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1996 State of the Union Address

104th United States Congress1996 in American politics1996 in Washington, D.C.1996 in the United States1996 speeches
January 1996 events in the United StatesPresidency of Bill ClintonSpeeches by Bill ClintonState of the Union addressesUnited States politics stubsUse mdy dates from July 2021
The 1996 State of the Union (Address to a Joint Session of the Congress)
The 1996 State of the Union (Address to a Joint Session of the Congress)

The 1996 State of the Union Address was given by the 42nd president of the United States, Bill Clinton, on January 23, 1996, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 104th United States Congress. It was Clinton's third State of the Union Address and his fourth speech to a joint session of the United States Congress. Presiding over this joint session was the House speaker, Newt Gingrich, accompanied by Al Gore, the vice president, in his capacity as the president of the Senate. This speech occurred shortly after the federal government shutdown of 1995 and 1996 which had resulted from disagreements on the 1996 United States federal budget. President Clinton discussed the economy and declared that "the era of big government is over," and continued, "but we cannot go back to the time when our citizens were left to fend for themselves. We must go forward as one America, one nation working together, to meet the challenges we face together. Self-reliance and teamwork are not opposing virtues -- we must have both." The president discussed welfare reform, the V-chip, education, community policing, crime, the environment, foreign relations, and the federal budget. The Republican Party response was delivered by Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas. He stated that "[President Clinton] is the chief obstacle to a balanced budget and the balanced budget amendment... While the President's words speak of change, his deeds are a contradiction. President Clinton claims to embrace the future while clinging to the policies of the past."Donna Shalala, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, served as the designated survivor.

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1996 State of the Union Address
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The 1996 State of the Union (Address to a Joint Session of the Congress)
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1995 State of the Union Address
1995 State of the Union Address

The 1995 State of the Union Address was given by the 42nd president of the United States, Bill Clinton, on January 24, 1995, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 104th United States Congress. It was Clinton's second State of the Union Address and his third speech to a joint session of the United States Congress. Presiding over this joint session was the House speaker, Newt Gingrich, accompanied by Al Gore, the vice president, in his capacity as the president of the Senate. It was the first address to a Republican-controlled Congress since 1954. This was also the first time a Republican Speaker sat in the chair since 1954. The president discussed his proposals of a New Covenant vision for a smaller government and proposing tax reductions. The president also discussed crime, the Brady Bill and the Assault Weapons Ban, illegal immigration, and the minimum wage. Regarding foreign policy, he urged assistance in Mexico's economic crisis, additional disarmament in cooperation with Russia and other international treaties, stopping North Korea's nuclear weapons program, legislation to fight terrorists, and peace between Israel and its neighbors. Discussion of the failed attempt to overhaul health care was refocused on more limited efforts to protect coverage for those who have health insurance and expand coverage for children. The speech lasted nearly 1 hour and 25 minutes and consisted of 9,190 words. In terms of word count it is the longest State of the Union speech in history.The president acknowledged many Americans of past and present in his speech. Among them were: Newt Gingrich, the new Speaker of the House Ronald Reagan, who similarly had been president while Congress was controlled by the opposing party; also in the past year he announced his Alzheimer's disease diagnosis Jacklyn H. Lucas, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the World War IIThe Republican Party response was delivered by Governor Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey. This was the first response given exclusively by a state governor and, delivered in Trenton, the first outside Washington, DC.Conservative William Kristol called the address the "most conservative State of the Union by a Democratic president in history."Federico Peña, the Secretary of Transportation, served as the designated survivor.

1986 State of the Union Address
1986 State of the Union Address

The 1986 State of the Union Address was given by the 40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, on February 4, 1986, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 99th United States Congress. It was Reagan's fifth State of the Union Address and his sixth speech to a joint session of the United States Congress. Presiding over this joint session was the House speaker, Tip O'Neill, accompanied by George H. W. Bush, the vice president. Economic growth, increased job opportunities, and falling inflation rates were among some of the key issues discussed in this address. Reagan advocated for both an increase in national defense and a reevaluation of the federal budget, arguing the importance of national security and economic stability by appealing to American family values. In addition, the speech addressed welfare issues and proposed that new programs be created to support poor families. Reagan also asked that he be given the authority of a line-item veto. The speech lasted approximately 31 minutes and contained 3,514 words. The address was broadcast live on radio and television. This was the first State of the Union Address to have been postponed from its original date. Reagan planned to give his address on Tuesday, January 28, 1986, but after learning of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, he postponed it for a week and addressed the nation on the day's events. Reagan delivered a much shorter address to the nation, focused solely upon the tragic events of the Challenger disaster, which served as an explanation for the delay of the speech. Reagan justified this delay by stating that “today is a day for mourning and remembering,” inviting the nation to devote the day to recognizing what he defined as “truly a national loss.”As a continuation of the tradition President Reagan started at the delivery of his State of the Union Address in 1982, he invited hand-selected special guests to be present during the speech. These four guests included Tyrone Ford, a 12-year-old with a talent in gospel music, 13-year-old Trevor Ferrell, who took an initiative to support the homeless, 13-year-old Shelby Butler, who risked her own life to save a classmate from oncoming traffic, and Richard Cavoli, a student of science who had designed an experiment that had been carried aboard Space Shuttle Challenger. These four guests were chosen because President Reagan saw them as everyday examples of young heroes in America. Each of these individuals was mentioned directly during the speech.The Democratic Party response was delivered by Senator George Mitchell (ME), Lt. Gov. Harriett Woods (MO), Gov. Charles Robb (VA), Rep. Thomas Daschle (SD), and Rep. William Gray (PA), who had previously taken part in the group response to President Reagan's State of the Union Address delivered on January 25, 1984.

