Title:  State of the Union Addresses of William J. Clinton

Author:  William J. Clinton

Release Date:  February, 2004 [EBook #5048] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on April 11, 2002] [Date last updated:  December 16, 2004]

Edition:  11

Language:  English

Character set encoding:  ASCII

*** Start of the project gutenberg EBOOK of addresses by William J. Clinton ***

This eBook was produced by James Linden.

The addresses are separated by three asterisks:  ***

Dates of addresses by William J. Clinton in this eBook: 
  January 25, 1994
  January 24, 1995
  January 23, 1996
  February 4, 1997
  January 27, 1998
  January 19, 1999
  January 27, 2000

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State of the Union Address
William J. Clinton
January 25, 1994

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, members of the 103rd Congress, my fellow
Americans: 

I am not sure what speech is in the TelePrompTer tonight, but I hope we can talk about the State of the Union.

I ask you to begin by recalling the memory of the giant who presided over this chamber with such force and grace.  Tip O’Neill liked to call himself “A Man of the House” and he surely was that.  But even more, he was a man of the people, a bricklayer’s son who helped to build the great American middle class.  Tip O’Neill never forgot who he was, where he came from, or who sent him here.  Tonight he’s smiling down on us for the first time from the Lord’s gallery.  But in his honor, may we too also remember who we are, where we come from, and who sent us here.

If we do that we will return over and over again to the principle that if we simply give ordinary people equal opportunity, quality education, and a fair shot at the American dream, they will do extraordinary things.

We gather tonight in a world of changes so profound and rapid that all nations are tested.  Our American heritage has always been to master such change, to use it to expand opportunity at home, and our leadership abroad.  But for too long and in too many ways, that heritage was abandoned, and our country drifted.

For 30 years family life in America has been breaking down.  For 20 years the wages of working people have been stagnant or declining.  For the 12 years of trickle down economics we built a false prosperity on a hollow base as our national debt quadrupled.  From 1989 to 1992 we experienced the slowest growth in a half century.  For too many families, even when both parents were working, the American dream has been slipping away.

In 1992 the American people demanded that we change.  I year ago I asked all of you to join me in accepting responsibility for the future of our country.