[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
[September 27, 1999]
[Pages 1612-1616]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Dinner for Representative William J. Jefferson in New Orleans
September 27, 1999

    The President. Thank you very much. First of all, like everyone 
else, I want to thank the Davises for having us in this magnificent home. And 
thank you for the tour through all the art and all the books and all the 
history of your life. It was fascinating. And I didn't steal any books 
or artwork. [Laughter] And I can't afford the discount price, either. 
[Laughter] But it's really wonderful, and we thank you for having us 
here.
    Q. What about the golf----
    The President. I'm getting there. [Laughter] I want to thank the 
mayor for making me so welcome in New Orleans 
and tell you that he has done a truly magnificent job. New Orleans has 
had one of the biggest drops in violent crime of any major city in 
America under his leadership. And I applaud him for that.
    I would like to thank Sheriff Harry Lee, who 
is back there, for many things, being my friend for a long time. But you 
should know that he came with a group of people from Louisiana to the 
White House and stayed 2 days this week and provided good Cajun cooking 
for the annual congressional picnic, with all the families there, and 
the annual press picnic. And while he is a strong supporter of mine, he 
did not taint the food of any of the Members of Congress

[[Page 1613]]

of the other party--[laughter]--or any of the hostile press members. 
[Laughter] He was totally generous to everybody.
    I want to thank the people who came from out of town here, Tommy 
Boggs, my good friend; and my friend 
Mack McLarty, the former Chief of 
Staff and Special Envoy to the Americas. We're all glad to be in New 
Orleans tonight, and we only wish we didn't have to go home.
    And I thank Bill for running for Governor. I didn't thank him in the 
beginning because I didn't want him to leave the Congress. You know, 
whenever you run for an office like this and you run against an 
incumbent and times are good, you wonder and worry. But I have seen, 
myself, a marked movement in the polls and enough to justify your 
investment here tonight.
    So I just want to make some substantive points that have nothing to 
do with politics. First of all--they have to do with policy more and 
people--and incidentally, a political campaign.
    First of all, my handicap on my home course is a 12. [Laughter] And 
that's what it is and that's what I play, even--[laughter]--unless I 
play a strange course from long tees, and sometimes I play to a 14. But 
otherwise, I normally play to a 12, and that's about what I shoot.
    Secondly, I do most of my music in my music room. Hillary built me a music room on the third floor of 
the White House, in a little end room. And I have saxophones there from 
all over the world, from China, Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, two 
magnificent horns from Germany, two from France, three from Japan, and 
goodness knows where else. Then I've got a bunch of American horns. And 
I play a 1935 Selmer, and I have a 1915 Buescher soprano saxophone. So 
I've been into this a long time, and that's where I play, because it's 
so far away I can't hurt anybody else's ears. [Laughter] So I don't take 
it on that plane with me when I go. And I do have one at Camp David. And 
if you have any other questions, I'll try to answer them. [Laughter]
    But let me make some points very quickly, and I want you to know why 
I'm here tonight. Bill Jefferson started with me in 1991, when I was 
running for President, and nobody but my mother thought I could win; 
well, my wife did; no one else, those 
two. And we did it because we thought that the country couldn't go on 
the way it was, with this sort of gridlock in Washington where 12 years 
of the previous administrations had quadrupled the national debt, and 
they basically had reached an accommodation with Congress where every 
year we would embody President Reagan's idea that if you cut revenues 
and increased spending, you would balance the budget. It defied basic 
arithmetic; it didn't work in 1981, and it didn't work in 1991. And in 
between we quadrupled the national debt, and we got big, big increases 
in interest rates and high unemployment. The unemployment rate in 
Louisiana when I took office was about 7\1/2\ percent, I think, and it's 
4.2 percent today.
    So we said--we had been involved with this sort of New Democratic 
movement. And we thought the Democratic Party had to prove that you 
could be pro-business and pro-labor; that you could be for equality and 
education and for high standards; that you could be for growing the 
economy and improving the environment; that you could be for respecting 
individuals and people of all different races and ethnic groups and 
religious groups, and still believe that what binds us together as 
Americans is more important than what divides us.
    In other words, we felt that American politics had fallen into this 
sort of liberal/conservative, right/left, business/labor, environment/
economy. Everything was one way or the other, and nobody was ever 
getting anything done, and the country was getting deeper in the ditch. 
And our social divisions were deepening.
    And I know that the previous President, with 
whom I had a very cordial, personal relationship, vetoed the Brady bill 
to do background checks because the NRA wasn't for it, and the 
Republicans had to be with them; and then vetoed the family and medical 
leave law because some people in the business community said, ``Well, 
that's an antibusiness measure,'' even though, clearly, one of the 
biggest challenges that we have is to balance work and family.
    So I really believed--and I had some of the same arguments with my 
friends in our party. If this whole business is about having to make 
choices between these two things, we're going to leave America the 
loser. And the evidence was pretty compelling in 1991; we had high 
unemployment, stagnant wages, terrible recession, and increasing social 
division. And so I asked Bill and a number of other people in Louisiana 
to help me run for President, when I was, in the words of my 
predecessor, just

