Speech Transcript:

 Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of the 94th Congress, and
distinguished guests:

As we begin our Bicentennial, America is still one of the youngest
nations in recorded history. Long before our forefathers came to
these shores, men and women had been struggling on this planet to
forge a better life for themselves and their families.

In man's long, upward march from savagery and slavery--throughout the
nearly 2,000 years of the Christian calendar, the nearly 6,000 years
of Jewish reckoning--there have been many deep, terrifying valleys,
but also many bright and towering peaks.

One peak stands highest in the ranges of human history. One example
shines forth of a people uniting to produce abundance and to share
the good life fairly and with freedom. One union holds out the
promise of justice and opportunity for every citizen: That union is
the United States of America.

We have not remade paradise on Earth. We know perfection will not be
found here. But think for a minute how far we have come in 200
years.

We came from many roots, and we have many branches. Yet all Americans
across the eight generations that separate us from the stirring deeds
of 1776, those who know no other homeland and those who just found
refuge among our shores, say in unison:

I am proud of America, and I am proud to be an American. Life will be
a little better here for my children than for me. I believe this not
because I am told to believe it, but because life has been better for
me than it was for my father and my mother. I know it will be better
for my children because my hands, my brains, my voice, and my vote
can help make it happen.

It has happened here in America. It has happened to you and to me.

Government exists to create and preserve conditions in which people
can translate their ideas into practical reality. In the best of
times, much is lost in translation. But we try. Sometimes we have
tried and failed. Always we have had the best of intentions.

But in the recent past, we sometimes forgot the sound principles that
guided us through most of our history. We wanted to accomplish great
things and solve age-old problems. And we became overconfident of our
abilities. We tried to be a policeman abroad and the indulgent parent
here at home.

We thought we could transform the country through massive national
programs, but often the programs did not work. Too often they only
made things worse. In our rush to accomplish great deeds quickly, we
trampled on sound principles of restraint and endangered the rights
of individuals. We unbalanced our economic system by the huge and
unprecedented growth of Federal expenditures and borrowing. And we
were not totally honest with ourselves about how much these programs
would cost and how we would pay for them. Finally, we shifted our
emphasis from defense to domestic problems while our adversaries
continued a massive buildup of arms.

The time has now come for a fundamentally different approach--for a
new realism that is true to the great principles upon which this
Nation was founded.

We must introduce a new balance to our economy--a balance that favors
not only sound, active government but also a much more vigorous,
healthy economy that can create new jobs and hold down prices.

We must introduce a new balance in the relationship between the
individual and the government--a balance that favors greater
individual freedom and self-reliance.

We must strike a new balance in our system of federalism--a balance
that favors greater responsibility and freedom for the leaders of our
State and local governments.

We must introduce a new balance between the spending on domestic
programs and spending on defense--a balance that ensures we will
fully meet our obligation to the needy while also protecting our
security in a world that is still hostile to freedom.

And in all that we do, we must be more honest with the American
people, promising them no more than we can deliver and delivering all
that we promise.

The genius of America has been its incredible ability to improve the
lives of its citizens through a unique combination of governmental
and free citizen activity.

History and experience tells us that moral progress cannot come in
comfortable and in complacent times, but out of trial and out of
confusion. Tom Paine aroused the troubled Americans of 1776 to stand
up to the times that try men's souls because the harder the conflict,
the more glorious the triumph.

Just a year ago I reported that the state of the Union was not good.
Tonight, I report that the state of our Union is better--in many ways
a lot better--but still not good enough.

To paraphrase Tom Paine, 1975 was not a year for summer soldiers and
sunshine patriots. It was a year of fears and alarms and of dire
forecasts-- most of which never happened and won't happen.

As you recall, the year 1975 opened with rancor and with bitterness.
Political misdeeds of the past had neither been forgotten nor
forgiven. The longest, most divisive war in our history was winding
toward an unhappy conclusion. Many feared that the end of that
foreign war of men and machines meant the beginning of a domestic war
of recrimination and reprisal. Friends and adversaries abroad were
asking whether America had lost its nerve. Finally, our economy was
ravaged by inflation--inflation that was plunging us into the worse
recession in four decades. At the same time, Americans became
increasingly alienated from big institutions. They were steadily
losing confidence, not just in big government but in big business,
big labor, and big education, among others. Ours was a troubled
land.

And so, 1975 was a year of hard decisions, difficult compromises, and
a new realism that taught us something important about America. It
brought back a needed measure of common sense, steadfastness, and
self-discipline.

