    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [January 28, 1998]
    [Page 128]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to an Overflow Crowd at the University of Illinois in Champaign-
    Urbana
    January 28, 1998

        Thank you. First of all, thank you for coming, and thank you for
    waiting. I'm sorry you had to wait so long.
        I want to thank Secretary Riley and the
    Vice President, and I also want to thank
    your Congressman, Congressman Tom Ewing, for
    coming along with me. Let's give him a big hand. [Applause]
        We have had an incredible day at the University of Illinois--an
    incredible day. You know, this is the third meeting we've been to. You
    had to sit through the other two, didn't you? Is that okay? [Applause]
        This reminds me--I hate to give the same speech over, but once I
    went to a concert where Tina Turner sang--you all know who Tina Turner
    is--and at the end of the concert, after singing all her new songs, she
    started to sing her first hit, ``Proud Mary.'' And the crowd started
    clapping, and she said, ``I have been singing this song for 25 years,
    but it gets better every time I do it.''
        But I'm not going to give you the whole dose again. I want to just
    make two points very briefly. Number one, the Vice President and I and
    our administration, we've worked very hard these last 5 years to get
    America in good shape, to have this country work again for ordinary
    people. And I think you can see, from the condition of the economy and
    from the fact that we're making real progress on our social problems and
    from our work in the world at large, that we're making that kind of
    progress.
        Now is the time we need to be thinking about what the 21st century
    will look like for all the young people here. And that means a
    commitment to education for everybody, all the way through college. It
    means a commitment to the idea that we can preserve and improve our
    environment while we grow the economy. It means a commitment to the idea
    that we can reform Social Security so that the big baby boom generation,
    that I'm the oldest member of, can retire without putting unfair burdens
    on those of you who are younger and your children.
        And it means that we can find a way in our increasingly diverse
    country to come together, across all the lines that divide us, into one
    America, because in a global society, believe you me, a great democracy
    like ours that can accommodate people of every race, every background,
    every religion, and still be bound together by shared values is the most
    blessed place on Earth.
        Our best days are ahead of us as a nation. And we are here today to
    ask you to stand with us in that fight, to imagine that kind of future
    and to be a part of it. And I am very grateful to you for coming out.
        Thank you, and God bless you. I want to go shake hands. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:04 p.m. in Gymnasium 2 of the Intramural
    Physical Education Building.