    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [October 17, 1995]
    [Pages 1612-1616]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the Community at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio
    October 17, 1995

        Thank you. Let's give Frances another hand. Wasn't she great? I
    thought she did a great job. Mayor Thornton, thank you for your remarks
    and for your remarkable and energetic leadership during this important
    time for San Antonio. General Viccellio, thank you for your assumption
    of this new, important task. General Curtis, thank you for your strong
    leadership here; to the other dignitaries here present, including the
    Deputy Secretary of Defense, John White, who has worked so hard on this
    project at my instruction, but also with his own heart in it; to the
    members of the Initial Base Adjustment Strategy Committee, or IBASC, as
    you call it, Jose Villareal, Juan Solis, and Tullos Wells; to your
    county judge, Cynthia Taylor Krier; and to the workers here at Team
    Kelly.
        And I'd like to say a special word of acknowledgement to one of the
    people who came down here with me today, your former mayor and the
    finest Secretary of Housing and Urban Development this country ever had,
    Henry Cisneros.
        I want to thank the Sky Country and the Band of the West from
    Lackland for the music they provided before I came here. I want to thank
    Frances Garza-Alvarado for her introduction and for the example she's
    set of professionalism and dedication, a model for the people, both men
    and women, that she helps to train for the jobs of tomorrow. When she
    talked about how she felt when she came here 30 years ago, I knew that I
    was right to fight for the families and the people of Kelly and the
    future of this base and this community, because Frances represents what
    America is all about.
        Before I get into my remarks, I'd also like to acknowledge two
    friends of Kelly Air Force Base who could not be with us today for
    different reasons: my friend of many, many years, over 20 years now,
    Congressman Henry B. Gonzalez, who is working in Washington, and his
    colleague, Congressman Frank Tejeda.
        Frank is in a different sort of fight now, and I want to say a word
    about him. Many of you know him as more than a Congressman. He's your
    neighbor; he's your friend. He comes home

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    to his old neighborhood every weekend without fail. He's a decorated
    Vietnam veteran and a proud son of Texas. He has always been one of la
    gente. If an issue matters to working people, you can bet that Frank
    Tejeda is there working on it, fighting for them. He's a fighter; he's a
    winner. I had a wonderful talk with him just a few days ago, and we're
    all praying that he wins the fight he's involved in now. God bless you,
    Congressman, and good luck.
        San Antonio has made special contributions to the security of this
    country, not only with Kelly but also with the Randolph Air Training
    Command, with Brooke Air Force Base, with Lackland Air Force Base, with
    Fort Sam Houston, and the Brooke Army Medical Center.
        There are a lot of Presidents who have had special ties to San
    Antonio because of its commitment to our Nation's military. Most of you
    probably know that President Roosevelt trained the Rough Riders here.
    One of the gifts that I was pleased to receive since I became President
    is an original printing of Teddy Roosevelt's account of how he organized
    and trained the Rough Riders in San Antonio. President Eisenhower served
    as a young lieutenant at Fort Sam Houston and met his wife, Mamie, here.
    President Johnson married Lady Bird in San Antonio, and later was
    pronounced dead at the Brooke Army Medical Center.
        This is an important part of America, and San Antonio's contribution
    and Kelly's contribution to the security of this country must never be
    forgotten. Our Nation owes a profound debt of gratitude to all the
    workers at Kelly for giving our country something that cannot be
    measured and certainly cannot be purchased, patriotism, service, and
    heart.
        Recently I was so moved, just before I came out here, to hear two
    things about all of you that I want to repeat for the benefit of all the
    people of Texas and the people of the United States who will know about
    this event today. After it was announced that the BRAC commission's
    decision was to close Kelly and phase out its operations, your commander
    told me--General Curtis--that he was walking through the crowd just a
    few days ago, through the workplace here, and that two of the workers
    here stopped and said they wanted to ask him something about the new
    realignment plan we had put in place for Privatization in Place. They
    didn't ask him about their jobs. They didn't ask him about their
    retirement. They asked him instead whether he thought that the readiness
    of the United States of America could be maintained with this new plan.
    That is the kind of patriotism the United States of America should know
    about, in this place, among you people. And I am grateful to you.
        The other thing I was told about today was that after the
    announcement was made, when you would normally expect a big decline in
    morale, that the productivity of operations here went up, not down. If
    everybody in America had that kind of character, we wouldn't have half
    the problems we have in this country. And I thank you for that.
        You have been a model of what I believe our country has to do, a
    model of what I talked about yesterday in my speech on race relations at
    the University of Texas in Austin, a model of what those people who
    marched in Washington yesterday were calling on all of us to represent.
    You have shown personal responsibility and responsibility for your
    families, your communities, and your country. You have proved that you
    could work together across racial and ethnic lines. And now we're going
    to prove that we can harness the changes going on in the world today to
    make America and San Antonio and the families of Kelly stronger and
    better.
        My mission as your President at this moment in our history is to
    harness the changes that are going on for the better. As we move from an
    industrial to an information and technology age, as we move from the
    cold war, in which you played such a pivotal role, to a global village
    with different kinds of threats to democracy and freedom, I want to see
    that we keep the American dream alive for all of our people and that we
    keep America as the strongest country in the world. Those are our two
    objectives as we move to the 21st century.
        We know that we have to create a modern economy that will grow jobs
    and enable people to grow good families. We know we have to create a
    modern Government that is smaller and more flexible. We know we have to
    maintain America's leadership in the world. And most important of all,
    we know we have to make all these changes consistent with our basic
    values as people with responsibility and opportunity, with the idea that
    people have to be able to succeed at work and in their family lives,
    with the idea that we are all one community and we have certain
    obligations to our parents, to

