Bill Clinton in Pres. Clinton's State of the Union speeches
On Government Reform:
Reinventing Government: cut 252,000 bureaucrats over 5 years
Last year we began to put our house in order by tackling the budget deficit that was driving us toward bankruptcy. We cut $255 billion in spending, including entitlements, and over 340 separate budget items.
We froze domestic spending and used honest budget numbers.Led by the Vice President, we launched a campaign to reinvent Government.
We cut staff, cut perks, even trimmed the fleet of Federal limousines. After years of leaders whose rhetoric attacked bureaucracy but whose action expanded it, we will actually reduce it by 252,000 people over the next 5 years.
By the time we have finished, the Federal bureaucracy will be at its lowest point in 30 years.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1994 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 25, 1994
On Tax Reform:
Increase taxes on top 1.2%; and on no one else
Because the deficit was so large and because they benefited from tax cuts in the 1980's, we did ask the wealthiest Americans to pay more to reduce the deficit. So on April 15th, the American people will discover the truth about what we did last year
on taxes. Only the top 1.2% of Americans, as I said all along, will pay higher income tax rates. And no one else will. And that is the truth.Of course, there were, as there always are in politics, naysayers who said this plan wouldn't work.
But they were wrong. When I became President, the experts predicted that next year's deficit would be $300 billion. But because we acted, those same people now say the deficit is going to be under $180 billion.
Our economic program has helped to
produce the lowest core inflation rate and the lowest interest rates in 20 years. And because those interest rates are down, business investment and equipment is growing at 7 times the rate of the previous 4 years.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1994 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 25, 1994
On Principles & Values:
New Covenant: responsibility, citizenship, opportunity
We all gain when we give. We reap whatever we sow. That’s at the heart of the New Covenant: Responsibility. Citizenship. Opportunity. They are the virtues by which we can fulfill ourselves and our God-given potential-the virtues by which we can live out
the eternal promise of America, the enduring dream of that first and most sacred covenant: ‘that all men are created equal.’We need to forge a New Covenant that will repair the damaged bond between the people and the government and restore our basic
values-the notion that our country has a responsibility to help people get ahead. That citizens have not only the right but a responsibility to rise as far and as high as their talents and determination can take them, and that we’re all in this together.
Make no mistake: This New Covenant means change-change in our party, change in our national leadership, and change in our country. People have lost faith in the ability of government to change their lives for the better.
Source: Clinton on Clinton, p. 65&156, State of the Union speech
Jan 24, 1995
On Government Reform:
Free TV time to candidates for public office
Tonight I ask you to just stop taking the lobbyists' perks. Just stop. We don't have to wait for legislation to pass to send a strong signal to the American people that things are really changing. But I also hope you will send me the strongest possible
lobby reform bill, and I'll sign that, too.We should require lobbyists to tell the people for whom they work what they're spending, what they want. We should also curb the role of big money in elections by capping the cost of campaigns and limiting
the influence of PAC's. And as I have said for 3 years, we should work to open the airwaves so that they can be an instrument of democracy, not a weapon of destruction, by giving free TV time to candidates for public office.
When the last Congress
killed political reform last year, it was reported in the press that the lobbyists actually stood in the Halls of this sacred building and cheered. This year, let's give the folks at home something to cheer about.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1995 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 24, 1995
On Government Reform:
Reinventing Government: cut $130B by shrinking departments
Previous government programs gathered dust. The reinventing government report is getting results. And we're not through. We propose to cut $130 billion in spending by shrinking departments, extending our freeze on domestic spending, cutting 60 public
housing programs down to 3, getting rid of over 100 programs we do not need, like the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Helium Reserve Program. And we're working on getting rid of unnecessary regulations and making them more sensible.
