And in this land of new promise, we will have reformed our politics so that the voice of
the people will always speak louder than the din of narrow interests-regaining the
participation and deserving the trust of all Americans.
Fellow citizens, let us build that America, a nation ever moving forward toward realizing
the full potential of all its citizens. Prosperity and power-yes, they are important, and we
must maintain them. But let us never forget: The greatest progress we have made, and
the greatest progress we have yet to make, is in the human heart. In the end, all the
world’s wealth and a thousand armies are no match for the strength and decency of the
human spirit.
Thirty-four years ago, the man whose life we celebrate today spoke to us down there, at
the other end of this Mall, in words that moved the conscience of a nation. Like a prophet
of old, he told of his dream that one day America would rise up and treat all its citizens as
equals before the law and in the heart. Martin Luther King’s dream was the American
Dream. His quest is our quest: the ceaseless striving to live out our true creed. Our
history has been built on such dreams and labors. And by our dreams and labors we will
redeem the promise of America in the 21st century.
To that effort I pledge all my strength and every power of my office. I ask the members of
Congress here to join in that pledge. The American people returned to office a President
of one party and a Congress of another. Surely, they did not do this to advance the
politics of petty bickering and extreme partisanship they plainly deplore. No, they call on
us instead to be repairers of the breach, and to move on with America’s mission.
America demands and deserves big things from us-and nothing big ever came from
being small. Let us remember the timeless wisdom of Cardinal Bernardin, when facing
the end of his own life. He said: “It is wrong to waste the precious gift of time, on
acrimony and division.”
Fellow citizens, we must not waste the precious gift of this time. For all of us are on that
same journey of our lives, and our journey, too, will come to an end. But the journey of
our America must go on.
And so, my fellow Americans, we must be strong, for there is much to do. The demands
of our time are great and they are different. Let us meet them with faith and courage, with
patience and a grateful and happy heart. Let us shape the hope of this day into the
noblest chapter in our history. Yes, let us build our bridge. A bridge wide enough and
strong enough for every American to cross over to a blessed land of new promise.
May those generations whose faces we cannot yet see, whose names we may never
know, say of us here that we led our beloved land into a new century with the American
Dream alive for all her children; with the American promise of a more perfect union a
reality for all her people; with America’s bright flame of freedom spreading throughout all
the world.
From the height of this place and the summit of this century, let us go forth. May God
strengthen our hands for the good work ahead-and always, always bless our America.
