[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 50 (Monday, December 15, 1997)]
[Pages 2009-2012]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Dinner in New 
York City

December 10, 1997

    Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank Congressman 
Gephardt and Congressman Frost. Martin Frost is the most dogged person I 
know. Sometimes I show up at these events just to get him to stop 
calling me. [Laughter] Most of the time I show up because I want to be 
here.
    I thank Congressman Pallone and Engel and Congressman Maloney, and I 
think Congresswoman Lowey is here now. I thank them all for their 
wonderful leadership. Hello, Nita.
    I'd like to say a special word of appreciation to the Secretary of 
Housing and Urban Development, Andrew Cuomo, from New York, who is doing 
a brilliant job. And I want to talk more about that in a minute. I thank 
my friend, James Taylor, for coming here to sing tonight. Two of the 
truly great evenings in my family's life together, our family life, have 
come in no small measure because of James Taylor. When we were 
vacationing on Martha's Vineyard on two different occasions we went 
sailing off Martha's Vineyard, and James Taylor was a member of the 
crew. Now, it wasn't such a great thing watching him work the ropes and 
the sails although that's truly impressive. But when we got to a calm 
sea, he sang for us, and with the stars out and the moon out and the 
water calm, it's something that none of us will ever forget. And it was 
a great gift we cannot repay, but we thank you for being a good man and 
a good friend and a good citizen of this country.
    Let me try to explain very briefly what I think is going on in this 
country now, and ask you to remember where we are now as compared with 
where we were in 1992. We had a stagnant economy, increasing inequality. 
We seemed to be drifting toward the future. And the operative philosophy 
in this country for 12 years had been that problems were to be talked 
about but not very much was to be done about them; the deficit was to be 
decried, but it was okay if it got bigger--you just tried to blame the 
other person; and that, essentially, Government was the problem so it 
should sit on the sidelines.
    Now, that was the governing philosophy. And for it we had to show a 
$290 billion deficit, a high unemployment rate, and nothing done to 
address 20 years of wage stagnation in the middle class, a growing 
underclass, and a lot of profound challenges caused by the globalization 
of the economy and the society.

[[Page 2010]]

    Could we grow the economy and improve the environment? Could we take 
advantage of trade to get more new high-wage jobs in America and retrain 
people who were dislocated quickly enough? Could we deal with what I 
think is maybe the most prominently mentioned complaint I hear all the 
time: the conflict that families increasing in all income levels make, 
that they don't feel they can do right by their job and spend enough 
time with their children? In short, could we get the benefits of the 
world toward which we were moving and meet the challenges?
    It seemed to me that we certainly couldn't do that if we stayed with 
the economic policy, the social policy, or the philosophy of government 
that dominated the 12 years before I became President. And today, before 
I came here, I had one of those days that reminded me of why, when I was 
a young man, I wanted to be in public service, because along with former 
Congressman Garcia, who is out here, and a number of others, I went back 
to the Bronx. And I went to those streets that were featured when Jimmy 
Carter and Ronald Reagan walked the streets of the Bronx, and President 
Carter said it was devastating, and President Reagan said it reminded 
him of London during the Blitz.
    Today it reminds me of the American dream, because of what people 
can do together when Government is neither a savior nor sitting on the 
sidelines, but a constructive partner with community leaders who want to 
build strong families and strong communities and safe streets and good 
schools and a bright future. That's what I saw in the Bronx today. 
Everybody in New York ought to be proud of it, and it ought to basically 
reinforce your determination that you're doing the right thing here 
tonight because that's the kind of America we want to build in every 
neighborhood in this country.
    Does it matter who's in the Congress? Does it matter how they vote? 
You bet it does. By one vote in the Senate and one vote in the House--
and the vote in the Senate was the Vice President's; as he always says, 
``Whenever I vote we win,'' because he only gets to vote in the case of 
a tie; if someday we lose, I'll be in trouble, sure enough--[laughter]--
we passed an economic plan that had reduced the deficit 92 percent 
before the balanced budget bill was passed last year--nearly 14 million 
new jobs in our economy, the lowest unemployment rate in 24 years, and 
the lowest crime rate in 24 years.
    Mr. Gephardt mentioned the crime bill--does it matter? You bet it 
does. There were hardly any Republican votes for the crime bill. We had 
more in the House I think than the Senate in the end. Why? Because they 
did not want to offend people who said that we shouldn't keep assault 
weapons off the streets. There were people who said it wouldn't make any 
difference if we put another 100,000 police on the street, people who 
said it was a waste of your tax money for us to give children something 
to say yes to when they got out of school. But we know most juvenile 
crime is committed between 3 o'clock in the afternoon and 7 o'clock at 
night. Well, we got the lowest crime rate in 24 years. The Democrats 
were right, and those who fought them were wrong.
    They said the economic plan would bring on a recession; it would be 
unfair; it was going to raise taxes on middle class people. They were 
wrong. We now have the evidence. You don't have to--this is not a matter 
of debate. And I would have to admit it if the reverse were true. I'd 
have to say I was wrong. Our position was right, and they were wrong. 
And I am tired of seeing them get rewarded at elections because they 
have more money or they can divide the American electorate in some 
better way. And you being here is going to give a chance to the American 
people to vote for the people who have been right about the last 5 years 
and who are right about America's future. And that's why you're here, 
and I'm glad to see you.
    Now, let me give you another example: The air is cleaner; the water 
is cleaner; the food supply is safer; and there are fewer toxic waste 
dumps today than there were 5 years ago. And there is always a big 
debate--we had a huge debate. One of the reasons the Government got shut 
down in 1995 is that we Democrats thought we could continue to improve 
the economy and clean up the environment. And they said it was a nice 
thing to have a clean environment, but it was a burdensome economic 
impediment, and it was an ugly, big, old Government on everybody's 
shoulders.

