[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
[May 30, 1996]
[Pages 845-847]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the Community in Baton Rouge
May 30, 1996

    Thank you very much. I want to thank Senator Breaux, and I want to 
thank Keith, Frank, and the Soileau Zydeco Band. Let's give them a hand; 
they were great. [Applause]

[[Page 846]]

    I've had a wonderful day in Louisiana. I started off in New Orleans 
and met with 20,000 people there at the Church of God in Christ women's 
conference. And then I had a big lunch, and I came up here. I enjoyed 
speaking to the legislature. I emerged unscathed; as you can see, I'm 
still standing here. And I think you heard the speech, didn't you? So 
you shouldn't have to go through another one.
    Let me just briefly make a couple of points. First of all, I want to 
thank all the young people in this audience today for coming out here. 
And I want you to know that, more than anything else, day-in and day-
out, I try to imagine what this country will look like when you're my 
age. I try to think about what we can do to make this country what it 
ought to be when you raise your children and when you raise your 
grandchildren.
    I want this country to be a place where everybody can live out their 
dreams if they're willing to work for it. I want it to be a place where 
we come together and we cherish and we respect the differences among us, 
instead of looking for ways to keep being divided in the same old way. 
That's a paralyzing, frustrating, ultimately self-defeating way to live.
    I want your country to be the strongest force in the world for peace 
and freedom and prosperity. I want to be able to say when I leave this 
office that--not that we solved all the problems in the world but that 
America has a way to solve its problems at home by coming together and a 
way to lead the world to make the place safer for everybody.
    I want you to be able to look at your country and say, ``You know, I 
believe that we're going to do fine. I believe we're going to grow 
together. I believe we're going to go forward together. And I don't have 
any doubt that the 21st century will be the greatest years this country 
ever had.'' That's what I want you to believe. That is the test of what 
we will do.
    Now, I know we're going into an election season and, frankly, we're 
going into it a little sooner than I think we ought to. [Laughter] I'd 
like to see everybody in Washington just settle down and keep on passing 
bills that the people need. We need to raise the minimum wage and pass 
the health care reform. We need to pass the Kassebaum-Kennedy health 
care reform bill so you don't lose your health insurance if you change 
jobs and somebody in your family is sick. We need to pass the right kind 
of balanced budget amendment that protects Medicare and Medicaid and 
environmental programs and educational programs, including the 
AmeriCorps program that is represented here. That's what we need to do.
    So I wish we could put it off awhile. But the main thing I want you 
to know is that I'm going to try to give this year back to you. And when 
this year is over, I want you to feel that American democracy has 
flourished. But that means you have to do your part. Don't let your 
friends and neighbors say it doesn't make any difference. Don't let your 
friends and neighbors be cynical. It makes a huge difference.
    You have here a great debate going on in our country about how we're 
going to march into the 21st century, two very, very different visions 
of change, two honestly different visions of what we should be doing in 
Washington and what we should be doing at the grassroots. And they are 
honest and forthright. For all of the things that may not seem right, 
there are real differences between the way I believe we should reach the 
next century and the way the leaders of the other party believe we 
should reach the next century.
    Now, we can make a lot of agreements, and if we just do things that 
we agree on, we can get a lot done for America. But the election will be 
a discussion about where the disagreements are, and what I want to do is 
to give it back to you. I want you to feel that you are participating in 
it, that you're shaping the election, that your questions are being 
answered, that your hopes are being nourished, not that it's just some 
sort of couch potato mud fight. [Laughter]
    But to do it, you've got to do your part. I'm encouraged by seeing 
you out here today in large numbers. I'm encouraged by your good 
spirits. I'm encouraged by your enthusiasm. I'm encouraged by your 
energy. But you just remember: This country has been around for more 
than 200 years because more than half the time, more than half the 
people have understood enough to know what the right thing to do was to 
move our country into the future, to keep it growing and going and 
coming together instead of being divided and diverted and distracted.
    So I say to you, if we can create opportunity, if we can act 
responsibly in a way that comes together instead of letting our country 
be driven apart, the best days of this country lie ahead

[[Page 847]]

of us. That is my dedication. That is your dedication. That's what we 
ought to together give to the United States in 1996.
    Thank you, and God bless you all. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 7:26 p.m. at the Pentagon Barracks. A tape 
was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.