I propose that we cut the maximum tax rate on capital gains to increase

long-term investment. History on this is clear--this will increase

revenues, help savings, and create new jobs. We won’t be competitive if

we leave whole sectors of America behind. This is the year we should

finally enact urban enterprise zones and bring hope to the inner cities.

But the most important competitiveness program of all is one which

improves education in America. When some of our students actually have

trouble locating America on a map of the world, it is time for us to

map a new approach to education. We must reward excellence and cut

through bureaucracy. We must help schools that need help the most. We

must give choice to parents, students, teachers, and principals; and we

must hold all concerned accountable. In education, we cannot tolerate

mediocrity. I want to cut that dropout rate and make America a more

literate nation, because what it really comes down to is this: The

longer our graduation lines are today, the shorter our unemployment

lines will be tomorrow.

So, tonight I’m proposing the following initiatives: the beginning of a

$500 million program to reward America’s best schools, merit schools;

the creation of special Presidential awards for the best teachers in

every State, because excellence should be rewarded; the establishment

of a new program of National Science Scholars, one each year for every

Member of the House and Senate, to give this generation of students a

special incentive to excel in science and mathematics; the expanded use

of magnet schools, which give families and students greater choice; and

a new program to encourage alternative certification, which will let

talented people from all fields teach in our classrooms. I’ve said I’d

like to be the “Education President.” And tonight, I’d ask you to join

me by becoming the “Education Congress.”

Just last week, as I settled into this new office, I received a letter

from a mother in Pennsylvania who had been struck by my message in the

Inaugural Address. “Not 12 hours before,” she wrote, “my husband and I

received word that our son was addicted to cocaine. He had the world at

his feet. Bright, gifted, personable--he could have done anything with

his life. And now he has chosen cocaine.” “And please,” she wrote,

“find a way to curb the supply of cocaine. Get tough with the pushers.

Our son needs your help.”

My friends, that voice crying out for help could be the voice of your

own neighbor, your own friend, your own son. Over 23 million Americans

used illegal drugs last year, at a staggering cost to our nation’s

well-being. Let this be recorded as the time when America rose up and

said no to drugs. The scourge of drugs must be stopped. And I am asking

tonight for an increase of almost a billion dollars in budget outlays

to escalate the war against drugs. The war must be waged on all fronts.

Our new drug czar, Bill Bennett, and I will be shoulder to shoulder in

the executive branch leading the charge.

Some money will be used to expand treatment to the poor and to young

mothers. This will offer the helping hand to the many innocent victims

of drugs, like the thousands of babies born addicted or with AIDS

because of the mother’s addiction. Some will be used to cut the waiting

time for treatment. Some money will be devoted to those urban schools

where the emergency is now the worst. And much of it will be used to

protect our borders, with help from the Coast Guard and the Customs

Service, the Departments of State and Justice, and, yes, the U.S.

military.

I mean to get tough on the drug criminals. And let me be clear: This

President will back up those who put their lives on the line every

single day--our local police officers. My budget asks for beefed-up

prosecution, for a new attack on organized crime, and for enforcement

of tough sentences--and for the worst kingpins, that means the death

penalty. I also want to make sure that when a drug dealer is convicted

there’s a cell waiting for him. And he should not go free because

prisons are too full. And so, let the word go out: If you’re caught and

convicted, you will do time.

But for all we do in law enforcement, in interdiction and treatment, we

will never win this war on drugs unless we stop the demand for drugs.

So, some of this increase will be used to educate the young about the

dangers of drugs. We must involve the parents. We must involve the

teachers. We must involve the communities. And, my friends, we must

involve ourselves, each and every one of us in this concern.

One problem related to drug use demands our urgent attention and our

continuing compassion, and that is the terrible tragedy of AIDS. I’m

asking for $1.6 billion for education to prevent the disease and for

research to find a cure.

If we’re to protect our future, we need a new attitude about the

environment. We must protect the air we breathe. I will send to you

shortly legislation for a new, more effective Clean Air Act. It will

include a plan to reduce by date certain the emissions which cause acid

rain, because the time for study alone has passed, and the time for

action is now. We must make use of clean coal. My budget contains full

funding, on schedule, for the clean coal technology agreement that

we’ve made with Canada. We’ve made that agreement with Canada, and we

intend to honor that agreement. We must not neglect our parks. So, I’m

asking to fund new acquisitions under the Land and Water Conservation

Fund. We must protect our oceans. And I support new penalties against

those who would dump medical waste and other trash into our oceans. The

age of the needle on the beaches must end.

And in some cases, the gulfs and oceans off our shores hold the promise

of oil and gas reserves which can make our nation more secure and less

dependent on foreign oil. And when those with the most promise can be

tapped safely, as with much of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, we

should proceed. But we must use caution; we must respect the

environment. And so, tonight I’m calling for the indefinite

postponement of three lease sales which have raised troubling questions,

two off the coast of California and one which could threaten the

Everglades in Florida. Action on these three lease sales will await the

conclusion of a special task force set up to measure the potential for

environmental damage.

I’m directing the Attorney General and the Administrator of the

Environmental Protection Agency to use every tool at their disposal to

speed and toughen the enforcement of our laws against toxic-waste

dumpers. I want faster cleanups and tougher enforcement of penalties

against polluters.

In addition to caring for our future, we must care for those around us.

A decent society shows compassion for the young, the elderly, the

vulnerable, and the poor. Our first obligation is to the most

vulnerable--infants, poor mothers, children living in poverty--and my

proposed budget recognizes this. I ask for full funding of Medicaid, an

increase of over $3 billion, and an expansion of the program to include

coverage of pregnant women who are near the poverty line. I believe we

should help working families cope with the burden of child care. Our

help should be aimed at those who need it most: low-income families

with young children. I support a new child care tax credit that will

aim our efforts at exactly those families, without discriminating

against mothers who choose to stay at home.

Now, I know there are competing proposals. But remember this: The

overwhelming majority of all preschool child care is now provided by

relatives and neighbors and churches and community groups. Families who

choose these options should remain eligible for help. Parents should

have choice. And for those children who are unwanted or abused or whose

parents are deceased, we should encourage adoption. I propose to

reenact the tax deduction for adoption expenses and to double it to

$3,000. Let’s make it easier for these kids to have parents who love

them.

We have a moral contract with our senior citizens. And in this budget,

Social Security is fully funded, including a full cost-of-living

adjustment. We must honor our contract.

We must care about those in the shadow of life, and I, like many

Americans, am deeply troubled by the plight of the homeless. The causes

of homelessness are many; the history is long. But the moral imperative

to act is clear. Thanks to the deep well of generosity in this great

land, many organizations already contribute, but we in government

cannot stand on the sidelines. In my budget, I ask for greater support

for emergency food and shelter, for health services and measures to

prevent substance abuse, and for clinics for the mentally ill. And I

propose a new initiative involving the full range of government

agencies. We must confront this national shame.

There’s another issue that I’ve decided to mention here tonight. I’ve

long believed that the people of Puerto Rico should have the right to

determine their own political future. Personally, I strongly favor

statehood. But I urge the Congress to take the necessary steps to allow

the people to decide in a referendum.

Certain problems, the result of decades of unwise practices, threaten

the health and security of our people. Left unattended, they will only

get worse. But we can act now to put them behind us.

Earlier this week, I announced my support for a plan to restore the

financial and moral integrity of our savings system. I ask Congress to

enact our reform proposals within 45 days. We must not let this

situation fester. We owe it to the savers in this country to solve this

problem. Certainly, the savings of Americans must remain secure. Let me

be clear: Insured depositors will continue to be fully protected, but

any plan to refinance the system must be accompanied by major reform.

Our proposals will prevent such a crisis from recurring. The best

answer is to make sure that a mess like this will never happen again.

The majority of thrifts in communities across the Nation have been

honest. They’ve played a major role in helping families achieve the

dream of home ownership. But make no mistake, those who are corrupt,

those who break the law, must be kicked out of the business; and they

should go to jail.

We face a massive task in cleaning up the waste left from decades of

environmental neglect at America’s nuclear weapons plants. Clearly, we

must modernize these plants and operate them safely. That’s not at

issue; our national security depends on it. But beyond that, we must

clean up the old mess that’s been left behind. And I propose in this

budget to more than double our current effort to do so. This will allow

us to identify the exact nature of the various problems so we can clean

them up, and clean them up we will.

We’ve been fortunate during these past 8 years. America is a stronger

nation than it was in 1980. Morale in our Armed Forces has been

restored; our resolve has been shown. Our readiness has been improved,

and we are at peace. There can no longer be any doubt that peace has

been made more secure through strength. And when America is stronger,

the world is safer.

Most people don’t realize that after the successful restoration of our

strength, the Pentagon budget has actually been reduced in real terms

for each of the last 4 years. We cannot tolerate continued real

reduction in defense. In light of the compelling need to reduce the

deficit, however, I support a 1-year freeze in the military budget,

something I proposed last fall in my flexible freeze plan. And this

freeze will apply for only 1 year, and after that, increases above

inflation will be required. I will not sacrifice American preparedness,

and I will not compromise American strength.

I should be clear on the conditions attached to my recommendation for

the coming year: The savings must be allocated to those priorities for

investing in our future that I’ve spoken about tonight. This defense

freeze must be a part of a comprehensive budget agreement which meets

the targets spelled out in Gramm-Rudman-Hollings law without raising

taxes and which incorporates reforms in the budget process.

I’ve directed the National Security Council to review our national

security and defense policies and report back to me within 90 days to

ensure that our capabilities and resources meet our commitments and

strategies. I’m also charging the Department of Defense with the task

of developing a plan to improve the defense procurement process and

management of the Pentagon, one which will fully implement the Packard

commission report. Many of these changes can only be made with the

participation of the Congress, and so, I ask for your help. We need

fewer regulations. We need less bureaucracy. We need multiyear

procurement and 2-year budgeting. And frankly--and don’t take this

wrong--we need less congressional micromanagement of our nation’s

military policy. I detect a slight division on that question, but

nevertheless-- [laughter].

Securing a more peaceful world is perhaps the most important priority

I’d like to address tonight. You know, we meet at a time of

extraordinary hope. Never before in this century have our values of

freedom, democracy, and economic opportunity been such a powerful and

intellectual force around the globe. Never before has our leadership

been so crucial, because while America has its eyes on the future, the

world has its eyes on America.

And it’s a time of great change in the world, and especially in the

Soviet Union. Prudence and common sense dictate that we try to

understand the full meaning of the change going on there, review our

policies, and then proceed with caution. But I’ve personally assured

General Secretary Gorbachev that at the conclusion of such a review we

will be ready to move forward. We will not miss any opportunity to work

for peace. The fundamental facts remain that the Soviets retain a very

powerful military machine in the service of objectives which are still

too often in conflict with ours. So, let us take the new openness

seriously, but let’s also be realistic. And let’s always be strong.

