[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 104 (Wednesday, July 27, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1652]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING FORMER PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON ON THE OCCASION OF 
                           HIS 59TH BIRTHDAY

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                               speech of

                           HON. RAHM EMANUEL

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 25, 2005

  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in recognition of the 
fifty-ninth birthday of former President William Jefferson Clinton, a 
man whose Presidency was marked by great strides in both global 
tranquility and economic prosperity.
  As a young man, President Clinton was an excellent musician and a 
scholar, attending Georgetown University, Yale University, and, in 
1968, winning a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University.
  President Clinton diligently served the citizens of Arkansas as both 
Attorney General and Governor before he went on to serve the country as 
a whole as the forty-second President of the United States of America.
  The Presidency of Bill Clinton was a period of unprecedented peace 
and prosperity, marked by America's lowest unemployment rate in modern 
times, the lowest inflation rate in 30 years, and the highest home 
ownership rates in our country's history. President Clinton proposed 
the first balanced budget in decades and left the country with a budget 
surplus.
  President Clinton was a strong leader who improved America's 
international standing and showed compassion towards people around the 
world. President Clinton rallied the members of the North Atlantic 
Treaty Organization to put an end to ethnic cleansing in the Balkans 
and played a major role in the effort to end violence in Northern 
Ireland. His service to the people of the world continues years after 
his Presidency, including his recent efforts with former President 
George H. W. Bush in spearheading the United States effort to provide 
private aid to victims of the devastating tsunami that struck southeast 
Asia.
  It was an honor to serve in the White House under President Clinton, 
as he helped extend health insurance to millions of uninsured children, 
placed 100,000 new police officers on the street, passing the North 
American Free Trade Agreement, reformed welfare, raised the minimum 
wage, and balanced the federal budget.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady from New York for introducing 
this resolution, and I join my colleagues in wishing a happy and 
healthy 59th birthday to our 42nd President and my friend, William 
Jefferson Clinton.

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