[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
[September 24, 1995]
[Pages 1472-1473]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Arrival in Avoca, Pennsylvania
September 24, 1995

    Thank you very much. Good morning, and thank you for coming out. I 
want to say, first of all, how very much I appreciate the kindness that 
so many of you have shown to my wife and to the members of our family. 
And if we ever cause an interruption in ordinary flow of life here when 
the Rodham family comes back to its roots, I apologize for that. But you 
can't imagine how much they all love it.
    We're going back to Lake Winola today for the first time since our 
daughter was not quite 2 years old. So she doesn't have much of a memory 
of the first time we took her up there. We were talking about that this 
morning, getting ready to come up here.
    Let me also give you a little good news. I'm sorry we're a few 
minutes late this morning, but I got up early this morning at the White 
House and was on the phone for a couple of hours because this morning, 
or morning our time, not very long ago, the Israelis and the 
Palestinians have reached agreement on the next

[[Page 1473]]

phase of their peace process. It's a big step forward toward ending the 
long, long state of siege in the Middle East. And on this day of 
worship, a thanksgiving for so many of us, I thought that would be a 
good way to get this Sunday off to the right kind of start.
    I want to thank you also for the support that you have given to me 
and to our administration. We are doing everything we possibly can to 
try to lift up the values of work and family and freedom and 
responsibility and community in this country, to move the economy 
forward, to tackle the tough problems, and to bring the American people 
together.
    And I am gratified that with all of our difficulties, we see the 
unemployment rate dropping, more jobs being created. The crime rate, 
believe it or not, now is going down in all 50 States. And we seem to be 
coming together again as a country and looking toward the future again.
    And so I want to say that, for me at least, every day is an enormous 
opportunity as we go through this period of historic change for 
America's economy and in the whole world, to try to elevate the things 
that all of you live by day-in and day-out here, to try to restore 
economic opportunity where it was taken away in the 1980's, and to try 
to give people the opportunity to make the most of their own lives and 
families and communities the chance to solve their own problems and 
realize their own possibilities. It is a great honor, a great joy. And 
for every day you have given me to be your President, I thank you.
    God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at approximately 10:55 a.m. at Wilkes-Barre/
Scranton International Airport.