And one year ago Erich Honecker of East Germany claimed history as his guide.  He predicted the Berlin Wall would last another hundred years.  And today, less than one year later, it’s the wall that’s history.

Remarkable events, remarkable events, events that fulfill the long-held hopes of the American people.  Events that validate the longstanding goals of American policy, a policy based upon a single shining principle:  the cause of freedom.

America, not just the nation, but an idea alive in the minds of the people, everywhere.  As this new world takes shape, America stands at the center of a widening circle of freedom, today, tomorrow and into the next century.

Our nation is the enduring dream of every immigrant who ever set foot on these shores, and the millions still struggling to be free.  This nation, this idea called America was and always will be a new world, our new world.

At a workers’ rally in a place called Branik on the outskirts of Prague the idea called America is alive.  A worker, dressed in grimy overalls, rises to speak at the factory gates.  And he begins his speech to his fellow citizens with these words, words of a distant revolution:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident.  That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  It’s no secret here at home freedom’s door opened long ago.  The cornerstones of this free society have already been set in place:  democracy, competition, opportunity, private investment, stewardship, and of course, leadership.

And our challenge today is to take this democratic system of ours, a system second to none, and make it better: 

A better America where there’s a job for whoever wants one;

Where women working outside the home can be confident their children are in safe and loving care, and where Government works to expand child alternatives for parents.

Where we reconcile the needs of a clean environment and a strong economy.

Where “Made in the USA” is recognized around the world as the symbol of quality and progress,

And where every one of us enjoys the same opportunities to live, to work and to contribute to society.  And where, for the first time, the American mainstream includes all of our disabled citizens.

Where everyone has a roof over his head, and where the homeless get the help they need to live in dignity.

Where our schools challenge and support our kids and our teachers, and every one of them makes the grade,

Where every street, every city, every school and every child is drug-free.

And finally, and finally, where no American is forgotten.  Our hearts go out to our hostages, our hostages who are ceaselessly in our minds and in our efforts.  That’s part of the future we want to see, the future we can make for ourselves.  But dreams alone won’t get us there.  We need to extend our horizon, to commit to the long view.  And our mission for the future starts today.