    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [May 16, 2000]
    [Pages 947-948]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Reception Following the New York State Democratic
    Convention in Albany, New York
    May 16, 2000

        First of all, I want you to know how I came to be here tonight.
    [Inaudible]--but before we knew exactly when Hillary was going to give her speech, I agreed to appear
    tonight at the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund and to a campaign
    event for the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee. So I told all that
    group, I said, ``I've been with you folks a long time, and if you'll let
    me go hear my wife give a speech, I'll do any event you want, anywhere
    in America, any time.'' [Laughter] And I told the Democratic Senate
    Campaign Committee that the Senate campaign I was most interested in was
    otherwise occupied tonight, and I was going there. [Laughter]

        So I'm delighted to see you. And I want to thank Judith Hope for doing a wonderful job as the chair. A lot of you
    don't know this, but Judith Hope grew up in Warren, Arkansas, in a
    community that I never failed to carry as Governor, proof positive that
    people from Arkansas can do very well in New York.

        I want to thank all the leaders of Congress and the State
    legislature and your State officials who are here with me tonight, and
    my good friend Andrew Cuomo, for the
    wonderful job he's done as our HUD Secretary.

        I want to ask you one question. Did Hillary give a great speech tonight? I was sitting next to
    Senator Moynihan, and she kept going
    over all these issues. And Senator Moynihan looked at me, and he said,
    ``Good speech.'' [Laughter] ``Now, that would be like the rest of us
    who--[inaudible]--into the Gettysburg Address.'' [Laughter] And I knew
    that she was on a roll.

        I want to say three things very quickly. First of all, I do not have
    the words to express to the people of New York my gratitude for the
    primary victory in '92, for the magnificent convention in '92, for the
    overwhelming margin of victory in '92, and the even bigger margin of
    victory you gave to me and to Al Gore in 1996. I will never forget it.

        The second thing I want to say is that I am profoundly grateful to
    you for the way you have embraced Hillary and the way you supported her tonight and the way you
    have been helping her. And I thank you for that. But I can tell you
    this, that she will not disappoint you. She'll be one of the great
    Senators this country has ever--[applause].

        And the last thing I want to say is this. On this night we've had a
    lot of fun. And big tests facing New York and America is what are we
    going to do with this magic moment of prosperity we have all worked so
    hard for? And a moment like this imposes a test on people just as severe
    as great adversity does. When we were flat on our back in the Depression
    and we elected Franklin Roosevelt President, we did in part out of
    desperation. We knew we had to have somebody who was upbeat and strong
    and who would try new things.

        When I was elected President in 1992, the American people took a
    huge chance. I was just, as President Bush used to say, the Governor of
    a small southern State. [Laughter] And I was so dumb and inexperienced,
    I thought he was complimenting me. I was kind of proud of it. [Laughter]

        But we were feeling rather desperate, and now we feel good. But I
    was so proud by the response you gave Hillary tonight, because this is a great test for us. And make
    no mistake about it, this election in 2000 is every bit as important as
    the election in '96 was, every bit as important as the election in '92
    was. I worked so hard for 8 years with clearly the finest and most
    effective Vice President in the history of the United States to turn
    this country around.

        Now we've got a campaign, and the people have to choose. And the
    Republicans are telling us they're compassionate. [Laughter] And

    [[Page 948]]

    they're saying, ``I'm for all the same things that they're for, we're
    just doing it a little different. And we want to give you a whole lot
    bigger tax cut. We'll give you everything else you ever dreamed of.''
    And it's all sort of being blurred.

        What I want to tell you is if you believe the things that Hillary
    said, that you clapped for tonight, if you believe that she's worth
    fighting for, then you have to believe me. I'm not running for
    anything--[laughter]--but I know a little something about American
    history. It may be 30, it may be 50, it may be 80 or 100 years before
    our country ever has so much prosperity, so much social progress, so
    little internal crisis and external threat as we have today. We are
    being tested as surely as if we were in the middle of war or a
    depression. And we are being tested.

        It's easy for us to be distracted. And I'm telling you, if you want
    this to go on, if you want to continue to change in this direction,
    you've got to elect Al Gore; you've got to
    elect Hillary; you've got to elect
    these Democrats who have supported this direction. I will do my best to
    be a supporting part in that.

        The next Senator of New York, my wife.

     Note:  The President spoke at 11 p.m. in the Ten Eyck Ballroom at the
    Crown Plaza Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Judith Hope, chair,
    New York State Democratic Party. A tape was not available for
    verification of the content of these remarks.