The programs and regulations that have outlived their usefulness should go. We have to cut yesterday's Government to help solve tomorrow's problems.And we need to get Government closer to the people it's meant to serve. We need to help move programs
down to the point where States and communities and private citizens in the private sector can do a better job. Taking power away from Federal bureaucracies and giving it back to communities and individuals is something everyone should be able to be for.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1995 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 24, 1995
On Principles & Values:
New Covenant: Opportunity and responsibility go hand in hand
Tonight we must forge a new social compact to meet the challenges of this time. As we enter a new era, we need a new set of understandings, not just with Government but, even more important, with one another as Americans.I call it the New Covenant.
But it's grounded in a very old idea, that all Americans have not just a right but a solemn responsibility to rise as far as their God-given talents and determination can take them and to give something back in return. Opportunity and responsibility:
They go hand in hand. We can't have one without the other. And our national community can't hold together without both.
Our New Covenant is a new set of understandings for how we can equip our people to meet the challenges of a new economy, how we
can change the way our Government works to fit a different time, and, above all, how we can repair the damaged bonds in our society and come together behind our common purpose. We must have dramatic change in our economy, our Government, and ourselves.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1995 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 24, 1995
On War & Peace:
Today, not a single Russian missile is pointed at America
This is the first State of the Union Address since the beginning of the cold war when not a single Russian missile is pointed at the children of America. And along with the Russians, we're on our way to destroying the missiles and the bombers that carry
9,000 nuclear warheads. We've come so far so fast in this post-cold-war world that it's easy to take the decline of the nuclear threat for granted. But it's still there, and we aren't finished yet.This year I'll ask the Senate to approve START II to
eliminate weapons that carry 5,000 more warheads. The United States will lead the charge to extend indefinitely the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to enact a comprehensive nuclear test ban, and to eliminate chemical weapons. To stop and roll back
North Korea's potentially deadly nuclear program, we'll continue to implement the agreement we have reached with that nation. It's smart. It's tough. It's a deal based on continuing inspection with safeguards for our allies and ourselves.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1995 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 24, 1995
On Drugs:
DARE to have drug-free schools
To reduce crime and violence we have to reduce the drug problem. The challenge begins in our homes, with parents talking to their children openly and firmly. It embraces our churches and synagogues, our youth groups and our schools.
I challenge Congress not to cut our support for drug-free schools. People like the D.A.R.E. officers are making a real impression on grade-school children that will give them the strength to say no when the time comes.
Meanwhile, we continue our efforts to cut the flow of drugs into America. Tonight I am nominating General Barry McCaffrey as America's new drug czar. General McCaffrey has earned three Purple Hearts and two Silver Stars fighting for this country.
Tonight I ask that he lead our Nation's battle against drugs at home and abroad. To succeed, he needs a force far larger than he has ever commanded before. He needs all of us. Every one of us has a role to play on this team.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1996 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 23, 1996
On Education:
Goals 2000: public school choice & character education
Every diploma ought to mean something. I challenge every community, every school, and every State to adopt national standards of excellence, to measure whether schools are meeting those standards, to cut bureaucratic red tape so that schools and teachers
have more flexibility for grassroots reform, and to hold them accountable for results. That's what our Goals 2000 initiative is all about.
I challenge every State to give all parents the right to choose which public school their children will attend and to let teachers form new schools with a charter they can keep only if they do a good job.I challenge all our schools to teach
character education, to teach good values and good citizenship. And if it means that teenagers will stop killing each other over designer jackets, then our public schools should be able to require their students to wear school uniforms.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1996 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 23, 1996
On Families & Children:
Parents controlling what kids watch on TV is not censorship
All strong families begin with taking more responsibility for our children. To the media, I say you should create movies and CD's and television shows you'd want your own children and grandchildren to enjoy.I call on Congress to pass the requirement
for a V-chip in TV sets so that parents can screen out programs they believe are inappropriate for their children. When parents control what their young children see, that is not censorship; that is enabling parents to assume more personal
responsibility for their children's upbringing. And I urge them to do it.
