    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
    [April 10, 1996]
    [Pages 562-565]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Funeral of Secretary of Commerce Ronald H. Brown
    April 10, 1996

        Ladies and gentlemen, fellow Americans, citizens of the world who
    have come here; to Alma and Tracey and Michael and Tammy; to Chip and to
    Ron's mother and to the other members of the family who are here: This
    has been a long week for all of us who loved Ron Brown, cared for his
    work, cherished the brilliant young people who worked with him, honored
    the business executives who took the mission of peace to Bosnia, and the
    members of our United States military who were taking them on that
    mission.
        But this has been the longest week for the Brown family. You have
    grieved and wept. You have comforted others whose loved ones were lost.
    You have remembered and smiled, and last evening you got to celebrate
    and laugh at the life that you shared, each in your own way, with Ron.
        I begin by saying to all of you, on behalf of all of us, we thank
    you for the strength you

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    have given to others even as you have borne your own grief, for we can
    see Ron in your eyes and hear him in your voices and feel his strength
    in yours. Indeed, I was confident, as I heard Michael speak, that from
    heaven Ron had written the words. So today and in all of our tomorrows,
    as we remember and love him, we will remember and love you. We hope on
    this day amidst all the grief you will also feel gratitude for his
    magnificent life, determination to carry on his legacy and keep it
    alive, and the peace of God which takes us to a place beyond all our
    understanding.
        The Bible tells us, ``though we weep through the night, joy will
    come in the morning.'' Ron Brown's incredible life force brought us all
    joy in the morning. No dark night could ever defeat him. And as we
    remember him, may we always be able to recover his joy. For this man
    loved life and all the things in it. He loved the big things: his
    family, his friends, his country, his work, his African-American
    heritage. He loved the difference he was making in the world, this new
    and exciting world after the cold war.
        And he loved life's little things: the Redskins and basketball and
    golf, even when it was bad, and McDonald's and clothes. And I'm telling
    you, folks, he would have loved this deal today. I mean, here we are for
    Ron Brown in the National Cathedral with full military honors, filled
    with the distinguished citizenry of this country and leaders from around
    the world in a tribute to him. And as I look around, I see that all of
    us are dressed almost as well as he would be today. [Laughter]
        But let us remember also that he loved success, but not so much he
    wanted to succeed at the wrong things or in the wrong way. And he always
    remembered that worldly success doesn't take us too very far from all
    the rest of our fellow human beings who don't enjoy as much of it. That
    accounts for why he was always so kind to people without regard to their
    station in life.
        Ron Brown enjoyed a lot of success. He proved you could do well and
    do good. He also proved you could do good and have a good time. And he
    also proved that you could do all that and, at the same time, still take
    time to help other people.
        With his passion and determination, his loves and his joys, his
    going beyond the stereotypes of his time, he lived a truly American
    life. He lived his life for America, and when the time came, he was
    found laying down his life for America.
        What a life it was, with his remarkable enthusiasm that infected
    everything he did. As long as I live I will remember the time Ron Brown
    and I were walking the streets of the neighborhood in Los Angeles, and
    we went to this sporting goods store that had been owned by some people
    who were trying to help young folks stay out of gangs. And in the back
    of the sporting goods store, there was a basketball court. And all these
    little kids had gathered around, and they asked Ron and they asked me if
    we would like to play basketball. So we divided up sides. He took a few
    kids. I took a few kids. All of a sudden he forgot who was President and
    how he got his day job. [Laughter] He was totally caught up in the drama
    of the game. This was an important trip we took, but afterward, whenever
    anyone asked him about that trip, all he could remember to say was,
    ``The President was in my face from 20 feet out, but when I shot,
    nothing but net.'' [Laughter]
        Ron Brown was very clever. Even as a young boy at the Hotel Teresa,
    ``Little Brown,'' as Joe Louis called him, was always trying to think of
    what else could be done. He met all kinds of celebrities, as has been
    widely chronicled, men like Louis Armstrong and Sugar Ray Robinson and
    women like Lena Horne and Dinah Washington. And he did what most kids
    do, even today, he got their autographs. But unlike most kids, he sold
    them to his friends. [Laughter] According to Michael, he sold two to a
    page, five bucks a pop, until Joe Louis found out and shut down his act.
    [Laughter] But it was too late. He was well on his way to becoming the
    Secretary of Commerce. [Laughter]
        He was daring. We all know that. He was daring when he announced he
    wanted to be the chairman of the Democratic Party, after we had lost
    three Presidential elections. And no one thought he had a chance to win.
    Then when he won, he announced that in 1992 the world's oldest political
    party would win the White House again. And nobody thought he was right,
    including the Governor of a small Southern State. [Laughter] But as with
    so many other things, he was right, and the rest of us were wrong.
        On a personal note, I want to say to my friend just one last time:
    Thank you; if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here.

