The Inaugural Address

Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I am inserting my Washington Report for Wednesday, January 29, 1997 into the Congressional Record.

The inauguration of a President is one of the great rituals of American democracy. It shows our country's peaceful transition of power every four years, and it is a time for our nation to unite after the divisions of the previous term. A President's inaugural address is important because it sets the tone of his administration. Several themes stood out to me as President Clinton took the oath of office in the last presidential inauguration of the 20th century.

One theme was optimism about the future. The President said that the nation stands "on the edge of a bright new prospect in human affairs". He has hopeful visions of a "new century in a new millennium", and said we should "shape the hope of this day into the noblest chapter in our history". It is clear that he sees his presidency as an opportunity to guide America through the challenges of the next few years into a "land of new promise" in the next century.

Moving into the "land of new promise" was highlighted several times, almost as his central, unifying theme for his second term. I have been impressed by how much the President's attention is in the year 2000 and the new century. President Clinton is very much focussed on the history books. He sees the country as being at a turning point, and he remembers that the great turn-of-the-century Presidents--Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt--governed a country undergoing profound changes and created opportunities that altered the course of history. He wants to do the same. He wants to lead the country through the transition into the next century, all the time keeping the American dream of opportunity alive. He called for a new spirit for a new century, with Americans working together to build "a nation ever moving forward, toward realizing the full potential of all its citizens." He clearly believes America has a lot of assets for its leadership role for the rest of the world. He referred to America as the "indispensable nation", with the strongest economy on earth and building stronger families and thriving communities. The President's clear sense of optimism dominated the address, and it was important to hear. But I think the President missed an opportunity to educate the American people about the tough choices that must be made preparing for the future.

Another major theme in his address was reconciliation. The President urged Americans to bury racial and political divisions and urged a new spirit of community. The inauguration's coming on Martin Luther King Jr. Day added strength to the President's appeal for racial healing. He spoke of the divide of race as being "America's constant curse". He also appealed for an end to the partisan squabbling in Congress, and that sentiment was very well received by Americans who are weary of the constant bickering. The President quoted the late Cardinal Bernadin saying, "It is wrong to waste the precious gift of time on acrimony and division." In perhaps the most memorable line in the address, he reminded us that "America demands and deserves big things from us, and nothing big ever came from being small". The President believes that if the country can come together and put the divisions aside, it can work together toward unparalleled prosperity and freedom for ourselves and for the rest of the world. The President's theme of reconciliation is the right one, but I do wish he had done more to challenge Americans to care more and do more for those less fortunate. We have a time of remarkable prosperity in the country, but there are very wide disparities. I think it is appropriate for the President to urge that more of us think about the common good and contribute to it.

Another theme was the role of government. I was struck by the sentence in his address that "we have resolved for our time a great debate over the role of government". Since the beginning of our republic, the great question of American democracy has been over the role of government in the country. The President updated former President Ronald Reagan's declaration sixteen years ago that "government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem". President Clinton challenged that by saying, "Today we can declare government is not the problem, and government is not the solution. We, the American people, we are the solution." Here he reflected the view that most politicians have picked up recently from their constituents, that government is something more than the enemy of the people. The President's view of government is that it should not attempt to solve people's problems for them nor should it leave them alone to fend for themselves. He wants a government that gives people the tools to solve their own problems and to make the most of their own lives. Like most Americans, he likes the idea of a government that is smaller, lives within its means, and tries to do more with less. I wonder whether the President is overly optimistic in believing that his first term largely settled the debate over the role of government. My sense is that this is the central issue of American politics and it is not going to go away. His formulation of the role of government in his address was broad enough and vague enough to get most everyone's approval, but it may be too broad and vague to resolve a variety of questions about the role of government.

I think President Clinton worked very hard to state the essence of his convictions and his purpose as President. His desire to lead the country in its transition into the new century and the "land of new promise" was clear to all who heard his address. Perhaps some were looking for sweeping policy initiatives or bold new programs, but the President really has little choice at this point. There is a shortage of federal funds; the American people do not want new taxes; and the major problems of government in recent years have been to restrain spending on current programs. Some criticize the address for not grappling with the tough problems that face the nation, like campaign finance reform, bringing entitlement spending under control, and improving the educational system. The President offered very few specifics, but I am not at all sure that such detailed proposals belong in an inaugural address. Those items are better left for the State of the Union address and other presidential speeches. The President wanted to use his second inaugural address to spell out his broad vision for our nation's future.