[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 27 (Monday, July 12, 1993)]
[Pages 1248-1251]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 July 4, 1993

    Thank you very much, President de Klerk, Mr. Mandela, Senator 
Wofford, distinguished Members of Congress, Mayor Rendell and members of 
the Philadelphia city government, Judge Higginbotham, Reverend Sullivan, 
my fellow Americans.
    As I flew here today from Washington over the farmlands and the 
small towns and the cities and I began to land here in Philadelphia, and 
I could see closely Americans of all kinds enjoying the blessings of 
liberty and the fruits of their labors, I couldn't help thinking that if 
the Founding Fathers were with us today, they would be proud of the work 
that they have done.
    I do want to say a special word to two distinguished Pennsylvanians 
who, but for health reasons, would clearly be here with us today, a word 
of appreciation to them with whom I talked just a few moments ago, your 
brave Governor, Bob Casey, engaged in his heroic struggle; we all wish 
him well, and your distinguished Senator, Arlen Specter, who promised me 
he would be back to work soon. He did not promise me a vote, however. 
[Laughter]
    On this, our Nation's birthday in our Nation's birthplace, all of us 
are part of a truly historic occasion as we welcome these two leaders in 
the journey to nonracial democracy in South Africa. Here they stand 
together, the head of state and the former political prisoner. We honor 
the dedication, the dignity, and the discipline of the ANC president, 
Nelson Mandela, who walked out of prison after 27 years, astonishingly 
still unbowed, unbroken, and unembittered. And we salute President de 
Klerk for his wisdom and his determination in moving to dismantle the 
destructive system of apartheid and his courage in asking his people to 
give up something that they have which is not fully legitimate so that 
they can live together in real harmony, real freedom, and real liberty. 
That, too, is an act of courage we should honor.
    I believe that in their common endeavors they are working together 
to liberate all South Africans, to restore material wealth, and to bring 
spiritual health to their beloved country. Many Americans have stood for 
the cause of freedom in South Africa and now I tell you both: The United 
States stands ready to help the people of South Africa as they move 
forward on the journey of democracy.
    Here where our own democracy is born, the United States today 
reaches out a helping hand to those who would build democracy in South 
Africa. We stand ready to help with voter education. We stand ready to 
help to heal the cruel legacies of apartheid, from unemployment to poor 
housing to inadequate education. We want to be your partner. This week 
when I travel to the summit of the world's leading industrial nations, I 
will work to include a new and democratic South Africa in the world 
economy and our common commitment to it.
    And closer to home, my fellow Americans, we must rejoice today in 
the historic accord reached late last evening to restore democracy and 
its elected leader, President

[[Page 1249]]

Aristide, to Haiti. This agreement is a tribute to the dedicated efforts 
of the United Nations, the OAS, and the United States negotiators and to 
the resilience of the democratic idea and the commitment of the Haitian 
people to that idea.
    I want to say a special word of thanks to all the Members of 
Congress, including the Congressional Black Caucus who worked so hard to 
put the United States on the side of democracy in Haiti. This is their 
victory, too. I called President Aristide this morning to express my 
congratulations and my appreciation for his signing the peace accord, 
and he and I agreed that today we could both wish each other happy 
Independence Day.
    Earlier today, as Americans have done for 217 years, I had the honor 
of participating with two young children, who are direct descendants of 
our founders, in ringing the Liberty Bell. When that bell first tolled, 
it rang with the moral force of the most powerful common idea humanity 
has ever known: the idea that each of us stands equal before God and 
must therefore be equal before the law; the idea that our human dignity 
is given to us not by any government but by God; the idea that we must 
be citizens, not subjects, proud participants in the democratic process 
of governing ourselves and building our own future. It is that which we 
celebrate and hope for in South Africa, in Haiti, and throughout the 
rest of the world today and that which we must still work to perfect in 
our own Nation today. Because, even after 217 years, no one would say we 
have got it entirely right yet.
    Still, none can deny that this Nation has survived and succeeded for 
more than two centuries because at every crucial moment we have had the 
courage to change, to make difficult but necessary decisions, and still 
to be faithful to the unchanging ideals which gave birth to us. Thomas 
Jefferson wrote that blistering Declaration of Independence knowing that 
his ideals challenged his country to change. He thought of the 
immorality of slavery in America when he wrote, ``I tremble for my 
country when I reflect that God is just.'' When Abraham Lincoln wrote 
the Emancipation Proclamation, he gave our Nation's bloodiest conflict a 
sacred, moral purpose, to turn the promises of the Declaration and the 
Constitution and the Bill of Rights into living realities for all our 
people.
    It is a struggle we are still waging. Still, we struggle to live in 
a way that will please a just God. Still, we struggle to live in a way 
that we can secure for every American, without regard to race or region 
or station in life, the blessing of life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness. Still, we struggle to find ways to extend a helping hand of 
freedom to people throughout the world. No less than those who founded 
our Republic or fought to keep it together in the Civil War, we too, 
must have the vision and courage to change, to preserve our unchanging 
purposes in a dynamic and difficult world.
    This is not just another nation that we live in. It is the noblest 
effort at self-government and continuous change the world has ever 
known. Here, people from every continent and every country come, 
believing that they can build a new life for themselves and a better 
future for their children. America embodies the idea that a nation can 
be built by the people of every other nation and still be a beacon of 
hope and inspiration to the world and still prove that out of all that 
diversity can become a deeper strength and unity founded on the ideals 
that we celebrate on the Fourth of July.
    To keep that promise, we must continue to lead the world, not only 
politically and morally but economically as well. And all of you know, 
my fellow Americans, that is our great challenge today, when most of our 
people are worried about their own jobs and their own incomes, the 
security of their health care, the safety of their streets, the 
educational future of their children, the challenges to our deepest 
values here in our own homes, and the challenges to our position around 
the world.
    The brave band who invented our country 217 years ago faced a 
difficult future with hope. Today, we are bombarded constantly with the 
magnitude and complexity of our problems, with the foibles of our 
problem-solvers, with the message that things may not be able to get 
better. Too many people are gripped by doubt when we need confidence. 
They are gripped by cynicism when we need hope and faith and conviction.

