And let me tell you, if we ignore human capital, if we lose the spirit of American ingenuity, the sprit that is the hallmark of the American worker, that would be bad.  The American worker is the most productive worker in the world.

We need to save more.  We need to expand the pool of capital for new investments that mean more jobs and more growth.  And that’s the idea behind the new initiative I call the Family Savings Plan, which I will send to Congress tomorrow.

We need to cut the tax on capital gains, encourage, encourage risk-takers, especially those in small businesses, to take those steps that translate into economic reward, jobs, and a better life for all of us.

We’ll do what it takes to invest in America’s future.  The budget commitment is there.  The money is there.  It’s there for research and development, R and D, a record high.  It’s there for our housing initiative, hope, H-O-P-E, to help everyone from first-time homebuyers to the homeless.  The money’s there to keep our kids drug-free, 70 percent more than when I took office in 1989.  It’s there for space exploration, and its there for education, another record high.

And one more, and one more thing.  Last fall at the education summit, the governors and I agreed to look for ways to help make sure that our kids are ready to learn the very first day they walk into the classroom.  And I’ve made good on that commitment by proposing a record increase in funds, an extra half billion dollars, for something near and dear to all of us:  Head Start.

Education is the one investment that means more for our future, because it means the most for our children.  Real improvement in our schools is not simply a matter of spending more.  It’s a matter of asking more, expecting more, of our schools, our teachers, of our kids, of our parents and of ourselves.  And that’s why tonight, and that’s why tonight, I am announcing America’s education goals, goals developed with enormous cooperation from the nation’s governors.  And if I might I’d like to say I’m very pleased that Governor Gardner and Governor Clinton, Governor Branstad, Governor Campbell, all of whom were very key in these discussion, these deliberations, are with us here tonight.

By the, by the year 2000, every child must start school ready to learn.  The United States must increase the high school graduation rate to no less than 90 percent.  And we are going to make sure our schools’ diplomas mean something.  In critical subjects, at the fourth, eighth, and 12th grades, we must assess our students’ performance.

By the, by the year 2000 U.S. students must be the first in the world in math and science achievement.  Every American adult must be a skilled, literate worker and citizen.  Every school must offer the kind of disciplined environment that makes it possible for our kids to learn.  And every school in America must be drug-free.

Ambitious aims?  Of course.  Easy to do?  Far from it.  But the future’s at stake.  The nation will not accept anything less than excellence in education.