    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
    [October 21, 1996]
    [Pages 1880-1882]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Ground-Breaking Ceremony for Expansion of the Detroit
    Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Detroit, Michigan
    October 21, 1996

        Thank you. Thank you very much. When Al Checchi started telling that
    story about Herb Kelleher, who is a mutual friend of ours, meeting the
    head of Wild Turkey whiskey company, I couldn't tell whether he was
    comparing Ed McNamara to God, to whiskey, or to a wild turkey.
    [Laughter] But I have--I will pay for that at a later point. [Laughter]
        Ladies and gentlemen, many people have been thanked today, but I
    want to say a special

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    word of thanks to the Members of Congress who have personally lobbied me
    in behalf of this project and, in particular, your friend Senator Carl
    Levin, Congressman John Dingell, who has a way of being insistent
    himself--[laughter]--Congressman John Conyers and Congressman David
    Bonior, who are here, and one who is not here, Congresswoman Lynn
    Rivers. I thank them very much for the work they did personally with me
    in Washington.
        I want to thank Alfred Checchi for the brilliant job he has done in
    turning Northwest Airlines around, along with John Dasburg and others,
    and the work they did to make this possible. It's a real tribute to the
    ability of American enterprise to compete in the areas that will
    dominate the 21st century.
        I want to thank Secretary Pena for the work that he has done to make
    sure that even in a time when we reduced the deficit in all 4 years for
    the first time in the 20th century, at a time when we were permitting
    Government spending to grow more slowly than it has in the last 12
    years, we still were able to invest more in the infrastructure of
    America, in no small measure because of the innovation and the
    partnerships that Federico Pena did a lot to help to design and carry
    out. And since he was the mayor of Denver before he became Secretary of
    Transportation, we all know that he believes in building modern
    airports. [Laughter]
        I'd also like to thank Mayor Archer for so many things. But the last
    time I checked, the unemployment rate in the city of Detroit was half
    what it was 4 years ago, thanks in no small measure to the work that
    Detroit did in securing the empowerment zone, to the $2 billion in
    private sector capital that were committed to it, and to the genuine
    spirit of partnership and cooperation which Dennis Archer has fostered.
    And I thank him for that.
        But most important, I want to thank my friend Ed McNamara. I'll tell
    you a story about Ed. Not so very long ago, when the question of the
    last $150 million was hanging fire, he put his big old arm around me and
    he looked at me with those big sort of half happy, half sad eyes of his,
    and I thought, I'm going to get another one of this Irish bull that's
    coming up--[inaudible]. [Laughter] And he said, ``Have I always been
    your friend?'' [Laughter] I said, ``Yes.'' He said, ``Was I there before
    almost everyone else?'' [Laughter] I said, ``Yes.'' He said, ``Didn't
    Jim Blanchard bring you to me first?'' I said, ``Yes.'' He said, ``Have
    I ever asked you for anything, anything?'' I said, ``No.'' He said, ``I
    want that airport--now.'' [Laughter] Governor Blanchard was nodding his
    head up and down; he knows that's true.
        So this is a great day for Wayne County; it's a great day for the
    State of Michigan. The idea that we could invest here from all sources
    $1.6 billion to generate an annual impact of $2.7 billion says more than
    I ever could about the importance of creating a modern economy that will
    generate high-wage jobs, that is tied to the rest of America and the
    rest of the world.
        Senator Levin said that together all of us working hard in the
    United States have produced 10\1/2\ million more jobs over the last 4
    years. The thing that I'm proudest of is that the typical family income
    has gone up $1,600 after inflation in the last few years, in part
    because more than half of these jobs are in high-wage industries. We
    have to keep that trend going. For 20 years, Americans worked harder and
    harder and harder just to keep up, just to hold on. The average American
    family today is spending more hours at work and less time with their
    kids than they did in 1969. We have begun to turn that trend around.
        So this is not only going to be exciting, it will not only change
    the life and the face of Wayne County and Michigan forever in creating
    more new jobs, it will create better jobs, and it will enable more and
    more people in Michigan not only to have access to that exciting world
    that's out there but also to build more successful family lives, to
    succeed at work and at home. So that this project today, yes, it will
    advance the pocketbooks and the incomes of the people whose jobs will
    come into being as a result of it, but it will also improve the quality
    of life for virtually every person in this entire region who is affected
    in any way by the way the economy is changing, so that change will be
    working for not only the working people but the families and the
    children of Michigan in the future instead of undermining those family
    values and what we all want. And that is, to me, perhaps the best news
    of this announcement today. And I thank all of you who worked on it to
    make it possible.
        The unemployment in this State has dropped from about 7\1/2\ to
    about 4\1/2\ percent over the last 4 years. We now have to focus on the
    long term, on investing in our future and building

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    that bridge to the 21st century I talk so much about. Air travel is an
    important part of it.
        One of the things Mr. Checchi did not say because he was perhaps too
    modest, but I want to emphasize that one of the areas that America
    enjoys an unquestionable global lead in, where no other nation can come
    close, is in the quality and competitiveness and price of air service in
    the United States. Whether it is commercial service or people on tourist
    ventures and trips or carrying cargo, there is no one in the world to
    compete with the competitive airlines of the United States.
        People were writing our airline industry off when I became
    President. We had a special commission to talk about what we could do to
    rebuild the airlines. I believe it is accurate to say that last year and
    this year, every major airline company in America will turn a profit and
    is helping to forge the kind of partnerships we need to build that 21st
    century economy, where every single person will have a chance to live up
    to the fullest of his or her own abilities and where people really will
    have a chance to build successful careers and strong families in good
    communities. That's what turning this dirt means today. It is a very
    great day. And all of you should be very grateful to the leaders here
    who have worked so hard to make it happen.
        Thank you, and God bless you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 4:40 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to
    Alfred A. Checchi, cochairman, and John Dasburg, president and chief
    executive officer, Northwest Airlines; Herb Kelleher, chairman and
    president, Southwest Airlines; Edward H. McNamara, Wayne County
    executive; Mayor Dennis W. Archer of Detroit; and James J. Blanchard,
    former Governor of Michigan.