[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book II)]
[September 10, 1998]
[Pages 1563-1564]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Democratic National Committee Dinner
September 10, 1998

    Thank you so much. I want to thank Jim and Carol and Senator and 
Mrs. Pell, and all the others who had anything to do with this event 
tonight. This has been a particularly meaningful event. It wasn't just 
Jill who wanted Senator Pell's autograph; I got him to give me what he 
said about me, and I had him autograph it. [Laughter] I'll take it home, 
make sure my family believes me when I tell them he said it. [Laughter]
    Thirty-four years ago I moved in across the street from this house, 
and I lived on the second floor of Loyola Hall as a freshman at 
Georgetown. And I looked out my window every morning into Senator Pell's 
garden--I don't want to you to think I was a peeping tom--[laughter]--I 
couldn't avoid it; I mean, if I looked out the window, I could see it. 
And I remember sometimes they would have garden parties in the 
springtime when the weather was warm, or I would see people come and 
go--famous people come and go. And it never occurred to me 34 years ago 
that someday I might be here with them, as President.
    And I am very honored because, Senator, I thank you for the Pell 
grants. I thank you for your commitment to America's involvement in the 
world, for your belief in the United Nations and a world system of peace 
and prosperity. I wish you had another 35 years in the Senate. We need 
you there today more than ever. And I thank you.
    So anyway, I'm feeling very, very nostalgic tonight. If anybody had 
told me when I was 18 I'd be in this backyard, I never would have 
believed it. I'd also like to thank all of you for your support, your 
personal support to me in this difficult time, in what I have tried to 
do to express apologies and seek forgiveness from the American people, 
but more importantly for your continuing commitment for what it is we're 
trying to do.
    I saw a survey--I read something in the paper the other day that 
said that 91 percent of the American people were aware that the stock 
market had dropped 500 points, the day it dropped. Well, you know, 91 
percent of the people--it's amazing that that many people would agree 
that the Sun comes up in the morning. I mean, that's a pretty high 
level. [Laughter]
    And it's very interesting to me that--I now talk to all kinds of 
people. I was at a school in Florida yesterday, and the day before, a 
school in Maryland. And I would talk about this, and I'd say, ``You all 
read about that, didn't you?'' And they would say, ``yes.'' And I said, 
``You read that the drop was generally attributed to developments beyond 
our borders that had no direct impact on the American economy.'' That 
is, no one could conclude from the momentary difficulties--or the 
difficulties, anyway, in Asia or Russia or whatever--that there was a 
direct impact on the economy today that was very severe. But we had this 
big drop.
    And it's been very interesting, because these events and what people 
are learning about them and their apparent connection to the gyrations 
of the stock market have done more than anything--all the speeches I 
have given for 6 long years--to hammer home one point that I tried to 
hammer home when I ran for President in 1991 and 1992, which is: There 
is no longer an artificial dividing line between domestic and foreign 
policy, between economic and security policy; that we have to see a 
world in which we are growing closer together and an America in which we 
are growing ever more interconnected; and we have to look at the world 
in ways that enable us to fulfill our responsibilities toward peace and 
prosperity and freedom

[[Page 1564]]

and human rights if we want America to do well at home.
    And conversely, if we want America to be strong and be able to lead 
the world, we have to prove that we can develop the capacities of all of 
our people, that we can run a good, strong economy, and, very important 
over the long run, that in an increasingly interconnected world, that we 
have people from everywhere in America, but they all have a chance as 
long as they follow the rules. And I think that's important.
    And our administration has really been devoted to giving everyone a 
chance to making America work again, and then to preparing us for the 
future, and to assume--to make sure we're doing what we can to lead the 
world toward peace and freedom and prosperity. I am grateful for what 
we've been able to do, but I will say this: I think the most important 
thing today is that Americans not take the blessings of the moment for 
granted, either to be idle or to pretend that we can indulge ourselves 
in self-defeating conduct as a nation.
    When you get a moment like this when things seem to be going well, 
especially if there is a lot of churning dynamism elsewhere in the 
world, it is a time for an extra sense of responsibility to deal with 
the big challenges.
    What have we learned about the world economy in the last 2 years 
that we didn't know? Have we learned anything we didn't know when we 
passed GATT, when we passed NAFTA, when we committed ourselves to an 
open trading system and to elevating other countries? What have we 
learned? What do we do about it?
    Well, the first thing we've got to do is pay our way to the 
International Monetary Fund. If we want to have influence, we certainly 
have to pay our way. We need to pay our way to the United Nations. We 
need to do the things that a great country does.
    But there is more we need to do. What are we going to do to make 
sure the baby boomers can retire, have the Social Security they need, 
the medical care they need, without bankrupting their children and 
grandchildren? What are we going to do to make sure, now that we have 
Pell grants, HOPE scholarships, record numbers of work-study positions, 
the most access to higher education in history, that we have the best 
elementary and secondary education in the world? What are we going to do 
to prove to other countries, by the power of our example, that you can 
grow the economy and improve the environment at the same time? What are 
we going to do to reconcile our goals of having affordable health care 
with quality health care, through the Patients' Bill of Rights? What are 
we going to do, now that the House finally passed it, to stop the Senate 
Republican filibuster of campaign finance reform, killing it again? How 
can we raise this feeling that people have that their campaigns are 
properly run? There are a lot of big questions out there. Maybe most 
importantly of all, over the long run, what are we going to do to prove 
that we can be one America, no matter how diverse we get in terms of 
race, religion, culture? What are we going to do?
    Because if we are--if we want to do good things in the rest of the 
world--some of you were so kind in what you said around the table 
tonight about the role the United States has been able to play in the 
last few years in the Irish peace process. We're working very, very hard 
this night in the Middle East peace process. We're working hard to 
reconcile people to one another. If we want to do good things around the 
world, we have to be good at home. We have to be able to set an example 
of reconciliation among ourselves, instead of destructive, divisive 
conduct.
    So that's the only thing I would like for you to think about 
tonight. When you leave here, I hope, if somebody asks you why you came 
here, you will say, ``I'm proud to be here because what we've done in 
the last 6 years made America work again. I'm proud to be here because 
we've got a vision of the world in the 21st century. And I'm proud to be 
here because we know that we dare not squander the blessings of the 
moment. Instead, we have to look at the big challenges that lie before 
us and seize them now when we have the resources and the confidence and 
the sheer emotional breathing room to do it.'' We don't want to let this 
pass us by. We want to seize it. And if we do, in a couple of years when 
we start that new century and that new millennium, America will give our 
children the future that we owe them.
    Thank you very much, and God bless you.

Note: The President spoke at 9:38 p.m. at a private residence. In his 
remarks, he referred to dinner hosts Jim and Carol Lewin and their 
daughter Jill; and former Senator Claiborne Pell and his wife, Nualla.