Excerpts From Clinton’s Speech

The following are highlights of President Clinton’s State of the Union address:

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.

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, now, as we were in the beginning, a new nation.

To 21st century America, let us pledge . . . 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 health care at last 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.

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.

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. Tonight, I ask you 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 so that it will be strong and sound for the next 50 years.

When the baby boomers retire, Medicare will be faced with caring for twice as many of our citizens--yet it is far from ready to do so. My generation must not ask our children’s generation to shoulder our burden. We simply must act now to strengthen and modernize Medicare.

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 this lifeline of affordable prescription drugs.

We must strengthen our gun laws and better enforce laws already on the books. . . . 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 countries--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 to save these children’s lives. I ask 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.

[Globalization] is the central reality of our time. Of course, change this profound is both liberating and threatening to people. 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 realities of interdependence. We have to be at the center of every vital global network, as a good neighbor and partner. We have to realize that we cannot build our future without helping others to build theirs.

But globalization is about more than economics. Our purpose must be to bring together the world around democracy, freedom and peace, and to oppose those who would tear it apart.

[Another] challenge we’ve got is to protect our security from conflicts that pose the risk of wider war and threaten our common humanity. We can’t prevent every conflict or stop every outrage. But where our interests are at stake and we can make a difference, we should be and we must be peacemakers.

Within 10 years--just 10 years--there will be no majority race in our largest state of 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. Look around. We have members from virtually every racial, ethnic and religious background. And I think you would agree that America is stronger because of it. You also have to agree that all those differences you just clapped for, all too often spark hatred and division, even here at home.

We have seen a man dragged to death in Texas just because he was black. We saw a young man murdered in Wyoming simply because he was gay. Last year, we saw the shootings of African Americans, Asian Americans and Jewish children just because of who they were. This is not the American way. And we must draw the line.

You know, when the framers finished crafting our Constitution, Benjamin Franklin stood in Independence Hall and he reflected on the carving of the sun, low on the horizon. He said, “I have often wondered whether that sun was rising or setting. Today . . . I have the happiness to know it is a rising sun.” Today, because each generation of Americans has kept the fire of freedom burning brightly, lighting those frontiers of possibility, we all still bask in the glow and 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.