    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
    [September 6, 1993]
    [Page 1441]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1441]]

    Remarks to the Community in Homestead, Florida
    September 6, 1993

        Ladies and gentlemen, I have had a great tour of Florida City and
    Homestead today, and we just had a wonderful community meeting where I
    heard from a lot of people who have been through the last year and who
    have suffered, but who triumphed.
        I want to give you just one message on this Labor Day. This is a day
    where we honor the men and women of our country who work and keep this
    country going. What we have proved is that the Government and the people
    in their own lives can work together as partners, can labor together to
    pull this community together and rebuild this community and come back.
    And I want you to know that I am very proud of the work that all of you
    have done. I'm very grateful for the presence here today of several
    members of the Florida congressional delegation, several House Members
    and Senator Graham, for your Lieutenant Governor, for the people here on
    the Dade County Commission, and all the local leadership, but also for
    the citizens here.
        I ran for President because I really believed we could make
    Government work again. I believed that things could happen that could
    change the lives of people. And I knew that a lot of it would have to be
    done by people at the local level, by the State legislators that are
    here in large numbers, by people who have actually lost their homes and
    seen things go away here. But I also knew the National Government had a
    responsibility. I asked Henry Cisneros, the Secretary of Housing and
    Urban Development, to coordinate our long-term commitment to helping
    people here deal with the aftermath of the hurricane. We hired Otis
    Pitts, who's done a terrific job down here as the Deputy Under Secretary
    of HUD, to work with all of you. And I just want to say to all of you,
    we are in this for the long run. I heard today about some things that
    still need to be done. And we will not have our work done until
    everybody in this part of our country who wants a job has one, until
    people are back in their homes, until these communities are rebuilt.
        One other thing I want to say to you is that, as you know, huge
    numbers of people in the Middle West have been displaced by what
    amounted to a 500-year flood on the Mississippi River. And I want those
    people to see you on television tonight. I want them to read about you
    in their newspapers tomorrow. And I want them to believe that you really
    can bring an area back if you work together and stay together and
    rebuild a sense of community and give people a chance to take
    responsibility for themselves. We'll be there with you. I'm glad to be
    here today, and I thank you for spending a little time with your
    President on Labor Day.
        Hillary and I both are delighted to be back. It was almost exactly a
    year ago--it was a year ago this week that I came down here, and you
    have done very well. I'm glad we could be your partners for a year, and
    we will be until the job is done.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:45 a.m. at the intersection of 17th and
    Krome. In his remarks, he referred to Otis Pitts, HUD Deputy Assistant
    Secretary for Federal Relief--South Dade County. A tape was not
    available for verification of the content of these remarks.