    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
    [November 22, 1993]
    [Pages 2052-2053]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the National Democratic Institute Dinner
    November 22, 1993

        Thank you very much, Ken. And thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for
    that warm welcome and for the work you do. It's a real honor for me to
    be here tonight among so many friends and colleagues who have worked so
    hard to promote democracy throughout the world. The work of NDI is well-
    known and highly prized, from Russia and the Baltics to Mexico, Paraguay
    to the African Continent and many other places where you are working to
    breathe life into the idea of democracy. I salute you for that work.
        I think the knowledge that so many Americans have of your work and
    the credibility it has gained in the Congress is one reason that I was
    able to secure, with the help of some of the people here present, a
    substantial increase in funding for the National Endowment for Democracy
    at a time when we were cutting more than half the items in the domestic
    and the foreign budget.
        I would also like to thank you for Brian Atwood and for the fine job
    he's done at AID.
        I am delighted that tonight you're honoring two extraordinary
    leaders, Korean President Kim Yong-sam and Senator George Mitchell.
    Their lives have given meaning to the ideals which have inspired so many
    millions of people around the world who struggle for democracy.
        President Kim's valiant efforts since his service as a young
    assemblyman to bring democracy to Korea are a model to aspiring
    democrats everywhere. He has certainly paid a price for his devotion to
    freedom and democracy. And all of us and all freedom-loving people
    everywhere in the world should honor the personal price he paid, and
    then the fact that, once given the chance to govern his country, he
    lived in office by the ideals he expressed out of office. More should do
    the same.
        I also want to thank the NDI for honoring my good friend Senator
    George Mitchell, whose contributions to democracy, whose work for
    responsive Government here at home, and whose personal integrity prove
    once again that politics can be an honorable profession. When I went to
    the meeting of the Asian-Pacific leaders in Seattle, on the heels of the
    remarkable vote for the NAFTA treaty in the House of Representatives and
    its following overwhelming support in the Senate--something which, I
    add, I am convinced is good for democracy in Mexico and throughout Latin
    America--George Mitchell made sure that I did not forget that one of my
    missions was to espouse the cause of human rights in all the countries
    of the world who seek to be our full partners in moving toward the 21st
    century, and I thank him for that.
        Not long before I came over here tonight, and after I finished the
    day's work, I went home to be with my daughter for a few moments. And
    she had a friend from school over, and they're studying for an
    examination around the kitchen table, the way I did so many times when I
    was her age. And we turned on the evening

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    news because I wanted to see what was on about the airline strike which
    was settled today, and I thank the parties involved for doing that. And
    there was a special on, as you might imagine, about John Kennedy, since
    this is the 30th anniversary of his death. And it showed a lot of
    predictable footage, but I enjoyed watching it all the same. And the
    people who were commenting on the channels I watched all pointed out
    that everyone who was old enough to remember could tell you exactly
    where he or she was at that moment on that fateful Friday 30 years ago.
        But the thing that I was most moved by was the comment that, at that
    time, 30 years ago, the American people believed in their Government and
    believed in their President and believed in the promise of democracy to
    improve the lot of the people of this country and people throughout the
    world. And of course, the commentator went on to point out how much more
    difficult it is today, not only in our country but throughout the world
    because of economic stagnation, because of the pressures from the middle
    class, because of the continuing inability of democracy to deliver on
    some of the deepest hopes and dreams of humankind.
        I say to you tonight that if we had more people in public life like
    George Mitchell and President Kim, the confidence of the people of the
    world in democracy would go up, and the confidence of the people of the
    United States in who we are, what we believe in, and what we're capable
    of doing would increase. And so I ask you tonight, as you honor them on
    this fateful anniversary, to ask also of yourselves, what can we do
    together to make people really believe in the cause for which these men
    and so many others have given so much.
        Thank you, and good night.

    Note: The President spoke at 8 p.m. at the Washington Hilton Hotel. In
    his remarks, he referred to Ken Wollack, president of the institute.