    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [January 11, 2000]
    [Pages 27-30]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 27]]

    Remarks at the Grand Canyon Announcing the Establishment and Expansion
    of National Monuments in Western States
    January 11, 2000

        Thank you very much. Thank you; good morning. I know we're doing the
    right thing, because look at the day we've got. [Laughter] We've got the
    good Lord's stamp of approval on this great day.
        Ann, thank you for your words and for
    your life and your example. Superintendent Arnberger, thank you and all the staff at Grand Canyon National Park.
    And through you, I'd like to thank all the people who work for all of
    our national parks. I have spent quite a good deal of time as President
    in the national parks of America, and I grew up in one. I am, I suppose,
    therefore, more personally indebted to the people who give their lives
    to the Park Service than perhaps any of my predecessors. But I want to
    thank you.
        I also want to thank all the people here from the Bureau of Land
    Management for the work they do and for the remarkable partnership that
    will be launched here. We have worked very hard these last 7 years to
    try to get these two agencies to work together, to support each other,
    to believe in each other, and to have common objectives. And I think
    we've made a lot of progress. So I want to thank the BLM people who are
    here, as well. Give them all a hand, thank you. [Applause]
        I want to thank the environmental groups who are here. I want to
    welcome the children who are here. We have children from Grand Canyon
    Middle School and St. Mary's Middle School, and we welcome them. They
    are a lot about what today is all about. I want to thank Congressman Ed
    Pastor, of Arizona; Congressman Sam Farr, from California, for joining me; and former Congresswoman
    Karan English, from Arizona, for being here.
    Thank you. And I want to thank all the people from the White House who
    supported me in this decision: my Chief of Staff, John Podesta, who is here; and the head of our Council of
    Environmental Quality, George Frampton.
        I want to thank someone I want to acknowledge particularly who
    worked with Secretary Babbitt on this, his
    Counselor, Mollie McUsic, who played a big
    role in what we celebrate today. She's not here because she's
    celebrating an even bigger production: yesterday she gave birth to her
    son, Benjamin, so she couldn't be here, but
    I want to acknowledge her and her service.
        And finally, I want to say this is, as you can see, a special day
    for Bruce Babbitt, not only because he has
    been a devoted champion of the Antiquities Act and of protecting land
    but also because he is the former Governor of Arizona. And when we
    served together as Governors, we made it a habit, Hillary and I did, at
    least once a year at these Governors' meetings to have dinner with Bruce
    and Hattie Babbitt. And he was giving me the
    speech that he gave here today 15 or 20 years ago. [Laughter] I've heard
    Bruce's speech a lot now, but it gets better every time he gives it.
    [Laughter]
        Our country has been blessed by some outstanding Secretaries of the
    Interior, Gifford Pinchot, Harold Ickes. But I'll make a prediction: I
    believe when our time here is done and a fair analysis of the record is
    made, there will be no Secretary of the Interior in the history of the
    United States who has done as much to preserve our natural heritage as
    Bruce Babbitt, and I thank him for that.
        Secretary Babbitt talked about Theodore
    Roosevelt's role. You might be interested to know that it was exactly 92
    years ago today, on January 11, 1908, that he designated the Grand
    Canyon as one of our Nation's first national monuments. Now the first
    light falls on the 21st century and this breathtaking landscape he
    helped to protect. None of you who can see what is behind me can doubt
    the wisdom of that decision. And so it is altogether fitting that on
    this day and in this place we continue that great journey.
        This morning, on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, I designated
    three new national monuments and the expansion of a fourth to make sure
    more of the land that belongs to the American people will always be
    enjoyed by them. What a remarkable place this Canyon is. It is in so
    many ways the symbol of our great natural expanse, our beauty, and our
    spirit.
        Thirty years ago, for the first time, I watched the Sun set over the
    Grand Canyon for over 2 hours. This morning I got up and for about

