[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 30 (Monday, July 27, 1998)]
[Pages 1441-1445]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Democratic National Committee Dinner in New Orleans

July 20, 1998

    Thank you. Now you shamed me, and I can no longer make fun of you. 
[Laughter] Sheriff Lee, what he was afraid is I was going to say that he 
had offered to take me hunting and take you, and he said that he would 
provide the game. [Laughter] And I said, if you took me, you'd all be 
safe because I'd be blamed for it, no matter what happened. It would be 
great. [Laughter]
    Let me say, I'd better get out of town because I'm really beginning 
to enjoy myself here and--[laughter]--and you know, it's just been 
wonderful.
    First of all, let me thank a lot of the people who are here. I want 
to thank Len Barrack who came up here before me. I know most of you 
don't know him, but he is a Philadelphia lawyer and a gentleman and 
wonderful human being. Like Congressman and Mrs. Jefferson, he has five 
great children, and like Congressman Jefferson, he overmarried. You 
can't imagine--here's a guy with a busy life and a lot to do, and he 
could be home in Philadelphia. And every night he's somewhere else in 
America trying to help rebuild our party and make sure we're victorious 
in November. And I thank you. Thank you very much.
    I never want to speak again in Louisiana without thanking the people 
of this State for voting for me twice for President and voting for me 
overwhelmingly in the primary in 1992 and giving me the chance to serve. 
And it is a real joy to me to see you doing so well and to see the young 
leaders coming in.
    I can tell you would be very, very proud of the mark that Mary 
Landrieu is making, not only from what you know here in Louisiana, but 
if you were in Washington and you heard it the way I hear it from the 
Senators, they believe that she is a fine Senator with an unlimited 
future, and so do I.
    And I can't say enough about your mayor. New Orleans is getting a 
national reputation for saving its children, for putting its economy 
back in order, for showing the right face to the world, for bringing 
people together, for being a genuinely progressive city in the best 
sense. And, Mr. Mayor, I thank you for what you're doing, and I'm always 
proud.
    I want to thank your State party chair, Ben Jeffers, and all the 
other people who've been active in the Democratic Party. I can't say 
enough in terms of thanks to Ray Reggie and to Congressman Jefferson for 
doing this tonight. I also want to thank them for the people who are 
here. I know there are a lot of younger people here tonight that I have 
not met before. There are some former Republicans who are here tonight 
that I have not met before, and I thank you.
    You know, I always tell my Republican friends in Washington that, 
being a Southern

[[Page 1442]]

Baptist, I believe in deathbed conversions, but I hate to wait that 
long. [Laughter] So I feel somewhat encouraged that I won't have to wait 
that long for some of you.
    I thank my longtime friend and our Transportation Secretary, 
Secretary Rodney Slater, for being here with me tonight--a great friend 
of the people of Louisiana.
    And let me just recognize one other person. We're just 11 seats from 
winning a majority in the House of Representatives and being able once 
again to put progress over partisanship in America. And I believe that 
Marjorie McKeithen will be one of those 11 victories, and I thank her 
for being here today. Let's give her a hand. [Applause] Thank you.
    Jeff talked a little bit about how we tried to change the Democratic 
Party. I think it's worth all of us, because we're neighbors and 
friends, going back to where we were a few years ago and thinking about 
those circumstances. Most of my Republican friends in the late eighties 
and early nineties thought there would never be another Democratic 
President in their lifetime, because they thought we kept shooting 
ourselves in the foot, and because they thought they had developed a 
kind of a cardboard cookie image of us that they could always present to 
the American people, and because they thought that they could always 
sort of divide every issue into the liberal position and the 
conservative position, and the conservative position was always right, 
the liberal position was always wrong. And at a very high level of 
rhetoric with a lot of emotion and a lot of heat and as little light as 
possible, they could turn every election into one where the voters 
didn't think, and their emotions carried them to ratify their 
governance.
    The thing that bothered me about that as a Governor of a State that 
went through all the turmoil of the eighties, just like all of you did, 
that--I kept reading the newspaper every day, just like all of you, and 
I heard all those debates in Washington, just like all of you. And most 
of what I heard didn't make a lot of sense to me, because I didn't know 
anybody who talked that way or who thought that way. Most of the people 
that I knew, whether they were Republicans or Democrats--we all had 
fights over the issues--but we understood there was some core things we 
had to do in my home State, and we did it; we worked together.
    And I thought, well, maybe it was just something in the water, maybe 
that Washington is so far away from the people that you have to 
communicate in more abstract terms. And I do think there's something to 
that. You have to elevate the debate and make it more general to some 
extent.
    But the truth is, this country was in trouble in 1992. And if it 
hadn't been, I would not have been elected; I think we all know that. I 
think we all know that I had the great good fortune to bring to the 
American people some new ideas and a new direction at a time when they 
were open to hearing it. And otherwise, the Governor of a small Southern 
State, as my distinguished opponent often dubbed me, would not have had 
a chance to become President.
    But I'd like to review with you just for a moment what those ideas 
were, because I think it's worth pointing out what they were. We 
believed that, first of all, we had to ground our party in the values 
that made our country great and the values that our party embodied when 
we were the leading party in America; that we were for opportunity for 
everybody, we were for responsibility from everybody, and we thought we 
had to build an American community of everybody; and that this country 
wouldn't work if we couldn't do those three things; and that, basically, 
the debate which was going on in the early nineties in this country, I 
thought, was largely irrelevant to the real problems of real people when 
we had unemployment high, crime rising, welfare rising, incomes 
diverging, the country showing uncertainty around the world, and great 
difficulties.
    On economic policy it seemed to me that we had a lot of people 
talking about how terrible Government spending was, while they 
quadrupled the debt of the country, which I though was a pretty neat 
trick. It seemed to me that what we had to do was to close the gap 
between the two positions and say, we can't stop investing in our 
people, we can't stop investing in education and science and technology 
and all this research, because that's the future of the country, but 
we've

