We’re not asking them to replace discarded and often discredited government programs dollar for dollar, service for service. We just want to help them perform the good works they choose and help others to profit by their example. Three hundred and eighty-five thousand corporations and private organizations are already working on social programs ranging from drug rehabilitation to job training, and thousands more Americans have written us asking how they can help. The volunteer spirit is still alive and well in America.
Our nation’s long journey towards civil rights for all our citizens--once a source of discord, now a source of pride--must continue with no backsliding or slowing down. We must and shall see that those basic laws that guarantee equal rights are preserved and, when necessary, strengthened.
Our concern for equal rights for women is firm and unshakable. We launched a new Task Force on Legal Equity for Women and a Fifty States Project that will examine State laws for discriminatory language. And for the first time in our history, a woman sits on the highest court in the land.
So, too, the problem of crime--one as real and deadly serious as any in America today. It demands that we seek transformation of our legal system, which overly protects the rights of criminals while it leaves society and the innocent victims of crime without justice.
We look forward to the enactment of a responsible clean air act to increase jobs while continuing to improve the quality of our air. We’re encouraged by the bipartisan initiative of the House and are hopeful of further progress as the Senate continues its deliberations.
So far, I’ve concentrated largely, now, on domestic matters. To view the state of the Union in perspective, we must not ignore the rest of the world. There isn’t time tonight for a lengthy treatment of social--or foreign policy, I should say, a subject I intend to address in detail in the near future. A few words, however, are in order on the progress we’ve made over the past year, reestablishing respect for our nation around the globe and some of the challenges and goals that we will approach in the year ahead.
At Ottawa and Cancun, I met with leaders of the major industrial powers and developing nations. Now, some of those I met with were a little surprised that I didn’t apologize for America’s wealth. Instead, I spoke of the strength of the free marketplace system and how that system could help them realize their aspirations for economic development and political freedom. I believe lasting friendships were made, and the foundation was laid for future cooperation.
In the vital region of the Caribbean Basin, we’re developing a program of aid, trade, and investment incentives to promote self-sustaining growth and a better, more secure life for our neighbors to the south. Toward those who would export terrorism and subversion in the Caribbean and elsewhere, especially Cuba and Libya, we will act with firmness.
Our foreign policy is a policy of strength, fairness, and balance. By restoring America’s military credibility, by pursuing peace at the negotiating table wherever both sides are willing to sit down in good faith, and by regaining the respect of America’s allies and adversaries alike, we have strengthened our country’s position as a force for peace and progress in the world.
When action is called for, we’re taking it. Our sanctions against the military dictatorship that has attempted to crush human rights in Poland--and against the Soviet regime behind that military dictatorship--clearly demonstrated to the world that America will not conduct “business as usual” with the forces of oppression. If the events in Poland continue to deteriorate, further measures will follow.