[[Page 1614]]

a Governor from a small southern State. And the people gave us a chance. 
They gave Al Gore and me a chance. And they basically listened to our 
argument about putting people first, and they said, ``We'll try it.'' 
But it was just an argument; they didn't know.
    By 1996, we were reelected, and with a much bigger margin of victory 
in Louisiana--thank you very much--because it wasn't an argument 
anymore; it was an established fact. You didn't have to argue anymore; 
you knew whether this was working or not, and it was.
    Now we're nearly 7 years into it, 6\2/3\ years, and the facts make 
the case. We have almost 19\1/2\ million new jobs, the longest peacetime 
expansion in history, the lowest unemployment rate in 29 years, the 
lowest welfare rates in 32 years, the lowest crime rates in 26 years. 
This year we announced that this year's budget surplus was going to be 
$115 billion, and it's the first time in 42 years we've had 2 years of 
budget surpluses in a row.
    Now, those are facts. And while the economy has been growing, I 
signed the family and medical leave law, and millions of people have 
taken advantage of it. Every year we've had a record number of new small 
businesses. I signed the Brady bill, and 400,000 people with criminal 
backgrounds or mental health histories haven't gotten handguns. And not 
a single hunter or sports person has been inconvenienced, but a lot of 
lives have been saved.
    The air is cleaner; the water is cleaner; the food is safer. We've 
tripled the number of toxic waste dump cleanups. And the economy has 
grown, not been hurt, by strengthening our commitment to the 
environment. Ninety percent of our kids are immunized against serious 
childhood diseases. And the HOPE scholarship gives virtually a universal 
tax credit that opens the doors of college to anybody who will work hard 
enough to go.
    This country is moving in the right direction because of the ideas 
that we shared. And one of the reasons that I would go anywhere for him 
is that none of this would have happened, in my judgment, if we hadn't 
enacted the economic plan of 1993, which helped to cost us the Congress 
in '94 because people knew that it was controversial. We cut spending 
and raised taxes both, and everybody was mad, and nobody felt the 
benefits yet. And it passed by one vote.
    So if he hadn't been there to vote for it, or if he had said, ``You 
know, I come from Louisiana; it's a conservative State,'' and he'd taken 
a dive, none of us would be here tonight, because I wouldn't have been 
reelected; the economy wouldn't be in good shape; and we'd all be 
singing another tune. But he was there because he knew it was the right 
thing to do. And he supported our crime package and all the other 
initiatives.
    So I think his philosophy is right, and I know he's got the courage 
of his convictions. That's the first thing.
    The second thing that I would like to say is that every election is 
about where you're going, not where you've been. I love to tell this 
story, but when I was Governor I used to go out to the State Fair every 
year and have Governor's day. And I'd just sit there in some little 
booth in one of the big pavilions. Anybody that wanted to come up could 
come up and say whatever they wanted. In 1990 I had been Governor for 10 
years, and we had an election coming up. So this old boy in overalls, 
who was about 75 years old, comes up to me, and he says, ``Well,'' he 
said, ``Bill, are you going to run for Governor again?'' I said, ``I 
don't know; if I do, will you vote for me?'' He said, ``Yeah, I guess 
so. I always have.'' And I said ``Well, aren't you sick of me after all 
this time?'' He said, ``No, I'm not, but,'' he said, ``nearly everybody 
else I know is.'' [Laughter] And I got kind of hurt, and I said, ``Well, 
don't you think I've done a good job?'' He said, ``Sure, but you drew a 
paycheck every 2 weeks, didn't you? That's what we hired you to do.'' 
And it was a stunning insight.
    So every election is not about yesterday; it's about tomorrow. 
Yesterday is important because it's evidence of what you'll do tomorrow.
    So what are we going to do with all this prosperity? And what's 
still out there? And what does that got to do with this Governor's race? 
Number one, I believe with all my heart we need to use this time to deal 
with the long-term challenges of this country.
    What are they? The aging of America: the baby boomers like me--I'm 
the oldest of the baby boomers; people between the ages of 35 and 53 are 
in the baby boom generation; we retire--we're much bigger than any other 
group our age except until these kids that are in school today. Thirty 
years from now there will be twice as many people over 65--twice as 
many; two people working for every one person drawing Social Security.

