    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
    [January 16, 1995]
    [Pages 52-54]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., in Los Angeles, California
    January 16, 1995

        The President. Thank you. Are you having a good time?
        Audience members. Yes!
        The President. Well, so am I. And I'm glad to be here again. I want
    to thank all the people who are here, all the elected officials and the
    clergy and the people on the board of Community Build. I thank Brenda
    Shockley for her fine work. Yes, give her a hand. She's great.
    [Applause] I thank Marla Gibbs and Robert Hooks for their work tonight.
    And I thought Linda Hopkins was great; I was back there listening to her
    sing behind the curtain. And it's wonderful to see Rosa Parks and Cicely
    Tyson here. I'm honored to be in their presence, as always. I want to
    thank the young people behind me who met with me for a few moments
    before I came out here: Charles Rousseau, who is one of our Faces of
    Hope; my friends from the playground; and all the others who are back
    there who told me about what this effort is all about, who talked to me
    about Community Build in terms that anybody could understand.
        Ladies and gentlemen, when I ran for President and I came here to
    south central L.A., I, first of all, knew my way around a little bit
    because I had actually come here before I ever dreamed of running for
    President, just because I was interested in what was happening to you
    and how we were going to build with the challenges we face.
        And I said that I thought my job, if you would let me be President,
    was to do three things: first, to try to get the economy going again;
    second, to try to have a Government that worked in a way that made sense
    for people at the grassroots level and would take us into the 21st
    century. It would be less bureaucratic. It could even be smaller, but it
    would be able to do more in partnership with people where they live, so
    that when you pay your taxes you would think you were getting your
    money's worth for a change. But the third and most important thing that
    I thought we had to do as a people that the President had to be a part
    of was to create a new agreement between the people and their Government
    and between the

    [[Page 53]]

    people, themselves, what I called a New Covenant, a commitment to extend
    more opportunity in return for people assuming responsibility for their
    own lives, their own families, their own communities, for changing the
    things that have to be changed. That's the only way we're ever going to
    straighten this country out is if we have more opportunity and more
    responsibility, if people really believe that we can make a difference.
        You know why I like being here? Because these people have proved
    that they can change their lives. And if they can do it, we can change
    America.
        I work with Maxine Waters and with Mayor Riordan on a lot of things,
    and you are fortunate to be represented as you are. I tell you, the
    mayor just showed up, and he's had an earthquake, a fire, and a flood.
    [Laughter] I asked him if he thought God had hidden a volcano somewhere
    in Los Angeles County, and then you could become a new tourist mecca as
    a full-service disaster area. [Laughter] You know why we can laugh about
    that? Because you keep coming back. You've got good leadership and good
    grassroots folks and a spirit that won't quit.
        And I was looking at Congresswoman Waters up here giving her talk
    tonight, and I was thinking, I wonder if those people have any idea how
    she worries the President to death in Washington until he does what she
    wants him to do? [Laughter] The first time she looked at me like that--
    the way she can look at you if she thinks you're not going to do the
    right thing--after I became President, I said, ``Maxine, I'm the
    President; you don't have to look at me like that anymore.'' She said,
    ``Oh no, I have to look at you more like that now.'' [Laughter]
        I'm proud of the fact that the Labor Department put $7 million in
    this project, because I think that Community Build and the Youth Fair
    Chance Plus programs represent all three of the things that I set out to
    do:
        We're helping people become part of the economy, and that's
    important. Work gives dignity to life. People need an education. They
    need a job. They need a future, to give dignity to life.
        And we're changing the way the Government works. We're reducing the
    size of Government, and we've taken $11,000 in debt off of every family
    in America by reducing that deficit, and that gives our kids a better
    future. But we also have to prove that we can change the present, and
    that's what this program does. And the Federal Government should be
    involved in programs like this, nonbureaucratic people programs that
    build people up instead of tearing them down.
        And I like it because it does build that New Covenant. It says,
    ``Okay, here's your opportunity.'' But you know, we can be spending $700
    million here, and if people like these guys behind me hadn't decided
    they were going to change on the inside and do differently, the money
    would not make any difference. So we've got it all going in the right
    direction.
        I say to you tonight, my friends, that if Dr. King could be here--
    and I think he is here, in a way--he'd be pretty pleased with what we're
    doing here. I know that much remains to be done. I know that in the
    atmosphere of the present where people have been told that everything
    the Government does is bad, it will be hard to continue.
        But let me tell you something: Los Angeles and the cities around
    here and California and America are better off because of programs like
    this and better off because we're giving communities more funds to help
    deal with the crime problem, not only to hire more police officers but
    also to give young people some activities they can be engaged in that
    are positive so they have something to say yes to as well as something
    to say no to. These things matter. And we can make a difference. I know
    we must do more, but we should do more in ways that make sense.
        I'm proud of the fact that this week it was announced that we not
    only have seen over 5\1/2\ million new jobs come into this economy since
    I became President but the unemployment rate among African-Americans is
    at a 20-year low. I'm proud of that. Now, that's the good news. The bad
    news is that the unemployment rate among young people is still very
    high, over one in three, and that among people who do not have much
    education, the unemployment rate is very high and the wages of those
    that work tend to be low and to stay there. So in the coming year, with
    this new Congress, I'm going to say to them, ``You say you want the free
    enterprise system to work. You say you want more business people in
    minority communities. Well, so do I. Let's begin with passing my middle
    class bill of rights.''
        If we're going to cut people's taxes, let's cut them for education
    and for raising children, to do things that will strengthen all the
    American

