d dignity to women.

Now, for the third time, a new century is upon us, and another time to
choose. We began the 19th century with a choice, to spread our nation
from coast to coast. We began the 20th century with a choice, to
harness the Industrial Revolution to our values of free enterprise,
conservation, and human decency. 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.

As times change, so government must change. We need a new government for
a new century--humble enough not to try to solve all our problems for
us, but strong enough to give us the tools to solve our problems for
ourselves; a government that is smaller, lives within its means, and
does more with less. Yet where it can stand up for our values and
interests in the world, and where it can give Americans the power to
make a real difference in their everyday lives, government should do
more, not less. The preeminent mission of our new government is to
give all Americans an opportunity--not a guarantee, but a real
opportunity--to build better lives.

Beyond that, my fellow citizens, the future is up to us. Our founders
taught us that the preservation of our liberty and our union depe