[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
[June 23, 1997]
[Pages 810-812]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Saxophone Club Reception in Los Angeles
June 23, 1997

    The President. I thought he was going to say, ``When the son of a 
migrant farmworker can introduce the redneck grandson of poor dirt 
farmers''--[laughter]--that's what I thought he was going to say.
    Paul Rodriguez. The Secret Service cut that joke out. [Laughter]
    The President. They take all our fun away.
    Thank you, Kevin. Thank you, Paul. Thank you, Campbell Brothers. 
Thank you, Bennett Kelley, for all your work on the Saxophone Club. I 
thank Lieutenant Governor Gray Davis and Congressman Brad Sherman, who 
were here earlier. And I thank all of you for being here.
    I love the Saxophone Club. I love it. I love the idea that we've 
given so many people who never were in the political process before a 
chance to be a part of it and to help to forge your own future. I like 
the fact that most of the people who are in the Saxophone Club are a lot 
younger than I am. [Laughter] That's not true--I don't like that. 
[Laughter] But I do like the fact that people who have most of their 
days in front of them and who have a great stake in what we're doing 
believe enough in this to be a part of this.
    You know, I was just thinking today coming out here to California 
how wildly different things are here than they were just 5 years ago. 
And I was thinking how profoundly grateful I feel to all of you for the 
fact that California voted for me twice, to all of you for the support 
you've given the policies that we have enacted, to all of you for 
helping to make it possible for Al Gore and Hillary and me and all of us 
in our administration to do things that have helped to get the 
unemployment rate below 5 percent for the first time in 24 years, to get 
the inflation rate to its lowest point in 30 years, to make America the 
number one exporter in the world again--and for a Democrat something 
that's very important--have the biggest decline in inequality among 
working people in over 30 years. I'm proud of that. And thank you for 
that.
    I'm proud of the fact that we had the biggest drop in crime in 36 
years, the biggest drop in the welfare rolls in history. I'm proud of 
the fact that we've cleaned up more toxic waste dumps in 4 years than 
they did in the previous 12, and we're going to clean up 500 more next 
time. I'm proud of that.
    I'm proud of the fact that I was able, thanks to you, to get a 
balanced budget agreement which will have the biggest increase in health 
care coverage for America's children since Medicaid was enacted in 1965 
and the biggest increase in investment for excellence in education in 35 
years. And for the first time, if we pass this budget consistent with 
the agreement, we'll be able to say to every child in this country----
    Audience member. What about the NEA?
    The President. I'll get to that. [Laughter] We'll be able to say to 
every child in this country, when they're 10 years old, you will be able 
to go to college. You will be able to go to college. That's a big deal.
    I'm proud of the fact that you've made it possible for us to pursue 
a policy that says that we can grow the economy and preserve the 
environment, that we can go forward together, that we don't have to do 
things like target the NEA or the National Endowment for the Humanities. 
I never could figure out why we'd want to get rid of spending $150 
million a year, which is a small amount of a $1.5 trillion budget, to 
bring the arts and the humanities to people all across the country, in 
little byroads, who wouldn't have it otherwise, or to give young artists 
the chance to fulfill their God-given abilities. I think it's a pretty 
good investment.
    But more than anything else, I'm proud of you. Just look around this 
crowd tonight. Nine days ago I had the opportunity to come to the 
University of California at San Diego and give a speech that was very 
important to me. I had been wanting to talk about it for a long time, 
asking the American people to join me in a

[[Page 811]]

national, honest conversation about race; to have in every community and 
every neighborhood, on every block, an honest conversation about what it 
is that still divides us and what unites us that's more important; to 
identify those laws that we ought to be enforcing that we're not, 
whatever changes we need to make, what new policies we need, but most 
important, what attitudes we have to have.
    I am convinced that even more than the continuing examples of 
illegal discrimination, this country is being held back by things that 
aren't illegal but are equally damaging, that relate to stereotyping one 
another by race or other category. I am really concerned about it. And 
in California, you have both the opportunity and the obligation to lead 
the way in this, which is why I went to San Diego to give this speech. I 
mean, just look around the crowd tonight.
    Today, America has one State, Hawaii, which has no majority race. In 
3 to 5 years, California will join Hawaii. In 30 to 40 years, America 
will join Hawaii and California. And for the first time ever, we will 
have a chance to see whether all these things we've been saying about 
America for 100 years are true, that this is not about--this country is 
not about one race, it's not about one place, it's about a set of ideas 
and a set of ideals that anybody can share and be a part of and make a 
future on.
    Well, we're about to find out. And it's high time we started 
thinking about it. What is the unfinished business between black 
Americans and white Americans? What is the unfinished business that 
Hispanic-Americans have growing out of their unique heritage--and they 
will soon be the second largest minority group when we're all minority 
groups in America--what about that? What does it mean to have Los 
Angeles County with over 150 different racial and ethnic groups? What 
does it mean not to be the providence of the coast anymore--Wayne 
County, Detroit, Michigan, has more than 140 different racial and ethnic 
groups in it. What does all this mean for us?
    Can we become the first truly multiracial great democracy in human 
history? Can we shed all the historic baggage that's been with us ever 
since prehistory when our ancient, ancient, ancient ancestors gathered 
together in bands and traveled across the Earth as hunters and gathers 
and learned to distrust people who looked different from them because 
they really had reason to be afraid of them? Why are we still living 
like that?
    Can we get rid of those deep sort of psychological impulses that are 
inside? How many times did you ever have a day where you couldn't have 
gotten through the day if you didn't really dislike somebody? [Laughter] 
You say, ``No matter how bad it is, at least I'm not as bad as that 
sucker.'' [Laughter] Right? How many days have you--everybody here has 
had a day like that, right? Everybody here has had a day like that. ``I 
don't think much of myself today, but I sure am better than so and so.'' 
[Laughter] It's almost like we need this sort of thing.
    And we're laughing about it. But we have been given a great gift, 
and those of you--particularly those of you who are younger have been 
given a great gift. You're going to grow up and live and raise your 
children and see your grandchildren grow up in an America where people 
have more chances to live out their dreams than ever before if we can 
prove that we really can live together as one America, where we not only 
accept, we actually celebrate what's different about us and we're secure 
in celebrating it because we know that what we share in common is even 
more important.
    Now, that's really what this is all about. When we started the 
Saxophone Club in 1992, I had a set of simple little ideas that I wanted 
to bring to America. I said to myself, what do I want this country to be 
like when my daughter is my age in the 21st century? I want everybody to 
have an opportunity who is responsible enough to work for it. I want my 
country to be the world's strongest force for peace and freedom. And I 
want this country to be coming together instead of being driven apart. I 
am sick and tired of short-term, destructive, negative political 
strategies that divide people when we need to be united. That's what I 
wanted then, and that's what I want now.
    Now, so, I say to you, I thank you for being here tonight. I want 
you to stay active in public affairs. I want you to, every time you hear 
somebody who is cynical and say it doesn't matter, say, ``Compare how we 
are today with how we were then. This is what I supported; it was right; 
it made a difference; people's lives have changed.'' And then say, ``But 
there's a lot more to do, and that's why I'm in it for the long haul.''
    Thank you, and God bless you.

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Note: The President spoke at 10:18 p.m. at Billboard Live. In his 
remarks, he referred to actor Kevin Spacey; comedian Paul Rodriguez; 
Bennett Kelley, national cochair, Saxophone Club; and Lt. Gov. Gray 
Davis of California.