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        Ron Brown was a true leader, and he knew that in his mind that meant
    you could never show doubt, even if you had to kind of make it up as you
    went along. I later learned this story about his acceptance of the job I
    offered him. I sent for Ron. He came to see me, and I said, ``You know,
    this is a big, new world out there, and you ought to be Secretary of
    Commerce. You could change the future of America and millions of other
    people around the world. You could make a real difference.'' And he
    said, ``That sounds good. I want to think about it.'' I later learned
    that he walked out and went to see our mutual friend Harold Ickes and
    said, ``Harold, what does the Secretary of Commerce do?'' [Laughter]
        By the time he arrived, he knew. He knew better than anyone else. He
    came on like a force of nature. Yesterday I received a letter from one
    of the many business executives that Ron Brown helped to open new
    markets around the world. He's on our Export Council, and he said in
    this letter, ``You know, Mr. President, Ron Brown really is the finest
    Secretary of Commerce the United States ever had.''
        He also remembered what it was he was leaning toward. Ron Brown made
    his staff memorize a one-sentence mission statement about their job at
    Commerce. Here it is: The mission of the Department of Commerce is to
    ensure economic opportunity for every American.
        That was Ron. He wanted to give other people a chance to live a good
    life and live the American dream. He wanted to do it in a way that
    helped people around the world to lift their aspirations. He went after
    it with everything he had. He used to say to me, ``If what we have to do
    means getting the government out of the way, let's lead the charge. And
    if what we have to do means working together to find some new solution,
    let's lead the charge. But let's get it done. Let's fulfill the
    mission.''
        He also never forgot that there are always some people who are left
    behind. I want to tell you this story because to me it captures so much
    the essence of what made him very special. When we first came into
    office we only had about a month to put our first budget together. And
    we knew we had to do some pretty tough things to get the deficit way
    down. Day after day, the Cabinet would gather in the Roosevelt Room; Ron
    was always there. And on one of those days, we talked about the need not
    only to cut the budget but to do some really symbolic things that would
    show the American people we were different and we stood for the right
    things. And we were all, frankly, being just a little sanctimonious in
    looking for symbolic gestures.
        And so we were talking about the need to cut the perks that had
    previously been provided to top officials, things like chefs in the
    Secretary's dining room and chauffeurs for a lot of higher ranking
    officials. And we talked about them, frankly, all of us, nonchalantly
    and fairly sanctimoniously until Ron turned to me and said, ``You know,
    these cuts are the right thing to do, Mr. President. It is the right
    thing to do. But I'd just like to remind people that there are real
    human beings in those jobs as chefs and chauffeurs. A lot of those folks
    are my age. Many are black men. Most of them never had the opportunities
    you and I did. So let's go on and do the right things and make the cuts.
    But let's not forget about those people, and let's try to help them go
    on with their lives in dignity.''
        No one else said that but Ron Brown. He could see where we had to
    go. He knew it was the right thing to do. But he had enough peripheral
    vision to know how other people were being affected.
        That last thing I'd like to say about his remarkable public life is
    that while he was often determined to be first, he was equally
    determined that he would never be the last. And so he exerted more
    extraordinary effort than virtually anybody I've ever known to develop
    the talents of other people, to reach out to the young, to give them a
    chance to serve. How much of the weeping we have done this last week
    because there were so many brilliant young people on that plane with him
    from different backgrounds and different racial groups. Why? Because Ron
    Brown could see in them the promise of a new tomorrow, and he knew they
    needed someone to reach down and give them the opportunity to serve.
        And I hope that is something that none of us will ever forget. For
    his legacy burns brightly not only in the lives of his wife and children
    and other family members but also all of those brilliant young men and
    women, many of whom are with us today, who walked through the doors that
    he opened and crossed over the bridges that he built.
        I received a lot of letters and calls, like many of you have, since
    Ron died. I got this letter

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    from Michael Armstrong, the chairman of Hughes Electronics, who was one
    of the people Ron worked with. And I wanted to read this to you, because
    so often we think Government operates in a vacuum. Listen to this:
        ``While the demands of business, the pressures of the Commerce
    Department, and the politics of Washington can often mask the spirit and
    character of the dedicated people who try so hard to make a difference
    for America, the business at hand, the pressures on the Department, and
    the politics of the moment never dimmed the smile, the energy, the
    commitment, and the leadership of the man who made such a big difference
    in the direction and destiny of our country. He led his party to the
    Presidency. He led the Commerce Department with imagination and
    distinction. He led American business to new global opportunity. He led
    his race as an unassuming but forceful role model. He led us all in
    being what he believed in. He was truly a leader.''
        Ron Brown: a trailblazer, a builder, a patriot; a husband, a father,
    a wonderful friend, and a great American.
        Let us remember these things about Ron. Let us always have our joy
    in the morning. Let us be determined to carry on his legacy. Let us
    always be vigilant, as he was, in fighting against any shred of racism
    and prejudice. Let us always be vigilant, as he was, in remembering that
    we cannot lift ourselves up by tearing other people down, that we have
    to go forward together. Let us always remember, as he did, that Alexis
    de Tocqueville was right when he said so many years ago, America is
    great because America is good. He knew we had to keep working and
    striving to be better.
        In his last sermon from the pulpit, Martin Luther King asked God to
    grant us all a chance to be participants in the newness and magnificent
    development of America. That is the cause for which Ron Brown gave his
    life and the cause for which he gave up his life.
        In his letter to the Galatians, St. Paul said, ``Let us not grow
    weary in doing good. For in due season we shall reap if we do not lose
    heart.'' Our friend never grew weary; he never lost heart. He did so
    much good, and he is now reaping his reward. He left us sooner than we
    wanted him to leave, but what a legacy of love and life he left behind.
        Now he's in a place where he doesn't even have to worry about how
    good he looks. He always will look good. He's in a place where there's
    always joy in the morning. He's in a place where every good quality he
    ever had has been rendered perfect. He's in a place he deserves to be
    because of the way he lived and what he left to those of us who loved
    him.
        Let there always be joy in the morning for Ron Brown. Amen.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:43 p.m. in the sanctuary at the National
    Cathedral.