[[Page 1443]]

got to do it in a way that eliminates this deficit. And when I said, I 
think we ought to invest more and still cut the deficit, and that if we 
cut out unnecessary programs and reduced the size of Government, we 
could do that; if we eliminated unnecessary inflation in some of our 
programs, we could do that, a lot of people thought we were nuts. But 
actually, it turned out we were right.
    On education, I said I'm all for spending more money on education, 
but we also have to lift the standards of excellence and accountability. 
Today I came to New Orleans in part to speak to the American Federation 
of Teachers, and probably more than any other single educational 
organization over the last 15 years, they have constantly echoed that 
theme. And they deserve a lot of credit from the American people for 
always saying, hey, we want to be held accountable, and if we're not 
good at what we do, we shouldn't be in the classroom. And we're not 
afraid of accountability, but we expect you to invest in our children 
and our future.
    On matters of the environment, it always seemed to me that if we got 
into a position where we had to choose between preserving our 
environment and growing our economy, we were going to be defeated before 
we started, because in the end, if we use up our environment, we won't 
have an economy, and if we have to ask people to give up their right to 
make a living, then there won't be any support for a clean environment. 
So we said our environmental policy is going to be designed to improve 
the environment as we grow the economy.
    On crime, it seemed to me that the further away you got from the 
streets where crime occurred, the more politicians, despairing that they 
could do anything, talked tough but did nothing. So I said, yes, we 
ought to punish people more if they deserve it. But we also ought to 
give local law enforcement officials the tools they need to prevent 
crime in the first place and give these kids something they can do to 
stay out of trouble in the first place.
    On welfare, the debate in Washington in 1992, before I showed up, 
seemed to be between those who said we ought to make every able-bodied 
person work, and if they can't take care of their kids, that's just 
tough; and those who said there's no way to do that, so we just have to 
keep the same old system, as bad as it is. I thought that was a foolish 
choice.
    So we said the position ought to be every able-bodied person should 
work, but we should never forget that everyone's job, most important 
job--everyone's most important job, even the President--if you have a 
child, is being a good parent. So we can't make people sacrifice their 
children. So we're going to make people work, but we're going to give 
them child care and the support their children need for medical care so 
you can be a good parent and a good worker. That's what all of us want 
to do. That's what we should want poor people to do as well.
    I haven't won all my debates in the Democratic Party. Mr. Jefferson 
and I are still fighting the debate on trade, because some people still 
believe that if you expand trade, well, inevitably you will empower 
people who will despoil the global economy and weaken workers around the 
world. It seems to me that when countries get richer, they're more 
likely to lift the conditions of their workers, and wealthy countries do 
better by the environment than poor countries do. So my belief is, we 
can expand trade and improve the conditions of people around the world.
    And I want to thank Bill Jefferson for sticking up for that 
position. I know that's good for the Port of New Orleans. The truth is, 
it's good for the rest of America, because we're only 4 percent of the 
world's population, we have 20 percent of the world's income; if we want 
to keep it--the developing world is growing at 3 times the rate of the 
already developed countries--you don't have to be a mathematical genius 
to figure out that if you want to keep your income, we 4 percent have to 
sell something to the other 96 percent. And we've got a real interest in 
their growing.
    Therefore, Bill Jefferson's interest in Africa, his support of the 
Africa trade bill, his support of our outreach to the Caribbean and to 
Latin America--these things are very, very important. And the support 
that he and Mary and others have given to our attempt to get some funds 
into the revitalization of the Asian economies is profoundly important. 
If you want the American economy to keep

