I remind you this evening that I have asked for your support in funding a program to protect our country from limited nuclear missile attack.  We must have this protection because too many people in too many countries have access to nuclear arms.  There are those who say that now we can turn away from the world, that we have no special role, no special place.  But we are the United States of America, the leader of the West that has become the leader of the world.

As long as I am President we will continue to lead in support of freedom everywhere, not out of arrogance and not out of altruism, but for the safety and security of our children.  This is a fact:  Strength in the pursuit of peace is no vice; isolationism in the pursuit of security is no virtue.

Now to our troubles at home.  They are not all economic, but the primary problem is our economy.  There are some good signs.  Inflation, that thief, is down, and interest rates are down.  But unemployment is too high, some industries are in trouble and growth is not what it should be.  Let me tell you right from the start and right from the heart:  I know we’re in hard times, but I know something else:  This will not stand.

My friends in this chamber, we can bring the same courage and sense of common purpose to the economy that we brought to Desert Storm.  And we can defeat hard times together.  I believe you will help.  One reason is that you’re patriots, and you want the best for your country.  And I believe that in your hearts you want to put partisanship aside and get the job done, because it’s the right thing to do.

The power of America rests in a stirring but simple idea:  that people will do great things if only you set them free.  Well, we’re going to have to set the economy free, for if this age of miracles and wonders has taught us anything, it’s that if we can change the world, we can change America.

We must encourage investment.  We must make it easier for people to invest money and make new products, new industries, and new jobs.  We must clear away obstacles to new growth:  high taxes, high regulation, red tape, and yes, wasteful government spending.  None of this will happen with a snap of the fingers, but it will happen.  And the test of a plan isn’t whether it’s called new or dazzling.  The American people aren’t impressed by gimmicks.  They’re smarter on this score than all of us in this room.  The only test of a plan is, It is sound and will it work?  We must have a short-term plan to address our immediate needs and heat up the economy.  And then we need a long-term plan to keep the combustion going and to guarantee our place in the world economy.

There are certain things that a president can do without Congress, and I am going to do them.  I have this evening asked major cabinet departments and federal agencies to institute a 90-day moratorium on any new federal regulations that could hinder growth.  In those 90 days, major departments and agencies will carry out a top-to-bottom review of all regulations, old and new, to stop the ones that will hurt growth and speed up those that will help growth.