Presidents -- United States -- Messages; United States -- Politics and government -- Sources
Well, today physicists peering into the infinitely small realms of
subatomic particles find reaffirmations of religious faith. Astronomers
build a space telescope that can see to the edge of the universe and
possibly back to the moment of creation. So, yes, this nation remains fully
committed to America's space program. We're going forward with our shuttle
flights. We're going forward to build our space station. And we are going
forward with research on a new Orient Express that could, by the end of the
next decade, take off from Dulles Airport, accelerate up to 25 times the
speed of sound, attaining low Earth orbit or flying to Tokyo within 2
hours. And the same technology transforming our lives can solve the
greatest problem of the 20th century. A security shield can one day render
nuclear weapons obsolete and free mankind from the prison of nuclear
terror. America met one historic challenge and went to the Moon. Now
America must meet another: to make our strategic defense real for all the
citizens of planet Earth.
Let us speak of our deepest longing for the future: to leave our children a
land that is free and just and a world at peace. It is my hope that our
fireside summit in Geneva and Mr. Gorbachev's upcoming visit to America can
lead to a more stable relationship. Surely no people on Earth hate war or
love peace more than we Americans. But we cannot stroll into the future
with childlike faith. Our differences with a system that openly proclaims
and practices an alleged right to command people's lives and to export its
ideology by force are deep and abiding. Logic and history compel us to
accept that our relationship be guided by realism--rock-hard, cleareyed,
steady, and sure. Our negotiators in Geneva have proposed a radical cut in
offensive forces by each side with no cheating. They have made clear that
Soviet compliance with the letter and spirit of agreements is essential. If
the Soviet Government wants an agreement that truly reduces nuclear arms,
there will be such an agreement.
But arms control is no substitute for peace. We know that peace follows in
freedom's path and conflicts erupt when the will of the people is denied.
So, we must prepare for peace not only by reducing weapons but by
bolstering prosperity, liberty, and democracy however and wherever we can.
We advance the promise of opportunity every time we speak out on behalf of
lower tax rates, freer markets, sound currencies around the world. We
strengthen the family of freedom every time we work with allies and come to
the aid of friends under siege. And we can enlarge the family of free
nations if we will defend the unalienable rights of all God's children to
follow their dreams.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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