Americans did not panic or demand instant but useless cures. In all
sectors, people met their difficult problems with the restraint and
with responsibility worthy of their great heritage.

Add up the separate pieces of progress in 1975, subtract the
setbacks, and the sum total shows that we are not only headed in a
new direction, a direction which I proposed 12 months ago, but it
turned out to be the right direction.

It is the right direction because it follows the truly revolutionary
American concept of 1776, which holds that in a free society the
making of public policy and successful problemsolving involves much
more than government. It involves a full partnership among all
branches and all levels of government, private institutions, and
individual citizens.

Common sense tells me to stick to that steady course.

Take the state of our economy. Last January, most things were rapidly
getting worse. This January, most things are slowly but surely getting
better.

The worst recession since World War II turned around in April. The
best cost-of-living news of the past year is that double-digit
inflation of 12 percent or higher was cut almost in half. The worst--
unemployment remains far too high.

Today, nearly 1,700,000 more Americans are working than at the bottom
of the recession. At year's end, people were again being hired much
faster than they were being laid off.

Yet, let's be honest. Many Americans have not yet felt these changes
in their daily lives. They still see prices going up far too fast,
and they still know the fear of unemployment.

We are also a growing nation. We need more and more jobs every year.
Today's economy has produced over 85 million jobs for Americans, but
we need a lot more jobs, especially for the young.

My first objective is to have sound economic growth without
inflation.

We all know from recent experience what runaway inflation does to
ruin every other worthy purpose. We are slowing it. We must stop it
cold.

For many Americans, the way to a healthy, noninflationary economy has
become increasingly apparent. The Government must stop spending so
much and stop borrowing so much of our money. More money must remain
in private hands where it will do the most good. To hold down the
cost of living, we must hold down the cost of government.

In the past decade, the Federal budget has been growing at an average
rate of over 10 percent a year. The budget I am submitting Wednesday
cuts this rate of growth in half. I have kept my promise to submit a
budget for the next fiscal year of $395 billion. In fact, it is
$394.2 billion.

By holding down the growth of Federal spending, we can afford
additional tax cuts and return to the people who pay taxes more
decisionmaking power over their own lives.

Last month I signed legislation to extend the 1975 tax reductions for
the first 6 months of this year. I now propose that effective July 1,
1976, we give our taxpayers a tax cut of approximately $10 billion
more than Congress agreed to in December.

My broader tax reduction would mean that for a family of four making
$15,000 a year, there will be $227 more in take-home pay annually.
Hardworking Americans caught in the middle can really use that kind
of extra cash.

My recommendations for a firm restraint on the growth of Federal
spending and for greater tax reduction are simple and
straightforward. For every dollar saved in cutting the growth in the
Federal budget, we can have an added dollar of Federal tax
reduction.

We can achieve a balanced budget by 1979 if we have the courage and
the wisdom to continue to reduce the growth of Federal spending.

One test of a healthy economy is a job for every American who wants
to work. Government--our kind of government--cannot create that many
jobs. But the Federal Government can create conditions and incentives
for private business and industry to make more and more jobs.

Five out of six jobs in this country are in private business and in
industry. Common sense tells us this is the place to look for more
jobs and to find them faster. I mean real, rewarding, permanent
jobs.

To achieve this we must offer the American people greater incentives
to invest in the future. My tax proposals are a major step in that
direction. To supplement these proposals, I ask that Congress enact
changes in Federal tax laws that will speed up plant expansion and
the purchase of new equipment. My recommendations will concentrate
this job-creation tax incentive in areas where the unemployment rate
now runs over 7 percent. Legislation to get this started must be
approved at the earliest possible date.

Within the strict budget total that I will recommend for the coming
year, I will ask for additional housing assistance for 500,000
families. These programs will expand housing opportunities, spur
construction, and help to house moderate- and low-income families.

We had a disappointing year in the housing industry in 1975. But with
lower interest rates and available mortgage money, we can have a
healthy recovery in 1976.

A necessary condition of a healthy economy is freedom from the petty
tyranny of massive government regulation. We are wasting literally
millions of working hours costing billions of taxpayers' and
consumers' dollars because of bureaucratic redtape. The American
farmer, who now feeds 215 million Americans, but also millions
worldwide, has shown how much more he can produce without the
shackles of government control.

Now, we badly need reforms in other key areas in our economy: the
airlines, trucking, railroads, and financial institutions. I have
submitted concrete plans in each of these areas, not to help this or
that industry, but to foster competition and to bring prices down for
the consumer.

This administration, in addition, will strictly enforce the Federal
antitrust laws for the very same purposes.

