[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[July 24, 1992]
[Pages 1174-1178]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks in a Roundtable Discussion on Families in Columbia, Missouri

July 24, 1992
    The President. Well, Governor, all yours, sir.
    Governor John Ashcroft. Well, President Bush, the members of the 
National Commission on Urban American Families and these Missouri 
families, we're all pleased to be here with you this afternoon. I'm 
delighted to welcome you back to Missouri, to welcome the Commission to 
Missouri. I'm pleased that these families are here to share their unique 
stories of work, their commitment, the kind of intensity and industry 
that's needed to build strong families and hold them together.
    We thank you for making families a priority, Mr. President. Until 
you became the spokesperson who was emphasizing families, I think 
families were becoming America's forgotten people. But thanks to your 
care and concern, Americans are turning towards home, and we think 
that's very important.
    Your Commission is working aggressively to fulfill our mission as 
outlined in your Executive order. In the 77 days since we received our 
charter, we've worked hard to find out what can be done to strengthen 
families. We've been in Oakland and San Francisco in California, and 
Minneapolis in Minnesota, in Dallas in Texas, and Washington, DC. And 
just yesterday, we visited a place that, well, you're very concerned 
about; we were in south central Los Angeles. In the coming months, we'll 
also be hearing from families and experts in New York and Chicago and 
Knoxville. Mr. President, your Commission is a hard-working one.
    The President. I might interrupt to say thank you to the Commission 
members. Some of them came a long, long way, the Governor was telling 
me, and others have a long way to go in returning home. But thank you 
for what you're doing. And please tell the others I'm very, very 
grateful, anxious to hear. But excuse the interruption.
    Governor Ashcroft. No, that's quite all right. We've heard from a 
wide variety of people from the academic, public officials, policy 
analysts, activists, but most of all, we've heard from families in every 
area. In city after city, we've heard them tell us that the troubling 
concerns about the condition of family life in America are broadly held. 
They're shared concerns. People understand that families indeed are in 
trouble, and when we have troubled families, that makes for troubled 
neighborhoods. Families are telling us that society is somehow polluting 
or contaminating the family atmosphere. Analysts see the trend of family 
decline as part of a cultural shift in our society away from valuing 
family and community in favor of emphasizing self-indulgence.
    Our statistics that we're developing indicate that family decline is 
a problem that's common to all Americans, black, white, rich, as well as 
poor. Family breakdown shatters lives whether it's in the affluent 
suburbs or in--hurts the children in small towns as well as large 
cities.
    But we're also hearing that people have hope. Many are filled with 
optimism and are relearning the value and strength that can be found in 
support of American fami-

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lies. We're discovering that America is blessed with good volunteers, 
people who have great spirit and tremendous heart and are tremendously 
committed to sharing. There are professionals who are dedicated to 
helping as well.
    So, Mr. President, we thank you for meeting with us, and we thank 
you for caring deeply about America's families. We'd invite you to speak 
with us about your sense of these matters. And then I'd like to 
introduce you to some of these Missouri families who've come----
    The President. I would only add that, in the first place, I'm very 
grateful to Governor Ashcroft and former Mayor Strauss for heading up 
this important effort. It's nonpartisan. It is national in scope. It 
simply says we must explore ways to strengthen the family. Some of that, 
I expect, might be recommendations changing laws so that it will 
encourage people who now make a little more dough who live apart to stay 
together. I'm sure it will get into other items that are affected by 
legislation.
    The main thing is we've got the emphasis here on the right thing. I 
will simply repeat to the Commissioners and to these families what I've 
heard from two recent groups of mayors, both of them: one, the National 
League of Cities; the other, the black mayors association I met with the 
other day. Both of them said that the major cause for concern and cause 
for the problems in urban America was the decline of the family. So 
they're saying, ``Hey, help us find ways to strengthen family.''
    That's what motivated--actually, it was the National League of 
Cities that suggested that we do this, make this a national Commission, 
make this something national. Of course, I was proud to announce it back 
in the State of the Union meeting. And I'm just anxious to hear from you 
or from some of these families what their experience has been.
    I also have a little grandparently advice. And that is that all 
kids, everybody under 12, ought to be released to sit in the shade of 
that tree over there or go inside if they want to. That's my position as 
President, but you don't have to do it. [Laughter] But otherwise, I 
think you might enjoy it. Because I know if I were a kid, I'd be a 
little restless out there, especially if I was all dressed up like you 
are. [Laughter] So you ought to feel free to go sit under a nice, cool 
tree over there, but don't forget to come back to your parents because 
they love you very much. Maybe there's a place inside, I don't know. You 
can explore around there, but don't get lost.
    All right. Now who's going to--John, what's going to happen?
    Governor Ashcroft. Well, we have a number of Missouri families with 
us today who are examples of how public, how private, how religious 
programs can work to strengthen families. Of course, we expect you to 
ask questions. But I want to invite Commission members also to make 
remarks.

