[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 10 (Monday, March 14, 1994)]
[Pages 443-445]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Habitat for Humanity Dedication Ceremony

March 7, 1994

    Thank you so much, Frank. And thank you all for being here, Mayor 
Kelly, Carol Casperson, Mr. Walker, Reverend Weathers, and others, and 
especially to Vivian and Theron Miller. I have really looked forward to 
coming here today because, as Frank said so eloquently, this house, the 
work, the love, the concern that made it, reflects what I think we have 
to do as a people to rebuild the American community and to give this 
country back to our children and to the future.
    I have cared a lot about and tried to support Habitat for Humanity 
for a long time. Millard and Linda Fuller are good friends of Hillary's 
and mine, and I received a letter from Millard this morning explaining 
that he couldn't be here today because he's speaking at the Kansas State 
prayer breakfast. He might have said he couldn't be here today because 
he's heard me give this speech so many times before--[laughter]--but we 
really owe all of this to their vision and their lifetime of commitment 
to service.
    In the summer of 1992, on my birthday, which is also Tipper Gore's 
birthday, the Gores and Hillary and I worked on a Habitat project with 
President and Mrs. Carter in Georgia. It was one of the most memorable 
birthdays of my life.
    I like Habitat because it makes the American dream of homeownership 
possible for good people who are working hard and doing their best and 
who themselves have to work to make this work. I like it because it 
involves giving and because it doesn't involve the Government, although 
in a place or two, for example, down in Florida after the terrible 
hurricane, we're trying to do a few things which will make it possible 
for Habitat to do more.
    We're also trying to help, as Mayor Kelly said, under the able 
leadership of Henry Cisneros--the former mayor of San Antonio--the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development is working directly with 
Habitat affiliates all over the country to get HUD-foreclosed properties 
into the hands of low-income buyers. When you think about how

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many boarded-up houses there are in America and how many people there 
are living on the streets, when you think about how many boarded-up 
buildings there are in America and how many Vivian Millers there are out 
there who would give anything to have a chance to work with her friends 
and her neighbors and her church to get a home, it is unconscionable 
that we do not do more. Secretary Cisneros is committed to carrying out 
this administration's mission to do more, to make it easier for local 
governments to make more use of the HOME program, which provides block 
grants for affordable housing, and to put the Federal Housing 
Administration back into the business of helping folks buy their first 
loans.
    Last year, FHA had its second best year in its 60-year history, 
insuring more than a million mortgages including 400,000 mortgages for 
first-time home buyers, most of them young folks in their twenties and 
thirties, an age group that still has a harder time buying a home today 
than it did in the previous generation. But we know that Government 
cannot do this job alone. And I have to tell you, I was very moved by 
what Frank Belatti said today. I have eaten a lot of his chicken over 
time--[laughter]--I think I eat more now. And I'm glad they didn't buy 
that ad at the Super Bowl, aren't you? And instead they purchased this 
home.
    You know, during my Inauguration--Frank ought to give himself a 
little more credit, he had already decided to build 100 homes through 
Habitat for Humanity. But because of the spirit of the moment, which he 
has so eloquently recounted, he decided that he would double it and do 
200 homes and make millions of dollars in contributions to dreams for 
people like Vivian and Theron Miller. And it's not only the largest 
financial contribution in Habitat's history, it mobilized, because of 
that money, the volunteer efforts of young and not-so-young Habitat 
volunteers all across America, people who want to give something to 
their country, who can't afford to pay for the materials to rehab it but 
are more than happy to come and roll up their sleeves and work on 
weekends with people like Vivian Miller to make homeownership a 
possibility.
    So today, thanks to Habitat and to this wonderful corporation and 
its leader and the people here in DC, Vivian Miller joins the proud 
ranks of America's homeowners. Before you know it, she'll be complaining 
of all the junk mail in her mailbox, just like everybody else. 
[Laughter] Vivian, I congratulate you and your two sons, including the 
one who is in college and can't be here today. Congratulations to this 
community and all those who made it possible. I want to once again thank 
your pastor and your church for supporting you and all the others who 
volunteered to work on this project.
    I believe that Habitat has the capacity to literally revolutionize 
the sense of community and responsibility, caring about one another in 
this country. And I hope that Frank Belatti's example will be followed 
by business leaders throughout the country. I hope more and more people 
will be doing this. And I assure you that we are committed to moving 
these properties that can be restored and can be made living places with 
happy homes and happy families and stronger communities. If we can do 
our part, we're going to do it.
    But all of you have made this possible today. This is a great day 
for the American spirit, and I hope all over America tonight, when 
people see this, they will draw renewed strength and pride and ask 
themselves: What can I do to make more of these things happen?
    Thank you, and God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 10:32 a.m. in Southeast Washington, DC. In 
his remarks, he referred to Frank Belatti, chief executive officer, 
America's Favorite Chicken Co. and owner of Church's and Popeye's; 
Sharon Pratt Kelly, Mayor of Washington, DC; Carol Casperson, executive 
director, Washington, DC, Habitat for Humanity; Wayne Walker, member of 
the International Board of Directors, Habitat for Humanity; Rev. Eugene 
Weathers of Galilee Baptist Church; Vivian Miller, a single mother who 
was given a house through Habitat for Humanity, and her son, Theron 
Slater; and Millard and Linda Fuller, president/founder and co-founder 
of Habitat for Humanity International, respectively.

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