few, but of every classroom, every library, every child. Parents
and children will have time not only to work, but to read and play
together. And the plans they make at their kitchen table will be those
of a better home, a better job, the certain chance to go to college.

Our streets will echo again with the laughter of our children, because
no one will try to shoot them or sell them drugs anymore. Everyone who
can work, will work, with today's permanent under class part of
tomorrow's growing middle class. New miracles of medicine at last will
reach not only those who can claim care now, but the children and
hardworking families too long denied.

We will stand mighty for peace and freedom, and maintain a strong
defense against terror and destruction. Our children will sleep free
from the threat of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. Ports and
airports, farms and factories will thrive with trade and innovation and
ideas. And the world's greatest democracy will lead a whole world of
democracies.

Our land of new promise will be a nation that meets its obligations--a
nation that balances its budget, but never loses the balance of its
values. A nation where our grandparents have secure retirement and
health care, and their grandchildren know we have made the reforms
necessary to sustain those benefits for their time. A nation that
fortifies the world's most productive economy even as it protects the
great natural bounty of our water, air, and majestic land.

And in this land of new promise, we will have reformed our politics so
that the voice of the people will always speak louder than the din of
narrow interests--regaining the participation and deserving the trust of
all Americans.

Fellow citizens, let us build that America, a nation ever moving forward
toward realizing the full potential of all its citizens. Prosperity and
power--yes, they are important, and we must maintain them. But let us
never forget: The greatest progress we have made, and the greatest
progress we have yet to make, is in the human heart. In the end, all
the world's wealth and a thousand armies are no match for the strength
and decency of the human spirit.

Thirty-four years ago, the man whose life we celebrate today spoke to us
down there, at the other end of this Mall, in words that moved the
conscience of a nation. Like a prophet of old, he told of his dream
that one day America would rise up and treat all its citizens as equ