We come here today. the celebrate the LIE of Martin Luther King We know that. He would have been 66 years old today. To me, it seems only yesterday. When he was 39. And laying down his life for what he believed. Mary Webb said that the life of Martin Luther King had special relevance for African Americans because of what he meant. Let me tell you that his life should have special impact for every American for he freed. The rest of us two of our hatred are bigotry. Are the illusion? All the illusion which still pops up from time to time that we can somehow lift ourselves up by putting others down. But somehow if we can just find someone to look down on weekend feel like we're being looked up to Martin Luther King knew better than that. I asked you today my fellow Americans to think about why he lived and what he laid his life down for to think about what ought to be driving Our lives. Our individual lives in our lives as Citizens you heard earlier. Dr. King's famous. I Have a Dream speech. I saw a sign held up earlier when I came in saying that. They had a dream for America that I have a dream for America. The people holding the sign up there. Remember what Martin Luther King said. He said my dream is deeply rooted in the American dream. What did he mean by that the founders said we hold these truths to be self-evident that all are created equal. and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights and among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Today my fellow Americans. I want to talk to you about. Our common right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I asked you to think today of government, but to think Beyond government to people I asked you to think today of the programmes in the work of government about to think beyond that to the wives of people. I asked you to remember today that more than anything else Martin Luther King's life was a life of service. Even as he marched all across this land. And took that Bass from to Washington DC and ask the government to act he knew that in the end what was in the heart and the spirit and the mind. The average American citizen was even more important. And that is why he always said that all of us had a responsibility. To do our part and a serve. Martin Luther King said everybody can be great because everybody can serve. He said if all you do is sweep the streets then sweep them just as well as Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel be the best street sweeper that ever lived serve and serve. I was asked the other day of all the things that happened in the last 2 years was there one achievement I could say I was most proud of and I said, I think it was the creation of the national service program and some of them are here today. Because these young people are committed to service and if we all are committed to the idea that we are bound up with one another then we can all be great and our country will be great. When I came here in 1992. I was worried about the direction of this country. I was concerned about the economic problems of America more importantly I was concerned that we seem to be drifting and divided and we had no clear role for how we might work together to build a better future to reclaim that dream for which Martin Luther King gave his life. and I told you that I would seek for my part to do three things one to give this country a New Economic Policy that would bring down the deficit and bring up employment and bring us forward for the next Century to a different way of governing that I would reduce the size of the federal government and increase its creativity its Effectiveness, its relevance to your life. And we have done both those things. We have restored a sense of economic Direction and opportunity to this country and the government is smaller and yet still more effective. No one exemplifies that any better than Denver's Transportation secretary Federico Pena, but I knew that and I say again now that that would be fine, but not enough that we literally had to change our relationship in America as Citizens to our government and most importantly to each other. It was what I called in and what I say now was a New Covenant the idea that you have a right to certain opportunities. But in return you must exercise personal responsibility in return for those opportunities to make the most of your own life the life of your family the life of your community and the life of your country. That is what this is all about. That's why when people talk about something like welfare reform. I don't think about punishing poor people I think about ending welfare. So poor people can work and be good parents and have a better life and look to a better future ending that. That's why when we passed the crime bill. I thought it was a good thing just to give money to local communities to hire more police officers and also to have opportunities to give our children something to say yes to is really something to say no to so that we could show responsibility even as we seize opportunity if you think about it, that is the great debate we should be having today. What is our responsibility to ourselves? And what is our responsibility to each other? If you have rights without responsibilities pretty soon people lose their rights because they don't behave responsibly. If you go around telling people to be responsible all the time and there never is an opportunity, forward pretty soon. I get tired of being responsible what we have to do today if we want. Hope if we want the dream to live again. He has to say to each other. We will have a new commitment to creating opportunity and a being responsible. We will say no to violence and yes to Hope. We will say no. No to the idea that we can get anywhere by being divided against one another and yes to the idea that our diversity is a strength I am telling you. We can have all the economic growth in the world. But until we face the fact that we are going up or down together and we better get after the business of working together to make the most of all of our potential we will never be what we ought to be as a country. I know we have more to do in Washington. I know that a lot of people are working harder and still not having a raise. I know as of Pastor pray that another million Americans and Working Families lost their health insurance last year. I know there are problems there. That's why I have said that in this coming session of Congress. I will devote myself. Through what I call the middle class Bill of