Tonight, as part of our gift to the millennium, I propose a 21st Century

research fund for pathbreaking scientific inquiry, the largest funding

increase in history for the National Institutes of Health, the National

Science Foundation, and the National Cancer Institute. We have already

discovered we have already discovered genes for breast cancer and

diabetes. I ask you to support this initiative so ours will be the

generation that finally wins the war against cancer and begins a

revolution in our fight against all deadly diseases.

As important as all this scientific progress is, we must continue to see

that science serves humanity, not the other way around. We must prevent

the misuse of genetic tests to discriminate against any American, and we

must ratify the ethical consensus of the scientific and religious

communities, and ban the cloning of human beings.

We should enable all the world’s people to explore the far reaches of

cyberspace. Think of this: the first time I made a State of the Union

speech to you, only a handful of physicists used the World Wide Web--

literally just a handful of people.

Now in schools and libraries, homes and businesses, millions and

millions of Americans surf the Net every day.

We must give parents the tools they need to help protect their children

from inappropriate material on the Net, but we also must make sure that

we protect the exploding, global commercial potential of the Internet.

We can do the kinds of things that we need to do and still protect our

kids. For one thing, I ask Congress to step up support for building the

next generation Internet. It’s getting kind of clogged, you know. And

the next generation Internet will operate at speeds up to a thousand

times faster than today.

Even as we explore this inner space, in the new millennium we’re going

to open new frontiers in outer space.

Throughout all history, human kind has had only one place to call home:

our planet Earth. Beginning this year, 1998, men and women from 16

countries will build a foothold in the heavens--the International Space

Station. With its vast expanses, scientists and engineers will actually

set sail on an uncharted sea of limitless mystery and unlimited

potential.

And this October, a true American hero, a veteran pilot of 149 combat

missions and one five-hour space flight that changed the world, will

return to the heavens. Godspeed, John Glenn!

John, you will carry with you America’s hopes, and on your uniform once

again you will carry America’s flag, marking the unbroken connection

between the deeds of America’s past and the daring of America’s future.

Nearly 200 years ago, a tattered flag, its broad stripes and bright

stars still gleaming through the smoke of a fierce battle, moved Francis

Scott Key to scribble a few words on the back of an envelope, the words

that became our National Anthem. Today, that Star-Spangled Banner, along

with the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of

Rights, are on display just a short walk from here. They are America’s

treasures. And we must also save them for the ages.

I ask all Americans to support our project to restore all our treasures

so that the generations of the 21st century can see for themselves the

images and the words that are the old and continuing glory of America,

an America that has continued to rise through every age against every

challenge, a people of great works and greater possibilities, who have

always, always found the wisdom and strength to come together as one

nation, to widen the circle of opportunity, to deepen the meaning of our

freedom, to form that more perfect union.

Let that be our gift to the 21st century.

God bless you, and God bless the United States.

***

State of the Union Address

William J. Clinton

January 19, 1999

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, honored guests, my

fellow Americans:

Tonight I have the honor of reporting to you on the State of the Union.

Let me begin by saluting the new speaker of the House and thanking him

especially tonight for extending an invitation to two guests sitting in

the gallery with Mrs. Hastert. Lyn Gibson and Wei Ling Chestnut are the

widows of the two brave Capitol Hill police officers who gave their

lives to defend freedom’s house.

Mr. Speaker, at your swearing in you asked us all to work together in a

spirit of civility and bipartisanship. Mr. Speaker, let’s do exactly

that.

Tonight, I stand before you to report that America has created the

longest peacetime economic expansion in our history. With nearly 18

million new jobs, wages rising at more than twice the rate of inflation,

the highest homeownership in history, the smallest welfare roles in 30

years, and the lowest peacetime unemployment since 1957.

For the first time in three decades, the budget is balanced. From a

deficit of $290 billion in 1992, we had a surplus of $70 billion last

year. And now, we are on course for budget surpluses for the next 25

years.

Thanks to the pioneering leadership of all of you, we have the lowest

violent crime rate in a quarter century and the cleanest environment in

a quarter century.

America is a strong force for peace--from Northern Ireland to Bosnia to

the Middle East.

Thanks to the leadership of Vice President Gore, we have a government

for the Information Age, once again a government that is a progressive

instrument of the common good, rooted in our oldest values of

opportunity, responsibility and community, devoted to fiscal

responsibility, determined to give our people the tools they need to

make the most of their own lives in the 21st century, a 21st century

government for 21st century America.

My fellow Americans, I stand before you tonight to report that the state

of our union is strong. Now, America is working again. The promise of

our future is limitless. But we cannot realize that promise if we allow

the hum of our prosperity to lull us into complacency. How we fare as a

nation far into the 21st century depends upon what we do as a nation

today.

So, with our budget surplus growing, our economy expanding, our

confidence rising, now is the moment for this generation to meet our

historic responsibility to the 21st century.

Our fiscal discipline gives us an unsurpassed opportunity to address a

remarkable new challenge, the aging of America. With the number of

elderly Americans set to double by 2030, the baby boom will become a

senior boom.

So first and above all, we must save Social Security for the 21st

century.

Early in this century, being old meant being poor. When President

Roosevelt created Social Security, thousands wrote to thank him for

eliminating what one woman called “the stark terror of penniless,

helpless old age.” Even today, without Social Security, half our

nation’s elderly would be forced into poverty.

Today, Social Security is strong, but by 2013, payroll taxes will no

longer be sufficient to cover monthly payments. By 2032, the trust fund

will be exhausted and Social Security will be unable to pay the full

benefits older Americans have been promised.

The best way to keep Social Security a rock solid guarantee is not to

make drastic cuts in benefits; not to raise payroll tax rates; not to

drain resources from Social Security in the name of saving it. Instead,

I propose that we make the historic decision to invest the surplus to

save Social Security.

Specifically, I propose that we commit 60 percent of the budget surplus

for the next 15 years to Social Security, investing a small portion in

the private sector just as any private or state government pension would

do. This will earn a higher return and keep Social Security sound for 55

years.

But we must aim higher. We should put Social Security on a sound footing

for the next 75 years. We should reduce poverty among elderly women, who

are nearly twice as likely to be poor as are other seniors. And we

should eliminate the limits on what seniors on Social Security can earn.

Now, these changes will require difficult, but fully achievable choices

over and above the dedication of the surplus. They must be made on a

bipartisan basis. They should be made this year. So let me say to you

tonight, I reach out my hand to all of you in both houses in both

parties and ask that we join together in saying to the American people,

we will save Social Security now.

Now, last year, we wisely reserved all of the surplus until we knew what

it would take to save Social Security. Again, I say, we shouldn’t spend

any of it, not any of it, until after Social Security is truly saved.

First thing’s first.

Second, once we have saved Social Security, we must fulfill our

obligation to save and improve Medicare. Already we have extended the

life of the Medicare trust fund by 10 years, but we should extend it for

at least another decade. Tonight, I propose that we use one out of every

six dollars in the surplus for the next 15 years to guarantee the

soundness of Medicare until the year 2020.

But, again--but, again, we should aim higher. We must be willing to work

in a bipartisan way and look at new ideas, including the upcoming report

of the Bipartisan Medicare Commission. If we work together, we can

secure Medicare for the next two decades and cover the greatest growing

need of seniors--affordable prescription drugs.

Third, we must help all Americans from their first day on the job to

save, to invest, to create wealth.

From its beginnings, Americans have supplemented Social Security with

private pensions and savings. Yet today millions of people retire with

little to live on other than Social Security. Americans living longer

than ever simply must save more than ever.

Therefore, in addition to saving Social Security and Medicare, I propose

a new pension initiative for retirement security in the 21st century. I

propose that we use a little over 11 percent of the surplus to establish

universal savings accounts--USA accounts--to give all Americans the

means to save.

With these new accounts, Americans can invest as they choose and receive

funds to match a portion of their savings with extra help for those

least able to save. USA accounts will help all Americans to share in our

nation’s wealth and to enjoy a more secure retirement. I ask you to

support them.

Fourth, we must invest in long-term care.

I propose a tax credit of $1,000 for the aged, ailing or disabled and

the families who care for them. Long-term care will become a bigger and

bigger challenge with the aging of America--and we must do more to help

our families deal with it.

I was born in 1946, the first year of the baby boom. I can tell you that

one of the greatest concerns of our generation is our absolute

determination not to let our growing old place an intolerable burden on

our children and their ability to raise our grandchildren.

Our economic success and our fiscal discipline now give us the

opportunity to lift that burden from their shoulders, and we should take

it.

Saving Social Security, Medicare, creating U.S. accounts, this is the

right way to use the surplus. If we do so, if we do so, we will still

have resources to meet critical needs and education and defense.

And I want to point out that this proposal is fiscally sound. Listen to

this, if we set aside 60 percent of the surplus for Social Security and

16 percent for Medicare over the next 15 years, that savings will

achieve the lowest level of publicly-held debt since right before World

War I in 1917.

So with these four measures; saving Social Security, strengthening

Medicare, establishing the USA accounts, supporting long-term care, we

can begin to meet our generation’s historic responsibility to establish

true security for 21st century seniors.

Now, there are more children, from more diverse backgrounds, in our

public schools that any time in our history. Their education must

provide the knowledge and nurture the creativity that will allow our

entire nation to thrive in the new economy.

Today we can say something we couldn’t say six years ago. With tax

credits and more affordable student loans, with more work-study grants

and more Pell Grants, with education IRAs, the new HOPE Scholarship tax

cut that more than five million Americans will receive this year, we

have finally opened the doors of college to all Americans.

With our support, nearly every state has set higher academic standards

for public schools and a voluntary national test is being developed to

measure the progress of our students. With over $1 billion in discounts

available this year, we are well on our way to our goal of connecting

every classroom and library to the Internet.

Last fall, you passed our proposal to start hiring 100,000 new teachers

to reduce class size in the early grades. Now I ask you to finish the

job.

You know our children are doing better. SAT scores are up. Math scores

have risen in nearly all grades. But there’s a problem. While our

fourth-graders out performed their peers in other countries in math and

science, our eighth-graders are around average, and our 12th-graders

rank near the bottom. We must do better.

Now each year the national government invests more than $15 billion in

our public schools. I believe we must change the way we invest that

money to support what works and to stop supporting what does not work.

First, later this year I will send to Congress a plan that for the first

time holds states and school districts accountable for progress and

rewards them for results. My Education Accountability Act will require

every school district receiving federal help to take the following five

steps:

First, all schools must end social promotion.

Now, no child, no child should graduate from high school with a diploma

he or she can’t read. We do our children no favors when we allow them to

pass from grade to grade without mastering the material. But we can’t

just hold students back because the system fails them.

