[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book II)]
[December 8, 1998]
[Pages 2140-2142]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Dinner Honoring Dale and Betty Bumpers
December 8, 1998

    Ladies and gentlemen, Hillary began by saying this was a bittersweet 
moment for us, and indeed, it is. Nonetheless, I do want to thank all of 
you for making it possible. I thank Joan Baker, Deba Leach, and all the 
Peace Link folks. I thank our good friend Reverend Wogaman for praying 
over us. God knows we need it. I thank my friend Peter Duchin for being 
here and for playing.
    And I thank Alan Simpson for destroying all the stereotypes that we 
Democrats like to have about Republicans. [Laughter] He's tall and 
funny. [Laughter] And you know, in his new career, he has finally 
destroyed the myth that Harvard is an elitist institution. [Laughter] 
And maybe even that it's an elite institution. [Laughter]
    I thank Ann Bingaman for her wonderful remarks, and all the Members 
of the Senate, the diplomatic corps, and others who are here tonight; 
and our wonderful friends David and Barbara Pryor for being here.
    You know, the six of us--we three couples--we've been together a 
long time. I met David Pryor when he was running for Congress in 1976. I 
voted for Dale Bumpers when he ran for Governor the first time, in 1970. 
We were all on the ballot in 1974, and I was the only one that lost. 
[Laughter] And--it's a good thing, I could have--if I had won, I'd have 
gone to Congress, been infected by people like Simpson, and never become 
President. [Laughter]
    But over these last more than 20 years now, we've been together on 
countless occasions. When we were all in public office--when I was 
Governor and they were our Senators, we did all those parades that David 
talked about. We did countless toasts and roasts. We even crashed in a 
plane together once, nearly made every other politician in Arkansas 
ecstatic all at one time--we opened all the jobs at once. [Laughter] But 
we walked away from it.
    We've borrowed each other's stories mercilessly. Then I became 
President, and they said it wasn't Presidential for me to tell jokes, so

[[Page 2141]]

I had to stop. I wish I had a nickel for every time Dale Bumpers has 
called me and said, ``Now, tell me that joke one more time.'' [Laughter] 
And I'd get halfway through the joke, and he'd remember it and remember 
the punchline and start laughing. I could just hear the tears rolling 
down his cheeks, he'd laugh so much.
    This would be a better place if we had more people who laugh like 
that. This would be a stronger National Capital if we had more people 
like Alan Simpson and Dale Bumpers and David Pryor that could tell these 
stories and reach across party lines.
    You know, Betty and Dale were raised in a tradition in Arkansas--a 
little town in western Arkansas where, if you took yourself too 
seriously, you were deflated quickly. And people knew about you, all 
about you, and they loved you anyway. It's easy to get away from that, 
the more distance you get from real life and this business. So I have to 
tell you that one of the things that I am most grateful to both of them 
for is remaining real people in every way, throughout all these years--
the laughter, the tears, the drama, the struggles; real flesh and blood, 
patriotic, wonderful human beings. It means a lot and more every passing 
day.
    I thank Betty for her vision. We've made a lot of fun of all the 
things she's done with Peace Links, but if you think about it, it's a 
truly astonishing thing. It proves, really, that there is such a thing 
as citizen empowerment. And one person with vision and enough people, 
like Ann, ready to be dragooned into service, can change the course of 
history.
    Think about what we're discussing today. Today, we're impatient 
because the Russians haven't ratified the START II treaty, so we can 
negotiate another treaty, so we can dramatically slash our nuclear 
arsenals further. And when we do, it still won't be enough to suit 
Betty, but it will be partly because she has been pushing us all this 
time, and all the other Peace Links members.
    I want to thank Betty for something else, too, that she and Dale 
pioneered this whole business of immunizing our children. Last night we 
had a Christmas party at the White House, Betty, and I thought about 
you, because a young, handsome man came through the line and shook hands 
with Hillary and me, and he said--he looked at us, and he said, ``I want 
you to know, for the last 3 years, I have run your immunization program. 
And it's been the proudest experience of my life.'' He said, ``We've 
gotten tens of thousands of volunteers all across America, and for the 
first time in our history we've got over 90 percent of our children 
immunized. And all these kids are going to live, that would not have 
lived; they'll be normal, that would not have had normal lives before.'' 
And you were the first person that sensitized me to that issue. And I 
thank you for that, and I hope you're proud of that achievement for your 
country.
    I want to say just a word about Dale. I have to forgive him, for one 
thing--I'm in this sort of forgiveness mode. [Laughter] Dale Bumpers 
never fails to introduce me and David Pryor as the second-best Governors 
Arkansas ever had. [Laughter] And I forgive him, because it's probably 
true. He was an inspiration to David and me, as David said. And as I 
look back on his long public career, including his service as Governor 
and the 9,447 votes he cast in the United States Senate, votes for 
energy conservation, votes to preserve the ozone layer--people used to 
make fun of Dale Bumpers about the ozone layer, the way they used to 
make fun of Betty about Peace Links. Two days ago I got a report on the 
hole in the ozone over the South Pole; it's the biggest it has ever 
been, and its duration is longer than any we've ever measured. And we 
have at least made some progress on it, because he started griping about 
it so long ago.
    He stood up for reform of our laws on natural resources, and he got 
some things done. And we didn't get everything we wanted to do done 
because there were too many people like Simpson stopping us, but--
[laughter]--eventually we'll get it done.
    He stood up for the Constitution of the United States, for the 
welfare of our children, for the future of America. In his own way, just 
as Betty did in Peace Links, he was always trying to build bridges to 
tomorrow over the fears and ignorance and conflicts of today, always 
trying to bring out the best.
    And I was sitting here looking at David and Barbara and Betty and 
Dale, and I was thinking, it does not take long to live a life. Time 
passes quickly. And all we can do is make the most of every day God 
gives us. I think that my days have been richer, and I know that 
Hillary's have, and I believe our public service has been better because 
very early on we met, came to know, love, admire, and learn from Dale 
and Betty Bumpers. We will love them always.