To make the V-chip work, I challenge the broadcast industry to do what movies have done, to identify your program in ways that help parents to protect their children. And
I invite the leaders of major media corporations in the entertainment industry to come to the White House next month to work with us in a positive way on concrete ways to improve what our children see on television. I am ready to work with you.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1996 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 23, 1996
On Education:
America Reads initiative: one million volunteer tutors
We must do more to help all our children read. Forty percent--40 percent--of our 8-year-olds cannot read on their own. That's why we have just launched the
America Reads initiative, to build a citizen army of one million volunteer tutors to make sure every child can read independently by the end of the third grade. We will use thousands of AmeriCorps volunteers to mobilize this citizen army.
We want at least 100,000 college students to help, and tonight I am pleased that 60 college presidents have answered my call, pledging that thousands of their work-study students will serve for one year as reading tutors.
This is also a challenge to every teacher and every principal: You must use these tutors to help students read. And it is especially a challenge to our parents: You must read with your children every night.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1997 State of the Union message to Congress
Feb 4, 1997
On Education:
National crusade: educate for 21st century knowledge economy
I have a plan, a call to action for American education, based on these 10 principles:- A national crusade for education standards, representing what all our students must know to succeed in the knowledge economy of the 21st century.
- To have the
best schools, we must have the best teachers.
- We must do more to help all our children read. 40% of our 8-year-olds cannot read on their own.
- Learning begins in the first days of life. We should start teaching children before they start school.
-
Every State should give parents the power to choose the right public school for their children.
- Character education must be taught in our schools.
- We cannot expect our children to raise themselves up in schools that are literally falling down.
-
We must 2 years of college universal.
- In the 21st century, we must expand the frontiers of learning across a lifetime.
- We must bring the power of the information age into all our schools.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1997 State of the Union message to Congress
Feb 4, 1997
On Families & Children:
No drive-through maternity; no drive-through mastectomy
Just as we ended drive-through deliveries of babies last year, we must now end the dangerous and demeaning practice
of forcing women home from the hospital only hours after a mastectomy. I ask your support for bipartisan legislation to guarantee that a woman can stay in the hospital for 48 hours after a mastectomy.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1997 State of the Union message to Congress
Feb 4, 1997
On Government Reform:
Curb campaign spending & ban contributions from noncitizens
[We have a] piece of unfinished business: to commit ourselves tonight, before the eyes of America, to finally enacting bipartisan campaign finance reform. Now, Senators McCain and Feingold, Representatives Shays and Meehan have reached across party lines
here to craft tough and fair reform. Their proposal would curb spending, reduce the role of special interests, create a level playing field between challengers and incumbents, and ban contributions from noncitizens, all corporate sources, and the other
large soft money contributions that both parties receive.You know and I know that this can be delayed. And you know and I know the delay will mean the death of reform. So let's set our own deadline. Let's work together to write bipartisan
campaign finance reform into law and pass McCain-Feingold by the day we celebrate the birth of our democracy, July the fourth.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1997 State of the Union message to Congress
Feb 4, 1997
On Budget & Economy:
Zero deficit, not 11 zeroes, for first time in 30 years
When I took office, the deficit for 1998 was projected to be $357 billion and heading higher. This year, our deficit is projected to be $10 billion and heading lower. For three decades, six Presidents have come before you to warn of the damage deficits
pose to our Nation. Tonight I come before you to announce that the Federal deficit, once so incomprehensibly large that it had 11 zeros, will be, simply, zero. I will submit to Congress for 1999 the first balanced budget in 30 years. And if we hold fast
to fiscal discipline, we may balance the budget this year--4 years ahead of schedule.Turning a sea of red ink into black is no miracle. It is the product of hard work by the American people and of two visionary actions in Congress: the courageous vote
in 1993 that led to a cut in the deficit of 90%, and the truly historic bipartisan balanced budget agreement passed by this Congress. Here's the really good news: If we maintain our resolve, we will produce balanced budgets as far as the eye can see.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1998 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 27, 1998
On Foreign Policy:
Make good on our debt to the United Nations
Finally, it's long past time to make good on our debt to the United Nations. More and more, we are working with other nations to achieve common goals. If we want America to lead, we've got to set a good example. As we see so clearly in Bosnia,
allies who share our goals can also share our burdens. In this new era, our freedom and independence are actually enriched, not weakened, by our increasing interdependence with other nations. But we have to do our part.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1998 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 27, 1998
On Health Care:
Managed care plans save money & improve care
Two years ago we helped guarantee that Americans can keep their health insurance when they change jobs. Last year we extended health care to up to 5 million children. This year I challenge Congress to take the next historic steps.
