We owe it to the unfortunate to be aware of their plight and to help them in every way we can.  No one can quarrel with that.  We must and do have compassion for all the victims of this economic crisis.  But the big story about America today is the way that millions of confident, caring people—­those extraordinary “ordinary” Americans who never make the headlines and will never be interviewed—­are laying the foundation, not just for recovery from our present problems but for a better tomorrow for all our people.

From coast to coast, on the job and in classrooms and laboratories, at new construction sites and in churches and community groups, neighbors are helping neighbors.  And they’ve already begun the building, the research, the work, and the giving that will make our country great again.

I believe this, because I believe in them—­in the strength of their hearts and minds, in the commitment that each one of them brings to their daily lives, be they high or humble.  The challenge for us in government is to be worthy of them—­to make government a help, not a hindrance to our people in the challenging but promising days ahead.

If we do that, if we care what our children and our children’s children will say of us, if we want them one day to be thankful for what we did here in these temples of freedom, we will work together to make America better for our having been here—­not just in this year or this decade but in the next century and beyond.

Thank you, and God bless you.

Note:  The President spoke at 9:03 p.m. in the House Chamber of the Capitol.  He was introduced by Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr., Speaker of the House of Representatives.  The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television.

***

State of the Union Address
Ronald Reagan
January 25, 1984

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, distinguished Members of the Congress, honored guests, and fellow citizens: 

Once again, in keeping with time-honored tradition, I have come to report to you on the state of the Union, and I’m pleased to report that America is much improved, and there’s good reason to believe that improvement will continue through the days to come.

You and I have had some honest and open differences in the year past.  But they didn’t keep us from joining hands in bipartisan cooperation to stop a long decline that had drained this nation’s spirit and eroded its health.  There is renewed energy and optimism throughout the land.  America is back, standing tall, looking to the eighties with courage, confidence, and hope.

The problems we’re overcoming are not the heritage of one person, party, or even one generation.  It’s just the tendency of government to grow, for practices and programs to become the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this Earth.  And there’s always that well-intentioned chorus of voices saying, “With a little more power and a little more money, we could do so much for the people.”  For a time we forgot the American dream isn’t one of making government bigger; it’s keeping faith with the mighty spirit of free people under God.