Those choices made
all the difference. At the dawn of the 21st century a free people
must now choose to shape the forces of the Information Age and the
global society, to unleash the limitless potential of all our people,
and, yes, to form a more perfect union.
When last we gathered, our march to this new future seemed less certain
than it does today. We vowed then to set a clear course to renew our nation.
In these four years, we have been touched by tragedy,
exhilarated by challenge, strengthened by achievement.
America stands alone as the world's indispensable nation.
Once again, our economy is the strongest on Earth. Once again,
we are building stronger families, thriving communities,
better educational opportunities, a cleaner environment.
Problems that once seemed destined to deepen now bend to our efforts:
our streets are safer and record numbers of our fellow citizens have
moved from welfare to work.
And once again, we have resolved for our time a great debate
over the role of government. Today we can declare:
Government is not the problem, and government is not the solution.
We--the American people--we are the solution. Our founders
understood that well and gave us a democracy strong enough
to endure for centuries, flexible enough to face our common
challenges and advance our common dreams in each new day.
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