State of the Union Address
ABC News. Channel 10. Albany, NY
27 February, 2000
[This is my transcription of Bill Clinton's 2000 State of the Union Address. I missed a lot. I was typing as he spoke and never went back to edit it.]
Cokie Roberts: Unusual for Clinton because there's NOT a huge cloud hanging over him. Having a first lady run for the Senate is a first in history.
Sam Donaldson: Only the third pres. to have 2 terms in the past 30 years. 35 pages. Over an hour and a half.
Start with Gore & Dennis Hastert (speaker of the house) at the front of the senate chamber. Diplomatic core.
George Stephonopolous: Clinton is thrilled. He loves this day. Practices in the theater. Cross between a broadway musical rehearsal and a bazaar.
Gavel. "Mr. Speaker. The President's cabinet". Albright (secretary of state), Somers, Cohen (Secretary of Defense), Janet Reno (Attorney General), Bruce Babbitt (secretary of the interior). Bill Richardson not here. Dan Blickman (secretary of ag), alexis herman (sec. of labor), Donna Shelela (HHS), Rodney slator (sec of transp), tired of writing...
John Podesta (chief of staff), Ambassador Holbrook (U.N. Ambassador), Hugh Shelton (Chair of joint cheifs of staff). Mrs. Clinton is with Hank Aaron.
Clinton can send up an address next year, but may not.
Lloyd Benson (sec. of treasury).
Cokie Roberts: repubs want a bipartisan appearance. May not stand. Dems happy to see him come, but his agenda is getting to be even too much for us. No tension here. This is his farewell. We're ready to settle in and sit for a while.
Some hissed and booed in earlier years or actually left the chamber.
Clinton walks in with Strom Thurmond. Shaking hands. Smiling in his inimicable style. Takes a very long time for him to get to the front.
His talk:
Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. (people are applauding and cheering). Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of congress, honored guests, my fellow americans. we are fortunate to be alieve at this moment in history. Never before has our nation enjoyed at once so much with so few problems. profound obligation to build the more perfect union of our founders dreams. 20000000 new jobs. lowest povery rates in 20 years. lowest unemployment. next month the longest period of economic growth in our entire history. (applause)
We have built a new economy. And our economic revolution has been matched by a revival of the american spirit. crime down. teen births down. welfare rolls down. The state of our union is the strongest it has ever been. (some folks stand). As always, the real credit belongs to the american people. but my gratitude also goes to those of you in this chamber who have worked with us to put progress over partisanship. 8 years ago we didn't know there would be much to celebrate in 2000. "America, what went wrong". Americans determined to set things right. We restored the vital centre. replacing outmoded stuff with new stuff. community of all americans. reinvented government. Stressed opportunuity and responsibility. smallest federal worksforce in 40 years. doubled education. cut crime with 100000 community police and the brady law which has kept guns out of the hands of half a million criminals. we ended welfare as we knew it requiring work. while requiring work while protecting health care and nutrition for children. helped parents go to work. family leave which 20 million americans have now used to care for a newborn child or a sick loved one. americorps. in 1992 we had a roadmap. today we have results. but even more important america again has the confidence to dream big dreams. but we must not let this confidence drift into complacency for we all of us will be judged by the dreams and deeds we pass on to our children and on that score we will be held to a high standrad because tour chance ot do good.. We have crossed the bridge to the 21st cnury. We must be a new nation. At the dawn of th last cenruty teddy sais, "foresight". the growing nation with a future takes the long look ahead. so tonite let us take our long look aghead. to 21st century america let us pledge: every child will begin school ready to learn and graduate ready to succeed. evern family will be ready to succeed at home and at work and no child will be raised in poverty. we will meet the challenge of the aging of america. we will provide quality affordable health care at last for all americans. we will make america the safest big country on earth. we WILL pay off our national debt for the first time since 1945. we will bring prosperity to every american community. we will reverse the course of climate change. america WILL lead the worl in technoloty. We will be what our founders pledged us to be one nation under god, indivisiable, with liberty and justice for all.
these are great goals. worthy of a great nation. we will not reach them all this year. not even in this decade. but we will reach them. let us remember that the first american revolution was not won with a single shot. the lesson of history and of the last 7 years is that great goals are reached step by step. you can't gain ground if you're standing still. congress has been standing still on our most pressing national priorities. Again I ask you to pass a real patients bill of rights. I ask you to pass common sense gun safety legislation. I ask you to pass campaign finance reform. I ask you to vote up or down on judicial nominations and other important appointees. and again I ask you i implore you to raise the minimum wage.