Taking a longer look ail and gas is still declining. Our dependence
on foreign oil at high prices is still too great, draining jobs and
dollars away from our own economy at the rate of $125 per year for
every American.

Last month, I signed a compromise national energy bill which enacts a
part of my comprehensive energy independence program. This legislation
was late, not the complete answer to energy independence, but still a
start in the right direction.

I again urge the Congress to move ahead immediately on the remainder
of my energy proposals to make America invulnerable to the foreign
oil cartel.

My proposals, as all of you know, would reduce domestic natural gas
shortages; allow production from Federal petroleum reserves;
stimulate effective conservation, including revitalization of our
railroads and the expansion of our urban transportation systems;
develop more and cleaner energy from our vast coal resources;
expedite clean and safe nuclear power production; create a new
national energy independence authority to stimulate vital energy
investment; and accelerate development of technology to capture
energy from the Sun and the Earth for this and future generations.

Also, I ask, for the sake of future generations, that we preserve the
family farm and family-owned small business. Both strengthen America
and give stability to our economy. I will propose estate tax changes
so that family businesses and family farms can be handed down from
generation to generation without having to be sold to pay taxes.

I propose tax changes to encourage people to invest in America's
future, and their own, through a plan that gives moderate-income
families income tax benefits if they make long-term investments in
common stock in American companies.

The Federal Government must and will respond to clear-cut national
needs--for this and future generations.

Hospital and medical services in America are among the best in the
world, but the cost of a serious and extended illness can quickly
wipe out a family's lifetime savings. Increasing health costs are of
deep concern to all and a powerful force pushing up the cost of
living. The burden of catastrophic illness can be borne by very few
in our society. We must eliminate this fear from every family.

I propose catastrophic health insurance for everybody covered by
Medicare. To finance this added protection, fees for short-term care
will go up somewhat, but nobody after reaching age 65 will have to
pay more than $500 a year for covered hospital or nursing home care,
nor more than $250 for 1 year's doctor bills.

We cannot realistically afford federally dictated national health
insurance providing full coverage for all 215 million Americans. The
experience of other countries raises questions about the quality as
well as the cost of such plans. But I do envision the day when we may
use the private health insurance system to offer more middle-income
families high quality health services at prices they can afford and
shield them also from their catastrophic illnesses.

Using resources now available, I propose improving the Medicare and
other Federal health programs to help those who really need
protection-- older people and the poor. To help States and local
governments give better health care to the poor, I propose that we
combine 16 existing Federal programs, including Medicaid, into a
single $10 billion Federal grant.

Funds would be divided among States under a new formula which
provides a larger share of Federal money to those States that have a
larger share of low-income families.

I will take further steps to improve the quality of medical and
hospital care for those who have served in our Armed Forces.

Now let me speak about social security. Our Federal social security
system for people who have worked and contributed to it for all their
lives is a vital part of our economic system. Its value is no longer
debatable. In my budget for fiscal year 1977, I am recommending that
the full cost-of-living increases in the social security benefits be
paid during the coming year.

But I am concerned about the integrity of our Social Security Trust
Fund that enables people--those retired and those still working who
will retire--to count on this source of retirement income. Younger
workers watch their deductions rise and wonder if they will be
adequately protected in the future. We must meet this challenge head
on. Simple arithmetic warns all of us that the Social Security Trust
Fund is headed for trouble. Unless we act soon to make sure the fund
takes in as much as it pays out, there will be no security for old or
for young.

I must, therefore, recommend a three-tenths of 1 percent increase in
both employer and employee social security taxes effective January 1,
1977. This will cost each covered employee less than 1 extra dollar a
week and will ensure the integrity of the trust fund.

As we rebuild our economy, we have a continuing responsibility to
provide a temporary cushion to the unemployed. At my request, the
Congress enacted two extensions and two expansions in unemployment
insurance which helped those who were jobless during 1975. These
programs will continue in 1976.

In my fiscal year 1977 budget, I am also requesting funds to continue
proven job training and employment opportunity programs for millions
of other Americans.

Compassion and a sense of community--two of America's greatest
strengths throughout our history--tell us we must take care of our
neighbors who cannot take care of themselves. The host of Federal
programs in this field reflect our generosity as a people.

But everyone realizes that when it comes to welfare, government at
all levels is not doing the job well. Too many of our welfare
programs are inequitable and invite abuse. Too many of our welfare
programs have problems from beginning to end. Worse, we are wasting
badly needed resources without reaching many of the truly needy.