160 million of our fellow citizens are in managed care plans. These plans save money, and they can improve care. But medical decisions ought to be made by medical doctors, not insurance company accountants.
I urge this Congress to reach across the aisle and write into law a consumer bill of rights that says this: You have the right to know all your medical options, not just the cheapest. You have the right to choose the doctor you want for the care you
need. You have the right to emergency room care, wherever and whenever you need it. You have the right to keep your medical records confidential. Traditional care or managed care, every American deserves quality care.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1998 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 27, 1998
On Health Care:
Protect children from the epidemic of teen smoking
We must help parents protect their children from the gravest health threat that they face: an epidemic of teen smoking, spread by multimillion-dollar marketing campaigns.
I challenge Congress: Let's pass bipartisan, comprehensive legislation that will improve public health, protect our tobacco farmers, and change the way tobacco companies do business forever.
Let's do what it takes to bring teen smoking down. Let's raise the price of cigarettes by up to a dollar and a half a pack over the next 10 years, with penalties on the tobacco industry if it keeps marketing to our children.
Tomorrow, like every day, 3,000 children will start smoking, and 1,000 will die early as a result. Let this Congress be remembered as the Congress that saved their lives.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1998 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 27, 1998
On Technology:
Next generation Internet lets the world explore cyberspace
We should enable all the world's people to explore the far reaches of cyberspace. Think of this: The first time I made a State of the Union speech to you, only a handful of physicists used the World Wide Web--literally, just a handful of people. Now, in
schools, in libraries, homes, and businesses, millions and millions of Americans surf the Net every day. We must give parents the tools they need to help protect their children from inappropriate material on the Internet, but we also must make
sure that we protect the exploding global commercial potential of the Internet. We can do the kinds of things that we need to do and still protect our kids. For one thing, I ask Congress to step up support
for building the next generation Internet. It's getting kind of clogged, you know, and the next generation Internet will operate at speeds up to 1,000 times faster than today.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1998 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 27, 1998
On Health Care:
Patients' Bill of Rights: right to know all medical options
I think we ought to say to every American: You should have the right to know all your medical options, not just the cheapest. If you need a specialist, you should have a right to see one. You have a right to the nearest emergency care if you're in an
accident. These are things that we ought to say. And I think we ought to say: You should have a right to keep your doctor during a period of treatment, whether it's a pregnancy or a chemotherapy treatment, or anything else. I believe this.
Now, I've ordered these rights to be extended to the 85 million Americans served by Medicare, Medicaid, and other Federal health programs. But only Congress can pass a Patients' Bill of Rights for all Americans. Now, last year, Congress missed that
opportunity, and we must not miss that opportunity again. For the sake of our families, I ask us to join together across party lines and pass a strong, enforceable Patients' Bill of Rights.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1999 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 19, 1999
On Social Security:
Before Social Security, being old meant being poor
With the number of elderly Americans set to double by 2030, the baby boom will become a senior boom. So first, and above all, we must save Social Security for the 21st century.Early in this century, being old meant being poor. Even today, without
Social Security, half our Nation's elderly would be forced into poverty.
Today, Social Security is strong. But by 2013, payroll taxes will no longer be sufficient to cover monthly payments.
By 2032, the Trust Fund will be exhausted and Social Security will be unable to pay the full benefits older Americans have been promised.