now 2 years ago as we reached across party lines to reach our first balanced budget I asked that we reach our responsibilty to the next generation. because we refused to stray from that path we are actually paying down the national debt. if we stay on this path we can pay down the debt entirely in just 13 years now and make america debt free for the first tiem since andrew jackson was president in 1835. in 1983 we began to put our house in order by the dfeficit reduction act which won by just a single vote in each house. Lloyd benson, you have served america well and we thank you. [he looks old].
beyond paying off the debt we must assure that the benifits of debt reduction go to the 2 most important guarantees we make to every american, social security and medicare. tonite I ask you to work with me to make a bipartisan. credit the something of debt reduction to ss so that it will be strong and sound for the next 50 years. but this is just the start of our journey. we must also take the right steps toward reaching our great goals. 21st century revolution in education guided by our faith that every single child can learn. because it's the key to our childrens future, we must make sure every child has that key. Teachers, college...
for 7 years we've worked to improve our schools. reading math college entrance scores are up. but all successful schools have followed the same formula. higher standards. more accountability. and extra help for those who need it. 16 billion dollars per year for our schools. support what works stop supporting what doesn't.
now as we demand more from our schools we should also invest more in our schools. let's double our investment in x & y. if we do this we can give every single child in every failing school in america every one the chance to meet high standards. another 1 billion dollars for head start the largest increase in the history of the program. children learn best in small classes with good teachers. and to make sure all teachers know the subjects they teach. I propose a new teacher quality initiative. recruit, reward, train.
charter schools provide real public school choice. 1 when i became president. now 1700. goal of 3000 charter schools by next year.
we know we must connect all our classrooms to the internet and we're getting there. vps eway program now connects half of them. 90% of schools have at least one internet connection. we cannot finish the job when 1/3 of our schools are in disrepair. i propose to help 5000 schools a year to make immediate repairs. help 6000 more to get students out of trailers and into high tech classrooms.
i ask all of you to help me double our bipartisan xx program which provides mentors. 1.4 million mentors if we double it. lets also offer these kids from disadvantaged backgrounds the same chance to take the same collect prep courses that wealthier kids use to boost their test scores.
to make the american dream achievable for all we must make college affordable to all. stuff we've done... 5 million benefited. 60% going on to college yet millions of families still strain to afford college tuition. I propose a landmark 30 billion dollar tuition tax credit for up to 10000 in college tuition cost.
the previous actions of this congress have already made 2 years of college affordable for all. it's time to make 4 years affordable for all. repeat ready to succeed.
we must also reward work. give every parent the change to succeed at work and the most imporant work of all, raising children. better access to better health care. children's health insurance program in 1987. 2 million enrolled so far. well on our way to 5 million. still 40 million americans without health insurance. tonite i propose that we follow gore's suggestions to make low-income parents eligible for the insurance that covers their chilren. together with our children's initiative this action would enable us to cover nearly a quarter of all the uninsured people in america. again i ask you to let people between the ages ot 55 and 65 to buty into medicare. give them a tax cut to make that choice an affordable one. when the baby boomers retire medicare will care for twice as many americans. my generation must not ask our childrens generation to shoulder our burden. comprehensive plan to reform medicare. 400 billion dollars to keep medicare solvent past 2025. affordable coverage for prescription drugs.
life saving drugs are an indispensible part of modern medicine. 3 in 5 of our seniors now lack dependable drug coverage. millions who need them the most pay the highest prices. in good conscience we cannot let another year pass without extending to our seniors this lifeline of affordable prescription drugs. record numbers of americans are providing for aging or ailing loved ones at home. its a loving but often a difficult and expensive choice. last year 1000 dollars for long-term care. This year lets triple it to $3000. but this year lets pass it.
we also need to expand access to mental health care. thank you tipper gore (for mental health care stuff). taken together these proposals would mark the largest investment in health care in the 35 years since medicare was created. that would be a big steop towards providing health care to all americans young and old and i ask you to embrace them and pass them.
earned income tax credit (EITC). e is about earning working. in 1998 alone the eitc helped more than 4.3 million americans. tonite I propse another major expansion of the eitc. to eliminate the marriage penalty and to expand the tax credit for americans who have more than two children. our proposal would allow families with 3 or more children to get up to $1100 more. these are working families. their children should not be in poverty.
we also can't reward work and family unless men and women get equal pay for equal work. today the female unemployment rate is the lowest it has been in 46 years. yet women still earn only 75 cents for every dollar men earn. pass the paycheck fairness act.
