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I want to take this opportunity to update the American people about the situation in Libya. Over the last several weeks, the world has watched events unfold in Libya with hope and alarm. Last month, protesters took to the streets across the country to demand their universal rights and a government that is accountable to them and responsive to their aspirations. But they were met with an iron fist. Within days, whole parts of the country declared their independence from a brutal regime and members of the Government serving in Libya and abroad chose to align themselves with the forces of change. Muammar Qadhafi clearly lost the confidence of his own people and the legitimacy to lead. Instead of respecting the rights of his own people, Qadhafi chose the path of brutal suppression. Innocent civilians were beaten, imprisoned, and in some cases killed. A campaign of intimidation and repression began. In the face of this injustice, the United States and the international community moved swiftly. Sanctions were put in place by the United States and our allies and partners. The U.N. Security Council imposed further sanctions, an arms embargo, and the specter of international accountability for Qadhafi and those around him. Humanitarian assistance was positioned on Libya's borders, and those displaced by the violence received our help. Ample warning was given that Qadhafi needed to stop his campaign of repression or be held accountable. The Arab League and the European Union joined us in calling for an end to violence. Once again, Qadhafi chose to ignore the will of his people and the international community. Instead, he launched a military campaign against his own people. And there should be no doubt about his intentions because he himself has made them clear. For decades, he is demonstrated a willingness to use brute force through his sponsorship of terrorism against the American people as well as others and through the killings that he has carried out within his own borders. And just yesterday, speaking of the city of Benghazi, a city of roughly 700,000 people, he threatened, and I quote, We will have no mercy and no pity. Now, here is why this matters to us. Left unchecked, we have every reason to believe that Qadhafi would commit atrocities against his people. The entire region could be destabilized, endangering many of our allies and partners. The calls of the Libyan people for help would go unanswered. The democratic values that we stand for would be overrun.

monologic

Moreover, the words of the international community would be rendered hollow. And that is why the United States has worked with our allies and partners to shape a strong international response at the United Nations. protecting innocent civilians within Libya and holding the Qadhafi regime accountable. Yesterday, in response to a call for action by the Libyan people and the Arab League, the U.N. Security Council passed a strong resolution that demands an end to the violence against citizens. It authorizes the use of force with an explicit commitment to pursue all necessary measures to stop the killing, to include the enforcement of a no-fly zone over Libya. It also strengthens our sanctions and the enforcement of an arms embargo against the Qadhafi regime. Now, once more, Muammar Qadhafi has a choice. The resolution that passed lays out very clear conditions that must be met. That means all attacks against civilians must stop. Qadhafi must stop his troops from advancing on Benghazi, pull them back from Ajdabiya, Misurata, and Zawiyah, and establish water, electricity, and gas supplies to all areas. Humanitarian assistance must be allowed to reach the people of Libya. These terms are not subject to negotiation. If Qadhafi does not comply with the resolution, the international community will impose consequences and the resolution will be enforced through military action. In this effort, the United States is prepared to act as part of an international coalition. It means shaping the conditions for the international community to act together. That is why I have directed Secretary Gates and our military to coordinate their planning, and tomorrow Secretary Clinton will travel to Paris for a meeting with our European allies and Arab partners about the enforcement of Resolution 1973. We will provide the unique capabilities that we can bring to bear to stop the violence against civilians, including enabling our European allies and Arab partners to effectively enforce a no-fly zone. I have no doubt that the men and women of our military are capable of carrying out this mission. Once more, they have the thanks of a grateful nation and the admiration of the world. I also want to be clear about what we will not be doing. The United States is not going to deploy ground troops into Libya. And we are not going to use force to go beyond a well-defined goal, specifically, the protection of civilians in Libya. In the coming weeks, we will continue to help the Libyan people with humanitarian and economic assistance so that they can fulfill their aspirations peacefully.

monologic

You will have to forgive me; you can hear that I have a cold, and so I cannot talk very loud. If you like my speech very much, I cannot talk, because I cannot get over all the cheers. But let me say to all of you, first of all, I want to thank the Keiser family and the leadership of this college for welcoming us here. I want to thank the president of the student body, Dean Samuels, who met me and gave me a gift from the students. I believe in the audience we have, in addition to Representative Hastings, another candidate for Congress on our ticket in an adjacent district, State Representative Elaine Bloom. I want you guys to help her. Let me say to all of you, I have had a wonderful day in Florida. I do not think I ever had a bad day in Florida. This is the first time I have ever been in Florida in my life that I have been sick, and I had a good day in spite of it, because, this morning, I went up to Orlando to the Democratic State Convention. Now, I attended the Democratic State Convention in Florida in 1981 and in 1983 and in 1987, when I was just a Governor and a friend of your Governor's, and they were good enough to invite me. And I always had a big time, and Hillary had two brothers living down here then, and I was always looking for a reason to come and always learning about what was going on in Florida, and thinking, this is the beginning of what will happen in America. So, anyway, 8 years ago this week, 8 years ago, in December of 1991 Hillary and I came down to the Florida Democratic Convention, which was holding the first election of the primary season, a straw poll. I was running fifth in the country in the primaries at the time, but I got over 50 percent in the Florida Democratic straw poll. And it is been all uphill ever since, thanks to all of you, and I am very grateful. Now, I am glad to be here tonight with Alcee Hastings, and I will tell you why and ask you to help Elaine Bloom. Because I know the President sometimes gets the blame when things go wrong, but the President also gets the credit when things go right. And you heard Alcee talking about all those good things.

monologic

I want to run over them again in a minute for you, but the good things that have happened here to the American people would not have happened had I not had the support of the Democrats in Congress, particularly those that were really strongwilled and outspoken, that had influenced the others, and Alcee Hastings is such a leader in the United States Congress. And I want you to know that his influence extends beyond the Florida delegation, beyond the Congressional Black Caucus, because he is an intelligent man; because he cares about the rest of the world; because he believes that you can care about the education of our children and saving Medicare and Social Security for our seniors and protecting the Florida environment, and still care about decency and humanity all around the world and the end of not only racism at home but racial and ethnic and religious hatred all around the world. He is one of the most exceptional people in the House of Representatives, and I want you to help him. Now, I am going to give a short speech so I do not lose my voice, but you are more likely to remember it. I have got 14 months left, and then you are going to have an election to chart America's course in a new millennium. Here is what I want to say to you about it. We just passed the first budget of the 21st century. We got 100,000 teachers for smaller classes in the early grades. We got 50,000 more police to keep the crime rate coming down. We got 60,000 more housing vouchers to help poor people move from welfare to work. We have doubled the number of after-school programs to help kids stay in school and learning and out of trouble. We gave States for the first time help to help turn around or shut down schools that are failing our children, because all our schools can do better. We moved forward on the environment. We paid our dues to the U.N. We gave debt relief to the very poorest countries in the world. the Patients' Bill of Rights, the minimum wage increase, the hate crimes legislation. We had a great year in foreign policy. We saw the completion of the Irish peace process this year, and I am very happy about that. And just last week, I announced that, earlier this week, a couple of days ago, that next week Israel and Syria will resume their peace negotiations in Washington, DC, in a couple of days. So we are going to keep working to the last hour of the last day.

monologic

But I want you to step back a minute, because what happens in these congressional elections, whether Bill Nelson gets elected United States Senator from Florida, whether Elaine Bloom gets elected United States Representative from Florida, whether we hold the White House, and I believe we will, but it all depends on, I wish I could be more whoop-dee-doo. It all depends on what the voters think the election is about. Now, I want you to remember this. We put in our economic program in 1993, and the Vice President broke the tie in the Congress, and the Republicans said it would be a disaster. Now, we have 20 million jobs, the longest peacetime expansion in history, the lowest unemployment rate in 30 years, the lowest welfare rolls in 32 years, the lowest poverty rates in 20 years, the lowest African-American and Hispanic unemployment rates ever recorded, the lowest female unemployment rate in 40 years. The second thing I want to say is, we have the lowest crime rate in 25 years; 90 percent of our kids immunized against serious childhood diseases for the first time in history; over 2 million more kids covered under the Children's Health Insurance Program. We have cleaned up 3 times as many toxic waste dumps as the predecessor administrations, both of them. And we now have the lowest output of waste that is terribly damaging to the environment that we have had in 20 years. Twenty years ago we had 50 million fewer people. We have had 150,000 young people serve this country in AmeriCorps, 7 million young people take advantage of the HOPE scholarship to go on to community college and to other college education. We have had 10 million people get the benefit of the minimum wage, and over 20 million get the benefit of the family and medical leave law. But what I want to say, I will stay the course. I want you to stay the course. And then what I want you to do, wait, wait, what I want you to do is go out here and find your fellow Floridians who may not be Democrats, who may not be voters, and not only do I want you to stay the course; I want you to teach the course. You know, we had an idea that we ought to have a country with opportunity for all, responsibility from all, and a community of all Americans. And almost everything that we fought for we were opposed by the leaders of the other party. And I have been willing to work with them.

monologic

And when we have worked with them, I have always given them credit for what they have done. But I think we have proved that we are a stronger country when we go forward together across racial lines. So what are they trying to give you in Florida? Connerly wants to come here and try to abolish affirmative action when we have proved that going forward with affirmative action in the right way strengthens the economy and the society and makes us all better off. So I want you to think about that. So the first thing I want you to tell folks is it is not like we do not have evidence here. I will never forget how the NRA went after Congressmen in States like Florida after we passed the Brady bill and I signed it, because my predecessor vetoed it. And they told the awfulest stories about how people are going to lose their guns. Well, 470,000 felons, fugitives, and stalkers did lose their handguns, but not a single Florida hunter missed a day of hunting season because of it. They did not tell the truth about that. This is a safer country because of it. What is the election about? What is the election about? So what is the election about? It is about what we are going to do with that. What do we propose to do with our prosperity? The Republicans gave us their answer in the last session of Congress when they passed a tax cut so large it would have prohibited us from saving Social Security and Medicare and prohibited us from ever paying down the national debt. But when I vetoed it, the American people supported me, and Alcee supported me, and the Democrats in Congress supported me because they said, No, no, no, that is not what we are going to do with our prosperity. What do we want America to look like in 10, 20, and 30 years? How are we going to build the America of our dreams for our children? And let me just tell you what I think they are. Number one, you have got to deal with the aging of America. You have got to save Social Security and Medicare for the baby boom generation, add a prescription drug benefit, let people over 55 buy into Medicare if they do not have health insurance. We have got to do this. We have got to do this. I am telling you, every baby boomer I know is plagued by the thought that our retirement will burden our children and their ability to raise our grandchildren.

monologic

Now, we have got the money now, folks, to take the Social Security Trust Fund out beyond the life of the baby boom generation, and we ought to do it. Look at the young people that are here, 18 to 23 or 24, the young people in that age group. Do you really think when they get old enough to have their children and they start raising families that they should be burdened in what they can do for their children because they are having to take care of us, their parents, when there is no earthly excuse for it? All we have to do is take the savings that we get from paying down the debt with the Social Security surplus and put those interest savings into the Trust Fund, and it will take it out beyond the life of the baby boom generation, no controversy, no heat, no nothing. We ought to do it, and we ought to do it next year. The second thing we ought to do is to deal with the children of America. Ironically, we are growing at both ends, in our elderly and in our children. We have got the largest number of school children in our schools in our history. They are the most racially, ethnically, and religiously diverse school children in our history, and every one of them deserves a world-class education, and we ought to give it to them. The third thing we ought to do is take a different approach to crime. Now, you all clapped when I said we had the lowest crime rate in 25 years; we have got the lowest murder rate in 31 years. They thought the crime rate went in one direction only, up. I propose that in the year 2000 we have a decent goal. We say we are going to keep working till America is the safest big country in the world. I believe there are lots of other things I could say, and I am trying to save the Everglades, you know, and I just want to say this one thing about the environment. The young people here, if they are going to have the kind of America they deserve, are going to have to accept the fact that you can improve the environment and grow the economy at the same time. We have set aside more land than any administration except those of Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt. We have cleaned up all these dumps. Let me tell you something. We better start thinking that we should be improving the environment as we grow the economy, not destroying the environment as we grow the economy. I will just give you one other.

monologic

You ought to go home tonight and ask yourself what you think the big challenges are. But I will tell you, if somebody said to me tonight, Well, ENTITY, you do not have 14 more months; you have got to leave tomorrow. But I am the genie, and I will give you one wish. You can do anything for America you want, but only one. What I would choose is for us to be one America, across all the lines that divide us, for two reasons. he had an Asian and somebody who worked for the Federal Government; James Byrd gets dragged to death in Texas; Matthew Shepard gets put on a rack. Yesterday, all over America, there were gripping pictures of these two young soldiers, one 21, one 18. The 21-year-old, a gay soldier who the 18-year-old beat to death with a baseball bat. And I thought to myself, looking at these two young boys, keep in mind, I look at them in a certain way not only because they are young enough to be my own sons, but because I have a lot of your sons under my command. Those young men, when they put on that uniform, both of them, when they put on that uniform, they basically took an oath that says, If Bill Clinton tells me to, I will go halfway around the world to fight and die. That is what it means. That is what it means. They make the same pledge. They have got their whole lives before them. One of them is dead, and the other one's life is ruined. And frankly, I ached for both of them. And the young boy that murdered the other one because he was gay, he was not born feeling that way; somebody taught him to do that. So that is the last thing I want to tell you. get rid of the debt; give people the same incentives to invest in poor areas we give them to invest in poor areas in Latin America and Asia and Africa; give people empowerment, and they will do the job. That is also the way we can have the biggest influence in resolving the crisis in the Middle East, in Kosovo, in Bosnia, the tribal warfare in Africa, you name it. This old world is still burdened down with people that cannot get along without hating somebody who is different from them.

monologic

Well, first of all, let me say thank you for the welcome. I thank the members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who are here and other Members of Congress and the people from our administration who are here. I want to thank Jimmy Smits and Felix Sanchez. And I want to congratulate your honorees, Sara Martinez Tucker and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, for 25 years of service. I want to say a special word of appreciation to all the Latinos who have been part of our administration, including Maria Echaveste, Mickey Ibarra, Brian Barretto, Aida Alvarez, Bill Richardson, and all the others. Let me say, I am sorry I am not in proper attire tonight. But Jimmy Smits called me this afternoon, and I only had two other things I was supposed to do, and so he said I had to show. And I want you to know I am here in spite of the fact that Jimmy Smits called me. And I will tell you why. So, right before I was here, I went over to the Kennedy Center. And there is a magnificent event at the Kennedy Center that Kerry Kennedy Cuomo is having about her book on human rights activists, and artists from all over our country and human rights heroes from all over the world are over there tonight. And so, I went from there to a book party for my friend Paul Begala. And I am on my way over here, and everybody wanted to know where I was going. And this NBC television reporter said, Jimmy Smits, that is the best looking man I ever saw in my life. So, I said, Well, what can I tell you? I have been to war for 8 years now, and I do not look very good anymore. He will never forgive me for embarrassing him like that. I want to say something seriously. Felix, I appreciate what you have done so much with this foundation. And I want to say, I made fun of Jimmy Smits tonight, but I want you to know that becoming a friend of his has been one of the real joys of being ENTITY. He has been so kind to my wife and to me, to our family. He is been to the White House many times, and he is always been there for a good cause. And I hope you will forgive me for pulling your leg tonight, Jimmy, but I will never forget you for being our friend. I want to thank the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts for giving young people a chance.

monologic

From the silver screen to the Broadway stage, kids with talent and dreams need a chance. That is what we have tried to do for 8 years now for all America's children. And the Vice ENTITY and I owe those of you who have done so much to help us do that a profound debt of gratitude, and I thank you. Tonight I came mostly just to do that, just to say thank you, for all you do for the arts, for all you do for the Hispanic community, and for all you have done to help America move forward in the last 8 years. We now have the lowest Hispanic unemployment rate we have ever recorded, the lowest Hispanic poverty rate in a generation, a million new homeowners in the last 6 years. The earned-income tax credit has been doubled, and it is lifted over a million Hispanics out of poverty. The minimum wage helped 1.6 million Hispanic workers, and it is time to raise it again and help more. The Hispanic Education Action Plan to encourage Hispanic youth to stay in school and go to college, along with our scholarship initiatives and other things, have contributed to the fact that the college-going rate among Hispanic young people is up over 50 percent in the last 7 years. And-listen to this-a report which was issued last week said there has been a 500 percent increase in the number of Hispanic students taking advanced placement courses in high school to prepare for college. Under the Vice ENTITY's leadership, we have reduced the naturalization backlog at INS. And under Aida Alvarez's leadership, loans to Hispanic entrepreneurs by the SBA have increased by 250 percent. We have all been enriched by your work. And I know that because of your work, we will have more great singers, more great writers, more great actors and actresses. I know we have got a long way to go, too, because still Latino characters are only about 3 percent of those that appear on prime-time television. I just left Rita Moreno, and I told her that I enjoyed watching her as a nun on her television series. And we were laughing about it. And I think that you will see, if you keep working, though, more and more of our movies and our television shows and our Broadway shows reflecting the rich diversity of America. I have said on many occasions, and I will just say one more time tonight, that if I could have only one wish for America, believe it or not, it would not be for a continued unbroken economic prosperity.

monologic

It would be that somehow we would find the wisdom to live together as brothers and sisters, to truly be one America across all the lines that divide us. And to-just sort of a little picture of how fast America has changed; you may see the advertisements today for-they are on television now-for Denzel Washington's new movie about the integration of T.C. Williams High School over in Alexandria, Virginia, and its football team, which occurred-what-almost 40 years ago, not such a long time ago once you have reached my age, anyway. Now, a little over three decades later, that high school is in a school district which has students from over 180 different racial and ethnic groups, parents speaking over 100 different native languages. It is the most diverse school district in America. And I think it is sort of fitting that this movie, coming out in the new millennium, talks about something that to most of these kids is ancient history, that we hope they will never forget. Can we figure out a way to give them all a world-class education, with all their diversity? Can we figure out a way to make sure that every single child, every family, every faith in America is profoundly proud of its roots, understands them, and yet believes deep in the core of being that our common humanity is even more important than our unique characteristics? Not so long ago, a number of you in this room came to the White House for a showing of Mi Familia, the movie. Remember, you saw it; you were there. And so I was thinking about that tonight and feeling sort of nostalgic. And I think the central question that all of us have to ask ourselves, both within and beyond our borders now, is who is in our family anyway? There is an astonishing new book out, been out a few months, by a man named Robert Wright, called Non Zero, kind of a weird title unless you are familiar with game theory. But in game theory, a zero-sum game is one where, in order for one person to win, somebody has to lose. A non-zero-sum game is a game in which you can win, and the person you are playing with can win, as well.

monologic

Today I am pleased to announce that after months of tough and thoughtful negotiations, I think we have an historic, I know we have historic economic framework. It is a framework that will create millions of jobs, grow the economy, invest in our nation and our people. 17 Nobel Prize winners and economics have said it will lower the inflationary pressures on the economy. And over the next 10 years, it will not add to the deficit at all. It will actually reduce the deficit, according to the economists. I want to thank my colleagues in the Congress for their leadership. We spent hours, and hours, and hours over months and months working on this. No one got everything they wanted, including me. And that is what I ran on. I have long said compromise and consensus are the only way to get big things done in a democracy. Important things done for the country. I know how deeply people feel about the things that they fight for. But this framework includes historic investments in our nation and in our people. Any single element of this framework would fundamentally be viewed as a fundamental change in America. I will have more to say after I return from the critical meetings in Europe this week, but for now let me lay out a few points. First we face, and I apologize for saying this again, we face an inflection point as a nation. For most of the 20th century we led the world by a significant margin because we invested in our people. We did not just build an interstate highway system, we built a highway to the sky. We invested to win the Space Race, and we won. We were also among the first to provide access to free education for all Americans, beginning back in the late 18 hundreds. That decision alone to invest in our children and their families was a major part of why we were able to lead the world for much of the 20th century. But somewhere along the way we stopped investing in ourselves, investing in people. America is still the largest economy in the world. We still own the most productive workers and the most innovative minds in the world. But we risk losing our edge as a nation. Our infrastructure used to be rated the best in the world. Today, according to the World Economic Forum, we ranked 13th in the world. We used to lead the world in educational achievement. Now the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ranks America 35th out of the 37 major countries when it comes to investing in early childhood education and care.

