    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
    [January 4, 1995]
    [Pages 15-17]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Dedication of William Jefferson Clinton Elementary
    Magnet School in Sherwood

    January 4, 1995

        Thank you very much. First of all, I want to thank Mario. He gave a
    pretty good speech, didn't he? I mean--[applause]--give him a hand. He
    looked fine. He spoke with confidence and strength. And he was brief.
    He's going to win a lot more elections if he keeps doing that.
    [Laughter]
        Jackye Parker, thank you for making Hillary and me and all of us
    feel so welcome today. Reedie Ray, thank you for your leadership on the
    school board and for your comments. To my old friend Bobby Lester, thank
    you for your heartfelt remarks and for your lifetime of devotion to the
    children of our State. To the teachers and the parents, the district
    officials, all of you who are here; to the mayors of Little Rock and
    North Little Rock, of Jacksonville and Sherwood; to the county
    officials, I'd like to say a special word of welcome and thanks for
    their attendance. To Governor and Mrs. Tucker, thank you for being here
    and for your leadership of our State. I thank my dear stepfather, Dick
    Kelley, for coming here today. I am glad to have him and the Clinton
    connection here. And I thank my pastor, Reverend Rex Horn, for coming.
    Thank you for being here, and many others I probably should introduce.
        I just was in the media center named for Hillary, and we met with a
    representative group of students who asked us questions, everything from
    whether Socks really sleeps in the White House to how I handle
    criticism. So if I forgot to introduce someone, we'll see how I handle
    criticism when this is over. [Laughter]
        This is a wonderful way for us to start the new year. I've had a
    great stay at home, and this is a great way for me to leave Arkansas to
    go back to begin work with the new Congress and facing our new future.
        You know, I was apprehensive when I heard that you were going to
    name this school after me. Most people don't have a school named after
    them until they're not around anymore. [Laughter] And here I am,
    apparently healthy and able to enjoy it and very, very happy about it
    and proud of it. I'm proud of it because so much of my work as Governor
    of this State and so much of my work as President of our country is tied
    to education and to the absolute necessity for all of our people to be
    able to learn and learn and learn.
        I thank you for making this dedication a family affair, for naming
    the multipurpose room for my mother, and especially for naming the
    library and media center for Hillary, because as Mr. Lester especially
    knows, she worked very, very hard to take all the districts in our
    county here out of court and put them back in the business of teaching
    our children and to help create these magnet schools which could be a
    magnet for the imagination and the potential of all the children of this
    area without regard to their race or their background or their family
    circumstances.
        I thank you for your mission, which is a real picture of America's
    future, core knowledge, technology with a special emphasis on
    communications. If you think about it, we all need more core knowledge
    in a society where success is based on what you know and not just how
    hard you work. We all need to master technology because our society is
    changing so fast. When these children are our age, they will be dealing
    with things in technology that we cannot even imagine now.
        And we all need to learn how to communicate with one another better,
    because while we want to be independent, we know that we are dependent
    on one another for our common success. And unless we can understand each
    other and communicate our deepest feelings and values and convictions,
    we won't be successful.
        You know, when I was a Governor here, I had a very clear sense that
    Arkansas needed

