[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 45 (Monday, November 11, 1996)]
[Pages 2283-2288]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in San Antonio, Texas

November 2, 1996

    The President. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning, San Antonio.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm glad to see you 
here in large numbers. I'm glad to see you here in high spirits. I'm 
glad to see so many young people here, for this election is about you. 
My heart is full of gratitude today.
    Thank you, Congressman Henry Gonzalez, for what you said and for so 
many years of

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exemplary leadership. Thank you, Congressman Kika de la Garza, 
Congressman Frank Tejeda. Thank you, Governor Dolph Briscoe, for being 
here and for all the help that you have given to us. Thank you, Texas 
Democratic Chair Bill White. To Senator Carlos Truan and the other 
members of the legislature here; my longtime friend Wilhelmina Delco. To 
our congressional candidate Charlie Jones and--[applause]--a little 
there. And thank you, Victor Morales, for your long, courageous 
struggle.
    Thank you, Linda Chavez-Thompson, for coming home, the first woman 
ever elected to national office at the AFL-CIO. Thank you, Secretary 
Federico Pena, for your great job at the Department of Transportation, 
for coming here to be with us. Thank you, Ann Richards. And I want to 
thank whoever organized the progam so I didn't have to speak right 
behind her. [Laughter] Thank you, my old friend Garry Mauro, for being 
there for me for over 20 years now. And I want to thank some of the 
other folks who have come here to be with us today, and I'd like to ask 
them to stand: Jimmy Smits, Esai Morales, Johnny Canales, Jeff Valdez, 
Liz Torres, and Tommy Lee Jones. Thank you all for being here. Thank 
you.
    I thank the Texas Victory Democrats for the work you have done and 
the work you will do between now and Tuesday. And again let me say, as 
Hillary has already said, a profound word of thanks to Henry Cisneros 
for the work he has done for America these last 4 years. I'm delighted 
to see his parents here, and I'm glad Mary Alice came. And I want the 
people of San Antonio to know you would have been so proud every day of 
them for the last 4 years. I go places all over America, far from San 
Antonio; mayors, people who build housing, people who work in law 
enforcement come up to me and spontaneously say, Henry Cisneros is the 
finest Secretary of HUD we have ever had in the history of the United 
States. Everywhere they say it.
    I was in Miami the other day, and man said to me, ``There are 
hundreds of people who are no longer homeless. You could walk down 
streets at night that used to be littered with people spending the 
night. They aren't there anymore because we had a dream and an idea and 
Secretary Cisneros supported us and we took the homeless people off the 
street.''
    I was in the another part of the country the other day, and people 
said, ``We were absolutely overwhelmed with substandard public housing 
infested with gangs and guns and drugs. And Secretary Cisneros helped us 
to tear it down, get rid of it, and build new housing for people to live 
in dignity and raise their children in an environment in which anyone 
could be proud of.''
    Ladies and gentlemen, I did want to come and stand in front of the 
Alamo on the last weekend of the last campaign of my entire life. I 
wanted to come here because I have such vivid memories of this place. 
Twenty-four years ago, I remember, in October, Congressman Gonzalez and 
I, when I was a very young man, on a Saturday morning like this, after 
we'd had a dinner at the Menger Hotel, got Congressman Hale Boggs up in 
the morning, and he got on a plane and flew to Alaska, to his death. 
There was something in your local paper about it.
    I have vivid memories of all the times I have ever been here. I 
remember in 1992 when I came here, and then along toward the end of the 
campaign, some of my friends from Texas put about $200 worth of that 
mango ice cream on my plane, and we all ate it until we couldn't walk. I 
got a little to take with me today, too. [Laughter]

I remember so many things. But this place, the Alamo, has always symbolized 
to me the transformation of Texas, the transformation of America, and the 
best hope for our future. The Alamo is not just a place of great personal 
courage, it is a place of great standoff in the beginning between two 
nations and two peoples. And the story of the Alamo over the last 160 years 
and the story of San Antonio is the story of the reconciliation and 
friendships between two great nations and two great peoples here in Texas 
and throughout the United States. It is a great, great story.

    We represent people who believe that by working together and helping 
each other we can all do better. Franklin Roosevelt, as Henry reminded 
me this morning, built your wonderful Riverwalk during the Great 
Depression. Lyndon Johnson did teach in Cotulla, not very far from here, 
where he

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learned what it was like to be poor and Mexican-American.
    We have always come out of a tradition that believed that if we 
worked together to give each other the tools--not a guarantee but a 
chance--to make the most of our own lives, this country could move 
closer to its ideals and we would all be better off than if we just 
said, ``You're on your own.'' When we come together and search for 
common ground we are always, always stronger as a nation. There is 
nothing we can't do.
    Now, in 3 days before this election, I really believe more than 
anything else what is left is not about the evidence, it's about the 
attitude. It's not so much about the mind as it is about the heart. You 
know, 4 years ago, Al Gore and I asked you to take a chance on us when 
we said, ``We're going to change the direction of this country. We're 
sick of the politics of division in Washington. We want to create more 
opportunity for everybody, demand more responsibility from everybody, 
and create an American community of everybody, where everybody's got a 
role to play and a place at the table.'' You just took a chance; you 
didn't know. But now we have a record.
    Four years ago, we had high unemployment, widespread frustration, 
rising crime, increasing family breakdown, rising welfare rolls, fears, 
hatred, and people had given up on being able to do anything about any 
of our problems. I was determined to start a new direction for this 
country, to stop pointing fingers and say, ``Here's my hand. I don't 
care whether you're a Democrat or Republican or what you are. If you 
will work with me to make this country a better place, I'll work with 
you, but we've got to take along everybody. We've got to give every 
single person a chance.''
    Now, you didn't know; you just took a chance. But look at the 
evidence. We have 10.7 million new jobs in America; 5.2 percent 
unemployment; rising incomes for