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    an hour I watched the Sun rise over the Canyon for the first time. In
    both cases, watching the interplay of the changing light against the
    different layers and colors of the Canyon left me with a lifetime memory
    I will always cherish.
        Millions and millions of Americans share those memories and a love
    of our natural treasure. In fact, I believe maybe if there's one thing
    that unites our fractious, argumentative country across generations and
    parties and across time, it is the love we have for our land. We know,
    as President Roosevelt said, we cannot improve upon this landscape. So
    the only thing we can add to it is our protection. President Roosevelt
    challenged us to live up to that ideal, to see beyond today or next
    month or next year. He said, ``The one characteristic more essential
    than any other is foresight. It should be the growing nation with a
    future which takes the long look ahead.''
        I am very grateful for the opportunities that Vice President Gore
    and I have had to build on President Roosevelt's legacy, to take that
    long look ahead, to chart a new conservation vision for a new century.
    From our inner cities to our pristine wild lands, we have worked hard to
    ensure that every American has a clean and healthy environment. We've
    rid hundreds of neighborhoods of toxic waste dumps, taken the most
    dramatic steps in a generation to clean the air we breathe, to control
    emissions that endanger the health of our children and the stability of
    our climate. We have made record investments in science and technology
    to protect future generations from the threat of global warming. We've
    worked to protect and restore our most glorious natural resources, from
    the Florida Everglades to California's redwoods and Mojave Desert, to
    Escalante, to Yellowstone.
        And we have, I hope, finally put to rest the false choice between
    the economy and the environment, for we have the strongest economy
    perhaps in our history, with a cleaner environment, cleaner air, cleaner
    water, more land set aside, safer food. I hope finally we have broken
    the hold of an old and now wrong idea that a nation can only grow rich
    and stay rich if it continues to despoil its environment and burn up the
    atmosphere. With new conservation technologies and alternative energy
    sources, that is simply no longer true. It has not been true for quite
    some years now, but it is only now coming to be recognized. And I can
    tell you that in the next few years, no one will be able to deny the
    fact that we will actually have more stable, more widespread, more long-
    term economic growth if we improve the environment.
        We are on the verge--the Detroit auto show this year is going to
    showcase cars that get 70 and 80 miles a gallon, with fuel injection and
    dual fuel sources. Before you know it, we will crack the chemical
    barriers to truly efficient production of biomass fuels, which will
    enable us to produce 8 or 9 gallons of biomass fuels with only 1 gallon
    of oil. That will be the equivalent of getting cars that use--get 160
    miles to a gallon of gasoline. And this is just the beginning.
        We built a low income working family housing project in the Inland
    Empire out in California, in cooperation with the National Home
    Builders, with glass in the windows that lets in 4 or 5 times as much
    light and keeps out 4 or 5 times as much heat and cold. And we promised
    the people on modest incomes that if they moved into these homes their
    energy bills would be, on average, 40 percent lower than they would have
    been in a home of comparable size. I can tell you that after 2 years,
    they're averaging 65 percent below that. So, therefore, their usage is
    much lower. We are just beginning.
        So I ask all of you not only to celebrate this happy day but to see
    it in the larger context of our common responsibility and our
    opportunity to preserve this planet. [Applause] Thank you.
        Now to the matter at hand. We began this unforgettable morning on
    the edge of this magnificent park. The deep canyons, rugged mountains,
    and isolated buttes of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon tell a story
    written over the course of billions of years, illustrated in colorful
    vistas and spectacular detail. It is a lonely landscape, a vast and
    vital area of open space which, as Secretary Babbitt said, includes a
    critical watershed for the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon. Today we
    protect more than a million acres of this land. That is an area larger
    than Yosemite Park. For America's families, we designate it as the Grand
    Canyon-Parashant National Monument. This effectively doubles the size of
    protected land around the Grand Canyon.
        Second, we act to promote some of the most significant late
    prehistoric sites in the American Southwest. In the shadow of Phoenix
    there lies a rough landscape of mesas and deep canyons rich in
    archaeological treasures, distinctive art etched into boulders and cliff
    faces, and stone

