State of the Union: Clinton Says Now Is the 'Time to Build.'(includes Related Article on Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott's Republican Response)

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"Our cities are the vibrant hubs of our great metropolitan areas," President Clinton said in a speech to the Congress and the nation to give his perspective on the state of the nation and its cities, and to propose an agenda for the future. Cities "are still the gateways for new immigrants, from every continent, coming to work for their own American Dream. Let's keep our cities going strong into the 21st century."

So the President urged the Congress and the American people in his annual State of the Union address. He told the country the that state of the nation was good: "Because of the hard work and high purpose of the American people, these are good times for America."

After briefly citing a slew of statistics from unemployment to welfare caseloads to inflation to the federal deficit to demonstrate the remarkable health of the nation and its economy, the President turned to the road ahead: "This is not the time to rest; it is a time to build, to build the America within our reach."

The President defined his speech by calling for the first balanced federal budget in a generation. He proposed, …