monologic

We cannot be competitive in the 21st century global economy if we continue this slide. That is what I have said all along. We need to build America from the bottom up and the middle out, not from the top down with the trickle-down economics that is always failed us. I cannot think of a single time when the middle class has done well that the wealthy have not done very well. I can think of many times, including now, when the wealthy, the super wealthy do very well, and the middle class do not do well. That is why I proposed the investments congress is now considering in two critical pieces of legislation. Positions I ran on as president, positions I announced when I laid out in a joint session of Congress what my economic agenda was. These are not about left versus right, or moderate versus progressive, or anything else that pits Americans against one another. This is about competitiveness versus complacency. It is about expanding opportunity, not opportunity denied. It is about leading the world or letting the world pass us by. Today, with my democratic colleagues, we have a framework for my Build Back Better Initiative. And here is how it will fundamentally change the lives of millions of people for the better. Millions of you are in the so-called Sandwich Generation, who feel financially squeezed by raising a child and caring for an aging parent. About 820,000 seniors in America, and people with disabilities, have applied for Medicaid, and they are on a waiting list right now to get home care. They need some help. They do not have be kicked out of their homes, but they need a little help getting around. Having their meals made occasionally for them. They do not want to put them in nursing homes. Not because of the cost, but because it is a matter of dignity. They want to stay in their homes. You are just looking for an answer so your parents can keep living independently with dignity. For millions of families in America this, this issue, is the most important issue they are facing. So here is what we are going to do. We are going to expand services for seniors so families can get help from well-trained, well-paid professionals to help them take care of their parents at home. To cook meals for them, to get their groceries for them, to help them get around, to help them live in their own home with the dignity they deserve to be afforded.

monologic

Quite frankly, what we found is that this is more popular, or as popular as anything else we are proposing. Because the American people understand the need. It is a matter of dignity and pride for our parents. 30 years ago, we ranked number seven among the advanced economies in the world as a share of women working. Today there are nearly two million women in America not working today simply because they cannot afford childcare. Typical family spends about $11,000 a year on childcare, some states it is $14,500 a year per-child. We are going to make sure nearly all families earning less than $300,000 a year will pay no more than 7% of their income for childcare. And for a family making a hundred thousand dollars a year, that will save them more than $5,000 in childcare. This is a fundamental game-changer for families and for our economy. As more parents, especially women, can get back to work and work in the workforce. I am looking at a lot of significant press people in front of me. A lot of them are working, working mothers. They know what it costs. I remember when I got to the Senate, I lost my wife and daughter in an accident. I started commuting 250 miles a day because I had my mom and my dad and my brother and my sister to help me take care of my kids because I could not afford childcare. And I was getting a serious salary, $42,000 a year. We have also extended the historic middle class tax cut. That is what I call it, middle class tax cut for parents. That is the expanded child tax credit we passed through the American Rescue Plan. What that means is, for folks at home, they are getting $300 a month for every child under the age of six, $250 for every child under the age of 18. We are extending that for another year. The money is already a life-changer for so many working families. This will help cut child poverty in half this year, according to experts. But that is not all it does, it changes the whole dynamic for working parents. In the past if you paid taxes and had a good income you could deduct, under the tax code, $2,000 per-child from the taxes you owed.

monologic

But how many families do you know are cashier or waiters, healthcare workers, who never out the benefit of the full tax credit because they did not have that much to deduct? So it either came off your tax bill or you did not get full credit. Why should, if somebody making $500,000 a year, or 150,000 or $200,000 a year, get to write it off their taxes? And the people who need the help even more, they do not have that much tax to pay. They do not get the benefit, and they have the same cost of raising their children. 80% of those left out were working parents who just did not make enough money. That is why in the American Rescue Plan we did not just expand the amount of the middle class tax cut, we also made it refundable. This framework will make it permanently refundable, making sure the families who need it get a full credit for it, in addition to those who are already getting full credit. They are going to make sure that every three and four-year-old child in America go to high-quality preschool. That is part of the legislation I just brought up to the Congress. Studies show that when we put three and four-year-olds in school, school, not daycare, school, we increase by up to 47% the chance that that child, no matter what their background, we will be able to earn a college degree. As my wife, Jill, who is in the back here always says, any country that out-educates us is going to out-compete us. We can finally take us from 12 years to 14 years of universal education in America. We also make investments in higher education, by increasing Pell Grants to help students from lower-income families attend community college and four-year schools. And we invest in historically black universities, colleges, universities, HBCUs, minority-serving institutions and tribal colleges, to make sure every young student has a shot at a good-paying job in the future. This framework extends tax credits to lower premiums for folks who are in the Affordable Care Act for another three years. For 4 million folks in the 12 states that have not expanded Medicaid, all the rest have, this framework will enable you to get affordable coverage. And Medicare will now cover the cost of hearing aids and hearing checkups. This framework also makes the most significant investment to deal with the climate crisis ever, ever happened.

monologic

Beyond any other advanced nation in the world, over a billion metric tons of emission reductions, at least 10 times bigger on climate than any bill that has ever passed before, and enough to position us for a 50 to 52% emission reductions by the year 2030. And we will do it in ways that grow the domestic industries, create good-paying union jobs, address long-standing environmental injustices as well. Tax credit to help people do things like weatherize their homes so they lose less energy. Install solar panels and develop clean energy products, and help businesses produce more clean energy. And when paired with the bipartisan infrastructure bill, we will truly transform this nation. But passenger rail and freight rail and public transit, it is going to take hundreds of thousands of vehicles off the road, saving millions of barrels of oil. Everybody knows, all the studies show, if you can get from point A to point B on electric rail, you will not drive your car. You will take the rail service. We also learned that in most major cities in America, minority populations, the jobs they used to have in town, they are now out of town. Roughly 60% of the folks, they do not have vehicles. So they need to have a means to get out of town to their jobs, to be on time. This will do that, like it did for Detroit. 95% of the 840,000 school buses in America run on diesel. Every day more than 25 million children and thousands of bus drivers breathe polluted air on the way to and from school from the diesel exhaust. We are going to replace thousands of these with electric school buses that have big batteries underneath, and that are good for the climate. I went down to one of the manufacturing facilities, saw them, got in one, drive them. They do not expend any, they do not expend any pollution into the air. We will build out the first ever national network of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations all across the country. So when you buy an electric vehicle, and you get credit for buying it, you buy electric vehicle, you go all the way across America on a single tank of gas, figuratively speaking. It is not gas, you plug it in. We are going to get off the sidelines on manufacturing solar panels and wind farms and electric vehicles, with targeted manufacturing credits. You manufacture, you get a credit for doing it. These will help grow the supply chains in communities too often left behind.

monologic

And we are going to reward countries for paying good wages, for companies I should say, for good wages and for sourcing their materials from here in the United States. That means tens of millions of panels and turbines, doubling the number of electric vehicles we have on the road within just three years. We will be able to sell and export these products and technologies to the rest of the world, and creating thousands more jobs because we are, once again, going to be the innovators. We will also make historic investments in environmental cleanup and remediation. That means putting people to work in good-paying jobs at prevailing wage. Capping hundreds of thousands, hundreds of thousands of abandoned wells and gas wells, oil and gas wells, that need to be capped because they are leaking things that hurt the air. Putting a stop to the methane leaks and in the pipelines, protecting the health of our communities, it is a big deal. And we will build up our resilience for the next super storm, drought, wildfires, and hurricanes that represent a blinking code red for America and the world. Last year alone, these types of extreme weather events you have all been covering, and you have all witnessed, and some of you have been caught in the middle of, have caused $99 billion in damage to the United States within the last year. And we are not spending any money to deal with this? I met in Pittsburgh, I met an IBW electrical worker who climbs up in those power lines in the middle of the storm to try to put transformers in to keep the lights on when storms hit. He calls himself a hundred percent union guy. As he said, I quote, I do not want my kids growing up in a world where the threat of climate change hangs over their heads. Folks, we all have that obligation. The bipartisan infrastructure bill was also the most significant investment since we built the interstate highway system and won the space race decades ago. This is about rebuilding the arteries of our economy. Across the country now there are 45,000 bridges, and 173 thousand miles of roads, that are in poor condition. Some of the bridges you do not even take a chance of going across, they have shut down. They cannot be built back to the same standard because the weather's not going to get a lot better. We just got to keep it from getting a heck of a lot worse.

monologic

No one should have to hold their breath as they cross a rundown bridge or a dangerous intersection in their hometown. We are going to put hard-working Americans on the job to bring our infrastructure up to speed. Jobs you can raise the family on. And my dad would say, you could have a little breathing room. Jobs replacing lead water pipes so families can drink clean water, improving the health of our children and putting plumbers and pipe-fitters to work. Jobs laying thousands of miles of transmission lines to build a modern energy grid. Jobs making a high-speed internet affordable and available everywhere, in rural and urban America. Particularly including the 35% of rural America that goes without it right now. This pandemic has made clear the need for affordable and available high-speed internet. The idea of a parent having to put their kids in the car for virtual learning, drive and sit in the McDonald's parking lot so the child can access the internet when school is taught virtually, is not only unnecessary, it is just wrong. They do not add a single penny to the deficit. They do not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year. In fact, they reduced the deficit, here is how; I do not want to punish anyone's success, I am a capitalist. I want everyone to be able to, if they want to be a millionaire or billionaire, to be able to seek their goal. But all I am asking is, pay your fair share. And right now, many are paying virtually nothing. Last year the 55 most profitable corporations in America, 55 of them, paid zero, zero, in federal income tax on about $40 billion in profit. If they report big profits to their shareholders, they should be paying taxes. That is why the Build Back Better framework will have a 15% minimum on the largest corporations, a minimum tax of 15%. The top 1% of the wealthiest Americans evade, it is estimated by the experts, $160 billion a year in federal taxes. We are going to change that. I want to emphasize what I said from the beginning. Under my plans, if you earn less than $400,000, you will not pay a single penny more in federal taxes. In fact, these bills continue cutting taxes for middle class. Let me close with this. For much too long, working people of this nation in the middle class of this country have been dealt out of the American deal. It is time to deal them back in.

monologic

Thank you both for the work you have done on this. I thank the Commission members for their willingness to serve, those who are here and a few who could not be here with us today. And I thank all of you here in this audience for your interest in this profoundly important matter. The Advisory Commission that I announced today will help to chart our way through a time of profound change in health care. to find ways to ensure quality and to ensure that the rights of consumers in health care are protected. Since I took office, we have been committed to improving our health care system, to making it more affordable, more accessible, while preserving its high quality. You have heard Secretary Shalala mention some of the things we have done together. We have worked with States to expand Medicaid to more than 2 million Americans who previously had no insurance. We reached across party lines to enact the Kassebaum-Kennedy law that provides that working families will not lose their insurance when they change jobs, increased the health care tax deduction for 3 million self-employed Americans. And now in our budget plan, we have funds sufficiently targeted to extend coverage to as many as half of our 10 million American children who still do not have medical coverage. We have worked to constrain costs. Just yesterday, I announced a new effort to combat the multibillion dollar problem of fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid. Our balanced budget proposal also strengthens Medicare through savings and overdue structural reforms. Of course, we are not alone in this. The private sector has found ways to rein in costs, sometimes dramatically. And in many cases, changes in the health care delivery system have, frankly, also improved its quality. For example, the growing recognition of the value of preventive care, such as mammography screening, is saving and extending lives and the quality of life. Step by step we have been working to expand access to health care, and today we take the next step. In this time of transition, many Americans worry that lower costs mean lower quality and less attention to their rights. On balance, however, managed health care plans, HMO's, PPO's, and others, give patients good care and greater choice at lower cost. Still, we must make sure that these changes do not keep health professionals from offering the best and the most medically appropriate services to their patients. Managed care managed well can be the best deal for our families.

monologic

Whether they have traditional health care or managed care, none of our people should ever have inferior care. I am proud that the Medicare and Medicaid programs have taken the lead in responding to the quality concerns of both patients and health care providers, as Secretary Shalala has just described. But we are learning the defining, measuring, and enforcing quality is far from a simple task. They require thoughtful study. That is why I decided late last year to establish the Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry. Today I am happy to introduce the members of that Commission to the American people. They represent consumers, business, labor, health care providers, insurers, managed care plans, State and local governments, health care quality experts. Their specialties are wide-ranging, including care for children, the elderly, women, people with disabilities, mental illness, or ENTITY. This Commission includes some of the best health care policy minds in our Nation and a lot of people with hands-on experience. Today, to assure that they get busy right away, I am charging the Commission to develop a consumer bill of rights so that health care patients get the information and care they need when they need it. Let us assure that patients and their families-first, that the health care professionals who are treating them are free to provide the best medical advice available; second, that their providers are not subject to inappropriate financial incentives to limit care; third, that our sickest and most vulnerable patients, frequently the elderly and people with disabilities, are receiving the best medical care for their unique needs; fourth, that consumers have access to simple and fair procedures for resolving health care coverage disputes with plans; fifth, and perhaps most important, that consumers have basic information about their rights and responsibilities, about the plans-the benefits the plans offer, about how to access the health care they need, and about the quality of their providers and their health care plans. I am delighted that the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Labor will take on the task of being the Commission's Cochairs. I look forward to reviewing their first report at the end of the year and their final report next March. The need for this Commission is real. It will give us a roadmap to help us make our way through the time of rapid change we now see in our health care system. And again, let me say, I want to thank them for their commitment to serve.

monologic

Good morning, everyone, it is a pleasure for us to be here with you In a few minutes we will have to leave Madrid after too short a visit and continue our journey to Portugal, and then later on this evening we will be back in Washington. It is impossible for a President to come to Madrid without remembering our first emissary to the great nation of Spain. While our country was still fighting for its own independence in 1777, the father of the Foreign Service came here to represent our great country. He was a diplomat of great ability, an author, a scientist, a thinker who was one of the great Americans of all times. I refer, of course, to Benjamin Franklin, who came here to marshal support for our Nation in a time of war, so that we might later enjoy blessings of peace. He exemplified in his own life what you exemplify in yours the ability and the dedication and the courage required in times of peace, through sound diplomacy accurately representing what our Nation is, to prevent or to reduce the prospects of war. We have a lot of wonderful people in our Foreign Service around the world. We have great Ambassadors who serve us. There is none that I know of in any post in the world more accomplished and more competent and more effective than Terence Todman, and I am very deeply grateful to him and to Doris for what they do. I first knew him, during the few months when I began to be President, as an Assistant Secretary in charge of the entire region of Latin America. As you well know, this is a very important post, to be responsible for a whole region of the world. But because of the significance which we attached to Spain and the rapid evolution that Spain has demonstrated to the entire world in shifting toward a completely democratic government, we believed that this fine man should be stationed here. He agreed with the significance of this task, and his transfer to Spain was done with his full agreement and approval. accurately and fruitfully to represent the greatest nation on Earth, the United States of America, in a great nation, an ally and a friend, the nation of Spain. We have a lot of interests here, a lot of common commitments, a lot of common goals and ideals and principles.

monologic

I have had a very fruitful period of discussions, both with King Juan Carlos and his beautiful wife and also, of course, with the Prime Minister, the President, and with the members of the Cabinet and the opposition parties, to try to assess personally, as best I could here in Spain, what we might do even to improve already excellent relationships. I understand that very well. In a way, I am part of the diplomatic corps of our country. Secretary Muskie accompanied me on the first part of our trip to Rome and to Venice, and then he went to Ankara in Turkey to meet with the Foreign Ministers of the European nations, and then went to Kuala Lumpur to meet with the Foreign Ministers and leaders of the ASEAN nations in Southeast Asia. This constant effort to project the good side of our country and to learn how best to deal with our friends and to minimize the impact of potential adversaries is an Important part of your life and mine. Your life is not only a difficult and dedicated one but also, at times, dangerous. In the last 6 years, for instance, four American Ambassadors have been killed in the line of duty. And I can never look into the faces of anyone who serves in the Foreign Service without thinking about the 53 American hostages, who are innocent, who are held as a horrible act of international terrorism, condoned and supported by the official Government of Iran. This problem is constantly on my mind, and I never meet with a foreign leader or in a group of foreign leaders without very early raising this problem with them, urging them to do everything they possibly can, through diplomatic or private channels, to hasten the day when these 53 brave Americans will be free and will be back home where they belong. Do not ever forget how deeply grateful the American people are to you for the fine service that you render here. I know that in addition to the difficulties and the challenge and sometimes the danger in some countries, there is also a great sense of gratitude that you can not only serve a great country but live in a foreign country which is also great and pleasant and exciting and a friend. I want to add my personal thanks also to the citizens of Spain who work with you here in all the multitudinous duties of the American Embassy. On behalf of 220 million Americans who do not have the opportunity to come and stay in Spain, let me say that all of us are deeply grateful to you and wish for you God's greatest blessings.

monologic

Well, I just completed a meeting with the Cabinet that is directly in charge of dealing with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. From the beginning, we activated 15 agencies for what is now the largest national response ever to an environmental disaster. And what we wanted to do was make sure that every agency was coordinating and that there was clarity about how we are going to proceed in the coming months. Now, we have gotten reports that have been confirmed by our independent scientists that the top-hat mechanism that was put in place is beginning to capture some of the oil. We are still trying to get a better determination as to how much it is capturing, and we are pushing BP very hard to make sure that all the facilities are available so that as the oil is being captured, it is also being separated properly, that there are receptacles for that oil to go, that we have thought through contingencies in case there is an emergency or a hurricane so that these mechanisms are not disrupted, and that there is a lot of redundancy built in. Even if we are successful in containing some or much of this oil, we are not going to get this problem completely solved until we actually have the relief well completed, and that is going to take a couple of more months. We also know that there is already a lot of oil that is been released and that there is going to be more oil released no matter how successful this containment effort is. And that is why it is so important for us to continue to put every asset that we have--boom, skimmers, vessels, hiring local folks and local fishermen with their facilities, equipping them with skimmers--getting every asset that we have out there to make sure that we are minimizing the amount of oil that is actually coming to shore. Now, there are a number of other issues that were raised during this meeting that I just want to touch on. Number one, when I was down in the Gulf on Friday, meeting with fishermen and small-business owners, what is clear is that the economic impact of this disaster is going to be substantial and it is going to be ongoing. And as I said on Friday--and I want to repeat--I do not want to see BP nickel-and-diming these businesses that are having a very tough time.

monologic

Now, we have got the SBA in there helping to provide bridge loans, and we have got the Department of Commerce helping businesses to prepare and document the damages that they are experiencing. But what we also need is BP being quick and responsive to the needs of these local communities. We have individuals who have been assigned specifically to ride herd on BP, to make sure that that is happening. We want the people who are in charge of BP's claims process to be meeting with us on a regular basis. But we are going to insist that that money flows quickly, in a timely basis, so that you do not have a shrimp processor or a fisherman who is going out of business before BP finally makes up its mind as to whether or not it is going to pay out. And that is going to be one of our top priorities, because we know that no matter how successful we are over the next few weeks in some of the containment efforts, the damages are still going to be there. The second thing we talked about quite a bit is the issue of the health of workers who are out there dealing with this spill. So far, we have seen that onshore, we are not seeing huge elevations in toxins in the air or in the water. But that may not be the case out where people are actually doing the work. And we have got to make sure that we are providing all the protections that are necessary. We have put processes in place to make sure that workers out there are getting the equipment and the training they need to protect themselves and their health. But this is something that we are going to have to continue to monitor, because there are a lot of workers out there, and increasingly, we are starting to get individuals who may not be experienced in oil cleanup, because we are trying to get an all-hands-on-deck process. Obviously, we are also monitoring very carefully the impact to people who are not working out there, and that is where the Environmental Protection Agency is doing constant monitoring of the air and the water quality. And we are also doing testing on the seafood to make sure that toxins are not being introduced into the overall population. A couple of other points I just want to make.

monologic

Lubchenco of NOAA reported on convening a scientific conference to make sure that on issues like the plume that is been reported in the news and other questions about how large is this, what kind of damage do we anticipate, et cetera, that we have full transparency, that the information is out there, that it is subject to scientific review so that nobody has any surprises. And what we are going to continue to strive for is complete transparency in real time so that as we get information, the public as a whole gets information, academics, scientists, researchers get this information in what is going to be a fluid and evolving process. Let me just make one final point, and I think this was something that was emphasized by everybody here, and it is something that I want to say to the American people. It may take some time, and it is going to take a whole lot of effort. There is going to be damage done to the Gulf Coast, and there is going to be economic damages that we have got to make sure BP is responsible for and compensates people for. But the one thing I am absolutely confident about is that, as we have before, we will get through this crisis. And it--one of the things that I wanted to make sure we understand is that not only are we going to control the damages to the Gulf Coast, but we want to actually use this as an opportunity to reexamine and work with States and local communities to restore the coast in ways that actually enhance the livelihoods and the quality of life for people in that area. It is going to take some time. These are resilient people down on the Gulf Coast. I had a chance to talk to them, and they have gone through all kinds of stuff over the last 50, 100 years, and they bounce back. They are going to need help from the entire country. They are going to need constant, vigilant attention from this administration. That is what they are going to get. But we are going to be--we are confident that not only are we going to be able to get past this immediate crisis, but we are going to be focusing our attention on making sure that the coast fully recovers and that eventually it comes back even stronger than it was before this crisis.