So my balanced budget triples the funding for summer school and

after-school programs to keep a million children learning. Now, if--if

you doubt this will work, just look at Chicago, which ended social

promotion and made summer school mandatory for those who don’t master

the basics. Math and reading scores are up three years running with some

of the biggest gains in some of the poorest neighborhoods. It will work,

and we should do it.

Second, all states and school districts must turn around their worst

performing schools or shut them down. That’s the policy established in

North Carolina by Governor Jim Hunt. North Carolina made the biggest

gains in test scores in the nation last year. Our budget includes $200

million to help states turn around their own failing schools.

Third, all states and school districts must be held responsible for the

quality of their teachers. The great majority of our teachers do a fine

job, but in too many schools teachers don’t have college majors or even

minors in the subjects they teach. New teachers should be required to

pass performance exams, and all teachers should know the subject their

teaching.

This year’s balanced budget contains resources to help them reach higher

standards. And to attract talented young teachers to the toughest

assignments, I recommend a six-fold increase in our program for college

scholarships for students who commit to teach in the inner-cities and

isolated rural areas and in Indian communities. Let us bring excellence

to every part of America.

Fourth, we must empower parents with more information and more choices.

In too many communities it’s easier to get information on the quality of

the local restaurants than on the quality of the local schools.

Every school district should issue report cards on every school. And

parents should be given more choices in selecting their public schools.

When I became president, there was just one independent public charter

school in all America. With our support on a bipartisan basis, today

there are 1,100. My budget assures that early in the next century, there

will be 3,000.

Fifth, to assure that our classrooms are truly places of learning, and

to respond to what teachers have been asking us to do for years, we

should say that all states and school districts must both adopt and

implement sensible discipline policies.

Now let’s do one more thing for our children. Today, too many schools

are so old they’re falling apart, or so overcrowded students are

learning in trailers. Last fall, Congress missed the opportunity to

change that. This year, with 53 million children in our schools,

Congress must not miss that opportunity again. I ask you to help our

communities build or modernize 5,000 schools.

If we do these things--end social promotion, turn around failing

schools, build modern ones, support qualified teachers, promote

innovation, competition and discipline--then we will begin to meet our

generation’s historic responsibility to create to 21st century schools.

Now, we also have to do more to support the millions of parents who give

their all every day at home and at work.

The most basic tool of all is a decent income. So let’s raise the

minimum wage by a dollar an hour over the next two years.

And let’s make sure that women and men get equal pay for equal work by

strengthening enforcement of the equal pay laws.

That was encouraging, you know? There was more balance on the seesaw. I

like that. Let’s give them a hand. That’s great.

Working parents also need quality child care. So, again this year, I ask

Congress to support our plan for tax credits and subsidies for working

families, for improved safety and quality, for expanded after-school

program. And our plan also includes a new tax credit for stay-at-home

parents, too. They need support as well.

Parents should never have to worry about choosing between their children

and their work. Now, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the very first

bill I signed into law, has now, since 1993, helped millions and

millions of Americans to care for a newborn baby or an ailing relative

without risking their jobs. I think it’s time, with all of the evidence

that it has been so little burdensome to employers, to extend family

leave to 10 million more Americans working for smaller companies, and I

hope you will support it.

Finally, on the matter of work, parents should never have to face

discrimination in the workplace. So I want to ask Congress to prohibit

companies from refusing to hire or promote workers simply because they

have children. That is not right.

America’s families deserve the world’s best medical care. Thanks to

bipartisan federal support for medical research, we are not on the verge

of new treatments to prevent or delay diseases from Parkinson’s to

Alzheimer’s to arthritis to cancer. But as we continue our advances in

medical science, we can’t let our medical system lag behind.

Managed care has literally transformed medicine in America, driving down

costs, but threatening to drive down quality as well.

I think we ought to say to every American, you should have the right to

know all you medical options, not just the cheapest. If you need a

specialist, you should have a right to see one. You have a right to the

nearest emergency care if you’re in an accident. These are things that

we ought to say. And I think we ought to say you should have a right to

keep your doctor during a period of treatment whether it’s a pregnancy

or a chemotherapy treatment or anything else. I believe this.

Now I’ve ordered these rights to be extended to the 85 million Americans

served by Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health programs. But only

Congress can pass a Patients’ Bill of Rights for all Americans.

Last year, Congress missed that opportunity, and we must not miss that

opportunity again. For the sake of our families, I ask us to join

together across party lines and pass a strong enforceable Patients’ Bill

of Rights.

As more of our medical records are stored electronically, the threats to

all of our privacy increase. Because Congress has given me the authority

to act if it does not do so by August, one way or another, we can all

say to the American people, we will protect the privacy of medical

records this year.

Now, two years ago, we acted to extend health coverage to up to five

million children. Now we should go beyond that. We should make it easier

for small businesses to offer health insurance. We should give people

between the ages of 55 and 65 who lose their health insurance the chance

to buy into Medicare.

And we should continue to ensure access to family planning. No one

should have to choose between keeping health care and taking a job. And

therefore, I especially ask you tonight to join hands to pass the

landmark bipartisan legislation proposed by Sens. Kennedy and Jeffords,

Roth and Moynihan, to allow people with disabilities to keep their

health insurance when they go to work.

We need to enable our public hospitals, our community, our university

health centers to provide basic, affordable care for all the millions of

working families who don’t have any insurance. They do a lot of that

today, but much more can be done. And my balanced budget makes a good

down payment toward that goal. I hope you will think about them and

support that provision.

Let me say we must step up our efforts to treat and prevent mental

illness. No American should ever be able--afraid ever to address this

disease. This year we will host a White House Conference on Mental

Health. With sensitivity, commitment and passion, Tipper Gore is leading

our efforts here, and I’d like to thank her for what she’s done. Thank

you. Thank you.

As everyone knows, our children are targets of a massive media campaign

to hook them on cigarettes. Now, I ask this Congress to resist the

tobacco lobby, to reaffirm the FDA’s authority to protect our children

from tobacco and to hold tobacco companies accountable, while protecting

tobacco farmers.

Smoking has cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars under

Medicare and other programs. You know, the states have been right about

this. Taxpayers shouldn’t pay for the cost of lung cancer, emphysema,

and other smoking-related illnesses, the tobacco companies should.

So tonight I announce that the Justice Department is preparing a

litigation plan to take the tobacco companies to court and with the

funds we recover to strengthen Medicare.

Now, if we act in these areas--minimum wage, family leave, child care,

health care, the safety of our children--then we will begin to meet our

generation’s historic responsibilities to strengthen our families for

the 21st century.

Today, America is the most dynamic, competitive, job-creating economy in

history, but we can do even better in building a 21st century economy

that embraces all Americans.

Today’s income gap is largely a skills gap. Last year, the Congress

passed a law enabling workers to get a skills grant to choose the

training they need. And I applaud all of you here who were part of that.

This year, I recommend a five-year commitment to the new system, so that

we can provide over the next five years appropriate training

opportunities for all Americans who lose their jobs and expand rapid

response teams to help all towns which have been really hurt when

businesses close. I hope you will support this.

Also, I ask your support for a dramatic increase in federal support for

adult literacy to mount a national campaign aimed at helping the

millions and millions of working people who still read at less than a

fifth-grade level. We need to do this.

Here’s some good news. In the past six years, we have cut the welfare

rolls nearly in half.

Two years ago, from this podium, I asked five companies to lead a

national effort to hire people off welfare. Tonight our welfare-to-work

partnership includes 10,000 companies who have hired hundreds of

thousands of people, and our balanced budget will help another 200,000

people move to the dignity and pride of work. I hope you will support

it.

We must bring the spark of private enterprise to every corner of

America, to build a bridge from Wall Street to Appalachia to the

Mississippi Delta, to our Native American communities, with more support

for community development banks for empowerment zones, for 100,000 more

vouchers for affordable housing.

And I ask Congress to support our bold new plan to help businesses raise

up to $15 billion in private sector capital, to bring jobs and

opportunities and inner cities, rural areas, with tax credits, loan

guarantees, including the new American Private Investment Companies,

modeled on the Overseas Private Investment Companies.

Now, for years and years we’ve had this OPIC, this Overseas Private

Investment Corporation, because we knew we had untapped markets

overseas. But our greatest untapped markets are not overseas--they are

right here at home. And we should go after them.

We must work hard to help bring prosperity back to the family farm.

As this Congress knows very well, dropping prices and the loss of

foreign markets have devastated too many family farmers. Last year, the

Congress provided substantial assistance to help stave off a disaster in

American agriculture, and I am ready to work with lawmakers of both

parties to create a farm safety net that will include crop insurance

reform and farm income assistance.

I ask you to join with me and do this. This should not be a political

issue. Everyone knows what an economic problem is going on out there in

rural America today, and we need an appropriate means to address it.

We must strengthen our lead in technology. It was government investment

that led to the creation of the Internet. I propose a 28-percent

increase in long-term computing research.

We also must be ready for the 21st century from its very first moment by

solving the so-called Y2K computer problem. We had one member of

Congress stand up and applaud. And we may have about that ration out

there applauding at home in front of their television sets. But

remember, this is a big, big problem, and we’ve been working hard on it.

Already we’ve made sure that the Social Security checks will come on

time.

But I want all the folks at home listening to this to know that we need

every state and local government, every business large and small to work

with us to make sure that this Y2K computer bug will be remembered as

the last headache of the 20th century, not the first crisis of the 21st.

For our own prosperity, we must support economic growth abroad. You

know, until recently a third of our economic growth came from exports.

But over the past year and a half, financial turmoil has put that growth

at risk. Today, much of the world is in recession, with Asia hit

especially hard. This is the most serious financial crisis in half a

century.

To meet it, the U.S. and other nations have reduced interest rates and

strengthened the International Monetary Fund and while the turmoil is

not over, we have worked very hard with other nations to contain it.

At the same time, we will continue to work on the long-term project:

building a global financial system for the 21st century that promotes

prosperity and tames the cycle of boom and bust that has engulfed so

much of Asia. This June, I will meet with other world leaders to advance

this historic purpose and I ask all of you to support our endeavors. I

also ask you to support creating a freer and fairer trading system for

21st century America.

You know, I’d like to say something really serious to everyone in this

chamber in both parties. I think trade has divided us and divided

Americans outside this chamber for too long. Somehow, we have to find a

common ground on which business and workers and environmentalists and

farmers and government can stand together. I believe these are the

things we ought to all agree on. So, let me try.

First, we ought to tear down barriers, open markets and expand trade,

but at the same time, we must ensure that ordinary citizens in all

countries actually benefit from trade; a trade that promotes the dignity

of work and the rights of workers and protects the environment.

We must insist that international trade organizations be open to public

scrutiny instead of mysterious, secret things subject to wild criticism.

When you come right down to it, now that the world economy is becoming

more and more integrated, we have to do in the world what we spent the

better part of this century doing here at home. We have got to put a

human face on the global economy.

