US Presidency
1992

But do not misunderstand me. The reductions I have approved will save us an additional $ 50 billion over the next five years. By 1997, we will have cut defense by 30 percent since I took office. These cuts are deep, and you must know my resolve: This deep, and no deeper. To do less would be insensible to progress, but to do more would be ignorant of history. We must not go back to the days of the hollow army. We can not repeat the mistakes made twice in this century when armistice was followed by recklessness and defense was purged as if the world were permanently safe. I remind you this evening that I have asked for your support in funding a program to protect our country from limited nuclear missile attack. We must have this protection because too many people in too many countries have access to nuclear arms. And I urge you again to pass the Strategic Defense Initiative, SDI.