第一节 背景介绍
2001年1月27日晚，在美国首府华盛顿，克林顿总统对国会参议员和众议院以及社会广大群众做了一次演讲，这是他任职美国总统以来第八次，也是最后一次年度国情咨文演讲，在这次演讲中，教育问题成为了核心内容。这次演讲可以说是1997年国情咨文演讲中十点教育改革的继续和改进，从这点可以看出教育在美国占了相当程度的比重，同时也反映了美国当前教育改革的重点。克林顿总统谈到：“我们需要一场21世纪的教育革命。”
教育改革一直以来都是克林顿政府最关注的问题，他已经把教育同经济联系起来，认为大力发展教育是经济繁荣的前提条件。1997年2月，他提出的十点行动计划就包括教育必须从孩子抓起的“头脑启动计划”。对教育标准提出国家级的教育标准，制定出测试学生阅读和数学成绩的国家级考试，父母有为孩子选择学校的权利，优秀的学校配置优秀的教师，将信息技术引进学校，通过网络连接每个教室和图书馆，提出扩大终身学习的范围，老年人也要学习接受新事物。
早在20世纪70年代末，美国的经济经受了滞涨危机，一方面失业率急剧上升，导致社会不稳定因素的增多，其次就是政府赤字的增加，直接影响到了美国的国际竞争力，同时也使美国的世界霸权地位受到了威胁。针对现状，克林顿政府把目光再次转向教育，把教育作为拯救整个危机的“希望”。起初在里根和布什两位共和党总统的口头带领下并没有什么作为，尤其是高等教育方面更是没有给予关注。但是科学技术的发展日新月异，从而要求每个行业的人员都要受到良好的教育，因此要求普及教育，进行高等教育改革势在必行。
克林顿总统顺应了时代发展的需要，提出直接贷款、国民服务、调试计划等改革方案，开展了一系列的高等教育政策，鼓励更多的人接受再教育，以此推动美国经济。
第二节 克林顿2000年国情咨文演说
Thursday， January 27， 2000
Mr. Speaker， Mr. Vice President， members of Congress， honored guests， my fellow Americans：
We are fortunate to be alive at this moment in history. Never before has our nation enjoyed， at once， so much prosperity and social progress with so little internal crisis and so few external threats. Never before have we had such a blessed opportunity—and， therefore， such a profound obligation—to build the more perfect union of our founders' dreams.
We begin the new century with over 20 million new jobs； the fastest economic growth in more than 30 years； the lowest unemployment rates in 30 years； the lowest poverty rates in 20 years； the lowest African American and Hispanic unemployment rates on record； the first back-to-back budget surpluses in 42 years. And next month， America will achieve the longest period of economic growth in our entire history.
We have built a new economy.
And our economic revolution has been matched by a revival of the American spirit： crime down by 20 percent， to its lowest level in 25 years； teen births down seven years in a row； adoptions up by 30 percent； welfare rolls cut in half to their lowest levels in 30 years.
My fellow Americans， the state of our union is the strongest it has ever been.
As always， the real credit belongs to the American people. My gratitude also goes to those of you in this chamber who have worked with us to put progress over partisanship. Eight years ago， it was not so clear to most Americans there would be much to celebrate in the year 2000. Then our nation was gripped by economic distress， social decline， political gridlock. The title of a best-selling book asked： "America： What Went Wrong？"
In the best traditions of our nation， Americans determined to set things right. We restored the vital center， replacing outmoded ideologies with a new vision anchored in basic， enduring values： opportunity for all， responsibility from all， a community of all Americans. We reinvented government， transforming it into a catalyst for new ideas that stress both opportunity and responsibility， and give our people the tools they need to solve their own problems.
With the smallest federal work force in 40 years， we turned record deficits into record surpluses， and doubled our investment in education. We cut crime， with 100，000 community police and the Brady law， which has kept guns out of the hands of half a million criminals.
We ended welfare as we knew it—requiring work while protecting health care and nutrition for children， and investing more in child care， transportation， and housing to help their parents go to work. We've helped parents to succeed at home and at work， with family leave， which 20 millions Americans have now used to care for a newborn child or a sick loved one. We've engaged 150，000 young Americans in citizen service through AmeriCorps， while helping them earn money for college.