There are some pressing issues we must address. I will vigorously

pursue the Strategic Defense Initiative. The spread, and even use, of

sophisticated weaponry threatens global security as never before.

Chemical weapons must be banned from the face of the Earth, never to be

used again. And look, this won’t be easy. Verification--extraordinarily

difficult, but civilization and human decency demand

that we try. And the spread of nuclear weapons must be stopped. And

I’ll work to strengthen the hand of the International Atomic Energy

Agency. Our diplomacy must work every day against the proliferation of

nuclear weapons.

And around the globe, we must continue to be freedom’s best friend. And

we must stand firm for self-determination and democracy in Central

America, including in Nicaragua. It is my strongly held conviction that

when people are given the chance they inevitably will choose a free

press, freedom of worship, and certifiably free and fair elections.

We must strengthen the alliance of the industrial democracies, as solid

a force for peace as the world has ever known. And this is an alliance

forged by the power of our ideals, not the pettiness of our differences.

So, let’s lift our sights to rise above fighting about beef hormones,

to building a better future, to move from protectionism to progress.

I’ve asked the Secretary of State to visit Europe next week and to

consult with our allies on the wide range of challenges and

opportunities we face together, including East-West relations. And I

look forward to meeting with our NATO partners in the near future.

And I, too, shall begin a trip shortly to the far reaches of the

Pacific Basin, where the winds of democracy are creating new hope and

the power of free markets is unleashing a new force. When I served as

our representative in China 14 or 15 years ago, few would have

predicted the scope of the changes we’ve witnessed since then. But in

preparing for this trip, I was struck by something I came across from a

Chinese writer. He was speaking of his country, decades ago, but his

words speak to each of us in America tonight. “Today, he said,”we’re

afraid of the simple words like `goodness’ and `mercy’ and `kindness.’

My friends, if we’re to succeed as a nation, we must rediscover those

words.

In just 3 days, we mark the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, the man who

saved our Union and gave new meaning to the word “opportunity. Lincoln

once said:”I hold that while man exists, it is his duty to improve

not only his own condition but to assist in ameliorating that of

mankind. It is this broader mission to which I call all Americans,

because the definition of a successful life must include serving others.

And to the young people of America, who sometimes feel left out, I ask

you tonight to give us the benefit of your talent and energy through a

new program called YES, for Youth Entering Service to America.

To those men and women in business, remember the ultimate end of your

work: to make a better product, to create better lives. I ask you to

plan for the longer term and avoid that temptation of quick and easy

paper profits.

To the brave men and women who wear the uniform of the United States of

America, thank you. Your calling is a high one: to be the defenders of

freedom and the guarantors of liberty. And I want you to know that this

nation is grateful for your service.

To the farmers of America, we appreciate the bounty you provide. We

will work with you to open foreign markets to American agricultural

products.

And to the parents of America, I ask you to get involved in your

child’s schooling. Check on the homework, go to the school, meet the

teachers, care about what is happening there. It’s not only your

child’s future on the line, it’s America’s.

To kids in our cities, don’t give up hope. Say no to drugs; stay in

school. And, yes, “Keep hope alive.

To those 37 million Americans with some form of disability, you belong

in the economic mainstream. We need your talents in America’s work

force. Disabled Americans must become full partners in America’s

opportunity society.

To the families of America watching tonight in your living rooms, hold

fast to your dreams because ultimately America’s future rests in your

hands.

And to my friends in this Chamber, I ask your cooperation to keep

America growing while cutting the deficit. That’s only fair to those

who now have no vote: the generations to come. Let them look back and

say that we had the foresight to understand that a time of peace and

prosperity is not the time to rest but a time to press forward, a time

to invest in the future.

And let all Americans remember that no problem of human making is too

great to be overcome by human ingenuity, human energy, and the untiring

hope of the human spirit. I believe this. I would not have asked to be

your President if I didn’t. And tomorrow the debate on the plan I’ve

put forward begins, and I ask the Congress to come forward with your

own proposals. Let’s not question each other’s motives. Let’s debate,

let’s negotiate; but let us solve the problem.

Recalling anniversaries may not be my specialty in speeches--[laughter]--but

tonight is one of some note. On February 9th, 1941, just 48 years

ago tonight, Sir Winston Churchill took to the airwaves during

Britain’s hour of peril. He’d received from President Roosevelt a

hand-carried letter quoting Longfellow’s famous poem: “Sail on, O Ship of

State! Sail on, O Union, strong and great! Humanity with all its fears,

With all the hopes of future years, Is hanging breathless on thy fate!

And Churchill responded on this night by radio broadcast to a nation at

war, but he directed his words to Franklin Roosevelt.”We shall not

fail or falter, he said. “We shall not weaken or tire. Give us the

tools, and we will finish the job.

Tonight, almost half a century later, our peril may be less immediate,

but the need for perseverance and clear-sighted fortitude is just as

great. Now, as then, there are those who say it can’t be done. There

are voices who say that America’s best days have passed, that we’re

bound by constraints, threatened by problems, surrounded by troubles

which limit our ability to hope. Well, tonight I remain full of hope.

We Americans have only begun on our mission of goodness and greatness.

And to those timid souls, I repeat the plea: “Give us the tools, and

we will do the job.

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

***

State of the Union Address

George H.W. Bush

January 31, 1990

Tonight, I come not to speak about the “State of the Government”, not to

detail every new initiative we plan for the coming year, nor describe

every line in the budget. I’m here to speak to you and to the American

people about the State of the Union about our world, the changes we’ve

seen, the challenges we face. And what that means for America.

There are singular moments in history, dates that divide all that goes

before from all that comes after. And many of us in this chamber have

lived much of our lives in a world whose fundamental features were

defined in 1945. And the events of that year decreed the shape of

nations, the pace of progress, freedom or oppression for millions of

people around the world.

Nineteen Forty-Five provided the common frame of reference the compass

points of the postwar era we’ve relied upon to understand ourselves. And

that was our world until now. The events of the year just ended, the

Revolution of ’89, have been a chain reaction, changes so striking that

it marks the beginning of a new era in the world’s affairs.

Think back think back just twelve short months ago to the world we knew

as 1989 began.

One year, one year ago the people of Panama lived in fear under the

thumb of a dictator. Today democracy is restored. Panama is free.

“Operation Just Cause” has achieved its objective. And the number of

military personel in Panama is now very close to what it was before the

operation began. And tonight I am announcing that before the end of

February the additional numbers of American troops, the brave men and

women of our armed forces who made this mission a success, will be back

home.

A year ago in Poland, Lech Walesa declared he was ready to open a

dialogue with the Communist rulers of that country. And today, with the

future of a free Poland in their own hands, members of Solidarity lead

the Polish government.

And a year ago, freedom’s playwright, Vaclav Havel, languished as a

prisoner in Prague. And today it’s Vaclav Havel, President of

Czechoslovakia.

And one year ago Erich Honecker of East Germany claimed history as his

guide. He predicted the Berlin Wall would last another hundred years.

And today, less than one year later, it’s the wall that’s history.

Remarkable events, remarkable events, events that fulfill the long-held

hopes of the American people. Events that validate the longstanding

goals of American policy, a policy based upon a single shining

principle: the cause of freedom.

America, not just the nation, but an idea alive in the minds of the

people, everywhere. As this new world takes shape, America stands at the

center of a widening circle of freedom, today, tomorrow and into the

next century.

Our nation is the enduring dream of every immigrant who ever set foot on

these shores, and the millions still struggling to be free. This nation,

this idea called America was and always will be a new world, our new

world.

At a workers’ rally in a place called Branik on the outskirts of Prague

the idea called America is alive. A worker, dressed in grimy overalls,

rises to speak at the factory gates. And he begins his speech to his

fellow citizens with these words, words of a distant revolution: “We

hold these truths to be self-evident. That all men are created equal,

that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights,

and that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

It’s no secret here at home freedom’s door opened long ago. The

cornerstones of this free society have already been set in place:

democracy, competition, opportunity, private investment, stewardship,

and of course, leadership.

And our challenge today is to take this democratic system of ours, a

system second to none, and make it better:

A better America where there’s a job for whoever wants one;

Where women working outside the home can be confident their children are

in safe and loving care, and where Government works to expand child

alternatives for parents.

Where we reconcile the needs of a clean environment and a strong

economy.

Where “Made in the USA” is recognized around the world as the symbol of

quality and progress,

And where every one of us enjoys the same opportunities to live, to work

and to contribute to society. And where, for the first time, the

American mainstream includes all of our disabled citizens.

Where everyone has a roof over his head, and where the homeless get the

help they need to live in dignity.

Where our schools challenge and support our kids and our teachers, and

every one of them makes the grade,

Where every street, every city, every school and every child is

drug-free.

And finally, and finally, where no American is forgotten. Our hearts go

out to our hostages, our hostages who are ceaselessly in our minds and

in our efforts. That’s part of the future we want to see, the future we

can make for ourselves. But dreams alone won’t get us there. We need to

extend our horizon, to commit to the long view. And our mission for the

future starts today.

In the tough competitive markets around the world, America faces the

great challenges and great opportunities. And we know that we can

succeed in the global economic arena of the 90’s. But to meet that

challenge we must make some fundamental changes, some crucial

investments in ourselves.

Yes, we are going to invest in America. This Administration is

determined to encourage the creation of capital, capital of all kinds.

Physical capital: everything from our farms and factories to our

workshops and production lines, all that is needed to produce and

deliver quality goods and quality services. Intellectual, intellectual

capital: the source of ideas that spark tomorrow’s products. And of

course human capital: the talented work force that we’ll need to compete

in the global market.

And let me tell you, if we ignore human capital, if we lose the spirit

of American ingenuity, the sprit that is the hallmark of the AMERICAN

worker, that would be bad. The American worker is the most productive

worker in the world.

We need to save more. We need to expand the pool of capital for new

investments that mean more jobs and more growth. And that’s the idea

behind the new initiative I call the Family Savings Plan, which I will

send to Congress tomorrow.

We need to cut the tax on capital gains, encourage, encourage

risk-takers, especially those in small businesses, to take those steps

that translate into economic reward, jobs, and a better life for all of

us.

We’ll do what it takes to invest in America’s future. The budget

commitment is there. The money is there. It’s there for research and

development, R and D, a record high. It’s there for our housing

initiative, hope, H-O-P-E, to help everyone from first-time homebuyers

to the homeless. The money’s there to keep our kids drug-free, 70

percent more than when I took office in 1989. It’s there for space

exploration, and its there for education, another record high.

And one more, and one more thing. Last fall at the education summit, the

governors and I agreed to look for ways to help make sure that our kids

are ready to learn the very first day they walk into the classroom. And

I’ve made good on that commitment by proposing a record increase in

funds, an extra half billion dollars, for something near and dear to all

of us: Head Start.

