[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
[March 13, 1997]
[Pages 310-311]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the Saxophone Club in Miami, Florida
March 13, 1997

    Thank you. Thank you, Buddy MacKay. Thank you, Elaine Bloom. I want 
to thank all the people here from the Saxophone Club, and Merry Morris 
and Mr. Berger, the co-chairs of tonight's event. I want to thank Ed Kia 
and his trio who played earlier, and Albita and John Secada and these 
wonderful musicians. They were fabulous at the Inaugural, and they were 
great here tonight. I only wish they had sung about 10 more minutes. I 
love that song.
    Let me say, first and foremost, this is my first trip back to 
Florida since the election. It has been 60 years since a Democrat was 
reelected President and 20 years since a Democrat carried the State of 
Florida in any election. And I came to say, more than anything else, 
thank you, thank you, thank you.
    And it is true what Buddy MacKay said, my whole odyssey, the whole 
struggle that I have waged these long years, not just to be President 
but to change the direction of our country, got its first big boost in 
the State of Florida in December of 1991, in the straw poll. And Buddy 
was there, Elaine Bloom was there, and a number of others were, and we 
won it. And it was the beginning of a terrific personal adventure for 
Hillary and for me, but more importantly for a different direction for 
our country.
    And I want all of you to be proud who are here at this Saxophone 
Club event. You know, the Saxophone Clubs really started with the 
campaign of '92 with some young people who wanted to find a way for 
people who couldn't give a lot of money but wanted to give some money 
and work and to be a part of the political process and to be valued and 
to have their voices heard to do that. And that gave birth to these 
Saxophone Clubs. And they've spread all across the country now. And I 
always say, wherever I go, I don't want to do any kind of event unless 
we also have something for the Saxophone Club because I especially want 
to see the young people who come out to these events. And I want them to 
know that we're working every day for them and their future in 
Washington to make this country better in the years ahead. And I thank 
you for that.
    I want all of you who have helped us these last few years to be 
proud of the fact that we have the lowest combined rates of unemployment 
and inflation in over 30 years, that we just had an economy that 
produced more jobs in one Presidential term than any before in history, 
that we've had 4 years of declining crime rates and the biggest 
reduction in welfare rolls in history, that our country is leading the 
world toward reducing the nuclear threat, dealing with the new threats 
of biological and chemical weapons, working for peace from the Middle 
East to Northern Ireland, working--I'm going to meet with President 
Yeltsin next week in Helsinki to try to work on making sure that Europe

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will be free and democratic and it will have a positive relationship 
with Russia and that we can get rid of the nuclear problems that are 
still out there overhanging us from the cold war. We are moving ahead.
    And as Buddy MacKay said, I'm also going around the country on what 
has become a personal crusade for me and for Hillary and for the Vice 
President. Today I spoke in the North Carolina Legislature; Al Gore 
spoke in California. In a couple of weeks, Hillary and I are going to 
sponsor a conference in Washington on early childhood learning. And all 
of this is designed to make sure that for the next 4 years, we commit 
ourselves to making sure that in the 21st century every person in this 
country, without regard of their racial or ethnic background, will have 
access to world-class education and a chance to live out their dreams by 
developing their goals.
    Make no mistake about it, that's what all this is about. You are 
part of a movement to build this country and move it into a new century 
with the American dream alive for everyone, where we reject the 
divisions that so many try to impose on us at political times for 
political reasons and come together as one country, and where we 
continue to lead the world for peace and freedom and prosperity. That is 
the world I'm determined to leave to you in 4 years when I go out of 
office and a new century and a new millennium come into our lives. And 
together that's exactly what we're going to do.
    Thank you, and God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 10:15 p.m. at the Sheraton Bal Harbour 
Hotel.