    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [November 22, 1997]
    [Pages 1644-1646]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Reception for Senator Patty Murray in Seattle, Washington
    November 22, 1997

        The President Thank you very much. Ken, thank you for that wonderful
    introduction. I kind of wish you'd just finish the speech, you did so
    well. [Laughter] And Senator, thank you for your hospitality tonight and
    for your terrific statement and for a terrific record. Washington State
    should be very proud of Patty Murray. She has done a remarkable job.
        I'd also like to say a special word of thanks to my dear friend,
    your outgoing mayor, Norm Rice, for all that he has done for you and for
    me. I wish Mayor-elect Schell well, and I pledge my cooperation. I thank
    Norm Dicks and Jim McDermott and Adam Smith for what they do for you and
    for our country in Congress. And I wish Brian Baird and Greta Cammermyer
    all the best in this election. I hope you'll help them.
        Patty did such a good job that I almost feel like the sort of old
    saw about everything that needs to be said has been said, but not
    everyone has said it yet. [Laughter] But I would like to try to ask you
    to think about the issues she raised and the points she made and the
    work she's done in the context of where we are on America's journey.
        If you just think back to 1992 when we were running for this job--I
    for President; she for Senator--our country was in a stagnant economy.
    We seemed to be increasing our social tensions. And we seemed to be
    drifting toward a new century and a new millennium and a very different
    time. Now, I don't believe that any person, even the most ardent
    partisan on the other side, could deny that America is in better shape
    today than it was 5 years ago.
        It happened partly because of specific actions and specific votes
    and largely because of the enormously impressive efforts of all of our
    citizens all across this country getting up every day and trying to do
    the right thing. But it also happened, I believe, because we have been
    trying to pursue a common vision.
        I ran for President because I wanted to reclaim the future for our
    children; because I wanted to restore a sense of possibility and
    confidence to people, that everybody who worked hard and did his or her
    best ought to have a chance; and because I really thought we had to do
    far more to prepare this country for the 21st century if we wanted to
    have opportunity for every responsible citizen, if we wanted to

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    have a community of one America across all the lines that divide us, and
    if we wanted to continue to lead the world for peace and freedom and
    prosperity. I hope you have seen, in the difficult week we have just had
    over the weapons inspections in Iraq, how important it is for your
    country to continue to stand up for peace and freedom and security
    around the world.
        So we started with this vision that we didn't have a person to
    waste, that everybody ought to have a part of our America, that we all
    needed to make ourselves into a common quilt of effort to prepare this
    country for the future, that we all needed to serve beyond our narrow
    ways in larger ways. And we knew that would require us to change. But
    one thing we had to change, what I thought was the completely irrelevant
    debate about Government in Washington where one side said, ``We ought to
    keep on trying to do everything even though we don't have any money,''
    and the other side said, ``Government is always a problem; we should do
    nothing.''
        Our administration and Patty Murray, we said, ``Now, we can't do
    everything; we're in debt. But we can't sit on the sidelines and let
    America drift and divide either. We are committed to a new form of
    Government that will create the conditions and give the American people
    the tools they need to make the most of their own lives. And we will do
    whatever we have to do to change our economic policy, our crime policy,
    our welfare policy, our environmental policy, our family policy, our
    health care policy, our foreign policy to meet the challenges of
    tomorrow. We're not going to freeze yesterday, and we're not going to
    allow ourselves to be divided. We're going into the future, and we're
    all going together.'' That is what we have said here.
        Just consider this--Patty Murray mentioned the budget bill in 1993--
    we lost some people in the Congress, maybe some in Washington State, who
    had the courage to vote for the budget bill. Why? Because the other
    party advertised heavily that we had raised the income taxes of ordinary
    citizens, that we were going to raise the deficit, bankrupt the economy,
    and it was going to be a disaster.
        Well, the truth is that we cut taxes for 10 times as many people as
    raised them, including working people with children on modest incomes;
    that we reduced the deficit; that we continued to invest in education
    and our future. And 5 years later--we just got the latest figures--the
    deficit, before one dollar of the balanced budget plan is saved--before
    one dollar--based on the 1993 economic plan, has been reduced by 92
    percent. Patty Murray was right, and they were wrong. The people who
    stood up were wrong. They were wrong.
        In 1992, everywhere I went in America people were distraught about
    crime. They wanted something done about it. And I had learned already
    that the easiest thing in the world for a politician to do is to stand
    up in front of a crowd and talk about being tough on crime, and then you
    don't have to think anymore and, you know, just serve up some bill that
    raises sentences for some crimes and walk away.
        But I was determined we could do better than that, and that we ought
    to listen to the police officers and the prosecutors and also the
    community workers who work with all these troubled kids all across our
    country, and let them write us a crime bill. And we did. And Patty
    Murray and I stood up for it. And all across the country, and in
    Washington State, there were some Members of Congress who lost their
    seats because the other guy said, ``They're trying to take your guns
    away from you. They're going to take your hunting rifle away from you.''
        Well, in 1996, I had the pleasure of going all the way across this
    country, from New Hampshire, where it happened, to Washington State,
    where it happened, two States that voted for me and then voted people
    out over this gun issue. And I said, ``You voted people out in '94 over
    this gun issue. And if you have lost your gun, I want you to vote
    against me, too.'' [Laughter] ``But if you haven't lost your gun, one
    more time they did not tell you the truth, and you ought to let them
    know you do not appreciate it and send them a message.''
        So the hunting seasons rolled on from Washington to New Hampshire.
    [Laughter] But 250,000 people with a criminal record or a serious mental
    health history couldn't buy handguns, and this is a better country
    because of it, and there are people alive on the streets because of it.
    And we've already put two-thirds of those police officers on the street,
    and the crime rate has gone down. It's a better country.
        In welfare, on the other side they wanted to say, any able-bodied
    person----

