Reagan gives cheerful state of Union report

Press, 6 February 1986, Page 8

Reagan gives cheerful state of Union report

NZPA-Reuter Washington Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, gave Americans an upbeat report yesterday about the nation’s strength, appealed for support of rebels fighting Leftist Governments around the world, and announced three proposals on domestic and international issues. “I am pleased to report the state of our Union is stronger than a year ago, and growing stronger each day,’’ he said to a cheering audience in his annual state of the Union

message to a joint session of Congress. Pointing to low inflation and unemployment and strong economic growth since he took office in 1981, Mr Reagan said, “Tonight, we look out on a rising America — firm of heart, united in spirit, powerful in pride and patriotism — America is on the move.” His 30-minute speech, interrupted 27 times by applause, was vintage Reagan — full of optimism and advice to Americans to reach for the stars. He gave notice that he would urge Congress

again to resume the military aid to Nicaraguan rebels it cut off last year and said the United States would give moral and un-’ specified material help to Afghans opposing Soviet intervention in their country, Kampucheans resisting Vietnam’s occupying forces, and guerrillas fighting Angola’s Cubansupported Marxist Government. The three proposals in his address were: • Instructing the Treasury Secretary, Mr James Baker, to determine if an international

conference should be convened to discuss the role and relationship of world currencies; @ Instructing the Department of Health and Human Services to come up with plans for insurance to help Americans faced with catastrophic illness; and • Directing his Domestic Policy Council to recommend how the welfare system for poor Americans could be reorganised. Mr Reagan, who won re-election in 1984 with a . landslide majority and has just ended the first year

of his second and final term in office, called his address, “An Agenda for the Future,” which, he said, was aimed at forging a safer, more secure world. Mr Reagan is 75 today and is the nation’s oldest President. He is very popular after five years in the White House, according to recent polls. Appealing for support, Mr Reagan said that “the Soviets must know that if America reduces her defences, it will be because of a reduced threat, not a reduced resolve.” An Administration

official said Mr Reagan would make a speech soon on defence and regional conflicts. Mr Reagan said the nation remained fully committed to space shuttle flights despite the tragedy that overtook Challenger a week ago. The nation remained committed to building a space station and to going forward with research on an Orient Express, super-high-speed passenger aircraft ..that could by the end of the next decade, take off from Dulles Airport (near

Washington) and accelerate up to 25 times the speed of sound, attaining low-Earth orbit or flying to Tokyo within . two hours.” Mr Reagan said he hoped his meeting with the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, in Geneva, in November, and Mr Gorbachev’s planned visit to the United States this year could lead to a more stable relationship. “But we cannot stroll into the future with childlike faith,” he said of Soviet-American relations in general and negotiations between the two

countries on nuclear arms reductions. An Administration official said Mr Reagan and his advisers were still studying the implications of Mr Gorbachev’s proposal, announced on January 14, including his plan to eliminate nuclear weapons by the end of the century. He said teams of American officials would leave today for Europe and Asia to consult American allies on the proposal and discuss the Reagan Administration’s views of it.