Presidents -- United States -- Messages; United States -- Politics and government -- Sources
To those imprisoned in regimes held captive, to those beaten for daring to
fight for freedom and democracy--for their right to worship, to speak, to
live, and to prosper in the family of free nations--we say to you tonight:
You are not alone, freedom fighters. America will support with moral and
material assistance your right not just to fight and die for freedom but to
fight and win freedom--to win freedom in Afghanistan, in Angola, in
Cambodia, and in Nicaragua. This is a great moral challenge for the entire
free world.
Surely no issue is more important for peace in our own hemisphere, for the
security of our frontiers, for the protection of our vital interests, than
to achieve democracy in Nicaragua and to protect Nicaragua's democratic
neighbors. This year I will be asking Congress for the means to do what
must be done for that great and good cause. As (former Senator Henry
M.)Scoop Jackson, the inspiration for our Bipartisan Commission on Central
America, once said, "In matters of national security, the best politics is
no politics."
What we accomplish this year, in each challenge we face, will set our
course for the balance of the decade, indeed, for the remainder of the
century. After all we've done so far, let no one say that this nation
cannot reach the destiny of our dreams. America believes, America is ready,
America can win the race to the future--and we shall. The American dream is
a song of hope that rings through night winter air; vivid, tender music
that warms our hearts when the least among us aspire to the greatest
things: to venture a daring enterprise; to unearth new beauty in music,
literature, and art; to discover a new universe inside a tiny silicon chip
or a single human cell.
We see the dream coming true in the spirit of discovery of Richard Cavoli.
All his life he's been enthralled by the mysteries of medicine. And,
Richard, we know that the experiment that you began in high school was
launched and lost last week, yet your dream lives. And as long as it's
real, work of noble note will yet be done, work that could reduce the
harmful effects of x rays on patients and enable astronomers to view the
golden gateways of the farthest stars.
We see the dream glow in the towering talent of a 12-year-old, Tyrone Ford.
A child prodigy of gospel music, he has surmounted personal adversity to
become an accomplished pianist and singer. He also directs the choirs of
three churches and has performed at the Kennedy Center. With God as your
composer, Tyrone, your music will be the music of angels.
We see the dream being saved by the courage of the 13-year-old Shelby
Butler, honor student and member of her school's safety patrol. Seeing
another girl freeze in terror before an out-of-control school bus, she
risked her life and pulled her to safety. With bravery like yours, Shelby,
America need never fear for our future.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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