Complex welfare programs cannot be reformed overnight. Surely we
cannot simply dump welfare into the laps of the 50 States, their
local taxpayers, or their private charities, and just walk away from
it. Nor is it the right time for massive and sweeping changes while
we are still recovering from the recession.

Nevertheless, there are still plenty of improvements that we can
make. I will ask Congress for Presidential authority to tighten up
the rules for eligibility and benefits.

Last year I twice sought long overdue reform of the scandal-riddled
food stamp program. This year I say again: Let's give food stamps to
those most in need. Let's not give any to those who don't need them.

Protecting the life and property of the citizen at home is the
responsibility of all public officials, but is primarily the job of
local and State law enforcement authorities.

Americans have always found the very thought of a Federal police
force repugnant, and so do I. But there are proper ways in which we
can help to insure domestic tranquility as the Constitution charges
us.

My recommendations on how to control violent crime were submitted to
the Congress last June with strong emphasis on protecting the
innocent victims of crime. To keep a convicted criminal from
committing more crimes, we must put him in prison so he cannot harm
more law-abiding citizens. To be effective, this punishment must be
swift and it must be certain.

Too often, criminals are not sent to prison after conviction but are
allowed to return to the streets. Some judges are reluctant to send
convicted criminals to prison because of inadequate facilities. To
alleviate this problem at the Federal level, my new budget proposes
the construction of four new Federal facilities.

To speed Federal justice, I propose an increase this year in the
United States attorneys prosecuting Federal crimes and the
reinforcement of the number of United States marshals. Additional
Federal judges are needed, as recommended by me and the Judicial
Conference.

Another major threat to every American's person and property is the
criminal carrying a handgun. The way to cut down on the criminal use
of guns is not to take guns away from the law-abiding citizen, but to
impose mandatory sentences for crimes in which a gun is used, make it
harder to obtain cheap guns for criminal purposes, and concentrate
gun control enforcement in high-crime areas.

My budget recommends 500 additional Federal agents in the 11 largest
metropolitan high-crime areas to help local authorities stop
criminals from selling and using handguns.

The sale of hard drugs is tragically on the increase again. I have
directed all agencies of the Federal Government to step up law
enforcement efforts against those who deal in drugs. In 1975, I am
glad to report, Federal agents seized substantially more heroin
coming into our country than in 1974.

As President, I have talked personally with the leaders of Mexico,
Colombia, and Turkey to urge greater efforts by their Governments to
control effectively the production and shipment of hard drugs.

I recommended months ago that the Congress enact mandatory fixed
sentences for persons convicted of Federal crimes involving the sale
of hard drugs. Hard drugs, we all know, degrade the spirit as they
destroy the body of their users.

It is unrealistic and misleading to hold out the hope that the
Federal Government can move into every neighborhood and clean up
crime. Under the Constitution, the greatest responsibility for
curbing crime lies with State and local authorities. They are the
frontline fighters in the war against crime.

There are definite ways in which the Federal Government can help
them. I will propose in the new budget that Congress authorize almost
$7 billion over the next 5 years to assist State and local governments
to protect the safety and property of all their citizens.

As President, I pledge the strict enforcement of Federal laws and--by
example, support, and leadership--to help State and local authorities
enforce their laws. Together, we must protect the victims of crime
and ensure domestic tranquility.

Last year I strongly recommended a 5-year extension of the existing
revenue sharing legislation, which thus far has provided $23 1/2
billion to help State and local units of government solve problems at
home. This program has been effective with decisionmaking transferred
from the Federal Government to locally elected officials. Congress
must act this year, or State and local units of government will have
to drop programs or raise local taxes.

Including my health care program reforms, I propose to consolidate
some 59 separate Federal programs and provide flexible Federal dollar
grants to help nutrition, and social services. This flexible system
will do the job better and do it closer to home.

The protection of the lives and property of Americans from foreign
enemies is one of my primary responsibilities as President.

In a world of instant communications and intercontinental ballistic
missiles, in a world economy that is global and interdependent, our
relations with other nations become more, not less, important to the
lives of Americans.

America has had a unique role in the world since the day of our
independence 200 years ago. And ever since the end of World War II,
we have borne--successfully--a heavy responsibility for ensuring a
stable world order and hope for human progress.

Today, the state of our foreign policy is sound and strong. We are at
peace, and I will do all in my power to keep it that way.

Our military forces are capable and ready. Our military power is
without equal, and I intend to keep it that way.

Our principal alliances with the industrial democracies of the
Atlantic community and Japan have never been more solid.

