    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [January 1, 2000]
    [Pages 1-2]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1]]

    The President's Radio Address
    January 1, 2000

        The President. Good morning, and happy New Year--or, we should say,
    happy new millennium. Last night Hillary and I joined thousands of
    Americans on the National Mall to bid farewell to the remarkable century
    just past and to welcome the new millennium. The feelings of good will
    and hope that overcame us all will be among our most treasured moments,
    and we're deeply grateful that the celebrations were both jubilant and
    peaceful here and all around the world.
        The First Lady. But our
    celebration didn't just begin at the stroke of midnight, nor will it end
    today. Two years ago the President and I launched the White House
    Millennium Project to inspire all Americans to reflect on where we have
    been as a nation, who we are, and what we want to be, a project ``to
    honor the past and imagine the future.''
        I've traveled all across our country, encouraging citizens and
    communities to think of the gifts that America can give to the future,
    whether it's saving our historic treasures such as the Declaration of
    Independence or Thomas Edison's invention factory or the pueblos of the
    American Southwest, opening trails and planting millions of trees for
    future generations to enjoy, or teaching our schoolchildren to value
    their own families' and America's immigrant past. The President and I
    invite you to join these and so many other efforts to extend our
    celebration far into the new year and the new century.
        The President. What is perhaps most remarkable about last night's
    celebration is the way it was shared all around the world. Millions of
    Americans, and billions of others across the globe, watched on
    television as midnight broke first in Asia, then in Europe, then Africa,
    South America, finally here in North America.
        That people all over the planet could experience the same events at
    the same time would have been impossible for anyone to imagine 1,000
    years ago, even 100. Yet, the growing interconnectedness of the world
    today, thanks to a global economy and technologies like the Internet, is
    more than just a mark of how far we've come. It's the key to
    understanding where we're going and what we must do in the new
    millennium.
        It's clear that our fate in America increasingly will be tied to the
    fate of other nations and other people around the world. We must have
    prosperous partners to trade with, secure democracies to share the
    burdens of peacekeeping, and mutual effort to combat challenges that
    know no borders, from terrorism to environmental destruction. To advance
    our interests and protect our values in this new, interconnected world,
    America clearly must remain engaged. We must help to shape events and
    not be shaped by them.
        The First Lady. Yet, it is not
    just by our exertions abroad but by the example we set here at home that
    we can influence the world for the better. For in the new millennium,
    the world will be looking to America for leadership in meeting our great
    common challenges.
        If we in America can extend prosperity to people and places in this
    country that have not yet felt it, then perhaps the global economy can
    bring a better life to the 1.4 billion people who live on less than one
    dollar a day. If we in America can provide all of our children with a
    world-class education, then perhaps it will be possible in the not-too-
    distant future for every child in the world to have a good education.
    And if we can build one America and make our diversity our greatest
    strength, then perhaps other nations will see the advantage of working
    to overcome their own ethnic and religious tensions.
        The President. We begin the 21st century well poised to be that
    guiding light. Seldom in our history and never in my lifetime has our
    Nation enjoyed such a combination of widespread economic success, social
    solidarity, and national self-confidence, without an internal crisis or
    an overarching external threat. Never has the openness and dynamism of
    our society been more emulated by other countries. Never have our values

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    of freedom, democracy, and opportunity been more ascendant in the world.
        Nearly 55 years ago, President Franklin Roosevelt said that ``we
    cannot live alone at peace . . . our own well-being is dependent on the
    well-being of other nations far away,'' and, therefore, that we must be
    ``citizens of the world, members of the human community.'' I believe his
    words will prove even truer in the 21st century. With America fulfilling
    our ideals and responsibilities, we can make this new century a time of
    unprecedented peace, freedom, and prosperity for our people and for all
    the citizens of the world.
        Thank you. Happy New Year, and God bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from the Oval Office at the
    White House.