Education is the one investment that means more for our future, because

it means the most for our children. Real improvement in our schools is

not simply a matter of spending more. It’s a matter of asking more,

expecting more, of our schools, our teachers, of our kids, of our

parents and of ourselves. And that’s why tonight, and that’s why

tonight, I am announcing America’s education goals, goals developed with

enormous cooperation from the nation’s governors. And if I might I’d

like to say I’m very pleased that Governor Gardner and Governor Clinton,

Governor Branstad, Governor Campbell, all of whom were very key in these

discussion, these deliberations, are with us here tonight.

By the, by the year 2000, every child must start school ready to learn.

The United States must increase the high school graduation rate to no

less than 90 percent. And we are going to make sure our schools’

diplomas mean something. In critical subjects, at the fourth, eighth,

and 12th grades, we must assess our students’ performance.

By the, by the year 2000 U.S. students must be the first in the world in

math and science achievement. Every American adult must be a skilled,

literate worker and citizen. Every school must offer the kind of

disciplined environment that makes it possible for our kids to learn.

And every school in America must be drug-free.

Ambitious aims? Of course. Easy to do? Far from it. But the future’s at

stake. The nation will not accept anything less than excellence in

education.

These investments will help keep America competitive. And I know this

about the American people: we welcome competition. We’ll match our

ingenuity, our energy, our experience, and technology our spirit and

enterprise against anyone. But let the competition be free, but let it

also be fair. America is ready.

Since we really mean it, and since we’re serious about being ready to

meet our challenge, we’re getting our own house in order. We have made

real progress. Seven years ago, the Federal deficit was 6 percent of our

gross national product, 6 percent. In the new budget I sent up two days

ago the deficit is down to 1 percent of GNP.

That budget brings Federal spending under control. It meets the

Gramm-Rudman target. It brings the deficit down further. And balances

the budget by 1993, with no new taxes.

And let me tell you, there’s still more than enough Federal spending.

For most of us, $1.2 trillion is still a lot of money.

And once the budget is balanced, we can operate the way every family

must when it has bills to pay. We won’t leave it to our children and

grandchildren. Once it’s balanced, we will start paying off the national

debt.

And there’s something more, and there’s something more we owe the

generations of the future: stewardship, the safekeeping of America’s

precious environmental inheritance.

As just one sign of how serious we are, we will elevate the

Environmental Protection Agency to Cabinet rank. Not, not more

bureaucracy, not more red tape, but the certainty that here at home, and

especially in our dealings with other nations, environmental issues have

the status they deserve.

This year’s budget provides over $2 billion in new spending to protect

our environment, with over $1 billion for global change research, and a

new initiative I call America the Beautiful to expand our national parks

and wildlife preserves and improve recreational facilities on public

lands.

And something else, something that will help keep this country clean,

from our forest land to the inner cities, and keep America beautiful for

generations to come, the money to plant a billion trees a year.

And tonight, and tonight let me say again to all the members of the

Congress, the American people did not send us here to bicker. There is

work to do, and they sent us here to get it done. And once again, in the

spirit of cooperation I offer my hand to all of you. And let’s work

together to do the will of the people--clean air, child care, the

educational excellence act, crime and drugs. It’s time to act. The farm

bill, transportation policy, product liability reform, enterprise zones.

It’s time to act together.

And there’s one thing I hope we can agree on. It’s about our

commitments. And I’m talking about Social Security.

To every American out there on Social Security, to every, every American

supporting that system today, and to everyone counting on it when they

retire, we made a promise to you, and we are going to keep it.

We, we rescued the system in 1983 and it’s sound again, bipartisan

arrangement. Our budget fully funds today’s benefits and it assures that

future benefits will be funded as well. And the last thing we need to do

is mess around with Social Security.

There’s one more problem we need to address. We must give careful

consideration to the recommendations of the health care studies under

way now. And that’s why tonight, I am asking Dr. Sullivan, Lou Sullivan,

Secretary of Health and Human Services, to lead a Domestic Policy

Council review of recommendations on the quality, accessibility and cost

of our nation’s health care system. I am committed to bring the

staggering costs of health care under control.

The State of the Government does indeed depend on many of us in this

very chamber. But the State of the Union depends on all Americans. We

must maintain the democratic decency that makes a nation out of millions

of individuals. And I’ve been appalled at the recent mail bombings

across this country. Every one of us must confront and condemn racism,

anti-Semitism, bigotry and hate. Not next week, not tomorrow, but right

now. Every single one of us.

The State of the Union depends on whether we help our neighbor, claim

the problems of our community as our own. We’ve got to step forward when

there’s trouble, lend a hand, be what I call a point of light to a

stranger in need. We’ve got to take the time after a busy day to sit

down and read with our kids, help them with their homework, pass along

the values we had as children. And that’s how we sustain the State of

the Union.

Every effort is important. It all adds up. It’s doing the things that

give democracy meaning. It all adds up to who we are and who we will be.

And let me say, that so long as we remember the American idea, so long

as we live up to the American ideal, the State of the Union will remain

sound and strong.

And to those who worry that we’ve lost our way, well, I want you to

listen to parts of a letter written by James Markwell, Pvt. 1st Class

James Markwell, a 20-year-old Army medic to the First Battalion, 75th

Rangers. It’s dated Dec. 18, the day before our armed forces went into

action in Panama. It’s a letter servicemen write--and hope will never,

ever be sent. And sadly, Private Markwell’s mother did receive this

letter. She passed it on to me out there in Cincinnati.

And here is some of what he wrote: “I’ve never been afraid of death, but

I know he is waiting at the corner...I’ve been trained to kill and to

save, and so has everyone else. I am frightened of what lays beyond the

fog, and yet... do not mourn for me. Revel in the life that I have died

to give you... But most of all, don’t forget that the Army was my

choice. Something that I wanted to do. Remember I joined the Army to

serve my country and inure that you are free to do what you want and to

live your lives freely.”

Let me add that Private Markwell was among the first to see battle in

Panama, and among the first to fall. But he knew what he believed in. He

carried the idea we call America in his heart.

I began tonight speaking about the changes we’ve seen this past year.

There is a new world of challenges and opportunities before us. And

there is a need for leadership that only America can provide.

Nearly 40 years ago, in his last address to the Congress, President

Harry Truman predicted such a time would come. He said, “As our world

grows stronger, more united, more attractive to men on both sides of the

Iron Curtain, then inevitably there will come a time of change within

the Communist world.” Today, that change is taking place.

For more than 40 years, America and its allies held Communism in check

and insured that democracy would continue to exist. And today, with

Communism crumbling, our aim must be to insure democracy’s advance, to

take the lead in forging peace and freedom’s best hope, a great and

growing commonwealth of free nations.

And to the Congress and to all Americans, I say it is time to acclaim a

new consensus at home and abroad, a common vision of the peaceful world

we want to see.

Here in our own hemisphere it is time for all the people of the

Americas, North and South, to live in freedom.

In the Far East and Africa, it’s time for the full flowering of free

governments and free markets that have served the engine of progress.

It is time to offer our hand to the emerging democracies of Eastern

Europe so that continent, for too long a continent divided, can see a

future whole and free.

It’s time to build on our new relationship with the Soviet Union, to

endorse and encourage a peaceful process of internal change toward

democracy and economic opportunity.

We are in a period of great transition, great hope, and yet great

uncertainty. We recognize that the Soviet military threat in Europe is

diminishing, but we see little change in Soviet strategic modernization.

And, therefore, we must sustain our own strategic offense modernization

and the Strategic Defense Initiative.

But the time is right to move forward on a conventional arms control

agreement to move us to more appropriate levels of military forces in

Europe, a coherent defense program that insures the U.S. will continue

to be a catalyst for peaceful change in Europe. And I’ve consulted with

leaders of NATO. In fact I spoke by phone with President Gorbachev just

today.

And I agree with our European allies that an American military presence

in Europe is essential and that it should not be solely tied to the

Soviet military presence in Eastern Europe.

But our troop levels can still be lower. And so tonight I am announcing

a major new step for a further reduction in U.S. and Soviet manpower in

Central and Eastern Europe to 195,000 on each side.

This number, this number, this level, reflects the advice of our senior

military advisers. It’s designed to protect American and European

interests and sustain NATO’s defense strategy. A swift conclusion to our

arms control talks--conventional, chemical and strategic--must now be

our goal. And that time has come.

Still, we must recognize an unfortunate fact: in many regions of the

world tonight the reality is conflict, not peace. Enduring animosities

and opposing interests remain. And thus the cause of peace must be

served by an America strong enough and sure enough to defend our

interests and our ideals. It’s this American idea that for the past four

decades helped inspire the Revolution of ’89.

And here at home, and in the world, there is history in the making, and

history to be made. Six months ago, early in this season of change, I

stood at the gates of the Gdansk shipyard in Poland at the monument to

the fallen workers of Solidarity. It’s a monument of simple majesty.

Three tall crosses rise up from the stones, and atop each cross, an

anchor, an ancient symbol of hope.

The anchor in our world today is freedom. Holding us steady in times of

change, a symbol of hope to all the world. And freedom is at the very

heart of the idea that is America. Giving life to the idea depends on

every one of us. Our anchor has always been faith and family.

In the last few days of this past monumentous year, our family was

blessed once more, celebrating the joy of life when a little boy became

our 12th grandchild. When I held the little guy for the first time, the

troubles at home and abroad seemed manageable, and totally in

perspective.

And now I know, I know you’re probably thinking, Well, that’s just a

grandfather talking.

Well, maybe you’re right. But I’ve met a lot of children this past year

across this country, as all of you have. Everywhere from the Far East to

Eastern Europe. All kids are unique. Yet, all kids are alike. The

budding young environmentalist I met this month, who joined me in

exploring the Florida Everglades. The Little Leaguers I played catch

with in Poland, ready to go from Warsaw to the World Series. And even

the kids who are ill or alone--and God bless those boarder babies, born

addicted to drugs and AIDS--coping with problems no child should have to

face. But, you know, when it comes to hope and the future, every kid is

the same: full of dreams, ready to take on the world, all special

because they are the very future of freedom. And to them belongs this

new world I’ve been speaking about.

And so tonight, I’m going to ask something of every one of you. Now let

me start with my generation, with the grandparents out there. You are

our living link with the past. Tell your grandchildren the story of

struggles waged at home and abroad, of sacrifices freely made for

freedom’s sake. And tell them your own story as well, because every

American has a story to tell.

And parents, your children look to you for direction and guidance. Tell

them of faith and family. Tell them we are one nation under God. Teach

them that of all the many gifts they can receive, liberty is their most

precious legacy. And of all the gifts they can give, the greatest, the

greatest is helping others.

And to the children and young people out there tonight, with you rests

our hope, all that America will mean in the years and decades ahead. Fix

your vision on a new century, your century, on dreams we cannot see, on

the destiny that is yours and yours alone.