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    to work on two things above all others. One is to create more jobs and
    to be more competitive in getting jobs into this State. The other was to
    provide for the education of our children and the training of our adults
    so that we could compete and win in this tough global economy. It took a
    long time to do it. I am very proud of the work that Governor Tucker and
    the others at our State level and all the folks at the local are still
    doing in that regard.
        The day before yesterday I heard something that was music to my ears
    when one of the Governor's economic development officers told me that
    the toughest problem they're facing now in recruiting new industry is
    trying to convince people from other States and other countries that
    there really will be enough people here to fill those new jobs, because
    we have the lowest unemployment rate we've had in nearly 20 years. That
    is a wonderful, wonderful circumstance.
        And I want every one of you to know, as I'm sure you do, that that
    didn't happen overnight. The credit goes to thousands, indeed tens of
    thousands of people, who worked for years and years and years to turn
    our State around economically and to build our State up educationally.
        If you think about where America is today, poised on the 21st
    century, that is what we need to be doing in the United States. And we
    need to understand that just as our State couldn't turn all of its
    challenges around overnight, neither can the United States. But unless
    we begin and unless we stick at the task and unless we refuse to be
    diverted, to be jerked from one end of the spectrum to the other, and
    keep our eye on the future, we cannot succeed.
        These children deserve a future that is worthy of the work being
    done by the teachers, the parents in this school. That's what they
    deserve, and we've got to give it to them.
        I have worked hard for 2 years to try to clean up some of the
    problems I found when I became President. We have taken now $11,000 in
    debt off of the family--every family in Arkansas by reducing the
    deficit--$11,000 off of these children's future. We have expanded the
    ability of Americans to sell our goods and services to other countries,
    more than ever before. And we now have more than 5 million new jobs in
    our country.
        But we know that a lot of folks are still struggling with the same
    problems we dealt with here for so many years: how to get and keep a
    good job, how to provide health care and education and other necessities
    for their families, how to make sure their children have a good
    education. And so, as I leave to go back to Washington, I'm going back
    to challenge the Congress to do what is necessary to guarantee the
    future of the next generation of Americans, and this present--of this
    generation of Americans as we move into the 21st century. I want them to
    adopt what I call a middle class bill of rights, to keep the American
    dream alive by promoting education and strengthening family. And I hope
    the Congress will adapt and accept that challenge.
        You know, anybody can come up and say, ``I want to give you a tax
    cut,'' and make people happy in the short run. What I want to do is
    reduce taxes for people to invest in the education of their children and
    their own training and skills, so we can go forward and grow this
    economy.
        So I say to all of you--I got a question from one of the students
    today that I want every grownup here to think about as we think about
    what we want for our country. One of the students asked me when we were
    in the other room meeting, he said, ``How did you not give up on your
    dreams of being President?'' So I ask all of you, first of all, do you
    have a dream, and second, how are you going to not give up on it, just
    like the young student asked me?
        My dream for our country is that when we go into this next century
    we will still be the strongest country in the world, leading the world
    toward peace and freedom and democracy and prosperity. My dream for
    America is that the American dream will still be alive, the middle-class
    dream that if you work hard and obey the law you can make the most of
    yourself, you can do anything you want to do.
        When I was born in this State right after World War II and nearly
    everybody in Arkansas was very poor, mothers and fathers were giving
    their children that dream. And we ought to give it to this generation of
    children.
        So I say to all of you: Let's take the lessons of the children.
    Let's pay attention when people are talking to us. Let's listen to all
    sides of the argument. Let's be good citizens and discuss the great
    challenges facing our country. Let's discount all the politics of
    personal destruction

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    and enhance our ability to think about what is true, what is fair, and
    what is important. Let us take responsibility for the future of this
    country and commit ourselves to economic opportunity and to education
    and to doing that in a way that strengthens the American community, so
    that we come together instead of being more and more divided.
        To the students I say: This is a beautiful building. I am honored
    that my name is on it. I am honored that a room is named for my mother
    and that a room is named for my wife, who worked so hard for your
    education. But the really important thing about the building is you.
    It's what you do here every day. I want you to learn and learn and
    learn.
        I want you to say no to the bad things that will face you. Say no to
    violence and no to drugs and no to people who want to take your future
    away from you.
        But more importantly, I want you to say yes: Yes, I have a dream for
    what I can be. Yes, I'm going to live out my dream. Yes, I'm going to do
    everything I can in this school to learn and to grow, to be a good
    person, to have a great life. That's what education is all about. I want
    you to be good people and have great lives. Then, having my name on this
    school will be the greatest honor any person could ever have.
        Good luck. God bless you, and thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:44 a.m. in the cafetorium. In his
    remarks, he referred to Mario Hood, president of the student council;
    Jackye Parker, principal; Reedie Ray, president of the board of
    education; and Bobby Lester, superintendent of schools.