I strongly urge you to give this important legislation your immediate attention, and urge that it be enacted before the end of the year.

This budget is our answer to that question.

I'd like to just say a couple of opening words.

Now is not the time to derail this movement.

I have ordered the deployment of approximately 1,500 U.S. military personnel to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia as part of a NATO 'enabling force'.

Our common goal must ultimately be a cure, a cure for all those who are living with HIV and a vaccine to protect all the rest of us from the virus.

No one who works hard should be taxed into poverty.

I have directed the participation of U.S. forces in these operations pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct the foreign relations of the United States.

I want to find common ground with the Congress on a balanced budget plan that will best serve the American people.

We can conquer this.

This bill would fall woefully short and would hurt beneficiaries, over half of whom are women.

I will never be satisfied until we have solved the problem.

My balanced budget plan reflects the values that Americans share—work and family, opportunity and responsibility.

I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 2491, the budget reconciliation bill adopted by the Republican majority.

Now it's up to all of us to go back to work together to show we can balance the budget and be true to our values and our economic interests.

For welfare reform to succeed, savings should result from moving people from welfare to work, not from cutting people off and shifting costs to the States.

The American people need to know that everybody in this country and, indeed, throughout the world, is now vulnerable to this disease.

Kwanzaa is a vibrant celebration of African culture, encouraging us to gain a deeper appreciation of our families and the many blessings we enjoy.