And tonight, I am instructing Treasury Secretary James Baker—­I have to get used to saying that—­to begin working with congressional authors and committees for bipartisan legislation conforming to these principles.  We will call upon the American people for support and upon every man and woman in this Chamber.  Together, we can pass, this year, a tax bill for fairness, simplicity, and growth, making this economy the engine of our dreams and America the investment capital of the world.  So let us begin.

Tax simplification will be a giant step toward unleashing the tremendous pent-up power of our economy.  But a second American revolution must carry the promise of opportunity for all.  It is time to liberate the spirit of enterprise in the most distressed areas of our country.

This government will meet its responsibility to help those in need.  But policies that increase dependency, break up families, and destroy self-respect are not progressive; they’re reactionary.  Despite our strides in civil rights, blacks, Hispanics, and all minorities will not have full and equal power until they have full economic power.

We have repeatedly sought passage of enterprise zones to help those in the abandoned corners of our land find jobs, learn skills, and build better lives.  This legislation is supported by a majority of you.

Mr. Speaker, I know we agree that there must be no forgotten Americans.  Let us place new dreams in a million hearts and create a new generation of entrepreneurs by passing enterprise zones this year.  And, Tip, you could make that a birthday present.

Nor must we lose the chance to pass our youth employment opportunity wage proposal.  We can help teenagers, who have the highest unemployment rate, find summer jobs, so they can know the pride of work and have confidence in their futures.

We’ll continue to support the Job Training Partnership Act, which has a nearly two-thirds job placement rate.  Credits in education and health care vouchers will help working families shop for services that they need.

Our administration is already encouraging certain low-income public housing residents to own and manage their own dwellings.  It’s time that all public housing residents have that opportunity of ownership.

The Federal Government can help create a new atmosphere of freedom.  But States and localities, many of which enjoy surpluses from the recovery, must not permit their tax and regulatory policies to stand as barriers to growth.

Let us resolve that we will stop spreading dependency and start spreading opportunity; that we will stop spreading bondage and start spreading freedom.

There are some who say that growth initiatives must await final action on deficit reductions.  Well, the best way to reduce deficits is through economic growth.  More businesses will be started, more investments made, more jobs created, and more people will be on payrolls paying taxes.  The best way to reduce government spending is to reduce the need for spending by increasing prosperity.  Each added percentage point per year of real GNP growth will lead to cumulative reduction in deficits of nearly $200 billion over 5 years.