[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
[May 5, 1993]
[Pages 573-574]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 573]]


Remarks at the ``Latino USA'' Reception
May 5, 1993

    Thank you very much. Thank you. I started to apologize for being 
late, but now I'm glad I am. You're in a good humor. [Laughter] I have, 
as you can tell by my outfit, been somewhere else tonight, but I'm 
awfully glad to be here. I want to say to Dr. Cardenas and to all of 
you, happy Cinco de Mayo. Viva public radio. And thank you for letting 
me be here tonight.
    There are a lot of friends of mine here, and you see with me 
Secretary Cisneros and Secretary Pena. They've talked already, I think. 
I'm very proud of them. I'm very glad they're a part of my 
administration, along with Regina Montoya, who is my Special Assistant 
for Intergovernmental Relations. That means when Governors and Mayors 
are happy, it's her fault. When they're mad, it's because I made a 
mistake. [Laughter] I also would like to thank the Members of Congress 
who are here: Congressmen Esteban Torres, Carlos Romero-Barcelo, Bob 
Menendez, Solomon Ortiz, Ed Pastor, and Luis Gutierrez, my good friends 
here. I also want to note the presence here of three people from KUAR-FM 
in Little Rock, Arkansas: Regina Dean, Ben Frye, and Tim Edwards.
    Last year at this time I celebrated Cinco de Mayo on the town square 
in San Francisco with tens of thousands of people. It was an ecstatic 
day, 4 weeks from the end of the primary season. I am deeply honored to 
be here with you tonight to acknowledge this important day, which was a 
day of victory and a new beginning for the people of Mexico.
    Tonight we celebrate another new beginning, and I want to offer my 
congratulations and best wishes to all who have worked so hard to launch 
``Latino USA.'' I believe it will be a new forum for all the diverse 
voices throughout America's Latino communities and a new way for more 
Americans to learn more about the importance of the many Latino cultures 
in the United States and the many leaders who have brought and are 
bringing hope and inspiration to all Americans. I think tonight I'd like 
to say that we ought to have a special word of thanks for the life and 
work of the late Cesar Chavez. [Applause]
    I want to say a special word of thanks to the Members of the 
Congressional Hispanic Caucus; I have introduced many of them to you. 
They have met with me extensively, and they've helped to make me more 
aware of the needs and opportunities in Latino communities throughout 
the United States and in Puerto Rico. That's all part of the United 
States. I'm still for self-determination, by the way. That's my 
position, and I want to follow it.
    I want to say also that the Health Care Task Force, which my wife is 
chairing, has benefited immensely from the contributions of Latinos in 
community-based health movements all over the United States who have 
helped us to understand some of the special needs that we must respond 
to in putting together a real program to provide health security for all 
the people of the United States, something that we are determined to do 
this year. And I want you to support us in that.
    I also want you to know that--I don't know if this is a commendation 
or a condemnation in the world of electoral politics--but my wife and I 
are NPR junkies. When I was Governor of Arkansas, we woke every morning 
for more than a decade to the NPR station at home, kicking on at 6 a.m. 
Our radio would come on, and I would hear some thoughtful news broadcast 
but desperately want to go back to sleep. But the earnest sincerity of 
NPR always got me up and got me going. As a matter of fact, I was so 
impressed with the quality--yes, I am--[laughter]--the quality of the 
programs that I asked NPR's president, Douglas Bennet, to leave his post 
and join my administration as Assistant Secretary of State for 
International Organizations. Now, I want you to know that Doug has his 
hearing on Friday. And after all these years, he's going to get a feel 
for what it's like to be on the other side of the microphone. That was 
almost worth making the appointment for. [Laughter]
    I also want to say a word of congratulations to NPR's news division 
and its vice president for news, Bill Buzenberg, for ``All Things 
Considered,'' which celebrated its 22d anniversary on Monday, a great 
program. I hope that ``Latino USA'' does for its audiences what programs 
like ``All Things Considered'' and ``Morning Edition'' do for audiences 
all across America

[[Page 574]]

today. Perhaps 22 Cinco de Mayos from today, you too will be able to 
look back and remember what an important beginning this really was.
    And let me say in general, I am trying to make this administration 
one of new beginnings. I'm doing my best every day to get up and go to 
work with people like Henry and Federico, knowing that we don't have all 
the answers and knowing that you can't just turn the ship of state 
around overnight, but believing that our solemn obligation is to get up 
every day and try to change this country for the better and try to make 
it possible for Americans to honestly and maturely and with discipline 
and vision and will face our problems and seize our opportunities, 
trying to make absolutely sure that our diversity is a cause of strength 
not a source of division so that every person in this country and every 
child, like that beautiful little girl I held up a minute ago, can grow 
up and live to the fullest of their God-given capacities. That is our 
job.
    Thank you, and God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 10:35 p.m. at the Sequoia Restaurant. In 
his remarks, he referred to Gilbert Cardenas, executive producer of 
``Latino USA.''