When the Speaker of the House, the Senate majority leader, and I performed the bipartisan—­or formed the bipartisan Commission on Social Security, pundits and experts predicted that party divisions and conflicting interests would prevent the Commission from agreeing on a plan to save social security.  Well, sometimes, even here in Washington, the cynics are wrong.  Through compromise and cooperation, the members of the Commission overcame their differences and achieved a fair, workable plan.  They proved that, when it comes to the national welfare, Americans can still pull together for the common good.

Tonight, I’m especially pleased to join with the Speaker and the Senate majority leader in urging the Congress to enact this plan by Easter.

There are elements in it, of course, that none of us prefers, but taken together it performs a package that all of us can support.  It asks for some sacrifice by all—­the self-employed, beneficiaries, workers, government employees, and the better-off among the retired—­but it imposes an undue burden on none.  And, in supporting it, we keep an important pledge to the American people:  The integrity of the social security system will be preserved, and no one’s payments will be reduced.

The Commission’s plan will do the job; indeed, it must do the job.  We owe it to today’s older Americans and today’s younger workers.  So, before we go any further, I ask you to join with me in saluting the members of the Commission who are here tonight and Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker and Speaker Tip O’Neill for a job well done.  I hope and pray the bipartisan spirit that guided you in this endeavor will inspire all of us as we face the challenges of the year ahead.

Nearly half a century ago, in this Chamber, another American President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in his second State of the Union message, urged America to look to the future, to meet the challenge of change and the need for leadership that looks forward, not backward.

“Throughout the world,” he said, “change is the order of the day.  In every nation economic problems long in the making have brought crises to (of) many kinds for which the masters of old practice and theory were unprepared.”  He also reminded us that “the future lies with those wise political leaders who realize that the great public is interested more in Government than in politics.”

So, let us, in these next 2 years—­men and women of both parties, every political shade—­concentrate on the long-range, bipartisan responsibilities of government, not the short-range or short-term temptations of partisan politics.

The problems we inherited were far worse than most inside and out of government had expected; the recession was deeper than most inside and out of government had predicted.  Curing those problems has taken more time and a higher toll than any of us wanted.  Unemployment is far too high.  Projected Federal spending—­if government refuses to tighten its own belt—­will also be far too high and could weaken and shorten the economic recovery now underway.