Foreign Policy

As we take these steps together to renew our strength at home, we cannot turn away from our obligations to renew our leadership abroad.  This is a promising moment.  Because of the agreements we have reached this year, last year, Russia’s strategic nuclear missiles soon will no longer be pointed at the United States.  Nor will we point ours at them.

Instead of building weapons in space, Russian scientists will help us to build the international space station.

And of course there are still dangers in the world:  rampant arms proliferation, bitter regional conflicts, ethnic and nationalist tensions in many new democracies, severe environmental degradation the world over, and fanatics who seek to cripple the world’s cities with terror.  As the world’s greatest power, we must therefore maintain our defenses and our responsibilities.  This year we secured indictments against terrorists and sanctions against those harbor them.  We worked to promote environmentally-sustainable economic growth.  We achieved agreements with Ukraine, with Belarus, with Kazakhstan, to eliminate completely their nuclear arsenals.  We are working to achieve a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons.  We will seek early ratification of the treaty to ban chemical weapons worldwide.  And earlier today we joined with over 30 nations to begin negotiations on a comprehensive ban to stop all nuclear testing.

But nothing—­nothing—­is more important to our security than our nation’s armed forces.  We honor their contributions, including those who are carrying out the longest humanitarian airlift in history in Bosnia——­ those who will complete their mission in Somalia this year and their brave comrades who gave their lives there.  Our forces are the finest military our nation has ever had, and I have pledged that as long as I am president they will remain the best-equipped, the best-trained and the best-prepared fighting force on the face of the earth.

Defense

Last year, I proposed a defense plan that maintains our post-Cold War security at a lower cost.  This year, many people urged me to cut our defense spending further to pay for other government programs.  I said no.  The budget I send to Congress draws the line against further defense cuts.  It protects the readiness and quality of our forces.  Ultimately, the best strategy is to do that.  We must not cut defense further.  I hope the Congress without regard to party will support that position.

Ultimately, the best strategy to ensure our security and to build a durable peace is to support the advance of democracy elsewhere.  Democracies don’t attack each other.  They make better trading partners and partners in diplomacy.  That is why we have supported, you and I, the democratic reformers in Russia and in the other states of the former Soviet bloc.  I applaud the bipartisan support this Congress provided last year for our initiatives to help Russia, Ukraine and the other states through their epic transformations.