Now, we must enforce our trade laws when imports unlawfully flood our

nation. I have already informed the government of Japan if that nation’s

sudden surge of steel imports into our country is not reversed, America

will respond.

We must help all manufacturers hit hard by the present crisis with loan

guarantees, and other incentives to increase American exports by nearly

$2 billion. I’d like to believe we can achieve a new consensus on trade

based on these principles. And I ask the Congress to join me again in

this common approach and to give the president the trade authority long

used and now overdue and necessary to advance our prosperity in the 21st

century.

Tonight, I issue a call to the nations of the world to join the United

States in a new round of global trade negotiation to expand exports of

services, manufactures and farm products.

Tonight, I say, we will work with the International Labor Organization

on a new initiative to raise labor standards around the world. And this

year, we will lead the international community to conclude a treaty to

ban abusive child labor everywhere in the world.

If we do these things--invest in our people, our communities, our

technology--and lead in the global economy, then we will begin to meet

our historic responsibility to build a 21st century prosperity for

America.

You know, no nation in history has had the opportunity and the

responsibility we now have to shape a world that is more peaceful, more

secure, more free.

All Americans can be proud that our leadership helped to bring peace in

Northern Ireland.

All Americans can be proud that our leadership has put Bosnia on the

path to peace. And with our NATO allies we are pressing the Serbian

government to stop its brutal repression in Kosovo--to bring those

responsible to justice and to give the people of Kosovo the

self-government they deserve.

All Americans can be proud that our leadership renewed hope for lasting

peace in the Middle East. Some of you were with me last December as we

watched the Palestinian National Council completely renounce its call

for the destruction of Israel.

Now, I ask Congress to provide resources so that all parties can

implement the Wye Agreement, to protect Israel’s security, to stimulate

the Palestinian economy, to support our friends in Jordan. We must not,

we dare not, let them down. I hope you will help me.

As we work for peace, we must also meet threats to our nation’s

security, including increased danger from outlaw nations and terrorism.

We will defend our security wherever we are threatened, as we did this

summer when we struck at Osama bin Laden’s network of terror. The

bombing of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania reminds us again of the

risks faced every day by those who represent America to the world. So

let’s give them the support they need, the safest possible workplaces,

and the resources they must have so America can continue to lead.

We must work to keep terrorists from disrupting computer networks. We

must work to prepare local communities for biological and chemical

emergencies, to support research into vaccines and treatments. We must

increase our efforts to restrain the spread of nuclear weapons and

missiles, from Korea to India and Pakistan. We must expand our work with

Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet nations to safeguard nuclear

materials and technology so they never fall into the wrong hands. Our

balanced budget will increase funding for these critical efforts by

almost two-thirds over the next five years.

With Russia we must continue to reduce our nuclear arsenals. The START

II Treaty and the framework we have already agreed to for START III

could cut them by 80 percent from their Cold War height.

It’s been two years since I signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. If

we don’t do the right thing, other nations won’t either. I ask the

Senate to take this vital step, approve the treaty now to make it harder

for other nations to develop nuclear arms, and to make sure we can end

nuclear testing for ever.

For nearly a decade, Iraq has defied its obligations to destroy its

weapons of terror and the missiles to deliver them.

America will continue to contain [Iraqi President] Saddam [Hussein] and

we will work for the day when Iraq has a government worthy of its

people. Now, last month, in our action over Iraq, our troops were

superb. Their mission was so flawlessly executed, that we risk taking

for granted the bravery and skill it required. Captain Jeff Taliaferro,

a 10-year Air Force veteran of the Air Force, flew a B-1B bomber over

Iraq as we attacked Saddam’s war machine. He is here with us tonight. I

would like to ask you to honor him and all the 33,000 men and women of

Operation Desert Fox.

It is time to reverse the decline in defense spending that began in

1985.

Since April, together we have added nearly $6 billion to maintain our

military readiness. My balanced budget calls for a sustained increase

over the next six years for readiness, for modernization, and for pay

and benefits for our troops and their families.

You know, we are the heirs of a legacy of bravery represented in every

community in America by millions of our veterans. America’s defenders

today still stand ready at a moments notice to go where comforts are few

and dangers are many, to do what needs to be done as no one else can.

They always come through for America. We must come through for them.

The new century demands new partnerships for peace and security. The

United Nations plays a crucial role, with allies sharing burdens America

might otherwise bear alone. America needs a strong and effective U.N. I

want to work with this new Congress to pay our dues and our debts.

We must continue to support security and stability in Europe and Asia--

expanding NATO and defining its new missions, maintaining our alliance

with Japan, with Korea, with our other Asian allies, and engaging China.

In China last year, I said to the leaders and the people what I’d like

to say again tonight: Stability can no longer be bought at the expense

of liberty.

But I’d also like to say again to the American people, it’s important

not to isolate China. The more we bring China into the world, the more

the world will bring change and freedom to China.

Last spring, with some of you, I traveled to Africa, where I saw

democracy and reform rising, but still held back by violence and

disease. We must fortify African democracy and peace by launching radio

democracy for Africa, supporting the transition to democracy now

beginning to take place in Nigeria, and passing the African Trade and

Development Act.

We must continue to deepen our ties to the Americas and the Caribbean,

our common work to educate children, fight drugs, strengthen democracy

and increase trade. In this hemisphere, every government but one is

freely chosen by its people. We are determined that Cuba, too, will know

the blessings of liberty.

The American people have opened their arms and their hearts and their

arms to our Central American and Caribbean neighbors who have been so

devastated by the recent hurricanes. Working with Congress, I am

committed to help them rebuild.

When the first lady and Tipper Gore visited the region, they saw

thousands of our troops and thousands of American volunteers. In the

Dominican Republic, Hillary helped to rededicate a hospital that had

been rebuilt by Dominicans and Americans working side by side. With her

was some one else who has been very important to the relief efforts. You

know sports records are made and sooner or later, they’re broken. But

making other people’s lives better and showing our children the true

meaning of brotherhood, that lasts forever. So for far more than

baseball, Sammy Sosa, you’re a hero in two countries tonight. Thank you.

So I say to all of you, if we do these things, if we pursue peace, fight

terrorism, increase our strength, renew our alliances, we will begin to

meet our generation’s historic responsibility to build a stronger 21st

century America in a freer, more peaceful world.

As the world has changed, so have our own communities. We must make the

safer, more livable, and more united. This year, we will reach our goal

of 100,000 community police officers ahead of schedule and under budget.

The Brady Bill has stopped a quarter million felons, fugitives, and

stalkers from buying handguns and now, the murder rate is the lowest in

30 years, and the crime rate has dropped for six straight years.

Tonight, I propose a 21st Century Crime Bill to deploy the latest

technologies and tactics to make our communities even safer. Our

balanced budget will help put up to 50,000 more police on the street in

the areas hardest hit by crime, and then to equip them with new tools

from crime-mapping computers to digital mug shots. We must break the

deadly cycle of drugs and crime.

Our budget expands support for drug testing and treatment, saying to

prisoners, “If you stay on drugs, you have to stay behind bars.” And to

those on parole, “If you want to keep your freedom, you must stay free

of drugs.”

I ask Congress to restore the five-day waiting period for buying a

handgun and extend the Brady Bill to prevent juveniles who commit

violent crimes from buying a gun.

We must do more to keep our schools the safest places in our

communities. Last year, every American was horrified and heartbroken by

the tragic killings in Jonesboro, Paducah, Pearl, Edinboro, Springfield.

We were deeply moved by the courageous parents now working to keep guns

out of the hands of children and to make other efforts so that other

parents don’t have to live through their loss.

After she lost her daughter, Suzann Wilson of Jonesboro, Arkansas, came

here to the White House with a powerful plea. She said “Please, please

for the sake of your children, lock up your guns. Don’t let what

happened in Jonesboro, happen in your town.”

It’s a message she is passionately advocating every day. Suzann is here

with us tonight, with the first lady. I would like to thank her for her

courage and her commitment.

In memory of all the children who lost their lives to school violence, I

ask you to strengthen the Safe And Drug Free School Act, to pass

legislation to require child trigger locks, to do everything possible to

keep our children safe.

Today, we’re--excuse me--a century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt

defined our great central task as leaving this land even a better land

for our descendants than it is for us. Today, we’re restoring the

Florida Everglades, saving Yellowstone, preserving the red rock canyons

of Utah, protecting California’s redwoods, and our precious coasts.

But our most fateful new challenge is the threat of global warming.

Nineteen ninety-eight was the warmest year ever recorded. Last year’s

heat waves, floods and storm are but a hint of what future generations

may endure if we do not act now.

Tonight, I propose a new clean air fund to help communities reduce

greenhouse and other pollutions, and tax incentives and investment to

spur clean energy technologies. And I want to work with members of

Congress in both parties to reward companies that take early, voluntary

action to reduce greenhouse gases.

Now, all our communities face a preservation challenge as they grow, and

green space shrinks. Seven thousand acres of farmland and open space are

lost every day. In response, I propose two major initiatives. First, a

$1 billion livability agenda to help communities save open space, ease

traffic congestion, and grow in ways that enhance every citizen’s

quality of life. And second, a $1 billion lands legacy initiative to

preserve places of natural beauty all across America, from the most

remote wilderness to the nearest city park.

These are truly landmark initiatives, which could not have been

developed without the visionary leadership of the vice president and I

want to thank him very much for his commitment here. Thank you.

Now, to get the most out of your community, you have to give something

back. That’s why we created AmeriCorps, our national service program

that gives today’s generation a chance to serve their communities and

earn money for college.

So far, in just four years, 100,000 young Americans have built

low-income homes with Habitat for Humanity, helped tutor children with

churches, work with FEMA to ease the burden of natural disasters and

performed countless other acts of service that has made America better.

I ask Congress to give more young Americans the chance to follow their

lead and serve America in AmeriCorps.

Now, we must work to renew our national community as well for the 21st

century. Last year, the House passed the bipartisan campaign finance

reform legislation sponsored by Representatives [Christopher] Shays

(R-Conn.) and [Martin T.] Meehan (D-Mass.) and Sens. [John] McCain

(R-Ariz.) and [Russell] Feingold (D-Wis.). But a partisan minority in

the Senate blocked reform. So I would like to say to the House, pass it

again--quickly.

And I’d like to say to the Senate, I hope you will say yes to a stronger

American democracy in the year 2000.

Since 1997, our Initiative on Race has sought to bridge the divides

between and among our people. In its report last fall, the Initiatives

Advisory Board found that Americans really do want to bring our people

together across racial lines.

We know it’s been a long journey. For some it goes back to before the

beginning of our republic. For others, back since the Civil War; for

others, throughout the 21st century. But for most of us alive today, in

a very real sense this journey began 43 years ago, when a woman named

Rosa Parks sat down on a bus in Alabama and wouldn’t get up.

