    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [June 13, 1998]
    [Pages 955-959]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 955]]

    Commencement Address at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon
    June 13, 1998

        Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for the
    wonderful warm welcome. President Bernstine, Provost Reardon, Senator
    Wyden, Representatives
    Blumenauer and Hooley, Treasurer Hill, General Myers, Superintendent
    Paulus; my good friend, your great former
    Senator, Mark Hatfield--I'm delighted to
    see you here today, sir; thank you. To the faculty, especially the
    faculty honorees today; State Board of Higher Education; the alumni; to
    the speakers, Theo Hall and Jane Rongerude--I thought they did a marvelous job on
    behalf of the students. Congratulations, Mr. Miller, and thank you for your contributions to Portland State.
        And let me say to all the members of the class of 1998, I thank you
    for allowing me to come here today. I congratulate you on your
    tremendous achievement. I know the roads that you have traveled here
    have not all been easy. Some of you have worked full-time and cared for
    your families even while you carried a full course load, and I
    congratulate you on what you've done.
        What I want to say to you in the beginning is that you will see that
    it was worth it. In the world in which we live, there is a higher
    premium on education than ever before, not only because of what you know
    but because of what you will be able to learn for the rest of your life.
    The education and the skills you take away from this campus will open
    doors for you forever. And I congratulate you on having the foresight as
    well as the determination to see this through.
        Portland State is a very interesting institution to me. First of
    all, we're the same age. [Laughter] Portland State was born in 1946, out
    of the demand generated by the GI bill at the end of World War II, one
    of the most farsighted things that was ever done to explode opportunity
    across America. The GI bill helped to create the modern American middle
    class and the prosperity we enjoyed. It also helped to create a number
    of community-based institutions of higher education, which more and more
    now are beginning to look in their student bodies the way they did over
    50 years ago.
        More than half the students here are over 25. More than a few of you
    are considerably over 25. [Laughter] Still, you all look quite young to
    me. [Laughter] As was said earlier, I have worked hard, and our
    administration has, to open the doors of college to everyone who would
    work for it, with the HOPE scholarship and permanent tax credits for all
    higher education and more Pell grants and better student loans and the
    AmeriCorps program and work-study programs. We have to create a country
    in which everyone at any age believes that they have access to continue
    their education for a lifetime.
        I want to focus on this institution again as an institution of the
    future. You know, a couple of years ago I came out here, and we had a
    conference on the Pacific Rim and our relationship to the Asia-Pacific
    region that Portland State hosted. And I have to say that one of your
    most distinguished alumni was a particular friend of mine, the late
    Congressman Walter Capps from California, one of the finest people I
    ever knew went to this school. And he was a person of the future in the
    Congress. His wife succeeded him, and we were
    talking just last evening, before I came here, about how grateful
    Congressman Capps always was to Portland State for giving him the
    ability to go out into the world and make a difference.
        What I want to talk to all of you about, particularly the graduates,
    is the America of your future. We all know that at the edge of a new
    century and a new millennium, America is changing at breathtaking speed.
    We know that most of these changes have been good. We're grateful as a
    nation to have the lowest unemployment rate in 28 years, the lowest
    crime rate in 25 years, the lowest welfare rolls in 29 years, the first
    balanced budget and surplus in 29 years, the highest homeownership in
    history. We feel gratitude. We know that none of us alone is responsible
    for these things, but all of us together have come to terms with the
    challenges of the modern world and its opportunities and we're moving
    America in a good direction.
        But this spring I have attempted to go out across the country and
    address graduates about

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    the challenges this new era poses, not only because even when there is a
    lot of good news out there, we should never forget that there are
    challenges but, perhaps even more importantly, because when times are
    good, it imposes upon Americans a special responsibility to take our
    confidence and our prosperity and look to the long-term challenges of
    the country, to address them in a forthright, constructive way so that
    our country will continue to grow and prosper.
        This spring I have talked about three things. At the Naval Academy,
    I talked about defending our Nation against the new security threats of
    the 21st century, including terrorism, biological and chemical weapons,
    and global environmental degradation. At MIT, not very long ago, I
    talked about the challenges of the information age and the importance of
    bringing those opportunities to all Americans, bringing the Internet
    into every classroom, ensuring that every young student is computer-
    literate. Maybe I should have given that speech here. [Laughter]
        Today I want to talk to you about what may be the most important
    subject of all, how we can strengthen the bonds of our national
    community as we grow more racially and ethnically diverse.