monologic

I am very proud that I could be here with you today. I can assure you that the people of the United States share my pride in what American Samoa has done to prove that destiny is really what we make it. This island--with a population of only 22,000--has become the symbol of what many large nations may achieve for their people. It has become a showplace for progress, and a proving ground of methods to improve the lives of our fellow human beings. And, along the way, American Samoa has taken the term self-help out of the bureaucrats' dictionary and made it a living language for their people. You have doubled the per-acre yield of your crops. You have sharply reduced the diseases that once plagued your island. And this month you will begin construction of the American Samoan Tropical Medical Center which will provide the finest hospital care in this part of the world. You have almost eliminated childhood malnutrition. You have recognized that education is the tidal force of our century, driving all else ahead of it. I am told that the pilot program of education which you have started may point the way to learning breakthroughs throughout the Pacific islands and Southeast Asia. Samoan children are learning twice as fast as they once did, and retaining what they learn. Surely from among them, one day, will come scientists and writers to give their talents to Samoa, to America, and to the world. One requirement for good and universal education is an inexpensive and readily available means of teaching children. Unhappily, the world has only a fraction of the teachers that it needs. Samoa has met this problem through educational television-which was pioneered here by your outstanding Governor, Rex Lee, and the very able Director of the United States Information Agency, Mr. Leonard Marks. Before Mr. Marks came out here recently to help inaugurate this educational television system, he came to me at the White House and talked to me about its great benefits at some length. Upon his return, he insisted that he come over, and he spent an entire evening reviewing what your hopes and achievements would be. Everyone now wants to study the job that you have done-UNESCO, the World Bank, New Guinea, New Zealand, India, and other countries around the world. This technique--which you are helping now to improve--has the power to spread the light of knowledge like wildfire, to spread it all across the wide areas of our earth.

monologic

So I want to commend you on the stride that you have taken. We are most grateful for the voluntary action of the Samoan Legislature in voting to pay Federal income taxes. You are the only American territory voluntarily to take on this responsibility. Your taxes are growing with your economy. You paid about $200,000 in 1963-and yet you paid over a million dollars in 1965. At this rate, you may eliminate the deficit in the United States budget this year. An American editor, who used to have nothing to say about what we were doing in Samoa, recently wrote, Somewhere on earth there may be a more spectacular example of revolutionary change in an area and its people, but in years of roving the world's far corners, I have not seen it. All praise to you for that No, not quite all praise. Some of it must go to a man that you know better than you do any other American--your own very able Governor, Rex Lee. This year it was my pleasure to give him the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service--an award that is granted to only five individuals each year. I have no appropriate awards to confer upon the people of Samoa for their progress. But there must be great satisfaction and honor enough in contemplating what you have done in 3 years, where you are today, and where the works of progress will lead your children in generations to come. I hope that America may soon accomplish in her other Pacific island responsibilities the same achievements of Samoa. For no other corner of the world can be left untidy and ignored today. Where once the sailing clippers called rarely in a year, now the jet airliners touch down several times a week. The time is fast coming when there will be no such thing as a far corner of the earth. So I think this is the way that God intended it. I cannot believe He wanted man to be isolated, ever, from his neighbor. He did not seek that distance or race or religion or creed ever separate us from one another. At the table of need, we all find our place, and the greatest need of all today, I think, is for human fellowship and a sense of what each of us can do for the rest of us. This is my first visit to American Samoa. I have not been among you but just a moment.

monologic

President, in America we call this is bringing the press in out of the cold. You guys have to admit that. Anyway, I am glad to see you again after a successful summit we had, the Summit of the Americas, in June, and to be able to return a small amount of hospitality your family showed my wife Jill when she visited Quito over the spring. She enjoyed it so much I was not sure she was coming home. Today we are going to keep building on the progress we have made. Together, we have made historic strides on migration. And this afternoon we will discuss how we can deepen our security and our economic partnership even further than it is right now. That includes our new joint investment programs that address security needs for Ecuador's prison system, your justice sector, and your maritime security. And, Mr. President, since we both understand that working families are the backbone of both our economies, I look forward to discussing how we can keep delivering for those families under the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity. And, finally, I want to thank you for your moral leadership, your condemnation of Putin's brutal war against the Ukrainian people that continues in ways we have not seen for a generation. You and I are united not only in our values, but in our vision of the future, one that is both free and democratic. And in the new year, as Ecuador begins its term on the U.N. Security Council, I look forward to continuing to work together to make this vision a reality. And I want to thank you very much for making the effort to be here. The floor is yours. For me it is also a pleasure to here-to be here with you after our very nice visit together in Los Angeles and also after that very pleasant visit with you and your wife Jill in Quito. So, with-for us, this is a great opportunity to come here and to reaffirm the democratic freedom and human rights values that we share with the glorious people of the U.S. Without a doubt, yes, we have been allies for decades now. And I am here to reaffirm that spirit that we share among us as allies, too, in our fight for democracy, for peace, and for justice, not only in the region, but also to support your vision throughout the world. So we were the first country in Latin America to condemn the awful war from Russia into Ukraine. We believe in multilateralism, and we also believe in the rule of law.

monologic

At midnight last night, for the second time in a month, the Republican Congress shut down the Federal Government in an effort to force through their unacceptable cuts in health care, education, and the environment. For weeks, my administration and the Republicans in Congress have been in serious negotiations over how to reach common ground on balancing the budget. A week ago, I forwarded to them a plan that would protect our principles and balance the budget in 7 years. I had hoped that this time would be different, that we were past the Republican threats to shut down the Government just to get their way. But yesterday, they broke off our talks. Unbelievably, they actually said that as a condition for our talks to continue, we had to agree right now to make deep and unconscionable cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. poor children, pregnant women, the disabled, seniors in nursing homes. They would let Medicare wither on the vine into a second-class system. Now, these things simply are not necessary to balance the budget. As I have said from the beginning, I very much want to work with Congress to get a balanced budget. After all, working with the previous Congress in my first 2 years as President, we cut the deficit I found when I became President in half. We reduced the size of the Federal Government by 200,000. We ought to finish the job. We should not leave a legacy of debt to our children, but neither should we leave the next generation a legacy of neglect. We have cut the deficit in half while continuing to invest in education, technology, research, the environment, Medicare, and Medicaid and cutting taxes on the most hard-pressed of our working people. That is what we ought to do in this budget plan. Now as far as shutting the Government down goes, this is not a result of our lack of agreement on a balanced budget plan; the two things have no connection. The Congress has failed to pass a budget for next year and the bills that would fund the agencies of Government on purpose. They have deliberately done this to force me to accept their long-term agenda of big cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, education, and the environment and a tax increase on working people. That is what is in their balanced budget plan. But it is not necessary to balance the budget. So for them to cause a shutdown, denying Americans the services their tax dollars support, as a tactic in the budget debate is wrong.

monologic

I will not give in to the threat. Let me tell you why. I know you have been told that the winners and losers of this budget battle are all in Washington and it is all politics. America's children would bear the most pain from the sharp cuts proposed by the Republican Congress. health care they now have, schooling they can count on, school lunches, a safe place to live, or air and water we can be sure is safe to breathe and to drink. Just consider what would happen to Medicaid. For three decades, Medicaid has been a legal guarantee for millions who need medical care. It has been the primary source of health care for nearly one in five American children. And more than half of the children on Medicaid live in families with working parents. But the Republican plan repeals Medicaid's guarantees, and that spells disaster for families in the middle class who are caught unprepared. Medicaid helps millions of children who are disabled or who suffer from chronic illnesses or who have the ENTITY virus. But the Republican plan could pull this lifeline from millions of children. In education, the Republican plan eliminates Head Start for 180,000 preschoolers. It cuts our efforts to keep drugs and violence out of our schools. It undermines our efforts to help schools meet national standards of excellence for the first time. It kills the AmeriCorps national service program. It denies scholarships to more than 350,000 deserving college students and takes away the best student loan program available to young people-it lowers the cost and eases the terms of repayment. The Republican plan would raise taxes for over 7 million of our hardest pressed working families. Their budget cuts would leave children exposed to hazardous waste. And we know that pollution affects children more than it does adults. We want to clean up these sites, but the Republican cuts would limit what we can do. The Republican budget cuts are aimed squarely at our children. They will face larger classes and fewer Head Start programs. Ten million will live near toxic waste sites that will not be cleaned. Millions will be denied adequate medical care. And more than one million will be forced into poverty. That is no way to treat our children. Let them threaten to shut the Government down. It is not necessary to do this to balance the budget, and so I am not going to let them hurt our children and compromise their future.

monologic

I appreciate you giving us a chance to share with you our strategy on how we are going to win the war against terror. It starts with assembling a good team, and I put together a fabulous administration. I picked a great Vice President in Dick Cheney. Some of you may know him. But I know him a man who gives solid advice, and he is got great judgment. And the Nation's lucky that he left the left his previous occupation to serve our country. I am also pleased to be joined by three members of my Cabinet who are all involved with shepherding through an economic stimulus plan through the United States Congress. Secretary Paul O'Neill is doing a fabulous job. I have got great confidence in Paul and his ability to sell to the American people and to the United States Congress that which we are trying to do to make sure our economy grows. And I want to thank you, Paul, for your service, as well. Bob Zoellick is traveling the world promoting free trade. I will talk a little bit about trade later on. But I want to thank his tireless efforts. One thing that we are all hopeful for is that we start a new round of WTO talks at Doha, Qatar. I just have come from China, as you know, and he preceded me there, and they were still talking about the Zoellick touch. And I want to thank Spence Abraham, as well, who is helping us shepherd a realistic energy plan through the United States Congress. We are at the beginning of what I view as a very long struggle against evil. We are not fighting a nation; we are not fighting a religion; we are fighting evil. And we have no choice but to prevail. We are fighting people that hate our values. They cannot stand what America stands for. And they really do not like the fact that we exist. And I want to assure you all that we will fight this fight on every front. We will use every resource we have. And there is no doubt in my time in my mind that in our time, we will prevail. And we are fighting this war on a variety of fronts. We have put together a vast coalition of nations to slowly but surely encircle those who would terrorize and to send the message that their actions will not stand. I really appreciate the hard work of Secretary of State Powell. He is working endlessly to not only keep a coalition together but to broaden it. We are fighting them on a financial front.

monologic

We are choking off their money. We are seizing their assets. We will be relentless as we pursue their sources of financing. And I want to thank the Secretary of Treasury for leading that effort. We are sharing intelligence because in order to fight a war, the new war of the 21st century, we have got to know more about the enemy, where they try to hide, where they may try to strike next. And so we have got great cooperation with intelligence services from around the world, as well as great cooperation internally between the CIA and the FBI. The culture in our agencies have changed. We are now interested in preventing attack. We are now interested in finding those who may attack America and arrest them before they do. We have had over nearly 1,000 people have been detained in America and questioned about their motives and their intentions. The FBI is on full alert, and they take information garnered from around the world and share that information in a way that will make Americans proud. And we have also put our military into action. I have got great confidence in the American military. It says, if you harbor a terrorist, you are a terrorist. If you harbor anybody who has harmed America, you are just as guilty as those who have harmed our country. And therefore the Taliban Government, which we gave ample time to respond to reasonable demands, are now paying the price for harboring the Al Qaida organization, as they should. We are slowly but surely dismantling Taliban defenses, Taliban military installations, the Taliban command and control structure, all aimed at bringing the Al Qaida criminals to justice. It is the first battle in the war of terrorism. And with that patience and with that determination, we will eventually smoke them out of their holes and get them and bring them to justice. And that is exactly what the world demands, and that is what the United States will deliver. After all, history has basically said there would never be two fronts, one abroad and one in America. But we now have a second front on this war against terror here at home. We have been struck, obviously, on September the 11th, and we are being struck again. Anytime anybody puts anthrax in a letter, it is an act of terror. The press often ask me, Well, is this the is the evil one hiding from us in Afghanistan, the ones who have done this to America?

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But we do know the evil one who hides thinks in ways that we cannot possibly think in America so destructive, such a low regard for human life. And anybody who puts anthrax, trying to kill American citizens, shares the same set of values. Whoever has done it shares that same value of evil that we saw on September the 11th. And we will find them and bring them to justice, as well. But we have got a strategy to fight the war on the homefront. As I mentioned, we are disrupting, as much as we possibly can, any possible attack on America. Every day I meet with the FBI Director and the Attorney General and Tom Ridge, who heads the Office of Homeland Security, to get a report on the activities that were taking place. We take every threat seriously. We respond to every piece of information we receive. As I mentioned, we have arrested or detained over 1,000 people here in America, to determine to find out what they know. And if they know something that is helpful, we will act on it. And we have got a great response mechanism in place. Today I mourned the lives of two who two postal officers who lost their life in the line of duty. But I can tell the American people that because of the hard work of many in our public health offices, I believe we have saved a lot of lives, too, by responding as quickly as we have. Today, right here in this room, I had the honor of signing a piece of antiterrorist legislation widely supported by Members of both parties in both Houses. It is needed legislation to help us do the job the American people expect, which is to protect the homeland. It is a two-front war, and it is a war we are going to win on both fronts. But make no mistake; the best way to make sure we protect our homeland is to succeed by bringing the terrorists abroad who try to strike us to justice. Now, there is another front on the war, as well, and that is our economy. And there is no question the terrorists want to cast a shadow of fear on the businesses of America. They understand how important our businesses are to our way of life. After all, the entrepreneurial spirit is strong in America. It is part of our culture. It is part of a hopeful society. And the more that can be disrupted, that spirit of commerce and enterprise, the more successful they think they will be.

monologic

In all our wars, the productive power of the economy has been one of our Nation's great advantages. Obviously, we took a huge hit at the financial center of our country, in New York City. Our transportation system has been severely disrupted, which has, in turn, affected hotels and people who work in hotels. This administration is deeply concerned about those who have lost jobs. And we know there are a lot of Americans who hurt, and we hurt for them. And we are going to work with Congress to take the appropriate actions. I also know that some in this room have made a tough economic decision by delaying any layoffs or have chosen not to lay off workers, and I applaud you for that. And I thank you for making that decision, on behalf of the workers in America. I believe it is the right thing to do during this national emergency. We must understand that our job is to help restore confidence in the future of the country in a way that is wise and sound. But the vitality of our economy depends upon the willingness of Americans to spend and for Americans to start new businesses to purchase new equipment and to invest in the future of this country. And I understand that. And we are taking practical steps, and let me share some of those with you. We are supporting American aviation with money and loans, to make sure the planes fly. We are also beefing up security at our airports, to make sure people feel safe in flying. And we are working with Congress to get a long-term law passed that will say to the American consumer and the American flyer, this Government is doing everything in our power to secure the airways on your behalf. As I mentioned, we are we have spent money in a supplemental to rebuild New York City and the Pentagon. We have got SBA, the Small Business Administration, helping small businesses in the areas impacted by the attacks from the evil ones. We are paying for improved security at our post offices. We are just beginning to secure the post offices, in a way. You see, the post office obviously was set up as a way to efficiently deliver mail, not understanding that someone would dare use the mail as a weapon against America, and we are adjusting quickly to the new realities that we face. All this costs money, and we are spending it here in Washington. And when the money we have committed is spent, we believe it will have a positive effect on the economy.

monologic

There is a lot of good ideas in Washington, and a lot of them cost a lot of money. And we must be careful to assess our needs and make sure we are cautious about how we spend taxpayers' money. We believe the best way to stimulate and restore confidence to the economy is not through additional spending but through tax relief. If we can get a bill out of both the House and the Senate, it will happen in quick fashion. Unlike spending programs, we will not have to wait for plans to be drafted and contracts to be let. The tax relief for new investment in the House stimulus package will go into effect as soon as the bill is signed, if we can get it out of the Senate. New lower tax rates for consumers and entrepreneurs will show up in paychecks on the first day of the next year of the new year, if we can get that passed out of the Senate. The tax rebates for low- and moderate-income folks would begin to arrive soon, if we can get it out of the Senate. Tax relief will put money rapidly into the hands of consumers. Tax relief will improve incentives to save and invest and will give a powerful boost to our national economy. When we have tried in the past to spend our way out of an economic slowdown, we have found that the money has often been spent unwisely. Tax relief, on the other hand, lets individuals decide for themselves what they need most. Tax relief lets economic resources flow to places where they can do the most good for the country. The House's tax relief plan accelerates some income tax reductions already planned for individuals and entrepreneurs and small businesses. This will give people opportunity to make decisions for themselves. And we have learned from experience that free decisions are usually the best decisions for our economy as a whole. And third, and most important, tax relief will expand productive investment. The House plan allows businesses to speed up the expensing of new equipment. And it reforms the corporate Tax Code, so that companies do not face higher effective rates as their profits decline. Together, these two changes will persuade many companies that time has come to reinvest in America. And when we invest in America, we create jobs for American workers. We need an energy plan for America. Under the leadership of the Vice President, we drafted a comprehensive, commonsense plan for the future of this country. It passed the House of Representatives. It needs a vote in the United States Senate.

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But that should not lead our Nation to complacency. It is in our Nation's national interest that we develop more energy supplies at home. It is in our national interest that we look at safe nuclear power. It is in our national interest that we conserve more. It is in our national interest that we modernize the energy infrastructure of America. It is in our national interest to get a bill to my desk, and I urge the Senate to do so. And we can restore economic confidence by expanding trade. More open trade is essential to the growth of our Nation's economy. A part of our economic recovery program is to give me the ability to negotiate trade agreements. I need trade promotion authority to expand opportunity for businesses large and small, for entrepreneurs in America. I need trade promotion authority to expand the job base of this great Nation. I am the first ENTITY who has not had trade promotion authority. I need it now. It is in our Nation's best interest that we have it. And it is in the best interests of our world that we trade in freedom. We have a chance to draw all the people into the world in the world into an open market economy, and that will offer better living standards and more political freedom and will enhance human dignity all across our globe. Nobody is disqualified from an open world that trades freely. No one will be disqualified by religion, no one by nationality. No one will be disqualified by geography. Our enemies fear this world precisely because they know how attractive modernization is to the oppressed people around the globe. Our enemies fear open societies in which men and women can think for themselves, can decide their own destinies, can decently support their own families, can educate their sons and their daughters in a modern world. Our enemies fear a society which is pluralistic and open to worship an almighty God. Our enemies are right to fear open societies, because those societies leave no room for bigotry and tyranny. The promise of our time has no room for the vision of the Taliban or Al Qaida. This is a time of promise for America. I am incredibly optimistic about this Nation's future, because I understand America and I understand the people of America. Franklin Roosevelt warned us 70 years ago that fear feeds on itself and contributes to the very problems that first gave it rise. America has prevailed over fear in a Great Depression and in a global war, and we will do so again. The character of our country has not changed.

monologic

I have been under a promise to come to Boston and speak to its Chamber of Commerce for more than a year. It is a great pleasure to redeem that promise. To be the guest at a magnificent feast like this, to be thus received in Boston, one of the greatest centers of the wealth, of the culture and art, of the educational influences, and of the moral forces of our country, and to be welcomed by so distinguished a company, the Governor of the State, a Justice of the Federal Supreme Court, Foreign Ministers, members of the State Judiciary, United States Senators and Representatives, powerful and broad-minded prelates and ministers of religion, together with the men who are the bone and sinew of the commerce of this great section - make this occasion most memorable in my life, and properly call for an expression on my part of deep gratitude and high appreciation. I congratulate Boston on a union in one organization of all of her business men, for it insures a concentration of influence that must make for good. The opportunities for usefulness are great in civic improvement and progress and in State and National affairs. While you doubtless include in your ranks persons of all political views, many questions must arise upon which you can all unite, and thus exert a most effective influence. As Boston is the commercial center of New England, your association really speaks for New England, a part of the country whose importance can be measured by the emphasis with which sectional writers and speakers sometimes attack it. It is no mere exaggeration of speech or flattery, therefore, for me to point out that this Chamber of Commerce, by the ideals which it may maintain in the matter of business integrity and scrupulous business methods and in maintenance of law in the conduct of corporations, has great power and corresponding responsibility. I am very grateful for the hospitable reception which I have had on the North shore of Massachusetts. A vacation which I had planned of more than two months has been whittled down to a little more than one month; but every minute of it I have enjoyed. The beauties of that region are nothing but an expansion and enlargement of the wonderful park system and suburbs of Boston. I have attempted to keep within the speed limit and before a broad-minded judge I could establish this by satisfactory evidence. But it has not prevented me from motoring into every village and town and countryside of Essex County.

monologic

I am delighted at the prospect of returning here again next summer, when I hope and pray that no tariff or other bill will shorten my days of leisure. I am on the eve of beginning a journey 13,000 miles in length, which will enable me to see tens and hundreds of thousands of my fellow citizens, and enable them, I hope, to see me. Occasionally I hear a query, why should I start off on such a trip and what particular good does it do to anybody? Well, it certainly is not going to be a pleasure trip, although I shall enjoy it. It will involve much hard work and a great deal of mental effort to think of things to say, and to say them simply and clearly so that they can be understood. It will strain the digestion not only of myself and those who accompany me, but also of the many who extend hospitality along the way; and it will very considerably reduce the appropriation of $25,000 made by Congress for the traveling expenses of ENTITY. On the other hand, it will certainly give me a very much more accurate impression as to the views of the people in the sections which I visit. It will bring closely to me the needs of particular sections, so far as national legislation and executive action are concerned, and I believe it will make me a wiser man and a better public officer. Moreover, it will give the people an opportunity to see the man whom they have chosen, for the time being, to act as their chief executive, and who, because of this office, in a sense temporarily typifies nationality. I ought to be able to explain to the people some of the difficulties of government and some of the problems of solution from the standpoint of the executive and the legislator, as distinguished from that of the honest but irresponsible critic. The personal touch between the people and the man to whom they temporarily delegate power of course conduces to a better understanding between them. Moreover, I ought not to omit to mention as a useful result of my journeying that I am to visit a great many expositions and fairs, and that the curiosity to see the President will certainly increase the box receipts and tend to rescue many commendable enterprises from financial disaster. This is an innocent, but it has come to be a very useful, function of the presidential office. The thing that I most object to and look forward to with most fear is the necessity for speaking every day on some subject or other to a listening multitude.

