[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
[December 21, 1996]
[Pages 2231-2232]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's Radio Address
December 21, 1996

    In just a few days we celebrate the miracle of Christmas, the gift 
of light and hope that has lasted for nearly 2,000 years. I'd like to 
talk about how we can share that gift by shining the light of literacy 
on millions of precious children and families.
    Literacy is about reading, but it's about much more, too. It's about 
opportunity, giving people the tools to make the most of their God-given 
potential. It's about preparing people for the 21st century, when a 
fully literate work force will be crucial to our strength as a nation. 
Without literacy, the history books and job manuals are closed, the 
Internet is turned off, and the promise of America is much harder to 
reach.
    To achieve our full potential as a nation, we must make sure 
everyone can read, adults as well as children. I'm proud that we're 
increasing the assistance we give to States for adult education and 
literacy by more than 50 percent, the largest increase in more than 30 
years. This will help hundreds of thousands of adults to rise to the 
obligations of family and community and to make the most of their own 
lives.
    When it comes to children, the first teachers must always be their 
parents. Hillary and I still talk about the books we read to Chelsea 
when we were so tired we could hardly stay awake. I urge all of 
America's parents, make sure there are books beneath your Christmas 
tree. Share the joy of reading as a family.
    Of course, parents can't do it alone. Our country has outstanding 
teachers and educators on the frontlines of the literacy crusade, but 
all the rest of us must work with them to make sure that every child and 
every adult can read.
    This summer in Wyandotte, Michigan, I announced a national literacy 
campaign called America Reads that begins with a clear national goal: 
Every American child should be able to read on his or her own by the 
third grade. I proposed to meet that goal by using 30,000 reading 
specialists and volunteer coordinators to mobilize a million volunteer 
reading tutors all across America. This week I announced that my 
Domestic Policy Adviser, Carol Rasco, will move to the Education 
Department with Secretary Riley to head this effort, to make absolutely 
sure we have the highest level attention to get the job done.
    We know that individualized tutoring works. Here in the Nation's 
Capital there are many remarkable tutoring programs, such as the St. 
Ann's Infant Home; Growing Together, which helps public school children 
to double their rate of learning; and the Academy of Hope, which teaches 
adults to read.
    Yesterday some of these students joined me for my annual reading of 
`` 'Twas the night before Christmas,'' and they're here with me now. If 
more Americans could see their joy in reading and learning, we'd have 
our one million volunteers overnight.

[[Page 2232]]

    Today we're taking the next major step in our America Reads 
campaign, to build our army of reading tutors on college campuses all 
across America. This fall, at my request, Congress created over 200,000 
new work-study jobs on America's college campuses. Work-study helps 
young people to work their way through college, often by serving their 
school. I want a large portion of work-study to be devoted to community 
service and especially to teaching our children to read.
    Today I'm happy to announce that 20 of our Nation's leading college 
presidents, from San Francisco to Texas to southern Illinois, are 
unleashing the energy and enthusiasm of their students to help every 8-
year-old learn to read. As members of a new America Reads college 
presidents steering committee, they will each dedicate half of their new 
work-study slots to students who work as reading tutors. Right away this 
should give us thousands of new tutors, a downpayment toward our goal of 
enlisting 100,000 work-study students to help America read.
    The steering committee members will also recruit at least five more 
college presidents to join the effort. To help them I am making an 
important change in the work-study program. If a student works as a 
reading tutor, colleges will no longer be required to pay one-quarter of 
that student's work-study costs. With today's actions by these college 
presidents and with the steps we are taking to help them, college 
students can now work their way through school by teaching our children 
to read. That is how we will take more responsibility, create more 
opportunity, and build a stronger, more united community for all 
Americans.
    These students will create a whole new culture of service, working 
alongside our AmeriCorps volunteers who will be doing the same, 
inspiring hundreds of thousands of Americans to tutor not just children 
but adult learners as well.
    There is simply no better way to serve your country and your 
community than by helping children and adults to read. And there is no 
better time to start than Christmas, the season of enlightenment. By 
reading to your own children, by giving your time so that others might 
learn to read, you can light a spark that keeps the spirit of Christmas 
burning every day of the year.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 5:36 p.m. on December 20 in the 
Roosevelt Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on 
December 21.