    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [November 2, 1997]
    [Pages 1486-1489]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Rally for Mayoral Candidate Ruth Messinger in
    New York City
    November 2, 1997

        The President. Thank you very much. Now, I'm a little hoarse, so
    you're going to have to bear with me. And I'll try to be heard in the
    back. I won't be funny as Al Franken--[laughter]--because I don't want
    to be driven from office. [Laughter] But I thank him for being here
    tonight and for always being there for me. Thank you, Al. I thank our
    friends, Peter Yarrow and Judy Collins, for performing at one of the--at
    this event. I thank all of you for being here.
        Let me begin by saying from the bottom of my heart, I am profoundly
    grateful and will be to my last day on this Earth to the people of this
    State and especially the city of New York for the wonderful support you
    have given to me and Hillary, the Vice President, and our

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    administration. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you very much.
        I look out at this sea of people here tonight from so many different
    racial and ethnic and religious backgrounds, somehow bound together
    across all your differences by a common concern for the future of your
    children, and this is what distinguishes Democrats in this time: a
    common understanding that if we want all of our kids to do well,
    including our own, we have to go forward together.
        And I want to tell you tonight why I'm here. I know why you're here:
    you have a vote in New York. [Laughter] You're entitled to know why I'm
    here. I'm here for three reasons.
        Number one, in 1991, when I first started running for President, the
    borough president of Manhattan endorsed me. Now, that may seem like a
    smart decision in 1997--[laughter]--but let me remind you, in 1991, when
    Ruth Messinger endorsed me, most people in New York didn't know who I
    was. [Laughter] A lot of people in New York couldn't find my State on a
    map. [Laughter] Other people pointed out it was only about as populous
    as Brooklyn and what did I have any business running for President for?
    [Laughter]
        And then when I got into the race, there were a lot of people who
    said that I shouldn't be President, and others who said, well, even if I
    could be President I couldn't be elected, and she ought to leave me. And
    there were lots of times when it would have been more comfortable for
    somebody who was the borough president of Manhattan to be somewhere
    else. But through all the times, when I was going through my own
    particular New York marathon in 1992--[laughter]--she stuck by me. And
    I'm standing with her tonight, and I'm proud to do it.
        Now, there is a second reason. The second reason I'm here is that I
    am very proud to be a Democrat. And I am proud to be a part of a party
    that has a broad tent and is inclusive and welcomes all kinds of people.
    We heard for years that if they ever gave us the range of any executive
    authority, we'd be soft on crime, foolish on welfare, we would wreck the
    economy, raise taxes, and mess up the foreign policy of the country.
    Well, 5 years later, the country is stronger around the world; we've
    advanced the cause of peace and freedom; we have the best economy in a
    generation, 3 million fewer people on welfare; the environment is
    cleaner; the schools are better; and we're opening the doors of college
    to all Americans. I think they were wrong, the Democrats were right, and
    I'm proud to be here as a part of that.
        I would also like to say--and in that connection, let me say I am
    especially pleased to see the people who contested the Democratic
    primary for mayor here. The fact that Ruth's former opponents are here
    says a lot about their character and their concern for the people of New
    York. And I thank them for being here.
        Here's the third reason, and it's the most important, because the
    third reason relates to you. After all, this election is not about me or
    any big Republican leader who may have been here. It only matters to
    those of you who live here, to your children and your children's
    children and the future. So I was thinking to myself--and I had been
    thinking about this for weeks because I care a lot about Ruth, and I
    knew when she got into the race it would be a hard race, and I knew
    there were good reasons it would be a hard race--so I said to myself, if
    I were a citizen of New York, knowing what I know about the way the
    world works and what's going on in our country, why would I vote for
    her? What are the good reasons?
        Well, let me begin by saying I think it's a good thing that crime
    has come down in New York, and I don't think any Democrat should
    criticize any legitimate effort that brought it down. After all,
    remember, the first aggressive community policing and the first drop in
    the New York City crime rate began when David Dinkins was mayor. Don't
    forget that.
        Now--wait a minute--so, if in the last 4 years there's more
    community policing, more sophisticated deployment of law enforcement
    resources, if people aren't getting hassled on the street as much,
    there's not as much crime and less violence and people are less likely
    to get hurt, that is a good and noble thing. That is an American ideal.
    That doesn't belong to either party. And I am proud that our party in
    Washington, over the opposition of the Washington Republicans, came out
    for the Brady bill, for the assault weapons ban, for putting more police
    on the street, for doing things that would help to bring the crime rate
    down.
        Now--and I believe with all my heart that there is a bipartisan,
    American consensus now that we ought to keep pushing more police
    officers on the street, working with communities, preventing crime from
    happening in the first

