    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [May 23, 2000]
    [Pages 1013-1016]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Reception for Representative Ellen O. Tauscher
    May 23, 2000

        Well, thank you very much. Let me say first, I'm delighted to be
    here in Ellen and Katherine's home, with
    so many of Ellen's family and her friends. And I think we have three
    Members of Congress here. I think Representative Thurman from Florida, Representative Dooley from California, Representative Hoyer from Maryland are here. And if they're not, I gave them
    credit for being, anyway.
        I appreciate what Ellen said about running for a third term. I'd
    like to, but I understand that the salary is insufficient to support a
    Member of Congress. [Laughter] So I suppose I'll have to do something
    else for a living next year. [Laughter]
        Let me say to all of you, we've had a pretty good few days here.
    Several days ago, I signed the bill to open America's markets more, to
    increase trade and investment in Africa and the Caribbean Basin in
    Central America, which I think is very important. And I've been working,
    I might add, with pharmaceutical companies and others to lower the costs
    of life-saving drugs to those places and to try to hasten the day when
    we can develop vaccines for AIDS and TB and malaria. And we've got a lot
    of bipartisan support and a lot of public/private partnership there.
        Today, with the Speaker of the House,
    we had an astonishing bipartisan announcement in the Roosevelt Room at
    the White House--that we have actually reached agreement, which I think
    will produce 350 or 400 votes in the House, on what could be the most
    significant antipoverty initiative in the last 35 years. It's called,
    for us, the new markets initiative. The Republicans have a different
    name for theirs, but the point is, we put them together.
        You know, we usually--for years I've been watching Washington say,
    one side says, ``I've got an idea,'' and the other side says, ``I've got
    an idea.'' And then they say, ``Good, let's fight.'' [Laughter] And
    instead--you know, there really was a feeling in Washington this year
    that there are still people and places that haven't participated fully
    in this economic recovery. Those of you from northern California, for
    example, know that ironically, in East Palo Alto there's still a
    terrible unemployment problem, a lot of people who aren't even part of
    the digital economy.
        I was in the Navajo Indian Reservation at Shiprock in northern New
    Mexico not very long ago, one of the most beautiful places I've ever
    seen, the only thing I've ever seen in America that looks sort of like
    Ayers Rock in Australia. You just come up on it. It's just breathtaking.
    But the unemployment rate's 58 percent, and 70 percent of the people
    don't even have telephones.
        And of course, I come from the Mississippi Delta, which is one of
    the poorest places in America. And the whole idea behind this
    legislation is that we ought to give people like those of you who can
    afford to come to this fundraiser tonight--[laughter]--the same
    incentives to invest in developing areas in America that we give you to
    invest in developing areas overseas, in Latin America and Africa and
    Asia. It's a terrific idea.
        And if this bill passes, we will not only create a total of 40
    empowerment zones--a program I've been working on for over 7 years now,
    that's been managed brilliantly by the Vice
    President--but we'll create 40 enterprise zones that the Republican
    Party wanted in poor areas that have zero capital gains rate. Ours has a
    different set of incentives. But all over America, in areas of high
    unemployment or high poverty, people who invest in financing devices to
    create new businesses will get a 30 percent tax credit,

    [[Page 1014]]

