[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.