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    people and build this country up from the grassroots up. And if we're
    going to cut spending, let's cut things that will free up money to build
    up people. Let's don't cut programs like this one. Let's don't cut
    programs like the national service program. Let's don't cut programs
    like Head Start. Let's don't make it more expensive for people to go to
    college; let's make it cheaper for people to go to college and more
    affordable.
        In other words, the role of Government should not be to pretend that
    we can solve problems that people have to solve for themselves, often
    inside their own heart. But the role of Government should not be to be
    heartless, either, and to walk away. The Government should be a partner.
    The Government should help people to acquire the tools they need and the
    means they need and the education they need and the belief and the hope
    they need to make the most of their own lives. That is what we're here
    to celebrate today. That is what Martin Luther King wanted us to do.
        You know, when Dr. King gave that famous ``I have a dream'' speech,
    he said that his dream was deeply rooted in the American dream. What is
    the American dream? The Founders of our country said it over 200 years
    ago: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all are created equal,
    endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among
    these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Life, liberty,
    the pursuit of happiness--no, not a guarantee of happiness but not
    death, destruction, and the end of hope, either--the means of working
    together to achieve the God-given potential of every person in this
    room, every person in south central Los Angeles, all the people in this
    country.
        It is not a dream rooted in race. Race became a factor when people
    could not see behind their own prejudice. And I tell you today, my
    friends, that when we realize what a resource we have in America, that
    we come from so many different racial backgrounds, that we come from so
    many different ethnic backgrounds, that we come from so many religious
    backgrounds, in a global society where the world is smaller and smaller
    and smaller, we are the world's richest country because of our
    differences. Now we must find common ground and build up all people. And
    no, we don't have a person to spare. All these children have a role in
    our future, every one of them.
        So I'm glad to be back in south central Los Angeles. I want these
    young men to help me find the secret to get people like this all across
    America to say no to violence and no to drugs and no to the life of the
    street with no tomorrow and yes to a better future. We can do this. We
    can do it if we work together. We can do it if we talk together. We can
    do it if we believe in one another's potential. That is the American
    dream.
        Thank you, and God bless you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 5:41 p.m. at Community Build, Inc. In his
    remarks, he referred to Brenda Shockley, executive director, Community
    Build, Inc.; masters of ceremonies Marla Gibbs and Robert Hooks; civil
    rights activist Rosa Parks; actress Cicely Tyson; and Mayor Richard
    Riordan of Los Angeles.