And finally, let all Americans, all of us here in this chamber, the

symbolic center of democracy, affirm our allegiance to this idea we call

America. And let us remember that the State of the Union depends upon

each and every one of us.

God bless all of you. And may God bless this great nation, the United

States of America.

***

State of the Union Address

George H.W. Bush

January 29, 1991

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, members of the United States Congress.

I come to this house of the people to speak to you and all Americans,

certain we stand at a defining hour.

Halfway around the world, we are engaged in a great struggle in the

skies and on the seas and sands. We know why we’re there. We are

Americans--part of something larger than ourselves.

For two centuries we’ve done the hard work of freedom. And tonight we

lead the world in facing down a threat to decency and humanity.

What is at stake is more than one small country, it is a big idea--a new

world order, where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause to

achieve the universal aspirations of mankind: peace and security,

freedom, and the rule of law. Such is a world worthy of our struggle,

and worthy of our children’s future.

The community of nations has resolutely gathered to condemn and repel

lawless aggression. Saddam Hussein’s unprovoked invasion--his ruthless,

systematic rape of a peaceful neighbor--violated everything the

community of nations holds dear. The world has said this aggression

would not stand, and it will not stand.

Together, we have resisted the trap of appeasement, cynicism and

isolation that gives temptation to tyrants. The world has answered

Saddam’s invasion with 12 United Nations resolutions, starting with a

demand for Iraq’s immediate and unconditional withdrawal, and backed up

by forces from 28 countries of six continents. With few exceptions, the

world now stands as one.

The end of the cold war has been a victory for all humanity. A year and

a half ago, in Germany, I said our goal was a Europe whole and free.

Tonight, Germany is united. Europe has become whole and free, and

America’s leadership was instrumental in making it possible.

The principle that has guided us is simple: our objective is to help the

Baltic peoples achieve their aspirations, not to punish the Soviet

Union. In our recent discussions with the Soviet leadership we have been

given representations, which, if fulfilled, would result in the

withdrawal of some Soviet forces, a re-opening of dialogue with the

republics, and a move away from violence.

We will watch carefully as the situation develops. And we will maintain

our contact with the Soviet leadership to encourage continued commitment

to democratization and reform.

If it is possible, I want to continue to build a lasting basis for

U.S.-Soviet cooperation, for a more peaceful future for all mankind.

The triumph of democratic ideas in Eastern Europe and Latin America, and

the continuing struggle for freedom elsewhere around the world all

confirm the wisdom of our nation’s founders.

Tonight, we work to achieve another victory, a victory over tyranny and

savage aggression.

We in this Union enter the last decade of the 20th Century thankful for

all our blessings, steadfast in our purpose, aware of our difficulties

and responsive to our duties at home and around the world.

For two centuries, America has served the world as an inspiring example

of freedom and democracy. For generations, America has led the struggle

to preserve and extend the blessings of liberty. And today, in a rapidly

changing world, American leadership is indispensable. Americans know

that leadership brings burdens, and requires sacrifice.

But we also know why the hopes of humanity turn to us. We are Americans;

we have a unique responsibility to do the hard work of freedom. And when

we do, freedom works.

The conviction and courage we see in the Persian Gulf today is simply

the American character in action. The indomitable spirit that is

contributing to this victory for world peace and justice is the same

spirit that gives us the power and the potential to meet our challenges

at home.

We are resolute and resourceful. If we can selflessly confront evil for

the sake of good in a land so far away, then surely we can make this

land all it should be.

If anyone tells you America’s best days are behind her, they’re looking

the wrong way.

Tonight, I come before this house, and the American people, with an

appeal for renewal. This is not merely a call for new government

initiatives, it is a call for new initiative in government, in our

communities, and from every American--to prepare for the next American

century.

America has always led by example. So who among us will set this

example? Which of our citizens will lead us in this next American

century? Everyone who steps forward today, to get one addict off drugs;

to convince one troubled teen-ager not to give up on life; to comfort

one AIDS patient; to help one hungry child.

We have within our reach the promise of renewed America. We can find

meaning and reward by serving some purpose higher than ourselves--a

shining purpose, the illumination of a thousand points of light. It is

expressed by all who know the irresistible force of a child’s hand, of a

friend who stands by you and stays there--a volunteer’s generous

gesture, an idea that is simply right.

The problems before us may be different, but the key to solving them

remains the same: it is the individual--the individual who steps

forward. And the state of our Union is the union of each of us, one to

the other: the sum of our friendships, marriages, families and

communities.

We all have something to give. So if you know how to read, find someone

who can’t. If you’ve got a hammer, find a nail. If you’re not hungry,

not lonely, not in trouble--seek out someone who is.

Join the community of conscience. Do the hard work of freedom. That will

define the state of our Union.

Since the birth of our nation, “we the people” has been the source of

our strength. What government can do alone is limited, but the potential

of the American people knows no limits.

We are a nation of rock-solid realism and clear-eyed idealism. We are

Americans. We are the nation that believes in the future. We are the

nation that can shape the future.

And we’ve begun to do just that, by strengthening the power and choice

of individuals and families.

Together, these last two years, we’ve put dollars for child care

directly in the hands of patients instead of bureaucracies, unshackled

the potential of Americans with disabilities, applied the creativity of

the marketplace in the service of the environment, for clean air, and

made homeownership possible for more Americans.

The strength of a democracy is not in bureaucracy, it is in the people

and their communities. In everything we do, let us unleash the potential

of our most precious resource--our citizens. We must return to families,

communities, counties, cities, states and institutions of every kind,

the power to chart their own destiny, and the freedom and opportunity

provided by strong economic growth. That’s what America is all about.

I know, tonight, in some regions of our country, people are in genuine

economic distress. I hear them.

Earlier this month Kathy Blackwell of Massachusetts wrote me about what

can happen when the economy slows down, saying, “My heart is aching, and

I think that you should know--your people out here are hurting badly.”

I understand. And I’m not unrealistic about the future. But there are

reasons to be optimistic about our economy.

First, we don’t have to fight double-digit inflation. Second, most

industries won’t have to make big cuts in production because they don’t

have big inventories piled up. And third, our exports are running solid

and strong. In fact, American businesses are exporting at a record rate.

So let’s put these times in perspective. Together, since 1981, we’ve

created almost 20 million jobs, cut inflation in half and cut interest

rates in half.

Yes, the largest peacetime economic expansion in history has been

temporarily interrupted. But our economy is still over twice as large as

our closest competitor.

We will get this recession behind us and return to growth soon. We will

get on our way to a new record of expansion, and achieve the competitive

strength that will carry us into the next American century.

We should focus our efforts today on encouraging economic growth,

investing in the future and giving power and opportunity to the

individual.

We must begin with control of Federal spending. That’s why I’m

submitting a budget that holds the growth in spending to less than the

rate of inflation. And that’s why, amid all the sound and fury of last

year’s budget debate, we put into law new, enforceable spending caps so

that future spending debates will mean a battle of ideas, not a bidding

war.

Though controversial, the budget agreement finally put the Federal

Government on a pay-as-you-go basis, and cut the growth of debt by

nearly $500 billion. And that frees funds for saving and job-creating

investment.

Now, let’s do more. My budget again includes tax-free family savings

accounts; penalty-free withdrawals from I. R. A.’s for first-time

homebuyers; and, to increase jobs and growth, a reduced tax for

long-term capital gains.

I know their are differences among us about the impact and the effects

of a capital gains incentive. So tonight I am asking the Congressional

leaders and the Federal Reserve to cooperate with us in a study, led by

Chairman Alan Greenspan, to sort out our technical differences so that

we can avoid a return to unproductive partisan bickering.

But just as our efforts will bring economic growth now and in the

future, they must also be matched by long-term investments for the next

American century.

That requires a forward-looking plan of action, and that’s exactly what

we will be sending to the Congress. We have prepared a detailed series

of proposals, that include: A budget that promotes investment in

America’s future--in children, education, infrastructure, space and high

technology. Legislation to achieve excellence in education, building on

the partnership forged with the 50 governors at the education summit,

enabling parents to choose their children’s schools and helping to make

America No. 1 in math and science. A blueprint for a new national

highway system, a critical investment in our transportation

infrastructure. A research and development agenda that includes record

levels of Federal investment and a permanent tax credit to strengthen

private R and D and create jobs. A comprehensive national energy

strategy that calls for energy conservation and efficiency, increased

development and greater use of alternative fuels. A banking reform plan

to bring America’s financial system into the 21st Century, so that our

banks remain safe and secure and can continue to make job-creating loans

for our factories, businesses, and homebuyers. I do think there has been

too much pessimism. Sound banks should be making more sound loans, now.

And interest rates should be lower, now. In addition to these proposals,

we must recognize that our economic strength depends upon being

competitive in world markets. We must continue to expand America’s

exports. A successful Uruguay Round of world trade negotiations will

create more real jobs, and more real growth, for all nations. You and I

know that if the playing field is level, America’s workers and farmers

can outwork and outproduce anyone, anytime, anywhere.

And with the Mexican free trade agreement and our Enterprise for the

Americas Initiative we can help our partners strengthen their economies

and move toward a free trade zone throughout this entire hemisphere.

The budget also includes a plan of action right here at home to put more

power and opportunity in the hands of the individual. That means new

incentives to create jobs in our inner cities by encouraging investment

through enterprise zones. It also means tenant control and ownership of

public housing. Freedom and the power to choose should not be the

privilege of wealth. They are the birthright of every American.

Civil rights are also crucial to protecting equal opportunity. Every one

of us has a responsibility to speak out against racism, bigotry, and

hate. We will continue our vigorous enforcement of existing statutes,

and I will once again press the Congress to strengthen the laws against

employment discrimination without resorting to the use of unfair

preferences.

We’re determined to protect another fundamental civil right: freedom

from crime and the fear that stalks our cities. The Attorney General

will soon convene a crime summit of the nation’s law-enforcement

officials. And to help us support them we need a tough crime control

legislation, and we need it now.

As we fight crime, we will fully implement our nation strategy for

combatting drug abuse. Recent data show we are making progress, but much

remains to be done. We will not rest until the day of the dealer is

over, forever.

Good health care is every American’s right and every American’s

responsibility. So we are proposing an aggression program of new

prevention initiatives--for infants, for children, for adults, and for

the elderly-- to promote a healthier America and to help keep costs from

spiraling.

It’s time to give people more choice in government by reviving the ideal

of the citizen politician who comes not to stay, but to serve. One of

the reasons there is so much support for term limitations is that the

American people are increasingly concerned about big-money influence in

politics. We must look beyond the next election, to the next generation.

The time has come to put the national interest ahead of the special

interest--and totally eliminate political action committees.

That would truly put more competition in elections and more power in the

hands of individuals. And where power cannot be put directly into the

hands of the individual, it should be moved closer to the people--away

from Washington.

