    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
    [November 4, 1994]
    [Pages 1992-1996]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Rally for Democratic Candidates in Duluth, Minnesota
    November 4, 1994

        Thank you very much. Thank you, Ann. Thank you for that wonderful
    introduction. Thank you for that good speech. If she hadn't made a case
    for her candidacy before, she certainly did in those remarks. I want to
    thank all of you at UMD for making me so welcome, the students here. I
    want to thank the band for providing our music; thank you. I want to
    thank the children in the Kids Voting Project who are going to take
    their parents to the election. When my daughter was very young, I began
    taking her with me to vote. Now kids are taking their parents to vote.
    We're going to get up to 100 percent voting if that keeps going. I thank
    you.
        I am honored to be here today. I'm glad to be here with Senator
    Wellstone. I was listening to him speak, you know, and I was thinking to
    myself, it's too bad Paul has no energy, no enthusiasm; you never know
    where he stands. If he could just loosen up a little bit, how much
    more--[laughter]--I'll tell you what, he's a great inspiration to all of
    us. He keeps everybody in a good humor and always thinking about
    positive things, and that's pretty tough in Washington. When all the
    arrows start flying and people try to be negative, Paul Wellstone will
    always get up in the morning and try to make something good happen for
    the people of Minnesota and this country.
        I am delighted to be here with all these Democrats behind me and
    especially with our Democratic gubernatorial nominee, John Marty. Thank
    you for coming, John, thank you. I appreciate many things about the
    welcome I've been given by Mayor Doty, but especially I appreciate his
    taking me to run today. We went out and ran 3 miles around the overlook
    today, so I saw all of Duluth. And I appreciate that; it's a beautiful
    city.
        I want to take a point of personal privilege to say that I'm glad to
    welcome here Ann Wynia's primary opponent, my longtime friend Tom Foley,
    to thank him for supporting Ann in this race and for helping us to win
    this race.
        And I want to thank Congressman Jim Oberstar for so many things. He
    is a wonderful leader. You know--yeah, you can clap for that. [Applause]
    He was one of the very few Members of the United States Congress who
    always supported our policy of restoring democracy and President
    Aristide to Haiti because he understood what was at stake. And it did my
    heart a lot of good to hear you cheering for him a few moments ago, to
    think what a great country America is, that here we are in the Iron
    Range in northern Minnesota where people care about what happens to
    people as far away as Haiti. And I thank you for that.

    [[Page 1993]]

        Finally, let me thank you, Chancellor Ianni, and everyone here at
    this fine school--there you are. We appreciate your making this fine
    facility available for a little old-fashioned enthusiasm right before
    this election.
        You know, all of you know that I came here to ask you to vote in
    record numbers and with great enthusiasm for Ann Wynia for the United
    States Senate. I want to talk to you about why, why I feel that and why
    I think it's so important. You all know that she's had a distinguished
    career in the legislature, that unlike a lot of people in politics
    today, she is more of a doer than a talker. We've got a lot of talkers
    in Washington; we need a few more doers up there. In Washington you can
    almost tell people between those who point their fingers and try to
    blame others and those who open their arms and try to assume
    responsibility. We've got enough blamers in Washington. We need some
    more people who will take responsibility for the future of this country
    to get it going again and face our challenges again.
        You don't have to take my word for it or hers. You can look at the
    work she's done to provide health care for 35,000 children in Minnesota
    who did not have it or her work in welfare reform or for education, many
    other areas. But I want to talk to you today about what's going on in
    our country and what we have to do about it. Ann said that this is a
    choice between going forward and going back, and she's clearly right
    about that.
        You know, 21 months ago I moved to Washington, with the help of the
    votes of the State of Minnesota, to become the President. And I set
    about the work of trying to change this country, trying to rebuild
    America, trying to bring the American people together across all the
    lines that had divided us, trying to make us strong.
        What does it take to make a country strong at home and strong
    abroad? It takes strong families, good jobs, a good education system,
    safe streets. It takes a sense of security abroad and growing trade,
    democracy, freedom, and peace so that Americans can work in a world that
    is coming together, not coming apart. My friends, you know, we've got a
    lot of problems in this country, but the truth is we're in better shape
    than we were 21 months ago when our administration took office.
        There is this vast attack today on the idea of Government, and all
    the surveys show that our adversaries are making gains basically because
    they're trying to make people cynical and negative, to convince them
    that Government is the cause of all of our problems, that it is
    inherently bad, and that it doesn't matter how outrageous they are, what
    ridiculous things they say, you ought to vote for them anyway because
    they'll bring the Government down. Now, that's the essential core of
    their message. They win if the American people give up hope and believe
    the Government is bad. Well, I'm here to tell you that the Government is
    neither good nor bad. It is a tool that reflects you. You control it.
    You're the bosses. It is yours. The question is, what should it do? How
    much should it cost? How should it be done? Those are the questions.
        Now, if strong families make America strong, I happen to think that
    the Government did the right thing when we came in and reversed the
    position of the previous administration to adopt the family leave law
    which protects 845,000 Minnesota families. I think we did the right
    thing to lower the income taxes of 155,000 Minnesota families who are
    working full-time, have children in their homes, but are hovering just
    about the poverty line. No one should be driven into welfare by the tax
    system. It should lift people out of welfare to reward work and family.
    I believe when our administration asked the Congress to approve a plan
    to immunize all the children in this country under the age of 2 by 1996,
    that strengthens families. When we expanded Head Start, it strengthens
    families. That's what we ought to do, and it's a good thing to do.
        I believe that we have--and all the education groups agree with us,
    by the way--we've done more in the last 2 years to help Americans
    improve education than any Federal administration has done in the last
    30 years. Why? Not because people are educated by the Federal
    Government, not because we are dictating more but because we have
    changed the nature of the relationship of the National Government to the
    education process. And I want to mention three things, in addition to
    Head Start.
        Number one, with two major education bills, we have said to our
    public schools, there should be national standards of excellence that
    our children should achieve. We believe that all children can achieve
    them, and we are tired of having Federal rules and regulations that
    segregate poor kids in separate classes and separate tracks