many working parents spend up to a quarter of their income on child care. last year we helped parents provide child care for about 2 million children. New proposal provides for another 400 thousand children. i ask you to pass that. they need it out there. for hard-pressed middle income families we should expand the child care tax credit and make it refundable for low income families. for people making under 30000 per year that coould mean up to 2100 for child care. passing this proposal proves we're pro-work and pro-family.
tens of millions of americans live from paycheck to paycheck. no oopportunity to save. We should do more for all working families to save and create wealth. new retirement savings account that enable every low and moderate income family in america to save. match their contributions dollar for dollar every year they save. help small businesses provide a meaningful pension.
nearly 1 in 3 american children grows up without a father. these children are 5 times more likely to live in poverty than children with both parents at home. responsible fatherhood imporatnt. tough new measures to hold still more fathers responsible. lots of fathers need help to do right by their chilren. carlos rossa got the help. now he has a good job and he supports his little boy. my budget will belp 40000 more fathers make the choices that carlos did. stand up carlos. (applause).
if there is any single issue on which we should be able to reach across party lines it is in our common commitment to reward work and strengthen families. thanks to overwhelming bipartisan support from this congress we have improved foster care. dramatically increased the number of foster children going into adoptive homes. I thank all of you for that.
of course I am forever greatful to my wife hillary for her work on this for 30 years. [she nods].
if we take the steps ive just discussed we can go a long long way to empowering parents to succeed at home and at work. we can make these vital investments and still provide tax cuts without forsaking the path of fiscal discipline. we must do this in the context of a balanced budget. strengthen ss and medicare and pay down the national debt.
crime has dropped for 7 years. police, gun safety laws, prevention. nobody believes we're safe enough. lets make this country the safest big country in the world. last fall congres hired 50000 more than the 100000 i asked for last year. soon after columbine congress considered common sense gun laws. the senate faced down the gun lobby and passed it. the house failed to follow suit. now we have all seen what happens when guns fall into the wrong hands. daniel mouser was only 15 years old when he was gunned down at columbine. his father tom has borne unimaginable gried. somehow he has found the strenght to honor his son to turn his gried into action. he took a leave from his job to fight for gun safety laws. congress make common sense gun legislation the very next order of business. tom mouser, stand up, we thank you for being here tonite. thank you tom.
we must strengthen our gun laws and enforce those already on the books better. fedreral gun crime prosecutions are up. more atf agents. enforcement tools. trace every gun and every bullet used in every gun crime. i ask you to help do that. every state in this country already requires hunters and automobile drivers to have a license. they should do the same for handguns. photo license showing they passed brady test and gun safety course. pass this. accidental gun death rate of children under 15 in the us is 9 times higher than in the other 10 industrialized countries combined. i ask congress to fund research into smart gun technology to save these childrens lives.
i ask responsible leaders in the gun industry to work with us on smart guns and other ways to keep guns out of the wrong hands. i thank the entertainment industry for putting rates on tv and games. tonite i ask the industry to develop a single voluntary rating system for all childresn entertainment that is easy for parents to understand and enforce.
to keep our historic economic expansion going we need to hrie more workers in america. inner cities, indian reservations. our nations propsperity hasn't yet reached these places. i've visited a lot of them. everywhere i go i meet talented people eager for opportunity and ready to work. tonite i ask you, lets put them to work.
for business its a smart thing to do for america its the right thing to do. if we dont' do it now, then when. i propose a large new markets credit to create new investments in inner cities and rural areas. i also because empowerment zones have been doing good, provide incentives to invest in them and create more of them. this is not a republican or a democratic issue. giving people a chance to live their dreams is an american issue.
mr. speaker is was a powerful moment last year when you joined jesse jackson and me to combine our ideas. I look forward to working with you. this is a worthy joint endeavor. thank you.
i also ask you to make special efforts to address the areas of our nation with the highest rates of poverty. $100 million for mississippi delta. 1 billion for native american communities. in this new century we should begin this new century by honoring our historic responsibility to honor the first americans. our family farmers are in trouble today. droughts floods and historical low prices have made these times bad for our farmers. safety net, expand markets. they need help. lets do it together.
tired of typing.
close the digital divide between those who've got the tools and those who don't. connect classrooms and libraries to the internet. all new teachers trained to teach 21st century skills. technology centers in 1000 communities. wanta thank the high tech companies. new tax incentives to get the rest of them to join us. we have got to do this and do it quickly.
again these are steps, but step by step we can go a long way.