The federal government too often treats government programs as if they

are of Washington, by Washington, and for Washington. Once established,

federal programs seem to become immortal.

It’s time for a more dynamic program life cycle. Some programs should

increase. Some should decrease. Some should be terminated. And some

should be consolidated and turned over to the states.

My budget includes a list of programs for potential turnover totaling

more than $20 billion. Working with Congress and the governors, I

propose we select at least $15 billion in such programs and turn them

over to the states in a single consolidated grant, fully funded, for

flexible management by the states.

The value of this turnover approach is straightforward. It allows the

Federal Government to reduce overhead. It allows states to manage more

flexibly and more efficiently. It moves power and decision-making closer

to the people. And it re-enforces a theme of this Administration:

appreciation and encouragement of the innovative power of “states as

laboratories.”

This nation was founded by leaders who understood that power belongs in

the hands of the people. They planned for the future. And so must

we--here and around the world.

As Americans, we know there are times when we must step forward and

accept our responsibility to lead the world away from the dark chaos of

dictators, toward the bright promise of a better day.

Almost 50 years ago, we began a long struggle against aggressive

totalitarianism. Now we face another defining hour for America and the

world.

There is no one more devoted, more committed to the hard work of

freedom, than every soldier and sailor, every marine, airman and

coastguardsman-- every man and every woman now serving in the Persian

Gulf.

Each of them has volunteered to provide for this nation’s defense. And

now they bravely struggle to earn for America and for the world and for

future generations, a just and lasting peace.

Our commitment to them must be equal of their commitment to our country.

They are truly America’s finest.

The war in the gulf is not a war we wanted. We worked hard to avoid war.

For more than five months we, along with the Arab League, the European

Community and the United Nations, tried every diplomatic avenue. U.N.

Secretary General Perez de Cuellar; Presidents Gorbachev, Mitterand,

Ozal, Mubarak, and Bendjedid; Kings Fahd and Hassan; Prime Ministers

Major and Andreotti--just to name a few--all worked for a solution. But

time and again Saddam Hussein flatly rejected the path of diplomacy and

peace.

The world well knows how this conflict began, and when: it began on

August 2nd, when Saddam invaded and sacked a small, defenseless

neighbor. And I am certain of how it will end. So that peace can

prevail, we will prevail.

Tonight I’m pleased to report that we are on course. Iraq’s capacity to

sustain war is being destroyed. Our investment, our training, our

planning --all are paying off. Time will not be Saddam’s salvation.

Our purpose in the Persian Gulf remains constant: to drive Iraq out from

Kuwait, to restore Kuwait’s legitimate government, and to insure the

stability and security of this critical region.

Let me make clear what I mean by the region’s stability and security. We

do not seek the destruction of Iraq, its culture or its people. Rather,

we seek an Iraq that uses its great resources not to destroy, not to

serve the ambitions of a tyrant, but to build a better life for itself

and its neighbors. We seek a Persian Gulf where conflict is no longer

the rule, where the strong are neither tempted nor able to intimidate

the weak.

Most Americans know instinctively why we are in the Gulf. They know we

had to stop Saddam now, not later. They know this brutal dictator will

do anything, will use any weapon, will commit any outrage, no matter how

many innocents must suffer.

They know we must make sure that control of the world’s oil resources

does not fall into his hands only to finance further aggression. They

know that we need to build a new, enduring peace--based not on arms

races and confrontation, but on shared principles and the rule of law.

And we all realize that our responsibility to be the catalyst for peace

in the region does not end with the successful conclusion of this war.

Democracy brings the undeniable value of thoughtful dissent, and we have

heard some dissenting voices here at home, some reckless, most

responsible. But the fact the all the voices have the right to speak out

is one of the reasons we’ve been united in principle and purpose for 200

years.

Our progress in this great struggle is the result of years of vigilance

and a steadfast commitment to a strong defense. Now, with remarkable

technological advances like the Patriot missile, we can defend the

ballistic missile attacks aimed at innocent civilians.

Looking forward, I have directed that the S.D.I. program be refocused on

providing protection from limited ballistic missile strikes, whatever

their source. Let us pursue an S.D.I. program that can deal with any

future threat to the United States, to our forces overseas and to our

friends and allies.

The quality of American technology, thanks to the American worker, has

enabled us to successfully deal with difficult military conditions, and

help minimize the loss of life. We have given our men and women the very

best. And they deserve it.

We all have a special place in our hearts for the families of men and

women serving in the Gulf. They are represented here tonight, by Mrs.

Norman Schwarzkopf, and to all those serving with him. And to the

families, let me say, our forces in the gulf will not stay there one day

longer than is necessary to complete their mission.

The courage and success of the R.A.F. pilots--of the Kuwaiti, Saudi,

French, Canadians, Italians, the pilots of Qatar and Bahrain--all are

proof that for the first time since World War II, the international

community is united. The leadership of the United Nations, once only a

hoped-for ideal, is now confirming its founders’ vision.

I am heartened that we are not being asked to bear alone the financial

burden of this struggle. Last year, our friends and allies provided the

bulk of the economic costs of Desert Shield, and having now received

commitments of over $40 billion for the first three months of 1991, I am

confident they will do no less as we move through Desert Storm.

But the world has to wonder what the dictator of Iraq is thinking. If he

thinks that by targeting innocent civilians in Israel and Saudi Arabia,

that he will gain an advantage--he is dead wrong. If he thinks that he

will advance his cause through tragic and despicable environmental

terrorism--he is dead wrong. And if he thinks that by abusing coalition

P.O.W.s, he will benefit--he is dead wrong.

We will succeed in the Gulf. And when we do, the world community will

have sent an enduring warning to any dictator or despot, present or

future, who contemplates outlaw aggression.

The world can therefore seize this opportunity to fulfill the long-held

promise of a new world order--where brutality will go unrewarded, and

aggression will meet collective resistance.

Yes, the United States bears a major share of leadership in this effort.

Among the nations of the world, only the United States of America has

had both the moral standing, and the means to back it up. We are the

only nation on this earth that could assemble the forces of peace.

This is the burden of leadership--and the strength that has made America

the beacon of freedom in a searching world.

This nation has never found glory in war. Our people have never wanted

to abandon the blessings of home and work, for distant lands and deadly

conflict. If we fight in anger, it is only because we have to fight at

all. And all of us yearn for a world where we will never have to fight

again.

Each of us will measure, within ourselves, the value of this great

struggle. Any cost in lives is beyond our power to measure. But the cost

of closing our eyes to aggression is beyond mankind’s power to imagine.

This we do know: Our cause is just. Our cause is moral. Our cause is

right.

Let future generations understand the burden and the blessings of

freedom. Let them say, we stood where duty required us to stand.

Let them know that together, we affirmed America, and the world, as a

community of conscience.

The winds of change are with us now. The forces of freedom are united.

We move toward the next century, more confident than ever, that we have

the will at home and abroad, to do what must be done--the hard work of

freedom.

May God bless the United States of America.

***

State of the Union Address

George H.W. Bush

January 28, 1992

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

guests and fellow citizens:

I mean to speak tonight of big things, of big changes and the promises

they hold and of some big problems and how together we can solve them

and move our country forward as the undisputed leader of the age.

We gather tonight at a dramatic and deeply promising time in our

history, and in the history of man on earth. For in the past 12 months,

the world has known changes of almost biblical proportions. And even

now, months after the failed coup that doomed a failed system, I am not

sure we have absorbed the full impact, the full import of what happened.

But Communism died this year. Even as President, with the most

fascinating possible vantage point, there were times when I was so busy

helping to manage progress and lead change that I didn’t always show the

joy that was in my heart But the biggest thing that has happened in the

world in my life, in our lives, is this: By the grace of God, America

won the Cold War. And there’s another to be singled out, though it may

seem inelegant. I mean a mass of people called the American taxpayer. No

ever thinks to thank the people who pay country’s bill or an alliance’s

bill. But for a half Century now, the American people have shouldered

the burden and paid taxes that were higher than they would have been to

support a defense that was bigger than it would have been if imperial

communism had never existed. But it did. But it doesn’t anymore. And

here is a fact I wouldn’t mind the world acknowledging: The American

taxpayer bore the brunt of the burden, and deserves a hunk of the glory.

And so, now, for the first time in 35 years, our strategic bombers stand

down. No longer are they on round-the-clock alert. Tomorrow our children

will go to school and study history and how plants grow. And they won’t

have, as my children did, air-raid drills in which they crawl under

their desks and cover their heads in case of nuclear war. My

grandchildren don’t have to do that, and won’t have the bad dreams

children once had in decades past. There are still threats. But the long

drawn-out dread is over.

A year ago tonight I spoke to you at a moment of high peril. American

forces had just unleashed Operation Desert Storm. And after 40 days in

the desert skies and 4 days on the ground, the men and women of

America’s armed forces and our allies accomplished the goals that I

declared, and that you endorsed: we liberated Kuwait.

Soon after, the Arab world and Israel sat down to talk seriously, and

comprehensively, about peace, an historic first. And soon after that, at

Christmas, the last American hostages came home. Our policies were

vindicated.

Much good can come from the prudent use of power. And much good can come

from this: A world once divided into two armed camps now recognizes one

sole and pre-eminent power, the United States of America. And this they

regard with no dread. For the world trusts us with power, and the world

is right. They trust us to be fair, and restrained. They trust us to be

on the side of decency. They trust us to do what’s right.

I use those words advisedly. A few days after the war began, I received

a telegram from Joanne Speicher, the wife of the first pilot killed in

the gulf, Lieutenant Commander Scott Speicher. Even in her grief, she

wanted me to know that some day, when her children were old enough, she

would tell them “that their father went away to war because it was the

right thing to do”. She said it all. It was the right thing to do.

And we did it together. There were honest differences here, in this

chamber. But when the war began, you put your partisanship aside and

supported our troops. This is still a time for pride, but this is no

time to boast. For problems face us, and we must stand together once

again and solve them--and not let our country down.

Two years ago, I began planning cuts in military spending that reflected

the changes of the new era. But now, this year, with Imperial Communism

gone, that process can be accelerated. Tonight I can tell you of

dramatic changes in our strategic nuclear force. These are actions we

are taking on our own, because they are the right thing to do.

After completing 20 planes for which we have begun procurement, we will

shut down production of the B-2 bomber. We will cancel the ICBM program.

We will cease production of new warheads for our sea-based missiles. We

will stop all production of the peacekeeper missile. And we will not

purchase any more advanced cruise missiles.

This weekend I will meet at Camp David with Boris Yeltsin of the Russian

Federation. I have informed President Yeltsin that if the commonwealth,

the former Soviet Union, will eliminate all land-based multiple-warhead

ballistic missiles, I will do the following: We will eliminate all

Peacekeeper missiles. We will reduce the number of warheads on Minuteman

missiles to one and reduce the number of warheads on our sea-based

missiles by about one-third. And we will convert a substantial portion

of our strategic to primarily conventional use.