[[Page 1615]]

    Now, with the surpluses, now is the time to deal with the challenge 
of Social Security and Medicare, to add a prescription drug coverage to 
the Medicare program--we'd never start Medicare without prescription 
drugs today--to lengthen the life of the Social Security Trust Fund 
until 2050, anyway, to get through the lifetimes of the baby boom 
generation. That's what we've got to do. It's the first thing we ought 
to do.
    The second thing we need to do is to recognize that not everybody 
has been a part of this economic recovery. And we need to keep working 
to get more investment to people and places that haven't had it yet, and 
to keep this expansion going.
    So I want to do two things. Number one, I want to give the same tax 
incentives to investors to invest in America we give them to invest in 
the Caribbean or Latin America or Africa or any other place in the 
world. I like those incentives to invest overseas in poor countries, but 
we ought to give the same incentives to people to invest in poor 
neighborhoods, poor communities, the Mississippi Delta, the Indian 
reservations, the inner cities in the United States of America. That's 
very important. If we can't bring investment and jobs to these places 
now, we will never get around to doing it. This country has never had 
greater prosperity.
    And the other thing that we have to do, in my judgment, is not to 
squander this surplus. We need to save enough of this surplus to 
lengthen the life of Social Security and Medicare and to pay down the 
debt. Do you realize that this country could be out of debt in 15 years 
for the first time since 1835, when Andrew Jackson was President? Just 
think about--here in New Orleans, you think about how long ago that is. 
A guy that got to be President because he won the Battle of New Orleans 
in 1814, a guy that got to be President because of a battle he won in 
1814 was the last person to have this country out of debt.
    But in a global economy, it's a good deal. Why should liberals be 
for a debt-free America? Because money moves around the world in a 
hurry. That's what happened to Asia. You remember a couple years ago 
when they all went belly up at once. And if a government is not 
borrowing money, that means you get to borrow money for lower cost, your 
interest rates are lower. Lower business rates means more jobs and 
higher incomes. Lower personal rates means lower house loans, lower car 
loans, lower college loans, lower credit card payments, a longer, more 
protracted, more prosperous future for America. That's important. And 
all that could be done entirely by the Federal Government.
    But the third big challenge cannot be. The third big challenge is 
doing right by the children of this country, and, specifically, giving 
them all a world-class education. Do you believe all kids can learn? I 
do. Do you believe we need to challenge them to do better? I do. Do you 
believe we need to identify failing schools and require them to turn 
around and do better, or shut them down and let the kids go to other 
schools? I do.
    I'm not for vouchers because we don't put enough money in the 
schools in the first place. So if you give vouchers, you take a 
relatively large amount of money away from the school budget for a 
relatively small number of people. That's why I'm not for it. But on the 
other hand, I think to just justify the status quo is wrong.
    So I've offered the Congress a plan which would say you can have 
your Federal money for education, but if you want it, you've got to have 
a plan to hold schools accountable for the performance of their 
students, to turn around failing schools or shut them down, but we're 
not going to blame the kids for the failures of the system. We're going 
to give you some money to turn these schools around, and we're going to 
triple the money we give for after-school programs, which will help you 
keep the crime rate coming down. Won't it?
    Now, this is where we come to the Governor's race. No matter what I 
do, under the American system and the constitution of every State, the 
primary responsibility for education is vested in the State. And most of 
the money for education is paid by taxpayers to the State or to the 
local government. Today, in a global economy, with modern technology, 
more education is critical. And yet, it is more difficult than ever in 
America because our student bodies are more and more diverse. I mean, 
today I saw people from at least four different ethnic groups in that 
little group of school children you had gathered up for me today--just 
looking at the faces of those kids.
    Believe it or not, in the Alexandria School District, across the 
river from the White House, in Virginia, there are kids from 180 
different racial and ethnic groups whose parents speak