we must reach beyond our own borders. globaliation is the central reality of our time. liberating and threatening. no turning back. benefit more than any other if we understand and act on the realities of interdependence. we cannot build our future without helping others to build theirs. new consensus on trade. open markets and rule based trade and the best engines we know of for raising living standards and the free flow of ideas. the only direction for america on trade is to keep going forward. i ask you to help me forge that consensus.
we have to make developing economies our partners in prosperity. finalize our african and carribean basin trade initiatives. but globaliation is about more than economics. bring together the world around freedom and democracy and peace. shape the 21st century world. encourage russia and china to emerge as stable prosperous democratic nations. think how much has changed. russia... china... noone can know for sure what direction these great nations will take. we know for sure we can choose what we do. we should do everything in our power to increase the chance that they will choose wisely. reduce nuclear arsenals. help russia to safeguard weapons and materials that remain. pass normal trade relations with china as soon as possible this year. i think you ought to do it for 2 years. open china's markets to us. advance the cause of peace in asis and promote the cause of change in china. do eerything we possibly can to maximize the chance that china will choose the right future.
protect our own security. we can't prevent every conflict. but where our interests are at stake we must be peace makers. middle east, ireland, greece and cypress, india and pakistan, kosovo. captain john cherry was one of the brave airmen. he flew into the teeth of enemy defenses to bring his fellow pilot home. we prevailed in kosovo without losing a single american in combat. introduce captain cherry.
keep this march of technology from giving terrorists the means to undermine our defenses. weapons of terror easier to conceal and use. curb flow of technology to iran, iraq. protect computer systems. develop missile defense system. preserve abm missile treaty.
in next 10 to 20 years the major threats will come from narco-traffickers, terrorists. thank pentagon to plan for that. i ask for you support.
i also want to ask you for a constructive dialog to build a consensus to ratify the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. i hope we can also have a constructive effort to meet the challenge by the huge gulf between rich and poor. expanded trade, aid, freedom. stand by new democracies, including colombia, fighting narco-trafficking. have got to pass this. a lot is riding on it. go after what these drug barons value the most, their money, and i hope you'll pass that as well.
in a world where over a billion people live on less than a dollar a day, reduce the debts of poor countries. last year congress made a down payment on americas share. stay the course.
i also want to say that america must help more nations to break the bonds of disease. aids in africa killed 10 times more than war. tax credits to speed vaccine development. we can save millions of lives together and we ought to do it.
final challenge. the most important. pass the national security budget that keeps our military the most trained and ready. weapons. raise salaries. protect veterans. diplomacy. U.N. dues. pass this budget.
personal. from who stands and who sits americans can tell that there are still modest differences in opinion in this chamber. thanks for the support of our men and women in uniform.
i also wanta thank especially 2 people. bill cohen for symbolizing bipartisan commitment to national security. his wife janet who has tirelessly travelled this world to show support for troops (she was surprised, who me?)
these are the challenges we have to meet so that we can lead the world toward peace and freedom. thankful for opportunity to put to rest the bogus idea that you cannot grow the economy and protect the environment at the same time. toxic waste, clean water, new forests, new monuments. permanent conservation fund. redwoods to everglades. the most enduring investment in land preservation ever proposed. gift to children and grand-children across party lines. we can make an agreement to do that.
last year the vp launched an effort to make communities more liberal, er livable. this is big business, this ia a big issue. parks not parking lots. not stalled in traffic. new funding to make communities more liberal, livable. 1) more funding for advanced transit systems, save open spaces, help major cities around the great lakes to protect their waterways and enhance their quality of life. the greatest challenge is global warming. 1990s warmest of millenium. many people still believe you cannot cut greenhouse gas emissions without slowing growth. not true anymore. cut emissions and provide more growth. cars now get 70 to 80 mpg. soon hundres of miles from a gallon of gas. tax incentives for products and purchases that are energy efficient. please make more clean energy technology available in the devloping world.
inovations key not only to environment, but to quality of life and economy. first draft of human genome later this year. federal tax dollars funded this. disease research. parkinson, diabetes, some cancers. precision therapies. breast cancer. alzheimers. artificial retina. directly stimulate damaged spinal cords. the paralyzed will stand up and walk. information technology is 8% of employment but 1/3 of our economic growth. government brought internet, etc. machine translation coming. stonger materials. molecular computers the size of a teardrop with the power of todays fastest supercomputers. i ask you to suppurt $3 billion dollars in the research fund. we owe it to our future.
safeguard our citizens privacy. finalize rules to protect medical privacy. protect bank and credit card records. prevent genetic discrimination whatever by employers or insurers. i hope you will support that.