In 1992， we just had a road map； today， we have results.
But even more important， America again has the confidence to dream big dreams. But we must not let this confidence drift into complacency. For we， all of us， will be judged by the dreams and deeds we pass on to our children. And on that score， we will be held to a high standard， indeed， because our chance to do good is so great.
My fellow Americans， we have crossed the bridge we built to the 21st century. Now， we must shape a 21st century American revolution—of opportunity， responsibility and community. We must be now， as we were in the beginning， a new nation.
At the dawn of the last century， Theodore Roosevelt said， "the one characteristic more essential than any other is foresight…it should be the growing nation with a future that takes the long look ahead." So， tonight， let us take our long look ahead and set great goals for our nation.
To 21st century America， let us pledge these things： Every child will begin school ready to learn and graduate ready to succeed. Every family will be able to succeed at home and at work， and no child will be raised in poverty. We will meet the challenge of the aging of America. We will assure quality， affordable health care， at last， for all Americans.
We will make America the safest big country on Earth. We will pay off our national debt for the first time since 1835. We will bring prosperity to every American community. We will reverse the course of climate change and leave a safer， cleaner planet. America will lead the world toward shared peace and prosperity， and the far frontiers of science and technology. And we will become at last what our founders pledged us to be so long ago—one nation， under God， indivisible， with liberty and justice for all.
These are great goals， worthy of a great nation. We will not reach them all this year. Not even in this decade. But we will reach them. Let us remember that the first American Revolution was not won with a single shot； the continent was not settled in a single year. The lesson of our history—and the lesson of the last seven years—is that great goals are reached step by step， always building on our progress， always gaining ground.
Of course， you can't gain ground if you're standing still. And for too long this Congress has been standing still on some of our most pressing national priorities. So let's begin tonight with them.
Again， I ask you to pass a real patients' bill of rights. I ask you to pass common-sense gun safety legislation. I ask you to pass campaign finance reform. I ask you to vote up or down on judicial nominations and other important appointees. And， again I ask you—I implore you—to raise the minimum wage.
Now， two years ago—let me try to balance the seesaw here—two years ago， as we reached across party lines to reach our first balanced budget， I asked that we meet our responsibility to the next generation by maintaining our fiscal discipline. Because we refused to stray from that path， we are doing something that would have seemed unimaginable seven years ago. We are actually paying down the national debt.
Now， if we stay on this path， we can pay down the debt entirely in 13 just years now and make America debt-free for the first time since Andrew Jackson was President in 1835.
In 1993， we began to put our fiscal house in order with the Deficit Reduction Act， which you'll all remember won passages in both Houses by just a single vote. Your former colleague， my first Secretary of the Treasury， led that effort and sparked our long boom. He's here with us tonight. Lloyd Bentsen， you have served America well， and we thank you.
Beyond paying off the debt， we must ensure that the benefits of debt reduction go to preserving two of the most important guarantees we make to every American—Social Security and Medicare. Tonight， I ask you to work with me to make a bipartisan down payment on Social Security reform by crediting the interest savings from debt reduction to the Social Security Trust Fund so that it will be strong and sound for the next 50 years.
But this is just the start of our journey. We must also take the right steps toward reaching our great goals. First and foremost， we need a 21st century revolution in education， guided by our faith that every single child can learn. Because education is more important than ever， more than ever the key to our children's future， we must make sure all our children have that key. That means quality pre-school and after-school， the best trained teachers in the classroom， and college opportunities for all our children.
For seven years now， we've worked hard to improve our schools， with opportunity and responsibility—investing more， but demanding more in turn. Reading， math， college entrance scores are up. Some of the most impressive gains are in schools in very poor neighborhoods.
But all successful schools have followed the same proven formula： higher standards， more accountability， and extra help so children who need it can get it to reach those standards. I have sent Congress a reform plan based on that formula. It holds states and school districts accountable for progress， and rewards them for results. Each year， our national government invests more than $15 billion in our schools. It is time to support what works and stop supporting what doesn't.
Now， as we demand more from our schools， we should also invest more in our schools. Let's double our investment to help states and districts turn around their worst-performing schools， or shut them down. Let's double our investments in after-school and summer school programs， which boost achievement and keep people off the streets and out of trouble. If we do this， we can give every single child in every failing school in America—everyone—the chance to meet high standards.
