State of the Union | Page 7

him have lost a

loyal friend. I had the privilege of visiting Senator Russell in the
hospital just a few days before he died. He never spoke about himself.
He only spoke eloquently about the need for a strong national defense.
In tribute to one of the most magnificent Americans of all time, I
respectfully ask that all those here will rise in silent prayer for Senator
Russell.
Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, before I begin my formal address, I want to use this
opportunity to congratulate all of those who were winners in the rather
spirited contest for leadership positions in the House and the Senate
and, also, to express my condolences to the losers. I know how both of
you feel.
And I particularly want to join with all of the Members of the House
and the Senate as well in congratulating the new Speaker of the United
States Congress.
To those new Members of this House who may have some doubts
about the possibilities for advancement in the years ahead, I would
remind you that the Speaker and I met just 24 years ago in this
Chamber as freshmen Members of the 80th Congress. As you see, we
both have come up in the world a bit since then.
Mr. Speaker, this 92d Congress has a chance to be recorded as the
greatest Congress in America's history.
In these troubled years just past, America has been going through a
long nightmare of war and division, of crime and inflation. Even more
deeply, we have gone through a long, dark night of the American spirit.
But now that night is ending. Now we must let our spirits soar again.
Now we are ready for the lift of a driving dream.
The people of this Nation are eager to get on with the quest for new
greatness. They see challenges, and they are prepared to meet those
challenges. It is for us here to open the doors that will set free again the
real greatness of this Nation-the genius of the American people.
How shall we meet this challenge? How can we truly open the doors,
and set free the full genius of our people?
The way in which the 92d Congress answers these questions will
determine its place in history. More importantly, it can determine this
Nation's place in history as we enter the third century of our
independence.

Tonight I shall present to the Congress six great goals. I shall ask not
simply for more new programs in the old framework. I shall ask to
change the framework of government itself---to reform the entire
structure of American government so we can make it again fully
responsive to the needs and the wishes of the American people.
If we act boldly--if we seize this moment and achieve these goals--we
can close the gap between promise and performance in American
government. We can bring together the resources of this Nation and the
spirit of the American people.
In discussing these great goals, I shall deal tonight only with matters on
the domestic side of the Nation's agenda. I shall make a separate report
to the Congress and the Nation next month on developments in foreign
policy.
The first of these great goals is already before the Congress.
I urge that the unfinished business of the 91st Congress be made the
first priority business of the 92d Congress.
Over the next 2 weeks, I will call upon Congress to take action on more
than 35 pieces of proposed legislation on which action was not
completed last year.
The most important is welfare reform.
The present welfare system has become a monstrous, consuming
outrage--an outrage against the community, against the taxpayer, and
particularly against the children it is supposed to help.
We may honestly disagree, as we do, on what to do about it. But we
can all agree that we must meet the challenge, not by pouring more
money into a bad program, but by abolishing the present welfare
system and adopting a new one.
So let us place a floor under the income of every family with children
in America-and without those demeaning, soul-stifling affronts to
human dignity that so blight the lives of welfare children today. But let
us also establish an effective work incentive and an effective work
requirement.
Let us provide the means by which more can help themselves. This
shall be our goal.
Let us generously help those who are not able to help themselves. But
let us stop helping those who are able to help themselves but refuse to
do so.

The second great goal is to achieve what Americans have not enjoyed
since 1957--full prosperity in peacetime.
The tide of inflation has turned. The rise in the cost of living, which
had been gathering dangerous momentum in