        It was just a year ago tomorrow that I launched a national
    initiative on race, asking Americans to address the persistent problems
    and the limitless possibilities of our diversity. This effort is
    especially important right now because, as we grow more diverse, our
    ability to deal with the challenges will determine whether we can really
    bind ourselves together as one America. And even more importantly in the
    near term, and over the next few years perhaps as well, our ability to
    exercise world leadership for peace, for freedom, for prosperity in a
    world that is both smaller and more closely connected and yet
    increasingly gripped with tense, often bloody conflicts rooted in
    racial, ethnic, and religious divisions, our ability to lead that kind
    of world to a better place rests in no small measure on our ability to
    be a better place here in the United States that can be a model for the
    world.
        The driving force behind our increasing diversity is a new, large
    wave of immigration. It is changing the face of America. And while most
    of the changes are good, they do present challenges which demand more,
    both from new immigrants and from our citizens. Citizens share a
    responsibility to welcome new immigrants, to ensure that they strengthen
    our Nation, to give them their chance at the brass ring. In turn, new
    immigrants have a responsibility to learn, to work, to contribute to
    America. If both citizens and immigrants do their part, we will grow
    ever stronger in the new global information economy.
        More than any other nation on Earth, America has constantly drawn
    strength and spirit from wave after wave of immigrants. In each
    generation, they have proved to be the most restless, the most
    adventurous, the most innovative, the most industrious of people.
    Bearing different memories, honoring different heritages, they have
    strengthened our economy, enriched our culture, renewed our promise of
    freedom and opportunity for all.
        Of course, the path has not always run smooth. Some Americans have
    met each group of newcomers with suspicion and violence and
    discrimination. So great was the hatred of Irish immigrants 150 years
    ago that they were greeted with signs that read, ``No Dogs or Irish.''
    So profound was the fear of Chinese in the 1880's that they were barred
    from entering the country. So deep was the distrust of immigrants from
    Southern and Eastern Europe at the beginning of this century that they
    were forced to take literacy tests specifically designed to keep them
    out of America. Eventually, the guarantees of our Constitution and the
    better angels of our nature prevailed over ignorance and insecurity,
    over prejudice and fear.
        But now we are being tested again by a new wave of immigration
    larger than any in a century, far more diverse than any in our history.
    Each year, nearly a million people come legally to America. Today,
    nearly one in 10 people in America was born in another country; one in 5
    schoolchildren are from immigrant families. Today, largely because of
    immigration, there is no majority race in Hawaii or Houston or New York
    City. Within 5 years, there will be no majority race in our largest
    State, California. In a little more than 50 years, there will be no
    majority race in the United States. No other nation in history has gone
    through demographic change of this magnitude in so short a time.
        What do the changes mean? They can either strengthen and unite us,
    or they can weaken and divide us. We must decide.
        Let me state my view unequivocally. I believe new immigrants are
    good for America. They are revitalizing our cities. They are building
    our new

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    economy. They are strengthening our ties to the global economy, just as
    earlier waves of immigrants settled the new frontier and powered the
    Industrial Revolution. They are energizing our culture and broadening
    our vision of the world. They are renewing our most basic values and
    reminding us all of what it truly means to be an American.
        It means working hard, like a teenager from Vietnam who does his
    homework as he watches the cash register at his family's grocery store.
    It means making a better life for your children, like a father from
    Russia who works two jobs and still finds time to take his daughter to
    the public library to practice her reading. It means dreaming big
    dreams, passing them on to your children.