She’s sitting down with the first lady tonight, and she may get up or

not as she chooses.

We know that our continuing racial problems are aggravated, as the

presidential initiative said, by opportunity gaps.

The initiative I’ve outlined tonight will help to close them. But we

know that the discrimination gap has not been fully closed either.

Discrimination or violence because of race or religion, ancestry or

gender, disability or sexual orientation, is wrong and it ought to be

illegal. Therefore, I ask Congress to make the Employment

Non-Discrimination Act and the Hate Crimes Prevention Act the law of the

land.

You know, now since every person in America counts, every American ought

to be counted. We need a census that uses modern scientific methods to

do that.

Our new immigrants must be part of our one America. After all, they’re

revitalizing our cities, they’re energizing our culture, they’re

building up our economy. We have a responsibility to make them welcome

here, and they have a responsibility to enter the mainstream of American

life.

That means learning English and learning about our democratic system of

government. There are now long waiting lines of immigrants that are

trying to do just that.

Therefore, our budget significantly expands our efforts to help them

meet their responsibility. I hope you will support it.

Whether our ancestors came here on the Mayflower, on slave ships;

whether they came to Ellis Island or LAX in Los Angeles; whether they

came yesterday or walked this land 1,000 years ago, our great challenge

for the 21st century is to find a way to be one America. We can meet all

the other challenges if we can go forward as one America.

You know, barely more than 300 days from now we will cross that bridge

into the new millennium. This is a moment, as the first lady has said,

to honor the past and imagine the future.

I’d like to take just a minute to honor her, for leading our Millennium

Project, for all she’s done for our children. For all she has done in

her historic role to serve our nation and our best ideals at home and

abroad, I honor her.

Last year--last year I called on Congress and every citizen to mark the

millennium by saving America’s treasures. Hillary’s traveled all across

the country to inspire recognition and support for saving places like

Thomas Edison’s invention factory or Harriet Tubman’s home.

Now we have to preserve our treasures in every community. And tonight,

before I close, I want to invite every town, every city, every community

to become a nationally recognized millennium community by launching

projects that save our history, promote our arts and humanities, prepare

our children for the 21st century.

Already the response has been remarkable. And I want to say a special

word of thanks to our private sector partners and to members in Congress

of both parties for their support. Just one example. Because of you, the

Star Spangled Banner will be preserved for the ages.

In ways large and small, as we look to the millennium, we are keeping

alive what George Washington called the “sacred fire of liberty.”

Six years ago, I came to office in a time of doubt for America, with our

economy troubled, our deficit high, our people divided. Some even

wondered whether our best days were behind us. But across this nation,

in a thousand neighborhoods, I have seen, even amidst the pain and

uncertainty of recession, the real heart and character of America.

I knew then we Americans could renew this country.

Tonight, as I deliver the last State of the Union Address for the 20th

century, no one anywhere in the world can doubt the enduring resolve and

boundless capacity of the American people to work toward that “more

perfect union” of our founders’ dreams.

We are now, at the end of a century, when generation after generation of

Americans answered the call to greatness, overcoming Depression, lifting

up the dispossessed, bringing down barriers to racial prejudice,

building the largest middle class in history, winning two world wars and

the “long twilight struggle” of the Cold War.

We must all be profoundly grateful for the magnificent achievements of

our forbearers in this century.

Yet perhaps in the daily press of events, in the clash of controversy,

we don’t see our own time for what it truly is--a new dawn for America.

A hundred years from tonight, another American president will stand in

this place and report on the State of the Union. He--or she--will look

back on the 21st century shaped in so many ways by the decisions we make

here and now.

So let it be said of us then that we were thinking not only of our time,

but of their time; that we reached as high as our ideals; that we put

aside our divisions and found a new hour of healing and hopefulness;

that we joined together to serve and strengthen the land we love.

My fellow Americans, this is our moment. Let us lift our eyes as one

nation, and from the mountaintop of this American century, look ahead to

the next one--asking God’s blessing on our endeavors and on our beloved

country.

Thank you, and good evening.

***

State of the Union Address

William J. Clinton

January 27, 2000

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, honored guests, my

fellow Americans:

We are fortunate to be alive at this moment in history. Never before has

our nation enjoyed, at once, so much prosperity and social progress with

so little internal crisis or so few external threats. Never before have

we had such a blessed opportunity--and, therefore, such a profound

obligation-- to build the more perfect union of our founders’ dreams.

We begin the new century with over 20 million new jobs. The fastest

economic growth in more than 30 years; the lowest unemployment rates in

30 years; the lowest poverty rates in 20 years; the lowest

African-American and Hispanic unemployment rates on record; the first

back-to-back budget surpluses in 42 years.

Next month, America will achieve the longest period of economic growth

in our entire history.

We have built a new economy.

Our economic revolution has been matched by a revival of the American

spirit: Crime down by 20 percent, to its lowest level in 25 years. Teen

births down seven years in a row and adoptions up by 30 percent. Welfare

rolls cut in half to their lowest levels in 30 years.

My fellow Americans, the state of our union is the strongest it has ever

been.

As always, the credit belongs to the American people.

My gratitude also goes to those of you in this chamber who have worked

with us to put progress above partisanship.

Eight years ago, it was not so clear to most Americans there would be

much to celebrate in the year 2000. Then our nation was gripped by

economic distress, social decline, political gridlock. The title of a

best-selling book asked: “America: What went wrong?”

In the best traditions of our nation, Americans determined to set things

right. We restored the vital center, replacing outdated ideologies with

a new vision anchored in basic, enduring values: opportunity for all,

responsibility from all, and a community of all Americans.

We reinvented government, transforming it into a catalyst for new ideas

that stress both opportunity and responsibility, and give our people the

tools to solve their own problems.

With the smallest federal workforce in 40 years, we turned record

deficits into record surpluses, and doubled our investment in education.

We cut crime: with 100,000 community police and the Brady Law, which has

kept guns out of the hands of half a million criminals.

We ended welfare as we knew it--requiring work while protecting health

care and nutrition for children, and investing more in child care,

transportation, and housing to help their parents go to work. We have

helped parents to succeed at work and at home--with family leave, which

20 million Americans have used to care for a newborn child or a sick

loved one. We have engaged 150,000 young Americans in citizen service

through AmeriCorps--while also helping them earn their way through

college.

In 1992, we had a roadmap. Today, we have results. More important,

America again has the confidence to dream big dreams. But we must not

let our renewed confidence grow into complacency. We will be judged by

the dreams and deeds we pass on to our children. And on that score, we

will be held to a high standard, indeed. Because our chance to do good

is so great.

My fellow Americans, we have crossed the bridge we built to the 21st

Century. Now, we must shape a 21st-Century American revolution--of

opportunity, responsibility, and community. We must be, as we were in

the beginning, a new nation.

At the dawn of the last century, Theodore Roosevelt said, “the one

characteristic more essential than any other is foresight. . . It should

be the growing nation with a future which takes the long look ahead.”

Tonight let us take our look long ahead--and set great goals for our

nation.

To 21st Century America, let us pledge that:

Every child will begin school ready to learn and graduate ready to

succeed. Every family will be able to succeed at home and at work--and

no child will be raised in poverty. We will meet the challenge of the

aging of America. We will assure quality, affordable healthcare for all

Americans. We will make America the safest big country on earth. We will

bring prosperity to every American community. We will reverse the course

of climate change and leave a cleaner, safer planet. America will lead

the world toward shared peace and prosperity, and the far frontiers of

science and technology. And we will become at last what our founders

pledged us to be so long ago--one nation, under God, indivisible, with

liberty and justice for all.

These are great goals, worthy of a great nation. We will not reach them

all this year. Not even in this decade. But we will reach them. Let us

remember that the first American revolution was not won with a single

shot. The continent was not settled in a single year. The lesson of our

history--and the lesson of the last seven years--is that great goals are

reached step by step: always building on our progress, always gaining

ground.

Of course, you can’t gain ground if you’re standing still. For too long

this Congress has been standing still on some of our most pressing

national priorities. Let’s begin with them.

I ask you again to pass a real patient’s bill of rights. Pass

common-sense gun-safety legislation. Pass campaign finance reform. Vote

on long overdue judicial nominations and other important appointees.

And, again, I ask you to raise the minimum wage.

Two years ago, as we reached our first balanced budget, I asked that we

meet our responsibility to the next generation by maintaining our fiscal

discipline. Because we refused to stray from that path, we are doing

something that would have seemed unimaginable seven years ago: We are

actually paying down the national debt. If we stay on this path, we can

pay down the debt entirely in 13 years and make America debt-free for

the first time since Andrew Jackson was president in 1835.

In 1993, we began to put our fiscal house in order with the Deficit

Reduction Act, winning passage in both houses by just one vote. Your

former colleague, my first Secretary of the Treasury, led that effort.

He is here tonight. Lloyd Bentsen, you have served America well.

Beyond paying off the debt, we must ensure that the benefits of debt

reduction go to preserving two of the most important guarantees we make

to every American--Social Security and Medicare. I ask you tonight to

work with me to make a bipartisan down payment on Social Security reform

by crediting the interest savings from debt reduction to the Social

Security Trust Fund to ensure that it is strong and sound for the next

50 years.

But this is just the start of our journey. Now we must take the right

steps toward reaching our great goals.

Opportunity and Responsibility in Education

First and foremost, we need a 21st Century revolution in education,

guided by our faith that every child can learn. Because education is

more than ever the key to our children’s future, we must make sure all

our children have that key. That means quality preschool and

afterschool, the best trained teachers in every classroom, and college

opportunities for all our children.

For seven years, we have worked hard to improve our schools, with

opportunity and responsibility: Investing more, but demanding more in

return.

Reading, math, and college entrance scores are up. And some of the most

impressive gains are in schools in poor neighborhoods.

All successful schools have followed the same proven formula: higher

standards, more accountability, so all children can reach those

standards. I have sent Congress a reform plan based on that formula. It

holds states and school districts accountable for progress, and rewards

them for results. Each year, the national government invests more than

$15 billion in our schools. It’s time to support what works and stop

supporting what doesn’t.

As we demand more than ever from our schools, we should invest more than

ever in our schools.

Let’s double our investment to help states and districts turn around

their worst-performing schools--or shut them down.

Let’s double our investment in afterschool and summer school programs--

boosting achievement, and keeping children off the street and out of

trouble. If we do, we can give every child in every failing school in

America the chance to meet high standards.

Since 1993, we’ve nearly doubled our investment in Head Start and

improved its quality. Tonight, I ask for another $1 billion to Head

Start, the largest increase in the program’s history.

We know that children learn best in smaller classes with good teachers.

For two years in a row, Congress has supported my plan to hire 100,000

new, qualified teachers, to lower class sizes in the early grades. This

year, I ask you to make it three in a row.

