And tonight I ask you to give me what 43 Governors have:  Give me a line-item veto this year.  Give me the authority to veto waste, and I’ll take the responsibility, I’ll make the cuts, I’ll take the heat.  This authority would not give me any monopoly power, but simply prevent spending measures from sneaking through that could not pass on their own merit.  And you can sustain or override my veto; that’s the way the system should work.  Once we’ve made the hard choices, we should lock in our gains with a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

I mentioned that we will meet our commitment to national defense.  We must meet it.  Defense is not just another budget expense.  Keeping America strong, free, and at peace is solely the responsibility of the Federal Government; it is government’s prime responsibility.  We have devoted 5 years trying to narrow a dangerous gap born of illusion and neglect, and we’ve made important gains.  Yet the threat from Soviet forces, conventional and strategic, from the Soviet drive for domination, from the increase in espionage and state terror remains great.  This is reality.  Closing our eyes will not make reality disappear.  We pledged together to hold real growth in defense spending to the bare minimum.  My budget honors that pledge, and I’m now asking you, the Congress, to keep its end of the bargain.  The Soviets must know that if America reduces her defenses, it will be because of a reduced threat, not a reduced resolve.

Keeping America strong is as vital to the national security as controlling Federal spending is to our economic security.  But, as I have said before, the most powerful force we can enlist against the Federal deficit is an ever-expanding American economy, unfettered and free.  The magic of opportunity—­unreserved, unfailing, unrestrained—­isn’t this the calling that unites us?  I believe our tax rate cuts for the people have done more to spur a spirit of risk-taking and help America’s economy break free than any program since John Kennedy’s tax cut almost a quarter century ago.

Now history calls us to press on, to complete efforts for an historic tax reform providing new opportunity for all and ensuring that all pay their fair share, but no more.  We’ve come this far.  Will you join me now, and we’ll walk this last mile together?  You know my views on this.  We cannot and we will not accept tax reform that is a tax increase in disguise.  True reform must be an engine of productivity and growth, and that means a top personal rate no higher than 35 percent.  True reform must be truly fair, and that means raising personal exemptions to $2,000.  True reform means a tax system that at long last is profamily, projobs, profuture, and pro-America.

As we knock down the barriers to growth, we must redouble our efforts for freer and fairer trade.  We have already taken actions to counter unfair trading practices and to pry open closed foreign markets.  We will continue to do so.  We will also oppose legislation touted as providing protection that in reality pits one American worker against another, one industry against another, one community against another, and that raises prices for us all.  If the United States can trade with other nations on a level playing field, we can outproduce, outcompete, and outsell anybody, anywhere in the world.