    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [June 13, 2000]
    [Pages 1141-1142]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Reception for Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton
    June 13, 2000

        Thank you. Well, if I had any sense, I wouldn't say a word.
    [Laughter] Thank you.
        Let me say, first of all, I want to thank Vernon and Ann for once again proving
    one of their most endearing and enduring virtues: They stick with their
    friends. And Eleanor is their friend. We have all been friends a long
    time, and Hillary and I have known Vernon for a long time. When I was a
    32-year-old Governor, I went to Vernon Jordan's Urban League banquet
    speech in Little Rock, stayed up half the night talking to him.
    Hillary had already known him for
    years. In fact, she never lets me forget. [Laughter]
        And I would be less charitable, however, than Eleanor was. I think
    Ann actually saved Vernon's life. [Laughter] I was delighted when they got married
    because I needed him around for the rest of my life. [Laughter] And they
    have been so wonderful to all of us who are their friends, and I thank
    them for doing this.
        Mr. Mayor, I'm glad to see you. And
    Councilwoman, I'm glad to see you. And
    Secretary Herman, I'm glad to see you.
    Secretary Herman and Eleanor and I, we sort of, in our different ways,
    tried to help the administration of Jimmy Carter. So we go back a long,
    long time.
        I just want to say a few words tonight about Washington. First of
    all, I'm very proud of our Mayor, who was, in his previous life, a
    member of my administration. I have always loved Washington. You know,
    I've had a lot of homes in my life. I grew up in Arkansas, and I went to
    law school in Connecticut. Everybody knows now I've got a home in New
    York, which I'm very proud of. It's getting better every day. [Laughter]
    Fixing a 111-year-old farmhouse is almost as challenging as winning a
    Senate seat. [Laughter] But I hope and pray we'll be successful at both.
        But when I was a young man, I went to college in Washington. And I
    worked on the Hill every day. I lived in the District all 4 years I was
    in college. I love this city. I saw it burn after Dr. King was killed. I
    used to drive up and down those avenues, and I saw those empty
    storefronts. You know, I didn't know then, obviously, I would ever be
    President. Eleanor says she knew a long time ago. I really think when I
    announced for President my mother was the only person who thought I
    could win. [Laughter]
        But I always promised myself, if I could ever do anything for this
    city I would, because it was plainly, in some ways, the most beautiful
    capital in the entire world. It was full of people from all over the
    world. It had a rich and textured history that deserved to be nourished,
    a lot of things people don't even know about. You know, we have a
    national historic site here in Anacostia that is Frederick Douglass'
    home, that he lived in from after the Civil War until he died, that I
    urge all of you to go see, if you haven't. I'll flack for the National
    Park Service a little.
        So when I became President, before I was inaugurated, I took a walk
    down Georgia Avenue. And I talked to the merchants there, and I talked
    to the people on the street. I was always looking for things I could do.
    Eleanor and I were joking today--she went jogging in a campaign event
    for me in 1992. In the pouring rain, we were running up Pennsylvania
    Avenue together. I never will forget that. And because she's been where
    she's been, it's been possible for me, I think, to be a pretty good
    friend and a pretty good citizen of Washington, DC.

    [[Page 1142]]

    But if she hadn't been there, if she didn't have the enormous
    credibility she has in the Congress, among both Republicans and
    Democrats, and if she didn't have an idea a minute--[laughter]--then all
    these things that I have been able to do, I could not have done. Someone
    could write a whole chapter on my service as President to Washington,
    DC, in two words: Yes, Eleanor. [Laughter] And if it were to be four
    words, it would have to be: Yes, Eleanor; yes, Eleanor. [Laughter]
        We had a great time together, and it's been a joy. Now we've got
    this great Mayor who is inspiring so
    much confidence and broadening the base of support for the city, and
    there's so much more to be done. But I would hope that every American
    would want the United States Congress and the private sector and
    everybody else to do whatever we can for Washington. It ought to be the
    greatest city in America. It ought to be the greatest capital in the
    world. It's full of wonderful people and wonderful neighborhoods and
    wonderful possibilities, and we have really just begun to do what we
    ought to do.
        I hope someday that she'll actually have a real vote in the
    Congress, too, and that we'll have representation in the other House of
    the Congress. I hope that will happen.
        But I just want all of you to know that I'm grateful to you for
    helping her, but I know, I think I know that your presence here means
    you're also committed to helping make DC an even greater city, an even
    better place to live, an even more admirable National Capital. And
    believe me, for those of you who were here, like me, in the early and
    mid-sixties, it's stunning, the difference. But if you know the city, if
    you know all its neighborhoods, if you know all its schools, if you know
    every little nook and cranny of it, you know we've only scratched the
    surface of what we can do to make this the city it ought to be.
        I keep telling the American people, as I travel around the country
    now, that in so many ways the election of 2000 is as important as the
    elections of '92 and '96, and in some ways, a sterner test of our
    judgment and character. Because when I got elected, the country was
    against a wall, and it didn't take too much for them to take a chance on
    me. You remember me; President Bush referred to me as the Governor of a
    small southern State. [Laughter] And I was so dumb, I thought it was a
    compliment. [Laughter] And I still do. [Laughter]
        But anyway, we knew we had to do some things that were different. We
    knew we had to take a chance. We knew we had to kind of break out of the
    mold of the way business was conducted in the city. But now the test is,
    what is it that we propose as a nation to do with this prosperity of
    ours? Anybody that's over 30 years old has got sense enough to know that
    nothing goes on forever. And anybody over 30 years old can remember at
    least one time in your life when you made a mistake not because things
    were so bad but because things were so good you thought there were no
    consequences to the failure to concentrate.
        So I hope one of the things that we will think about--those of us in
    this room, at least--in this election season, is how important it is to
    use this moment to finish the job for Washington, DC, and to make it the
    greatest city of any national capital in the world. We can do this. We
    have the local leadership now. We have the idea machine--[laughter]--
    beloved of all Members of Congress. If as many Republicans liked me as
    liked her, they'd repeal the 22d amendment. [Laughter]
        We can do this. But remember, you don't want to be sitting around in
    somebody's living room 10 years from now and thinking, ``Gosh, I wish I
    had done this, that, or the other thing for Washington.'' So let's make
    sure we truly honor Eleanor by having no regrets about how we use this
    magic moment.
        Thank you very much.

     Note:  The President spoke at 9:40 p.m. at a private residence. In his
    remarks, he referred to reception hosts Vernon and Ann Jordan; Mayor
    Anthony A. Williams of Washington, DC; and Linda W. Cropp, chair,
    Council of the District of Columbia.