Bill Clinton

“ So I call on Congress to renew America's commitment to the International Monetary Fund.
And I think we should say to all the people we're trying to represent here that preparing for a far-off storm that may reach our shores is far wiser than ignoring the thunder until the clouds are just overhead.
A strong nation rests on the rock of responsibility.
A society rooted in responsibility must first promote the value of work, not welfare.
We can be proud that after decades of finger pointing and failure, together we ended the old welfare system. ”

“ As we see so clearly in Bosnia, allies who share our goals can also share our burdens. In this new era, our freedom and independence are actually enriched, not weakened, by our increasing interdependence with other nations. But we have to do our part.
Our founders set America on a permanent course toward a more perfect union. To all of you, I say it is a journey we can only make together, living as one community.
First, we have to continue to reform our government, the instrument of our national community. Everyone knows elections have become too expensive, fueling a fundraising arms race. ”

“ When we open the doors of college to all Americans, when we rid all our streets of crime, when there are jobs available to people from all our neighborhoods, when we make sure all parents have the child care they need, we're helping to build one nation.
We in this chamber and in this government must do all we can to address the continuing American challenge to build one America. But we'll only move forward if all our fellow citizens — including every one of you at home watching tonight — is also committed to this cause. ”

“ This past December, America led the world to reach a historic agreement committing our nation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through market forces, new technologies, energy efficiency.
We have it in our power to act right here, right now. I propose $6 billion in tax cuts and research and development to encourage innovation, renewable energy, fuel-efficient cars, energy- efficient homes. Every time we have acted to heal our environment, pessimists have told us it would hurt the economy. Well, today our economy is the strongest in a generation. ”

“ Rarely have Americans lived through so much change in so many ways in so short a time. Quietly, but with gathering force, the ground has shifted beneath our feet, as we have moved into an information age, a global economy, a truly new world. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Today's possibilities are not tomorrow's guarantees.
America must stand against the poisoned appeals of extreme nationalism. We must combat an unholy axis of new threats from terrorists, international criminals and drug traffickers. These 21st century predators feed on technology and the free flow of information and ideas and people, and they will be all the more lethal if weapons of mass destruction fall into their hands. ”

“ We are moving steadily toward an even stronger America in the 21st century, an economy that offers opportunity, a society rooted in responsibility, and a nation that lives as a community.
First, Americans in this chamber and across our nation have pursued a new strategy for prosperity: Fiscal discipline to cut interest rates and spur growth. Investments in education and skills and science and technology and transportation to prepare our people for the new economy. ”

“ I have launched this national initiative on race to help us recognize our common interests and to bridge the opportunity gaps that are keeping us from becoming one America.
Let us begin by recognizing what we still must overcome. Discrimination against any American is un-American. ”

“ Tonight as part of our gift to the millennium, I propose a 21st century research fund for path breaking scientific inquiry, the largest funding increase in history for the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the National Cancer Institute. ”

“ We have moved past the sterile debate between those who say government is the enemy and those who say government is the answer. My fellow Americans, we have found a third way. We have the smallest government in 35 years, but a more progressive one. We have a smaller government, but a stronger nation. ”

“ It is a time to build — to build the America within reach. An America where everybody has a chance to get ahead with hard work, where every citizen can live in a safe community, where families are strong, schools are good and all our young people can go on to college. ”

“ Our culture lives in every community, and every community has places of historic value that tell our stories as Americans. We should protect them. I am proposing a public/private partnership to advance our arts and humanities and to celebrate the millennium by saving America's treasures, great and small. ”

“ We must exercise responsibility not just at home but around the world. On the eve of a new century we have the power and the duty to build a new era of peace and security. But make no mistake about it. ”

“ Tonight I propose that we reserve 100 percent of the surplus, that's every penny of any surplus, until we have taken all the necessary measures to strengthen the Social Security system for the 21st century. ”

“ Our overriding environmental challenge tonight is the worldwide problem of climate change, global warming, the gathering crisis that requires worldwide action. The vast majority of scientists have concluded unequivocally that if we don't reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses at some point in the next century, we'll disrupt or climate and put our children and grandchildren at risk. ”