Since 1993， we've nearly doubled our investment in Head Start and improved its quality. Tonight， I ask you for another $1 billion for Head Start， the largest increase in the history of the program.
We know that children learn best in smaller classes with good teachers. For two years in a row， Congress has supported my plan to hire 100，000 new qualified teachers to lower class size in the early grades. I thank you for that， and I ask you to make it three in a row. And to make sure all teachers know the subjects they teach， tonight I propose a new teacher quality initiative—to recruit more talented people into the classroom， reward good teachers for staying there， and give all teachers the training they need.
We know charter schools provide real public school choice. When I became President， there was just one independent public charter school in all America. Today， thanks to you， there are 1，700. I ask you now to help us meet our goal of 3，000 charter schools by next year.
We know we must connect all our classrooms to the Internet， and we're getting there. In 1994， only 3 percent of our classrooms were connected. Today， with the help of the Vice President's E-rate program， more than half of them are. And 90 percent of our schools have at least one Internet connection.
But we cannot finish the job when a third of all our schools are in serious disrepair. Many of them have walls and wires so old， they're too old for the Internet. So tonight， I propose to help 5，000 schools a year make immediate and urgent repairs； and again， to help build or modernize 6，000 more， to get students out of trailers and into high-tech classrooms.
I ask all of you to help me double our bipartisan Gear-Up program， which provides mentors for disadvantaged young people. If we double it， we can provide mentors for 1.4 million of them. Let's also offer these kids from disadvantaged backgrounds the same chance to take the same college test-prep courses wealthier students use to boost their test scores.
To make the American Dream achievable for all， we must make college affordable for all. For seven years， on a bipartisan basis， we have taken action toward that goal： larger Pell grants， more affordable student loans， education IRAs， and our HOPE scholarships， which have already benefitted 5 million young people.
Now， 67 percent of high school graduates are going on to college. That's up 10 percent since 1993. Yet millions of families still strain to pay college tuition. They need help. So I propose a landmark $30-billion college opportunity tax cut—a middle class tax deduction for up to $10，000 in college tuition costs. The previous actions of this Congress have already made two years of college affordable for all. It's time to make four years of college affordable for all. If we take all these steps， we'll move a long way toward making sure every child starts school ready to learn and graduates ready to succeed.
We need a 21st century revolution to reward work and strengthen families， by giving every parent the tools to succeed at work and at the most important work of all—raising children. That means making sure every family has health care and the support to care for aging parents， the tools to bring their children up right， and that no child grows up in poverty.
From my first days as President， we've worked to give families better access to better health care. In 1997， we passed the Children's Health Insurance Program—CHIP—so that workers who don't have coverage through their employers at least can get it for their children. So far， we've enrolled 2 million children； we're well on our way to our goal of 5 million.
But there are still more than 40 million of our fellow Americans without health insurance—more than there were in 1993. Tonight I propose that we follow Vice President Gore's suggestion to make low income parents eligible for the insurance that covers their children. Together with our children's initiative—think of this—together with our children's initiative， this action would enable us to cover nearly a quarter of all the uninsured people in America.
Again， I want to ask you to let people between the ages of 55 and 65—the fastest growing group of uninsured—buy into Medicare. And this year I propose to give them a tax credit to make that choice an affordable one. I hope you will support that， as well.
When the baby boomers retire， Medicare will be faced with caring for twice as many of our citizens； yet， it is far from ready to do so. My generation must not ask our children's generation to shoulder our burden. We simply must act now to strengthen and modernize Medicare.
My budget includes a comprehensive plan to reform Medicare， to make it more efficient and competitive. And it dedicates nearly $400 billion of our budget surplus to keep Medicare solvent past 2025. And， at long last， it also provides funds to give every senior a voluntary choice of affordable coverage for prescription drugs.
Lifesaving drugs are an indispensable part of modern medicine. No one creating a Medicare program today would even think of excluding coverage for prescription drugs. Yet more than three in five of our seniors now lack dependable drug coverage which can lengthen and enrich their lives. Millions of older Americans who need prescription drugs the most pay the highest prices for them. In good conscience， we cannot let another year pass without extending to all our seniors this lifeline of affordable prescription drugs.