United States Congress
United States Congress

The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a governor's appointment. Congress has 535 voting members: 100 senators and 435 representatives. The U.S. vice president has a vote in the Senate only when senators are evenly divided. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members.The sitting of a Congress is for a two-year term, at present, beginning every other January. Elections are held every even-numbered year on Election Day. The members of the House of Representatives are elected for the two-year term of a Congress. The Reapportionment Act of 1929 established that there be 435 representatives, and the Uniform Congressional Redistricting Act requires that they be elected from single-member constituencies or districts. It is also required that the congressional districts be apportioned among states by population every ten years using the U.S. census results, provided that each state has at least one congressional representative. Each senator is elected at-large in their state for a six-year term, with terms staggered, so every two years approximately one-third of the Senate is up for election. Each state, regardless of population or size, has two senators, so currently, there are 100 senators for the 50 states. Article One of the U.S. Constitution requires that members of Congress must be at least 25 years old (House) or at least 30 years old (Senate), have been a citizen of the U.S. for seven (House) or nine (Senate) years, and be an inhabitant of the state which they represent. Members in both chambers may stand for re-election an unlimited number of times. The Congress was created by the U.S. Constitution and first met in 1789, replacing the Congress of the Confederation in its legislative function. Although not legally mandated, in practice since the 19th century, Congress members are typically affiliated with one of the two major parties, the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, and only rarely with a third party or independents affiliated with no party. In the case of the latter, the lack of affiliation with a political party does not mean that such members are unable to caucus with members of the political parties. Members can also switch parties at any time, although this is quite uncommon.

1994 State of the Union Address
1994 State of the Union Address

The 1994 State of the Union Address was given by the 42nd president of the United States, Bill Clinton, on January 25, 1994, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 103rd United States Congress. It was Clinton's first State of the Union Address and his second speech to a joint session of the United States Congress. Presiding over this joint session was House speaker Tom Foley, accompanied by Vice President Al Gore, in his capacity as the president of the Senate. The president discussed the federal budget deficit, taxes, defense spending, crime, foreign affairs, education, the economy, free trade, the role of government, campaign finance reform, welfare reform, and promoting the Clinton health care plan. President Clinton threatened to veto any legislation that did not guarantee every American private health insurance. He proposed for policies to fight crime: a three strikes law for repeat violent offenders; 100,000 more police officers on the streets; expand gun control to further prevent criminals from being armed and ban assault weapons; additional support for drug treatment and education. The president began the speech with an acknowledgment of former Speaker Tip O'Neill, who died on January 5, 1994. While discussing additional community policing, the president honored Kevin Jett, a New York City cop attending the address who had been featured in a New York Times story in December 1993.The speech lasted 63 minutes and consisted of 7,432 words. It was the longest State of the Union speech since Lyndon B. Johnson's 1967 State of the Union Address. Republican Representative Henry Hyde criticized the speech as "interminable".The Republican Party response was delivered by Senator Bob Dole of Kansas. Dole argued that health care in the United States was not in crisis, the Republican opposition to Clinton's plans in the previous year had been popular, and the deficit reduction was the temporary result of tax increases.Mike Espy, the Secretary of Agriculture, served as the designated survivor. Contrary to common belief, Clinton did not have to recite the speech from memory because the teleprompter was loaded with the wrong speech. This had happened the previous year: in a speech Clinton gave to Congress on 22 September 1993 detailing the Clinton health care plan, the teleprompter was loaded with the wrong speech. Specifically, the one he gave to a joint session of Congress shortly after he was sworn in in 1993. Teleprompter operators practiced with the old speech and it was accidentally left in, forcing Clinton to ad-lib for almost ten minutes. The two incidents are often conflated. What happened is that President Clinton simply referenced the September 1993 incident.