[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

[[Page 1487]]

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

[[Page 1489]]

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.