[[Page 1444]]

growing, then please support our efforts to get growth back in Asia. 
That is the only way for us to continue to grow over the long run.
    So anyway, we said, these are our new ideas. And a lot of people 
said, oh, they don't believe in anything, because they're not completely 
liberal, they're not completely conservative. That's the last refuge of 
a scoundrel, you know, if you have to think, just accuse the other 
people of having no conscience, no convictions. And I say, yes, we have 
very strong convictions, but we have new ideas. Only foolish people stay 
with yesterday's ideas in today's circumstances facing a different 
tomorrow.
    And so we have vigorously pursued those ideas in the Democratic 
Party, not abandoning our principles, but building on our bedrock 
principles to meet the needs of America in the 21st century. And while 
the American people deserve most of the credit for any good thing that 
happens, there is definitely a connection between the policies we have 
followed and the results which have ensued.
    We have the lowest crime rate in 25 years, the lowest unemployment 
rate in 28 years, the smallest percentage of people on welfare in 29 
years. We're going to have the first balanced budget and surplus in 29 
years. We've got the lowest inflation in 32 years, the highest 
homeownership in history. And by the way, under a Democratic 
administration, the Federal Government is the smallest it's been in 35 
years. This is working. This is working.
    More to the point, one big reason that you ought to elect Marjorie 
and that what you're doing for the Democratic Party is important is 
because we are committed to making the tough decisions over the long 
run, to putting the progress of the country ahead of short-term partisan 
advantage. I'll just give you a few examples.
    We've got to reform the Social Security and Medicare system so 
they'll be there for the baby boomers under circumstances that don't 
bankrupt our children and their ability to raise our grandchildren. We 
have to do it now. We are committed to doing that in a way that is fair 
and balanced to all generations.
    We have got to continue working until we can say with a straight 
face, yes, we've had the best college education in the world for a long 
time; now we've got the best elementary and secondary education for all 
of our people.
    We have got to continue to come to grips with the fact that we have 
more and more Americans in managed care. And that's a good thing if 
you're getting rid of waste in the system, but it's a terrible thing if 
people can't have emergency room care when they need it, can't have 
specialists when they need it, when you have literally disastrous, 
heart-breaking circumstances, which is why we have so many Republicans 
all across America and the American Medical Association and a lot of 
other people supporting the Democratic Party's position for a Patients' 
Bill of Rights that will protect the health care interests of all of our 
people.
    Well, you get the idea. We're trying very hard to pass legislation 
to protect children from the dangers of tobacco. We don't want to 
bankrupt the tobacco companies; we want to get them out of the business 
of marketing tobacco to our children. And it's a profoundly important 
thing.
    And we're prepared to make tough decisions, to make principled 
decisions, to put the progress of the country ahead of the partisan 
divide. We have to do this. And so I ask all of you to renew your 
dedication. I thank you.
    But remember, what makes a successful country in times like this is 
not all that different from what makes a successful company or community 
or family endeavor. If you look at the whole history of America, at all 
dynamic change eras, when things were really up in the air, as they are 
now, we have grown stronger and stronger and stronger, and we're now the 
longest lasting democracy in history, because we have done what the 
Founding Fathers told us to do.
    They set up this very flexible system, rooted in bedrock values, 
that said in every age and time you must first of all deepen freedom and 
extend it to all law-abiding people. Secondly, you must seek to widen 
the circle of opportunity, what they called the pursuit of happiness. 
Thirdly, you must recognize that you cannot do this alone, and this is 
maybe the significant difference between the two parties today. And I 
say that, having eliminated more Government programs,

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more Government regulations, and reduced the size of the Government more 
than any Republican President in the last 50 years. Still, remember what 
the Founders said: We are forming this Government because alone we 
cannot protect, pursue, and enhance life, liberty, and happiness. That's 
why we got together, because in the nature of things we can't do all 
these things all by ourselves.
    Maybe the most important thing we've done is to try to redefine the 
role of Government. The old debate was, Government's the problem versus 
Government's the solution. Our position is, Government is neither. 
Government is a glue that binds us together. And the job of Government 
on the edge of the 21st century is to create the conditions and give 
people the tools to make the most of their own lives; to solve their 
problems in their individual lives, their family lives, their community 
lives, their business lives; to be good for the American people as 
stewards; and to be a leading force in the world for peace and freedom 
and prosperity.
    And so finally I would say that the third mission is, after freedom 
and opportunity, is that we are constantly forced to redefine our 
National Union. And that is the difference, the critical difference 
between the two parties today. I do not believe that we can be what we 
need to be unless we still believe that our eternal mission is what they 
said it was 220 years ago: to form a more perfect Union. Nobody--you 
won't find anybody in America that likes our diversity anymore than I 
do. I love our racial diversity. I love our ethnic diversity. I love our 
religious diversity. I love our cultural diversity. That's why I love to 
come to New Orleans, right?
    But what is important is--and what makes it possible to enjoy all 
that is that underneath it all, at the bedrock, we are bound together by 
common values and a common understanding that we are going into tomorrow 
together. And the only way we can make the most of this phenomenal 
opportunity we have is to do it.
    So I ask you to go and impart that message to your friends and 
neighbors. Help us to strengthen our party. Help us to continue to move 
forward. Help us to get the message to Washington. The American people 
want progress over partisanship, and the Democratic Party--far more 
important, the American people--will go strong into that new century.
    Thank you, and God bless you.

Note: The President spoke at 7:24 p.m. at Emeril's Restaurant. In his 
remarks, he referred to Sheriff Harry Lee of Jefferson Parish; Leonard 
Barrack, national finance chair, Democratic National Committee; Mayor 
Marc H. Morial of New Orleans; Ray Reggie, event coordinator; and 
Marjorie McKeithen, candidate for Louisiana's Sixth Congressional 
District.