monologic

It becomes a brain-racking performance before one gets through with a trip of two months. At first everything the President says is reported in the newspapers. If after a time he repeats himself, as he must do, and the correspondents and reporters exercise the discretion which they ought, and cut the report, a suffering public will thank them. One of the reasons why I hesitated to fix the time for meeting the Boston Chamber of Commerce on the eve of my departure for the West was because I would have to make a speech here and I needed all the material that I could think of for speeches in the West. When I explained this to the committee who were good enough to wait upon me to tender your hospitable invitation I was relieved greatly to hear from Mr. Frederick P. Fish, who was one of the committee, the statement that I need give myself no concern in that regard, because commonplace remarks would be entirely appropriate from me here. Now, whether Mr. Fish meant by this to characterize the intellectual capacity of the speaker, or the intellectual demands of the audience, I am at a loss to say. But if what I say to-night is commonplace, you may know that I am only filling the order which Mr. Fish gave me, and complying with the invitation as I have understood it. This is the second week of September. We are all ending our vacations and going home. This is the time of the year, rather than the first of the calendar year, when good resolutions ought to be made - and kept, as far as possible. This is the time when, looking forward to the coming again of Congress in December, one must consider the needs of the country so far as they may be relieved by congressional legislation, and attempt to state what that legislation should be. Your chairman has made some reference to a number of subjects to which the attention of Congress may well be directed. While it is probable that the Vreeland Bill passed by the last Congress would aid us in case of another financial crash, it is certain that our banking and monetary system is a patched-up affair which satisfies nobody, and least of all those who are clear-headed and have a knowledge of what a financial system should be. The matter has been referred by Congress to a monetary commission, which has been studying with much interest and enthusiasm the financial and banking systems of the great Governments of Europe and has embodied and will soon publish in interesting and attractive form the best accounts of the financial systems of the world.

monologic

It is quite apparent from the statements of Mr. Vreeland, who is now the head of the committee on banking and currency in the House of Representatives, and from the conversations of Mr. Aldrich, who is the chairman of the monetary commission and of the finance committee of the Senate, that the trend of the minds of the monetary commission is toward some sort of arrangement for a central bank of issue which shall control the reserve and exercise a power to meet and control the casual stringency which from time to time will come in the circulating medium of the country and the world. Aldrich states that there are two indispensable requirements in any plan to be adopted involving a central bank of issue. The one is that the control of the monetary system shall be kept free from Wall Street influences, and the other, that it shall not be manipulated for political purposes. These are two principles to which we can all subscribe. It is quite possible that the report of the commission of a definite conclusion may be delayed beyond the next session of Congress. Meanwhile, the members of the commission intend to substitute a campaign of education in order to arouse public opinion to the necessity of a change in our monetary and banking systems, and to the advantages that will arise from placing some form of control over the money market and the reserve in the hands of an intelligent body of financiers responsible to the Government. I am told that Mr. Aldrich will swing around the circle in the present fall, and will lecture in many of the cities of the Middle West on the defects and needs of our monetary system. I can not too strongly approve of this proposal. Aldrich, who is the leader of the Senate, and certainly one of the ablest statesmen in financial matters in either house, has been regarded with deep suspicion by many people, especially in the West. If, with his clear-cut ideas and simple but effective style of speaking, he makes apparent to the Western people what I believe to be his earnest desire to aid the people and to crown his political career by the preparation and passage of a bill which shall give us a sound and safe monetary and banking system, it would be a long step toward removing the political obstacles to a proper solution of the question. I do not need to argue with this audience that a change in our monetary and banking systems is necessary.

monologic

You are too good business men not to know it, and I sincerely hope that the whole force of your association will be exerted to insist upon the adoption of a satisfactory system before the end of this Administration. It is a subject that the general public has very little conception of, and when they suffer from the radical defects of the system they are utterly unable to tell how and why. We all need education on the subject. We must all unite to mend our roof before the storm and rain shall show us again its leaky and utterly inadequate character. I am not going to discuss the merits and demerits of the new tariff bill with you. I shall have often to refer to that before my journey is ended and I must save something for other audiences. Suffice it to say that the passage of the bill has removed a disturbing element in business. Nor shall I dwell at length on the necessity for amendments to the interstate-commerce law, to the anti-trust law, and the organization of the Departments in Washington with a view to promoting greater efficiency and expedition in the settlement of controversies arising under them. During Mr. Roosevelt's Administration we were all struck with the necessity for reform in business methods, for more scrupulous attention to the conduct of business in accordance with the law, and with the necessity for simplifying the law in such a way as to make it clear to corporate managers what they can do and what they can not do. We are, I believe, unless all signs fail, on the eve of another great business expansion, and an era of prosperity. Indeed it is already here in many branches of business. The hum of prosperity and the ecstasy of great profits are likely to dull our interest in these reforms and to lead us back again to the old abuses, unless we insist upon legislation which shall clinch and enforce those standards by positive law. Nothing revolutionary, nothing disturbing to legitimate business is needed; but we must set the marks clear in the statute by which the lines can be drawn and the proper legitimate paths be laid down upon which all business shall proceed, and must have it understood by means of prompt prosecution and punishment that the law is for all and is to be enforced even against the most powerful.

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Then, too, the needs in respect to the conservation of our national resources; the amendment to the public land system; the execution of the pure-food law; and all the rest of the important matters that should demand attention, make the legislative and executive labor of the next three years heavy enough, if our purposes are carried out, to exhaust the energy of the most enthusiastic and hopeful. Still the world is making progress - our country is making progress. Occasionally one hears a note like that of Governor Johnson, denouncing the East and calling upon the West to organize in a sectional way against the East, because the East is deriving more benefit from the governmental policy than the West, and at the expense of the West. It is difficult for one to treat such an appeal seriously. Throughout the country there is free trade of the freest character; and due to this the prosperity of the West, especially of the agricultural West, is even more pronounced than that of the East. Moreover, the East is too close to the Pacific Coast, too close to the Middle West, too close to the Rocky Mountains, because all the people of these western stretches have eastern ancestry and eastern associations and eastern connections, and because they have eastern capital with which their sections have been largely built up, and because they are too much assisted by eastern markets in enhancing the prices which their products bring, to make such an attempt at sectionalism successful. It is true that at times public questions will be given a local color by what is thought to be a local benefit, as distinguished from the general and the national benefit. But such attitude is generally temporary, and it takes but a few years of business experience, it takes but a panic or two, to present the most convincing evidence that in this country we are all in the same business boat, and that the prosperity of one section adds to the prosperity another, and the business disaster in one section is only the forerunner of business depression and disaster in another. I was born and brought up in the Middle West. I have had a New England ancestry and New England associations. Fortune threw me out into the Pacific so that I know something of the feelings of the West coast. Jurisdiction as a judge gave me a somewhat intimate knowledge of Southern feelings and Southern aspirations.

monologic

McClure, my mother is up in heaven smiling at that introduction. And she is probably the only person who heard it who believes every word of it. But I liked it, and I thank you. I thank you so much, all of you, for welcoming me. To your chair-elect, Joann Boyd-Scotland, who sat with me for a few moments; your CEO, my long-time friend Dr. Henry Ponder; Dr. Earl Richardson, who welcomed me to Morgan State not too many years ago, and then Vice President Gore yesterday; to Dr. Iris Ish and all the members of my Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities; to my president, the Arkansas Baptist College president, Dr. William Keaton, my longtime friend. I want to also have a special word of acknowledgement to your vice president, Dr. Wilma Roscoe. Her daughter, Jena, works in the White House; that is really why I am here tonight, to preserve peace in the family. the Director of our Office of Public Liaison, Mary Beth Cahill; and Ben Johnson, who has done a wonderful job for us. I also would like to thank Catherine LeBlanc, who is Executive Director of our Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. And I congratulate all the alumni award winners here tonight. everybody counts; everybody ought to have a chance; everybody's got a role to play; we all do better when we help each other. The work I have done to build one America for a new century was a joy every day. Even on the darkest days, the fact that I had this job to do for you and for our children and our children's children made this a joy. And I think of all you have done to make the last 7 years possible. Think about what a different country America would be today had it not been for the institutions all of you represent. Think about what a different administration I would have had. We have Alexis Herman, the Secretary of Labor, graduate of Xavier. Togo West, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; Bob Nash the hardest job in the White House he handles my appointments. I get the credit when they get it; he takes the blame when they do not . And Judith Winston, who ran our One America initiative when I put my White House committee together on race. All graduated from Howard.

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But if you think about this economy we have, which is not only the longest expansion in history but has given us the lowest African-American unemployment rate ever recorded and the lowest poverty rate in 20 years and the lowest female unemployment rate in 40 years that would not have happened if it had not been for the educational opportunities provided by the people in this room and their forebears, and you should be very, very proud of that. I was very glad to be invited to come by here and to be able to redo our schedule so I could come, because I wanted to make one simple point to you. Everybody knows how important your institutions were to 20th century America. I want everybody to know how important your institutions will be to 21st century America. A third of all the undergraduate and advanced degrees awarded to African-Americans are awarded by your institutions. I want America to know that and to know what a vital role you play in building your communities, nurturing new businesses, and revitalizing neighborhoods, as Howard is doing here in our hometown of Washington. I want America to know about your enormous contributions to research. I want every American to know that last November Tennessee State astronomers made the world's first direct detection of a planet orbiting another star. We have done what we could to play our role. The Vice President and I have worked hard to be good partners to you. I told Earl, Al Gore was so happy that he got to go to Morgan State yesterday, because when I got to go to Morgan State to give a commencement address, to talk about, of all things, science and technology not him, I got to talk about that he was so jealous. And I just told him, I said, It will not be long before nobody pulls rank on you anymore, but I am going there. And we want you to be able to define a mission for the 21st century that will help to create opportunity for every responsible American. We now have 30 agencies in our Government all singing out of the same hymnal, working for you, to help you reach your goals and your aspirations. The budget I just submitted to Congress includes almost a 40 percent increase in HBCU funding, including the new dual degree program Secretary Riley talked about yesterday. I want to ask you now to think beyond that. In the State of the Union, I said that I thought America should be proud of what we had done together these last 7 years, but not satisfied.

monologic

We should remember that we got to where we are as a country with the right vision and the right values and an awful lot of effort an awful lot of effort. All of you know, because of the work you do, that the one constant of the time in which we live is change; that there is an inherent dynamism in this moment which rewards people who are educated, who work hard, who can think and create, and punishes the sluggards mercilessly. And I do not want to see our country become a sluggard in 2000 just because we are feeling good about ourselves. I do not want to see Washington become a sluggard in 2000 just because there is an election on the horizon that will occupy the headlines, because what is rewarded is action. And so I ask you to help me convince our country and our Congress that this may be an election year, but it is still got to be an action year. We have an action agenda. You know, I think we can really say with the HOPE scholarships, with the direct student loan program, with a million work-study positions, with the increases in the Pell grants we have opened the doors of at least 2 years of college now to every American who will work for it. But it is time to open the doors of college for 4 years to every American who will work for it. That is why we want to raise the Pell grant again. That is why I want to make college tuition tax deductible up to $10,000, and I want to do it in a progressive way so that whether the family is in the 15 percent income tax bracket or the 28 percent income tax bracket, they get a 28 percent tax deduction for college tuition. This can make a huge difference to help children stay in school. One of the things that bothers me most is that since 1993 we have a 10 percent increase in the percentage of our high school graduates going on to college. A couple years ago, for the first time in history, the percentage of African-Americans graduating from high school on time was almost identical to the white majority. The percentage going on to college has significantly increased. And it will give you a profile of the American people and their incomes and their prospects. People with an education do well; people without an education work harder for less. We have got to get these kids into college; we have got to keep them in college. And you have to help us, financially, academically, in every way.

monologic

I have proposed some new college completion grants to try to help schools experiment with new strategies to keep young people in school within the TRIO program. I know that this is a big concern of yours. This is a big issue to America. I want you to help me convince the country and the Congress that we ought to bring economic opportunity to every area that has not seen it. We ought to increase the number of empowerment zones under the program the Vice President has headed so ably. We ought in every poor neighborhood in America, an inner city, a rural area, an Indian reservation we ought to give people the same tax incentives to invest there that we give them to invest overseas, in Latin America or Africa or Asia. I am for helping Americans to invest overseas, but we ought to give them the same incentives to invest in poor areas here, where people are dying to go to work or start businesses or have a better future. I want you to help me convince the country and convince the Congress that there are still a lot people out there in poverty; that they ought to have access to jobs and education; and that even though we have 2 million-plus fewer children in poverty, there are still too many. And as rich as we are now, as low as our unemployment rate is now, there is no excuse for any child in America living in poverty. And we ought to say as a goal, we are going to make sure that we increase the earned-income tax credit for working families; we are going to make sure that we increase child care support; we are going to do whatever it takes to make sure that every parent can succeed at home and work, and no child is raised in poverty. I want you to help me convince the Congress and the country that that is the right thing to do. The one thing you can play a big role in is making sure we close the digital divide it is okay to clap for that, that is good. I was so pleased to learn of your new agreement with Gateway to empower your students, your faculty, your alumni with a million affordable new computers; to put in place the E-commerce tools for improving distance learning, on-line admissions, registration, and financial aid. It is a good company, doing what I think we ought to do. I visited Gateway's offices in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I met with all their young employees who worked there.

monologic

They had young people from seven, eight, nine different countries working in one office there, talking all over the world where they were selling these computers. And Ted Waitt and the people at Gateway have decided that if they are trying to bring that kind of opportunity to the rest of the world, they ought to be closing the digital divide here at home. I applaud them, and I applaud you for working with them. We have to do more with that. There is so much we can do to help young people skip a generation of educational and economic development, in terms of time, if we close the digital divide. I ask you to help me persuade the Congress to give the biggest increase in civil rights enforcement in history we still have actual problems with bigotry and discrimination out there to enforce the equal pay laws; and to pass hate crimes legislation; to do things that will give us the tools to create one America. Let me just say this briefly in closing. I know you all agree with my agenda. I know you do, and I am grateful for the support you have given us in everything we have worked on through the years together. Things are going pretty well at home, are not they? Yes, you know some people in trouble, but more people are doing better. The great test of our people in this age is what we do with our good feeling. How many times anybody that is over 30 in this audience will identify with this how many times in your life have you made a mistake not because things were going badly but because things were going well? The whole history of the civil rights movement is about people who were saints under fire. People'd burn crosses in their yards, throw rocks or bullets through the front window. We are commemorating Selma this year. We honor these people. But how many times have you made a mistake and failed, and your courage and your vision has failed you, not because you were under duress but because things were going so well you thought there were no consequences to taking your eye off the prize? And I want you to have a good time here tonight, but I want you to hear me about this. I thank you for acknowledging what I have tried to do with you for America. If nobody ever did another thing for me in my life, and I spent the rest of my life doing for other people, I would never catch up, not ever.

monologic

So what I want to say to you is, take a little time tonight while you are having fun at dinner and clapping for the award recipients and feeling pretty good about where you are and where your institutions are, but think about what you are going to do with this good fortune and what your country is. You know, you talked about me being a little boy in Hope. I am talking to you now more as a citizen than as a President. I am not running for anything, you know. And most days, I am okay about it. And I think about the young people and how I have always said, do not stop thinking about tomorrow; keep your eyes on the future; always have a vision. But I also know that to understand today and tomorrow, you have to have some sense of what yesterday was like. This month when we celebrated the longest economic expansion in history, I did a little looking into, and thinking about, what was the longest economic expansion until this one. Now, I remember what that was like. I remember in the beginning how full of hope we were when President Kennedy was elected. I remember when President Kennedy was assassinated, how heartbroken we were, but how we rallied as a country behind President Johnson. All these people that look back at the sixties and say American cynicism started when President Kennedy was assassinated are just wrong. This country was heartbroken, but we stood up together, and we joined hands. And Lyndon Johnson provided great leadership, and he pulled us together. So in 1964, I am graduating from high school into an America that was the nearest like this America. We had low unemployment, low inflation, high growth. And everybody thought as difficult as the civil rights problems were, they were going to be resolved in a peaceable manner, with this wizard in the White House and the votes in Congress, to lawfully give African-Americans what they were constitutionally entitled to. And all the while we would win the cold war against communism, and we would create the greatest society America had ever known. That is what I believed the night I graduated from high school. Two years later, we had riots in the streets, a half a million people in Vietnam; the country was beginning to be deeply divided. Two years after that, I graduated from college in this city, 2 days after Robert Kennedy was assassinated, 2 months and 4 days after Martin Luther King was killed, 5 weeks after Lyndon Johnson said he could not see his way clear to run for President again.

monologic

This afternoon I have a very serious message to deliver to our country Present high inflation threatens the economic security of our Nation. Since my economic and budget reports were made to the Congress and to the people in January, rapid changes in world events and economic prospects have made it necessary to intensify our anti-inflation fight. In the last 8 weeks inflation rates and interest rates have surged to unprecedented heights. During the last 2 reporting months, for instance, the increases in the wholesale price index in Italy, Great Britain, and Japan have all increased more than 25 percent. And even in Germany, West Germany, where the prime consideration, equal to national defense, is inflation, the wholesale price index has increased more than 13 percent. The inflation that we face today is deep-rooted. Its many causes have been built up over more than a decade. The most important of these causes are the soaring prices for energy throughout the world, declining productivity growth in our Nation, and our failure in government and as individuals, as an entire American society, to live within our means. Inflation is a symptom of economic distress. The truth is that we have inflation because our economy is not productive enough to do all the things that we demand of it. We want it to give us higher incomes, bigger profits, and bigger government programs in the areas where we have a special interest. The Federal Government must stop spending money we do not have and borrowing to make up the difference. Our whole society, the entire American family, must try harder than ever to live within its means. As individuals and as a nation, we must begin to spend money according to what we can afford in the long run and not according to what we can borrow in the short run. We cannot abolish inflation overnight by just passing a law against it. Only a long-term effort, with a partnership of business and labor and individual citizens and government at all levels, can succeed in bringing this serious problem under control. This dangerous situation calls for urgent. measures. We must remove any doubt about our Nation's will to take the painful steps that will be required to control inflation. We cannot accept high rates of inflation as a permanent fact of American life. first, discipline by reductions in the Federal Government; second, discipline by restraints on credit; third, discipline in wage and price actions; fourth, discipline by greater conservation of energy; and fifth, structural changes over a long period of time to encourage productivity, savings, and research and development.

monologic

Let me discuss these one by one. I will soon set forth a revised budget for fiscal year 1981, beginning next October 1. And the Congress and I are determined to keep this budget in balance. Since the last balanced budget 12 years ago-and there has been only one balanced budget since 1961-we have added almost one-half trillion dollars to our Nation's debt. In 1981 we will thus achieve an objective that has escaped us, eluded our country in good times and in bad times, and that is a balanced budget. By the end of this month, I will send to Congress a major revision in both my 1980 and 1981 budgets. It will propose significant reductions of budget authority from the current proposals in order to cut spending this fiscal year and next fiscal year. I will cut spending in the 1981 budget by more than $18 billion. To reach that goal, I will defer or reduce or cancel most of the new or the expanded programs which were originally proposed in the 1981 budget. I will cut expenditures for personnel, operating, and maintenance throughout the Government. I will freeze Federal civilian employment immediately and maintain rigid ceilings, so that by the end of October of this year, we will have 20,000 fewer Federal employees on the payroll. I will reduce ongoing spending programs throughout the Federal Government. I urgently request from the Congress the savings and the revenue measures in the budget that I proposed back in January. I want to stress in particular the legislation needed to hold down hospital costs, to reform Federal pay, and to speed up collections in revenue. When budget cuts demand sacrifices from many Americans, it is intolerable for some to evade prompt payment of the taxes which they owe. I will send to the Congress legislation to make sure that taxes that are owed on interests and on dividends are actually paid and paid in a timely manner. I will maintain my commitment, through all of this procedure, to a strong defense and to the level of real growth in defense spending which I committed on the honor of our Nation to our NATO Allies. But the Defense Department will not be immune from budget austerity. In particular, I will require that Department to make savings that do not affect adversely our military preparedness. I consider the proposed defense budget adequate to meet our Nation's needs. We must maintain budget restraint and fiscal responsibility in every single agency of the Federal Government. Based on our estimates of economic and budgetary developments, the action that I have just described will produce a balanced budget in 1981.

