[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
[March 18, 1996]
[Pages 478-479]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the Community in Alexandria, Louisiana
March 18, 1996

    The President. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for waiting in the 
cold and the wind. I am so glad to be here. I want to thank the Tioga 
High School band for playing. Didn't they do a great job? [Applause] 
Mayor Randolph, Mayor Baden, Senator Johnston, Senator Breaux, 
Congressman Fields, Congressman Jefferson, Chairman Meyer, I am 
delighted to be here, and I thank you for waiting for me.
    I want to talk just a minute, very briefly, about what you have done 
here with England Air Force Base and why that's a model of what I hope 
we'll see more of all across America. You know, when the cold war ended 
and we were moving into this global economy, the first thing that 
happened that scared a lot of Americans was the need to downsize the 
military and the plain need that the country had to reduce the size of 
our bases. A lot of people were afraid, but you people were not afraid. 
You worked together, and you were determined to make some good things 
happen here. And I have to tell you that I have been all over this 
country looking at military bases. I have worked with communities all 
over America, personally, to help them start their communities up and to 
use these bases as economic assets. There is no place in the entire 
United States that has done a better job than Alexandria has.
    Now, what I want to say, even in all this wind, is that there are 
other challenges facing us. You read in the press, I'm sure, that some 
big companies, for example, are restructuring and laying off a lot of 
people. All the time in this economy there are jobs being created, jobs 
being abolished, jobs being created, jobs being abolished. But what I 
want to say to you is that this country is moving in the right 
direction. We have 8.4 million more jobs today than we had 3 years ago 
because the American people, when they work together, can find ways to 
solve problems, meet challenges, and move forward. And if we will commit 
ourselves to a few simple things, educating all of our children and 
providing education for adults whenever they lose jobs, the moment they 
lose jobs; making the most of our resources; selling America's products 
around the world; and taking the things we have in this country, like 
these military bases, and turning them into opportunities; and if we 
will commit to say if a person loses a job they at least ought to be 
able to carry their health insurance and their pension with them so they 
can take care of their families when they start anew; if we will commit 
ourselves to making it possible for people to start small businesses and 
for every community in America to participate in the economic recovery, 
then this country is going to do just fine.
    I want you to know, when I became President, because I had been 
through a base closing in my home State, I started a whole new program 
to get the Pentagon to move more quickly, to move properties out and 
give them to the communities so that they could be used to generate 
jobs. And that is what we have done now

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all across America, and we're using you as a model.
    Now let me say that there's one official reason we're all out here 
on this windy day, and that is that I am here to take the next step in 
the official transition of this Air Force base to the central Louisiana 
community by formally presenting the deed for 165 acres of the base to 
Jim Meyer. So I'd like to ask him to come up here and let me present the 
deed. Mr. Meyer?
    Here it is. It is now yours.
    Mr. Meyer. Thank you.
    The President. Thank you again. God bless you. It's great to see 
you. I've had a great day.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 5:55 p.m. at the England Air Park. In his 
remarks, he referred to Mayor Ned Randolph of Alexandria; Mayor Fred 
Baden of Pineville; and Jim Meyer, chairman, England Economic and 
Industrial Development District.