        You have a lot of stories like that here at Portland State. Just
    this morning I met one of your graduates--or two, to be specific: Mago
    Gilson, an immigrant from Mexico who
    came here without a high school education; 12 years later she is
    receiving her master's degree in education, on her way to realizing her
    dream of becoming a teacher. She is joined in this graduating class by
    her son Eddy, who had dreams of his own and
    worked full-time for 7 years to put himself through school. Today he
    receives a bachelor's degree in business administration. And soon--
    there's more--soon her son, Oscar, whom I
    also met, will receive his own master's degree in education. I'd like to
    ask the Gilsons and their family members who are here to rise and be
    recognized. There she is. Give them a hand. [Applause]
        In the Gilson family and countless like them, we see the spirit that
    built America, the drive to succeed, the commitment to family, to
    education, to work, the hope for a better life. In their stories we see
    a reflection of our parents' and grandparents' journey, a powerful
    reminder that our America is not so much a place as a promise, not a
    guarantee but a chance, not a particular race but an embrace of our
    common humanity.
        Now, some Americans don't see it that way. When they hear new
    accents or see new faces, they feel unsettled. They worry that new
    immigrants come not to work hard but to live off our largesse. They're
    afraid the America they know and love is becoming a foreign land. This
    reaction may be understandable, but it's wrong. It's especially wrong
    when anxiety and fear give rise to policies and ballot propositions to
    exclude immigrants from our civic life. I believe it's wrong to deny
    law-abiding immigrants benefits available to everyone else; wrong to
    ignore them as people not worthy of being counted in the census. It's
    not only wrong, it's un-American.
        Let me be clear: I also think it's wrong to condone illegal
    immigration that flouts our laws, strains our tolerance, taxes our
    resources. Even a nation of immigrants must have rules and conditions
    and limits, and when they are disregarded, public support for
    immigration erodes in ways that are destructive to those who are newly
    arrived and those who are still waiting patiently to come.
        We must remember, however, that the vast majority of immigrants are
    here legally. In every measurable way, they give more to our society
    than they take. Consider this: On average, immigrants pay $1,800 more in
    taxes every year than they cost our system in benefits. Immigrants are
    paying into Social Security at record rates. Most of them are young, and
    they will help to balance the budget when we baby boomers retire and put
    strains on it.
        New immigrants also benefit the Nation in ways not so easily
    measured but very important. We should be honored that America, whether
    it's called the City on a Hill, or the Old Gold Mountain, or El Norte,
    is still seen around the world as the land of new beginnings. We should
    all be proud that people living in isolated villages in far corners of
    the world actually recognize the Statue of Liberty. We should rejoice
    that children the world over study our Declaration of Independence and
    embrace its creed.
        My fellow Americans, we descendants of those who passed through the
    portals of Ellis Island must not lock the door behind us. Americans
    whose parents were denied the rights of citizenship simply because of
    the color of their skin must not deny those rights to others because of
    the country of their birth or the nature of their faith.
        We should treat new immigrants as we would have wanted our own
    grandparents to be treated. We should share our country with them, not
    shun them or shut them out. But mark my words, unless we handle this
    well, immigration of this sweep and scope could threaten the bonds of
    our Union.
        Around the world, we see what can happen when people who live on the
    same land put race and ethnicity before country and humanity. If America
    is to remain the world's most diverse

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    democracy, if immigration is to strengthen America as it has throughout
    our history, then we must say to one another: Whether your ancestors
    came here in slave ships or on the Mayflower, whether they landed on
    Ellis Island or at Los Angeles International Airport, or have been here
    for thousands of years, if you believe in the Declaration of
    Independence and the Constitution, if you accept the responsibilities as
    well as the rights embedded in them, then you are an American. Only that
    belief can keep us one America in the 21st century.
        So I say, as President, to all our immigrants, you are welcome here.
    But you must honor our laws, embrace our culture, learn our language,
    know our history, and when the time comes, you should become citizens.
    And I say to all Americans, we have responsibilities as well to welcome
    our newest immigrants, to vigorously enforce laws against
    discrimination. And I'm very proud that our Nation's top civil rights
    enforcer is Bill Lann Lee, the son of Chinese
    immigrants who grew up in Harlem.
        We must protect immigrants' rights and ensure their access to
    education, health care, and housing and help them to become successful,
    productive citizens. When immigrants take responsibility to become
    citizens and have met all the requirements to do so, they should be
    promptly evaluated and accepted. The present delays in the citizenship
    process are unacceptable and indefensible.