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Of course, in our system the Congress controls the power of the purse. The recent intense efforts, one of the most inspiring demonstrations of congressional leadership that I have ever seen, and my close cooperation and consultation with these congressional leaders, have all convinced me that the Congress will indeed enact and maintain a balanced budget that I have just described to you. But to ensure that outcome I will use every power at my command, as ENTITY, as I did last week on a popular bill. I will veto any legislation that exceeds the spending limits which I consider to be inconsistent with a balanced budget. I will use lily full powers under the 1974 Budget Reform Act to hold down Federal spending, including some expenditures which have already been authorized by the Congress and for which money has been appropriated. If, during the course of the year, I judge these actions and powers which I have just described as being insufficient, I will ask the Congress for a temporary grant of extraordinary powers to ensure that spending by the Federal Government of our country is contained. Cutting back Federal spending to match revenue is not a cure-all, but it is an essential first step. The sources of inflation are far too complex to be treated by a single remedy. But nothing will work in an overall anti-inflation program until the Federal Government has demonstrated to the American people that it can discipline its own spending and its own borrowing-not just as a 1-year exercise but as a longterm policy. Together, we will do just that. We will dispel the notions that Federal budget deficits must always be with us. I want to be absolutely honest about these budget cuts. We have been cutting out waste and fraud and trimming the bureaucratic fat. But this time, there will also have to be cuts in good and worthwhile programs-programs which I support very strongly. In this critical situation we must all look beyond some of our most worthwhile immediate aims to the overriding permanent needs of our Nation. Our second area of action is restraining the growth of credit. When we try to beat inflation with borrowed money, we just make the problem worse. Inflation is fed by credit-financed spending. Consumers have gone in debt too heavily. The savings rate in our Nation is now much lower than it has been for more than 25 years. Less than 3 percent of the earnings of Americans now go into savings. As inflationary expectations have been worsened, business and other borrowers are also tempted to use credit to finance speculative ventures .as well as productive activities.

monologic

The traditional tools used by the Federal Reserve to control money and credit expansion are a basic part of the fight against inflation. But in present circumstances, these tools need to be reinforced so that effective constraint can be achieved in ways that spread the burden reasonably and fairly. I am therefore using my power under the Credit Control Act of 1969 to authorize the Federal Reserve to impose new restraints on the growth of credit on a limited and on a carefully targeted basis. Under this authority the Federal Reserve will first establish controls for credit cards and other unsecured loans but not for secured loans on homes, automobiles, and other durable goods, and second, to restrain credit extensions by commercial banks that are not members of the Federal Reserve System and also by certain other money market lenders. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve will announce a voluntary program effective immediately to restrain excessive growth in loans by larger banks and by other lenders. At the same time, the program will encourage the flow of available credit supplies for investment and for other productive uses. Special attention will be given to the particular needs of small businesses, farmers, and homeowners, and I support these initiatives by the Federal Reserve. These carefully targeted actions will not damage the productive capacity of our Nation. To help curtail the excessive uses of credit and by dampening inflation they should, along with the budget measures that I have described, speed prospects for reducing the strains which presently exist in our financial markets. In addition, I am taking steps to reduce the extension of credit by the Federal Government. Federal loans and loan guarantees will be cut by nearly $4 billion in fiscal year 1981. As a longer run measure, I urge Congress to institute the credit budget which I proposed in January. It will help us control more effectively the loans and the loan guarantees provided by the Federal Government. Our third area of action is the voluntary wage and price standards. I do not have authority to impose mandatory controls. I will oppose such authority being approved at all by the Congress. We will not impose mandatory wage and price controls. Government wage and price controls have never worked in peacetime. They create unfair economic distortions, and they hurt productivity. These results always force price controls first to be eased and then to be dismantled while inflation roars ahead. Controls create inequities, and the greatest inequity is their effect on the average American family.

monologic

As even the most ardent advocates of mandatory wage and price controls will admit, the cost of vital necessities such as food and fuel would be passed on to those who are living on frozen wages and on fixed incomes. We simply cannot outlaw inflation with a massive Federal bureaucracy or wish it away with a magic formula. On the other hand, voluntary wage and price restraints offer the flexibility we need to deal with our complex economy. The Council on Wage and Price Stability has just issued revised pay standards and confirmed an extension of the price standards. The new pay standards were developed from the recommendation of a tripartite advisory committee, with members from business, labor, and the public. The committee unanimously recommended standards for pay increases in the range of 7 1/2 to 9 1/2 percent and stated that under normal circumstances increases should average 8 1/2 percent. I am determined to meet this goal. In the face of last year's 13-percent increase in the Consumer Price Index, and the even higher rate of recent months, this unanimous recommendation of the Pay Advisory Committee, designed to produce an average wage and salary increase of 8 1/2 percent, reflects a commendable spirit of restraint and cooperation. With business, labor, and public support, we can meet this goal of restraint. I am sharply expanding the price and wage monitoring activities of the Council on Wage and Price Stability. Its current staff of 80 people will be more than tripled. The Council will then establish teams of experts to track wage and price developments in each major industry. The Council will meet with leaders from specific industries to secure their cooperation in this fight against inflation. Where necessary, we will ask large firms for prenotification of significant price increases. We will investigate wage and price increases that seem out of line with the standards. I mean to apply these standards with vigor and toughness to both business and labor. Our fourth area of action is energy. The plain truth is that we will never be completely strong at home or secure abroad until we have at last solved our Nation's excessive dependence on imported oil. This year, we expect to spend $90 billion of America's hard-earned income to foreign countries to buy their oil. The price of imported oil has more than doubled-more than doubled in the last 12 months. Last year's increase alone in 1979 was greater than all other increases combined since the oil embargo of 1973. In fact, last year alone the price of oil increased more than it has since oil was first discovered.

monologic

We must forge ahead toward the goal that I set last July-cutting in half the amount of oil that we will import in 1990. To do this, we will require increased conservation and increased production of domestic oil, natural gas, and coal, and the rapid development of alternative energy supplies. For 3 years, as every Member of the Congress well knows, I have fought for a national energy policy to achieve each of these goals, and we have worked closely together. Today, at long last, we are close to enacting such a policy into law, and we must not falter now. I am asking the Congress to finish without delay the three essential elements of the energy policy. These bills are the cornerstone for energy security, for our national security, and for our fight against inflation. I have recently submitted to the Congress a proposal to conserve energy in electric powerplants and to convert them from oil to coal. But we can never solve our energy dependence unless we meet the problem of America's extravagant gasoline use. Gasoline is the most important and the most wasted petroleum product in the United States. It accounts for some 40 percent of all the petroleum we use in our country. In almost every other industrial country, the average amount of gasoline used by each citizen is much less and the price for gasoline is much higher-more than twice as high in most other industrialized countries than it is today in the United States. Americans have done well in the past year in gasoline conservation. But if we are going to reduce further our dependence on foreign oil, we must do more. Therefore, I am exercising my Presidential authority to impose a gasoline conservation fee on imported oil. This will amount to about 10 cents a gallon and will be imposed only on gasoline. The fee will not add to the cost of any other petroleum product, and it will not add at all to the profit of oil companies. It should reduce imports by 100,000 barrels per day in 1 year, and within about 3 years, it will reduce the imports of oil from foreign countries by more than 250,000 barrels every day. I will submit to Congress a request for a specific gasoline tax, in the same amount exactly, which will replace the conservation fee. The funds from this gasoline conservation charge will be held in reserve or used to reduce the national debt. I do not intend to use these revenues to balance the budget or as a substitute for necessary spending cuts. That would not contribute substantially to the control of inflation.

monologic

But these revenues, which will begin occurring immediately, will give the budget, which will be balanced, a margin of safety, ensuring that it will remain in balance if conditions or estimates change in a way that we do not anticipate. We can now set new State targets for gasoline consumption which will, within a year, reduce consumption by 400,000 barrels per day. This action also underscores a commitment to greater conservation that our friends abroad, both the producing countries and the consuming countries, can both join and support. Finally, the Secretary of Energy is pursuing an intensified national energy conservation plan. Our aim is to involve every level of government, business and labor-in fact, every single citizen in our country-in conserving American energy. Our fifth area of action involves longterm structural changes to encourage productivity, savings, and research and development. We must face the fact that over the last 10 years the pace of productivity growth in the United States has slowed sharply. This trend is an important longterm factor in inflation. I am asking my Presidential commission on an agenda for the 1980's as part of their work to develop specific recommendations for revitalizing our Nation's economy. Our priority now is to balance the budget, but once these spending limitations have actually been achieved, we can then provide tax relief to encourage investment. Through fiscal discipline today, we can free up resources tomorrow, through tax deductions, for the productivity increase which our Nation needs. This discipline which I have described to you will not be easy. But [he most important thing we cannot afford is the national delusion which we have been harboring about inflation. We cannot afford the fairy-tale that inflation can somehow be passed along to the next person or somehow be passed along to the next generation. The actions I have outlined involve costs. They involve pain. But the cost of acting is far less than the cost of not acting. The temporary pain of inconvenience and discipline is far less for all of us together than the still worst permanent pain of constantly rising inflation. For all of us, but especially for the most disadvantaged among us, inflation is indeed the most cruel tax of all. When we take these necessary steps against inflation, it will not result in a quick victory. Over the next several months inflation is likely to continue at a high level. But I am confident that the steps that I have outlined today will make the inflation rate be declining later on this year.

monologic

And there are just a couple of people I want to acknowledge. First of all, obviously, Harvey and Georgina have just been great friends and have done so much for us, not just in this election, but in the previous one. your Governor, Dan Malloy, is here, who is doing outstanding work here in Connecticut. I want to thank Anne Hathaway for taking the time to host us. And I did get a chance to see Batman. And she was the best thing in it. Aaron Sorkin, who writes the way every Democrat in Washington wished they spoke. Joanne and Paul were not only I think what was best about American film, but also just embodied the American spirit in so many ways. And their love story and the way they took so many people under their wing and helped so many people I think made them something more important than just folks in film. Now, you know, in these kind of intimate settings, I usually do not make a long speech because what I want to do is have a conversation. And so let me just say a few things at the top. I will give you a sense of the kind of season we are in. Jim Messina, my campaign manager, tells this story. He was at an event like this, and there was a young couple; they had a 4-year-old boy, cute as can be. And so the parents, very proudly, prompt the son, Who is that? And they say, Well, and what does Barack Obama do? And he thinks for a second, and he says, Barack Obama approves this message. Now, that speaks to the state of affairs in politics today. Unless you have-you do not have a TV set or your cable is busted, you are seeing an awful lot of stuff about politics. And the reason I think there is so much intensity is because we have got a choice that is as stark and as critical as any that we have seen in my lifetime, in some ways, more important than 2008. the idea that if you work hard, that hard work is rewarded, that you can make it here if you try, regardless of what you look like, where you come from, what your last name is. And for a decade, we had seen job growth slow, and we had seen jobs moving overseas, and we had seen people working harder and harder, but coming up with less because the costs were going up a lot faster than their wages and their incomes.

monologic

And this all culminated in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. We have spent 3 1/2 years, a little over 3 1/2 years now, trying to make sure that this country gets back on its feet. 4.5 million new jobs, half a million new manufacturing jobs, an auto industry that is reinvigorated. But we did not work this hard in 2008 just to get back to where we were in 2007. Our notion was that we needed to rebuild a country where the foundations for people who were willing to act responsibly were there for them either to feel security in the middle class or to climb into the middle class and maybe do even better. And that means making sure that we have an education system that works, which is why we have initiated more aggressive education reform across the country than any President in a very long time and the reason that we put so much emphasis on making college more affordable for young people. It meant health care, because in a country this wealthy, we should not go bankrupt when we get sick. And the Affordable Care Act means that 30 million people will have health insurance, but it also means that people who already have health insurance have a little more security. We did an event just before we came here, and there was a woman who clearly is doing fine and is well insured, but she personally thanked me for the health care bill because she said, my husband just got cancer and we were not sure whether we were going to hit that $1 million limit on our insurance policy. Well, that limit is no longer allowed under the Affordable Care Act, which means they may not lose their house because of an illness. It means making investments in science and research that are what made us an economic superpower. It means having a Tax Code that is fair so that we bring down our deficit not on the backs of folks who are struggling, but we ask those of us who are-who've been incredibly blessed by this country to do a little bit more, understanding that when folks in the middle and the bottom are doing well, everybody does well and the economy grows. It means a foreign policy that recognizes the force of our example and our ideals and our capacity to engage with countries diplomatically is a complement to our incredible military power. And it is not a sign of weakness to say that we are going to reach out around the world and engage people.

monologic

So we have had a lot of work to do over the last 3 1/2 years, and we are not done. We are just-we have gotten on track, but these gains are reversible. And you have got the other party and the other candidate who do not just want to reverse the gains that we have made over the last 3 1/2 years, but in many ways, want to reverse gains we have made over the last 40 or 50 or 60 years. When you look at their budget, and they say that they want to initiate a $5 trillion tax cut on top of the Bush tax cut, what that functionally means is that either you blow up the deficit by another $5 trillion-which they say is irresponsible-or you are going to have to eliminate funding for education, for infrastructure, for basic science and research. Medicare is going to be a voucher system, which means that seniors may end up paying thousands of dollars more for care that they were counting on. When Mitt Romney says he wants to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, I think he means it. When he says that Arizona is a model for how we should deal with immigration, I think that fundamentally misunderstands that we are a nation of laws, but also a nation of immigrants. So on a whole host of issues, you have got very stark differences. And when you walk into that ballot box-or do not walk into the ballot box. That is the second time I have said this today. When you walk into the voting booth-it is illegal, I am sure, to walk into a ballot box. When you cast your ballot, you will have the opportunity to determine the course of this country's direction not just tomorrow or next year or 5 years from now, but probably for decades to come. And the great privilege of being President is you interact with people from every walk of life, from every corner of the country. And what you discover is the faith that I brought into this office in the American people-their core decency and their values and their resilience and their fundamental fairness-they have never disappointed me. And I am confident that they will not this time either-despite the fact that we have got all these negative ads raining down on our heads and super PACs running around with folks writing $10 million checks-because when the American people focus and are paying attention, their instincts are sound and they know what makes this country great.

monologic

You know, I only wish we knew how Barbra really feels about all of this. It is so hard when people hold back like that. And thank you, Bob and Carole, for opening your beautiful home and leaving it open day after day after day while I carried on at the Wye River. We were sitting there singing those songs with you, and I said, You know, every time Carole King opens her mouth, you can make 30 years of my life vanish. I am glad to be here with Senator Boxer and Stu and Doug and Nicole and Tony and my nephew, Zach. I talked to her just before I came out. This is the third talk I have made, and I have started with the same story, but it is true, so I am going to say it again. So I want to tell another true story. Every time I give a talk, my staff prepares a little card like this. At the top it says, Barbra Streisand, Carole King, Bob Daly, Carole Bayer Sager. I am glad to be here to support Senator Barbara Boxer for the Senate. And it says why I am for her here. And then before I do it, I make out little notes like this in my handwriting. And at my age, in dilapidated condition, I cannot read it anyway, so I have no idea what I said. So before I got off the plane I swear, before I got off the plane, my staff said, When you were at this Middle East peace thing, every night you got home at 2 or 3 in the morning, and then the last night you did not come home at all. I was up for 39 hours before I went to bed last night. I did not even do that in college. So they said, Read this card because the press is listening in, and Lord only knows what you will say. So I talked to Hillary; she said, Read the card; read the card. But I am not going to read the card. Anyway, I want to say just a couple of things about Barbara Boxer and then a couple of things about where we are right now and what is at stake. First of all, apart from our relationship by marriage and our deep friendship, I care a lot about her. And you should know that I see people in Washington in ways that their constituents often do not . I see Senators when they are mad at me, sometimes.

monologic

I see Senators when they call and want me to do things, and sometimes I cannot do it. I see the tough votes and easy shots and just the whole thing. This woman has a good mind, a good heart, a fierce spirit, and she would make you proud every day if you could see her as I do. And I will also tell you that of all the members of the California delegation this is no disrespect to the others she has called me more than any other member of the California delegation on issues relating specifically to California. Sometimes it gets to the point where I hear she is calling me again, I just say, Whatever she wants, just tell her, yes; I am tired of dealing with her. Just tell her, yes; I am tired of dealing with her. So I think she has earned the right to be reelected. But she made a couple of points I'd like to reinforce. In August of '93, when I'd been through a rocky 8 months, a lot of controversy, and I knew our ability to really get this economy going again rested on the capacity of the Congress to vote for an economic plan I gave them to slash the deficit but keep investing in education and children and the environment and research; and that it would require a lot of controversial choices, but that if we did not do it and it was not enough of a cut in the deficit, we'd never get the interest rates down; we'd never get the economy going again. Now, at the time we did that, the stock market was at about 3200; interest rates were much higher; the unemployment rate was a whole lot higher; and the budget passed by a single vote in the Senate and in the House one vote. So it is literally true that if in the last 6 years California had been represented by her opponent, we would not have had the economic recovery to the extent we have, and I might not be here giving this talk tonight. She voted to ban assault weapons. She voted for the Brady bill. She voted which has kept a quarter of a million people with criminal histories and mental health problems from buying handguns. Lord knows how many lives we saved. Roughly 15 million Americans have taken advantage of the family and medical leave law, which says you can take some time off when a baby is born or a parent is sick without losing your job. I mean, she is done things that have made a difference to the life of the country.

monologic

This last budget you heard them talking about it all those funds for after-school programs would not be in that budget if it were not for Barbara Boxer. Let me just give you an example of what this means, just one. During all the years I served as Governor I think most of you know Hillary is from Chicago, and we used to spend a lot of time in Illinois. And the Chicago school system had a reputation for being the worst big-city school system in the country. They had a teacher strike in Chicago every year whether they wanted one or not, even whether the teachers wanted one. They just sort of automatic and they changed the whole way of governing the school system. The teachers basically are a part of the governance of the school system now. And the schools all have parent councils and lots of other changes have been made. Chicago big-city school system ended social promotion. If you do not pass a test, you cannot go on to the next grade. But they did not declare children failures because the system failed them. Instead, they guaranteed summer school to all the kids that do not do well. The summer school is now the sixth biggest school system in the United States the summer school. And there are now in Chicago alone 40,000 children that eat 3 meals a day in the school system. That is what this after-school program means. And she did it, and she deserves the credit for it. First of all, in spite of the fact that the country is doing well economically, and that a lot of our social problems are abating, and we have, fortunately, been able to advance the cause of peace around the world and to become, I think, much more capable of dealing with the world as it is going to be, from Africa to China, to Bosnia and Kosovo, to Northern Ireland and the Middle East, we have got a lot of challenges at home and abroad. And this next Congress will have a lot to do with what 21st century America looks like for a long time. I want to mention two or three things. Barbara mentioned the Patients' Bill of Rights. A hundred sixty million Americans are in managed care, and I support it. I always say this. You know, I was never against managed care in the beginning. A lot of people do not remember this, but in 1993, when I became ENTITY, the inflation rate in health care costs was 3 times the inflation rate in the economy as a whole.

monologic

You have to manage any system that is taking that much money up. It will consume the economy. On the other hand, no management technique or device can ever be allowed to consume the fundamental purpose of the endeavor, whatever it is. If you make movies or CD's, you want to do them as efficiently as possible; you do not want to do them in a way that you have a low quality CD or a lousy movie. If you run a grocery store, you want to run it as efficiently as possible; but you do not want to run it with bad milk or rotten fruit. You can save money a lot of ways; any endeavor that you are doing, you can save money. But if you undermine the purpose of the endeavor, you have thwarted the very reason you are trying to be more efficient. You have got people who are out there dying, because their doctors say they need to have certain procedures or certain specialists, and it has to be approved by a managed care company, and the first person that gets it is a modestly paid accountant, a claims reviewer. And put yourself in the position of the claims reviewer we are talking about 160 million Americans now suppose instead of being an Academy Award winning actor, you are a claims reviewer for an HMO. What do you know? You know you are making a modest salary; you'd like a bonus at Christmastime; you'd like to have your job next year; you'd like to get a promotion someday. And all day long you are reviewing claims, and they are always the same thing, you know. The doctor says, Well, so-and-so ought to see a specialist, or so-and-so ought to have this procedure that may be experimental, and all this. What do you know about your job? You will never get in trouble for saying no. I want you to understand this from a human point of view. You will not get in trouble if you say no. Because if you make a mistake, they can always appeal the decision. And the doctor can ultimately, you say, make the right decision. Some of the biggest damage being done to the quality of health care in America today is being done on the way up the appeals ladder, when ultimately a doctor will say, Okay, yeah, this person should have the bone marrow transplant or whatever, you name it, or should see the plastic surgeon instead of just a general surgeon.

monologic

But by then it is too late to do the thing that was recommended in the first place. Now, if we had to pay a modest amount more, all of us, just a modest believe me, it is a modest amount; we are talking small bucks here more, to have the benefits of a managed system, but a system where the purpose was protected so that if your doctor says you ought to be able to see a specialist or you ought to have a certain procedure or if you get in an accident, you ought to be able to go to the nearest emergency room, not one all the way across town because it is the one that is covered; or if you are pregnant or getting chemotherapy and your employer changes health care providers, you ought to be able to keep your doctor until you finish a treatment, and you ought to be able to keep your medical records private throughout I think the American people would like that kind of system. And we did not do that this time because I did not have enough people in the Congress who agreed with me and Barbara Boxer. On the education, we fought and we fought and we finally got the funds for the 100,000 teachers. And if we keep funding this, we will get 100,000 teachers in the next few years, and that will enable us, because we are targeting them at the youngest children, to take average class size down to 18. This is the first year the last 2 years the first time we have had more kids in school than the baby boom generation. But unlike the baby boomers, there is no arc where it ends after 18 years. It looks like it is going to keep on going, because so many of our young children are immigrants, and we continue to bring immigrants in, and they are younger people and have children. Now, I was in a little town in Florida the other day 2 months ago a little town that had a grade school with 12 trailers out back for classrooms. I have been in big cities all across this country with beautiful old school buildings where whole floors were shut down because they were in such disrepair. So what we did not pass this time was a tax cut paid for in our budget that would have helped school districts to build or repair 5,000 schools. If you are going to hire the teachers, they have to have some place to teach. If you want a smaller classroom, there has to be more classrooms.

