[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
[May 24, 2000]
[Pages 1019-1021]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at the Democratic National Committee's ``National Tribute to 
President Clinton''
May 24, 2000

    Well, first of all, thank you, thank you very much. Let me tell you 
something--wait, turn this on. If you'd turn this on, they could hear me 
instead of them.
    Now, I don't believe that it's corruption to take money to pass the 
Brady bill, instead of beat it; to pass the family and medical leave 
bill, so 21 million ordinary working people can take some time off when 
their babies are born and their parents are sick, instead of to beat it; 
to pass the Patients' Bill of Rights, instead of to beat it; to reduce 
the deficit and get rid of the debt, instead of keep giving big breaks 
to special interests. I don't think that is corruption. I think that's 
good for America. That's why we're here tonight; that's why you're here 
tonight. We made a difference, and I'm glad you're helping us to win the 
next election. Thank you.
    Let me also say to all of you how grateful I am that you're here, 
how grateful I am for your support. I thank Ed and Joe and Loretta and Dennis and all their 
predecessors in the Democratic Party. I thank my good friends Dick 
Gephardt and Tom Daschle, who will be the leaders of their respective 
chambers after the election. I thank Terry McAuliffe for making sure we'll be able to stick out there and 
give our message to fight for our candidates and elect our President in 
the year 2000. Thank you, Terry, and thank all of you who helped 
tonight.

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    And I want to thank Al and Tipper and Hillary and all 
the others who were part of our team. All those things that were on that 
film--mostly they were just my face up there. We had a great team, the 
four of us; we had a great White House; we had a great Cabinet; we had 
all these great young people working for us who believed in what we were 
doing every day. To every one of you who had anything to do with any of 
the progress of this administration, I thank you from the bottom of my 
heart.
    Now, I also want to thank my buddies from Sims and Lindsey's and the 
Rendezvous for bringing us barbecue so Al and I could feel at home 
tonight, and I hope you felt at home tonight with that barbecue. And 
besides that, we needed a backdrop for McAuliffe to do that comedy gig he did on the Republicans. So, 
thank you for bringing the barbecue. It was wonderful.
    Now, I don't know about you, but I came here to hear the 
entertainment, not to hear the politicians speak. So, since I'm really 
grateful to you for your support, I'm going to spare you much of a 
speech. But I want to say just two or three things real seriously.
    Number one, the election of 2000 is every bit as important as the 
elections of '92 and '96. And in some ways, we are handicapped by all 
those good things that were just recounted on the film. A lot of younger 
voters have even forgotten what the economy was like in 1992. A lot of 
people have forgotten that 7\1/2\, 8 years ago no one thought the 
deficit could be brought down, much less the budget balanced and the 
debt begin to be repaid. No one thought the crime rate could be bought 
down, the welfare rolls could be reduced, that the performance of our 
public schools would be increasing dramatically. No one believed that 
back in 1992.
    Now, what is the problem? The question is, what are we going to do 
with our prosperity and with our social progress? And I would argue to 
all of you, just in one moment of seriousness tonight, that how a great 
nation handles its success can be an even sterner test of character than 
how it deals with adversity.
    I have sort of mixed feelings looking at that film, actually. I 
watch myself get grayer and grayer and grayer. [Laughter] And I thought 
to myself, before I got into my second term here, I was always the 
youngest person who did everything. Now I'm up here in my old boots and 
my old jeans, and I'm just kind of an old gray-haired redneck trying to 
put in some good months here. [Laughter] But I've learned a few things 
earning those gray hairs.
    And what I want to say to you is that if you believe, as I do, that 
it's just a test of our character that's as severe as any we've had, 
what are we going to do with our prosperity, then this election matters, 
and I'll tell you what I think we need.
    We need to elect someone President who understands the future and 
knows how to take us there. We need to elect someone President who's 
actually made tough decisions and not just talked about it. And we need 
to elect people to the Senate and the House who supported us on our 
economic program, supported us when we brought the crime rate down, 
supported us when we cleaned up the environment and grew the economy at 
the same time, supported us when we protected the individual liberties 
of America, supported us when we said we could build one America across 
all the lines that divide us. That's what we need to do in the year 
2000, looking toward tomorrow.
    Terry has already said this. Ed has already said this. But I want 
you to know that not only as President but as something of an historian, 
there is no one in the history of the Vice Presidency who has ever, ever 
had remotely the positive impact on the lives and the future of the 
people of the United States as Al Gore has 
these last 7\1/2\ years. It's not even close--ever.
    From casting the deciding vote on our economic plan in '93, to 
sticking up for us when we had to go into Haiti, into Bosnia, into 
Kosovo, to all the tough calls we made in helping to end the financial 
crises in the world, down to voting to close the gun show loophole and 
require child trigger locks, Al Gore has 
led the way.
    Now, when you think about the future, what are the questions? Well, 
how are we going to get the country out of debt, keep the prosperity 
going, and give people who live in poor areas who have been left behind 
a chance to be part of our prosperity? How are we going to deal with the 
environmental challenges of global warming and grow the economy? How are 
we going to give all working people the security of access to health 
care and world-class education for their kids? How are we going to 
proceed in a world full of uncertainty, where you have to make 
complicated judgments about the

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security threats out there and still try to build a better and brighter 
future based on trade, not conflict, based on lifting labor standards 
and environmental standards, not walking away from the human rights of 
the people of the world? How are we going to do these things?
    The answer is, we ought to pick the person who is the best qualified 
person based on experience. We ought to pick the person who has proved 
that he makes good decisions based on lots of evidence. We ought to pick 
a person whose mind and heart have always been focused on the future 
that his children--now his grandchild--and all of our children ought to 
have. Al Gore should be, and with your 
help, will be, the next President of the United States of America.
    Ladies and gentlemen, Vice President Al Gore.

 Note: The President spoke at approximately 9:15 p.m. at the MCI Center. 
In his remarks, he referred to Edward G. Rendell, national chair, Joseph 
J. Andrew, national finance chair, Representative Loretta Sanchez, 
general cochair, Mayor Dennis W. Archer of Detroit, MI, general cochair, 
and Terence McAuliffe, former national finance chair, Democratic 
National Committee. The transcript released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary also included the remarks of the First Lady, Vice President 
Gore, and Tipper Gore.