President Yeltsin’s early response has been very positive, and I expect

our talks at Camp David to be fruitful. I want you to know that for half

a century, American presidents have longed to make such decisions and

say such words. But even in the midst of celebration, we must keep

caution as a friend. For the world is still a dangerous place. Only the

dead have seen the end of conflict. And though yesterday’s challenges

are behind us, tomorrow’s are being born.

The Secretary of defense recommended these cuts after consultation with

the joint chiefs of staff. And I make them with confidence. But do not

misunderstand me: The reductions I have approved will save us an

additional $50 billion over the next five years. By 1997 we will have

cut defense by 30 percent since I took office. These cuts are deep, and

you must know my resolve: this deep, and no deeper. To do less would be

insensible to progress, but to do more would be ignorant of history. We

must not go back to the days of “the hollow army”. We cannot repeat the

mistakes made twice in this century when armistice was followed by

recklessness and defense was purged as if the world was permanently

safe.

I remind you this evening that I have asked for your support in funding

a program to protect our country from limited nuclear missile attack. We

must have this protection because too many people in too many countries

have access to nuclear arms. There are those who say that now we can

turn away from the world, that we have no special role, no special

place. But we are the United States of America, the leader of the West

that has become the leader of the world.

As long as I am President we will continue to lead in support of freedom

everywhere, not out of arrogance and not out of altruism, but for the

safety and security of our children. This is a fact: Strength in the

pursuit of peace is no vice; isolationism in the pursuit of security is

no virtue.

Now to our troubles at home. They are not all economic, but the primary

problem is our economy. There are some good signs. Inflation, that

thief, is down, and interest rates are down. But unemployment is too

high, some industries are in trouble and growth is not what it should

be. Let me tell you right from the start and right from the heart: I

know we’re in hard times, but I know something else: This will not

stand.

My friends in this chamber, we can bring the same courage and sense of

common purpose to the economy that we brought to Desert Storm. And we

can defeat hard times together. I believe you will help. One reason is

that you’re patriots, and you want the best for your country. And I

believe that in your hearts you want to put partisanship aside and get

the job done, because it’s the right thing to do.

The power of America rests in a stirring but simple idea: that people

will do great things if only you set them free. Well, we’re going to

have to set the economy free, for if this age of miracles and wonders

has taught us anything, it’s that if we can change the world, we can

change America.

We must encourage investment. We must make it easier for people to

invest money and make new products, new industries, and new jobs. We

must clear away obstacles to new growth: high taxes, high regulation,

red tape, and yes, wasteful government spending. None of this will

happen with a snap of the fingers, but it will happen. And the test of a

plan isn’t whether it’s called new or dazzling. The American people

aren’t impressed by gimmicks. They’re smarter on this score than all of

us in this room. The only test of a plan is, It is sound and will it

work? We must have a short-term plan to address our immediate needs and

heat up the economy. And then we need a long-term plan to keep the

combustion going and to guarantee our place in the world economy.

There are certain things that a president can do without Congress, and I

am going to do them. I have this evening asked major cabinet departments

and federal agencies to institute a 90-day moratorium on any new federal

regulations that could hinder growth. In those 90 days, major

departments and agencies will carry out a top-to-bottom review of all

regulations, old and new, to stop the ones that will hurt growth and

speed up those that will help growth.

Further, for the untold number of hard-working, responsible American

workers and businessmen and women who’ve been forced to go without

needed bank loans, the banking credit crunch must end. I won’t neglect

my responsibility for sound regulations that serve the public good, but

regulatory overkill must be stopped. And I have instructed our

government regulators to stop it.

I have directed Cabinet departments and federal agencies to speed up

pro-growth expenditures as quickly as possible. This should put an extra

$10 billion into the economy in the next six months. And our new

transportation bill provides more than $150 billion for construction and

maintenance projects that are vital to our growth and well-being. That

means jobs building roads, jobs building bridges and jobs building

railways. And I have this evening directed the secretary of the Treasury

to change the federal tax withholding tables. With this change, millions

of Americans from whom the government withholds more than necessary can

now choose to have the government withhold less from their paychecks.

Something tells me a number of taxpayers may take us up on this one.

This initiative could return about $25 billion back into the economy

over the next 12 months, money people can use to help pay for clothing,

college or a new car. And finally, working with the Federal Reserve, we

will continue to support monetary policy that keeps both interest rates

and inflation down.

Now these are the things that I can do. And now, members of Congress,

let me tell you what you can do for your country. You must, you must

pass the other elements of my plan to meet our economic needs. Everyone

knows investment speeds recovery. And I am proposing this evening a

change in the alternative minimum tax, and the creation of a new 15%

investment tax allowance. This will encourage businesses to accelerate

investment and bring people back to work. Real estate has led our

economy out of almost all the tough times we’ve ever had. Once building

starts, carpenters and plumbers work, people buy homes and take out

mortgages.

My plan would modify the passive-loss rule for active real-estate

developers. And it would make it easier for pension plans to purchase

real estate. For those Americans who dream of buying a first home but

who can’t quite afford it, my plan would allow first-time home buyers to

withdraw savings from IRAs without penalty and provide a $5000 tax

credit for the first purchase of that home.

And finally, my immediate plan calls on Congress to give crucial help to

people who own a home, to every one who has a business, a farm or a

single investment.

This time, at this hour, I cannot take “No” for an answer. You must cut

the capital gains tax on the people of this country. Never has an issue

been so demagogued by its opponents. But the demagogues are wrong. They

are wrong, and they know it. Sixty percent of people who benefit from

lower capital gains have incomes under $50,000. A cut in the capital

gains tax increases jobs and helps just about everyone in our country.

And so I’m asking you to cut the capital gains tax to a maximum of

15.4%. And I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you, those of you who say, “Oh no,

someone who’s comfortable may benefit from this” you kind of remind me

of the old definition of the Puritan, who couldn’t sleep at night

worrying that somehow someone somewhere was out having a good time.

The opponents of this measure and those who’ve authored various

so-called soak-the-rich bills that are floating around this chamber

should be reminded of something: When they aim at the big guy, they

usually hit the little guy. And maybe it’s time that stopped.

This then is my short-term plan. Your part, members of Congress,

requires enactment of these common-sense proposals that will have a

strong effect on the economy, without breaking the budget agreement and

without raising tax rates. And while my plan is being passed and kicking

in, we’ve got to care for those in trouble today. I have provided for up

to $4.4 billion in my budget to extend federal unemployment benefits,

and I ask for Congressional action right away. And I thank the

committee--well, at last. And let’s be frank. Let’s be frank; let me

level with you.

I know, and you know, that my plan is unveiled in a political season. I

know, and you know, that everything I propose will be viewed by some in

merely partisan terms. But I ask you to know what is in my heart. And my

aim is to increase our nation’s good. And I’m doing what I think is

right; I’m proposing what I know will help. I pride myself that I’m a

prudent man, and I believe that patience is a virtue, but I understand

politics is, for some, a game and that sometimes the game is to stop all

progress and then decry the lack of improvement. But let me tell you,

let me tell you, far more important than my political future--and far

more important than yours--is the well-being of our country. And members

of this chamber, members of this chamber, are practical people, and I

know you won’t resent some practical advice: When people put their

party’s fortunes, whatever the party, whatever the side of this aisle,

before the public good, they court defeat not only for their country,

but for themselves. And they will certainly deserve it.

And I submit my plan tomorrow. And I am asking you to pass it by March

20. From the day after that--if it must be--the battle is joined. And

you know, when principle is at stake, I relish a good fair fight.

I said my plan has two parts, and it does. And it’s the second part that

is the heart of the matter. For it’s not enough to get an immediate

burst. We need long-term improvement in our economic position. We all

know that the key to our economic future is to insure that America

continues as the economic leader of the world. We have that in our

power. Here, then, is my long-term plan to guarantee our future.

First, trade: We will work to break down the walls that stop world

trade. We will work to open markets everywhere. And in our major trade

negotiations, I will continue pushing to eliminate tariffs and subsidies

that damage America’s farmers and workers. And we’ll get more good

American jobs within our own hemisphere through the North American Free

Trade Agreement, and through the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative.

But changes are here, and more are coming. The work place of the future

will demand more highly skilled workers than ever, people who are

computer literate, highly educated.

And we must be the world’s leader in education. And we must

revolutionize America’s schools. My America 2000 strategy will help us

reach that goal. My plan will give parents more choice, give teachers

more flexibility and help communities create new American schools.

Thirty states across the nation have established America 2000 programs.

Hundreds of cities and towns have joined. Now Congress must join this

great movement. Pass my proposals for new American schools.

That was my second long-term proposal. And here’s my third: We must make

common-sense investments that will help us compete, long-term, in the

marketplace. We must encourage research and development. My plan is to

make the R and D tax credit permanent, and to provide record levels of

support, over $76 billion this year alone for people who explore the

promise of emerging technologies.

And fourth, we must do something about crime and drugs. And it is time

for a major renewed investment in fighting violent street crime. Its

saps our strength and hurts our faith in our society, and in our future

together. Surely a tired woman on her way to work at six in the morning

on a subway deserves the right to get there safely. And surely, it’s

true that everyone who changes his or her way of life because of

crime--from those afraid to go our at night to those afraid to walk in

the parks they pay for--surely those people have been denied a basic

civil right. It is time to restore it. Congress, pass my comprehensive

crime bill. It is tough on criminals and supportive of police, and it

has been languishing in these hallowed halls for years now. Pass it.

Help your country.

And fifth, I ask you tonight to fund our HOPE housing proposal and to

pass my enterprise-zone legislation, which will get businesses into the

inner city. We must empower the poor with the pride that comes from

owning a home, getting a job, becoming part of things. My plan would

encourage real estate construction by extending tax incentives for

mortgage-revenue bonds and low-income housing. And I ask tonight for

record expenditures for the program that helps children born into want

move into excellence: Head Start.

Step six: We must reform our health care system for this too, bears on

whether or not we can compete in the world. American health costs have

been exploding. This year America will spend over $800 billion on

health, and that is expected to grow to $1.6 trillion by the end of the

decade. We simply cannot afford this. The cost of health care shows up

not only in your family budget, but in the price of everything we buy

and everything we sell. When health coverage for a fellow on the

assembly line costs thousands of dollars, the cost goes into the product

he makes. And you pay the bill. Now we must make a choice.

Now some pretend we can have it both ways: they call it play or pay. But

that expensive approach is unstable. It will mean higher taxes, fewer

jobs, and eventually, a system under complete government control.

Really, there are only two options. And we can move toward a

nationalized system, a system which will restrict patient choice in

picking a doctor and force the government to ration services

arbitrarily. And what we’ll get is patients in long lines, indifferent

service and a huge new tax burden. Or we can reform our own private

health-care system, which still gives us, for all its flaws, the best

quality health care in the world. Well, let’s build on our strengths.

