    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [January 24, 1999]
    [Pages 97-98]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the Community in Little Rock, Arkansas
    January 24, 1999

        Thank you very much, James Lee. Ladies
    and gentlemen, let me thank you for coming out today. I want to thank
    Governor Huckabee for his response to this
    terrible, terrible tornado--and Mrs.
    Huckabee--I thank them for joining us on this walking tour today and
    welcoming me back to the Governor's Mansion. It's still--it's very
    beautiful inside, and it's had a little radical surgery in the backyard,
    as I'm sure that a lot of you have seen.
        I thank Secretary Slater, the Secretary
    of Transportation, also obviously our native Arkansan, for coming down
    here with me. And they will be helping us on the rebuilding. I thank
    Congressman Snyder and Congressman Marion
    Berry from east Arkansas, who has had some
    communities hit, and representatives of our other congressional offices
    who are here today. And Lieutenant Governor Rockefeller, Attorney General Pryor,
    Secretary of State Priest, Treasurer Jimmie
    Lou Fisher, I thank all of them for being
    here. And I want to thank Mayor Pat Hays
    for coming across the river and lending a friendly, neighborly hand.
    James Lee Witt's regional director here is Buddy Young, who lives in Texas and who, as many of you
    know, was in the Arkansas State Police for many years before that.
        This is a tragedy we all take very personally. When I was--I got out
    this morning at 25th and Gaines and sort of wended my way down Arch and
    Spring toward the Governor's Mansion, and I thought about how many
    hundreds of times I had run on those streets. And all these folks kept
    coming out and said, ``The last time I saw you, you were running by
    here. And I had a roof on my house.'' And then we went over--we crossed
    Roosevelt and went down toward Martin Luther King Drive and saw a lot of
    those homes; large numbers of homes have been completely destroyed
    there.
        And I just wanted to say to you, because Arkansas always had a lot
    of tornadoes and two huge floods when I was Governor, I asked James Lee
    Witt to run the national Federal Emergency
    Management Agency so that it would not be

    [[Page 98]]

    political and so that it would be competent, professional, and highly
    personal. And we've dealt with everything from a 500-year flood along
    the Mississippi River to a massive earthquake in California and all
    kinds of other natural disasters. This is a trip, I'm sure--I know I,
    and I'm sure both James Lee and Rodney,
    never wanted to have to make.
        I'd like to give a word of personal encouragement to my former
    neighbors up here in the Quapaw Quarter not to give up on it. I hope
    everyone who possibly can will rebuild those homes--will rebuild the
    homes, fix the roofs, replant the trees, and keep the spirit of the
    place alive.
        And I want to say to the folks in all the counties in the State--and
    I've got a list that includes not only Pulaski but also Independence,
    St. Francis, Saline, and White Counties; we've already declared
    individual and local governments eligible for assistance there. The
    State has been declared a disaster area as more counties may become
    specifically eligible. I want to encourage all of them, as well.
        These things happen, as Governor Huckabee reminded me, that Arkansas
    had the largest number of tornadoes in one day, moving through here the
    other day, that have ever been recorded. And we grieve for the loss of
    life.
        I'd like to say especially that this is a landmark for me, this
    store here. And I'm so glad that the people who own it are going to
    rebuild it, because it used to be our family store. And Hillary and
    Chelsea and I used to come down here. We think of the fine
    pharmacist here who lost his life, and the
    others here in Arkansas. And when we survey the scope of the
    devastation, I think we can all be grateful to God that the loss has not
    been greater.
        And so this is a day when the Sun is out, and a lot of people have
    offered their helping hands. I want to thank these young people from the
    AmeriCorps program, our national service program, for being here.
    They've come in to help. We're glad to see them.
        And so I ask you to redouble your resolve and help your neighbors.
    And we'll do everything we can to be good neighbors.
        Thank you, and God bless you. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:10 p.m. in the parking lot of a Harvest
    Foods store. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Mike Huckabee, Lt. Gov.
    Winthrop P. Rockefeller, Attorney General Mark L. Pryor, Secretary of
    State Sharon Priest, and State Treasurer Jimmie Lou Fisher of Arkansas;
    Governor Huckabee's wife, Janet; Mayor Patrick Henry Hays of North
    Little Rock; and Harvard Foods pharmacist Robert E. Howard.