[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
[May 7, 1997]
[Pages 564-565]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the Community in Tlaxcala, Mexico
May 7, 1997

    Buenos dias, Tlaxcala. President and Mrs. Zedillo, Governor and Mrs. 
Alvarez-Lima, to all of our friends from Mexico and the United States. 
Mayor Teroba, thank you for welcoming us to this wonderful city. It is 
great to be here. I thank you for coming out to say hello.
    President Zedillo and I have been working hard, as he said, and now 
we have come just to celebrate Mexico's people and culture with you. 
This is an especially important day for my wife and for me because we 
were married about 22 years ago, and we came to Mexico on our honeymoon. 
And so we always love to come back. And this is a very romantic setting 
to be in today, and we thank you for that.
    The partnership between Mexico and the United States, the friendship 
between Mexico and the United States is important to the future of the 
American people and the Mexican people. It must be pursued in a genuine 
spirit of respect, equality, and dignity.
    We are moving into a world with great changes in the way we work and 
live, and the world grows smaller because of technology and rapid 
communications. But some things do not change. This beautiful city, 
founded nearly 500 years ago, reminds us that even in times of great 
change, some things are meant to last: our heritage, our love of family, 
community, our devotion to work, our respect for the land we are blessed 
to inhabit.
    It is my purpose to work with you to preserve the things that we 
want to preserve, to change as we must so that the people of Mexico and 
the people of the United States will have more and better jobs, good 
health care, all our children, boys and girls alike, will have good 
education, and we will be able together to beat back our common enemies 
of drugs and crime; so that as we move into the new century, we will 
know we have preserved our community, our values, our integrity, and we 
have prepared the way for our children's future.
    In closing, I would like to say a special thank-you to the Mexican 
people for the many contributions that Mexican-Americans have made to 
our life in the United States. Two members of my Presidential Cabinet, 
many people in my administration, many Members of our Congress, people 
successful in all walks of life have their roots here in Mexico. They 
are proud of it, and so am I. And we are going to work hard to make sure 
that in the years ahead we draw closer together, we work together, we 
maintain a spirit of pride in our own heritage but a genuine partnership 
for a better future.
    Thank you. Thank you, Mexico. Thank you for a wonderful visit.

Note: The President spoke at 1:41 p.m. in the town square. In his 
remarks, he referred to President Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and his 
wife, Anilda Patricia; Gov. Jose Antonio Alvarez-Lima of Tlaxcala and 
his wife, Veronica; and Mayor Cesareo Teroba of Tlaxcala. A tape was not 
available for verification of the content of these remarks.

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