1998 State of the Union Address
The 1998 State of the Union Address was given by the 42nd president of the United States, Bill Clinton, on January 27, 1998, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 105th United States Congress. It was Clinton's fifth State of the Union Address and his to a joint session of the United States Congress. Presiding over this joint session was the House speaker, Newt Gingrich, accompanied by Al Gore, the vice president, in his capacity as the president of the Senate. President Clinton discussed  the federal budget, taxes and focused on the budget deficit, then at $10 billion. The president also discussed education, foreign relations, science funding, development, space travel and the Internet. In the speech, the president acknowledged the deaths of Representatives Walter Capps and Sonny Bono. The speech lasted 1:16:43 and consisted of 7,303 words. The Republican Party response was delivered by Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi. William Daley, the Secretary of Commerce, served as the designated survivor.