[At this point, participants described the operation and beneficial 
effects of various programs.]

    The President. That's great.
    Governor Ashcroft. The Cochair of this Commission is Mayor Strauss 
of Dallas, Texas, and she's been a great Commission member in every 
respect. Go right ahead.
    Mayor Strauss. Thank you, Governor. Have we heard from everybody? 
The families?
    Governor Ashcroft. I think we have, yes.
    Mayor Strauss. Because I feel moved as a member of this Commission, 
as Cochair, to say to you, Mr. President, how much we appreciate the 
fact that you have put this at the top of your agenda. It's not that 
it's anything new to you because we know that there are many, many 
programs, Federal programs and encouragement of the private sector, to 
help those who need help: families, the poor, the ill, the elderly.
    But this new thrust is going to do so much good. I thank you for the 
opportunity to be a member of this Commission and to travel all over 
America and hear the voice of America telling us that problems that are 
so threatening to all of us, teenage pregnancy and gangs and crime and 
drugs, school dropout, so many are the result of the breakdown of the 
family and, in turn, perpetuate the breakdown of the family.
    The President. Yes.
    Mayor Strauss. So we want you to know

[[Page 1176]]

we have heard you. We know what your goal is, and we will do everything 
in our power to meet that goal and provide for a better future for the 
people of this country. And we thank you.
    The President. Thanks for those kind words.
    But is it too early to ask the Commissioners, are you beginning--of 
course, the Commission's been, what, in effect 70 days or something like 
that, 77 days, traveled to many States, which I think is very important. 
Because I think it's important that when the report comes in, it has a 
national concept to it, that it isn't regional in any sense. I think 
that's important.
    But is it too early for the Commissioners to indicate, or do you 
think the final report will have more in the way of legislative 
suggestions as to how we'd change things or what new things we can do 
legislatively to strengthen the family? Or is it going to be more apt to 
be along the lines of some of the things we've heard here today, 
community programs, perhaps sponsored and keyed at the State and local 
level?
    Mayor Strauss. It's going to be a combination.
    The President. Combination.
    Commissioner Alphonso Jackson. In traveling around the country, I 
think that what we're finding is there are a combination of both. 
There's going to have to be some legislative changes. But I think more 
than anything else, it's going to have to come directly from community 
involvement. As [inaudible] said yesterday, each individual community is 
going to have to make a commitment.
    I think what we're finding in traveling around this country--that's 
been often said that the President's not in touch. I think you're very 
much in touch. I think the people in this community sense that the 
family is the key core to change what is happening in our country.
    We were in Los Angeles yesterday, and I think it was reinforced 
again when we had major discussions with producers and directors of 
major television and movie shows yesterday. It seems in some way that 
they might be out of touch, but the families were in touch. I think they 
reiterated that to them. And I think we got something very, very deep 
out of that. I think we've traveled to four or five cities, and the more 
we travel, the more we find out that the families sense that they're in 
crisis. But there is hope, and the hope is creating community 
organizations to bring the family back as a basic unit.
    So I would say that it's going to take a combination of both.
    The President. Right. I didn't know, the Governor did not tell me 
that you'd met with the media. And I think properly so because I think 
they need to change some of these things that they're engaged in under 
the name of entertainment. What we don't hear about are some of the 
things that they have been able to do, are willing to do. Then I should 
think that the Commission would look at the great potential if they 
could be mobilized to do more.
    Why I say that is, I went out some time ago now, a long time ago, 
and they had a meeting of a lot of the leading executives in the media 
business. They decided that they would dedicate, I think it was one 
Saturday, maybe more, every cartoon that the kids watch on Saturday to 
have an antidrug message. That's not necessarily directly family, but 
clearly, every family would agree use of drugs make it tough on family.
    They did it. They did it all. There were no pricetags on it. They 
just shifted the content of those programs. And I'm wondering if you 
ought to take, I'm sure you will, but maybe take a look at some positive 
suggestions along that line of what some of these media outlets and 
innovation entertainment can do, to do what that one group of people did 
on that one Saturday. I mean, I think there's tremendous potential 
there.
    I think they'd be open-minded about it. One of the things we've got 
going, it's not exactly family, but is this partnership, media 
partnership headed by Jim Burke, remember that ran--you may know him; I 
think John knows him--ran Johnson & Johnson. He took on a commitment to 
get a billion dollars of pro bono advertising on the antidrug scene, and 
he's up to around $500 million or $600 million now. And you see these--I 
don't know if you remember the one with the fried egg cracking and all 
that. Well, that was one that they did, total-