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    masonry pueblos once inhabited by several thousand people centuries ago.
    As the suburbs of Phoenix creep ever closer to this space, we act to
    protect history and heritage. For America's families, we designate this
    land the Agua Fria National Monument.
        Third, we are protecting thousands of small islands, rock
    outcroppings, and exposed reefs along California's splendid coastline.
    These are natural wonders, and they're also the habitat and nesting
    ground for sea mammals and hundreds of thousands of sea birds, forced
    from the shore because of development. Today we act to protect all the
    coastal islands, reefs, and rocks off California now owned by the
    Federal Government, designating them the California Coastal National
    Monument. Help Congressman Farr there. Clap!
    [Applause]
        Fourth and finally, we will expand California's Pinnacles National
    Monument, created by President Roosevelt in 1908. Pinnacles is about 2
    hours from Silicon Valley, but it's a world away. It includes soaring
    spires from an ancient volcano. Its mountain caves, desert, and
    wilderness are home to abundant wildlife and a haven for campers,
    climbers, and hikers. For one and all, Pinnacles is a sanctuary from
    sprawl. And for one and all, we act to keep it that way.
        Now let me say again, all these areas are now owned by the Federal
    Government. Secretary Babbitt's recommendation
    that they be protected came as a result of careful analysis and close
    consultation with local citizens, State and local officials, Members of
    Congress.
        Clearly, these lands represent many things to many people. In
    managing the new monuments, we will continue to work closely with the
    local communities to ensure that their views are heard and their
    interests are respected. This is not about locking lands up; it is about
    freeing them up from the pressures of development and the threat of
    sprawl, for all Americans, for all time.
        I have said many times that the new century finds America with an
    unprecedented opportunity and therefore an unprecedented responsibility
    for the future, an opportunity and a responsibility rooted in the fact
    that never before, in my lifetime anyway, has our country enjoyed at one
    time so much prosperity, social progress, with the absence of internal
    crisis or external threat to our existence. Can you imagine the
    sacrifices laid down by our ancestors, generation after generation after
    generation, in the fond hope that one day our country would be in the
    shape we are now in?
        Now, when we're in this sort of position, we have a heavier
    responsibility even than our forebears did a century ago to take that
    long look ahead, to ask ourselves what the next century holds, what are
    the big challenges, what are the big opportunities, to dream of the
    future we want for our children, and then to move aggressively to build
    that future.
        So I say again, there are these big challenges in the long look
    ahead: The aging of America--we'll double the number of people over 65
    in the next 30 years; I hope to be one of them. The children of America,
    the largest and most diverse group ever--they all have to have a world-
    class education, whether they live in remote areas in Arizona or the
    poorest inner-city neighborhoods across America. The families of
    America--most of them are working; they need more help to balance work
    and parenting, and they all need access to affordable health care and
    child care. The poor of America--it is well to remember that there are
    people in places that have been left behind by this recovery. We have a
    strategy of economic empowerment that should be brought to every person
    willing to work. If we don't do it now, when will we ever get around to
    doing it?
        The world we live in is ever more interdependent, not just on the
    environmental front but in many other ways. We have to build a more
    cooperative world. America is in a unique position now, with our
    economy, our military strength, our political influence. It won't last
    forever, and it's almost impossible for us to avoid having people resent
    us. But we have done our best to be responsible partners for peace and
    prosperity and for bridging the racial, religious, and ethnic gaps that
    tear apart so much of the world. It is time for us to work with others,
    against the dangers of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism and the
    other threats, and to build a better world together and to build one
    America here at home across the lines that have divided us too deeply
    for too long.
        But a big part of all of this, in my opinion, the long look ahead,
    is making an absolute, firm commitment that going forward here at home
    in America and with friends and partners throughout the world, we will
    build a 21st century economy that is in harmony with the environment
    that we will continue to improve and protect even as we grow. And we
    have to keep

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    working until we convince people all over the world, in countries that
    long for the level of prosperity we take for granted, that they do not
    have to grow rich the way countries did in the 19th and the 20th
    century, that the fastest way to grow the economy today is the most
    environmentally responsible way. We owe that to the future.
        Taking the long look ahead, as manifest in the protections we give
    today to the land around the Grand Canyon and in these other monuments,
    is fundamentally an act of humanity, and I might add also, an act of
    humility.
        I think it's interesting that--I'll close with this--I had two
    rather interesting experiences today only proliferally related to what
    we're doing. One is, the press asked me whether I saw this as a legacy
    item, as if that was the reason for doing it. I said, ``Well, I've been
    working on this stuff for 7 years now. And I grew up in a national park.
    I believe in what I'm doing today.''
        But I'll say again, this is an act of humility for all of us. When
    we were flying today over the North Rim, when we got further west along
    the Canyon, Bruce looked at me and he said, ``See, there's some dormant
    volcanoes, and you can see the residue of the ash.'' And I said, ``When
    did that volcano erupt?'' He said, ``Oh, not very long ago, 10 or 20,000
    years.'' And if you look out here, you see, 10 or 20,000 years from now,
    if the good Lord lets us all survive as a human race, no one will
    remember who set aside this land on this day. But the children will
    still enjoy it.
        So I say to all of you, I hope you will go forth from this place
    today with a renewed dedication to the long look ahead, with a renewed
    sense of pride and gratitude, with a sense that we have reaffirmed our
    humanity as well as our devotion to our natural home, and a sense of
    humility that we are grateful, we are fortunate, and we are obligated to
    take the long look ahead.
        Thank you, and God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:15 a.m. at Grand Canyon Hopi Point. In
    his remarks, he referred to hiker Ann Weiler Walka, who introduced the
    President; and Robert L. Arnberger, Superintendent, Grand Canyon
    National Park. The national monument proclamations are listed in
    Appendix D at the end of this volume.