My plan provides insurance security for all Americans while preserving

and increasing the idea of choice. We make basic health insurance

affordable for all low-income people not now covered. We do it by

providing a health-insurance tax credit of up to $3750 for each

low-income family. The middle class gets help, too. And by reforming the

health insurance market, my plan assures that Americans will have access

to basic health insurance even if they change jobs or develop serious

health problem We must bring costs under control, preserve quality,

preserve choice and reduce people’s nagging daily worry about health

insurance. My plan, the details of which I will announce shortly, does

just that.

And seventh, we must get the federal deficit under control. We now have

in law, enforcable spending caps, and a requirement that we pay for the

programs we create. There are those in Congress who would ease that

discipline now. But I cannot let them do it. And I won’t. My plan would

freeze all domestic discretionary budget authority which means “No more

next year than this year”. I will not tamper with Social Security but I

would put real caps on the growth of uncontrolled spending. And I would

also freeze federal domestic government employment. And with the help of

Congress, my plan will get rid of 246 programs that don’t deserve

federal funding. Some of them have noble titles, but none of them is

indispensible. We can get rid of each and every one of them.

You know, it’s time we rediscovered a home truth the American people

have never forgotten: the government is too big and spends too much. And

I call on Congress to adopt a measure that will help put an end to the

annual ritual of filling the budget with pork-barrel appropriations.

Every year, the press has a field day making fun of outrageous examples,

a Lawrence Welk Museum, a research grant for Belgian Endive. We all know

how these things get into the budget, and maybe you need someone to help

you say no. I know how to say it. And you know what I need to make it

stick. Give me the same thing 43 governors have--the line-item veto--and

let me help you control spending.

We must put an end to unfinanced government mandates. These are the

requirements Congress puts on our cities, counties and states without

supplying the money. And if Congress passes a mandate, it should be

forced to pay for it and balance the cost with savings elsewhere. After

all, a mandate just increases someone else’s tax burden, and that means

higher taxes at the state and local level.

Step Eight: Congress should enact the bold reform proposals that are

still awaiting congressional action: bank reform, civil justice reform,

tort reform, and my national energy strategy.

And finally, we must strengthen the family, because it is the family

that has the greatest bearing on our future. When Barbara holds an AIDS

baby in her arms and reads to children, she’s saying to every person in

this country, “Family Matters”.

And I am announcing tonight a new commission on America’s urban

families. I’ve asked Missouri’s governor, John Ashcroft, to be chairman,

former Dallas Mayor Annetter Strauss to be co-chair. You know, I had

Mayors, the leading mayors from the League of Cities, in the other day

at the White House, and they told me something striking. They said that

every one of them, Republican and Democrat, agreed on one thing: That

the major cause of the problems of the cities is the dissolution of the

family. And they asked for this commission, and they were right to ask,

because it’s time to determine what we can do to keep families together,

strong and sound.

There’s one thing we can do right away: Ease the burden of rearing a

child. I ask you tonight to raise the personal exemption by $500 per

child for every family. For a family with four kids, that’s an increase

of $2000. This is a good start in the right direction, and it’s what we

can afford. It’s time to allow families to deduct the interest they pay

on student loans. And I’m asking you to do just that. And I’m asking you

to allow people to use money from their IRAs to pay medical and

educational expenses, all without penalties. And I’m asking for more.

Ask American parents what they dislike about how things are going in our

country, and chances are good that pretty soon they’ll get to welfare.

Americans are the most generous people on Earth. But we have to go back

to the insight of Franklin Roosevelt who, when he spoke of what became

the welfare program, want that it must not become a narcotic and a

subtle destroyer of the spirit. Welfare was never meant to be a life

style. It was never meant to be a habit. It was never supposed to be

passed on from generation to generation like a legacy. It’s time to

replace the assumptions of the welfare state and help reform the welfare

system.

States throughout the country are beginning to operate with new

assumptions: that when able-bodied people receive government assistance

they have responsibilities to the taxpayer. A responsibility to seek

work, education, or job training. A responsibility to get their lives in

order. A responsibility to hold their families together and refrain from

having children out of wedlock. And a responsibility to obey the law. We

are going to help this movement. Often, state reform requires waiving

certain federal regulations. I will act to make that process easier and

quicker for every state that asks our help. And I want to add, as we

make these changes, we work together to improve this system, that our

intention is not scapegoating and finger-pointing. If you read the

papers or watch TV you know there’s been a rise these days in a certain

kind of ugliness: racist comments, anti-Semitism, an increased sense of

division. Really, this is not us. This is not who we are. And this is

not acceptable.

And so you have my plan for America. And I am asking for big things, but

I believe in my heart you will do what’s right.

And you know, it’s kind of an American tradition to show a certain

skepticism toward our democratic institutions. I myself have sometimes

thought the aging process could be delayed if it had to make its way

through Congress. But you will deliberate, and you will discuss, and

that is fine. But my friends the people cannot wait. They need help now.

And there’s a mood among us. People are worried. There has been talk of

decline. Someone even said our workers are lazy and uninspired. And I

thought, “Really? Go tell Neil Armstrong standing on the moon. Tell the

American farmer who feeds his country and the world. Tell the men and

women of Desert Storm.” Moods come and go, but greatness endures. Our

does.

And maybe for a moment it’s good to remember what, in the dailyness of

our lives, we forget. We are still and ever the freest nation on Earth,

the kindest nation on Earth, the strongest nation on Earth. And we have

always risen to the occasion. And we are going to lift this nation out

of hard times inch by inch and day by day, and those who would stop us

better step aside. Because I look at hard times and I make this vow:

This will not stand. And so we move on, together, a rising nation, the

once and future miracle that is still, this night, the hope of the

world.

***

State of the Union Address

by Bill Clinton

February 17, 1993

The speech was not officially deemed a “State of the Union address”;

like the freshman addresses of President George H. W. Bush, President

Clinton treated this speech as simply an “Address to a Joint Session of

Congress.”

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the House and the Senate,

distinguished Americans here as visitors in this Chamber, as am I. It

is nice to have a fresh excuse for giving a long speech. [Laughter]

When Presidents speak to Congress and the Nation from this podium,

typically they comment on the full range in challenges and

opportunities that face the United States. But this is not an ordinary

time, and for all the many tasks that require our attention, I believe

tonight one calls on us to focus, to unite, and to act. And that is our

economy. For more than anything else, our task tonight as Americans is

to make our economy thrive again.

Let me begin by saying that it has been too long, at least three

decades, since a President has come and challenged Americans to join

him on a great national journey, not merely to consume the bounty of

today but to invest for a much greater one tomorrow.

Like individuals, nations must ultimately decide how they wish to

conduct themselves, how they wish to be thought of by those with whom

they live, and later, how they wish to be judged by history. Like every

individual man and woman, nations must decide whether they are prepared

to rise to the occasions history presents them.

We have always been a people of youthful energy and daring spirit. And

at this historic moment, as communism has fallen, as freedom is

spreading around the world, as a global economy is taking shape before

our eyes, Americans have called for change. And now it is up to those

of us in this room to deliver for them.

Our Nation needs a new direction. Tonight I present to you a

comprehensive plan to set our Nation on that new course. I believe we

will find our new direction in the basic old values that brought us

here over the last two centuries: a commitment to opportunity, to

individual responsibility, to community, to work, to family, and to

faith. We must now break the habits of both political parties and say

there can be no more something for nothing and admit frankly that we

are all in this together.

The conditions which brought us as a nation to this point are

well-known: two decades of low productivity, growth, and stagnant wages;

persistent unemployment and underemployment; years of huge Government

deficits and declining investment in our future; exploding health care

costs and lack of coverage for millions of Americans; legions of poor

children; education and job training opportunities inadequate to the

demands of this tough, global economy. For too long we have drifted

without a strong sense of purpose or responsibility or community.

And our political system so often has seemed paralyzed by special

interest groups, by partisan bickering, and by the sheer complexity of

our problems. I believe we can do better because we remain the greatest

nation on Earth, the world’s strongest economy, the world’s only

military superpower. If we have the vision, the will, and the heart to

make the changes we must, we can still enter the 21st century with

possibilities our parents could not even have imagined and enter it

having secured the American dream for ourselves and for future

generations.

I well remember 12 years ago President Reagan stood at this very podium

and told you and the American people that if our national debt were

stacked in thousand-dollar bills, the stack would reach 67 miles into

space. Well, today that stack would reach 267 miles. I tell you this

not to assign blame for this problem. There is plenty of blame to go

around in both branches of the Government and both parties. The time

has come for the blame to end. I did not seek this office to place

blame. I come here tonight to accept responsibility, and I want you to

accept responsibility with me. And if we do right by this country, I do

not care who gets the credit for it.

The plan I offer you has four fundamental components. First, it shifts

our emphasis in public and private spending from consumption to

investment, initially by jumpstarting the economy in the short term and

investing in our people, their jobs, and their incomes over the long

run. Second, it changes the rhetoric of the past into the actions of

the present by honoring work and families in every part of our public

decision-making. Third, it substantially reduces the Federal deficit

honestly and credibly by using in the beginning the most conservative

estimates of Government revenues, not, as the executive branch has done

so often in the past, using the most optimistic ones. And finally, it

seeks to earn the trust of the American people by paying for these

plans first with cuts in Government waste and efficiency; second, with

cuts, not gimmicks, in Government spending; and by fairness, for a

change, in the way additional burdens are borne.

Tonight I want to talk with you about what Government can do because I

believe Government must do more. But let me say first that the real

engine of economic growth in this country is the private sector, and

second, that each of us must be an engine of growth and change. The

truth is that as Government creates more opportunity in this new and

different time, we must also demand more responsibility in turn.

Our immediate priority must be to create jobs, create jobs now. Some

people say, “Well, we’re in a recovery, and we don’t have to do that.”

Well, we all hope we’re in a recovery, but we’re sure not creating new

jobs. And there’s no recovery worth its salt that doesn’t put the

American people back to work.

To create jobs and guarantee a strong recovery, I call on Congress to

enact an immediate package of jobs investments of over $30 billion to

put people to work now, to create a half a million jobs: jobs to

rebuild our highways and airports, to renovate housing, to bring new

life to rural communities, and spread hope and opportunity among our

Nation’s youth. Especially I want to emphasize, after the events of

last year in Los Angeles and the countless stories of despair in our

cities and in our poor rural communities, this proposal will create

almost 700,000 new summer jobs for displaced, unemployed young people

alone this summer. And tonight I invite America’s business leaders to

join us in this effort so that together we can provide over one million

summer jobs in cities and poor rural areas for our young people.

Second, our plan looks beyond today’s business cycle because our

aspirations extend into the next century. The heart of this plan deals

with the long term. It is an investment program designed to increase

public and private investment in areas critical to our economic future.