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a hundred different languages, in one school district.
    Now, that means we have work to do. And there is no more important 
responsibility for the Governor. If I were a citizen of Louisiana, if I 
were back home just voting in Arkansas--I hate to ever be a single-issue 
voter, but I would be almost completely a single-issue voter in a 
Governor's race, based on the person I thought was most likely to do the 
most for the schools of my State, because if these kids don't have the 
education they need, nothing else the rest of us do will matter for 
their future. It is the most important thing.
    Last point--I'm the only person here who has been a Governor, and I 
did it for 12 years, and I loved it every day. And I did not get tired 
of it. I didn't get bored with it. And when I left to go be President, I 
was having more fun being Governor before I started running for 
President than I had ever had in my whole life. It's a wonderful job.
    And if you like it, if you like people, if you like to work hard, if 
you believe in good schools and good jobs, and if it thrills you to get 
things done for your State, it's a wonderful job. But to be really good 
at it, you need to be passionate about your convictions, and you need to 
have a real vision you'll fight for. But you can't be too partisan and 
mean-spirited. You've got to be someone who can get people together, 
work with all kinds of different people, and convince people that your 
vision is the right one. And when other people have a good idea, then do 
that, too.
    That's the kind of person Bill is. That's why he was voted the 
``Best Legislator'' in the State legislature two different times when he 
was a State legislator. And I can tell you as someone who has done this 
job for 12 years, he has the right temperament. He has plenty of sense. 
He has a magnificent wife to keep his head 
balanced and to help remind him that education is his first priority--
[laughter]--and he has years and years and years of knowledge and skill 
in getting things done, including in the Congress, that money can't buy 
and that you can only get by living the way he has lived.
    So I think what you ought to do is go out there and say, listen, to 
everybody--he hasn't asked anybody to vote for him because of his race. 
All he has asked is that nobody votes against him because of his race. 
All he said is he wants to treat everybody the same and give every child 
the chance to live up to his or her God-given capacities.
    But I'm telling you, if you look at a man's life, his record, his 
personal skills, and what the State needs at this time, and how it fits 
with what we're doing to move America into the 21st century, I can 
hardly think of anybody who is as well qualified, remotely, as he would 
be to be the Governor not only of this State but any State. You're lucky 
to have him running, and I hope you'll keep helping him.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 6:50 p.m. at a private residence. In his 
remarks, he referred to dinner hosts Arthur Q. and Mary Wineman Davis; 
Mayor Marc H. Morial of New Orleans; Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee; 
lobbyist Thomas Hale Boggs, Jr.; and Representative Jefferson's wife, 
Andrea.