In our cities last summer, we saw how wide is the gulf for some Americans between the promise and the reality of our society.
We know that we cannot change all of this in a day. It represents the bitter consequences of more than three centuries.
But the issue is not whether we can change this; the issue is whether we will change this.
Well, I know we can. And I believe we will.
This then is the work we should do in the months that are ahead of us in this Congress.
The first essential is more jobs, useful jobs for tens of thousands who can become productive and can pay their own way.
Our economy has created 7 1/2 million new jobs in the past 4 years. It is adding more than a million and a half new jobs this year.
Through programs passed by the Congress, job training is being given tonight to more than a million Americans in this country.
This year, the time has come when we must get to those who are last in line--the hard-core unemployed--the hardest to reach.
Employment officials estimate that 500,000 of these persons are now unemployed in the major cities of America. Our objective is to place these 500,000 in private industry jobs within the next 3 years.