Ronald Reagan

“ And now, ladies and gentlemen of the Congress, why don't we get to work? (Applause.)
I am pleased to report that, because of our efforts to rebuild the strength of America, the world is a safer place. Earlier this month, I submitted a budget to defend America and maintain our momentum to make up for neglect in the last decade. Well, I ask you to vote out a defense and foreign affairs budget that says "yes" to protecting our country. While the world is safer, it is not safe. ”

“ Six years ago, I was here to ask the Congress to join me in America's New Beginning. Well, the results are something of which we can all be proud. Our inflation rate is now the lowest in a in a quarter of a century.
The prime interest rate has fallen from the 21 and a half percent the month before we took office to seven and a half percent today, and those rates have triggered the most housing starts in eight years.
The unemployment rate — still too high — is the lowest in nearly seven years, and our people have created nearly 13 million new jobs. ”

“ Over the next few weeks, I will be sending the Congress a complete series of these special messages — on budget reform, welfare reform, competitiveness, including education, trade, worker training and assistance, agriculture, and other subjects.
The Congress can give us these tools, but to make these tools work, it really comes down to just beinq our best, and that is the core of American greatness.
The responsibility of freedom presses us towards higher knowledge and, I believe, moral and spiritual greatness. ”

“ We are ready to support a political solution that guarantees the rapid withdrawal of all Soviet troops and genuine self-determination for the Afghan people.
In Central America, too, the cause of freedom is being tested. And our resolve is being tested there as well. Here, especially, the world is watching to see how this Nation responds.
Today, over 90 percent of the people of Latin America live in democracy. Democracy is on the march in Central and South America. ”

“ But in debating the past (applause) — in debating the past, we must not deny ourselves the successes of the future. Let it never be said of this generation of Americans that we became so obsessed with failure that we refused to take risks that could further the cause of peace and freedom in the world. ”

“ You know, we Americans have always preferred dialogue to conflict, and so we always remain open to more constructive relations with the Soviet Union. But more responsible Soviet conduct around the world is a key element of the U.S.-Soviet agenda. Progress is also required on the other items of our agenda as well real respect for human rights, and more open contacts between our societies, and, of course, arms reduction. ”

“ Finally, let's stop suppressing the spiritual core of our national being. Our nation could not have been conceived without divine help. Why is it that we can build a nation with our prayers but we can't use a schoolroom for voluntary prayer? ”

“ Nicaraguan freedom fighters have never asked us to wage their battle, but I will fight and effort to shut off their lifeblood and consign them to death, defeat, or a life without freedom. There must be no Soviet beachhead in Central America. ”

“ It grew out of the most fundamental inspiration of our existence: that we are here to serve Him by living free — that living free releases in us the noblest of impulses and the best of our abilities. That we would use these gifts for good and generous purposes and would secure them not just for ourselves, and for our children, but for all mankind. ”

“ They know that we don't have deficits because people are are taxed too little; we have deficits because big government spends too much. (Applause.)
Now, next month, next month, I'll place two additional reforms before the Congress.
We've created a welfare monster that is a shocking indictment of our sense of priorities. Our national welfare system consists of some 59 major programs and over 6,000 pages of federal laws and regulations on which more than $132 billion was spent in 1985. ”

“ Our basic trade policy remains the same: we remain opposed as ever to protectionism because America's growth and future depend on trade. But we would insist on trade that is fair and free. We are always willing to be trade partners but never trade patsies. ”

“ But only we, each of us, can let the spirit soar against our own individual standards. Excellence is what makes frcedom ring. And isn't that what we do best?
We're entering our third century now, but it's wrong to judge our nation by its Years. The calendar can't measure America because we were meant to be an endless experiment in freedom with no limit to our reaches, no boundaries to what we can do, no end point to our hopes.
The United States Constitution is the impassioned and inspired vehicle by which we travel through history. ”

“ They are the entrepreneurs, the builders, the pioneers, and a lot of regular folks the true heroes of our land who make up the most uncommon nation of doers in history. You know they're Americans because their spirit is as big as the universe and their hearts are bigger than their spirits. ”

“ It's widely said that America is losing her competitive edge. Well, that won't happen if we act now. How well prepared are we to enter the 21st century? In my lifetime, America set the standard for the world. ”

“ We the people. They're farmers on tough times, but who never stop feeding a hungry world. They're the volunteers at the hospital choking back their tears for the hundredth time, caring for a baby strugling for life because of a mother who used drugs. ”

“ We the people. Those are the warm-hearted whose numbers we can't begin to count who'll begin the day with a little prayer for hostages they will never know and MIA families they will never meet. Why? Because that's the way we are, this unique breed we call Americans. ”

“ The lOOth Congress of the United States should be remembered as the one that ended the expulsion of God from America's classrooms. (Applause.)
The quest for excellence into the 21st century begins in the schoolroom but must go next to the workplace. More than 20 million new jobs will be created before the new century unfolds, and, by then, our economy should be able to provide a job for everyone who wants to work. ”

“ Communist Nicaragua is the odd man out — suppressing the Church, the press, and democratic dissent and promoting subversion in the region. We support diplomatic efforts, but these efforts can never succeed if the Sandinistas win their war against the Nicaraguan people. ”

“ Next, let us remove a financial specter facing our older Americans — the fear of an illness so expensive that it can result in having to make an intolerable choice between bankruptcy and death. I will submit legislation shortly to help free the elderly from the fear of catastrophic illness. ”

“ Our children should master the basic concepts of math and science, and let's insist that students not leave high school until they have studied and understood the basic documents of our national heritage. ”

“ We will work to expand our opportunities in international markets through the Uruquay round of trade negotiations and to complete an historic free trade arrangement between the world's two largest trading partners — Canada and the United States. ”

“ Preparing for the future must begin, as always, with our children.
We need to set for them new and more rigorous goals. We must demand more of ourselves and our children by raising literacy levels dramatically by the year 2000. ”

“ This is the most positive and promising defense program we have undertaken. It's the path for both sides — to a safer future; a system that defends human life instead of threatening it. SDI will go forward. ”

“ There's one more thing we can't let up on. Let's redouble our personal efforts to provide for every child a safe and drug_free learning environment. (Applause.) If our crusade against drugs succeeds with our children, we will defeat that scourge all over the country. ”

“ We the people. Those are the kids on Christmas Day looking out from a frozen sentry post on the 38th Parallel in Korea, or aboard an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean. A million miles from home. But doing their duty. ”

“ The bill will include legal and regulatory reforms and weapons to fight unfair trade practices. Competitiveness also means giving our farmers a shot at participating fairly and fully in a changing world market. ”