[[Page 2011]]

    Well, we have evidence now. This is no longer subject to serious 
debate. What is the subject of debate, what we should be debating is, 
what is the best way to combat global warming; what is the most 
efficient way to clean up these toxic waste dumps; what is the most 
health-conscious way to guarantee the safety of a food supply that 
inevitably will have more imported food? That's a debate worth having.
    But to debate whether it is right to protect the integrity of the 
environment and to improve it and grow the economy--that debate is over. 
Our side has been proved right. We have 5 years of clear evidence. And I 
would like to see people who are committed to environmental protection 
and responsible growth voted into the House of Representatives next 
year. That's why I'm glad you're here, and I hope you will follow James 
Taylor and help us to do that. This is not a subject of debate.
    We passed the family and medical leave law. There were a lot of 
Republicans who voted for that--I'll give them credit for that--far more 
Democrats. My predecessor had vetoed it twice. Why? Because their 
theology said--their theology said it's a nice thing if people can spend 
a little time with their new-born babies or if someone in their family 
gets sick, but we couldn't think of requiring it because it would hurt 
the economy and the economy is always the most important thing.
    We said the most important thing in any society is raising healthy 
children and keeping families together. And when you permit people to do 
the right thing, when their parents are sick or their babies are born, 
you will make them stronger and healthier and happier, and they will be 
better in the workplace and it will help the economy to do the right 
thing about the family unit.
    Well, there's no longer subject to serious doubt--we passed the 
family and medical leave law. We've had study after study after study; 
hardly anybody affected by it has reported any problem with it. We were 
right. I think we should expand it. I think people ought to get time off 
to go to regular parent-teacher conferences at the school. I think 
people ought to get time off if they have to take a parent or a child to 
a regular doctor's appointment. I think the more we can help people 
balance family and work the better off we're going to be. And I think 
the evidence is clear.
    Now, let me move to--there is a second category of issues where 
Democrats and Republicans have voted for and against certain bills. I'd 
like to talk about them, because you can also see what matters there.
    You look at this balanced budget bill. It's got the biggest increase 
in health care for children since 1965. We're going to get enough money 
to insure 5 million more children. Does anybody doubt which party in the 
bipartisan coalition in that balanced budget bill contributed that? This 
balanced budget bill contains the biggest increase in help for people 
that go on to college in 50 years, since the GI bill passed, a $1,500 a 
year tax credit for the first 2 years of college, tax credits for the 
third and fourth years for graduate schools, for workers who have to go 
back and get retraining. Does anybody doubt which party contributed 
that? Finishing our determination to double the amount of job training 
money we're giving to people who are dislocated or underemployed over 
the last 5 years--does anybody doubt which party contributed that? It 
matters. And we have been right about these issues. That's why I'm here.
    We were right to take on the NRA. Even though they took some of our 
Members out, the light of American history will shine brightly on them.
    We were right to take on the tobacco issue because it's the biggest 
public health problem in America, and it's illegal for kids to do. And 
if we get a bill out of the Congress that's a bipartisan bill, just 
remember, we ought to give credit to everybody who votes for it, 
Republican or Democrat, if it's a good bill--but remember how it got 
started. It never would have happened without the progressive party in 
this country taking it on.
    And finally let me say, there are lots of challenges in the future 
like that. I think we ought to have a health care bill of rights. We put 
a commission together, a quality health care commission, more and more 
people in managed care plans. I think on balance they've done a lot more 
good than harm. But the more you lose control over your own life, the 
more you want to know you've got some protection, some recourse, some 
guarantee.

