Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of the 104th Congress, distinguished guests, my fellow Americans all across our land:...

The state of the Union is strong. Our economy is the healthiest it has been in three decades. We have the lowest combined rates of unemployment and...

We live in an age of possibility. A hundred years ago we moved from farm to factory. Now we move to an age of technology, information, and global competition....

We know big Government does not have all the answers. We know there's not a program for every problem. We know, and we have worked to give the American...

To improve the state of our Union, we must ask more of ourselves, we must expect more of each other, and we must face our challenges together.

Since 1993, we have all begun to see the benefits of deficit reduction. Lower interest rates have made it easier for businesses to borrow and to invest...

These cuts are real. They will require sacrifice from everyone. But these cuts do not undermine our fundamental obligations to our parents, our children,...

We ought to resolve our remaining differences. I am willing to work to resolve them. I am ready to meet tomorrow. But I ask you to consider that we...

Tonight I want to speak to you about the challenges we all face as a people. Our first challenge is to cherish our children and strengthen America's...

All strong families begin with taking more responsibility for our children. I've heard Mrs. Gore say that it's hard to be a parent today, but it's even...

I call on Congress to pass the requirement for a V-chip in TV sets so that parents can screen out programs they believe are inappropriate for their...

I say to those who make and market cigarettes, every year a million children take up smoking, even though it's against the law. Three hundred thousand...

I challenge this Congress to send me a bipartisan welfare reform bill that will really move people from welfare to work and do the right thing by our...

To strengthen the family we must do everything we can to keep the teen pregnancy rate going down. I am gratified, as I'm sure all Americans are, that...

In particular, I challenge the fathers of this country to love and care for their children. If your family has separated, you must pay your child support....

Every diploma ought to mean something. I challenge every community, every school, and every State to adopt national standards of excellence, to measure...

I challenge our parents to become their children's first teachers. Turn off the TV. See that the homework is done. And visit your children's classroom....

Through AmeriCorps, our national service program, this year 25,000 young people will earn college money by serving their local communities to improve...

Our third challenge is to help every American who is willing to work for it achieve economic security in this new age. People who work hard still need...

More and more Americans are working hard without a raise. Congress sets the minimum wage. Within a year, the minimum wage will fall to a 40-year low...

But I also agree that the people who are helped under this initiative are not all those in our country who are working hard to do a good job raising...

We should also protect existing pension plans. Two years ago, with bipartisan support that was almost unanimous on both sides of the aisle, we moved...

And even as we enact savings in these programs, we must have a common commitment to preserve the basic protections of Medicare and Medicaid, not just...

But employers and employees must do their part as well, as they are doing in so many of our finest companies, working together, putting the long-term...

The crime bill of 1994 is critical to the success of community policing. It provides funds for 100,000 new police in communities of all sizes. We're...

The Brady bill has already stopped 44,000 people with criminal records from buying guns. The assault weapons ban is keeping 19 kinds of assault weapons...

And I challenge local housing authorities and tenant associations: Criminal gang members and drug dealers are destroying the lives of decent tenants....

More police and punishment are important, but they're not enough. We have got to keep more of our young people out of trouble, with prevention strategies...

Meanwhile, we continue our efforts to cut the flow of drugs into America. For the last 2 years, one man in particular has been on the front lines of...

Our fifth challenge - to leave our environment safe and clean for the next generation. Because of a generation of bipartisan effort we do have cleaner...

This issue has not been a partisan issue. The most significant environmental gains in the last 30 years were made under a Democratic Congress and President...

Our sixth challenge is to maintain America's leadership in the fight for freedom and peace throughout the world. Because of American leadership, more...

All over the world, even after the cold war, people still look to us and trust us to help them seek the blessings of peace and freedom. But as the cold...

Of course, we can't be everywhere. Of course, we can't do everything. But where our interests and our values are at stake, and where we can make a difference,...

North Korea has now frozen its dangerous nuclear weapons program. In Haiti, the dictators are gone, democracy has a new day, the flow of desperate refugees...

And we stood up for peace in Bosnia. Remember the skeletal prisoners, the mass graves, the campaign to rape and torture, the endless lines of refugees,...

Through these efforts, we have enhanced the security of the American people, but make no mistake about it: Important challenges remain.

As we remember what happened in the Japanese subway, we can outlaw poison gas forever if the Senate ratifies the Chemical Weapons Convention this year....

Last year this Congress applied to itself the laws it applies to everyone else. This Congress banned gifts and meals from lobbyists. This Congress forced...

I also appeal to Congress to pass the line item veto you promised the American people.

As we move into the era of balanced budgets and smaller Government, we must work in new ways to enable people to make the most of their own lives. We...

Let me be very clear about this - we are still a nation of immigrants; we should be proud of it. We should honor every legal immigrant here, working...

I'd like to give you one example. His name is Richard Dean. He's a 49-year-old Vietnam veteran who's worked for the Social Security Administration for...

On behalf of all Americans, especially those who need their Social Security payments at the beginning of March, I also challenge the Congress to preserve...

I say again, the era of big Government is over. But we can't go back to the era of fending for yourself. We have to go forward to the era of working...

Lucius Wright and Jennifer Rodgers are special Americans. And I have the honor to announce tonight that they are the very first of several thousand...

There have always been things we could do together, dreams we could make real which we could never have done on our own. We Americans have forged our...

Our country is and always has been a great and good nation. But the best is yet to come if we all do our parts.