we must live up to the calling we share. civility is not a tactic or a sentiment. it is the determined choice of trust over cynicism, of community over chaos. and this commitment, if we keep it, is a way to shared accomplishment.
america, at its best, is also courageous.
our national courage has been clear in times of depression and war, when defending common dangers defined our common good. now we must choose if the example of our fathers and mothers will inspire us or condemn us. we must show courage in a time of blessing by confronting problems instead of passing them on to future generations.
together, we will reclaim america's schools, before ignorance and apathy claim more young lives.
we will reform social security and medicare, sparing our children from struggles we have the power to prevent. and we will reduce taxes, to recover the momentum of our economy and reward the effort and enterprise of working americans.
we will build our defenses beyond challenge, lest weakness invite challenge.
we will confront weapons of mass destruction, so that a new century is spare
d new horrors.
the enemies of liberty and our country should make no mistake: america remains engaged in the world by history and by choice, shaping a balance of power thatf avors freedom. we will defend our allies and our interests. we will show purpose without arrogance. we will meet aggression and bad faith with resolve and strength. and to all nations, we will speak for the values that gave our nation birth.
america, at its best, is compassionate. in the quiet of american conscience, we know that deep, persistent poverty is unworthy of our nation's promise.
and whatever our views of its cause, we can agree that children at risk are not at fault. abandonment and abuse are not acts of god, they are failures of love.
and the proliferation of prisons, however necessary, is no substitute for hope and order in our souls.
where there is suffering, there is duty. americans in need are not strangers, they are citizens, not problems, but priorities. and all of us are diminished when any are hopeless.
government has great responsibilities for public safety and public health, for civil rights and common schools. yet compassion is the work of a nation, not just a government.
and some needs and hurts are so deep they will only respond to a mentor's touch or a pastor's prayer. church and charity, synagogue and mosque lend our communities their humanity, and they will have an honored place in our plans and in our laws.
many in our country do not know the pain of poverty, but we can listen to those who do.
and i can pledge our nation to a goal: when we see that wounded traveler on
the road to jericho, we will not pass to the other side.
america, at its best, is a place where personal responsibility is valued and
expected.
encouraging responsibility is not a search for scapegoats, it is a call to conscience. and though it requires sacrifice, it brings a deeper fulfillment. we find the fullness of life not only in options, but in commitments. and we find that children and community are the commitments that set us free.
our public interest depends on private character, on civic duty and family bonds and basic fairness, on uncounted, unhonored acts of decency which give direction to our freedom.
sometimes in life we are called to do great things. but as a saint of our times has said, every day we are called to do small things with great love. the most important tasks of a democracy are done by everyone.
