Some say it will bring war to the heavens, but its purpose is to deter war in the heavens and on Earth.  Now, some say the research would be expensive.  Perhaps, but it could save millions of lives, indeed humanity itself.  And some say if we build such a system, the Soviets will build a defense system of their own.  Well, they already have strategic defenses that surpass ours; a civil defense system, where we have almost none; and a research program covering roughly the same areas of technology that we’re now exploring.  And finally some say the research will take a long time.  Well, the answer to that is:  Let’s get started.

Harry Truman once said that, ultimately, our security and the world’s hopes for peace and human progress “lie not in measures of defense or in the control of weapons, but in the growth and expansion of freedom and self-government.”

And tonight, we declare anew to our fellow citizens of the world:  Freedom is not the sole prerogative of a chosen few; it is the universal right of all God’s children.  Look to where peace and prosperity flourish today.  It is in homes that freedom built.  Victories against poverty are greatest and peace most secure where people live by laws that ensure free press, free speech, and freedom to worship, vote, and create wealth.

Our mission is to nourish and defend freedom and democracy, and to communicate these ideals everywhere we can.  America’s economic success is freedom’s success; it can be repeated a hundred times in a hundred different nations.  Many countries in east Asia and the Pacific have few resources other than the enterprise of their own people.  But through low tax rates and free markets they’ve soared ahead of centralized economies.  And now China is opening up its economy to meet its needs.

We need a stronger and simpler approach to the process of making and implementing trade policy, and we’ll be studying potential changes in that process in the next few weeks.  We’ve seen the benefits of free trade and lived through the disasters of protectionism.  Tonight I ask all our trading partners, developed and developing alike, to join us in a new round of trade negotiations to expand trade and competition and strengthen the global economy—­and to begin it in this next year.

There are more than 3 billion human beings living in Third World countries with an average per capita income of $650 a year.  Many are victims of dictatorships that impoverished them with taxation and corruption.  Let us ask our allies to join us in a practical program of trade and assistance that fosters economic development through personal incentives to help these people climb from poverty on their own.

We cannot play innocents abroad in a world that’s not innocent; nor can we be passive when freedom is under siege.  Without resources, diplomacy cannot succeed.  Our security assistance programs help friendly governments defend themselves and give them confidence to work for peace.  And I hope that you in the Congress will understand that, dollar for dollar, security assistance contributes as much to global security as our own defense budget.