The best way to keep Social Security a rocksolid guarantee is not to make drastic cuts in benefits, not to raise
payroll tax rates, not to drain resources from Social Security in the name of saving it. Instead, I propose that we make the historic decision to invest the surplus to save Social Security.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1999 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 19, 1999
On Social Security:
USA accounts: retirement security for the 21st century
I propose a new pension initiative for retirement security in the 21st century. I propose that we use a little over 11% of the surplus to establish universal savings accounts--USA accounts--to give all Americans the means to save. With these new
accounts, Americans can invest as they choose and receive funds to match a portion of their savings, with extra help for those least able to save. USA accounts will help all Americans to share in our Nation's wealth and to enjoy a more secure retirement.
One of the greatest concerns of our baby boom generation is not to let our growing old place an intolerable burden on our children. Our fiscal discipline now gives us an opportunity to lift that burden.Saving Social Security & Medicare, creating
USA accounts, this is the right way to use the surplus. If we set aside 60% of the surplus for Social Security and 16% for Medicare, we will still have resources to meet critical needs.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 1999 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 19, 1999
On Civil Rights:
Women should get equal pay for equal work
We also can't reward work and family unless men and women get equal pay for equal work. Today the female unemployment rate is the lowest it has been in 46 years. Yet, women still only earn about 75 cents for every dollar men earn.
We must do better, by providing the resources to enforce present equal pay laws, training more women for high-paying, high-tech jobs, and passing the "Paycheck Fairness Act."
Source: Pres. Clinton's 2000 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 27, 2000
On Education:
Proven formula: higher standards & more accountability
First and foremost, we need a 21st century revolution in education, guided by our faith that every single child can learn. Because education is more important than ever, more than ever the key to our children's future, we must make sure all our children
have that key. That means quality preschool and afterschool, the best trained teachers in the classroom, and college opportunities for all our children.All successful schools have followed the same proven formula: higher standards,
more accountability, and extra help so children who need it can get it to reach those standards. I have sent Congress a reform plan based on that formula. It holds States and school districts accountable for progress and rewards them for results.
Each year, our National Government invests more than $15 billion in our schools. It is time to support what works and stop supporting what doesn't.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 2000 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 27, 2000
On Energy & Oil:
Tax incentive to produce 80 mpg superefficient cars
Just last week, automakers unveiled cars that get 70 to 80 miles a gallon, the fruits of a unique research partnership between Government and industry. And before you know it, efficient production of bio-fuels will give us the equivalent of hundreds of
miles from a gallon of gasoline.To speed innovation in these kind of technologies, I think we should give a major tax incentive to business for the production of clean energy and to families for buying energy-saving homes and appliances and the next
generation of superefficient cars when they hit the showroom floor. I also ask the auto industry to use the available technologies to make all new cars more fuel-efficient right away.
And I ask this Congress to do something else. Please help us make
more of our clean energy technology available to the developing world. That will create cleaner growth abroad and a lot more new jobs here in the United States of America.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 2000 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 27, 2000
On Welfare & Poverty:
The "E" in EITC is about earning: so reduce marriage penalty
We must also make investments that reward work and support families. Nothing does that better than the earned-income tax credit, the EITC. The "E" in the EITC is about earning, working, taking responsibility, and being rewarded for it. In my very
first address to you, I asked Congress to greatly expand this credit, and you did. As a result, in 1998 alone, the EITC helped more than 4.3 million Americans work their way out of poverty toward the middle class. That's double the number in 1993.
Tonight I propose another major expansion of the EITC: to reduce the marriage penalty, to make sure it rewards marriage as it rewards work, and also to expand the tax credit for families that have more than two children. It punishes people with
more than two children today. Our proposal would allow families with three or more children to get up to $1,100 more in tax relief. These are working families; their children should not be in poverty.
Source: Pres. Clinton's 2000 State of the Union message to Congress
Jan 27, 2000
Page last updated: Feb 24, 2019