PRESIDENT Clinton urged the Republican-controlled Congress to put aside party differences and support the second-term programme he set out last night in his State of the Union speech.
But already he is on a collision course with Congress over his opposition to the Republican proposal to make balanced budgets obligatory in five years' time. The President told Congress he favours balanced budgets but not through a constitutional amendment.
The President made his address as the latest opinion polls showed he had his highest-ever approval ratings. Some 60 per cent approve of the way he is handling his duties. Congress's approval rating is 36 per cent.
The atmosphere on Capitol Hill for the speech was more relaxed than a year ago, when Mr Clinton was locked in confrontation with the Republican majority over the budget, which resulted in unpopular shutdowns in federal government services.
In his address the President set out his goals for the next four years and emphasised raising educational standards to prepare young people for the information age and the challenges of the 21st century.
Other domestic policy areas where the President called for bi-partisanship were overhauling the health and social security systems for the elderly, which are in danger of going bankrupt if action is not taken. He also wants improved medical insurance for poor children.
While the economy is booming and inflation is at a record low the President drew attention to the need to find jobs for the thousands of poorer people now being dropped from the welfare rolls following changes in the present system of federal guarantees passed by the Congress last summer.
On foreign policy, Mr Clinton asked Congress to ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty, which will take effect next April with or without US support.
But the influential chairman of the Senate Foreign Relation Committee, Mr Jesse Helms, who helped block ratification in the last Congress, has said he is still opposed to giving it the priority Mr Clinton seeks.
The President also spelled out his support for extending NATO membership while simultaneously building a new security relationship with Russia. Relations with China are also a foreign policy priority.
The President's plans for raising educational standards took up much of his speech, echoing the themes he used in his election campaign and in his recent inaugural address. He will use his draft budget to be sent to Congress tomorrow to implement tax breaks which would bring more school-leavers into third-level education.
Middle-class families on annual incomes of under $ 100,000 will be offered $1,500 in tax credits for each of the first two years of higher education, or they can opt for a $10,000 deduction from taxable income.