[[Page 1177]]

ly pro bono, not Government. And they just went and persuaded the 
networks and others to do this.
    David, you were going to say something. But maybe in this whole area 
of recommending to some of these very powerful media outlets, they can 
do what you ask of them.
    I interrupted you, I know.
    Commissioner David Blankenhorn. That's your right. I was going to 
say that one of the things we're hearing a lot is that--and I believe 
very strongly--we have to look for ways to bring fathers back into the 
home. This is really a big issue, as you know. A lot of the indicators 
we have tell us that child well-being is declining in the country. The 
biggest reason it's declining is the family breakup, the erosion of 
marriage. A lot of this is a cultural issue; it can't be legislated. But 
there are some things in the area of tax policy, welfare law reform, 
child support payments, and so on that can be done to send good signals 
and incentives about the importance of fatherhood. To me, that's kind of 
the core issue out there as regards child well-being that we are hearing 
as we listen to people.
    The President. That's interesting. There's also a kind of 
disciplinary component of that where a person, a father who takes off 
and does have a financial obligation set by the court, that that person 
fulfill that obligation. He can't go off living alone and leave the 
mother with the kids and leave them hung out there to dry without 
fulfilling that obligation. So that's already in the mill, people trying 
to figure out how to do it. But you're right about that.
    Governor Ashcroft. Before we leave, I want to call on Irene Johnson 
from Chicago. She's been a very important member, a valuable member of 
the Commission. She has the perspective that, well, has resonated with 
the people who have come to testify in virtually every city to which 
we've come. Irene, thank you for being here today.
    Commissioner Irene Johnson. Thank you very much. Mr. President, it's 
an honor to meet you in person, and I want to thank you personally for 
this assignment that you've given us. In reference to your statement 
about the things that we have found as we go around America, we think 
that there will need to be some policy changes also. The communities do 
have to play a very important part, but the other part that we've heard 
is that we have to deal with the spiritual aspect, that people have to 
go back to what America was built on, and that was faith in God. So we 
hear a lot of families saying that that kind of thread has led them to 
do community services and the kinds of things that we see families are 
dealing with, particularly the Jones family and many other families that 
we have met.
    I'm just pleased to know that we believe that you have that spirit 
of God in you, the reason why you are concerned about the families and 
gave us this assignment. So we appreciate that, and we are going to do 
our best in all of that.
    The President. You know, it would be very interesting, I don't know 
how the Commission would determine this, to see, of the families who are 
having difficulties in the sense, both combination of economic 
difficulties, remembering what Dave talked about single-parent families, 
how faith--I don't know how you could; it's so private in one way--but 
how faith matters, whether they still have the seeds of faith to sustain 
them or whether they just lost that and perhaps through some ministry 
could reacquire it. I don't know. I mean, I'd be interested.
    What do you think?
    Commissioner Josephine Velazquez. In all the programs that we have 
been viewing, wherever we see that there is a religious factor built 
into it, a spiritual factor build into the program, you can see that the 
results you get are so much more positive. So it is a very positive 
aspect and something that we should look into. We have lost that. And we 
have been shown--a lot of these families come up to say, and a lot of 
the children, ``Why don't we have our prayer back in schools?''--things 
that they're missing. We lost it somewhere along the line, and the 
American people are asking for it to be back.
    Commissioner Jackson. I'd like to give you a comment. I think 
yesterday, Mr. President, in Los Angeles, we had a story told by a young 
man who is today 27 years old. His mother left under unusual circum-

[[Page 1178]]

stances. They lived in Nicholson Gardens, which is a public housing 
development in Los Angeles. At 17 he had to become the father, the 
mother of the family. His youngest brother was 2 months old when she 
left the home. He has raised every one of them.
    But he said yesterday the most important thing was his faith and 
commitment in God and that he had to fight through a court system to 
keep his sisters and brothers. And now he has become an assistant 
manager at Nicholas Gardens. But he specifically said to us yesterday 
that without his deep abiding belief in God, that he could not have made 
it, and that was the driving force keeping him going every day.
    The President. Isn't that fascinating? Gosh.
    Governor Ashcroft. Mr. President, we thank you very much for coming 
and just hearing a little bit of the reflection of what we've been 
hearing around America from the Commission and also hearing from 
individuals in Missouri. And these are the type of people, individuals 
who we've been hearing from in a variety of stops from one coast to the 
other. And they're inspiring to me in a lot of ways. They've fought 
through tough odds. Sometimes they've had bad starts. But the 
possibility of rescuing situations is coming on strong, putting families 
back together that had been apart, bringing children back into the home 
that had been in foster care.
    We're inspired. You've given us a challenging but inspiring job. And 
we just want to thank you for letting us report to you on a little bit 
of an interim basis and letting us feel again the intensity of your 
personal concern on this issue.
    The President. Well, I'm delighted. And thanks to the Commission 
members and also to the witnesses, or whatever we call them, these four 
families that shared this with us. I sit back there in Washington, and 
it really brings it home much more personally when you hear what 
individual families have done and are still doing.
    As for you kids, next time we do this, it's going to be nice and 
cool. [Laughter] Next time that's the way it's going to be.
    Thank you all so much.
    Governor Ashcroft. We deliver the report in December. It will be 
cooler then.
    The President. All right. That sounds far off now. [Laughter]

                    Note: The President spoke at 3:25 p.m. in Shelter 
                        Gardens Park.