 Merry Christmas from the White House. Nancy and I wish we could personally thank the thousands of you who sent us holiday cards, greetings, and messages. Each one is moving and tells a story of its own. A story of love, hope, prayer, and patriotism. And each one has helped to brighten our Christmas. Some of the most moving have come from fellow citizens who, unlike most of us, are not spending Christmas Day at the family hearth surrounded by friends and loved ones. I'm thinking of the 12 U.S. Marines who sent us a card from Beirut, Lebanon, where they'll spend their Christmas helping to rebuild the shattered hopes for peace in a suffering land. And I'm thinking of the petty officer serving aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise who asked that we remember him and his shipmates this holiday season. Christmas in the Indian Ocean is no fun, he writes, but it's for a very good cause. Well, that's right, sailor. You're serving a very good cause indeed. On this, the birthday of the Prince of Peace, you and your comrades serve to protect the peace he taught us. You may be thousands of miles away, but to us here at home, you've never been closer. One of my favorite pieces of Christmas mail came early this year. A sort of modern American Christmas story that took place not in our country's heartland, but on the troubled waters of the South China Sea last October. To me, it sums up so much of what is best about the Christmas spirit, the American character, and what this beloved land of ours stands for, not only to ourselves, but to millions of less fortunate people around the globe. I want to thank Mr. Gary Kemp of Nina, Wisconsin, for bringing it to my attention. It's a letter from Ordnance Man First Class John Mooney, written to his parents from aboard the aircraft carrier Midway on October 15th, but it's a true Christmas story in the best sense. Dear mom and dad, he wrote, today we spotted a boat in the water and we rendered assistance. We picked up 65 Vietnamese refugees. It was about a two hour job getting everyone aboard and then they had to get screened by intelligence and checked out by medical and fed and clothed and all that. But now they're resting on the hangar deck and the kids, most of them seem to be kids, are sitting in front of probably the first television set they've ever seen watching Star Wars. Their boat was sinking as we came alongside. They'd been at sea five days and had run out of water. All in all, a couple of more days and the kids would have been in pretty bad shape. I guess once in a while, he writes, we need a jolt like that for us to realize why we do what we do and how important really it can be. I mean, it took a lot of guts for those parents to make a choice like that, to go to sea in a leaky boat in hope of finding someone to take them from the sea, so much risk, but apparently they felt it was worth it rather than live in a communist country. For all of our problems with the price of gas and not being able to afford a new car or other creature comforts this year, I really don't see a lot of leaky boats heading out of San Diego looking for the Russian ships out there. After the refugees were brought aboard, I took some pictures, but as usual I didn't have my camera with me for the real picture, the one blazed in my mind. As they approached the ship, they were all waving and trying as best they could to say, hello America sailor, hello freedom man. It's hard to see a boat full of people like that and not get a lump somewhere between shin and belly button, and it really makes one proud and glad to be an American. People were waving and shouting and choking down lumps and trying not to let other brave men see their wet eyes. A lieutenant next to me said, yeah, I guess it's payday in more ways than one. We got paid today, and I guess no one could say it better than that. It reminds us all of what America has always been, a place a man or woman can come to for freedom. I know we're crowded and we have unemployment and we have a real burden with refugees, but I honestly hope and pray we can always find room. We have a unique society made up of cast-offs of all the world's wars and oppressions, and yet we're strong and free. We have one thing in common, no matter where our forefathers came from, we believe in that freedom. I hope we always have room for one more person, maybe an Afghan or a Pole or someone else looking for a place where he doesn't have to worry about his family starving or a knock on the door in the night, and where all men who truly seek freedom and honor and respect and dignity for themselves and their posterity can find a place where they can finally see their dreams come true and their kids educated and become the next generations of doctors and lawyers and builders and soldiers and sailors. Love, John. Well, I think that letter just about says it all. In spite of everything, we Americans are still uniquely blessed, not only by the rich bounty of our land, but by a bounty of the spirit, a kind of year-round Christmas spirit that still makes our country a beacon of hope in a troubled world, and that makes this Christmas and every Christmas even more special for all of us who numbered among our gifts the birthright of being an