And it has a deficit reduction program that will increase the savings

available for the private sector to invest, will lower interest rates,

will decrease the percentage of the Federal budget claimed by interest

payments, and decrease the risk of financial market disruptions that

could adversely affect our economy.

Over the long run, all this will bring us a higher rate of economic

growth, improved productivity, more high-quality jobs, and an improved

economic competitive position in the world. In order to accomplish both

increased investment and deficit reduction, something no American

Government has ever been called upon to do at the same time before,

spending must be cut and taxes must be raised.

The spending cuts I recommend were carefully thought through in a way

to minimize any adverse economic impact, to capture the peace dividend

for investment purposes, and to switch the balance in the budget from

consumption to more investment. The tax increases and the spending cuts

were both designed to assure that the cost of this historic program to

face and deal with our problems will be borne by those who could

readily afford it the most. Our plan is designed, furthermore, and

perhaps in some ways most importantly, to improve the health of

American business through lower interest rates, more incentives to

invest, and better trained workers.

Because small business has created such a high percentage of all the

new jobs in our Nation over the last 10 or 15 years, our plan includes

the boldest targeted incentives for small business in history. We

propose a permanent investment tax credit for the smallest firms in

this country, with revenues of under $5 million. That’s about 90

percent of the firms in America, employing about 40 percent of the work

force but creating a big majority of the net new jobs for more than a

decade. And we propose new rewards for entrepreneurs who take new risks.

We propose to give small business access to all the new technologies of

our time. And we propose to attack this credit crunch which has denied

small business the credit they need to flourish and prosper.

With a new network of community development banks and $1 billion to

make the dream of enterprise zones real, we propose to bring new hope

and new jobs to storefronts and factories from south Boston to south

Texas to south central Los Angeles. This plan invests in our roads, our

bridges, our transit systems, in high-speed railways and high-tech

information systems. And it provides the most ambitious environmental

cleanup in partnership with State and local government of our time, to

put people to work and to preserve the environment for our future.

Standing as we are on the edge of a new century, we know that economic

growth depends as never before on opening up new markets overseas and

expanding the volume of world trade. And so, we will insist on fair

trade rules in international markets as a part of a national economic

strategy to expand trade, including the successful completion of the

latest round of world trade talks and the successful completion of a

North American Free Trade Agreement with appropriate safeguards for our

workers and for the environment.

At the same time--and I say this to you in both parties and across

America tonight, all the people who are listening--it is not enough to

pass a budget or even to have a trade agreement. This world is changing

so fast that we must have aggressive, targeted attempts to create the

high-wage jobs of the future. That’s what all our competitors are doing.

We must give special attention to those critical industries that are

going to explode in the 21st century but that are in trouble in America

today, like aerospace. We must provide special assistance to areas and

to workers displaced by cuts in the defense budget and by other

unavoidable economic dislocations.

And again I will say we must do this together. I pledge to you that I

will do my best to see that business and labor and Government work

together for a change.

But all of our efforts to strengthen the economy will fail--let me say

this again; I feel so strongly about this--all of our efforts to

strengthen the economy will fail unless we also take this year, not

next year, not 5 years from now but this year, bold steps to reform our

health care system.

In 1992, we spent 14 percent of our income on health care, more than 30

percent more than any other country in the world, and yet we were the

only advanced nation that did not provide a basic package of health

care benefits to all of its citizens. Unless we change the present

pattern, 50 percent of the growth in the deficit between now and the

year 2000 will be in health care costs. By the year 2000 almost 20

percent of our income will be in health care. Our families will never

be secure, our businesses will never be strong, and our Government will

never again be fully solvent until we tackle the health care crisis. We

must do it this year.

The combination of the rising cost of care and the lack of care and the

fear of losing care are endangering the security and the very lives of

millions of our people. And they are weakening our economy every day.

Reducing health care costs can liberate literally hundreds of billions

of dollars for new investment in growth and jobs. Bringing health costs

in line with inflation would do more for the private sector in this

country than any tax cut we could give and any spending program we

could promote. Reforming health care over the long run is critically

essential to reducing not only our deficit but to expanding investment

in America.

Later this spring, after the First Lady and the many good people who

are helping her all across the country complete their work, I will

deliver to Congress a comprehensive plan for health care reform that

finally will bring costs under control and provide security to all of

our families, so that no one will be denied the coverage they need but

so that our economic future will not be compromised either. We’ll have

to root out fraud and overcharges and make sure that paperwork no

longer chokes your doctor. We’ll have to maintain the highest American

standards and the right to choose in a system that is the world’s

finest for all those who can access it. But first we must make choices.

We must choose to give the American people the quality they demand and

deserve with a system that will not bankrupt the country or further

drive more Americans into agony.

Let me further say that I want to work with all of you on this. I

realize this is a complicated issue. But we must address it. And I

believe if there is any chance that Republicans and Democrats who

disagree on taxes and spending or anything else could agree on one

thing, surely we can all look at these numbers and go home and tell our

people the truth. We cannot continue these spending patterns in public

or private dollars for health care for less and less and less every

year. We can do better. And I will work to do better.

Perhaps the most fundamental change the new direction I propose offers

is its focus on the future and its investment which I seek in our

children. Each day we delay really making a commitment to our children

carries a dear cost. Half of the 2-year-olds in this country today

don’t receive the immunizations they need against deadly diseases. Our

plan will provide them for every eligible child. And we know now that

we will save $10 later for every $1 we spend by eliminating preventable

childhood diseases. That’s a good investment no matter how you measure

it.

I recommend that the women, infants, and children’s nutrition program

be expanded so that every expectant mother who needs the help gets it.

We all know that Head Start, a program that prepares children for

school, is a success story. We all know that it saves money. But today

it just reaches barely over one-third of all the eligible children.

Under this plan, every eligible child will be able to get a head start.

This is not just the right thing to do; it is the smart thing to do.

For every dollar we invest today, we’ll save $3 tomorrow. We have to

start thinking about tomorrow. (I’ve heard that somewhere before.)

[Laughter]

We have to ask more in our schools of our students, our teachers, our

principals, our parents. Yes, we must give them the resources they need

to meet high standards, but we must also use the authority and the

influence and the funding of the Education Department to promote

strategies that really work in learning. Money alone is not enough. We

have to do what really works to increase learning in our schools.

We have to recognize that all of our high school graduates need some

further education in order to be competitive in this global economy. So

we have to establish a partnership between businesses and education and

the Government for apprenticeship programs in every State in this

country to give our people the skills they need. Lifelong learning must

benefit not just young high school graduates but workers, too,

throughout their career. The average 18-year-old today will change jobs

seven times in a lifetime. We have done a lot in this country on worker

training in the last few years, but the system is too fractured. We

must develop a unified, simplified, sensible, streamlined

worker-training program so that workers receive the training they need

regardless of why they lost their jobs or whether they simply need to

learn something new to keep them. We have got to do better on this.

And finally, I propose a program that got a great response from the

American people all across this country last year: a program of

national service to make college loans available to all Americans and

to challenge them at the same time to give something back to their

country as teachers or police officers or community service workers; to

give them the option to pay the loans back, but at tax time so they

can’t beat the bill, but to encourage them instead to pay it back by

making their country stronger and making their country better and

giving us the benefit of their knowledge.

A generation ago when President Kennedy proposed and the United States

Congress embraced the Peace Corps, it defined the character of a whole

generation of Americans committed to serving people around the world.

In this national service program, we will provide more than twice as

many slots for people before they go to college to be in national

service than ever served in the Peace Corps. This program could do for

this generation of Members of Congress what the land grant college act

did and what the GI bill did for former Congressmen. In the future,

historians who got their education through the national service loan

will look back on you and thank you for giving America a new lease on

life, if you meet this challenge.

If we believe in jobs and we believe in learning, we must believe in

rewarding work. If we believe in restoring the values that make America

special, we must believe that there is dignity in all work, and there

must be dignity for all workers. To those who care for our sick, who

tend our children, who do our most difficult and tiring jobs, the new

direction I propose will make this solemn, simple commitment: By

expanding the refundable earned-income tax credit, we will make history.

We will reward the work of millions of working poor Americans by

realizing the principle that if you work 40 hours a week and you’ve got

a child in the house, you will no longer be in poverty.

Later this year, we will offer a plan to end welfare as we know it. I

have worked on this issue for the better part of a decade. And I know

from personal conversations with many people that no one, no one wants

to change the welfare system as badly as those who are trapped in it. I

want to offer the people on welfare the education, the training, the

child care, the health care they need to get back on their feet, but

say after 2 years they must get back to work, too, in private business

if possible, in public service if necessary. We have to end welfare as

a way of life and make it a path to independence and dignity.

Our next great goal should be to strengthen our families. I compliment

the Congress for passing the Family and Medical Leave Act as a good

first step, but it is time to do more. This plan will give this country

the toughest child support enforcement system it has ever had. It is

time to demand that people take responsibility for the children they

bring in this world.

And I ask you to help to protect our families against the violent crime

which terrorizes our people and which tears our communities apart. We

must pass a tough crime bill. I support not only the bill which didn’t

quite make it to the President’s desk last year but also an initiative

to put 100,000 more police officers on the street, to provide boot

camps for first-time nonviolent offenders for more space for the

hardened criminals in jail. And I support an initiative to do what we

can to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. Let me say this. I will

make you this bargain: If you will pass the Brady bill, I’ll sure sign

it.

Let me say now, we should move to the harder parts.

I think it is clear to every American, including every Member of

Congress of both parties, that the confidence of the people who pay our

bills in our institutions in Washington is not high. We must restore it.

We must begin again to make Government work for ordinary taxpayers, not

simply for organized interest groups. And that beginning must start

with real political reform. I am asking the United States Congress to

pass a real campaign finance reform bill this year. I ask you to

increase the participation of the American people by passing the motor

voter bill promptly. I ask you to deal with the undue influence of

special interests by passing a bill to end the tax deduction for

lobbying and to act quickly to require all the people who lobby you to

register as lobbyists by passing the lobbying registration bill.

Believe me, they were cheering that last section at home. I believe

lobby reform and campaign finance reform are a sure path to increased

popularity for Republicans and Democrats alike because it says to the

voters back home, “This is your House. This is your Senate. We’re your

hired hands, and every penny we draw is your money.”

Next, to revolutionize Government we have to ensure that we live within

our means, and that should start at the top and with the White House.

In the last few days I have announced a cut in the White House staff of

25 percent, saving approximately $10 million. I have ordered

administrative cuts in budgets of agencies and departments. I have cut

the Federal bureaucracy, or will over the next 4 years, by

approximately 100,000 positions, for a combined savings of $9 billion.

It is time for Government to demonstrate, in the condition we’re in,

that we can be as frugal as any household in America.

And that’s why I also want to congratulate the Congress. I noticed the

announcement of the leadership today that Congress is taking similar

steps to cut its costs. I think that is important. I think it will send

a very clear signal to the American people.