the first time in a decade. The deficit has gone down in all 4 years for 
the first time in the 20th century, down 63 percent. Homeownership is at a 
15-year high. We have nearly 2 million fewer people on welfare. Child 
support collections are up 50 percent across the country. The crime rate 
has gone down for 4 years in a row; it's at a 10-year low all across 
America. We raised the minimum wage for 10 million people. We've protected 
people from losing their health insurance if they've been sick or somebody 
in their family has been sick or they changed jobs. We said hospitals can't 
kick mothers and newborn babies out of the hospital after only 24 hours 
anymore. Twelve million people took advantage of the family and medical 
leave law and got to take a little time off from work when a baby was born 
or a family member was sick, without losing their jobs. This country is in 
better shape than it was 4 years ago. We are moving in the right direction.

    Let me ask you something--this is an affair of the mind and the 
heart. When it was published yesterday that we had 210,000 new jobs in 
America, my opponent said we've got the worst economy in 20 years. 
[Laughter] I tell you what, I'll take that bet. I ask every person in 
Texas who believes it is the worst economy in 20 years to vote for 
Senator Dole, and every person who knows better to vote for me. I'll 
gladly take the results of the election in Texas.
    Now, just 2 weeks ago, my opponent said that we had the worst 
economy in 100 years. [Laughter] So I think he's campaigning for me now. 
I mean, after all, who else could make up 80 years in 2 weeks? I think 
we're doing pretty well.
    All this is not a matter of the evidence. What do you think the 
Republicans would be saying if they had a President who had presided 
over an administration that had cut the deficit by 63 percent, that had 
the highest job growth rate of any Republican administration in 70 
years, that had the lowest average unemployment in 20 years, the lowest 
average inflation in 30 years, the biggest decline in income inequality 
among working people in 27 years, the lowest combined rates of 
unemployment and inflation since Lyndon Johnson was President 28 years 
ago? If they had a record like that, what do you think they'd be saying? 
They'd be saying, ``It is morning in America.'' [Laughter] They'd be 
saying that the President can virtually levitate. [Laughter]
    Why? Why are they

doing what they're doing? Why is the election in doubt? Why aren't we ahead 
in Texas in the polls? It is

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an affair of the heart. It is because we have practiced the politics of 
division for so long, we have tried to turn our opponents into aliens. We 
have been told, ``Oh, those Democrats, they don't really believe in work 
and being tough on crime and all that.'' This is an affair of the heart.

    And I tell you, this country does well when we find common ground, 
when we build bridges together, when we acknowledge it takes a village. 
And when we say we're on our own and our opponents are our enemies and 
they're no good and we need to be divided from one another, we always 
pay the price. Look at the history of the Alamo in the last 160 years. 
Does anyone doubt it is better now that we are joined together with our 
friends in Mexico and together with each other than it was 160 years 
ago?
    And so I ask you to get people to think differently and feel 
differently about this. Look at the budget choices. You bet I did veto 
their budget; it was bad for America. It would have divided us. And when 
they shut the Government down, I thought about the Alamo. They said, 
``Oh, the President will cave; he won't be able to stand having the 
Government close.'' We had this economy rocking along. We were number 
one in automobile production for the first time since the seventies. And 
they were threatening to default on our debt and wreck the economy. They 
said, ``Oh, he'll blink.'' And I said, ``You know, I'd a lot rather see 
the American people hurt for 2 or 3 weeks or 2 or 3 months than 20 or 30 
years; shut her down. I'm not going to buy your budget; I'm not going to 
let you do it; it is wrong.''
    But you have to understand. What they believe the old politics of 
division is, ``We've got to have a tax cut, and so it's unfortunate but 
we'll just cut education and paralyze environmental protection and take 
away Medicaid's guarantee of health care to people with disabilities and 
poor children and wreck the Medicare program, because we've got to have 
this other thing; it's either/or.''
    I believe we can find common ground, we can balance the budget, have 
a targeted tax cut for people who really need it for education, for 
childrearing, for home buying, for health care, and still protect 
education, the environment, Medicare, and Medicaid. That's common 
ground.
    Now, the old politics of division used welfare as a whipping boy, 
you know, ``Everybody on welfare is lazy; nobody wants to work.'' And 
then people on the other side said, ``Oh, no, no, they're good people; 
we've got to take care of their children.'' I said, ``Why do we have to 
choose between beating up on a system that doesn't work and protecting 
children? Why can't we do both?'' We have moved almost 2 million people 
from welfare to work. I

signed a bill that protects health care and food and gives more for child 
care and then says we've got to create jobs for people who are able-bodied 
to change the welfare check to a paycheck. And I've got a plan to put 
another million jobs into the cities to create those jobs and then require 
people to take them. That's the new politics of common ground.