American. Until next week, thanks for listening. Merry Christmas and God bless you. It wasn't that. I just was having a little trouble. Okay, the New Year's talk. My fellow Americans, I've always thought New Year's Day was an especially American tradition, full of the optimism and hope we're famous for in our daily lives, and energy and confidence we call the American spirit. Perhaps because we know we control our own destiny, we believe deep down inside that working together we can make each new year better than the old. Although last night was one of parties, today is one of resolutions. Reviewing the old year, we try to decide what we can do better in the new. Most of us are with our families near the warmth of the hearth, watching the parades with our children and football with our friends. Gathered together, we find strength and renewal. But this special holiday time is tragically marred for too many of us. You may have spotted the reason on the road last night if you had to drive home, the drunk driver. Each year, approximately 25,000 lives are lost in alcohol-related automobile accidents. An additional 650,000 are seriously injured. The personal pain and heartache caused by these needless tragedies is immeasurable, and billions of dollars are lost in medical costs, wages, and through hours of missed work. This weekend, while millions of Americans are traveling on our highways and streets, and while hundreds of millions more are celebrating with their loved ones, let's take a few minutes to think of ways to protect ourselves and our families from the menace of the drunk and drug-influenced driver. The first step is to realize that a drunk driver accident is no accident. The motorist who drinks too much and then drives, who uses drugs and then gets behind the wheel of a car, is a disaster waiting to happen. Overall, alcohol is now involved in up to 55 percent of all fatal highway crashes and is a contributing factor in more than 2 million motor vehicle accidents each year. The drunk driver has turned his car into a weapon, a weapon that threatens the lives and safety of the innocent. Fortunately, there's a brighter side. Today, we have one of our best opportunities in years to tackle this tragic problem. Public awareness has never been higher. Citizens groups, local officials, legislators, judges, police officers, people from all over the country are saying, enough is enough. Let's get these killers off our roads and get them off now. Last April, I appointed a presidential commission on drunk driving to explore the problem more fully and to work with state and local governments to develop effective programs. Their interim report has already come in and has some useful findings. For example, we've found that people who've had too much to drink are less likely to drive when they know they have a good chance of being caught. The potential drunk driver who understands that prosecution is certain and the penalty swift will be less likely to assist on driving home. For this deterrent to work, however, state and local law enforcement officials must make it clear that they mean business. Programs are already springing up in some states with good results, in areas where police have made drunk drivers a prime target, traffic deaths have begun to decline. For example, in Maine, alcohol-related crashes have dropped 41% since that state's drunk driving program was strengthened. The highway death rate there is the lowest since they started keeping records. Maryland has also intensified its program and highway deaths there are at a 19-year low. Since 1980, 11 states have raised the legal drinking age and many other communities, counties and states have strengthened their laws, some requiring mandatory jail sentences for first offenders. In New York, for example, the fines and fees levied on those arrested are directed to local alcohol programs. In many areas, citizen groups are assisting state and local task forces, providing legislative support and participating in court monitoring and victim assistance. Of course, until we change our attitudes and our laws, our best protection is still to buckle our safety belts. There's much to be done if we're to rid ourselves of this scourge on our roads and there's a continuing need for private initiative. We must each make it our personal responsibility. If we band together, we can change the laws that will help make the difference. If we insist long enough and loudly enough, we can save lives. So I thought it appropriate to start the ball rolling on this the first day of the new year. Today we're taking a break from the concerns and the bustle of the work-a-day world, but we're also making a new beginning. As we gather around our dining room tables for the midday meal, let us thank God for life and the blessings He's put before us. High among them are our families, our freedom, and the opportunities of a new year. Let us renew our faith that as free men and women, we still have the power to better our lives and let us resolve to face the challenges of the new year holding that conviction firmly in our hearts that after all is our greatest strength and our greatest gift as Americans. So until next week, thanks for listening. Happy new year and God bless you.