[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[September 22, 1992]
[Pages 1622-1625]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the Community in Memphis, Tennessee
September 22, 1992

    The President. Thank you. Thank you very much. What a wonderful 
welcome.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. Thank you all very much. May I salute at first 
Congressman Sundquist. You're lucky; you've got a great Member of the 
United States Congress. Barbara Bush, off on some other part of the 
campaign trail, sends her love to Martha Sundquist, the great wife of 
Don. May I say how pleased I am to have been introduced by one of the 
truly great members of the Cabinet, a man who served this country with 
such distinction, a national leader for education, Governor Lamar 
Alexander. What a class act.
    May I thank and salute Dr. House, the superintendent of the schools 
here in Memphis; Dr. Langsdon, the Shelby County GOP and B-Q, the Bush-
Quayle chairman in '92. And may I single out Dr. Walters--[applause]--I 
didn't know kids clapped that much for a principal, but you're right. 
She is outstanding. And also Jakene Ashford, who greeted me earlier, the 
student body president. You've got a class-act president of this school, 
too.
    You know, I left the White House at 6:40 this morning. We started 
out on the campaign trail in Springfield, Missouri. This is the sixth 
State we've visited in just a little over 12 hours. But you know, I 
can't think of a better place to finish this day than Memphis, 
Tennessee, home of the blues, home of the wet and dry ribs, the Old 
South, and the new pyramid. And of course, the home of Elvis himself. 
Rest assured, I'm talking about Elvis Presley, not Elvis Clinton.
    You know, for the past few weeks I've been all across America 
stumping for the economic ideas I believe in. We call it the Agenda for 
American Renewal. I want to open new markets for American products, 
create jobs for American workers because--don't listen to the other 
side--Americans never retreat. We always compete, and we always win. 
That is the American spirit.
    If you listen to that Clinton-Gore ticket, you think everything is 
wrong. This morning new figures came out. Housing starts are up, the 
largest increase in a year and a half. Inflation is under control. 
Interest rates remain low. And I believe the stage is set, after a long, 
begrudging anemic growth, set for an economic recovery if we make the 
right choices in November. I need 4 more years to finish the job.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. That's what we want.
    You know, the choice before the American people is really clear. 
Governor Clinton has already started with his program. He wants more 
Government and higher taxes. That is bad for America.
    Audience members.  Boo-o-o!
    The President. I believe in something completely different, and so 
does Don. I believe that Government is too big and spends too much of 
your money, and I want

[[Page 1623]]

to cut taxes and provide incentives to get this economy moving again. 
You know, small business will be the horse pulling the wagon on our 
recovering economy. And so I want to give small businesses relief from 
taxation and regulation and litigation.
    You know parents don't coach Little League for fear; doctors don't 
deliver babies for fear. Today Americans spend up to $200 billion a year 
on lawyers and lawsuits. And I think it's crazy. As a nation we've got 
to sue each other less and care for each other more.
    I have one wish above all others, though, and as I look out at the 
young faces in this audience, I think of the potential of our great 
country and of the challenge of our schools. Your great Governor, Lamar, 
puts our challenge in education this way: When the fifth graders 
graduate from high school, they will have changed so much we will barely 
recognize them. But for our young people to succeed, our schools will 
have to change so much that we barely recognize them either.
    That's why I am so excited about America 2000 movement, the program 
to literally revolutionize education in this country. I am excited about 
our new American schools, about our higher standard for students, about 
freeing teachers from Government bureaucracy, and about giving every 
parent the choice to choose the best school for their child to learn in.
    So one of the reasons I came here to this wonderful institution is 
to say thanks to Memphis, because you are the big part, a major part of 
America 2000. You are a leader in a revolution that is changing America 
from the schoolyard right on up. And so to the parents and the teachers 
and the business leaders and the community activists, I say thanks for 
caring about the kids, thanks for being loyal to Memphis' future.
    Of course, there's another reason I came here today. As one or two 
of you may have heard, there's an election coming up in November. I have 
been traveling all across America making my case for our renewal agenda. 
While I've been outlining my positive ideas for the future, Bill Clinton 
has chosen to focus his energy on the past. And literally, you go back 
now, a lot of you are students about government and politics, month 
after month, for the last 11 months, Governor Clinton has persisted in 
attacking me, distorting my record. This week he unveiled the campaign's 
first negative commercial. He's been saying, ``Oh, wait until the 
Republicans go negative.'' It is the Clinton-Gore ticket that has aired 
the first national negative ads.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Now I have a confession to make. I haven't talked 
much about his record because I think the American people would rather 
hear a positive discussion about what we'll do to renew America. But I 
will also admit that I'm a little tired of having my own record 
distorted, and I think it's time we don't just listen to what he says, 
but take a look at what Governor Clinton does.
    That is what I've been doing today. That's exactly what I've been 
doing today, from Missouri to Oklahoma to Texas to Louisiana to 
Mississippi, and now in the great State of Tennessee, pointing out the 
facts, no exaggeration about Governor Clinton's record on economic 
fairness, on civil rights or lack thereof, on the environment, on health 
care. Over and over you see the same pattern emerging: Governor Clinton 
promises the Moon to America while the sky is falling in on Arkansas.
    Regrettably for the young people in that State, the wonderful young 
kids across the way in Arkansas, education is no different. In his new 
book, candidate Clinton says America has failed to provide its children 
with either the best education or adequate protection from violence. And 
I disagree. I am proud of what we've done to promote America 2000. And I 
am especially proud of the leadership of that great son of Tennessee, 
Lamar Alexander.
    And yes, sure, Governor Clinton, candidate Clinton, is critical of 
our record. But what has Governor Clinton done? Here are the facts. Let 
me give it to you. You're not going to like it, on behalf of your 
friends in Arkansas, but here's the record. Here are the facts, pure and 
simple. During the 1980's, Arkansas fell from 47th to 48th place in 
percentage of adults with a high school diploma. Arkansas' rankings on 
its

