    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [June 12, 1993]
    [Pages 840-841]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to Volunteers for Presidential Correspondence
    June 12, 1993

        Thank you. Good morning. I want to thank you all for coming here and
    for being willing to help us with what is really a great problem for
    democracy. But as all of you know, we get a lot of mail at the White
    House. What a lot of people don't know is we're getting a lot more than
    anyone ever has. And by the time we had been here 3\1/2\ months, more
    letters had come to the White House than came to the White House in all
    of 1992.
        We're getting about 40,000 letters a day. We are desperately working
    to try to answer those letters with very limited staff. We've had
    already about 450 young people from the area agree to come in and help
    us in the past. But today I'm proud to say that there are over 800 young
    people who will be working today to help open and staple the mail that
    comes in here, so that then it can be read and sorted and answered.
        We have gotten over 3 million pieces of mail, with more coming. And
    that's good. But we have to answer all those letters. We have to

    [[Page 841]]

    let the American people know that they are being heard, and we're
    working very hard on it. And I might say, that's after we opened an E-
    mail channel, so we've got a lot of people coming in through E-mail.
    We've got extra phone lines on for people to call in, and we're still
    getting this much mail.
        So you are really going to help make democracy work today. And all
    over America, people will have their letters read and their letters
    answered more quickly because you've agreed to come here and help us
    open and staple the mail so it can all be processed more quickly.
        I am personally very, very grateful to you for doing this. You've
    made a real contribution to helping the White House work for America
    better. I hope it's also a great fun day for you. And I'm delighted to
    see all of you here.
        Thank you very much. Have a good day. Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:42 a.m. on West Executive Drive at the
    White House.