    [[Page 1994]]

    and tell them that by the time they're 6 or 7 or 8 years old, ``We
    already know you're not going to make it because you come from poor
    backgrounds.'' We reject that. We reject that; it's wrong. So what we
    have offered is higher standards but less Federal rules and regulations,
    fewer requirements, and more emphasis on grassroots reform, the kind of
    thing that has been pioneered in the State of Minnesota, where so many
    of the interesting reforms in public education have started in the last
    10 years. We are trying to take that all across America.
        The second thing we've done is to say that education must be a
    lifetime process. We need apprenticeship programs for young people who
    don't come to college but want to be in good jobs.
        And we have to make it possible for every single American citizen
    who is willing to do so to go to college, stay in college, and pay off
    their college loans at an affordable rate. Already 419,000 people in the
    State of Minnesota are eligible for lower cost college loans or better
    repayment terms, and we're going to keep going until all the students in
    America are eligible for the changes we have made in the college loan
    program. No one should ever stay out of college because of the cost of a
    college education. No one should, no one.
        We have given you the chance to make our streets safer by passing
    that crime bill. Why? Because 100,000 police may not mean much, but 10
    or 20 more in Duluth could mean a lot. Because we have adopted a
    balanced approach, tougher punishment, more prisons where they're
    needed, more police to prevent crime, and prevention programs to give
    our young people something to say yes to as well as something to say no
    to in this country. That is what we are doing.
        And most important of all, we know that the best social program is a
    good job. And look at what has happened. In the State of Minnesota and
    in the United States--we just got the latest unemployment figures
    today--we now know that the unemployment rate in this country is 5.8
    percent, the lowest it's been in 4 years. It's much lower in Minnesota.
    We now know that over 5 million new jobs have come into this country in
    the last 21 months and that in 1994 we have had more high-wage jobs come
    into our economy than in the previous 5 years put together. We are
    moving in the right direction. We don't need to turn back on this.
        Just in this area, look at what has happened with the Erie Mining
    Company coming out of the LTV bankruptcy. Look at what's happened--yeah,
    you can clap for that; that's good. [Applause] I heard Jim Oberstar
    mention the National Steel Company. You know the steel industry is
    booming in America today, partly because the auto industry is booming in
    America today. For the first time since 1979, American automobile
    companies will sell more autos around the world than our Japanese
    competitors. We are back, and we're doing well.
        I was in Michigan the other day meeting with the autoworkers. You
    know what the number one complaint there is now? They're working too
    much overtime, and they want more people to be hired. Now, folks, that
    is what I would call a high-class problem. [Laughter] And we need more
    like that.
        Now, this is the record: strong at home, making efforts for stronger
    families, better education, safer streets, good jobs. This is the
    record.
        Ann Wynia's opponent joined the Republican chorus in unanimously
    voting against our economic program to reduce the deficit. They said,
    all of them, that if my program passed, the economy would go down and
    the deficit would explode. Her opponent said, and I quote, ``The Clinton
    budget would have ominous implications for the American economy,
    American jobs, and the American people.'' I'll tell you what, he was
    wrong about that. And he would have ominous implications for the
    American economy if his ideas were adopted by the United States
    Congress.
        You know, you look at what's happened here. It's the economic
    equivalent of something you know a lot about, a hat trick. We've got
    unemployment going down, jobs being created, the deficit going down to
    its lowest level in a very long time, $100 billion lower than predicted,
    3 years of deficit reduction in a row for the first time since President
    Truman was in office.
        Our Republican opponents say they are against Government and vote
    for them. Don't pay any attention to what they say, because they hate
    Government anyway; it doesn't matter what you do. [Laughter] That's what
    they say. But when they were in office, the Federal Government got
    bigger. Since we have been in office, working together, we have reduced
    the size of

