    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [April 15, 1997]
    [Pages 440-442]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Luncheon in
    Brooklyn
    April 15, 1997

        Thank you very much. Congressman Rangel said, ``I guess I can't say
    `break a leg,' can I?'' [Laughter] Actually you could. They told me if I
    had broken my leg, I would have healed quicker.
        Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank all of you for being here. I
    want to thank Martin Frost for his tireless work on behalf of the
    Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. I thank Dick Gephardt for
    the wonderful work that he has done with me over the last 4 years and
    few odd months as majority leader, as minority leader, and I hope in
    January of 1999, as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, with
    your help.
        To give you an idea of what this Democratic Congressional Campaign
    Committee did and what our candidates did in 1996, it is worth noting
    that even though they were out-spent often by breathtaking margins in
    the last 10 days--unimaginable amounts in some of the seats--with only
    9,759 votes spread across 10 congressional districts, the Democrats
    could be in the majority today. That's how close that election was. And
    therefore, your presence here today and your support for them is very
    important.
        I am proud of the things that Mr. Gephardt mentioned. I'm proud of
    the fact that in 1992 we said we would turn this country around and
    change the direction of the country, and we did. I'm proud of the fact
    that we changed the economic philosophy that dominated Washington for a
    long time, that we reversed trickle-down economics and instead said,
    ``We're going to reduce the deficit and invest in our future. We're
    going to expand trade and make it more fair.''
        And the results, I think, are pretty impressive. We've got an
    unemployment rate today that's the lowest it's been in many, many years,
    and the unemployment rate today is a full percent and a half below the
    average--the average of

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    the two decades before I took office. So we're working together; we're
    moving forward.
        I am proud of the fact that with the leadership of a lot of the
    Members of the Congress in this room we've taken a serious step instead
    of just hot-air talk in trying to make our streets safer and our futures
    brighter for our young people. We had the biggest drop in crime the year
    before last that we've had in over two decades. We haven't gotten the
    1996 statistics yet, but all the indications are that they continue to
    go down. We are moving in the right direction on that.
        And I am very proud of the fact that, again, with the leadership
    with a lot of New Yorkers in this room, we have put education first on
    America's domestic agenda again. And I'm very proud of that.
        I'm going to do my best to keep doing the public's business, and I
    will do my best to do it in a fair and open way with the Members of both
    parties in the Congress. But I can tell you, if you look around the room
    at the people who are here, and you ask yourself, what are the great
    challenges of the 21st century for America? Can we keep the American
    dream of opportunity for all who are willing to work for it alive; can
    we give our children a world-class education; can we deal with the
    health care and the safety needs of all the poor children who come from
    different cultures who are in our country and give them a chance to make
    their full contribution; can we preserve an American community that's
    one America and still have an enormous amount of respect for the racial
    and ethnic and religious differences we have among ourselves? Because if
    we can, then we are clearly the best positioned country in the world for
    the new century.
        You have to ask yourselves, who would I like to take the lead in
    answering those questions and in fashioning the answer? And I know what
    that answer is for me; I know what that answer is for you. And your
    presence here today will help the American people make a good decision
    in 1998.
        I'd also like to thank the Members of Congress from Brooklyn and the
    people of Brooklyn for hosting us here today. I have consistently done
    very well in Brooklyn, as the Members never forget to tell me, and I am
    very grateful for that. And I am honored to be in this beautiful,
    beautiful place, and I hope to stay and look around a little bit.
        I'm going to Queens tonight to Shea Stadium to watch the Mets and
    the Dodgers play and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Jackie
    Robinson's breaking the color line in baseball. And I'd just like to say
    one final word about that. It's all the more appropriate, I think,
    coming as it does right after Tiger Woods' record-shattering performance
    in the Masters. But it's important to remember that you had, I think,
    the two great ingredients of a good society at work in both places. In
    the case of Jackie Robinson, you had people who were willing to end
    discrimination and an owner who was willing to give him a chance. But
    you also had a highly disciplined, profoundly dignified, greatly
    talented ballplayer who was prepared not only physically but also
    emotionally and mentally to do what had to be done. The same thing
    happened in the Masters last week.
        And I often believe--have said this and I will say it again because
    I believe it--I think that the elections that really matter in this
    country are genuinely determined by questions people ask not only about
    us but about themselves and how they view themselves in the world in the
    future we're going into.
        And I will say this in closing: I believe that the efforts of Martin
    Frost and Leader Gephardt and all the members of the New York delegation
    in 1998 will be successful. If we can get the right kind of balanced
    budget passed in the Congress, if we can continue to stand up for what's
    right for America, and if we can make sure the American people are
    asking the right questions in 1998 of our society and of themselves--if
    that happens, I am not worried about the outcome of the elections, and
    more importantly, I'm not worried about the future of our country.
        Again, let me say I'm profoundly grateful to New York and grateful
    to Brooklyn and glad to be here, and thank you for helping the DCCC.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:24 p.m. at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.
    In his remarks, he referred to Representative Martin Frost, chairman,
    Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

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