    [At this point, an audience member required medical attention.]

    [[Page 1646]]

        The President. I got my doctor coming to look; we're all right,
    relax--they wanted to say, ``Any able-bodied person that doesn't get a
    job in a certain amount of time should just be cut off welfare.'' We
    said, ``It's okay to make people go to work if they're able-bodied, but
    don't hurt their children. Don't cut off their medical coverage. Don't
    cut off their food coverage. Give them child care. Give them job
    training, and give them a chance to make a full life.'' That's what we
    said. And you know, a couple of vetoes, but we finally did it our way.
    We've had the biggest drop in welfare rolls in the history of this
    country. So I believe our side was right, and theirs was wrong.
        On the environment, when they won the Congress in '95, they tried to
    implement the contract on America; their idea of the contract was get
    rid of all the environmental rules and regulations because they are bad
    for the economy. Our idea was you can make the economy better and the
    environment better. That's Patty Murray's idea. That's why she got such
    a big hand on Hanford--[applause].
        The truth is, today, 1997, compared to 1992, we have 13.5 million
    more jobs, cleaner air, cleaner water, fewer toxic waste dumps, and a
    safer food supply. Patty Murray was right, and her critics were wrong.
    And you ought to send her back to the United States Senate on the basis
    of it.
        So I guess my plea to you is, the people of Washington State have
    been good to Bill Clinton and to Hillary Clinton and to Al and Tipper
    Gore. You voted for us twice. You've given us a chance to serve. But we
    need leaders in this battle who understand what local conditions are and
    what local concerns are and who stand up for the big national issues.
        Patty Murray can come before the people of Washington and say,
    ``Compared to where we were, we've got the lowest unemployment rate in
    23 years, the lowest crime rate in 23 years, the biggest drop in welfare
    rolls in history, a cleaner environment, and I support the direction
    that this country has taken. That is working.'' And, furthermore, let's
    look to the future. Who do you really trust to give every child in this
    State world-class education? Who do you really trust to make sure that
    we do everything we can to provide health insurance to the children in
    poor working families who don't have it? Who do you really trust to
    continue to fight these environmental battles and to deal with all these
    other things? Patty Murray.
        I say this now, and every group of Americans I speak to: This is a
    democracy. There is a direct line of causation from your presence here
    tonight, the contribution you have made, the work you will do to what
    happens in Washington, DC, the decisions that are made, and how it
    echoes back all across America into every little hamlet in this State.
    This is a better country because the ideas and the values that Patty
    Murray espouses have dominated the American political landscape, and we
    are further toward the future, toward building that bridge to the 21st
    century because of it--more opportunity, more citizen responsibility,
    and a much, much stronger sense of community than if those who opposed
    her ideas and her votes had prevailed. So you stick with her, and we'll
    go there together.
        Thank you, and God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:05 p.m. in the Pavilion at the Seattle
    Center. In his remarks, he referred to Ken Alhadeff, chairman, Elttaes
    Enterprises; Mayor-elect Paul Schell of Seattle; and Brian Baird and
    Greta Cammermyer, candidates for Washington State's Third and Second
    Congressional Districts, respectively. A tape was not available for
    verification of the content of these remarks.