monologic

If you are going to say, Okay, end social promotion, give the kids after-school, give the kids summer school, have smaller classes, bring excellence in education back then you send a huge signal to children a huge signal by the buildings that they attend school in. We have people there are teachers in this country today conducting classes in broom closets. So we have got to win that. The next Congress this year we saved off this ill-advised election-year tax cut with the first surplus we have had in 29 years so we could reform Social Security. Now, when all us baby boomers get in the retirement system, there will only be two people drawing for every one person two people working for every one person drawing Social Security. To most of us, it will not make any difference. I have got a better pension than most Americans will have. Most Americans do not have a big pension. But today, half the seniors in this country are living above the poverty line only because of Social Security. Now, we have got to change the system. The system we have now will not support itself when there are only two people working for every one person drawing. Now, if we start now, we take this surplus and some portion of the surpluses we expect in the years ahead and make modest reforms, we can extend the life of Social Security so that the baby boomers can retire in dignity without bankrupting their kids. If we squander the money now or just avoid the tough decisions now, we will have some really tough decisions to make in a few years. We can either lower the standard of living of retirees, which will kill our consciences, or we can maintain the standard of living with a broken system by raising taxes on our kids in a way that undermines their ability to raise our grandkids. And one reason you ought to vote for her is because she will vote, A, to change it, but she will do it in a way that is humane and decent. And she will not throw all this money away that you have worked so hard to get us out of debt in with. One other issue I will just mention one other. There are lots of them, but one other I have had two people at these events tonight come up and mention it to me. We have a lot at stake in America in the success of the global economy.

monologic

No country has benefited more, and no State has done better in the last 6 years than California, because of our ability to trade with Asia, our ability to trade with Latin America. Now, you all know there are a lot of troubles out there. Some of it is just pure growing pains, and nobody has good times all the time. Some of it is just the cycle of things. But a lot of it is the direct result of the fact that in addition to global trade and global investment, the global flow of money has grown so rapidly and in such sweeping volumes. Now over one trillion dollars a day crosses national borders over a trillion dollars a day a lot of it in highly leveraged instruments where people only put up a small percentage of what it is they are investing. A vast amount of funds cross national borders every day just betting for and against national currencies. If you want to have high volumes of investment, if you want to have high volumes of trade, if you want to have high volumes of travel, if you want all that, you have got to have some way of moving money around. But the system that has we have modified over the last 50 years is not adequate to keep the global economy growing and going without running the risk of the kind of boom/bust cycles that used to afflict countries before the Great Depression. After the Great Depression, the United States, Europe, Japan, every country figured out how to avoid it ever happening again. We have not had another Great Depression, have we? We had some stiff recessions. We had some bad times. What we have to do is to devise a system for the global financial movement that will get the benefit of this money moving around without the risk of total collapse that you see affecting some of the countries in Asia and elsewhere. I think it is inconceivable we will be able to do all that without having somebody help in Congress. I tried to get the Congress this year to raise the minimum wage. Because the minimum wage is 5 bucks and 15 cents an hour, and you cannot raise a family on it. And when you have got low unemployment and low inflation and the rest of us are doing pretty well, that is the time when you ought to raise it. I tried to pass legislation to protect children from the dangers of tobacco. Because it is the biggest public health problem in the country for kids. I tried to pass campaign finance reform so you would not have to go to so many of these dinners every year.

monologic

And, you know, there are a lot of things to be done. Now, the last thing I want to say is this what Barbra said. I want you to focus on this, just because and I want to thank Barbra Streisand because she said she is going on the Internet to try to get people to vote. It is generally accepted now that our agenda this year is the winning agenda; that the American people support what we are trying to do; they believe in this; that they believe that we ought to be a force for peace and freedom around the world. They support us stopping another Bosnia from happening in Kosovo. They support us being involved in the peace process in Ireland and in the Middle East. They support these domestic agenda items that saving Social Security and more classrooms and the Patients' Bill of Rights. The difficulty is that almost without exception when you have an election for Congress and you do not have an election for President, you get a big drop in the turnout. And a lot of our folks do not go lower income working women that have a big enough hassle every day to figure out how to get the kids to child care, to school, and get to work; or inner-city residents who have to ride a bus to work every day, and the polling place is not on the bus route coming home. And just a lot of things happen. And a lot of people just do not think it is that big a deal. I am telling you, this is a big deal. And so what I would like to ask you to do is to think about what you could do between now and a week from Tuesday. Is there who do you come in contact with? Everybody you come in contact with at work or socializing or in any other way, that you could tell this is a big deal, and they need to show up. This election, in its potential significance, is like a Presidential election because these issues will shape the way we live for a long time to come. And we do not live in a dictatorship. So the President does not call all the shots. A lot of this has to be done by Congress and the President working together. Now, I just cannot tell you how important it is. But let me ask you to think about this when I close. The most heartbreaking thing that is happened in the last several days in America, I think, that is really seared the heart of the country, was the death of that young man out in Wyoming.

monologic

And I called to talk to his parents and his brother hard to think of what to say. And it moved us all because you see the picture of this fine looking young guy, this intelligent, vital young man with his whole life before him. And it appears that he was taken out by people who thought he did not belong. So it offended our common sense of humanity. You all stood up and clapped for me, and I appreciated that, over this Middle East peace thing. But, you know, I felt lucky to be doing that. I loved it, even the ugly parts, the tough parts, and the long nights. That is what I hired on to do. That is why I ran for ENTITY. That is the kind of thing I wanted to do. I felt so fortunate to have been given the chance to do that. And I might add, it is easier for the honest broker than it is for the parties. You see I think Mr. Netanyahu has gotten some unfair criticism in this country for being too tough in the negotiating. If you have been watching the news today of what he is facing in Israel, you see that he has to bear the consequences of the commitments he made. Now, he made a good deal for his country. It will increase their security. But he is got a hill to climb to sell it to the people that are part of his coalition. I think Mr. Arafat made a good deal for the Palestinians. It will help them with land. It will help them with the economy. But I will guarantee you, there are people who do not want peace who will try to take him out over it. But why did you like that so much? I mean, think about it. Why did you do that? Because you know these folks have been fighting each other a long time. And you think about the wreckage all of that estrangement has wrought. And here are these people who reached across this divide and decided they'd hold hands and jump off this high dive together. It gives you energy. It gives you hope. It sort of chips away all those layers of cynicism that we carry around encrusted on us all the time. Because it is just the opposite of the murder of young Mr. Shepard. It reaffirms our common humanity. That is why we like it. Now, what is that got to do with this election and Barbara Boxer? I will tell you what.

monologic

I have found it a real privilege to be here to-night and to listen to the addresses which you have heard. Though you may not all of you believe it, I would a great deal rather hear somebody else speak than speak myself; but I should feel that I was omitting a duty if I did not address you to-night and say some of the things that have been in my thought as I realized the approach of this evening and the duty that would fall upon me. The astonishing thing about the movement which you represent is, not that it has grown so slowly, but that it has grown so rapidly. No doubt for those who have been a long time in the struggle, like your honored president, it seems a long and arduous path that has been trodden, but when you think of the cumulating force of this movement in recent decades, you must agree with me that it is one of the most astonishing tides in modern history. Two generations ago, no doubt Madam President will agree with me in saying, it was a handful of women who were fighting this cause. Now it is a great multitude of women who are fighting it. And there are some interesting historical connections which I would like to attempt to point out to you. One of the most striking facts about the history of the United States is that at the outset it was a lawyers' history. Almost all of the questions to which America addressed itself, say a hundred years ago, were legal questions, were questions of method, not questions of what you were going to do with your Government, but questions of how you were going to constitute your Government,-how you were going to balance the powers of the States and the Federal Government, how you were going to balance the claims of property against the processes of liberty, how you were going to make your governments up so as to balance the parts against each other so that the legislature would check the executive, and the executive the legislature, and the courts both of them put together. The whole conception of government when the United States became a Nation was a mechanical conception of government, and the mechanical conception of government which underlay it was the Newtonian theory of the universe. If you pick up the Federalist, some parts of it read like a treatise on astronomy instead of a treatise on government. They speak of the centrifugal and the centripetal forces, and locate the President somewhere in a rotating system. The whole thing is a calculation of power and an adjustment of parts.

monologic

There was a time when nobody but a lawyer could know enough to run the Government of the United States, and a distinguished English publicist once remarked, speaking of the complexity of the American Government, that it was no proof of the excellence of the American Constitution that it had been successfully operated, because the Americans could run any constitution. A great question arose in this country which, though complicated with legal elements, was at bottom a human question, and nothing but a question of humanity. And is it not significant that it was then, and then for the first time, that women became prominent in politics in America? Not many women; those prominent in that day were so few that you can name them over in a brief catalogue, but, nevertheless, they then began to play a part in writing, not only, but in public speech, which was a very novel part for women to play in America. After the Civil War had settled some of what seemed to be the most difficult legal questions of our system, the life of the Nation began not only to unfold, but to accumulate. Life in the United States was a comparatively simple matter at the time of the Civil War. There was none of that underground struggle which is now so manifest to those who look only a little way beneath the surface. Stories such as Dr. Davis has told to-night were uncommon in those simpler days. The pressure of low wages, the agony of obscure and unremunerated toil, did not exist in America in anything like the same proportions that they exist now. And as our life has unfolded and accumulated, as the contacts of it have become hot, as the populations have assembled in the cities, and the cool spaces of the country have been supplanted by the feverish urban areas, the whole nature of our political questions has been altered. They have more and more become social questions, questions with regard to the relations of human beings to one another,-not merely their legal relations, but their moral and spiritual relations to one another. This has been most characteristic of American life in the last few decades, and as these questions have assumed greater and greater prominence, the movement which this association represents has gathered cumulative force. So that, if anybody asks himself, What does this gathering force mean, if he knows anything about the history of the country, he knows that it means something that has not only come to stay, but has come with conquering power.

monologic

I get a little impatient sometimes about the discussion of the channels and methods by which it is to prevail. It is going to prevail, and that is a very superficial and ignorant view of it which attributes it to mere social unrest. It is because the women have seen visions of duty, and that is something which we not only cannot resist, but, if we be true Americans, we do not wish to resist. America took its origin in visions of the human spirit, in aspirations for the deepest sort of liberty of the mind and of the heart, and as visions of that sort come up to the sight of those who are spiritually minded in America, America comes more and more into her birthright and into the perfection of her development. So that what we have to realize in dealing with forces of this sort is that we are dealing with the substance of life itself. I have felt as I sat here to-night the wholesome contagion of the occasion. Almost every other time that I ever visited Atlantic City, I came to fight somebody. I hardly know how to conduct myself when I have not come to fight against anybody, but with somebody. I have come to suggest, among other things, that when the forces of nature are steadily working and the tide is rising to meet the moon, you need not be afraid that it will not come to its flood. We feel the tide; we rejoice in the strength of it; and we shall not quarrel in the long run as to the method of it. Because, when you are working with masses of men and organized bodies of opinion, you have got to carry the organized body along. The whole art and practice of government consists not in moving individuals, but in moving masses. I have not come to ask you to be patient, because you have been, but I have come to congratulate you that there was a force behind you that will beyond any peradventure be triumphant, and for which you can afford a little while to wait.

monologic

Earlier this week, I visited Arizona and Texas to observe firsthand our efforts to protect our Southwest border. And I met with customs and border protection agents who are working tirelessly to enforce our laws and keep our borders secure. Illegal immigration and border security are issues that concern Americans. We are a nation built on the rule of law, and those who enter the country illegally break the law. In communities near our border, illegal immigration strains the resources of schools, hospitals, and law enforcement. And it involves smugglers and gangs that bring crime to our neighborhoods. We are going to protect our borders. Since I took office, we have increased funding for border security by 60 percent, and our border agents have caught and sent home more than 4.5 million illegal immigrants, including more than 350,000 with criminal records. Yet we must do more to build on this progress. This week I outlined my comprehensive strategy to reform our immigration system. The strategy begins with a three-part plan to protect our borders. First, we will promptly return every illegal entrant we catch at our border with no exceptions. For illegal immigrants from Mexico, we are working to expand an innovative program called interior repatriation, in which those caught at the border are returned to their hometowns far from the border, making it more difficult for them to attempt another crossing. For non-Mexican illegal immigrants, we are changing the unwise policy of catch-and-release to a policy of catch-and-return, and we are speeding up the removal process. Second, we must fix weak and unnecessary provisions in our immigration laws, including senseless rules that require us to release illegal immigrants if their home countries do not take them back in a set period of time. Third, we must stop people from crossing the border illegally in the first place. So we are hiring thousands more Border Patrol agents. We are deploying new technology to expand their reach and effectiveness, and we are constructing physical barriers to entry. Comprehensive immigration reform also requires us to improve enforcement of our laws in the interior of our country, because border security and interior enforcement go hand in hand. In October, I signed legislation that more than doubled the resources for interior enforcement, so we will increase the number of immigration enforcement agents and criminal investigators, enhance worksite enforcement, and continue to go after smugglers, gang members, and human traffickers. Our immigration laws apply across all of America, and we will enforce those laws throughout our land.

monologic

With the New Year just a few weeks away, Washington is starting to get ready for the 100th Congress, which will be sworn in this January. The most important challenge facing that Congress will be joining with us in keeping a growing America on the road to a brighter future, the road that you and I and all Americans started on just 6 years ago. through the ingenuity, energy, and determination of the American people. Together we set out to cut your taxes and cut the growth of government spending so that you could get on with the important work of building a better future for yourself, your family, and all America. We first cut tax rates with our 1981 tax cut. Since the lower tax rates in that bill took effect, America has created over 12 million new jobs. We have had 48 straight months of economic growth and one of the longest periods of uninterrupted growth in the last 50 years. And after a decade-long decline, the American family's real income has been rising again and rising faster. But that is just the beginning; because earlier this year, with your help, Congress pushed aside the special interests and the tax-and-spend crowd, rolled up its sleeves, and shaped the tools that will help you and all Americans build on that record. That is when Congress passed the new tax reform bill, which will cut the top tax rate from 50 percent to 28 percent and for 8 out of 10 Americans will mean a top rate of no more than 15 percent. For the 4 years since our first tax cut found its footing, the American economy has been climbing to the mountaintop. With tax reform, America is going to shoot for the stars. That is why I was disappointed this week to hear some talk from the new Congress that we should stop the climb, turn around, and start back in the direction we have come from. Even before they take their oath of office, some in the new Congress are talking about breaking faith with the American people and taking back part of tax reform before it has taken effect. Yes, they say that to reduce the deficit they want to keep some people's tax rates high. First, they take one step towards raising taxes and then another and then another, and pretty soon every family in America is paying more to the Government again and we are back to the days of high taxes and no economic growth.

monologic

I hope that instead of trying to return to the tax-and-spend policies of the past, the new Congress will work with us in getting the growth of Federal spending under control. We have begun to make progress here, too. The figures are coming in now for the spending the Government is actually doing this year, and the news is good. When this year is ended, the deficit will be down by $50 billion. Yes, this year, for the first time in two decades, the Federal Government will spend less, after taking out inflation, than it did last year. That is an historic step on the road to a balanced budget, and it could not have happened without the Gramm-Rudman legislation. Now it is time to take a second step. On January 5th we will send next year's budget up to Capitol Hill. It will be lean enough to meet the Gramm-Rudman deficit targets, but it will also meet the Government's commitments. We will be spending more than ever before in such areas as support for America's elderly, law and drug enforcement to protect America's young people, and health care for America's finest-for our veterans. And yet in the coming budget, after taking out inflation, the Federal Government will spend less in the coming year than it will this year. That will be 2 years of real falling spending. We in the administration have worked hard to meet the new, earlier deadline for sending this budget to Congress. I hope Congress will work just as hard to meet its required deadlines and not let them slip by, as has happened too many times in the past. And I hope the new Congress will take a constructive approach to this firm but fair budget. We are bound to disagree here and there, but let us work together for the good of the country to iron out our differences. The leadership of the outgoing 99th Congress gave America lower tax rates and began the process of putting the lid on spending. to build on that record and help lead America into the future. I hope they will accept that challenge. Until next week, thanks for listening, and God bless you.

monologic

We have been friends a long time and, frankly, I had forgotten that I had done some of those things. I congratulate the members of the caucus on 20 years of leadership. I thank Women's Policy Inc. for hosting this event, and I am delighted to be here, not only with the Secretary of State but also with Audrey Haynes, the Director of the White House Office for Women's Initiatives and Outreach, and several other outstanding senior officials of the White House. I, too, want to pay tribute to Margaret Heckler and Elizabeth Holtzman for their vision in creating this office, for the leadership that thank you for the past leadership of Olympia Snowe and Pat Schroeder, Connie Morella and Nita Lowey. And of course, to Nancy Johnson and Eleanor Holmes Norton, who show no lack of energy in pressing your cause with the President. That is about 52 too few. And I was thinking it, too, based on your record. I think the thing that has been overlooked in this whole endeavor of trying to give more sensitivity to issues of special concern to women and trying to give women more opportunities to serve is that we live in an age where every public figure says, as if it were just a cliche, that the most important resource in any human endeavor in the private sector or the public sector is our people. And yet we cavalierly go on, in example after example after example, not giving all our people the chance to live up to the fullest of their God-given capacities and make the greatest service they can to the rest of us to promote the general welfare. I have done what I could to correct that, partly based on the example of my wife, my mother, and my grandmother, and partly because I have known so many of you personally, and partly because it is manifest that we have to find a way to reach across all the lines in our society and lift up everyone to the position of his or her highest and best use and potential. In that connection, I would like to thank the newly confirmed Ambassador to the Vatican, Lindy Boggs, for her willingness to serve. I have been proud to work with you on a lot of issues. Most of them have been mentioned tonightthe family and medical leave law, which has changed more lives than almost any bill that we have passed around here in a long time. Everywhere I go around the country now, people still come up to me and tell me personal stories of how that law changed their lives.

monologic

The Kassebaum-Kennedy bill, the minimum wage, the child care, the adoption tax credit, increased child support enforcement, the family violence initiativesall these things have made a difference. The hand of this caucus was felt heavily in the recent balanced budget, with the single biggest aid to education increase since '65, the biggest increase in aid to children's health since Medicaid in '65, and the children's tax credit. So, the country is in your debt. And I do believe that the bipartisan nature of this caucus has made a profound difference. I know that we are joined tonight by the Democratic leader, Dick Gephardt, and I believe Speaker Gingrich wanted to be here and had to be in Georgia tonight. I know Mr. Gephardt would agree with me that all of us have been impressed by how you are able to stay together, work together, and, in Eleanor's terms, get down to business no matter how crazy things get in this occasionally loony town. And for that, too, we are all in your debt, for you set an example that everyone else should follow. I'd like to talk just a moment about health issues. Hillary mentioned them and has worked on them so hard, and others have mentioned them. The budget not only provided for $24 billion to extend health coverage to 5 million children who do not have it, thus giving greater peace of mind to the parents who are raising them, both as parents and also when they are away at work, it did a lot more for the health of women. It expanded Medicare to cover bone mass measurement for women at risk of osteoporosis. Funding for osteoporosis research has now reached more than $100 million at NIH. It expanded Medicare to cover annual mammograms for all women over the age of 49 and eliminated the copayments to make these examinations more affordable. These were important things, and we have more to do. We have to continue our focus on women's health. Since I took office, funding for breast cancer research, prevention, and treatment has almost doubled, and we have discovered two breast cancer genes, holding great promise for the development of new prevention strategies, something that is profoundly important to all of us who have ever dealt with this in our families. We are unlocking the mysteries of the genetic code and continuing to discover new ways to diagnose and treat genetic disorders.

monologic

But we know that these breakthroughs also bring with them the need for new protections. Studies show the leading reason women do not take advantage of new genetic breast cancer tests is because they fear they will be discriminated in health plans if the tests come out the wrong way. So I want to work with you to get Congress to pass bipartisan legislation that will ban all health plans, group and individual, from denying coverage or raising premiums on the basis of genetic tests. After all, if we can get everybody to take the tests, if they know what they are up against, in the end we will prevent more severe illness, we will reduce cost to the health care system. And we should not punish individuals for doing something that we know is not only in their own interest but is in the interest of society. Also, legislation should prohibit all health plans from disclosing genetic information that could be misused by other insurers. It ought to protect researchers' ability to make the best use of this important tool. So, again, let me applaud those, especially Representative Slaughter and Senator Snowe, for their leadership. Genetic discrimination legislation deserves action now. Let me also say that many of you in this room have contributed to our efforts to support legislation to protect women who have had mastectomies. They should not be forced out of the hospital before they are ready because of pressure from a health plan. It is unacceptable that Congress has not yet held a hearing on the DeLauro-Dingell-Roukema 48-hour mastectomy patient protection bill, and we need to keep pushing for that. And finally, we need to keep breaking down the doors and breaking through the glass ceilings and acting to bring women the full measure of economic and legal equity to which they are entitled. This caucus and our administration, under the leadership of Aida Alvarez, continues to work to counter the effects of discrimination and long-developed networks which hinder the success of women- and minority-owned businesses. I am proud of the fact that the SBA in the last 5 years has tripled the number of loans to women businesses, and I thank you for your support of the disadvantaged business enterprise program, which has successfully increased the percentage of women- and minority-owned construction firms. I am pleased to say that this has now passed both Houses, and I hope you will keep up the fight so that it actually reaches my desk.