“ And one year from now, I will convene the leaders of Congress to craft historic, bipartisan legislation to achieve a landmark for our generation: A Social Security system that is strong in the 21st century. ”

“ In Bosnia and around the world, our men and women in uniform always do their mission well. Our mission must be to keep them well trained and ready, to improve their quality of life and to provide the 21st century weapons they need to defeat any enemy.
I ask Congress to join me in pursuing an ambitious agenda to reduce the serious threat of weapons of mass destruction. This year, four decades after it was first proposed by President Eisenhower, a comprehensive nuclear test ban is within reach. ”

“ I challenge Congress — let's pass bipartisan, comprehensive legislation that will improve public health, protect our tobacco farmers and change the way tobacco companies do business forever. Let's do what it takes to bring teen smoking down. ”

“ In an economy that honors opportunity, all Americans must be able to reap the rewards of prosperity. Because these times are good, we can afford to take one simple, sensible step to help millions of workers struggling to provide for their families. ”

“ Thanks to the actions of this Congress last year, we will soon have for the very first time a voluntary national test based on national standards in fourth grade reading and eighth grade math. Parents have a right to know whether their children are mastering the basics. And every parent already knows the key — good teachers and small classes.
Tonight, I propose the first ever national effort to reduce class size in the early grades.
My balanced budget will help to hire 100,000 new teachers who pass the state competency test. ”

“ The American economy remains sound and strong and I want to keep it that way. But because the turmoil in Asia will have an impact on all the world's economies, including ours, making that negative impact as small as possible is the right thing to do for America and the right thing to do for a safer world. ”

“ Sixty thousand of our fellow citizens are waiting in line for justice, and we should act now to end their wait.
We should also recognize that the greatest progress we can make toward building one America lies in the progress we make for all Americans — without regard to race. ”

“ We still have a lot more to do — all of us — to make welfare reform a success. Providing child care, helping families move closer to available jobs, challenging more companies to join our welfare-to- work partnership, increasing child support collections from deadbeat parents who have a duty to support their own children. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Let this Congress be remembered as the Congress that saved their lives.
In the new economy, most parents work harder than ever. They face a constant struggle to balance their obligations to be good workers and their even more important obligations to be good parents. The Family and Medical Leave Act was the very first bill I was privileged to sign into law as president in 1993. ”

“ Crime has dropped for a record five years in a row, and the welfare rolls are at their lowest levels in 27 years.
Our leadership in the world is unrivaled. Ladies and gentlemen, the state of our union is strong. ”

“ For the past five years, we have worked to bring the spark of private enterprise to inner city and poor rural areas with community development banks, more commercial loans into poor neighborhoods, clean-up of polluted sites for development.
Under the continued leadership of the vice president, we propose to triple the number of empowerment zones to give business incentives to invest in those areas.
We should — thank you. We should also give poor families more help to move into homes of their own. And we should use tax cuts to spur the construction of more low-income housing. ”

“ Saddam Hussein has spent the better part of this decade and much of his nation's wealth not on providing for the Iraqi people, but on developing nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, and the missiles to deliver them. ”

“ And the next generation Internet will operate at speeds up to 1,000 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 kindness had only one place to call home — our planet Earth. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If they sink in a recession, they won't be able to buy the goods we'd like to sell them. Second, they're also our competitors. So if their currencies lose their value and go down, then the price of their goods will drop, flooding our market and others with much cheaper goods which makes it a lot tougher four our people to compete. ”

“ We see it today in the United States military, in the Peace Corps, in AmeriCorps.
Wherever people of all races and backgrounds come together in a shared endeavor and get a fair chance, we do just fine. With shared values and meaningful opportunities and honest communications and citizen service, we can unite a diverse people in freedom and mutual respect. ”

“ Today, she's a dispatcher with a van company. She's saved enough money to move her family into a good neighborhood, and she's helping other welfare recipients go to work. Elaine Kinslow and all those like her are the real heroes of the welfare revolution. There are millions like her all across America and I'm happy she could join the first lady tonight. ”

“ I also asked this Congress to support our efforts to enlist colleges and universities to reach out to disadvantaged children, starting in the sixth grade, so that they can get the guidance and hope they need so they can know that they, too, will be able to go on to college. ”