[[Page 2142]]

    On Dale Bumpers' last official visit to the White House, not very 
long ago, a couple of weeks ago, we had this huge gathering under a tent 
of every soul we could find in Washington connected to Arkansas. And I 
signed legislation making Little Rock Central High School an historic 
site, a companion to a bill that will award Congressional Gold Medals to 
all the Little Rock Nine who integrated that high school so long ago, a 
real milestone on America's long march towards justice and equality and 
reconciliation.
    At this time, when the world needs so much from the Middle East to 
Northern Ireland to the Balkans to central Africa to our own meanest 
streets, a remembrance of what is basic and good and fundamental about 
our national life, when we need so badly to be reconciled one to another 
and to reach out to those around the world, the enduring legacy of Betty 
Bumpers and Peace Links, and Dale Bumpers' entire career as a public 
official, to me was somehow crystallized on that magic day when we 
celebrated a seminal event in all of our lives, and his commemorating it 
for all time to come.
    We will remember them for all of our days with gratitude, thanks, 
and laughter. God bless you both, and congratulations on your award.
    Please come on up.
    This magnificent and beautiful award is richly deserved. It's also 
very heavy. [Laughter] But, what the heck. If John Glenn can go into 
space, they can hold this award.
    God bless you. Congratulations.

Note: The President spoke at 8:36 p.m. in the ballroom at the Capitol 
Hilton Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Joan Baker, chair, and 
Elisabeth (Deba) Leach, vice chair, Peace Links; Rev. J. Phillip 
Wogaman, who delivered the invocation; Peter Duchin, orchestra leader; 
Ann Bingaman, National Link and wife of Senator Jeff Bingaman; former 
Senator Alan K. Simpson, master of ceremonies; and former Senator David 
H. Pryor and his wife, Barbara. Peace Links, founded by Mrs. Bumpers in 
1982 to help educate women on nuclear arms issues, presented Senator and 
Mrs. Bumpers with the Eleanor Roosevelt Living World Award at the 12th 
annual Peace on Earth gala for their combined years of public service.