(5 Feb 1997) English/Nat

U-S President Bill Clinton gave the first State of the Union address of his second term Tuesday night.

The President identified education as his top priority, and called on Congress to end the bickering and get to work.

President Clinton also laid out the major foreign policy goals that the U-S needs to accomplish as it heads into the 21st century.

The speech was Bill Clinton's fifth State of the Union address.

He spoke for just over an hour, detailing his road map to lead the nation into the 21st century.

Calling it 'a challenge as great as any in our peacetime history', the President laid out his agenda before Congress and the country.

Education is what Clinton calls his top priority over the next four years.

The President devoted almost 20 minutes to the subject alone, calling on Congress to boost education spending by twenty percent over the next fiscal year.

Clinton also called for national education standards, saying the government would pay for the development of national tests to measure school skills.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"My number one priority as President over the next four years is to ensure that Americans have the best education in the world."
SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, US President

The President also talked at length about national security and foreign policy, devoting more time to it than in his previous State of the Union speeches.

Clinton reiterated his major foreign policy goals, saying the first task was to build an undivided, democratic Europe.

He said NATO must expand eastward toward Russia by 1999, and called upon the U-S to engage in deeper dialogue with Asia.

The President also said America had a responsibility to support regional peacemaking efforts... for instance in the Middle East and Northern Ireland.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We must also renew our commitment to America's diplomacy, and pay our debts and dues to international financial institutions, like the World Bank and the reforming United Nations. Every dollar we devote to preventing conflicts, to promoting democracy, and to stopping the spread of disease and starvation, brings a sure return in security and savings."
SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, US President

Clinton said the U-S must continue its campaign against international crime and drug trafficking, and had to move strongly against new threats to security.

The President praised the international progress in banning nuclear testing and cooperation in fighting terrorism.

But he emphasized that the world was facing a new challenge... ratifying the Chemical Weapons Convention.

And he called on Congress to act quickly.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"If we do not act by April 29, when this convention goes into force, with or without us, we will lose the chance to have Americans leading and enforcing this effort. Together, we must make the chemical weapons convention law, so that at last we can begin to outlaw poison gas from this earth."
SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, US President

On a domestic level, the President challenged Congress to take up unfinished business... specifically mentioning balancing the budget, the welfare reform and the campaign finance reform.

Clinton also renewed his call for bipartisanship, saying Americans wanted the two parties to be partners rather than fight one another.

Two weeks after his inauguration for a second term, President Clinton addressed the Republican Congress on strong footing.


Wrapping up his speech, Clinton said that the State of the Union was strong.


SOUNDBITE: (English)




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