Just as the oceans opened up a new world for clipper ships and Yankee traders, space holds enormous potential for commerce today.  The market for space transportation could surpass our capacity to develop it.  Companies interested in putting payloads into space must have ready access to private sector launch services.  The Department of Transportation will help an expendable launch services industry to get off the ground.  We’ll soon implement a number of executive initiatives, develop proposals to ease regulatory constraints, and, with NASA’s help, promote private sector investment in space.

And as we develop the frontier of space, let us remember our responsibility to preserve our older resources here on Earth.  Preservation of our environment is not a liberal or conservative challenge, it’s common sense.

Though this is a time of budget constraints, I have requested for EPA one of the largest percentage budget increases of any agency.  We will begin the long, necessary effort to clean up a productive recreational area and a special national resource—­the Chesapeake Bay.

To reduce the threat posed by abandoned hazardous waste dumps, EPA will spend $410 million.  And I will request a supplemental increase of 50 million.  And because the Superfund law expires in 1985, I’ve asked Bill Ruckelshaus to develop a proposal for its extension so there’ll be additional time to complete this important task.

On the question of acid rain, which concerns people in many areas of the United States and Canada, I’m proposing a research program that doubles our current funding.  And we’ll take additional action to restore our lakes and develop new technology to reduce pollution that causes acid rain.

We have greatly improved the conditions of our natural resources.  We’ll ask the Congress for $157 million beginning in 1985 to acquire new park and conservation lands.  The Department of the Interior will encourage careful, selective exploration and production on our vital resources in an Exclusive Economic Zone within the 200-mile limit off our coasts—­but with strict adherence to environmental laws and with fuller State and public participation.

But our most precious resources, our greatest hope for the future, are the minds and hearts of our people, especially our children.  We can help them build tomorrow by strengthening our community of shared values.  This must be our third great goal.  For us, faith, work, family, neighborhood, freedom, and peace are not just words; they’re expressions of what America means, definitions of what makes us a good and loving people.

Families stand at the center of our society.  And every family has a personal stake in promoting excellence in education.  Excellence does not begin in Washington.  A 600-percent increase in Federal spending on education between 1960 and 1980 was accompanied by a steady decline in Scholastic Aptitude Test scores.  Excellence must begin in our homes and neighborhood schools, where it’s the responsibility of every parent and teacher and the right of every child.