    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
    [November 8, 1994]
    [Pages 2043-2044]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 2043]]

    Remarks at a Reception Honoring White House Volunteers
    November 8, 1994

        Thank you so very much. Thank you. It is great to be with all of
    you. It's especially great to be with you on election day. I hope all of
    you have had a chance to go to the polls, and if you haven't, I hope
    you'll go before they close tonight. This is a fitting time for the
    event honoring the White House volunteers because as people all around
    our country go out and exercise their right to vote, they're exercising
    their full right and their full responsibility as an American, just as
    all of you do through your service in the White House.
        At these midterm elections, it is critical that people understand
    that there are clear choices between going forward and going back,
    between a Government that works for ordinary families and one that works
    for organized interests, between a Government that does something about
    our great national problems like crime and one that just tries to talk
    them to death.
        It is very important in this election season that the American
    people not vote in anger or cynicism. You know, these last 8 days I've
    had the opportunity to go out and make our case to the American people
    have been bracketed by two events that ought to deny that: first, the
    opportunity I had to represent you in the Middle East, seeing our young
    men and women in uniform in the Gulf, going to the signing of the peace
    treaty. I looked into the eyes of millions of people. I saw how they
    viewed our country. They know this is a great country. They know we have
    a strong defense, a strong economy, and we are now also number one in
    making peace around the world. They think this is a good country, and so
    should we.
        And now, at the end of this season, I look at you and I think of the
    hours you have worked, how you have made even more sacrifices this year
    than last. I do not know how the American people could say anybody, just
    because we've got some difficult problems and some unresolved
    challenges, which we have always had and we always will have, that there
    is something inherently wrong with America's Government. If they could
    see you, they would know that we are a good people with a good
    Government, working hard to help the American people realize their
    dreams and to respond to their hopes and their needs.
        I just want to say, for the benefit of all of you and, of course,
    our friends who are covering this event, I wish I could thank all of you
    by name, but I don't want to keep you here all day and into the night.
    [Laughter] I do want to say that I think I should represent--name a few
    representative people we are fortunate to call White House volunteers.
        Jeffery Cohelan, a former Member of the House of Representatives,
    and his wife, Evelyn, are loyal volunteers in Hillary's correspondence
    office. We thank you for continuing to serve the United States.
        Jenny Lou Dodson lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. She works for
    an airline, and she flies to Washington every Wednesday to work in the
    White House Personnel Office. Let's give her a hand.
        Al Carpenter worked at the White House from 1947 to 1950. Now he's
    volunteering his time to take calls on the comment line. He used to work
    on the Presidential yacht; for the voters who haven't voted, we don't
    have one anymore. [Laughter] He traveled to Key West and the Caribbean
    with President Truman. Now he travels to the White House to talk to
    people over the phone all over the United States.
        Eddymarie McCoy worked on Capitol Hill and has been part of several
    campaigns, like the one that's culminating today. Now she's sharing her
    experience with the Office of Legislative Affairs.
        Some of you have been through several administrations. Evelyn and
    Ward Russell first volunteered at the White House in 1953. We also have
    dedicated volunteers from many universities and local colleges like
    Georgetown, American, George Washington, Howard, and George Mason. We
    thank you all. We have members of the Shiloh Baptist Church here. We
    have students from Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart. And last but
    not least, we have the hardworking, ever-faithful residents of the U.S.
    Soldiers and Servicemen's Home. We thank all of you for being here.
        If it weren't for you, we literally couldn't do the job we were sent
    here to do. But with

    [[Page 2044]]

    your help, we can not only continue to make progress for our country,
    continue to keep moving forward with confidence into the future but we
    can do it in a way that responds to the hopes and the dreams and the
    real problems of the thousands and thousands and thousands of Americans
    who write this White House, who call us and ask for help, who send a
    gesture of their concern, a gesture of their friendship, a gesture of
    their hope to this White House. All of them deserve to be recognized.
    All of them deserve to be heard. All of them deserve to be treated with
    courtesy, with respect, and with dignity.
        You have permitted the United States and this administration to do
    that. We could not do it without you. And I only hope America knows that
    the White House, like so much of America, runs not on requirements but
    on the volunteer spirit that is represented in this great audience
    today.
        Thank you all, and God bless you. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 3:25 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White
    House.