    [[Page 1995]]

    the Federal Government. We are taking it down to its smallest size since
    President Kennedy was in office, and we're giving all the money back to
    you and your local community to make the streets safer. That's what
    we're doing, and that's our proposal.
        So you have a clear choice here: someone who supports policies that
    have made us strong, and someone who said no, no--no to deficit
    reduction; no to the tax cuts for the working people on modest incomes;
    no to the other programs, the immunizations for children; no to middle
    class college loan expansion--no, no, no. He even said no to the
    national service legislation which is giving children and young people
    all across America the chance to earn some money to go to college by
    working for a year or two in their communities at the grassroots level
    to solve the problems of America. How could anybody be against that?
        Instead, they offer this contract. Now, you heard Jim Oberstar
    talking about the contract. I've been watching the faces of the people
    at our rallies when our congressional candidates talk about the
    Republican contract, and they go blank. They can hardly believe it. And
    that's really what the Republicans are hoping. They're hoping that
    you'll hear the sweet parts and when we tell you the bad parts you won't
    believe it.
        Here's what they promise. They say, ``We're going to give big tax
    cuts. We'll give you a tax cut. Most of it will go to the top 2
    percent--70 percent of it--but we'll give the rest of you a buck and a
    half or so--[laughter]--everybody gets a tax cut. And then we're going
    to increase defense, and we're going to bring back Star Wars. And then
    we're going to balance the budget.'' [Laughter] And how much does that
    cost? A trillion dollars. That's still real money in Duluth, isn't it? A
    trillion dollars. [Laughter] That's right. We could have a good time
    tonight on a trillion bucks. We could go all weekend long on a trillion
    bucks. A trillion dollars. So you say, ``How are you going to pay for
    this?'' They say, ``We'll tell you after the election.''
        Well, let me tell you something, folks. Here are the options. If
    they mean what they say, that they're going to have these tax cuts,
    raise defense as much as they say, bring back Star Wars, and balance the
    budget, there are only the following options: Number one, they can cut
    everything else in Government 20 percent across the board, including
    Social Security, which is 2,000 bucks a Social Security recipient a
    year. Number two, they can say what they're going to say, ``Oh, how dare
    him; we didn't say we'd cut Social Security.'' They didn't say they
    wouldn't, either. [Laughter]
        So, let's say they don't do that; then what do they have to do? They
    have to cut everything else 30 percent across the board, a 30 percent
    cut in Medicare for the elderly, veterans benefits, and student loans.
    And then there's the other possibility, which is that they're kidding;
    they don't mean it. [Laughter] Now, what does that mean? That's also
    pretty scary. What that means is, we're going to explode the deficit,
    ship our jobs overseas again, just like we did in the years of trickle-
    down economics, and put this economy right back in the ditch.
        Now, you have the choice. When we talk about going forward, look at
    what is happening. We are moving forward on jobs. We are moving forward
    by reducing the deficit. We are moving forward in reducing the size of
    the Government. We are moving forward in Head Start, forward in
    providing immunization to our kids, forward in so many areas. We are
    working for stronger families, safer streets, better education, good
    jobs. We are moving forward. And we need to keep moving forward.
        Let me close--I want you to think about this. We're also moving
    forward overseas. No Russian missiles are pointed at the children of
    Minnesota and the United States for the first time since the dawn of the
    nuclear age. North Korea has agreed to be a nonnuclear state. Trade is
    expanding at a record rate. We are standing up for peace and freedom and
    democracy from Northern Ireland to South Africa, in the Persian Gulf and
    in the Middle East and in Haiti. We are moving in the right direction.
    We are getting stronger. And it's a better world for our kids to grow up
    in.
        What is the real enemy in this election? Cynicism, negativism,
    lashing out. And I want to just finish with this. As a parent, one of
    the first things you learn to teach your children is what your parents
    taught you: Never make a decision when you're mad. How many times did my
    mother tell me when I was a child, ``Bill, count to 10 before you say
    anything''? And how many times did I get to 2, say something, and wind
    up regretting it? [Laughter] That's what our adversaries want you to do.
    They want you to count to one, go vote mad, cynical, Government's bad,
    nothing can happen, forget about

    [[Page 1996]]

    the facts, forget about the record, forget about the direction of the
    country.
        You, you can change what is likely to happen if they win in cynicism
    to what is certain to happen if we win with optimism. You, you, you can
    say, ``We're in the mainstream in Minnesota, and they want to create a
    mean stream for America and we reject it. We reject it.'' You can say
    that.
        You look at this. This institution where we are is a monument to
    hope. It is a monument to hope. Everybody who comes here comes here
    because they believe that they will have a better life, not only a
    better life economically but a better life personally in terms of the
    values, the understanding, the depth, the quality of life that will come
    if you live up to the fullest of your God-given potential. When you
    strip away all the details and all the rhetoric, that is what we are
    trying to do. We are trying to create an America in which every young
    person can look forward to living up to the fullest of their potential,
    in which the best days of this country are before us.
        We need Ann Wynia in the Senate to do that. Will you send her there
    Tuesday? Will you help us? Will you do it? [Applause]
        Thank you, and God bless you all. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:30 p.m. in the Romano Gymnasium at the
    University of Minnesota. In his remarks, he referred to Mayor Gary Doty
    of Duluth and Lawrence A. Ianni, chancellor, University of Minnesota,
    Duluth.