    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [March 19, 1997]
    [Page 327]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Message to the Congress Transmitting a Report on Environmental Quality
    March 19, 1997

    To the Congress of the United States:
        I am pleased to transmit to the Congress the Twenty-fifth Annual
    Report on Environmental Quality.
        As a nation, the most important thing we can do as we move into the
    21st century is to give all our children the chance to live up to their
    God-given potential and live out their dreams. In order to do that, we
    must offer more opportunity and demand more responsibility from all our
    citizens. We must help young people get the education and training they
    need, make our streets safer from crime, help Americans succeed at home
    and at work, protect our environment for generations to come, and ensure
    that America remains the strongest force for peace and freedom in the
    world. Most of all, we must come together as one community to meet our
    challenges.
        Our Nation's leaders understood this a quarter-century ago when they
    launched the modern era of environmental protection with the National
    Environmental Policy Act. NEPA's authors understood that environmental
    protection, economic opportunity, and social responsibility are
    interrelated. NEPA determined that the Federal Government should work in
    concert with State and local governments and citizens ``to create and
    maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive
    harmony, and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of
    present and future generations of Americans.''
        We've made great progress in 25 years as we've sought to live up to
    that challenge. As we look forward to the next 25 years of environmental
    progress, we do so with a renewed determination. Maintaining and
    enhancing our environment, passing on a clean world to future
    generations, is a sacred obligation of citizenship. We all have an
    interest in clean air, pure water, safe food, and protected national
    treasures. Our environment is, literally, our common ground.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,

    March 19, 1997.