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Later today, I will send a report to the Congress which endorses the recommendations of the bipartisan Commission on Strategic Forces, urges prompt congressional action and support. The actions they propose will preserve stable deterrence and thus protect the peace, and they will add solid incentives and credibility to our efforts to negotiate arms reductions that can pave the way to a more secure and peaceful future. On the 23d of March, I spoke to the American people about our program for strengthening this nation's security and that of our allies and announced a long-term research effort to reduce, someday, the threat posed by nuclear ballistic missiles. A week later in Los Angeles, I expanded our efforts to limit and reduce this danger through reliable, verifiable, and stabilizing arms control agreements. preventing conflict, reducing the risk of war, and safeguarding the peace. Every American President has accepted this crucial objective as his most basic responsibility. Concrete, positive action is required to free the world from the specter of nuclear conflict. And that is why we will continue to work relentlessly to achieve nuclear stability at the lowest possible levels. Our words, policies, and actions all make clear to the world our country's deeply held conviction that nuclear war on any scale would be a tragedy of unparalleled scope. Time and again, America has exercised unilateral restraint, good will, and a sincere commitment to effective arms control. Unfortunately, these actions alone have not yet made us truly safer, and they have not reduced the danger of nuclear war. Over the past year, for example, the Soviets have deployed over 1,200 intercontinental ballistic missile warheads, more than the entire Peacekeeper program. The history of American involvement in arms control shows us what works and what does not work. The fact is that in the past our one-sided restraint and good will failed to promote similar restraint and good will from the Soviet Union. They also failed to produce meaningful arms control. But history also teaches us that when the United States has shown the resolve to remain strong, stabilizing arms control can be achieved. In the late sixties, we made a major effort to negotiate an antiballistic missile treaty with the Soviet Union. After the Soviet leadership demonstrated a clear lack of interest, the Congress agreed to fund an antiballistic missile building program. Once the Soviets knew we were going ahead, they came to the negotiating table, and we negotiated a treaty. It was formally adopted and remains in force today.

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Obviously, the best way to nuclear stability and a lasting peace is through negotiations. And this is the course that we have set. And if we demonstrate our resolve, it can lead to success. It was against this background that I established a bipartisan Commission on Strategic Forces last January and directed it to review the strategic program for United States forces with particular emphasis on intercontinental ballistic missile systems and their basing. A distinguished bipartisan panel of Americans who served on the Commission, and those who served as senior counselors, have performed a great service to their country, and we all owe them a debt of gratitude. I want to express my appreciation to you all for a tough job extraordinarily well done. In the finest spirit of bipartisanship, the Commission unanimously arrived at clear, important recommendations on some of the most difficult issues of our time. During the past 3 months, the Commission held dozens of formal meetings and numerous small conferences. They talked to over 200 technical experts and consulted closely with the Congress. to achieve a greater degree of national consensus concerning our approach to strategic force modernization and arms control. As the Constitution's report concludes, If we can begin to see ourselves in dealing with these issues, not as political partisans or as crusaders for one specific solution to a part of this complex set of problems, but rather as citizens of a great nation with the humbling obligation to persevere in the long-run task of preserving both peace and liberty for the world, a common perspective may finally be found. Well, these words guided the work of the Commission. It is my fervent hope that they will guide all of us as we work toward the solution of what has been a difficult and lengthy issue. The Commission has completed its work and last week submitted its report to me. It was immediately released, as you know, to the public. After reviewing the report, I met with the National Security Council. They endorse the Commission's recommendations, as do all the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. First, the Commission urges us to continue the strategic modernization program which I announced in October of 1981. It reaffirms that the need remains for improvements in the command, control, and communications of our strategic forces, and continuation of our bomber, submarine, and cruise missile program. Second, the Commission urges modernization of our ICBM forces. We should immediately proceed to develop and produce the Peacekeeper missile and deploy 100 in existing Minuteman silos near Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming.

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At the same time, the Commission recommends that we begin engineering the design for a small, singlewarhead missile. If strategic and technical considerations warrant, this missile could be ready for deployment in the early 1990's. Incidentally, this modernization program will save about $1.5 billion in 1984 and even more than that in each of the next 2 years. Third, the Commission recommends major research efforts in strategic defense and a thorough research program of hardening, making our land-based missile systems more secure. This modernization effort is the final component of our comprehensive, strategic program. It will mean a safer, more secure America. And it will provide clear evidence to the Soviet Union that it is in their best interest to negotiate with us in good faith and with seriousness of purpose. That adds up to an important incentive for both arms control and deterrence, for peace and security now and far into the future. Finally, the Commission underscores the need for ambitious arms control negotiations, negotiations that would lead to agreements that are balanced, promote stability in time of crisis, and result in meaningful, verifiable reductions. These are precisely the objectives of our arms control proposals now on the table in Geneva. These are-well, I want to reemphasize that we are in Geneva seeking equitable, reliable agreements that would bring real reductions. So, the task before us is to demonstrate our resolve, our national will, and our good faith. That is absolutely essential both for maintaining an effective deterrent and for achieving successful arms reductions. Make no mistake, unless we modernize our landbased missile systems, the Soviet Union will have no real reason to negotiate meaningful reductions. If we fail to act, we cannot reasonably expect an acceptable outcome in our arms control negotiations, and we will also weaken the deterrent posture that has preserved the peace for more than a generation. Therefore, I urge the Congress to join me now in supporting this bipartisan program to pursue arms control agreements that promote stability, to meet the needs of our ICBM force today, and to move to a more stable ICBM structure in the future. To follow up on the Commission's recommendations, I have asked Brent Scowcroft in his capacity as Chairman to keep me closely advised as this issue moves toward resolution, particularly as it relates to arms control. For more than a decade, each of four administrations made proposals for arms control and modernization. Unfortunately, each became embroiled in political controversy.

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I want to thank the Democratic and Republican leaders who have come here today to support the Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement known as CAFTA. As you can see, there are former Cabinet members of both Republican and Democrat Presidents, former staff members of Republican and Democrat Presidents, people who have said it is time to set aside political differences and focus on this very important trade agreement for the good of our country. And I want to thank you all for coming. I appreciate our visit. I appreciate the chance to hear your point of view about what we need to do together to get this bill passed. I want to thank the members of my Cabinet who are here. I particularly want to say thanks to Ambassador Rob Portman, who is the U.S. Trade Representative. He is the point person in the Bush administration to get this bill passed. He is working smart, and with your help and the help of those on the stage, I am confident that Congress will do the right thing. The reason we are here is because we share an interest in promoting opportunity and prosperity here at home. All of us understand that strengthening our economic ties with our democratic neighbors is a vital issue of national importance. All of us urge Congress to pass the agreement because America has an interest in strengthening democracy and advancing prosperity in our hemisphere. One of the surest ways to strengthen democracy and advance prosperity is by establish a trading system based on clear rules. My predecessors from both parties, former Presidents from both political parties, pursued this goal at all levels-at the global level, at the bilateral level, and at the regional level. Today, CAFTA presents us with an historic opportunity to advance a free and fair trading system that will bring benefits to all sides. I want to thank the members of the diplomatic corps from Central America who have joined us today. These Ambassadors understand what I just said. I said, this trade agreement benefits both sides. It is a good deal for the CAFTA countries, and it is a good deal for America as well. It is a good deal for America because CAFTA will help level the playing field for our goods and services. Under existing rules, nearly 80 percent of imports from Central America and the Dominican Republic already enter the United States duty free. But U.S. exports into the region face heavy tariffs. 80 percent of goods produced in Central America come into our country, come into the United States duty-free. Yet the same is not -it is not the same for American products.

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By passing CAFTA, the United States would open up a market of 44 million consumers for our farmers and small-business people and entrepreneurs. By lowering barriers in key segments like textiles, CAFTA will put our region in a better position to compete with low-cost producers in Asia. For the young democracies of Central America and the Dominican Republic, CAFTA would continue the current trade benefits. That means good jobs and higher labor standards for their workers. And because of reduced tariffs on U.S. goods, consumers in these countries would have access to better goods at lower prices. And that brings us a step closer to our goal of an Americas where the opportunities in San Jose, Costa Rica, are as real as they are in San Jose, California. People have got to understand that by promoting policy that will help generate wealth in Central America, we are promoting policy that will mean someone is less- more likely to stay at home to find a job. If you are concerned about immigration to this country, then you must understand that CAFTA and the benefits of CAFTA will help create new opportunity in Central American countries, which will mean someone will be able to find good work at home, somebody will be able to provide for their family at home, as opposed to having to make the long trip to the United States. For the Western Hemisphere, CAFTA would bring the stability and security that can only come from freedom. That is what we are interested in. We are interested in spreading freedom. Today, a part of the world that was once characterized by oppression and military dictatorship sees its future in democratic elections and free and fair trade, and we cannot take these gains for granted. These small nations are making big and brave commitments, and America must continue to support them. And CAFTA is a good way to support them. CAFTA is good for our workers. It is good for our farmers. It is good for our small-business people, but it is equally as good for the folks in Central America. By transforming our hemisphere into a powerful trading area, CAFTA will help promote democracy, security, and prosperity. The United States was built on freedom, and the more of it we have in our own backyard, the freer and safer and more prosperous America will be. The leaders from both parties here today share this vision. These folks, who toiled in the vineyards of good international politics and worked in the White House know exactly what I am talking about.

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And Peter, thank you very much for that wonderfully warm introduction and for making me feel so welcome. I loved walking out through that crowd because it gave me a chance to see so many people who have been so supportive over the years, and I am very, very grateful to you. Believe me, I will never forget how I got there. It was good, strong, loyal friends out in the precincts and at dinners like this over the years, and I am very grateful to all of you. May I thank Reverend Gambet for his invocation; it was a unique invocation, and I kind of went along with the last part and could learn from the first part, but -- -- and Malcolm Evans for the national anthem. I missed the Pledge of Allegiance crowd. I hear they were absolutely fantastic, and some of them are back there, but thank you very much for a unique joint Pledge of Allegiance. And I want to thank Peter and David here for making this dinner happen. Of course, Senator Specter, I am just very pleased to have been with him today in what for, I think, both of us was a very moving tour through some of the less privileged, some of the impacted parts of this great city. Larry Coughlin is with us, who is our ENTITY-Quayle cochairman; Congressmen Weldon and Ridge and Ritter, all good people. We have got a great Republican delegation from Pennsylvania, I might add, in the United States Congress. I was delighted to see Barbara Hafer earlier on. And, of course, Governor Mike Castle, an old friend who is done a great job in a neighboring State with us tonight. And I'd be remiss if I did not single out Elsie Hillman, heading the campaign effort here in the Keystone State, and thank Dexter and then, of course, our team of Bobby Holt, Wally Ganzi. And then again, I will single out Dexter, who gets the star seat. He gets to sit next to Elsie, and that means he sold more tickets than anybody else. And, of course, Charlie, Charlie Kopp, he is a fundraising czar. And he is very successful -- so successful that he did not have to go to our dog Millie for a single dime. You may have seen our income tax returns, and you can tell who earns the money in the family. Millie is not a fat cat, but nevertheless has done a great job as our dog.

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And I want to share with you just some observations. This is a year where you are hearing a lot of talk about change. And I would be the first to concede that we must make significant change in this country. I hear a lot of talk about it coming out of the political arena, but we have been trying to effect constructive change. I came back from a very moving visit to Los Angeles; we got back Friday evening. And let me just give you a short report of what I saw and what I heard. Each one of us saw the images of hate and horror. That was all around you, images that we will not soon forget. But what I saw during my time in Los Angeles, even in the hardest hit parts of south central L.A., should give us some cause for hope. Everywhere, the people I talked with told about acts of individual heroism, about the extraordinary courage of just plain ordinary people. And some braved the gang of looters to form these bucket brigades to put out fires when the firetrucks could not get through. And then some stood up in the face of angry mobs and reached across the barrier of color to save lives of their fellow men and women. And many of these are not the stories that you will see on the nightly news. But believe me, they are the stories that tell us the power of simple human decency. What it tells me is that the time has come to set the old, worn-out ideas aside. And the time has come, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, to think anew and to act anew. And we start with the principles at the heart of this great Republican Party, principles that tell us something very obvious, and that is that we ought to keep the power close to the people, that we have got to strengthen families. I will never forget when Tom Bradley, the Mayor of Los Angeles, and others came to see me, large-city mayors, small-city mayors, Republicans, Democrats, liberals and conservatives joined, their National League of Cities. And they came and they said the one thing that united them in terms that they all agreed on was that the fundamental problem that the decline of the American family is causing in the cities. The prime cause of much of the unrest, the problems of crime, whatever, comes from the dissolution of the American family.

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And we think we have got to find ways to strengthen that, instill character and values in our young people; that we must encourage entrepreneurship, ownership, increase investment, and create jobs. Now, these aims have got to form the heart of our agenda for economic opportunity, an agenda that can literally restore hope, cannot solve the problem overnight but restore hope to our inner cities. And they define what we must do. First, and let us be very clear on this one, we have got to preserve order. We have got to keep the peace because families cannot thrive, children cannot live, and jobs cannot flourish in a climate of fear. And I support the police. I saw the commissioner here today, had a great -- I see Governor Martinez, the head of our drug effort, here with him. He and I were together with the Senator and others. And I told the commissioner and told the people out here, We support your efforts. They put themselves in harm's way to save all of us. And we must start by standing strongly for order and keeping the peace. Now, those thoughts were foremost in my mind from the first hours of the violence in Los Angeles. A civilized society simply cannot tackle any of the really tough problems in the midst of chaos. Violence and brutality destroy order. They destroy the rule of law. And it must be condemned, violence, whenever you find it; we must condemn it as a society. When I was out in Los Angeles, I called a woman that had been a member of our little church in Houston, Texas, St. Martin's Parish. I'd got a message to call her. I called her, and she told me a tragic story of her brother and her son. They had gotten a call from a neighbor, a minority, a member of a minority group, and they'd climbed on their motorcycle and driven down to see this person. On the way, their motorcycle was surrounded by a gang. Somebody put a gun up to this kid's head, pulled the trigger, and it did not go off. He was beaten, and they put a gun up to his head, and he was killed right on the spot. This did not have anything to do with Rodney King. This did not have anything to do with anything other than wanton violence. We simply cannot be asked to condone that in our society.

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In Los Angeles, I announced an addition to a program that is already at work here in Philadelphia, an exciting program that we saw today, an initiative that I call Weed and Seed. The idea is to weed out the gang leaders and drug dealers and career criminals and then seed the community with expanded employment, educational, and social services. So we are going to push for that. I am going to push and try to see that we can do more for the American people with this innovative new program. Secondly, we must spark an economic revival in urban America. The best answer to poverty is a job with dignity in the private sector, and that means establishing what we call enterprise zones in our inner cities. It means reforming our welfare system, putting an end to the pervasive disincentives that encourage welfare and discourage work. Thirdly, we have got to revolutionize American education. I might add, parenthetically, that I wish Barbara was here to see what you are doing with this show of support for literacy. Notebaert, wherever he may be, I would like to make this contribution. I am not trying to sell this. This is Millie's Book, and we want to donate this here as a contribution from the breadwinner in the Bush family. So please, we want the record to show we brought a book in. Now, we have a good education program. It burns me up when I hear some of the old thinkers, the pass-the-mandated-Federal-program thinkers, criticize. We have a program called America 2000. It is an innovative strategy, and it has things in it like choice. You can choose your colleges; why not choose your schools and thus make them more competitive? Competition, community action, all of these things are a part of it. Children in our inner cities deserve the same opportunities that kids in the suburbs have, and that is what a lot of that program is about. That means we have got to break the power of the establishment, the education establishment. And whether it is public or private or religious, parents, not the government, should be free to choose their children's schools. I am going to fight for that concept. Then another ingredient of our urban policy, and one I have been trying to get through for a long time, is homeownership. And I have never understood how anyone could be content with the present system, to take pride in the warehousing of the poor.

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The aim behind our HOPE initiative is to give poor families a stake, give them a stake in their communities, to give them something of value they can pass along to their kids, by turning public housing tenants into homeowners. And we are going to fight for that principle. At every turn during my time in L.A., I heard people talking about the principles that guide these initiatives. These were people that were out there on the front line trying to help the kids. Personal responsibility, that was one; opportunity; ownership; independence; and then, of course, with great pride, dignity. And you know the sound of those words. It really adds up to the American dream. And we all know what the critics will say, and you have heard it. They will say, Well, you have proposed all this before, ENTITY. But now it is time to act on these proposals because this time they know we are right. We are right, and we want to get it passed through the Congress. Tomorrow I will be meeting with the leaders to try to get it done. It is no longer good enough to try the old ones. Let us try these new ideas and see if they cannot help some of the kids that we saw today here in Philadelphia. My first order of business is, then, to build a bipartisan effort in support of immediate action on this agenda. We will not settle for business-as-usual, measuring what we achieve by the size of the bureaucracy we build or the number of mandated programs we can send down to these communities who are crying out for flexibility. This time, we have got to put our principles to work and take the case for change directly to the American people. What is going on in urban America is just one part, though, of a larger issue because the need for reform does not end simply with our inner cities. It starts with the revolution in American education that I mentioned. America 2000, we call it. It starts with that. When you get down to what we have got to do really to be competitive in the future, to offer kids an opportunity, it is education. And it includes our aggressive action, also, to break down barriers to free trade. In each case, we have taken aim at the status quo, and we have set our sights on change. That is why I am fighting hard for a GATT agreement.

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That is why we have proposed and are working with Mexico's able President, Carlos Salinas, to try to get a North American free trade agreement. It will mean more jobs for the United States, more jobs for Mexico, and a Mexico much better able to do what it must do with its environment and do what it must do in controlling its own borders. America needs legal reform to put an end to these outrageous court awards that sap our economy and strain our civility. We have gotten to a point where doctors will not deliver babies, where fathers are afraid to coach Little League, all because of the fear of some frivolous lawsuit. That will not change until people spend less time suing each other and more time helping each other. And we have got to change the laws in Washington. We must and we will reform the legal system. Now, we need health care reform and to open up access to affordable health care for all Americans. I was talking to Charlie about this a little earlier here. It used to be that going to the hospital did not conjure up visions of financial suicide. Today, the cost of even minor surgery has gone right out through the roof. More than 30 million Americans have no health care coverage at all. We can change that. And we can do it better than some of these nationalized programs that we are hearing about from the opposition. We have a comprehensive health care reform plan that will help us keep the quality health care. Make no mistake about it, people are still pouring into the United States for specialized care because they know we have the best quality health care in the entire world. So we want to keep the quality health care that makes us first in the world and at the same time open up access to all Americans. Contrary to what the big Government folks say, we can do it without putting the Government in charge of everybody's health care. If you want to stand in line, you can go to the department of motor vehicles. You do not need to go for a nationalized health care program. Let us face it, national health care, in my view, literally would be a costly national disaster, and I am not going to let that happen. We are going to fight for our plan of reform that gives access to insurance to the poor and the middle-income people alike. That is what we need, and that is what I believe we will be able to get when we take this case to the American people.

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So far, I have spoken a little bit about what Government can do. So let me conclude by speaking about what society absolutely must do. Because there is something society must cultivate that Government cannot provide, something we cannot legislate, something that we cannot make happen by Government order. I am talking about the moral sense that guides us all. In the simplest of terms -- you want to get it to fundamentals -- I am talking about knowing right from wrong and then doing what is right. You go back to Los Angeles for a minute. Time and again the people I met with there put their finger on one root cause for the turmoil we see, and that, of course, back to the point, the dissolution of the family. What is the determining fact right now for whether a child has hope, stays in school, stays away from drugs? It is not the number of SBA loans or HUD grants. It is whether a child lives in a loving home with a mother and a father. Barbara Bush was absolutely right when she said, What happens in the White House does not matter half as much as what happens in your house. We have tried, both of us, augmented by tons of grandchildren, et cetera, to put the emphasis on American family, put that emphasis first. Everybody here devoting some time to helping someone else in the community. The people who help the poor, the elderly, kids in trouble, and never ask a nickel in return. Government alone simply cannot create the scale and the energy needed to transform the lives of people in need. Let the cynics scoff about it, but we know these volunteers are the lifeblood of the American spirit. Community action. It was a wonderful thing we saw right here in some of the most impoverished areas of Philadelphia. Government has a role, but it never can supplant the propensity of one American to help another. So we have got to find ways to help in that concept and help encourage it. I believe there is a great future in store because I believe that all of these principles will be coming into focus now. I believe we are right about family. I think we are right about freedom and free enterprise, and I think we are right about faith. Most of all, I think we are right about America's future. You know, we have been through a very tough time. I have a feeling this thing is beginning to move a little bit, and it is long overdue.

