[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book I)]
[March 13, 1994]
[Pages 434-436]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at Focus: HOPE in Detroit, Michigan
March 13, 1994

    Thank you so much, Father, Eleanor, Donald, ladies and gentlemen, 
for welcoming me here and introducing me to Focus: HOPE. I have met your 
ambassadors to the world, Father

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Cunningham, and Donald is a great ambassador for you. Where did he go? 
Is he hiding? You would have been so proud of him in Washington, 
speaking about you to the whole country. He was terrific. Thank you, 
Congresswoman Collins, for welcoming me and my good friend Senator 
Levin. I think if I had not come here to Focus: HOPE, he never would 
have cast a single vote for me again in the United States--[laughter]. 
You know, all of us are obsessed by something or another in life; it's a 
good thing to be obsessed by something good and noble. Carl Levin is 
obsessed with Focus: HOPE, in the best possible way.
    The best tribute I can think of is to look around this room. We have 
two United States Senators, Governor Engler, Mayor Archer, all these 
Congressmen here, Chairman Dingell, Congressman Conyers, Congressman 
Barcia, Congressman Bonior, Congressman Kildee, Congressman Sandy 
Levin--I think that's everybody. And then we have the Secretary of 
Labor, Bob Reich, and the Secretary of Commerce, Ron Brown, which 
represent two of the three Departments, along with the Department of 
Defense, that have made direct investments in Focus: HOPE. This is a 
great tribute to this work. But the most important thing I want to say 
to you is that you heard Donald read the creed of Focus: HOPE, which was 
forged 26 years ago this week, on March 8th, 1968, and it sounds as if 
it could have been written yesterday, doesn't it?
    I guess I have spent as much time in manufacturing facilities of 
various sorts as any person who ever occupied the Presidency, because I 
was a Governor for 12 years, I had to do that. I have never been in a 
place as advanced, as upbeat, as hopeful as this place. And I can tell 
you, when we were pulling in here today, I was talking to Senator Riegle 
and Senator Levin--we were in the car together--and Carl looked at me, 
and he said, ``This is what you ran for President to do, `focus hope.' 
This is what you wanted to bring to the entire country. You are going in 
to see why you wanted to be President of the United States.''
    I think all of you know that I am here, along with the leaders of 
six of the other world's great industrial powers, to talk about the jobs 
crisis in the advanced economies. In every wealthy country now, there is 
difficulty creating new jobs. The United States has the lowest 
unemployment rate of all the so-called G-7 advanced industrial nations. 
In every advanced economy now, there are problems rewarding work with 
higher wages year-in and year-out, and many, many people are stuck with 
wages that do not go up, even when they work harder. And we are looking 
for answers to unlock this. We're looking for ways that we can work 
together to create more opportunity for people like you.
    But you know and I know that no matter what policies we pursue in 
Washington or around the world, unless people are trained, unless they 
have a skill that enables them to compete and win in the global economy, 
to produce a high-quality, world-class product or service, nothing the 
Government can do will make any difference. What you are doing is 
guaranteeing America's security here and America's future by 
guaranteeing your own.
    I want you to be proud of that. I also want everybody in America to 
see you. Here we are, in an inner-city neighborhood, with building after 
building of plants that were closed down which could have become a 
symbol for the loss of hope, which could have become yet another excuse 
for why people can't make it if they are poor or if they are minorities 
or if they are women or if they've been on welfare or if this or if that 
or if the other thing. And instead of saying ``if,'' this is a place 
that says ``when'': When you work, when you learn, you can do, you can 
have a future.
    And this makes the point, for all the problems with this world that 
we're living in, if you know how to do something and you're good at it, 
no one can take that away from you, and you can be rewarded for that. 
And you have proven if those skills can be acquired and that talent can 
be demonstrated, without regard to race or gender or income or 
background, if only we will give everybody a chance and invest in the 
future of the American people, this model here could be seen sweeping 
across America, if we had the kind of local leadership that is manifest 
here by the stunning examples of Father Cunningham and Eleanor Josaitis 
and if we had the kind of help you've had here from the private sector 
to work with Government in a partnership. There is not enough Government 
money in the world to create these opportunities without a partnership. 
But if we can do this here, we can do it anywhere. And if here, if here 
you can be the best in the world, then America can be the best in the 
world every-


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where. That is our mission, all of us, to be that.
    I just want you to know that I got a lot more out of seeing you 
today than you did out of seeing me. I got fresh, clear, strong evidence 
to prove what I have always believed, that if we could get rid of all 
these hangups we've got in this country, if we could stop majoring in 
the minors and minoring in the majors and start thinking about what is 
really important, if we could really believe that all people are created 
equal and that people can do anything, if we could remember that the 
purpose of coming together is to get people together to share beliefs, 
to share convictions, and to get things done, then we would be able to 
revolutionize this whole country. If it can happen in these few square 
blocks of Detroit, my fellow Americans, can it not happen throughout our 
country? I believe it can.
    So I want you to know you have inspired me, and I will talk about 
you all across this country. I remember I used to say when I was running 
for President, because of the little town that I was born in, that I 
still believed in a place called Hope. And now I can say I also believe 
in a place called Focus: HOPE.
    Thank you, and God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 5:39 p.m. at the Center for Advanced 
Technology. In his remarks, he referred to Focus: HOPE director Father 
William Cunningham, associate director Eleanor Josaitis, and student 
Donald Hutchinson.