The 1997 State of the Union address

State of the Union Address

The State of the Union is an annual address presented by the President of the United States to the United States Congress. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation but also allows the president to outline his legislative agenda and his national priorities.The practice arises...

was given by President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

 to a joint session

Joint session of the United States Congress

Joint sessions of the United States Congress are the gatherings together of both houses of the United States Congress...

 of the 105th United States Congress

105th United States Congress

The One Hundred Fifth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1997 to January 3, 1999, during the fifth and...

 on February 4, 1997. The speech was the first State of the Union address of President Clinton's second term.

President Clinton discussed numerous topics in the address, including the environment, the International Space Station

International Space Station

The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...

, welfare, crime and relations with NATO and China. The president also focused on a "detailed plan to balance the budget by 2002".

The Republican Party

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 response was delivered by Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

 congressman J. C. Watts in front of high school students sponsored by the Close Up Foundation

Close Up Foundation

The Close Up Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization in the United States. Founded in 1971 Close Up offers high school students an in-depth view of the democratic process, by interactive participation.-Participation:...

.

Dan Glickman

Dan Glickman

Daniel Robert "Dan" Glickman is an American businessman and politician. He served as the United States Secretary of Agriculture from 1995 until 2001, prior to which he represented the Fourth Congressional District of Kansas as a Democrat in Congress for 18 years. He was Chairman and CEO of the...

, the Secretary of Agriculture

United States Secretary of Agriculture

The United States Secretary of Agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The current secretary is Tom Vilsack, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on 20 January 2009. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other...

, served as the designated survivor

Designated survivor

A designated survivor is a member of the United States Cabinet who is appointed to be at a physically distant, secure, and undisclosed location when the president and the country's other top leaders are gathered at a single location, such as during State of the Union addresses and presidential...

.

The speech was broadcast live on television and radio and lasted 1:04:21 and consisted of 6,774 words.

This was the first State of the Union Address carried live on the Internet

Internet

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.

External links

• Transcript of the 1997 State of the Union address
• http://www.millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/5495(full video), Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia
  University of Virginia
  The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
  
  .]
• 1997 State of the Union Address (video) at C-SPAN