    and people who borrow money will be able to get, if they put up one-
    third equity, they'll be able to get two-thirds in money fully
    guaranteed by Government guarantees, which will cut the interest rates
    dramatically.
        So what we're saying is, America as a whole will share the risk with
    you, if you'll give these people a chance to go to work and make a
    living. And at a time of very tight labor markets, I think it has the
    promise of really proving that we can bring free enterprise to the
    poorest parts of America.
        By and large, the people who live there are just as smart and just
    as hard working as people anywhere else. They're not always as well-
    educated. But mostly they stay there because they don't want to leave,
    especially in these rural areas. Their kids, maybe their neighbor's
    kids, may go to Silicon Valley or Silicon Alley in New York or someplace
    else; they may go to Dallas to make video games. But most of these
    people want to keep living where they are. And what we're trying to do
    is to create an investment climate that will help that.
        But the main thing is, there were like 30 Members of Congress there
    today, roughly equally divided between both parties. I thought I needed
    to go to the optometrist to make sure my eyes were working. It was
    wonderful. [Laughter]
        And tomorrow, I believe--although I never count my chickens before
    they hatch, and I don't have--I'm only counting the votes on our side,
    not their side--I think we're going to make this PNTR vote with China.
    And I think it's important.
        Now, that brings me to the point of why I'm here tonight. Obviously,
    I'm interested in the economics of the agreement I made with the
    Chinese. We had a good agreement in April, but I wanted to make it
    better, and we did. And I think one thing that is widely misunderstood
    among the American electorate is, most people think this is a trade
    agreement. It is not. It's a membership agreement. That's why it's
    basically, from a trade point of view, a one-way street. That is, China
    lowers its tariffs and its other restrictions on our investments and our
    sales, in return for membership in the WTO.
        So it's a very good economic deal for the United States--in that
    sense, relatively speaking, the best one we've ever negotiated. And I
    know that's why most people lobby it.
        But you know--I never thought I'd say this, but I'm beginning to
    feel old and creaky, and I've only got about 8 months or so left to
    serve. And I want you to know, the real reason I'm for it--even though
    I'm proud of the economic terms, and I'm glad of what we negotiated--the
    real reason I'm for it is, I think it will hasten the day of freedom and
    honoring the rule of law in China. And I think that's why all these--the
    President of Taiwan and Martin Lee, the Hong Kong democracy leader, a lot of dissidents in
    China today, have asked us to vote for this.
        And you know, in the last 50 years, we've fought three wars in Asia.
    And I can't say we won't fight another one in the next 50 years. I can't
    even promise you that what I think will happen in China will happen if
    we pass this tomorrow. But I can promise you this: If we turn it down,
    we will dramatically increase the chances of irresponsible behavior and
    conflict.
        And so to me, the most important thing is, I don't want my
    daughter's generation to have to go through what our parents' generation
    did in World War II and Korea and what our generation did in Vietnam.
    And I think we've got a good chance, not a guarantee--they have to make
    all the decisions about how they conduct themselves--but we've got a
    good chance to have a very different future than the past 50 years.
        And that's basically why I really wanted to come here tonight. I
    don't think--you know, you probably couldn't beat Ellen Tauscher with a
    stick of dynamite out there. [Laughter] But I want you to know, I'm
    here, number one, because nothing we've achieved in the last 8 years
    would have been possible without the support of Members of Congress like
    her. Number two, she really is sort of my philosophical soul mate and my
    personal friend, and I love her.
        But most important, it's very important to me, as I look forward to
    an election, the first election since 1974, when I haven't been on
    somebody's ballot somewhere, that we vote for people who understand the
    future and are prepared to do what it takes to make the most of it.
    That's really, to me, what this is about.
        People ask me all the time, ``Who's going to win the Presidential
    race? Will the Democrats win the House? Who's going to win this or that
    Senate race?'' I tell them it all depends on what the American people
    think the question is when they go into the voting booth. You just

    [[Page 1015]]

    think about that. It depends on what you think the question is. Many,
    many times, if it's any kind of a competitive election, what you think
    the question is will determine who you believe should be elected.
        I think the question is what are we going to do with this incredible
    moment of prosperity and social progress and national self-confidence
    and enormous responsibility throughout the world?
        And you know, we've got some very difficult decisions to make. Are
    we going to continue to be the world leader for disarmament? Or are we
    going to throw away the treaties that have protected us for generations
    and refuse to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, after I was the
    first President in the world to sign the thing? The American people will
    decide that in the next election. Most of them don't know it yet, but
    they will. And so they have to decide, because that will determine the
    shape of the future.
        Are we going to squander this surplus in ways that risk going back
    to deficit spending, higher interest rates, and will certainly bring a
    quicker end to our recovery? Or will we have a tax cut we can afford, in
    the context of paying the debt down and dealing with the retirement of
    the baby boom generation and our plain obligation to continue to invest
    in the education of our children, in science and technology?
        Are we going to prove that we can grow the economy and improve the
    environment? Or are we going to keep our heads stuck in the sand and
    say, ``Global warming is a plot to undermine the strength of free
    enterprise,'' and, ``What does it matter if we burn up the atmosphere?''
    Big issue, one of the things that will be decided in this election.
    Those are just a few issues.
        Do we believe we can balance work and family? If we do, we're going
    to have to do more with family leave; we're going to have to do more
    with child care; we're going to have to do more with flexible work
    hours. We're going to have to do a lot of it out of the private sector,
    but some of it's going to have to be negotiated with the Government so
    it's fair to all employers and nobody's at a significant disadvantage.
    Huge issue.
        And let me just say one other thing about this vote tomorrow. This
    is a difficult--this has been a personally painful vote for me, because
    a lot of the labor guys who are on the other side of this are good
    friends of mine. They worked for me in '92. They worked for me in '96.
    And I basically have been the best friend they've had in the White
    House, I think, since LBJ. But I believe strongly that--you know, going
    back to Roosevelt, our party has been the party of engagement and
    partnership with the rest of the world.
        Now, having said that, a lot of people are against this who don't
    even know what the details are. A lot of people are against our efforts
    because they have this generalized sense of unease about the globalized
    world into which we're moving, and they're afraid that, even if they see
    somebody else flitting around on an airplane or living in a big house,
    they're somehow going to be left behind, that somehow the rules are
    going to work against them, and all this change is going to leave them
    totally disoriented and at sea. And a lot of these people are our
    friends and our natural allies.
        So I think one of the big questions that will occupy the United
    States for at least another decade is how to put a human face on the
    global economy. It is inconceivable to me that we can globalize the
    economy without trying to develop some sort of consensus about what kind
    of global society we will live in, what our mutual responsibilities are
    to the planet, what our mutual responsibilities are to stand up against
    child labor, prison labor, female slavery, other abusive labor
    conditions.
        And it's inconceivable to me that the World Trade Organization--
    which I supported bringing into being, which I have labored to protect
    and expand--but they're going to have to open their proceedings. They
    can't continue--the WTO cannot continue to be the private preserve of
    politicians and CEO's, in other words, people like those of us in this
    room. [Laughter] It's not just us. We're fooling with people's lives out
    there with these decisions, and you know, sooner or later, you keep
    making enough decisions that affect someone else, and you're going to
    listen to them one way or the other.
        So while I think that that is a poor excuse, all these things, to
    vote against this bill, and we must never be in the position of making
    the perfect the enemy of the good, we should remember that for another
    decade America will have to be about the business of putting a human
    face on the global economy, of trying to make it advance our values as
    well as our pocketbooks.