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    place, catching people when they do something wrong as quickly as
    possible, making the streets safer. Now, having said that, every
    election ought to be about tomorrow. What about tomorrow?
        There are three things I want you to think about. Number one, while
    the crime rate has gone down in this country and in New York City
    substantially in the last 5\1/2\ years, crime among people between the
    ages of 12 and 18 has not gone down so much; in some places not at all.
    The second fact about that is, most crime by juveniles is committed
    between 3 o'clock in the afternoon and 7 o'clock at night. Why? Because
    they're out of school, not at home, and mama and daddy are still at
    work.
        Now, it is my opinion, having been involved in law enforcement now
    for more than 20 years, that the most serious proposal put forward in
    any of the elections occurring in this election year likely to deter
    juvenile crime and lower the crime rate is Ruth Messinger's call to keep
    all the schools in New York open after school hours.
        Second reason--I heard you amen-ing when Ruth was talking about the
    schools--if you really want a safe society, you must have a well-
    educated society. New York is blessed by having a phenomenally diverse
    population, people from over 100 different racial and ethnic groups in
    your school system. But they're all kids with minds given to them by
    God, and they can all learn. They can all learn. But they deserve good
    schools with high standards, high accountability, adequate investment,
    and yes, we ought to do some more in Washington. And I'm going to do my
    best to help the cities alleviate the overcrowding problem, to repair
    these schools and build new facilities. We've got to do that.
        But I just got back from Chicago, where Hillary and I went because
    they opened up the town to her one day--it's my wife's hometown--to
    celebrate her 50th birthday. And let me tell you that not so many years
    ago, Chicago had, by common consent, the worst schools of any major city
    in America. They were shut down every year by a strike, whether there
    was an issue or not. And that's all people knew about them. In the last
    4 years, the people of Chicago, led by a mayor who put education first,
    have begun to literally revolutionize their schools. They have mandatory
    summer school for children who don't perform. They hold kids back if
    they don't pass an exam to go on to high school. But they don't just
    punish kids, they give all children a chance to succeed. New York City
    should give every child a chance to succeed. Ruth Messinger cares about
    that.
        The third thing I want to say is this. I am very proud of the fact
    that our economic policies have led to over 13 million new jobs, an
    unemployment rate below 5 percent, and the best economy in a generation.
    I'm proud of that. But it bothers me that there's still too many people
    in America who have not felt the economic recovery. I have done what I
    could to provide special tax incentives for people to invest in inner
    cities, to set up new banks for people to loan money to people who
    couldn't get money in any other way to start their own businesses, to do
    other things that would rebuild the economy of areas where the
    unemployment rate is too high. But anybody who's ever worked in this
    field will tell you that the Federal Government cannot do this alone.
    You have to have State support. You have to have local support. You have
    to be able to work with the private sector. And you have to try new
    ideas. Believe me, no one has fully solved this problem.
        So I say to you, I believe if I were mayor of New York City, I would
    say my three priorities are: I'm going to get the unemployment rate down
    to the national level, I'm going to fix our schools, and I'm going to
    give these kids something to do after school to keep them out of trouble
    in the first place and keep the crime rate going down.
        Now, this ought to be a positive experience for you and a positive
    election, and so I say to you----

    [At this point, there was a disturbance in the audience.]

        The President. Let me just say this. Wait, wait, wait. I believe in
    his right to free speech more than he believes in mine. So we let him
    talk a little bit. If you want to talk to me, go out there. Don't mess
    with the mayor's race. She doesn't deserve this.
        Who do you believe----

    [There was another disturbance in the audience.]

        The President. Let me say something. While he's on his way out,
    let's talk about AIDS a minute. Let's talk about this. You all be quiet
    and listen to me. This AIDS issue is a serious issue. But you never get
    to the facts if you're

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    just screaming. And I can't win a screaming match today. [Laughter]
        You might be interested to know, if you think it's important, that
    we have dramatically increased spending on AIDS research, dramatically
    increased spending--while I was cutting other things and balancing the
    budget--dramatically increased spending on AIDS treatment; that the new
    drugs dramatically approved much faster under my administration than
    ever before have lengthened the life and the quality of life of people
    with AIDS. And in terms of research, we are spending today more than
    twice as much per person with AIDS--with a fatal case of AIDS--in
    research than we are women with breast cancer, and more than 8 times as
    much as men with prostate cancer. I think we have done a good job on
    this issue. I'm proud of it, and I think you should.
        Now, secondly, since we're here about the mayor's race, who do you
    think is more likely to care more about the AIDS issue as mayor of New
    York?
        Audience members. Ruth! Ruth! Ruth!
        The President. Now you've got a day and a half. You've got a day and
    a half. I want to ask you to do something. I was glad to come up here
    tonight. I don't have a vote. You have a vote. I won't be here on
    Tuesday to drag people to the polls, but you can. So think about the
    next day and a half and say, ``You know, I'm thinking about the future
    of New York. I'm worried about the kids, and I want them off the streets
    and doing something positive after school. I'm worried about our
    schools, and I want them to be the best in the country. And I know we've
    got to try something new and innovative if we're going to cut the
    unemployment rate from 10 percent to 5 percent. And Ruth Messinger has a
    plan to deal with all three. I believe I'll help her.''
        Go out and do that, and have a good Tuesday. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 7:25 p.m. in Royal Ballroom B at the
    Sheraton New York Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to comedian Al
    Franken; musicians Peter Yarrow and Judy Collins; and Mayor Richard M.
    Daley of Chicago, IL.