And to make sure all teachers know the subjects they teach, tonight I

propose a new teacher quality initiative--to recruit more talented

people into the classroom, reward good teachers for staying there, and

give all teachers the training they need.

We know charter schools provide real public school choice. When I became

President, there was just one independent public charter school in all

America. Today there are 1,700. I ask you to help us meet our goal of

3,000 by next year.

We know we must connect all our classrooms to the Internet. We’re

getting there. In 1994, only three percent of our classrooms were

connected. Today, with the help of the Vice President’s E-rate program,

more than half of them are; and 90 percent of our schools have at least

one connection to the Internet.

But we can’t finish the job when a third of all schools are in serious

disrepair, many with walls and wires too old for the Internet. Tonight,

I propose to help 5,000 schools a year make immediate, urgent repairs.

And again, to help build or modernize 6,000 schools, to get students out

of trailers and into high-tech classrooms.

We should double our bipartisan GEAR UP program to mentor 1.4 million

disadvantaged young people for college. And let’s offer these students a

chance to take the same college test-prep courses wealthier students use

to boost their test scores.

To make the American Dream achievable for all, we must make college

affordable for all. For seven years, on a bipartisan basis, we have

taken action toward that goal: larger Pell grants, more-affordable

student loans, education IRAs, and our HOPE scholarships, which have

already benefited 5 million young people. 67 percent of high school

graduates now go on to college, up almost 10 percent since 1993. Yet

millions of families still strain to pay college tuition. They need

help.

I propose a landmark $30-billion college opportunity tax cut--a

middle-class tax deduction for up to $10,000 in college tuition costs.

We’ve already made two years of college affordable for all. Now let’s

make four years of college affordable for all.

If we take all these steps, we will move a long way toward making sure

every child starts school ready to learn and graduates ready to succeed.

Rewarding Work and Strengthening Families

We need a 21st Century revolution to reward work and strengthen

families-- by giving every parent the tools to succeed at work and at

the most important work of all--raising their children. That means

making sure that every family has health care and the support to care

for aging parents, the tools to bring their children up right, and that

no child grows up in poverty.

From my first days as President, we have worked to give families better

access to better health care. In 1997, we passed the Children’s Health

Insurance Program--CHIP--so that workers who don’t have health care

coverage through their employers at least can get it for their children.

So far, we’ve enrolled 2 million children, and we’re well on our way to

our goal of 5 million.

But there are still more than 40 million Americans without health

insurance, more than there were in 1993. Tonight I propose that we

follow Vice President Gore’s suggestion to make low income parents

eligible for the insurance that covers their kids. Together with our

children’s initiative, we can cover nearly one quarter of the uninsured

in America.

Again, I ask you to let people between 55 and 65--the fastest growing

group of uninsured--buy into Medicare. And let’s give them a tax credit

to make that choice an affordable one.

When the Baby Boomers retire, Medicare will be faced with caring for

twice as many of our citizens--and yet it is far from ready to do so. My

generation must not ask our children’s generation to shoulder our

burden. We must strengthen and modernize Medicare now.

My budget includes a comprehensive plan to reform Medicare, to make it

more efficient and competitive. And it dedicates nearly $400 billion of

our budget surplus to keep Medicare solvent past 2025; and, at long

last, to give every senior a voluntary choice of affordable coverage for

prescription drugs.

Lifesaving drugs are an indispensable part of modern medicine. No one

creating a Medicare program today would even consider excluding coverage

for prescription drugs. Yet more than three in five seniors now lack

dependable drug coverage which can lengthen and enrich their lives.

Millions of older Americans who need prescription drugs the most pay the

highest prices for them.

In good conscience, we cannot let another year pass without extending to

all seniors the lifeline of affordable prescription drugs.

Record numbers of Americans are providing for aging or ailing loved ones

at home. Last year, I proposed a $1,000 tax credit for long-term care.

Frankly, that wasn’t enough. This year, let’s triple it to $3,000--and

this year, let’s pass it.

And we must make needed investments to expand access to mental health

care. I want to thank the person who has led our efforts to break down

the barriers to the decent treatment of mental illness: Tipper Gore.

Taken together, these proposals would mark the largest investment in

health care in the 35 years since the creation of Medicare--a big step

toward assuring health care for all Americans, young and old.

We must also make investments that reward work and support families.

Nothing does that better than the Earned Income Tax Credit, the EITC.

The “E” in “EITC” is about earning; working; taking responsibility and

being rewarded for it. In my first Address to you, I asked Congress to

greatly expand this tax credit; and you did. As a result, in 1998 alone,

the EITC helped more than 4.3 million Americans work their way out of

poverty and toward the middle class--double the number in 1993.

Tonight, I propose another major expansion. We should reduce the

marriage penalty for the EITC, making sure it rewards marriage just as

it rewards work. And we should expand the tax credit for families with

more than two children to provide up to $1,100 more in tax relief.

We can’t reward work and family unless men and women get equal pay for

equal work. The female unemployment rate is the lowest in 46 years. Yet

women still earn only about 75 cents for every dollar men earn. We must

do better by providing the resources to enforce present equal pay laws,

training more women for high-paying, high-tech jobs, and passing the

Paycheck Fairness Act.

Two-thirds of new jobs are in the suburbs, far away from many low-income

families. In the past two years, I have proposed and Congress has

approved 110,000 new housing vouchers--rent subsidies to help working

families live closer to the workplace. This year, let us more than

double that number. If we want people to go to work, they have to be

able to get to work.

Many working parents spend up to a quarter of their income on child

care. Last year, we helped parents provide child care for about two

million children. My child care initiative, along with funds already

secured in welfare reform, would make child care better, safer, and more

affordable for another 400,000 children.

For hard-pressed middle-income families, we should also expand the child

care tax credit. And we should take the next big step. We should make

that tax credit refundable for low-income families. For those making

under $30,000 a year, that could mean up to $2,400 for child-care costs.

We all say we’re pro-work and pro-family. Passing this proposal would

prove it.

Tens of millions of Americans live from paycheck to paycheck. As hard as

they work, they still don’t have the opportunity to save. Too few can

make use of IRAs and 401-K retirement plans. We should do more to help

working families save and accumulate wealth. That’s the idea behind

so-called Individual Development Accounts. Let’s take that idea to a new

level, with Retirement Savings Accounts that enable every low- and

moderate-income family in America to save for retirement, a first home,

a medical emergency, or a college education. I propose to match their

contributions, however small, dollar for dollar, every year they save.

And to give a major new tax credit for any small business that provides

a meaningful pension to its workers.

Nearly one in three American children grows up in a home without a

father. These children are five times more likely to live in poverty

than children with both parents at home. Clearly, demanding and

supporting responsible fatherhood is critical to lifting all children

out of poverty.

We have doubled child support collections since 1992, and I am proposing

tough new measures to hold still more fathers responsible. But we should

recognize that a lot of fathers want to do right by their children--and

need help to do it. Carlos Rosas of St. Paul, Minnesota, got that help.

Now he has a good job and he supports his son Ricardo. My budget will

help 40,000 fathers make the choices Carlos did. And I thank him for

being here.

If there is any issue on which we can reach across party lines it is in

our common commitment to reward work and strengthen families. Thanks to

overwhelming bipartisan support from this Congress, we have improved

foster care, supported those who leave it when they turn eighteen, and

dramatically increased the number of foster children going to adoptive

homes. I thank you for that. Of course, I am especially grateful to the

person who has led our efforts from the beginning, and who has worked

tirelessly for children and families for thirty years now: my wife,

Hillary.

If we take all these steps, we will move a long way toward empowering

parents to succeed at home and at work and ensuring that no child is

raised in poverty. We can make these vital investments in health care,

education and support for working families--and still offer tax cuts to

help pay for college, for retirement, to care for aging parents and

reduce the marriage penalty--without forsaking the path of fiscal

discipline that got us here. Indeed, we must make these investments and

tax cuts in the context of a balanced budget that strengthens and

extends the life of Social Security and Medicare and pays down the

national debt.

Responsibility and Crime

Crime in America has dropped for the past seven years--the longest

decline on record, thanks to a national consensus we helped to forge on

community police, sensible gun safety laws, and effective prevention.

But nobody believes America is safe enough. So let’s set a higher goal:

let’s make America the safest big country in the world.

Last fall, Congress supported my plan to hire--in addition to the

100,000 community police we have already funded--50,000 more,

concentrated in high-crime neighborhoods. I ask your continued support.

Soon after the Columbine tragedy, Congress considered common-sense gun

safety legislation to require Brady background checks at gun shows,

child safety locks for all new handguns, and a ban on the importation of

large-capacity ammunition clips. With courage--and a tie-breaking vote

by the Vice President--the Senate faced down the gun lobby, stood up for

the American people, and passed this legislation. But the House failed

to follow suit.

We’ve all seen what happens when guns fall into the wrong hands. Daniel

Mauser was only 15 years old when he was gunned down at Columbine. He

was an amazing kid, a straight-A student, a good skier. Like all parents

who lose their children, his father Tom has borne unimaginable grief.

Somehow Tom has found the strength to honor his son by transforming his

grief into action. Earlier this month, he took a leave of absence from

his job to fight for tougher gun safety laws. I pray that his courage

and wisdom will move this Congress to make common-sense gun safety

legislation the very next order of business. Tom, thank you for being

here tonight.

We must strengthen gun laws and better enforce laws already on the

books. Federal gun crime prosecutions are up 16 percent since I took

office. But again, we must do more. I propose to hire more federal and

local gun prosecutors, and more ATF agents to crack down on illegal gun

traffickers and bad-apple dealers. And we must give law enforcement the

tools to trace every gun--and every bullet--used in a crime in America.

Listen to this: the accidental gun death rate of children under 15 in

the United States is nine times higher than in the other 25

industrialized nations--combined. Technologies now exist that could lead

to guns that can only be fired by the adults who own them. I ask

Congress to fund research in Smart Gun technology. I also call on

responsible leaders in the gun industry to work with us on smart guns

and other steps to keep guns out of the wrong hands and keep our

children safe.

Every parent I know worries about the impact of violence in the media on

their children. I thank the entertainment industry for accepting my

challenge to put voluntary ratings on TV programs and video and Internet

games. But the ratings are too numerous, diverse, and confusing to be

really useful to parents. Therefore, I now ask the industry to accept

the First Lady’s challenge--to develop a single, voluntary rating system

for all children’s entertainment, one that is easier for parents to

understand and enforce.

If we take all these steps, we will be well on our way to making America

the safest big country in the world.

Opening New Markets

To keep our historic economic expansion going, we need a 21st Century

revolution to open new markets, start new businesses, and hire new

workers right here in America--in our inner cities, poor rural areas,

and on Indian reservations.