    [[Page 1016]]

        And when I think of those big questions and I think about the
    handful of people that I know in this town that I feel most comfortable
    making those decisions, she's one of them. And I also like to make her
    blush. [Laughter]
        And this is the last thing I want to say to you. You know, on the
    one hand, I hope the American people will be more relaxed about this
    election than sometimes I fear they are when you see all these
    hysterical ads. And some of the things that happened, particularly in
    the other party's primary, just sent me around the bend. [Laughter] But
    I hope they will also be more serious.
        I mean, I'd like to see--you know, Governor Bush made a serious proposal today about what he thought ought
    to be done on missile defense and other stuff. And Al Gore's got a serious proposal. How will the American
    people that don't think about this all the time know what to do unless
    they get together and discuss it? They made different proposals on
    Social Security and Medicare. They ought to get together and talk about
    it.
        But the thing I want to say to you is in addition to being here for
    Ellen, because a lot of you come from other parts of the country, you
    need to make sure that everybody you talk to understands that the
    consequences of this election are just as significant as they were in
    '92, when the country was in the doldrums, or in '96, when they had to
    decide whether to ratify the direction we were taking.
        And sometimes it is a sterner test of character to make the far-
    sighted decision when times are good than when they're bad. When times
    are bad, you don't have to be a genius to know you've got to do
    something different. [Laughter] You don't have to be smart as a tree
    full of owls to know that you've got to figure out what in the world
    you're going to do and go forward. [Laughter] When times are good, you
    know, people just sort of drift off and say, ``Well, that sounds nice,
    and that sounds nice,'' or, ``Maybe I'll stay home and do something
    else.'' I'm telling you, this is a big deal.
        Once in a lifetime a country finds itself in the position we're in
    now. And I do want you to be relaxed and have a good time, but you've
    got to understand, if we squander this opportunity, you have no earthly
    idea how long America will have to wait for it to come back around
    again, no earthly idea how long you'll have to wait for Members of
    Congress like Ellen and Steny and
    Karen and Cal
    to be able to go there and debate how to build the future of our dreams
    for our children, instead of how to throw the water out of a leaking,
    sinking boat.
        And there's not a soul here over 30 years old that can't cite one
    time in your life when you have made a serious personal or professional
    mistake not because things were so terrible but because things were so
    good you thought there were no consequences to breaking your
    concentration.
        So that's the other thing I want to say. Every day between now and
    November, if you talk to somebody about anything like this, you remind
    them: This is a big deal. This is not just the first election of the
    millennium in calendar terms. It is the first election in psychological
    and political terms as well.
        We have not been in this shape in my lifetime. We may not get here
    again, and we'd better make the most of it. Your being here for her
    shows that you've got a big head start on understanding that.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 8:05 p.m. at a private residence. In his
    remarks, he referred to reception host Katherine Tauscher, daughter of
    Representative Tauscher; President Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan; Hong Kong
    Democratic Party Chair Martin Lee; and Gov. George W. Bush of Texas.