    The old politics of division on law and order was all, you know, 
``Talk tough. Don't do anything, but talk tough. Get tough on 
criminals.'' And then the opponents would say, ``All they care about is 
being nice to people and trying to keep people out of trouble in the 
first place.'' I said, ``Well, that's the dumbest thing I ever heard of. 
Why shouldn't we try to keep our kids out of the trouble in the first 
place and still do things that will be tough on serious criminals?''
    So we passed the crime bill to put 100,000 police on the street, to 
take assault weapons off the street, to tell fugitives and felons and 
stalkers they couldn't buy handguns and protect the rights of people who 
were hunters and sportsmen to have them, and to give our children 
something to say yes to in prevention programs and to support safe and 
drug-free schools. Why was it punishment or prevention? Why was it 
division? Why, if you wanted to help kids stay out of trouble, were you 
soft on crime? We proved you could do both. You know what? We got 4 
years of declining crime, the only Democratic ticket in history to be 
endorsed by every major law enforcement organization in the country 
because common ground is better than division and it works. It works.
    The biggest problem I see with this, as we go into the future, is 
that nearly every family I know, even people with very good incomes,

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has faced some conflict between their responsibilities as parents and 
their responsibility at work. Everywhere I go in this country people 
talk to me about it. I believe we have to create an America where you 
can succeed at home and work.
    This is a good example. When I was trying to pass the family leave 
law and Senator Dole and Congressman Gingrich were leading the fight 
against it, they said I was interfering in the economy; I would hurt the 
economy; I would burden the economy; we would undermine our recovery. 
We've got a higher rate of job growth than any Republican administration 
in 70 years, record numbers of new small businesses, and we've protected 
12 million families. I think we ought to help people succeed at home and 
at work. That's the new politics of common ground.
    I think we've done the right thing to help families with this new 
requirement of more educational television and a television rating 
system. I think we've done the right thing to try to fight against 
Republican cuts in the safe and drug-free schools program. We need more 
people out there telling kids that drugs are wrong, illegal, and can 
kill you, not fewer people. We don't need fewer people. And we did the 
right thing to be the first administration in history to stand up to the 
tobacco lobby and say, ``You can't advertise and sell cigarettes 
illegally to children anymore. You're killing them.'' It was the right 
thing to do.
    I believe we are doing the right thing whenever we work together. 
You know, they honestly believe on the other side that you can't grow 
the economy while protecting the environment. That's what they really 
believe. I'm not telling you they're bad people; they believe that. I 
know; I've talked to enough of them. They honestly believe it.
    But look at the record. We've taken tons--millions of tons of 
chemicals out of the air in the last 4 years. We have improved our 
drinking water. We have raised standards for our food. We've cleaned up 
lots of toxic waste dumps. We've protected more natural heritage. And 
the economy is growing faster because we can grow faster if we have 
sensible, proper environmental protection and public health. That's the 
right way to do that.
    I want you to just look around today. I'm telling you, that's what 
this is all about. If I were a Republican President--after all the 
rhetoric they've used--with a declining deficit; a growing economy; a 
declining crime rate; declining welfare rolls; no Russian missiles 
pointed at our kids, by the way; and a stronger America with a stronger 
military, they'd be saying it's morning in America. But they love to 
practice the politics of division.
    Look at the Alamo, folks. Think of Bosnia. Think of Northern 
Ireland. Think of the Middle East. Think of all those tribal wars now 
going on in Africa. Think of your own history. The great thing about 
this country is that in our best moments, we say, ``Our differences 
don't matter as much as our shared values. And everybody who believes in 
the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of 
Independence is part of our America. If you show up for work, if you 
show up for school, you do what you're supposed to do, we don't need to 
know anything else about you. You are part of our America.'' That is 
what I believe.
    So I want you to go out between now and Tuesday and say, ``Listen, 
this country is moving in the right direction. The President has good 
plans for the future, but most important, we have got to build a bridge 
to the future that is wide enough and strong enough for all of us to 
walk across, and we've got to do it together. That is the question. We 
must be together. Build common ground, reject division, and build that 
bridge with us.''
    Thank you, San Antonio. God bless you. And be there Tuesday.
      

Note: The President spoke at 11:12 a.m. at the Alamo. In his remarks, he 
referred to former Governors of Texas Dolph Briscoe and Ann Richards; 
Carlos Truan, Texas State senator; Wilhelmina Delco, former Texas State 
representative; Charles Jones, candidate for Texas' 23d Congressional 
District; Victor Morales, Senatorial candidate; Garry Mauro, Texas land 
commissioner; Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros' 
wife, Mary Alice; and entertainers Jimmy Smits, Esai Morales, Johnny 
Canales, Jeff Valdez, Liz Torres, and Tommy Lee Jones.

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