[[Page 1624]]

primary college entrance exam, the ACT, have declined. Twenty-eight 
States use the ACT as their primary college entrance test. The New York 
Times reported that in 1979, Arkansas ranked 20th out of those 28. In 
its latest ranking, it's down to 25th out of 28. While we're going up in 
the Nation, he's going down in the State of Arkansas.
    Audience members: Boo-o-o!
    The President. It is not fair to the young people there. It is not 
fair to the young families across the way. We know that more than three-
quarters of Arkansas high school graduates require remedial instruction 
when they get to college. Think about that. Three out of four Arkansas 
college students spend their first year of college relearning what they 
missed in high school. That is not fair to the families of Arkansas. 
When it comes to the percentage of adults with a college degree, 
Governor Clinton's Arkansas still ranks 50th, 50th in the entire Nation.
    Now, these are facts, pure and simple. And you can see there's a 
Grand Canyon by what candidate Clinton says about improving education 
and what Governor Clinton has actually done.
    If you believe as I do, if you believe education is important, I ask 
you to look beyond the rhetoric. Look at the record. I have fought for 
higher standards. I have fought for less regulation. I have fought to 
reinvent our schools. I have fought for parental choice. These ideas are 
not popular in all places. But if you care about education, I think you 
must look at the two candidates and ask yourself a simple question: When 
it comes to reforming our schools, which candidate will tell America 
what it wants to hear and which will tell America what it needs to hear?
    Enough talk of politics for the day. It's been a long, long day. 
It's been a wonderful day. And as you can imagine, campaigns can be 
grueling. Once in a while I'll get home, you know, after midnight, after 
being attacked in the press and the craziest mood I've every seen out 
there. And Barbara will ask me this simple question, ``You know, we've 
got a good life; we've got a wonderful family. Why do you put up with 
it?'' And I'll tell you why I put up with it, why I want 4 more years: I 
want it for the children, for the bright-faced kids I see on their 
parents' shoulders at rallies all across the Nation, for the young 
people right here tonight.
    Don Sundquist tells me that there are six young people from Russia 
with us this evening. They're part of an exchange program. Think about 
it. Think about how 10 years ago such a program might never be possible. 
Think about how 5 years ago these very kids sat halfway around the world 
knowing nothing of our world but fearing, as our own families, our own 
kids did, that the world they knew might be destroyed in a moment with 
the mere press of a finger on a button. Well, that terrible, awful 
nightmare has receded from our children's minds. And today these Russian 
kids can join with Memphis kids, and they can read stories together and 
play basketball and laugh at the same jokes and share the same sweet 
memories and think of all that has happened to make this possible.
    In another time, in another age, Thomas Paine wrote these simple 
words, ``We have the power to begin the world again.'' Well, we have 
begun our world again. Our new world is a world of hope. It's a world of 
promise, a world of peace, a world of unprecedented opportunity. I want 
our children to realize the magic of this new world, to believe in 
miracles, just as we can look at our Russian friends here tonight and 
say, ``Miracles have finally come true.''
    If we can renew the world, and I take great pride in the fact that 
our administration has literally changed the world, made peace a reality 
and not a dream, made democracy on the march, made tranquility around 
the world something real and something we can touch and feel. If we can 
change the world, then I have no doubt that we can renew America, and we 
can strengthen our economy. We can reinvent our schools.
    There is much work to be done, and I believe I am the 
leader to do it. That is why I am running for reelection, and that 
is why I ask for your support. And don't ever let the Governor from 
across the way convince you that we are a nation in decline. We are the 
most respected, freest, greatest nation on the face of 
the Earth, and I want to lead

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you for 4 more years.
    Thank you, and may God bless the United States of America. Thank you 
very, very much.

                    Note: The President spoke at 7:45 p.m. at Craigmont 
                        High School.