[[Page 2012]]

    It's not just the cost; it's the quality and availability of health 
care that matter. So we put this coalition together, and we had health 
care providers and business people, employers, and consumers of health 
care on it. And they came up with this health care bill of rights.
    The leader of the other party in the Senate says, it's a terrible 
thing because it's too much of an imposition on the people who are 
running the programs. I disagree. Big choice. Who is right about the 
future? Are we right, or are they right? Whether we can pass it or not 
depends on the Members of Congress. And it will affect the lives of 
millions of people.
    Once we get these 5 million kids insured, what about the other kids 
that don't have health insurance? What about all these people that work 
all their lives, and they have to take early retirement in companies, 
and they lose their health insurance, and they can't get into the 
Medicare program because they're not old enough? What's going to happen 
to them? There are lots of other challenges out there. You have to 
decide; who do you trust to meet these challenges?
    Look at our schools. What's the next big challenge here? We've got 
to guarantee that all of our kids get a world-class education. The 
Democratic Party is firmly on record in favor of high standards, more 
investment, a national testing program--voluntary--to see if the kids 
are meeting these standards, and then opening the doors of college to 
every kid in this country. If you want young people not to be trapped in 
dead-end jobs, they have to be able to get education for a lifetime. Who 
do you trust to give education for a lifetime?
    Now, the things that our friends in the Republican Party used to say 
about us--they used to say we couldn't manage the economy. Now we've got 
almost 14 billion new jobs and the lowest unemployment rate in 24 years. 
They used to say we couldn't be trusted on crime; we were soft on crime. 
We have the lowest crime rate in 24 years. And if our Democratic 
juvenile justice approach passes, it will be lower still.
    They used to say we couldn't be trusted on welfare. Look at the 
welfare reform bill. A lot of Democrats voted against it; a lot of them 
voted for it. But you know what's in that bill? We did not give in to 
their determination to take away health care and nutrition from kids. 
We've got $4 billion more in there for child care and $3 billion to give 
the poor neighborhoods, where there aren't enough private jobs for able-
bodied people to go to work. Which party do you think made those 
contributions to that welfare reform bill?
    These are important issues. They can't say that anymore. They used 
to say, well, we couldn't manage foreign policy, the national defense. 
This country is stronger and has made more contributions to peace and 
freedom in facing the security challenges of tomorrow than it was 5 
years ago.
    So I say to you we have a party we are proud of. And we are not 
ashamed that it is more progressive, that we believe we are one Nation, 
that we believe we have to come together across all the lines that 
divide us, that we believe in things like AmeriCorps and citizen service 
and people getting together and what I saw in the Bronx today. And if 
you want more of that, if you like what's happened in the last 5 years 
and you want more of it, you give me a few more of these folks, and 
you'll have it.
    Thank you, and God bless you.

Note: The President spoke at 8:20 p.m. in the Empire Room at the Waldorf 
Astoria. In his remarks, he referred to singer James Taylor.