[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000-2001, Book III)]
[January 18, 2001]
[Pages 2952-2953]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Farewell Address to the Nation
January 18, 2001

    My fellow citizens, tonight is my last opportunity to speak to you 
from the Oval Office as your President. I am profoundly grateful to you 
for twice giving me the honor to serve, to work for you and with you to 
prepare our Nation for the 21st century.
    And I'm grateful to Vice President Gore, to my Cabinet Secretaries, and to all those who have 
served with me for the last 8 years.
    This has been a time of dramatic transformation, and you have risen 
to every new challenge. You have made our social fabric stronger, our 
families healthier and safer, our people more prosperous. You, the 
American people, have made our passage into the global information age 
an era of great American renewal.
    In all the work I have done as President--every decision I have 
made, every executive action I have taken, every bill I have proposed 
and signed--I've tried to give all Americans the tools and conditions to 
build the future of our dreams in a good society with a strong economy, 
a cleaner environment, and a freer, safer, more prosperous world.
    I have steered my course by our enduring values: opportunity for 
all, responsibility from all, a community of all Americans. I have 
sought to give America a new kind of Government, smaller, more modern, 
more effective, full of ideas and policies appropriate to this new time, 
always putting people first, always focusing on the future.
    Working together, America has done well. Our economy is breaking 
records with more than 22 million new jobs, the lowest unemployment in 
30 years, the highest homeownership ever, the longest expansion in 
history. Our families and communities are stronger. Thirty-five million 
Americans have used the family leave law; 8 million have moved off 
welfare. Crime is at a 25-year low. Over 10 million Americans receive 
more college aid, and more people than ever are going to college. Our 
schools are better. Higher standards, greater accountability, and larger 
investments have brought higher test scores and higher graduation rates. 
More than 3 million children have health insurance now, and more than 7 
million Americans have been lifted out of poverty. Incomes are rising 
across the board. Our air and water are cleaner. Our food and drinking 
water are safer. And more of our precious land has been preserved in the 
continental United States than at any time in a 100 years.
    America has been a force for peace and prosperity in every corner of 
the globe. I'm very grateful to be able to turn over the reins of 
leadership to a new President with America in

[[Page 2953]]

such a strong position to meet the challenges of the future.
    Tonight I want to leave you with three thoughts about our future.
    First, America must maintain our record of fiscal responsibility. 
Through our last four budgets we've turned record deficits to record 
surpluses, and we've been able to pay down $600 billion of our national 
debt--on track to be debt-free by the end of the decade for the first 
time since 1835. Staying on that course will bring lower interest rates, 
greater prosperity, and the opportunity to meet our big challenges. If 
we choose wisely, we can pay down the debt, deal with the retirement of 
the baby boomers, invest more in our future, and provide tax relief.
    Second, because the world is more connected every day, in every way, 
America's security and prosperity require us to continue to lead in the 
world. At this remarkable moment in history, more people live in freedom 
than ever before. Our alliances are stronger than ever. People all 
around the world look to America to be a force for peace and prosperity, 
freedom and security. The global economy is giving more of our own 
people and billions around the world the chance to work and live and 
raise their families with dignity. But the forces of integration that 
have created these good opportunities also make us more subject to 
global forces of destruction, to terrorism, organized crime and 
narcotrafficking, the spread of deadly weapons and disease, the 
degradation of the global environment.
    The expansion of trade hasn't fully closed the gap between those of 
us who live on the cutting edge of the global economy and the billions 
around the world who live on the knife's edge of survival. This global 
gap requires more than compassion; it requires action. Global poverty is 
a powder keg that could be ignited by our indifference.
    In his first Inaugural Address, Thomas Jefferson warned of 
entangling alliances. But in our times, America cannot and must not 
disentangle itself from the world. If we want the world to embody our 
shared values, then we must assume a shared responsibility.
    If the wars of the 20th century, especially the recent ones in 
Kosovo and Bosnia, have taught us anything, it is that we achieve our 
aims by defending our values and leading the forces of freedom and 
peace. We must embrace boldly and resolutely that duty to lead--to stand 
with our allies in word and deed and to put a human face on the global 
economy, so that expanded trade benefits all peoples in all nations, 
lifting lives and hopes all across the world.
    Third, we must remember that America cannot lead in the world unless 
here at home we weave the threads of our coat of many colors into the 
fabric of one America. As we become ever more diverse, we must work 
harder to unite around our common values and our common humanity. We 
must work harder to overcome our differences, in our hearts and in our 
laws. We must treat all our people with fairness and dignity, regardless 
of their race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation, and regardless 
of when they arrived in our country--always moving toward the more 
perfect Union of our Founders' dreams.
    Hillary, Chelsea, and I join all Americans in wishing our very best 
to the next President, George W. Bush, to his 
family and his administration, in meeting these challenges, and in 
leading freedom's march in this new century.
    As for me, I'll leave the Presidency more idealistic, more full of 
hope than the day I arrived, and more confident than ever that America's 
best days lie ahead.
    My days in this office are nearly through, but my days of service, I 
hope, are not. In the years ahead, I will never hold a position higher 
or a covenant more sacred than that of President of the United States. 
But there is no title I will wear more proudly than that of citizen.
    Thank you. God bless you, and God bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 8 p.m. from the Oval Office at the White 
House.