A further agreement to limit the strategic arms race may be
achieved.

We have an improving relationship with China, the world's most
populous nation.

The key elements for peace among the nations of the Middle East now
exist.

Our traditional friendships in Latin America, Africa, and Asia
continue.

We have taken the role of leadership in launching a serious and
hopeful dialog between the industrial world and the developing
world.

We have helped to achieve significant reform of the international
monetary system.

We should be proud of what America, what our country, has
accomplished in these areas, and I believe the American people are.

The American people have heard too much about how terrible our
mistakes, how evil our deeds, and how misguided our purposes. The
American people know better.

The truth is we are the world's greatest democracy. We remain the
symbol of man's aspiration for liberty and well-being. We are the
embodiment of hope for progress.

I say it is time we quit downgrading ourselves as a nation. Of
course, it is our responsibility to learn the right lesson from past
mistakes. It is our duty to see that they never happen again. But our
greater duty is to look to the future. The world's troubles will not
go away.

The American people want strong and effective international and
defense policies. In our constitutional system, these policies should
reflect consultation and accommodation between the President and the
Congress. But in the final analysis, as the framers of our
Constitution knew from hard experience, the foreign relations of the
United States can be conducted effectively only if there is strong
central direction that allows flexibility of action. That
responsibility clearly rests with the President.

I pledge to the American people policies which seek a secure, just,
and peaceful world. I pledge to the Congress to work with you to that
end.

We must not face a future in which we can no longer help our friends,
such as Angola, even in limited and carefully controlled ways. We must
not lose all capacity to respond short of military intervention.

Some hasty actions of the Congress during the past year--most
recently in respect to Angola--were, in my view, very shortsighted.
Unfortunately, they are still very much on the minds of our allies
and our adversaries.

A strong defense posture gives weight to our values and our views in
international negotiations. It assures the vigor of our alliances.
And it sustains our efforts to promote settlements of international
conflicts. Only from a position of strength can we negotiate a
balanced agreement to limit the growth of nuclear arms. Only a
balanced agreement will serve our interests and minimize the threat
of nuclear confrontation.

The defense budget I will submit to the Congress for fiscal year 1977
will show an essential increase over the current year. It provides for
real growth in purchasing power over this year's defense budget, which
includes the cost of the all-volunteer force.

We are continuing to make economies to enhance the efficiency of our
military forces. But the budget I will submit represents the
necessity of American strength for the real world in which we live.

As conflict and rivalry persist in the world, our United States
intelligence capabilities must be the best in the world.

The crippling of our foreign intelligence services increases the
danger of American involvement in direct armed conflict. Our
adversaries are encouraged to attempt new adventures while our own
ability to monitor events and to influence events short of military
action is undermined. Without effective intelligence capability, the
United States stands blindfolded and hobbled.

In the near future, I will take actions to reform and strengthen our
intelligence community. I ask for your positive cooperation. It is
time to go beyond sensationalism and ensure an effective,
responsible, and responsive intelligence capability.

Tonight I have spoken about our problems at home and abroad. I have
recommended policies that will meet the challenge of our third
century. I have no doubt that our Union will endure, better,
stronger, and with more individual freedom. We can see forward only
dimly--1 year, 5 years, a generation perhaps. Like our forefathers,
we know that if we meet the challenges of our own time with a common
sense of purpose and conviction, if we remain true to our
Constitution and to our ideals, then we can know that the future will
be better than the past.

I see America today crossing a threshold, not just because it is our
Bicentennial but because we have been tested in adversity. We have
taken a new look at what we want to be and what we want our Nation to
become.

I see America resurgent, certain once again that life will be better
for our children than it is for us, seeking strength that cannot be
counted in megatons and riches that cannot be eroded by inflation.

I see these United States of America moving forward as before toward
a more perfect Union where the government serves and the people
rule.

We will not make this happen simply by making speeches, good or bad,
yours or mine, but by hard work and hard decisions made with courage
and with common sense.

I have heard many inspiring Presidential speeches, but the words I
remember best were spoken by Dwight D. Eisenhower. "America is not
good because it is great," the President said. "America is great
because it is good."

President Eisenhower was raised in a poor but religious home in the
heart of America. His simple words echoed President Lincoln's
eloquent testament that "right makes might." And Lincoln in turn
evoked the silent image of George Washington kneeling in prayer at
Valley Forge.

So, all these magic memories which link eight generations of
Americans are summed up in the inscription just above me. How many
times have we seen it? "In God We Trust."

Let us engrave it now in each of our hearts as we begin our
Bicentennial.