[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
[September 20, 1994]
[Pages 1585-1586]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Honoring Representative Bob Michel
September 20, 1994

    Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. Please be seated; relax. 
Dr. Brazil, Speaker Foley, Congressman Gingrich, distinguished Members 
of the House, Senator Dole and Senator Mitchell are here or will be, and 
other Members of the Congress who are here, to Bob and Corinne and 
ladies and gentlemen.
    It occurs to me that after 19 terms in the House, 13 years as 
minority leader, it's a real shame for a man with Bob Michel's 
distinguished reputation to have it destroyed at the end by having a 
Democratic President brag on him. [Laughter] I asked him if he didn't 
have some really crazy and sort of kooky-sounding criticism I could lob 
so you would all stand up and cheer for him, but he said I could just 
say what was on my mind and heart.
    You know, you never know what's on a person's mind and heart. I 
understand we now have the sayings of Mr. Michel in a little red book, 
which will doubtless get ideologically vetted. I expect Mr. Gingrich to 
have it reprinted in blue within a day or two. [Laughter]
    I want to say that it's a real honor for me to be here tonight. And 
I say in all sincerity, I'm going to miss Bob Michel. I know in theory 
he's reached an age where he's earned retirement, but I have found him 
remarkably young and vigorous. He's as addicted to golf as I am. He's 
survived at least one car wreck since I've been here and a lot of other 
wrecks in the Congress that could do more damage to you inside. He still 
sings like he did 30 years ago. I leave it to your own interpretation 
what that means--[laughter]--beautifully, as you know. He's spent his 
whole life serving this country, from being a genuine hero when he wore 
our uniform in the Second World War to being a genuine patriot in the 
United States Congress.
    It was a great honor for me just a few days ago to exercise one of 
the few things I can do without the approval of Congress when I awarded 
him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I shouldn't have said that. I saw 
Congressman Gingrich raise his eyebrow. He's going to make a note, 
``Surely we can restrain his discretion there.'' [Laughter]
    You know, when I was a kid growing up in Arkansas, even there, even 
there in the fifties, the saying about how will it play in Peoria was 
alive and well. And after I got to--and, of course, I married a woman 
from Illinois, so I used to hear it about every 3 days when I was about 
to do something my wife thought was

[[Page 1586]]

nonsensical. But after I got to know Bob Michel, I understood the 
genesis of the saying, because in a very real sense he represents in my 
view the heart of America, the values of America, and the sense of 
fairness of America.
    I enjoyed working with him when we fought against enormous odds with 
most of you here to pass the NAFTA agreement. I enjoyed it when we were 
on opposite sides and he thought I was absolutely wrong but was still 
fair and decent. I even enjoyed it when we were on opposite sides when 
he was sympathetic with what I was trying to do but couldn't quite get 
there. Those are three things that often happen in the course of 
people's relationships in this town. And I can tell all of you who come 
from his hometown and his home district that he is just as highly 
thought of here as he is there. And we will miss him.
    We had a joint leadership meeting this morning, and we talked about, 
obviously, the issue of Haiti and then what we would do between now and 
the end of the Congress. By the time the meeting was over, I can tell 
you this: I wasn't sure where everybody in the room was on every 
outstanding issue, but I knew where he was on the issues that really 
counted. And I think we'll always know where he is, trying to do what's 
right for this country in a way that is right for this country.
    And let me just close with that. This is a time in which the 
negative often outweighs the positive, in which people are so 
overwhelmed with things that are discouraging, from the news to the 
political campaigns, that very often all half-full glasses are seen as 
half-empty. I think in the end, the thing that enabled Bob Michel to 
succeed as the leader of his party in Congress, to keep his good humor, 
to keep his character, to keep his integrity, and to earn the respect of 
those who are in different camps on different issues and even in 
different parties was the fact that he believed that America was a place 
where the glass should always be half-full and where we could do the 
right thing, move forward to a brighter tomorrow, and fulfill our 
obligations in an atmosphere of mutual respect even when we differ.
    It is the genius which has taken the theory of the Constitution and 
made it real in the life of this country. And it's why we're still 
around here after more than 200 years, because of people like Bob 
Michel.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 8:13 p.m. at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. In his 
remarks, he referred to John Brazil, president, Bradley University, and 
sponsor of the dinner; and Corinne Michel, wife of Representative 
Michel.