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    our children, to the needy among us so that we can go forward together.
        One of the most important things to recognize today in that
    framework of values is that the people who won the cold war cannot be
    left out in the cold. We are going through a period of change; everyone
    knows that. Well, that's fine if you're winning from it, but it's pretty
    scary if you're not sure what the future holds. By your work, you have
    honored your commitment to America. And I came here today to tell you I
    want you to have hope for the future because we intend to honor our
    commitment to you.
        On July 1st, you were dealt a serious blow when the independent base
    closing commission said that we ought to shut Kelly down. At my
    insistence and my refusal to go along with that specific recommendation,
    the Air Force developed the Privatization in Place plan that will keep
    thousands of jobs here at this depot. I am here to say that, of course,
    Kelly will change; that was inevitable because the world has changed.
    But we are not leaving you out in the cold. We will work with you in
    partnership to protect jobs, to protect workers, to help the families
    and communities here, and to make sure you are still contributing to
    America's mission in the 21st century.
        Kelly has been far more than an important military base. It's also
    been an avenue of opportunity for so many people who could not have
    found it in other jobs. So many families were lifted into the middle
    class because of Kelly. And each generation of people in San Antonio and
    the communities around here have built upon that opportunity.
        Henry Cisneros tells me that he grew up on the west side of the city
    under the flight pattern of Kelly's aircraft. He grew up hearing the
    prop B-36's, the C-124's, and later the powerful F-16's. He said his
    entire block worked at Kelly. It's no wonder, from that block of
    military employed families came the first Cabinet Secretary in the
    United States Government from San Antonio, and with him came some of the
    best people in our administration. I want to just name one who is here
    today, Frank Wing, who after 38 years in the Air Force here at Kelly
    came to serve under Henry Cisneros in Washington. Thank you, sir, for
    your lifetime of devoted service.
        This base has been a cornerstone for the Hispanic middle class,
    indeed, for much of middle class San Antonio. The larger area has played
    a role in our Nation's security for a very long time, as I have already
    said. I told the Air Force and the Department of Defense when this BRAC
    decision was announced to take all the time the law allows to reduce the
    economic impact on the community and to create the strongest possible
    economic base at Kelly and to work with the local leaders to plan a
    future that would give you a chance to have even more prosperity.
        That means we're not shutting this base down, we're transforming it.
    We're maintaining jobs here because it is good for San Antonio, but it's
    also good for the Air Force. With our plan to move jobs here to the
    private sector, we'll be helping national security and helping the
    people of San Antonio.
        We call this plan Privatization in Place. It means that for 5 more
    years, Kelly will keep the jobs that would be here if closure had not
    been recommended, and even 8 years from now, more than two-thirds of
    Kelly's jobs will still be here, working for the Department of Defense.
    But at the same time, we'll create even more jobs. We've seen this work
    already in other places. For example, at the Sacramento Army Depot in
    California, private investment there has actually produced thousands of
    more jobs than the base had at the time it was closed. If you look at
    this incredible resource here, we can do that and more.
        Our plan for Kelly does more than just provide breathing room; it
    gives you the time we all need for a transition to the future for Kelly
    and for San Antonio. This base still has an important role in the future
    of San Antonio, an important role in the security of our Nation. With
    the 5 extra years we have won for Kelly, the city will have time to
    diversify its economic base. And we'll have a new opportunity to build
    another kind of base for jobs, grounded firmly in the private sector and
    in the strengths of San Antonio, the people, the culture, the ideal
    location to become a leading center of trade for the 21st century.
        More than almost any other place, you are ready for the future. Your
    workers are among the best trained anywhere. You have the best
    specialized equipment and the facilities for the future, part of our
    national investment and part of something private industry really needs.
    So the incentive for private investment is here, as you found out last
    weekend when you had hun-

