(28 Jan 2000) English/Nat
United States President Bill Clinton has delivered his final State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress.
The outgoing President hopes his legacy will pave the way for his preferred successor, democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Al Gore.
Although the speech focused mainly on domestic issues, President Clinton outlined several international challenges for the United States in the 21st century.
All of Washington's political elite gathered at Capitol Hill on Thursday to hear Bill Clinton's swan song.
The First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and the couple's daughter, Chelsea, also attended, presenting a united family front, despite the political and sexual scandals that have dogged the Clinton presidency.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States."
SUPER CAPTION:James Zeiglar, Sergeant at Arms
Applause punctuated the proceedings, with the audience repeatedly rising to their feet to endorse the President's policies.
With the United State's booming economy as a background, President Clinton urged Americans to reach beyond their borders and form a new consensus on international trade.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We have to ensure that it lifts both our living standards and our values, never tolerating abusive child labour or a race to the bottom on the environment and worker protection. But others must recognise that open markets and rules-based trade are the best engines we know for raising living standards, reducing global poverty and environmental destruction, and assuring the free flow of ideas."
SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, United States President
Clinton said the United States should propose policies that would help draw Russia and China into the family of prosperous nations.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We must continue to encourage our former adversaries, Russia and China, to emerge as stable, prosperous, democratic nations. Both are being held back today from reaching their full potential: Russia by the legacy of communism, an economy in turmoil, a cruel and self-defeating war in Chechnya; China by the illusion that it can buy stability at the expense of freedom."
SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, United States President
The President urged Congress to grant China permanent normal trading relations.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I think you ought to do it for two reasons, first of all our markets are already open to China, this agreement would open China's markets to us. And second it will plainly advance the cause of peace in Asia and promote the cause of change in China. No we don't know where it is going all we can do is decide what we are going to do
but when all is said and done we need to know we did everything we possibly could to maximize the chance that China will choose the right future."
SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, United States President
During the speech that lasted 89 minutes, President Clinton asked America to promote democracy around the world.
And mindful of Gore's campaign to succeed him, he indulged in a little campaigning by emphasizing recent foreign policy successes.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We should be and we must be peace makers. We should be proud of America's role in bringing the Middle East closer to a lasting peace; building peace in Northern Ireland: working for peace in East Timor and Africa, promoting reconciliation between Greece and Turkey and in Cyprus; working to defuse these crises between India and Pakistan and defending human rights and religious freedom."
SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, United States President

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