Our nation’s prosperity has not yet reached these places. Over the last

six months, I have traveled to many of them--joined by many of you, and

many far-sighted business people--to shine a spotlight on the enormous

potential in communities from Appalachia to the Mississippi Delta, from

Watts to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Everywhere I’ve gone, I’ve

met talented people eager for opportunity, and able to work. Let’s put

them to work.

For business, it’s the smart thing to do. For America, it’s the right

thing to do. And if we don’t do it now, when will we ever get around to

it?

I ask Congress to give businesses the same incentives to invest in

America’s new markets that they now have to invest in foreign markets.

Tonight, I propose a large New Markets Tax Credit and other incentives

to spur $22 billion in private-sector capital--to create new businesses

and new investments in inner cities and rural areas.

Empowerment Zones have been creating these opportunities for five years

now. We should also increase incentives to invest in them and create

more of them.

This is not a Democratic or a Republican issue. It is an American issue.

Mr. Speaker, it was a powerful moment last November when you joined me

and the Reverend Jesse Jackson in your home state of Illinois, and

committed to working toward our common goal, by combining the best ideas

from both sides of the aisle. Mr. Speaker, I look forward to working

with you.

We must maintain our commitment to community development banks and keep

the community reinvestment act strong so all Americans have access to

the capital they need to buy homes and build businesses.

We need to make special efforts to address the areas with the highest

rates of poverty. My budget includes a special $110 million initiative

to promote economic development in the Mississippi Delta; and $1 billion

to increase economic opportunity, health care, education and law

enforcement for Native American communities. In this new century, we

should honor our historic responsibility to empower the first Americans.

I thank leaders and members from both parties who have already expressed

an interest in working with us on these efforts.

There’s another part of our American community in trouble today--our

family farmers. When I signed the Farm Bill in 1996, I said there was a

great danger it would work well in good times but not in bad. Well,

droughts, floods, and historically low prices have made times very bad

for our farmers. We must work together to strengthen the farm safety

net, invest in land conservation, and create new markets by expanding

our program for bio-based fuels and products.

Today, opportunity for all requires something new: having access to a

computer and knowing how to use it. That means we must close the digital

divide between those who have these tools and those who don’t.

Connecting classrooms and libraries to the Internet is crucial, but it’s

just a start. My budget ensures that all new teachers are trained to

teach 21st Century skills and creates technology centers in 1,000

communities to serve adults. This spring, I will invite high-tech

leaders to join me on another New Markets tour--to close the digital

divide and open opportunity for all our people. I thank the high-tech

companies that are already doing so much in this area--and I hope the

new tax incentives I have proposed will encourage others to join us.

If we take these steps, we will go a long way toward our goal of

bringing opportunity to every community.

Global Change and American Leadership

To realize the full possibilities of the new economy, we must reach

beyond our own borders, to shape the revolution that is tearing down

barriers and building new networks among nations and individuals,

economies and cultures: globalization.

It is the central reality of our time. Change this profound is both

liberating and threatening. But there is no turning back. And our open,

creative society stands to benefit more than any other--if we

understand, and act on, the new realities of interdependence. We must be

at the center of every vital global network, as a good neighbor and

partner. We cannot build our future without helping others to build

theirs.

First, we must forge a new consensus on trade. Those of us who believe

passionately in the power of open trade must ensure that it lifts both

our living standards and our values, never tolerating abusive child

labor or a race to the bottom on the environment and worker protection.

Still, open markets and rules-based trade are the best engines we know

for raising living standards, reducing global poverty and environmental

destruction, and assuring the free flow of ideas. There is only one

direction for America on trade: we must go forward.

And we must make developing economies our partners in prosperity--which

is why I ask Congress to finalize our groundbreaking African and

Caribbean Basin trade initiatives.

Globalization is about more than economics. Our purpose must be to bring

the world together around democracy, freedom, and peace, and to oppose

those who would tear it apart.

Here are the fundamental challenges I believe America must meet to shape

the 21st Century world.

First, we must continue to encourage our former adversaries, Russia and

China, to emerge as stable, prosperous, democratic nations. Both are

being held back from reaching their full potential: Russia by the legacy

of communism, economic turmoil, a cruel and self-defeating war in

Chechnya; China by the illusion that it can buy stability at the expense

of freedom. But think how much has changed in the past decade: thousands

of former Soviet nuclear weapons eliminated; Russian soldiers serving

with ours in the Balkans; Russian people electing their leaders for the

first time in a thousand years. And in China, an economy more open to

the world than ever before. No one can know for sure what direction

these great countries will choose. But we must do everything in our

power to increase the chance they will choose wisely, to be constructive

members of the global community.

That is why we must support those Russians struggling for a democratic,

prosperous future; continue to reduce both our nuclear arsenals; and

help Russia safeguard weapons and materials that remain.

That is why Congress should support the agreement we negotiated to bring

China into the WTO, by passing Permanent Normal Trade Relations as soon

as possible this year. Our markets are already open to China. This

agreement will open China’s markets to us. And it will advance the cause

of peace in Asia and promote the cause of change in China.

A second challenge is to protect our security from conflicts that pose

the risk of wider war and threaten our common humanity. America cannot

prevent every conflict or stop every outrage. But where our interests

are at stake and we can make a difference, we must be peacemakers.

We should be proud of America’s role in bringing the Middle East closer

than ever to a comprehensive peace; building peace in Northern Ireland;

working for peace in East Timor and Africa; promoting reconciliation

between Greece and Turkey and in Cyprus; working to defuse crises

between India and Pakistan; defending human rights and religious

freedom.

And we should be proud of the men and women of our armed forces and

those of our allies who stopped the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo--enabling

a million innocent people to return to their homes.

When Slobodan Milosevic unleashed his terror on Kosovo, Captain John

Cherrey was one of the brave airmen who turned the tide. And when

another American plane went down over Serbia, he flew into the teeth of

enemy air defenses to bring his fellow pilot home. Thanks to our armed

forces’ skill and bravery, we prevailed without losing a single American

in combat. Captain Cherrey, we honor you, and promise to finish the job

you began.

A third challenge is to keep the inexorable march of technology from

giving terrorists and potentially hostile nations the means to undermine

our defenses. The same advances that have shrunk cell phones to fit in

the palms of our hands can also make weapons of terror easier to conceal

and easier to use.

We must meet this threat: by making effective agreements to restrain

nuclear and missile programs in North Korea, curbing the flow of lethal

technology to Iran; preventing Iraq from threatening its neighbors;

increasing our preparedness against chemical and biological attack;

protecting our vital computer systems from hackers and criminals; and

developing a system to defend against new missile threats--while working

to preserve our Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia.

I hope we can have a constructive bipartisan dialogue this year to build

a consensus which will lead eventually to the ratification of the

Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

A fourth challenge is to ensure that the stability of our planet is not

threatened by the huge gulf between rich and poor. We cannot accept a

world in which part of humanity lives on the cutting edge of a new

economy, while the rest live on the bare edge of survival. We must do

our part, with expanded trade, expanded aid, and the expansion of

freedom.

From Nigeria to Indonesia, more people won the right to choose their

leaders in 1999 than in 1989, the year the Berlin Wall fell. We must

stand by democracies--like Colombia, fighting narco-traffickers for its

people’s lives, and our children’s lives. I have proposed a strong

two-year package to help Colombia win this fight; and I ask for your

support. And I will propose tough new legislation to go after what drug

barons value most-- their money.

In a world where 1.2 billion people live on less than a dollar a day, we

must do our part in the global endeavor to reduce the debts of the

poorest countries so they can invest in education, health and economic

growth--as the Pope and other religious leaders have urged. Last year,

Congress made a down payment on America’s share. And I ask for your

continued support.

And America must help more nations break the bonds of disease. Last year

in Africa, AIDS killed ten times as many people as war did. My budget

invests $150 million more in the fight against this and other infectious

killers. Today, I propose a tax credit to speed the development of

vaccines for diseases like malaria, TB and AIDS. I ask the private

sector and our partners around the world to join us in embracing this

cause. Together, we can save millions of lives.

Our final challenge is the most important: to pass a national security

budget that keeps our military the best trained and best equipped in the

world, with heightened readiness and 21st Century weapons; raises

salaries for our service men and women; protects our veterans; fully

funds the diplomacy that keeps our soldiers out of war; and makes good

on our commitment to pay our UN dues and arrears. I ask you to pass this

budget and I thank you for the extraordinary support you have

given--Republicans and Democrats alike--to our men and women in uniform.

I especially want to thank Secretary Cohen for symbolizing our

bipartisan commitment to our national security--and Janet Cohen, I thank

you for tirelessly traveling the world to show our support for the

troops.

If we meet all these challenges, America can lead the world toward peace

and freedom in an era of globalization.

Responsibility, Opportunity, and the Environment

I am grateful for the opportunities the Vice President and I have had to

work hard to protect the environment and finally to put to rest the

notion that you can’t expand the economy while protecting the

environment. As our economy has grown, we have rid more than 500

neighborhoods of toxic waste and ensured cleaner air and water for

millions of families. In the past three months alone, we have acted to

preserve more than 40 million acres of roadless lands in our National

Forests and created three new National Monuments.

But as our communities grow, our commitment to conservation must grow as

well. Tonight, I propose creating a permanent conservation fund to

restore wildlife, protect coastlines, and save natural treasures from

California redwoods to the Everglades. This Lands Legacy endowment

represents by far the most enduring investment in land preservation ever

proposed.

Last year, the Vice President launched a new effort to help make

communities more livable--so children will grow up next to parks, not

parking lots, and parents can be home with their children instead of

stuck in traffic. Tonight, we propose new funding for advanced transit

systems-- for saving precious open spaces--for helping major cities

around the Great Lakes protect their waterways and enhance their quality

of life.

The greatest environmental challenge of the new century is global

warming. Scientists tell us that the 1990s were the hottest decade of

the entire millennium. If we fail to reduce emissions of greenhouse

gases, deadly heat waves and droughts will become more frequent, coastal

areas will be flooded, economies disrupted.

Many people in the United States and around the world still believe we

can’t cut greenhouse gas pollution without slowing economic growth. In

the Industrial Age that may have been true. In the digital economy, it

isn’t. New technologies make it possible to cut harmful emissions and

provide even more growth. For example, just last week, automakers

unveiled cars that get 70 to 80 miles a gallon--the fruits of a unique

research partnership between government and industry. Before you know

it, efficient production of biofuels will give us the equivalent of

hundreds of miles from a gallon of gas.

To speed innovations in environmental technologies, I propose giving

major tax incentives to businesses for the production of clean

energy--and to families for buying energy-saving homes and appliances

and the next generation of super-efficient cars when they hit the

showroom floor. I also call on the auto industry to use available

technologies to make all new cars more fuel efficient right away. And on

Congress to make more of our clean-energy technologies available to the

developing world--creating cleaner growth abroad and new jobs at home.