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GOOD MORNING, I am glad that you could come over and visit with us. And I am happy to welcome you to the Capital and to the White House. I want to commend the American Legion for giving you young Americans a chance to learn at firsthand about your Government. I want to speak to you today because you are young and because you have lives to live. Many of you may be looking forward to careers in business. I would like you to consider an investment. I would ask you, after you have completed your education, to give careful consideration to the investment of a few years of your lives in the business of government, in the work of public service, in the cause of America. Our country needs men and women who are young--and young enough to dream of remaking America--as some of us did here in this Capital when I came here more than 30 years ago. We need young people who are confident in themselves and in their ability to meet the challenges that face us today. We need young people who care--and who are willing to work for something that is more than just a paycheck--for profits measured in human happiness and satisfaction gained from helping people to achieve human health and human dignity. So, I ask that you consider applying yourselves, your industry, your brains, your talent, and your imagination to the problems of the land in which you live. What is man born for but to be a reformer; a remaker of what man has made; a restorer of truth and good. America has always been a nation of reformers. And we have always been a people who knew and who accepted the responsibilities that that role demands. It is to be a remaker--not a wrecker--of what man has made. It is to be a restorer--not a destroyer--of truth and good. It is, beyond all else, to respect the laws of society--to rebuild society by changing laws, yes, by improving laws, yes, by using the laws--lest we accidentally or willfully weaken the foundations of law and bring all that we have achieved crashing down upon our heads. We have been through great trials in the history of this Nation. We have faced problems and challenges before. And in one of our gravest hours, one of our greatest Presidents left us the first commandment for a civilized society.

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Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well wisher to his posterity... never to violate in the least particular, the laws of the country . . . let every man remember that to violate the law, is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the character of his own, and his children's liberty. Let reverence for the laws, be breathed by every American . . . let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges;--let it be written in Primmers, spelling books, and in Almanacs;--let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation; and let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay, of all sexes and tongues, and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars. So, your role can be not only to respect the law, but to make it a living thing, make it more just, make it more effective. We have our job cut out for us. It is ahead of us. We have cities to rebuild. We have economy to maintain. We have children to teach. We have old people to care for. We have young people to find jobs for. We have human rights to protect and to enlarge. We have land to conserve and air and water to clean, and a whole world to guard, and liberty and freedom to preserve. Who will do these things? Who can we look to to get this job done in the years ahead? You--and young men like you-your brothers, even those who today may feel that they do not have a very big stake in our society. Even though sometimes you may feel you have no role to play in making it more just, the challenge is there waiting for you. I am depending upon you. You may choose to work in the great world of Washington. You may elect to be leaders in your own communities back home. But the arena of action is not so important. The need for leadership--for commitment and responsibility--is upon us. That need is the same in every State in this land. It will always be your challenge, your opportunity, your responsibility, if you will only face up to and use it.

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One of the biggest challenges of this recession has been its impact on State and local communities. With so many Americans unemployed or struggling to get by, States have been forced to balance their budgets with fewer tax dollars, which means that they have got to cut critical services and lay off teachers and police officers and firefighters. Now, it is one thing for States to get their fiscal houses in order and tighten their belts like families across America. Because families have been doing it, there is no reason that States cannot do it too. But we cannot stand by and do nothing while pink slips are given to the men and women who educate our children or keep our communities safe. That does not make sense. And that is why a significant part of the economic plan that we passed last year provided relief for struggling States, relief that has already prevented hundreds of thousands of layoffs. And that is why today we are trying to pass a law that will save hundreds of thousands of additional jobs in the coming year. It will help States avoid laying off police officers, firefighters, nurses, and first-responders. And it will save the jobs of teachers like the ones who are standing with me today. If we do nothing, these educators will not be returning to the classroom this fall. And that will not just deprive them of a paycheck, it will deprive the children and parents who are counting on them to provide a decent education. It means that students in Illinois and West Virginia who count on Rachel and Shannon are going to be not getting the education that they deserve. It will deprive countless cities and towns of the law enforcement officials and first-responders who risk their lives to keep us out of harm's way. It will cost us jobs at a time when we need to be creating jobs. In other words, it will take us backwards at a time when we need to keep this country moving forward. Now, this proposal is fully paid for, in part by closing tax loopholes that encourage corporations to ships American jobs overseas. So it will not add to our deficit. And the money will only go toward saving the jobs of teachers and other essential professionals. I heard the Republican leader in the House say the other day that this is a special interest bill. And I suppose if America's children and the safety of our communities are your special interests, then it is a special interest bill. But I think those interests are widely shared throughout this country.

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It is with a great deal of pleasure that I, on behalf of the people of our country, welcome to the United States a distinguished visitor, Prime Minister Nouira from Tunisia, who comes here representing a great country which has close and longstanding ties of friendship and common purpose with the people of our Nation. Ever since Tunisia won its independence under the inspired leadership of President Bourguiba, the relations between the two nations have grown ever closer. We share common purposes, common ideals, common hopes, and a common future. This has been especially true during the last 8 years, since Mr. Nouira because Prime Minister of Tunisia. I think among all those nations who have had a close economic aid relationship with the United States, Tunisia has excelled in the rapid technological and economic development among their people. They have made full and increasing use of the great natural resources and human resources of their country. And along with this economic development has come a very rapid evolution into a leadership role among the developing nations of the world, the Arab community, and within the United Nations especially. So, the political and economic leadership which has exemplified Tunisia's role accurately expresses the strength and the purpose, the innovation and commitment of the people of that great country. Tunisia is recognized as having a government and leaders that are at the same time practical and effective and idealistic and never deviating from proper principles of government. This leadership under Prime Minister Nouira and President Bourguiba has also been exemplified by great courage. As a member of the Arab nation community, as far back as 1965, President Bourguiba called for a recognition of Israel, its right to exist, its right to be recognized as a nation. We have received good advice, good counsel, good support from Tunisia during our own times of effort to bring peace to the Middle East and to the northern portion of the continent of Africa. I am looking forward to my opportunity today to discuss with the Prime Minister these same concerns that we share and the same prospects for further progress in the future. We also are exploring ways for increased economic cooperation, military counsel and communication, the sharing, for both peace and security, agricultural development in Tunisia and cultural exchange. At the same time we have Peace Corps volunteers in Tunisia teaching English and performing' other roles, there are volunteers from Tunisia now working in Louisiana, teaching French. This is typical of the human, economic, and political interrelationships that exist between our countries.

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I want to thank you for your welcome. Laura and I are especially honored to visit this great institution in your bicentennial year. In every corner of America, the words West Point command immediate respect. This place where the Hudson River bends is more than a fine institution of learning. The United States Military Academy is the guardian of values that have shaped the soldiers who have shaped the history of the world. A few of you have followed in the path of the perfect West Point graduate Robert E. Lee, who never received a single demerit in 4 years. Some of you followed in the path of the imperfect graduate Ulysses S. Grant, who had his fair share of demerits and said the happiest day of his life was the day I left West Point. During my college years, I guess you could say I was-- during my college years, I guess you could say I was a Grant man. You walk in the tradition of Eisenhower and MacArthur, Patton and Bradley-the commanders who saved a civilization. And you walk in the tradition of second lieutenants who did the same by fighting and dying on distant battlefields. Graduates of this Academy have brought creativity and courage to every field of endeavor. West Point produced the chief engineer of the Panama Canal, the mind behind the Manhattan Project, the first American to walk in space. This fine institution gave us the man they say invented baseball and other young men over the years who perfected the game of football. You know this, but many in America do not I want an officer for a secret and dangerous mission. I want a West Point football player. being a plebe. But even a plebe at West Point is made to feel he or she has some standing in the world. Sir, the Superintendent's dog--the Commandant's cat, and all the admirals in the whole damn Navy. I probably will not be sharing that with the Secretary of the Navy. West Point is guided by tradition, and in honor of the Golden Children of the Corps, I will observe one of the traditions you cherish most. As the Commander in Chief, I hereby grant amnesty to all cadets who are on restriction for minor conduct offenses. Those of you in the end zone might have cheered a little early--because, you see, I am going to let General Lennox define exactly what minor means. Every West Point class is commissioned to the Armed Forces.

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Some West Point classes are also commissioned by history to take part in a great new calling for their country. Speaking here to the class of 1942, 6 months after Pearl Harbor, General Marshall said, We are determined that before the Sun sets on this terrible struggle, our flag will be recognized throughout the world as a symbol of freedom on the one hand and of overwhelming power on the other. Officers graduating that year helped fulfill that mission, defeating Japan and Germany and then reconstructing those nations as allies. West Point graduates of the 1940s saw the rise of a deadly new challenge-the challenge of imperial communism-and opposed it from Korea to Berlin to Vietnam, and in the cold war from beginning to end. And as the Sun set on their struggle, many of those West Point officers lived to see a world transformed. History has also issued its call to your generation. In your last year, America was attacked by a ruthless and resourceful enemy. You graduate from this Academy in a time of war, taking your place in an American military that is powerful and is honorable. Our war on terror is only begun, but in Afghanistan it was begun well. I am proud of the men and women who have fought on my orders. America is profoundly grateful for all who serve the cause of freedom and for all who have given their lives in its defense. This Nation respects and trusts our military, and we are confident in your victories to come. This war will take many turns we cannot predict. Wherever we carry it, the American flag will stand not only for our power but for freedom. Our Nation's cause has always been larger than our Nation's defense. We fight, as we always fight, for a just peace, a peace that favors human liberty. We will defend the peace against threats from terrorists and tyrants. We will preserve the peace by building good relations among the great powers. And we will extend the peace by encouraging free and open societies on every continent. From this day forward, it is your challenge as well, and we will meet this challenge together. You will wear the uniform of a great and unique country. America has no empire to extend or utopia to establish. We wish for others only what we wish for ourselves, safety from violence, the rewards of liberty, and the hope for a better life. In defending the peace, we face a threat with no precedent. Enemies in the past needed great armies and great industrial capabilities to endanger the American people and our Nation.

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The attacks of September the 11th required a few hundred thousand dollars in the hands of a few dozen evil and deluded men. All of the chaos and suffering they caused came at much less than the cost of a single tank. This Government and the American people are on watch. We are ready, because we know the terrorists have more money and more men and more plans. The gravest danger to freedom lies at the perilous crossroads of radicalism and technology. When the spread of chemical and biological and nuclear weapons, along with ballistic missile technology-when that occurs, even weak states and small groups could attain a catastrophic power to strike great nations. Our enemies have declared this very intention and have been caught seeking these terrible weapons. They want the capability to blackmail us or to harm us or to harm our friends, and we will oppose them with all our power. For much of the last century, America's defense relied on the cold war doctrines of deterrence and containment. In some cases, those strategies still apply, but new threats also require new thinking. Deterrence-the promise of massive retaliation against nations-means nothing against shadowy terrorist networks with no nation or citizens to defend. Containment is not possible when unbalanced dictators with weapons of mass destruction can deliver those weapons on missiles or secretly provide them to terrorist allies. We cannot defend America and our friends by hoping for the best. We cannot put our faith in the word of tyrants who solemnly sign nonproliferation treaties and then systemically break them. Homeland defense and missile defense are part of stronger security; they are essential priorities for America. Yet, the war on terror will not be won on the defensive. We must take the battle to the enemy, disrupt his plans, and confront the worst threats before they emerge. In the world we have entered, the only path to safety is the path of action, and this Nation will act. Our security will require the best intelligence to reveal threats hidden in caves and growing in laboratories. Our security will require modernizing domestic agencies such as the FBI, so they are prepared to act and act quickly against danger. Our security will require transforming the military you will lead, a military that must be ready to strike at a moment's notice in any dark corner of the world. And our security will require all Americans to be forward-looking and resolute, to be ready for preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and to defend our lives.

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We must uncover terror cells in 60 or more countries, using every tool of finance, intelligence, and law enforcement. Along with our friends and allies, we must oppose proliferation and confront regimes that sponsor terror, as each case requires. Some nations need military training to fight terror, and we will provide it. Other nations oppose terror but tolerate the hatred that leads to terror, and that must change. We will send diplomats where they are needed, and we will send you, our soldiers, where you are needed. All nations that decide for aggression and terror will pay a price. We will not leave the safety of America and the peace of the planet at the mercy of a few mad terrorists and tyrants. We will lift this dark threat from our country and from the world. Because the war on terror will require resolve and patience, it will also require firm moral purpose. In this way our struggle is similar to the cold war. Now, as then, our enemies are totalitarians, holding a creed of power with no place for human dignity. Now, as then, they seek to impose a joyless conformity, to control every life and all of life. America confronted imperial communism in many different ways, diplomatic, economic, and military. Yet, moral clarity was essential to our victory in the cold war. When leaders like John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan refused to gloss over the brutality of tyrants, they gave hope to prisoners and dissidents and exiles and rallied free nations to a great cause. Some worry that it is somehow undiplomatic or impolite to speak the language of right and wrong. Different circumstances require different methods but not different moralities. Moral truth is the same in every culture, in every time, and in every place. Brutality against women is always and everywhere wrong. We are in a conflict between good and evil, and America will call evil by its name. By confronting evil and lawless regimes, we do not create a problem; we reveal a problem. And we will lead the world in opposing it. As we defend the peace, we also have an historic opportunity to preserve the peace. We have our best chance since the rise of the nation-state in the 17th century to build a world where the great powers compete in peace instead of prepare for war. The history of the last century, in particular, was dominated by a series of destructive national rivalries that left battlefields and graveyards across the Earth.

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Germany fought France, the Axis fought the Allies, and then the East fought the West, in proxy wars and tense standoffs, against a backdrop of nuclear Armageddon. Competition between great nations is inevitable, but armed conflict in our world is not. More and more, civilized nations find ourselves on the same side, united by common dangers of terrorist violence and chaos. America has and intends to keep military strengths beyond challenge, thereby making the destabilizing arms races of other eras pointless and limiting rivalries to trade and other pursuits of peace. Today, the great powers are also increasingly united by common values, instead of divided by conflicting ideologies. The United States, Japan, and our Pacific friends, and now all of Europe, share a deep commitment to human freedom, embodied in strong alliances such as NATO. And the tide of liberty is rising in many other nations. Generations of West Point officers planned and practiced for battles with Soviet Russia. I have just returned from a new Russia, now a country reaching toward democracy and our partner in the war against terror. Even in China, leaders are discovering that economic freedom is the only lasting source of national wealth. In time, they will find that social and political freedom is the only true source of national greatness. When the great powers share common values, we are better able to confront serious regional conflicts together, better able to cooperate in preventing the spread of violence or economic chaos. In the past, great power rivals took sides in difficult regional problems, making divisions deeper and more complicated. Today, from the Middle East to South Asia, we are gathering broad international coalitions to increase the pressure for peace. We must build strong and great power relations when times are good to help manage crisis when times are bad. America needs partners to preserve the peace, and we will work with every nation that shares this noble goal. And finally, America stands for more than the absence of war. We have a great opportunity to extend a just peace by replacing poverty, repression, and resentment around the world with hope of a better day. Through most of history, poverty was persistent, inescapable, and almost universal. In the last few decades, we have seen nations from Chile to South Korea build modern economies and freer societies, lifting millions of people out of despair and want.

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The 20th century ended with a single surviving model of human progress, based on nonnegotiable demands of human dignity, the rule of law, limits on the power of the state, respect for women, and private property and free speech and equal justice and religious tolerance. America cannot impose this vision, yet we can support and reward governments that make the right choices for their own people. In our development aid, in our diplomatic efforts, in our international broadcasting, and in our educational assistance, the United States will promote moderation and tolerance and human rights. And we will defend the peace that makes all progress possible. When it comes to the common rights and needs of men and women, there is no clash of civilizations. The requirements of freedom apply fully to Africa and Latin America and the entire Islamic world. The peoples of the Islamic nations want and deserve the same freedoms and opportunities as people in every nation. And their governments should listen to their hopes. A truly strong nation will permit legal avenues of dissent for all groups that pursue their aspirations without violence. An advancing nation will pursue economic reform, to unleash the great entrepreneurial energy of its people. A thriving nation will respect the rights of women, because no society can prosper while denying opportunity to half its citizens. In poverty, they struggle; in tyranny, they suffer; and as we saw in Afghanistan, in liberation, they celebrate. America has a greater objective than controlling threats and containing resentment. We will work for a just and peaceful world beyond the war on terror. The bicentennial class of West Point now enters this drama. With all in the United States ENTITY, you will stand between your fellow citizens and grave danger. You will help establish a peace that allows millions around the world to live in liberty and to grow in prosperity. You will face times of calm and times of crisis, and every test will find you prepared, because you are the men and women of West Point. You leave here marked by the character of this Academy, carrying with you the highest ideals of our Nation. Toward the end of his life, Dwight Eisenhower recalled the first day he stood on the plain at West Point. The feeling came over me, he said, that the expression 'the United States of America' would now and henceforth mean something different than it had ever before. Today, your last day at West Point, you begin a life of service in a career unlike any other. You have answered a calling to hardship and purpose, to risk and honor.

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Over a month ago, Speaker Newt Gingrich and I met with a group of senior citizens in Claremont, New Hampshire. That sunlit event had a special spirit. We showed that the great debate now occurring in our country can and should be conducted with civility and a sense of common ground. Many Americans of both parties have told me since then that this is exactly the way they want their leaders to work together. And that is what I am committed to doing. Perhaps the most visible example of that spirit of New Hampshire came when the Speaker and I shook hands on the question of political reform, something that has divided the two parties and the Congress and the country for too long. The first question we answered was from a retired steelworker named Frank McConnell. He said that politics had become polluted by special interests and that too often the voice of the people was shut out. He said that bickering between the parties had blocked reform for too long, and he proposed that we create a blueribbon, bipartisan commission to write reforms to curb the power of special interests. There, in front of the entire country, the Speaker and I agreed to create this commission. A bipartisan commission could cut the knot that is strangling change. This panel would follow the approach that has worked on other critical issues. It would be comprised of distinguished citizens and would recommend broad changes in the rules which cover lobbyists and in how we finance political campaigns. Most important of all, the Congress would have to vote within a strict deadline, up or down, on the the package as a whole, no loopholes, no amendments. I am happy to report that in addition to myself and Speaker Gingrich, this very idea has been strongly endorsed for some time by Senate majority leader Bob Dole, who just last February said again that this was the way we ought to approach this question. It is clearer than ever that we need political reform. The American people believe their political system is too influenced by narrow interests, that our Government serves the powerful but not hard-working families. Even before the '94 elections, the special interests prevented passage of both campaign finance reform and lobby reform legislation that I had strongly asked the Congress to pass. When a minority in the Senate killed lobbying reform in 1994, lobbyists were standing right outside the Senate chamber cheering. Since the New Congress came in, I am sad to say, it is gotten worse, for even more power has been given to the lobbyists.

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Now this new majority lets lobbyists for polluters write legislation rolling back environmental and public health protections. They have brought them in to explain the legislation. They even gave them a room off the House floor to write the amendments and the statements the Members would have to give explaining the bills that the lobbyists had written for them. Since things have gotten in this state, it was a real moment of hope when the Speaker and I shook hands on reform in New Hampshire. Just 5 days later, I sent Speaker Gingrich a letter laying out in detail my ideas for how to move forward. The Speaker announced that he would send me his proposal, but he never has. I think the people of this country want us to move forward with political reform. Speaker Gingrich and I shook hands on it. We have an obligation to get this done and not walk away. We have to be as good as our word. Today, to move this process forward, I am announcing that two distinguished Americans have agreed to work with me to get the commission idea underway. They are the kind of people I will appoint as its members. John Gardner's name is synonymous with integrity. He is a Republican Cabinet Secretary to a Democratic President, the founder of the citizens' lobby Common Cause, a wise and effective man. She understands through her knowledge of history and today's political situation how politics affects the lives of ordinary people. I have asked John Gardner and Doris Kearns Goodwin to meet with Speaker Gingrich as soon as possible and the other congressional leaders, to get them going on this idea so that we can make this commission a reality and keep our commitment to the Frank McConnells and all the other Americans who want us to improve the way our political system works. John Gardner and Doris Kearns Goodwin will help us to get this movement going. And now I call on Speaker Gingrich and the other congressional leaders to come forward and do their part. The Speaker and I made a deal, and it is time to keep it. We already have signs of bipartisan agreement. On Monday, the Senate begins to debate on legislation to require lobbyists to disclose who they are, what they are paid, and what bills they are trying to influence. And the Senate will vote on legislation to ban lobbyists from providing lawmakers meals or gifts or travel. If a judge took a paid vacation from a lawyer in his courtroom, he'd be disbarred.

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