The last person I want to introduce is Jack Lucas from Hattiesburg, Mississippi.  Jack, would you stand up.  Fifty years ago in the sands of Iwo Jima, Jack Lucas taught and learned the lessons of citizenship.  On February the 20th, 1945, he and three of his buddies encountered the enemy and two grenades at their feet.  Jack Lucas threw himself on both of them.  In that moment he saved the lives of his companions and miraculously in the next instant a medic saved his life.  He gained a foothold for freedom and at the age of 17, just a year older than his grandson, who’s up there with him today, and his son, who is a West Point graduate and a veteran, at 17, Jack Lucas became the youngest marine in history and the youngest soldier in this century to win the Congressional Medal of Honor.  All these years later, yesterday, here’s what he said about that day:  Didn’t matter where you were from or who you were.  You relied on one another.  You did it for your country.  We all gain when we give and we reap what we sow.  That’s at the heart of this New Covenant.  Responsibility, opportunity and citizenship.

More than stale chapters in some remote civic book they’re still the virtue by which we can fulfill ourselves and reach our God-given potential and be like them.  And also to fulfill the eternal promise of this country, the enduring dream from that first and most-sacred covenant.  I believe every person in this country still believes that we are created equal and given by our creator the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

This is a very, very great country and our best days are still to come.  Thank you and God bless you all.

***

State of the Union Address
William J. Clinton
January 23, 1996

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of the 104th Congress, distinguished guests, my fellow Americans all across our land: 

Let me begin tonight by saying to our men and women in uniform around the world, and especially those helping peace take root in Bosnia and to their families, I thank you.  America is very, very proud of you.

My duty tonight is to report on the state of the Union—­not the state of our government, but of our American community; and to set forth our responsibilities, in the words of our Founders, to form a more perfect union.

The state of the Union is strong.  Our economy is the healthiest it has been in three decades.  We have the lowest combined rates of unemployment and inflation in 27 years.  We have created nearly 8 million new jobs, over a million of them in basic industries, like construction and automobiles.  America is selling more cars than Japan for the first time since the 1970s.  And for three years in a row, we have had a record number of new businesses started in our country.

Our leadership in the world is also strong, bringing hope for new peace.  And perhaps most important, we are gaining ground in restoring our fundamental values.  The crime rate, the welfare and food stamp rolls, the poverty rate and the teen pregnancy rate are all down.  And as they go down, prospects for America’s future go up.