Bill Clinton: “Good morning. Six months ago this week, I took office as your President. And together we dedicated ourselves to…”

“Good morning. Six months ago this week, I took office as your President. And together we dedicated ourselves to fulfilling a vision of change for our country, change that would set us firmly on the path to growth, to progress and prosperity based on some old-fashioned principles and some new ideas. The principles are that we all ought to be able to take more responsibility for ourselves, our families, and our neighbors; that we ought to have more opportunity in this country; and that together we can make a stronger American community so that all of us as individuals can do better. We decided to begin with an economic plan which puts aside trickle- down economics and emphasizes bringing down this deficit and investing in our people and our economy; to be followed by an effort to control health care costs and provide affordable health care to all Americans; a welfare reform plan to move people from welfare to work; the national service program to open the doors of college education to millions of young people and give many, many of them a chance to pay their college loans back through service to their communities; a tougher crime bill; and a bill to reform the political system itself, to reduce the influence of big money and lobbyists and to open the process to the influence of ordinary people. We're making progress on all these efforts, but for the centerpiece, the economic plan, the moment of truth is almost at hand.…”