February 1993 Bill Clinton speech to a joint session of Congress

Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, addressed a joint session of the United States Congress on Wednesday, February 17, 1993. It was his first public address before a joint session. Similar to a State of the Union Address, it was delivered before the 103rd United States Congress in the Chamber of the United States House of Representatives in the United States Capitol.^[1] Presiding over this joint session was the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Tom Foley, accompanied by Al Gore, the vice president in his capacity as the president of the Senate.

The speech was referred to as the presidential economic address or the address on administration goals. During his speech, President Clinton proposed tax increases and spending cuts intended to reduce the federal deficit by 38 percent over four years while revitalizing the nation's economy.^[1][2]

Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt was the designated survivor and did not attend the address in order to maintain a continuity of government.^[3]

House Minority Leader Bob Michel of Illinois delivered the Republican response to the address.^[4]

• First 100 days of Bill Clinton's presidency
• List of joint sessions of the United States Congress

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1993 State of the Union Address.

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Bill Clinton's First State of the Union Address

• "House of Representatives" (PDF). Congressional Record. 139 (2) (Bound ed.). Washington, DC: United States Government Publishing Office: 2934–2939. February 17, 1993. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
• "Presidential Economic Address". C-SPAN. February 17, 1993. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
• "Presidential Economic Address Response". C-SPAN. February 17, 1993. Retrieved August 19, 2024.