The Opportunity and Responsibility of Science and Technology

In the new century, innovations in science and technology will be the

key not only to the health of the environment but to miraculous

improvements in the quality of our lives and advances in the economy.

Later this year, researchers will complete the first draft of the entire

human genome--the very blueprint of life. It is important for all

Americans to recognize that your tax dollars have fueled this research--

and that this and other wise investments in science are leading to a

revolution in our ability to detect, treat, and prevent disease.

For example, researchers have identified genes that cause Parkinson’s

Disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer--and they are designing

precision therapies that will block the harmful effects of these faulty

genes for good. Researchers are already using this new technique to

target and destroy cells that cause breast cancer. Soon, we may be able

to use it to prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease. Scientists are

also working on an artificial retina to help many blind people to see

and microchips that would directly stimulate damaged spinal cords and

allow people who are now paralyzed to stand up and walk.

Science and engineering innovations are also propelling our remarkable

prosperity. Information technology alone now accounts for a third of our

economic growth, with jobs that pay almost 80 percent above the private

sector average. Again, we should keep in mind: government-funded

research brought supercomputers, the Internet, and communications

satellites into being. Soon researchers will bring us devices that can

translate foreign languages as fast as you can speak; materials 10 times

stronger than steel at a fraction of the weight; and molecular computers

the size of a teardrop with the power of today’s fastest supercomputers.

To accelerate the march of discovery across all disciplines of science

and technology, my budget includes an unprecedented $3 billion increase

in the 21st Century Research Fund, the largest increase in civilian

research in a generation.

These new breakthroughs must be used in ways that reflect our most

cherished values. First and foremost, we must safeguard our citizens’

privacy. Last year, we proposed rules to protect every citizen’s medical

records. This year, we will finalize those rules. We have also taken the

first steps to protect the privacy of bank and credit card statements

and other financial records. Soon I will send legislation to the

Congress to finish that job. We must also act to prevent any genetic

discrimination by employers or insurers.

These steps will allow America to lead toward the far frontiers of

science and technology--enhancing our health, environment, and economy

in ways we cannot even imagine today.

Community

At a time when science, technology and the forces of globalization are

bringing so many changes into our lives, it is more important than ever

that we strengthen the bonds that root us in our local communities and

in our national communities.

No tie binds different people together like citizen service. There is a

new spirit of service in America--a movement we have supported with

AmeriCorps, an expanded Peace Corps, and unprecedented new partnerships

with businesses, foundations, and community groups. Partnerships to

enlist 12,000 companies in moving 650,000 of our fellow citizens from

welfare to work. To battle drug abuse and AIDS. To teach young people to

read. To Save America’s Treasures. To strengthen the arts. To fight teen

pregnancy. To prevent youth violence. To promote racial healing.

We can do even more to help Americans help each other. We should help

faith-based organizations do more to fight poverty and drug abuse and

help young people get back on the right track with initiatives like

Second Chance Homes to help unwed teen mothers. We should support

Americans who tithe and contribute to charities, but don’t earn enough

to claim a tax deduction for it. Tonight, I propose new tax incentives

to allow low- and middle-income citizens to get that deduction.

We should do more to help new immigrants fully participate in the

American community--investing more to teach them civics and English. And

since everyone in our community counts, we must make sure everyone is

counted in this year’s census.

Within ten years there will be no majority race in our largest state,

California. In a little more than 50 years, there will be no majority

race in America. In a more interconnected world, this diversity can be

our greatest strength. Just look around this chamber. We have members

from virtually every racial, ethnic, and religious background. And

America is stronger for it. But as we have seen, these differences all

too often spark hatred and division, even here at home.

We have seen a man dragged to death in Texas simply because he was

black. A young man murdered in Wyoming simply because he was gay. In the

last year alone, we’ve seen the shootings of African Americans, Asian

Americans, and Jewish children simply because of who they were. This is

not the American way. We must draw the line. Without delay, we must pass

the Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the Employment Non-Discrimination

Act. And we should reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.

No American should be subjected to discrimination in finding a home,

getting a job, going to school, or securing a loan. Tonight, I propose

the largest ever investment to enforce America’s civil rights laws.

Protections in law must be protections in fact.

Last February, I created the White House Office of One America to

promote racial reconciliation. That’s what Hank Aaron, has done all his

life. From his days as baseball’s all-time homerun king to his recent

acts of healing, he has always brought Americans together. We’re pleased

he’s with us tonight.

This fall, at the White House, one of America’s leading scientists said

something we should all remember. He said all human beings, genetically,

are 99.9 percent the same. So modern science affirms what ancient faith

has always taught: the most important fact of life is our common

humanity.

Therefore, we must do more than tolerate diversity--we must honor it and

celebrate it.

My fellow Americans, each time I prepare for the State of the Union, I

approach it with great hope and expectations for our nation. But tonight

is special--because we stand on the mountaintop of a new millennium.

Behind us we see the great expanse of American achievement; before us,

even grander frontiers of possibility.

We should be filled with gratitude and humility for our prosperity and

progress; with awe and joy at what lies ahead; and with absolute

determination to make the most of it.

When the framers finished crafting our Constitution, Benjamin Franklin

stood in Independence Hall and reflected on a painting of the sun, low

on the horizon. He said, “I have often wondered whether that sun was

rising or setting. Today,” Franklin said, “I have the happiness to know

it is a rising sun.” Well, today, because each generation of Americans

has kept the fire of freedom burning brightly, lighting those frontiers

of possibility, we still bask in the warmth of Mr. Franklin’s rising

sun.

After 224 years, the American Revolution continues. We remain a new

nation. As long as our dreams outweigh our memories, America will be

forever young. That is our destiny. And this is our moment.

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

***

State of the Union Address

George W. Bush

February 27, 2001

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress: It’s a great

privilege to be here to outline a new budget and a new approach for

governing our great country. I thank you for your invitation to speak

here tonight. I know Congress had to formally invite me, and it could

have been a close vote. (Laughter.) So, Mr. Vice President, I

appreciate you being here to break the tie. (Laughter.)

I want to thank so many of you who have accepted my invitation to come

to the White House to discuss important issues. We’re off to a good

start. I will continue to meet with you and ask for your input. You

have been kind and candid, and I thank you for making a new President

feel welcome. (Applause.)

The last time I visited the Capitol, I came to take an oath on the steps

of this building. I pledged to honor our Constitution and laws.

(Applause.) And I asked you to join me in setting a tone of civility

and respect in Washington. (Applause.)

I hope America is noticing the difference, because we’re making

progress. Together, we are changing the tone in the Nation’s Capital.

And this spirit of respect and cooperation is vital, because, in the

end, we will be judged not only by what we say or how we say it, we will

be judged by what we’re able to accomplish.

America today is a nation with great challenges, but greater resources.

An artist using statistics as a brush could paint two very different

pictures of our country. One would have warning signs: increasing

layoffs, rising energy prices, too many failing schools, persistent

poverty, the stubborn vestiges of racism. Another picture would be full

of blessings: a balanced budget, big surpluses, a military that is

second to none, a country at peace with its neighbors, technology that

is revolutionizing the world, and our greatest strength -- concerned

citizens who care for our country and care for each other.

Neither picture is complete in and of itself. And tonight I challenge

and invite Congress to work with me to use the resources of one picture

to repaint the other; to direct the advantages of our time to solve the

problems of our people. Some of these resources will come from

government. Some, but not all.

Year after year in Washington, budget debates seem to come down to an

old, tired argument: on one side, those who want more government,

regardless of the cost; on the other, those who want less government,

regardless of the need. We should leave those arguments to the last

century, and chart a different course. (Applause.)

Government has a role, and an important role. Yet, too much government

crowds out initiative and hard work, private charity and the private

economy. Our new governing vision says government should be active, but

limited; engaged, but not overbearing. And my budget is based on that

philosophy.

It is reasonable, and it is responsible. It meets our obligations, and

funds our growing needs. We increase spending next year for Social

Security and Medicare, and other entitlement programs, by $81 billion.

We’ve increased spending for discretionary programs by a very

responsible 4 percent, above the rate of inflation. My plan pays down

an unprecedented amount of our national debt. And then, when money is

still left over, my plan returns it to the people who earned it in the

first place. (Applause.)

A budget’s impact is counted in dollars, but measured in lives.

Excellent schools, quality health care, a secure retirement, a cleaner

environment, a stronger defense -- these are all important needs, and we

fund them. The highest percentage increase in our budget should go to

our children’s education. (Applause.) Education is not my top priority

-- education is my top priority and, by supporting this budget, you’ll

make it yours, as well.

Reading is the foundation of all learning. So during the next five

years, we triple spending, adding $5 billion to help every child in

America learn to read. Values are important, so we’ve tripled funding

for character education to teach our children not only reading and

writing, but right from wrong. (Applause.)

We’ve increased funding to train and recruit teachers, because we know a

good education starts with a good teacher. And I have a wonderful

partner in this effort. I like teachers so much, I married one.

(Applause.) Laura has begun a new effort to recruit Americans to the

profession that will shape our future -- teaching. She will travel

across America to promote sound teaching practices and early reading

skills in our schools and in programs such as Head Start.

When it comes to our schools, dollars alone do not always make the

difference. Funding is important, and so is reform. So we must tie

funding to higher standards and accountability for results. (Applause.)

I believe in local control of schools. We should not, and we will not,

run public schools from Washington, D.C. (Applause.) Yet when the

federal government spends tax dollars, we must insist on results.

Children should be tested on basic reading and math skills every year

between grades three and eight. Measuring is the only way to know

whether all our children are learning. And I want to know, because I

refuse to leave any child behind in America. (Applause.)

Critics of testing contend it distracts from learning. They talk about

teaching to the test. But let’s put that logic to the test. If you

test a child on basic math and reading skills, and you’re teaching to

the test, you’re teaching math and reading. And that’s the whole idea.

(Applause.) As standards rise, local schools will need more flexibility

to meet them. So we must streamline the dozens of federal education

programs into five, and let states spend money in those categories as

they see fit. (Applause.)

Schools will be given a reasonable chance to improve and the support to

do so. Yet, if they don’t, if they continue to fail, we must give

parents and students different options -- a better public school, a

private school, tutoring or a charter school. (Applause.) In the end,

every child in a bad situation must be given a better choice because,

when it comes to our children, failure is simply not an option.

(Applause.)

Another priority in my budget is to keep the vital promises of Medicare

and Social Security, and together we will do so. To meet the health

care needs of all America’s seniors, we double the Medicare budget over

the next 10 years. My budget dedicates $238 billion to Medicare next

year alone, enough to fund all current programs and to begin a new

prescription drug benefit for low-income seniors. (Applause.) No

senior in America should have to choose between buying food and buying

prescriptions. (Applause.)

