In the next century, we will have an opportunity to become the world's first truly multiracial, multiethnic democracy. Today, there are more children from more diverse backgrounds in our public schools than at any other time in our history, with one in five from immigrant families. For example, just across the Potomac River from our Nation's capital, Virginia's Fairfax County School District boasts children from 180 different racial, national and ethnic groups who are fluent in more than 100 different native languages. We must ensure that our educational system nurtures the creativity of every American student, empowers them with the skills and knowledge to reach their full potential, and offers them the opportunity to succeed in the lives they will live and the jobs they will hold in the future.

The new century also will hold challenges and possibilities for senior citizens. The number of elderly people in our country will double by the year 2030, and, thanks to medical advances, by the middle of the 21st century the average American will live to be 82 -- six years longer than today's average life span. These extra years of life are a great gift, but they also pose problems for the federal programs that provide financial assistance and medical care for the elderly. One of the greatest concerns of those of us in our middle years -- the generation born in the postwar era -- is that, as we grow old, we will place an intolerable financial burden on our children and hamper their ability to raise our grandchildren. As we enter the new millennium with a strong economy and the first budget surpluses since the 1960s, we have a historic opportunity -- and a solemn obligation -- to ensure that Social Security and Medicare are preserved for the well-being of future generations of Americans who will live in a society where men and women will lead longer, more active, more productive lives.

We have much to accomplish in the next century as we continue our journey to become a nation that respects our differences, celebrates our diversity, and unites around our shared values. As the new millennium swiftly approaches, let us proudly mark the milestones on that journey, rejoice in the progress we have made, and resolve to achieve even greater advances in the years to come.