we all know that at a time when science technology and the forces of globalization are making changes, we must strengthen the bonds that root us in our local communities. new spirit of service, americorp, expanded peace corps. 12000 companies moved 600000 to work. fight xxx. do more to help americans help each other. help faith based organizations. support americans who tithe and contribute to charity but don't earn enough to claim a tax deduction. deduction for low income who don't itemize. new immigrants teach civics and english. census.
within 10 years there will be no majority race in our largest state of california. in 50 years there will be no majority race in america. members in this congress from every racial, ethnic, and religious background. and i think you would agree that america is stroner because of it. but you also have to agree that all those differences you just clapped for all too often cause hatred and division even here at home. dragged to death in texas. murdered in wyoming. shootings of african, asian, jewish americans. this is not the american way and we must draw the line. i ask you to draw that line by passing without delay the hate crimes prevention act and the employment nondiscrimination act. and i ask you to reauthorize the violence against women act. finally i propose the largest inventment in our civil rights laws for enforcement. protections in law should be protections in fact.
last feb. i created the white house office of one america. hank aaron. recent acts of healing. he has always brought people together. stand up hank aaron.
one more thing and i want every one of you to think about this. hillary had a millenium dinner, expert in human genome said that we are all genetically 99.9% the same. it is worth remembering. (laughther). modern science has confirmed what ancient faiths have always taught. we should honor and celebrate our diversity.
my fellow americans.. tonite it very special because we stand on the mountain top of a new millenium. we should all be filled with gratitude and humility for our progress and prosperity. absolute determiniation to make the most of it. when the framers finished crafting our constitution, ben franklin reflected on a sun carving on a chair, "I've often wondered whether that sun was rising or setting. Today I have the happiness to know its a rising sun."
after 224 years, the american revolution continues. we remain a new nation. as long as our dreams outweigh our memories, america will be forever young.
thank you. god bless you. and god bless america.
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an hour and 29 minutes. his longest state of the union address. 119 applause interruptions.
364 billion dollars of new spending. 4 billion dollars a minute.
sound bite: remember, last year the vice president launched a new effort to make communities more liberal.
potential for big fights between the president and congress.
10 tax credits, deductions or incentives in addition to spending.
never seen a president with this big an agenda in his eighth year.
next republicans will have their say (after a commercial break).
a formula for gridlock.
senator susan collins of maine
senator bill prist of tennessee.
our republican agenda. government allows opportunity to flourish. never forget that america's recent success is above all a triumph of values. god she's disgusting. protect social security. pay down more of debt. already paid 150 billion in last 2 years. 3.6 trillion in next 15 years. help small businesses. reduce burdens like federal death tax. taxes in general are simply too high. we will continue to fight for tax relief. honor commitment to men & women in uniform. pay raises. shield against missile attack. education. every young american must be educated and many in the current workforce must be provided with new skills. education is the ladder of opportunity. education is at the top of the republican agenda. 4 point plan: equal opportunity. 1) increase federal funds for elementary and secondary education, special needs, 2) communities decide how to run their own schools, debate is about who makes the decisions, change of approach, local schools are the heart and home of education, empower them to use federal $. Caribou, Maine. more federal help but less federal interference. your community's decision, not washington's. real accountability, better results. improving student acheivement. 3) strengthen teaching excellence. 1/3 of teachers leave profession. increase federal grants. encourage talented people to teach. 4) continue support for higher education. education saving accounts.
bill prist, the senate's only physician.
last clinton health plan was a federal government takeover of the entire health care system. it was defeated. a similar plan just as bad as the first. bigger and more bloated government. massive bureucracy. $1000 for every man woman and child. i saw rationing, lack of choice, long waits, denial of care in england. socialized medicine just does not work. if david letterman had lived in canada, he'd still be waiting for his heart surgery. not quite as disgusting as susan, but still talking down to me. pretending to be ronald reagan. doctor of your choice. health insurance travels between jobs. doubling medical research. medicare is seniors' life line. 130000 pages of regulations. waste and abuse. red tape and heart ache. doesn't include prescription drugs. choice and security. include prescription drugs. president said no to this plan last year. trent lott says that he'll bring this legislation to the senate floor within two weeks. fix medicare. medicare added to social security lock box. real patient bill of rights. lawsuits are a last resort. your sick child needs to see a doctor, not a lawyer. new technologies. transplant hearts. americans are blessed with the spirit to dream, the freedom to explore, and the work ethic to produce.
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