[[Page 1250]]

    My fellow Americans, on this Fourth of July look at these two men 
standing here making world history. Cynicism is a luxury the American 
people cannot afford. Of course, there is much to question and to worry 
about. But I ask you to remember here today, this Nation has endured and 
triumphed over a bloody Civil War, two World Wars, the Great Depression, 
the civil rights struggle, riots in our streets, economic problems, and 
social discord at home and great challengers abroad. And we are still 
here, still leading the way, still looking toward tomorrow. Cynicism is 
a luxury we cannot afford. It defeats us before we begin. It is our job 
to carry on this great tradition.
    Make no mistake about it, as long as we have faith in the future and 
the courage to change, our Nation is still unstoppable. I believe we 
have a future where our ideas continue to be the inspiration for the 
world, where our system continues to be a model for the world, where our 
economy, if we do what we need to do, can once again be the envy of the 
world. All around us, democracy and markets are on the rise, a new 
global economy is emerging, and we welcome the challenges that it 
brings. This new economy is built on innovation. But America has always 
been the home of the great inventors, from Philadelphia's own Ben 
Franklin to the geniuses today who build new computer hardware and write 
software in their basements and garages.
    The new economy is built on education. And America has always been a 
home to education, from Thomas Jefferson, from those to the wonderful 
universities in this great city who educate our young people there and 
reach out to those in the inner-city schools. The new economy is built 
on flexibility and change. We are, my friends, a nation born in 
revolution and renewed through constant change. We can do what we have 
to do today to renew the American dream.
    The genius of our democracy is that we the people are capable of 
self-government, capable of difficult choices, capable of making the 
changes that each time demands. Through the miracle of democracy, we are 
attempting to do just that today, to gain control of our economic 
destiny, reduce our terrible budget deficit, invest in our future, and 
do it in a way that is fair and that will work.
    In just a couple of days, I will go to Tokyo to represent all of you 
in a meeting of the world's great industrial nations to work with them 
to get this economy moving again and to create jobs and opportunity for 
our people and for theirs as well. We will be able to go there with our 
heads held high because, for all of our difficult problems, we are 
moving: almost a million new jobs in 1993, lower interest rates at home, 
and a sense that things can get better if we keep at it. After long 
periods of division and denial, we are as a people rising to the 
occasion to put our house in order. And now we can say with an 
outstretched hand of friendship to our friends: We have made tough 
choices; so must you. And together, we can offer opportunity to our 
people again. Let us stop pointing the finger of blame and assume 
responsibility and lift the human natures and the human potential of 
people throughout the world. That is the job we will face in Tokyo.
    My fellow Americans, in the shadow of this building let us remember 
that once, here, patriots and visionaries pledged their lives, their 
fortunes, and their sacred honor. Today I tell you that we must pledge 
ourselves to make sure this changing world changes fundamentally for the 
better. Old injustices are ending; new opportunities and challenges are 
emerging. And together, we can make the years ahead the best years our 
Nation has ever had if we can rise above cynicism and doubt, if we can 
see through the siren's songs of the easy answers of the moment, if we 
can remember that from the beginning our people have always known that 
Government could not solve all the problems and that all citizens had to 
be responsible to build this Nation together.
    Today we celebrate these two leaders who have advanced the cause of 
freedom in South Africa and, to be sure, they have advanced the cause of 
freedom throughout the world. Tonight, from parks and waterfronts, in 
backyards, all of us here in America will see our skies brightened by 
the celebration of our own freedom. It will lift the spirits of people 
throughout this country and throughout the world who yet yearn to see 
and breathe and feel that freedom. Let this celebration re- 

[[Page 1251]]

mind us that democracy is a promise for each of us to keep, a promise to 
be Americans in the best sense of the word, to be citizens, not 
spectators, to do the best we can in our families, our jobs, our 
communities, to shoulder the burden of responsibility, not point the 
finger of blame. This was the promise our founders made in this place on 
this day two centuries ago. To keep that tradition, we must be believers 
and builders. And so must we be every day, starting here, right now, 
today. Let us resolve to do it.
    God bless you, and God bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 5:10 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to 
Mayor Edward G. Rendell of Philadelphia; Judge A. Leon Higginbotham, 
retired, Third Circuit Court of Appeals; Reverend Leon Sullivan, founder 
and president of Opportunities Industrialization Center and leader in 
the antiapartheid movement.