Record numbers of Americans are providing for aging or ailing loved ones at home. It's a loving， but a difficult and often very expensive choice. Last year， I proposed a $1，000 tax credit for long-term care. Frankly， it wasn't enough. This year， let's triple it， to $3，000. But this year， let's pass it.
We also have to make needed investments to expand access to mental health care. I want to take a moment to thank the person who led our first White House Conference on Mental Health last year， and who for seven years has led all our efforts to break down the barriers to decent treatment of people with mental illness. Thank you， Tipper Gore.
Taken together， these proposals would mark the largest investment in health care in the 35 years since Medicare was created—the largest investment in 35 years. That would be a big step toward assuring quality health care for all Americans， young and old. And I ask you to embrace them and pass them.
We must also make investments that reward work and support families. Nothing does that better than the Earned Income Tax Credit—the EITC. The "E" in the EITC is about earning， working， taking responsibility and being rewarded for it. In my very first address to you， I asked Congress to greatly expand this credit； and you did. As a result， in 1998 alone， the EITC helped more than 4.3 million Americans work their way out of poverty toward the middle class. That's double the number in 1993.
Tonight， I propose another major expansion of the EITC： to reduce the marriage penalty， to make sure it rewards marriage as it rewards work—and also， to expand the tax credit for families that have more than two children. It punishes people with more than two children today. Our proposal would allow families with three or more children to get up to $1，100 more in tax relief. These are working families； their children should not be in poverty.
We also can't reward work and family unless men and women get equal pay for equal work. Today， the female unemployment rate is the lowest it has been in 46 years. Yet， women still only earn about 75 cents for every dollar men earn. We must do better， by providing the resources to enforce present equal pay laws； training more women for high-paying， high-tech jobs； and passing the Paycheck Fairness Act.
Many working parents spend up to a quarter—a quarter—of their income on child care. Last year， we helped parents provide child care for about 2 million children. My child care initiative， before you now， along with funds already secured in welfare reform， would make child care better， safer and more affordable for another 400，000 children. I ask you to pass that. They need it out there.
For hard-pressed middle-income families， we should also expand the child care tax credit. And I believe strongly we should take the next big step and make that tax credit refundable for low-income families. For people making under $30，000 a year， that could mean up to $2，400 for child care costs. You know， we all say we're pro-work and pro-family. Passing this proposal would prove it.
Tens of millions of Americans live from paycheck to paycheck. As hard as they work， they still don't have the opportunity to save. Too few can make use of IRAs and 401-K plans. We should do more to help all working families save and accumulate wealth. That's the idea behind the Individual Development Accounts， the IDAs. I ask you to take that idea to a new level， with new Retirement Savings Accounts that enable every low- and moderate-income family in America to save for retirement， a first home， a medical emergency， or a college education. I propose to match their contributions， however small， dollar for dollar， every year they save. And I propose to give a major new tax credit to any small business that will provide a meaningful pension to its workers. Those people ought to have retirement as well as the rest of us.
Nearly one in three American children grows up without a father. These children are five times more likely to live in poverty than children with both parents at home. Clearly， demanding and supporting responsible fatherhood is critical to lifting all children out of poverty. We've doubled child support collections since 1992. And I'm proposing to you tough new measures to hold still more fathers responsible.
But we should recognize that a lot of fathers want to do right by their children， but need help to do it. Carlos Rosas of St. Paul， Minnesota， wanted to do right by his son， and he got the help to do it. Now he's got a good job and he supports his little boy. My budget will help 40，000 more fathers make the same choices Carlos Rosas did. I thank him for being here tonight. Stand up， Carlos. Thank you.
If there is any single issue on which we should be able to reach across party lines， it is in our common commitment to reward work and strengthen families， similar to what we did last year. We came together to help people with disabilities keep their health insurance when they go to work. And I thank you for that. Thanks to overwhelming bipartisan support from this Congress， we have improved foster care. We've helped those young people who leave it when they turn 18， and we have dramatically increased the number of foster care children going into adoptive homes. I thank all of you for all of that.
Of course， I am forever grateful to the person who has led our efforts from the beginning， and who's worked so tirelessly for children and families for 30 years now： my wife， Hillary. And I thank her.