        And together, immigrants and citizens alike, let me say we must
    recommit ourselves to the general duties of citizenship. Not just
    immigrants but every American should know what's in our Constitution and
    understand our shared history. Not just immigrants but every American
    should participate in our democracy by voting, by volunteering, and by
    running for office. Not just immigrants but every American, on our
    campuses and in our communities, should serve; community service breeds
    good citizenship. And not just immigrants but every American should
    reject identity politics that seeks to separate us, not bring us
    together.
        Ethnic pride is a very good thing. America is one of the places
    which most reveres the distinctive ethnic, racial, religious heritage of
    our various peoples. The days when immigrants felt compelled to
    Anglicize their last name or deny their heritage are, thankfully, gone.
    But pride in one's ethnic and racial heritage must never become an
    excuse to withdraw from the larger American community. That does not
    honor diversity; it breeds divisiveness. And that could weaken America.
        Not just immigrants but every American should recognize that our
    public schools must be more than places where our children learn to
    read; they must also learn to be good citizens. They must all be able to
    make America's heroes, from Washington to Lincoln to Eleanor Roosevelt
    and Rosa Parks and Cesar Chavez, their own.
        Today too many Americans and far too many immigrant children
    attended crowded, often crumbling inner city schools. Too many drop out
    of school altogether. And with more children from immigrant families
    entering our country and our schools than at any time since the turn of
    the century, we must renew our efforts to rebuild our schools and make
    them the best in the world. They must have better facilities; they must
    have smaller classes; they must have properly trained teachers; they
    must have access to technology; they must be the best in the world.
        All of us, immigrants and citizens alike, must ensure that our new
    group of children learn our language, and we should find a way to do
    this together instead of launching another round of divisive political
    fights.
        In the schools within the White House--excuse me, in the schools
    within just a few miles of the White House, across the Potomac River, we
    have the most diverse school district in America, where there are
    children from 180 different racial and ethnic groups, speaking as native
    tongues about 100 languages. Now, it's all very well for someone to say,
    every one of them should learn English immediately. But we don't at this
    time necessarily have people who are trained to teach them English in
    all those languages. So I say to you, it is important for children to
    retain their native language. But unless they also learn English, they
    will never reach their full potential in the United States.
        Of course, children learn at different rates, and, of course,
    children have individual needs. But that cannot be an excuse for making
    sure that when children come into our school system, we do whatever it
    takes with whatever resources are at hand to make sure they learn as
    quickly as they can the language that will be dominant language of this
    country's commerce and citizenship in the future. We owe it to these
    children to do that.

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        And we should not either delay behind excuses or look for ways to
    turn what is essentially a human issue of basic decency and citizenship
    and opportunity into a divisive political debate. We have a stake
    together in getting together and moving forward on this.
        Let me say, I applaud the students here at Portland State who are
    tutoring immigrant children to speak and read English. You are setting
    the kind of example I want our country to follow.
        One hundred and forty years ago, in the First Lady's hometown of
    Chicago, immigrants outnumbered native Americans. Addressing a crowd
    there in 1858, Abraham Lincoln asked what connection those immigrants
    could possibly feel to people like George Washington and Thomas
    Jefferson and John Adams, who founded our Nation. Here was his answer:
    ``If they, the immigrants, look back through this history to trace their
    connection to those days by blood, they will find they have none. But
    our Founders proclaimed that we are all created equal in the eyes of
    God. And that,'' Lincoln said, ``is the electric cord in that
    declaration that links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving people
    everywhere.''
        Well, that electric cord, the conviction that we are all created
    equal in the eyes of God, still links every graduate here with every new
    immigrant coming to our shores and every American who ever came before
    us. If you carry it with conscience and courage into the new century, it
    will light our way to America's greatest days--your days.
        So, members of the class of 1998, go out and build the future of
    your dreams. Do it together, for your children, for your grandchildren,
    for your country.
        Good luck, and God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:25 a.m. in the Rose Garden Arena. In his
    remarks, he referred to Daniel O. Bernstine, president, and Michael F.
    Reardon, provost, Portland State University; Jim Hill, State treasurer;
    Hardy Myers, State attorney general; Norma Paulus, State superintendent
    of public instruction; Theo Hall III and Jane Rongerude, class
    representatives, class of 1998; and Robert G. Miller, president, Fred
    Meyer, Inc., and recipient of an honorary degree. A portion of these
    remarks could not be verified because the tape was incomplete.