    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [February 11, 1998]
    [Pages 205-206]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 205]]

    Remarks on Presenting the Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership
    February 11, 1998

        Thank you very much, Secretary Daley,
    Secretary Herman, Mr. Woolard, Mr. Barnette; to
    Alma, Michael,
    Tammy, and Tracey Brown, welcome, and thank you for your continuing efforts. To
    Lou Gerstner and Bob Haas, congratulations. And also, I want to recognize
    representatives of our other three companies that have been recognized
    for their achievements: Al Koeppe of Public
    Service Electric and Gas Company; Roger Brown
    and Linda Mason of Bright Horizons; Dr. Wilson
    Hershey of Lancaster Labs. I'll say more
    about them in a moment.
        Ron Brown was one of the most visionary, optimistic, confident
    people I ever met in my life. As he saw it, there should never be any
    losers, only winners, if we simply bridged our differences and worked
    together. He was a very forceful advocate for American business, but he
    was also committed to building a future for all Americans. And he
    believed, and I think helped more and more Americans to understand, that
    being pro-business and pro-worker and in favor of workers' families not
    only did not have to be mutually exclusive but, in the world in which
    we're living and the one toward which we're moving, can never be
    mutually exclusive again.
        He understood the most fundamental responsibility for a business is
    to make a profit by competing and growing in the marketplace. But he
    also knew that the ingenuity, the skill, the work, and the morale of
    American people in their workplaces fuel our economy and that helping
    employees to succeed at work and at home helped the companies in the end
    more than anything else: first, creating jobs and giving employees fair
    raises, providing affordable health care, training, partnerships, safe
    workplaces; standing up for the idea that we needed everybody to have a
    fair chance to participate at every level in all American companies. All
    these things can be good for the bottom line.
        The Corporate Leadership Awards bestowed today for the first time in
    Ron's memory embodies these beliefs. Just as the Baldrige Award honors
    companies who succeed by meeting the needs of their customers, the Ron
    Brown Award honors companies who succeed by meeting the needs of their
    employees and their communities.
        I'm pleased that the award itself, encouraged by Government but
    privately funded and administered, reflects the new vision of Government
    Ron and I both worked so hard to bring to our Nation. America has now
    moved beyond the tired debate of Government should do everything or
    Government should do nothing. We have found a third way: Our vision is
    that Government should be a partner with the private sector, with State
    and local government, with community groups, with individual citizens,
    to provide Americans the tools to make the most of their own lives, to
    act as a catalyst to shine the spotlight on innovations that work in one
    place so they have a chance to be embraced everyplace in America.
        Today we shine a spotlight on five American companies who have
    proven that business can do well by doing right by their employees and
    their communities. To millions around the world here and at home, a pair
    of Levi's and an IBM computer are as American as baseball and apple pie.
    I had a pair of Levi's on last night. [Laughter] I don't wear my
    computer. [Laughter]
        I was laughing when you told the story about--when Alexis said the
    story about Ron wearing Levi's; I was remembering when I was in high
    school the neatest thing you could do was to buy a pair of Levi's and
    take the stitches out of the ``v'' on the back pockets. Now you have to
    be pretty old to remember when that was cool. But I do. [Laughter]
        These companies represent the best American creativity in marketing,
    of craftsmanship and manufacturing, and with these first-ever Ron Brown
    Awards we recognize they represent the best of our corporate
    citizenship. We honor these companies for the leading role they have
    played in ensuring America's growing diversity becomes our greatest
    strength in the 21st century as we strive to become truly one America.
        Through a longstanding commitment to work force diversity, IBM has
    fostered a corporate culture that values, cultivates, and recruits the
    talents of all our people to boardrooms, laboratories, and factories.
        We commend Levi Strauss for refusing to turn a blind eye on the
    racism that undermines the quality of life in the communities in which

    [[Page 206]]

    their plants are located. Through Project Change, Levi's has worked with
    local leaders all across the country--and some of them introduced here
    today--to fight old hatreds and fill the opportunity gaps between the
    races. From increasing access to credit and capital in Albuquerque to
    raising awareness about hate crimes in Knoxville, these two companies'
    efforts on behalf of diversity and against racism are models which we
    hope by this award to have followed by more companies all across the
    United States.
        I also want to pay tribute to the three companies that received
    honorable mention. I mentioned their representatives earlier: Bright
    Horizons children's centers, Lancaster Laboratories, Public Service
    Electric and Gas Company. I thank them for their leadership and
    innovation in strengthening their communities, helping their employees
    meet the responsibilities of parenthood and at work. I hope their
    successes will also inspire more companies to follow in their footsteps.
        I still miss Ron Brown a lot, and I think of him often. It's hard
    for me to believe that in a few weeks we'll celebrate--or mark--the
    second anniversary of his passing. In a very special way, every time we
    present these awards to deserving businesses, we will keep alive the
    mission that Ron Brown was on nearly two Aprils ago in the Balkans: to
    promote the idea that business can do well by doing good, that they can
    profit by bringing hope and prosperity to people.
        I know Ron is smiling down on us today. I know he's proud of the
    five companies we've honored. I know he's looking forward to the day
    when companies in every community in our Nation will have earned the
    distinction of being Ron Brown Award winners.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:32 a.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the
    White House. In his remarks, he referred to Edgar S. Woolard, Jr.,
    chair, and Curtis H. Barnette, member, board of directors, Ron Brown
    Award for Corporate Leadership; Alma Brown, widow of former Commerce
    Secretary Ron Brown, and their children Michael, Tammy, and Tracey;
    Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., chief executive officer, IBM; Robert O. Haas,
    chief executive officer, Levi Strauss & Co.; Alfred C. Koeppe, vice
    president, Public Service Electric and Gas Company; Roger Brown and
    Linda Mason, owners, Bright Horizons; and J. Wilson Hershey, president,
    Lancaster Laboratories.