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    dreds of businesses coming here to look over the potential for the
    future.
        And then of course, there is San Antonio, the ninth-largest city in
    our Nation, a city that is very large but still is a community, not a
    crowd. People like Mayor Thornton and Frank Tejeda and my good friend
    Jose Villareal and all of the others who have worked on this committee,
    they have worked hard to prove that you could bring all parts of this
    community together with a clear-eyed vision for the future. In the name
    of Kelly and its workers, the people of San Antonio have done something
    very important. They have given all people here the opportunity to build
    a better and stronger life.
        I know that this plan can work. Deputy Secretary White and Under
    Secretary of the Air Force Rudy de Leon are working closely with the
    community here. And because there is no better person to help direct a
    transition than a former vice commander at Kelly, we do have the best in
    General Butch Viccellio, and I thank him for his dedication to this
    effort.
        At the same time--yes, you could clap for him; I think you ought to.
    [Applause] I know generals don't run for office, but they love to hear
    the applause. [Laughter] They love to hear the applause.
        At the same time, your local IBASC commission has been working hard
    to coordinate the reuse effort here, to develop the strategy and the
    vision to propel Kelly and San Antonio into the next century. We aren't
    wasting a second. From day one, we've been pursuing creative
    initiatives, providing planning funds to help in the effort. We've
    allocated more than half a billion dollars for construction, personnel,
    and support help to Kelly and its workers. Just this past weekend, as I
    said, the open house that was sponsored by the city and the base drew
    hundreds of contractors and others from the private sector. They saw the
    potential for success here.
        Today I am proud to announce that we have reached an agreement
    between the community and the Air Force and the Federal Aviation
    Administration to allow the joint use of the Kelly runway between the
    Air Force and private sector.
        That puts San Antonio in a prime position to handle the growth of
    trade from all over our hemisphere, all the way down to the tip of
    Tierra del Fuego. If diversity is America's strength, and it is, San
    Antonio will have the muscle when it comes to trade with Latin America.
        More action is on the way. Let me say that this is a time of hope
    for San Antonio. You're one of the youngest cities in the country. You
    have the position, the resources, the proven character and ability to
    take advantage of the future. You are organized, skilled, and now
    sitting on some of the best real estate and biggest opportunities in the
    entire United States.
        I know the BRAC decision last summer was a disappointment. And if
    you saw me in my rare, unguarded moments, you knew that I was
    disappointed, too. But I believe that San Antonio will come out a winner
    with a healthier, more diversified economic base and better jobs, a
    community moving confidently into the next century as a center of trade
    and a vital player in our national security. And let me emphasize again,
    for the benefit of the two workers who asked the general that the other
    day, this plan is designed to strengthen our national security, not to
    weaken it.
        No American should forget that. If our mission as a people is to go
    into the 21st century with the American dream alive for all people and
    to keep America the strongest country in the world, then we have to have
    a good economic plan, a modern Government, mainstream values driving
    everything we do. And that means we have to maintain America's
    leadership in the world. It is not an option for us to walk away from
    our role and our responsibilities. And you will be helping us do that
    well into the next century.
        Let me close by saying something that you must already know. Your
    local leaders here have a vision and a plan. I believed all along that
    we could not walk away from San Antonio or from Kelly or from the people
    here. And we have a national plan that will permit you the time you need
    to take advantage of the changes going on in the world and to maintain
    an important role in our national security. But the real strength of
    these plans will come from you, from your character, your work, and your
    own vision, and your willingness to believe in yourselves and the
    future.
        If you look at how we in the United States are positioned now and
    imagine what the world will look like 10 or 20 or 30 years from now when
    all the children in this audience have their children at meetings like
    this, I tell you, there is no nation in the world in a better position

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    to do well in the global village of the 21st century, if we will seize
    our opportunities. And to do that, we have to believe in ourselves, stay
    true to our mainstream values, and make the changes we know that will
    harness the future for a better America.
        That's what you can do. I will be there with you. I know that you
    can do it. If you believe you can do it, there is no stopping you.
        Thank you, and God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:06 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to
    Maj. Gen. Lewis E. Curtis III, USAF, Commander, San Antonio Air
    Logistics Center.