Rights, which could be called The Bill of Rights and responsibilities because it offers you the right to pursue happiness. Not the guarantee of happiness. I believe with all my heart. That if we are going to worry about lowering taxes, we are to lower taxes to help people educate themselves and their children and strengthen their families so we can move forward together and grow together. And so I have said let's do four things that the government can do to help people exercise more responsibility and take control of their own lies tax deductions for all the cost of Education After High School. Lower the tax burden for parents with young children, so they have more money to spend on raising the kids. What people save money in an individual retirement account, but let him withdraw it without a penalty for education or health care or taking care of their parents when they're sick. When people are unemployed are working hard for low wages, and they're willing to get new skills. Give them the funds. They need to get Education and Training so they can grow into what God meant to be. but I say to you again. weekend pass that program we can have the crown Bill work perfectly. But unless in Denver, Colorado you do what the governor challenge you to do? We will not be what we ought to be this country cannot go on with children shooting children. best chowder in this country this country cannot go on. With so many kids just given up on their lives. This country cannot go on with more and more little babies being born into unstable situations where the mothers are children 2 and the future looks bleak we can turn it around but we have got to turn it around and we have got to do it together by lifting each other up. You know. The reason I said what I did about the service car and all the young people in the Denver national service Corps raise their hand. I want to tell you why I did that. I did that because to me that represents everything I wanted to do these young people are building the new economy because when they work on solving problems in Denver, they aren't some money to go to college and they are changing the way the government works because there's no bureaucracy at all. They just have a project here and apply for the opportunity for young people that work at it. This is not a government bureaucracy, but most important of all Most important of all this is creating that new relationship of opportunity and responsibilities building up a community by people giving and getting and giving and getting and giving and getting until pretty soon lives are changed and Futures are changed today to celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday. There are young people like this all over America. They're rebuilding schools in Atlanta as we talk today. They're rebuilding homes in Memphis. They're helping people work their way out of the flood in California, and they're here today in Denver building this country doing what we ought to do. I was told they are so to go that in this new Congress. There may be a move to abolish the national service Corps to save money to pay for tax. Let me say. I know about cutting government spending we taking $11,000 in debt off of every family in America by reducing the deficit. We have reduced the size of the federal government to its smallest size since Martin Luther King visited John Kennedy in the White House. I know about that. But the purpose of all this is not correct the government not to give us a mean-spirited government. It is to give us a lean government that will help us to work together to solve our own problems. That's what we should be committed to do in Washington and in Denver and in every Community throughout this great land. So let me ask you to think about this. Look at all the young people in this audience. Look at the fine young people in their band uniform. What are the young people around the choir in the young kids here? Look at all the children here. all different colors and backgrounds What is the American dream in it's a right to pursue happiness. It requires a certain equality. and a certain respect it requires us to listen as well as the talk. I know the American people are often angry and frustrated today, but let me tell you something folks. This is a very great country and there is nothing that cannot be fixed if we will rely on our hearts and our spirit and what we know to be true. I have travel this whole world on your behalf. I have seen many different places. I have dealt with many different opportunities and problems. I am more convinced today. Then I was on the day. I took the oath of office that the greatest days of America live in front of us if we have the courage to live the dream of Martin Luther King. but remember what he lived and died for What's for every one of you to have the right? To do good and to be good. and to make the most of your own life It was no living and dying for the freedom to shoot people know living and dying for the freedom to shoot up no living and dying for the freedom to hate people no living and dying for freedom. To ignore the responsibilities of Parenthood and the obligations of our children. That is not what this was about. And there was no living and dying. to advance the proposition that we are all just isolated individuals out here. We don't need anybody helping anybody else and everything. We do as a government is intrinsically bad. That idea is wrong too. So I say to you. As you look to the next century. Let's make Denver and the West. The frontier of The Next Century by proving that you can be a rugged individual you can do everything you want in your individual aspirations. But only if you build a new community where everybody has a chance to rise up and everybody has a chance to be respected and every child has a chance to be loved than to be important. That is what this is all about and let us look for ways. Let us look for ways everyday. everyday the song the dream of Martin Luther King depends upon what I do inside and how I relate to my fellow men and women and to the all the little boys and girls 27 years ago April 4th Martin Luther King was killed. Only such a young man. But he gave his life. willingly So that we might become all God meant for us to be we can still do it. We will have more opportunities than ever before but you look at this sea of people. And you think about what the founding fathers said over 200 years ago life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. together Thank you, and God bless you all.