To make sure the retirement savings of America’s seniors are not

diverted in any other program, my budget protects all $2.6 trillion of

the Social Security surplus for Social Security, and for Social Security

alone. (Applause.)

My budget puts a priority on access to health care, without telling

Americans what doctor they have to see or what coverage they must

choose. Many working Americans do not have health care coverage, so we

will help them buy their own insurance with refundable tax credits.

(Applause.) And to provide quality care in low-income neighborhoods,

over the next five years we will double the number of people served at

community health care centers. (Applause.)

And we will address the concerns of those who have health coverage, yet

worry their insurance company doesn’t care and won’t pay. Together this

Congress and this President will find common ground to make sure doctors

make medical decisions, and patients get the health care they deserve

with a patients’ bill of rights. (Applause.)

When it comes to their health, people want to get the medical care they

need, not be forced to go to court because they didn’t get it. We will

ensure access to the courts for those with legitimate claims. But

first, let’s put in place a strong, independent review so we promote

quality health care, not frivolous lawsuits. (Applause.)

My budget also increases funding for medical research, which gives hope

to many who struggle with serious disease. Our prayers tonight are with

one of your own who is engaged in his own fight against cancer -- a fine

representative, and a good man, Congressman Joe Moakley. (Applause.) I

can think of no more appropriate tribute to Joe than to have the

Congress finish the job of doubling the budget for the National

Institutes of Health. (Applause.)

My new Freedom Initiative for Americans with Disabilities funds new

technologies, expands opportunities to work, and makes our society more

welcoming. For the more than 50 million Americans with disabilities, we

need to break down barriers to equality. (Applause.)

The budget I propose to you also supports the people who keep our

country strong and free, the men and women who serve in the United

States military. (Applause.) I’m requesting $5.7 billion in increased

military pay and benefits, and health care and housing. Our men and

women in uniform give America their best and we owe them our support.

(Applause.)

America’s veterans honored their commitment to our country through their

military service. I will honor our commitment to them with a

million-dollar increase to ensure better access to quality care and

faster decisions on benefit claims. (Applause.)

My budget will improve our environment by accelerating the cleanup of

toxic brownfields. And I propose we make a major investment in

conservation by fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

(Applause.) Our national parks have a special place in our country’s

life. Our parks are places of great natural beauty and history. As good

stewards, we must leave them better than we found them. So I propose

providing $4.9 billion over five years for the upkeep of these national

treasures. (Applause.)

And my budget adopts a hopeful new approach to help the poor and the

disadvantaged. We must encourage and support the work of charities and

faith-based and community groups that offer help and love one person at

a time. (Applause.) These groups are working in every neighborhood in

America to fight homelessness and addiction and domestic violence; to

provide a hot meal or a mentor or a safe haven for our children.

Government should welcome these groups to apply for funds, not

discriminate against them. (Applause.)

Government cannot be replaced by charities or volunteers. Government

should not fund religious activities. (Applause.) But our nation

should support the good works of these good people who are helping their

neighbors in need. (Applause.) So I propose allowing all taxpayers,

whether they itemize or not, to deduct their charitable contributions.

Estimates show this could encourage as much as $14 billion a year in new

charitable giving, money that will save and change lives. (Applause.)

Our budget provides more than $700 million over the next 10 years for a

federal compassion capital fund, with a focused and noble mission, to

provide a mentor to the more than 100 million children with a parent in

prison, and to support other local efforts to fight illiteracy, teen

pregnancy, drug addiction and other difficult problems. (Applause.)

With us tonight is the Mayor of Philadelphia. Please help me welcome

Mayor John Street. (Applause.) Mayor Street has encouraged faith-based

and community organizations to make a significant difference in

Philadelphia. He’s invited me to his city this summer to see

compassionate action. I’m personally aware of just how effective the

Mayor is. Mayor Street’s a Democrat. (Applause.) Let the record show,

I lost his city, big time. (Applause.) But some things are bigger than

politics. So I look forward to coming to your city, to see your

faith-based programs in action. (Applause.)

As government promotes compassion, it also must promote justice. Too

many of our citizens have cause to doubt our nation’s justice, when the

law points a finger of suspicion at groups, instead of individuals. All

our citizens are created equal, and must be treated equally.

(Applause.)

Earlier today, I asked John Ashcroft, the Attorney General, to develop

specific recommendations to end racial profiling. It’s wrong and we

will end it in America. (Applause.) In so doing, we will not hinder

the work of our nation’s brave police officers. They protect us every

day -- often at great risk. (Applause.) But by stopping the abuses of

a few, we will add to the public confidence our police officers earn and

deserve. (Applause.)

My budget has funded a responsible increase in our ongoing operations.

It has funded our nation’s important priorities. It has protected

Social Security and Medicare. And our surpluses are big enough that

there is still money left over.

Many of you have talked about the need to pay down our national debt. I

listened, and I agree. (Applause.) We owe it to our children and

grandchildren to act now, and I hope you will join me to pay down $2

trillion in debt during the next 10 years. (Applause.) At the end of

those 10 years, we will have paid down all the debt that is available to

retire. (Applause.) That is more debt, repaid more quickly than has

ever been repaid by any nation at any time in history. (Applause.)

We should also prepare for the unexpected, for the uncertainties of the

future. We should approach our nation’s budget as any prudent family

would, with a contingency fund for emergencies or additional spending

needs. For example, after a strategic review, we may need to increase

defense spending. We may need to increase spending for our farmers or

additional money to reform Medicare. And so, my budget sets aside

almost a trillion dollars over 10 years for additional needs. That is

one trillion additional reasons you can feel comfortable supporting this

budget. (Applause.)

We have increased our budget at a responsible 4 percent. We have funded

our priorities. We paid down all the available debt. We have prepared

for contingencies. And we still have money left over.

Yogi Berra once said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

(Laughter.) Now, we come to a fork in the road; we have two choices.

Even though we have already met our needs, we could spend the money on

more and bigger government. That’s the road our nation has traveled in

recent years.

Last year, government spending shot up 8 percent. That’s far more than

our economy grew, far more than personal income grew, and far more than

the rate of inflation. If you continue on that road, you will spend the

surplus and have to dip into Social Security to pay other bills.

(Applause.) Unrestrained government spending is a dangerous road to

deficits, so we must take a different path. (Applause.) The other

choice is to let the American people spend their own money to meet their

own needs. (Applause.)

I hope you will join me in standing firmly on the side of the people.

You see, the growing surplus exists because taxes are too high and

government is charging more than it needs. The people of America have

been overcharged and, on their behalf, I am here asking for a refund.

(Applause.)

Some say my tax plan is too big. (Applause.) Others say it’s too

small. (Applause.) I respectfully disagree. (Laughter.) This plan is

just right. (Applause.) I didn’t throw darts at the board to come up

with a number for tax relief. I didn’t take a poll or develop an

arbitrary formula that might sound good. I looked at problems in the

Tax Code and calculated the cost to fix them.

A tax rate of 15 percent is too high for those who earn low wages, so we

must lower the rate to 10 percent. (Applause.) No one should pay more

than a third of the money they earn in federal income taxes, so we

lowered the top rate to 33 percent. (Applause.)

This reform will be welcome relief for America’s small businesses, which

often pay taxes at the highest rate. And help for small business means

jobs for Americans. (Applause.) We simplified the Tax Code by reducing

the number of tax rates from the current five rates to four lower ones,

10 percent, 15, 25 and 33 percent. In my plan, no one is targeted in or

targeted out. Everyone who pays income taxes will get relief.

(Applause.)

Our government should not tax, and thereby discourage marriage, so we

reduced the marriage penalty. (Applause.) I want to help families rear

and support their children, so we doubled the child credit to $1,000 per

child. (Applause.) It’s not fair to tax the same earnings twice --

once when you earn them, and again when you die -- so we must repeal the

death tax. (Applause.)

These changes add up to significant help. A typical family with two

children will save $1,600 a year on their federal income taxes. Now,

$1,600 may not sound like a lot to some, but it means a lot to many

families: $1,600 buys gas for two cars for an entire year; it pays

tuition for a year at a community college; it pays the average family

grocery bill for three months. That’s real money.

With us tonight representing many American families are Steven and

Josefina Ramos. (Applause.) They are from Pennsylvania. (Applause.)

But they could be from any one of your districts. Steven is the network

administrator for a school district. Josefina is a Spanish teacher at a

charter school. And they have a two-year-old daughter.

Steven and Josefina tell me they pay almost $8,000 a year in federal

income taxes. My plan will save them more than $2,000. Let me tell you

what Steven says: “Two thousand dollars a year means a lot to my

family. If we had this money, it would help us reach our goal of paying

off our personal debt in two years’ time.” After that, Steven and

Josefina want to start saving for Lianna’s college education.

My attitude is, government should never stand in the way of families

achieving their dreams. (Applause.) And as we debate this issue,

always remember, the surplus is not the government’s money, the surplus

is the people’s money. (Applause.)

For lower-income families, my tax plan restores basic fairness. Right

now, complicated tax rules punish hard work. A waitress supporting two

children on $25,000 a year can lose nearly half of every additional

dollar she earns above the $25,000. Her overtime, her hardest hours,

are taxed at nearly 20 percent. This sends a terrible message: you’ll

never get ahead. But America’s message must be different. We must honor

hard work, never punish it. (Applause.) With tax relief, overtime will

no longer be over-taxed time for the waitress. (Applause.) People with

the smallest incomes will get the highest percentage of reductions. And

millions of additional American families will be removed from the income

tax rolls entirely. (Applause.)

Tax relief is right and tax relief is urgent. The long economic

expansion that began almost 10 years ago is faltering. Lower interest

rates will eventually help, but we cannot assume they will do the job

all by themselves.

Forty years ago, and then 20 years ago, two Presidents, one Democrat,

one Republican, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, advocated tax cuts

to, in President Kennedy’s words, get this country moving again. They

knew then what we must do now. To create economic growth and

opportunity, we must put money back into the hands of the people who buy

goods and create jobs. (Applause.)

We must act quickly. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve has testified

before Congress that tax cuts often come too late to stimulate economic

recovery. So I want to work with you to give our economy an important

jump-start by making tax relief retroactive. (Applause.)

We must act now because it is the right thing to do. We must also act

now because we have other things to do. We must show courage to

confront and resolve tough challenges, to restructure our nation’s

defenses, to meet our growing need for energy, and to reform Medicare

and Social Security.

America has a window of opportunity to extend and secure our present

peace by promoting a distinctly American internationalism. We will work

with our allies and friends to be a force for good and a champion of

freedom. We will work for free markets, free trade and freedom from

oppression. Nations making progress toward freedom will find America is

their friend. We will promote our values. We will promote the peace.

And we need a strong military to keep the peace.