[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 44 (Monday, November 2, 1998)]
[Pages 2125-2129]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Reception Honoring Senator Barbara Boxer in Los Angeles

October 24, 1998

    Thank you very much. Well, thank you for the wonderful welcome. 
Thanks for the raincheck. [Laughter] I want to thank Jim and Holly for 
having us here in this beautiful, beautiful setting tonight. I'd like to 
also acknowledge the presence in the audience of Congresswoman Jane 
Harman and Congressman Brad Sherman. I thank them for being here. Hello, 
Brad. There you are.
    I just came from an event for Janice Hahn, who is running to succeed 
Jane Harman in the Congress. And I told the audience something I feel 
almost constrained to also say to you. This last week I had was a rather 
interesting one. [Laughter] I was home at 3 and 4 o'clock in the morning 
4 or 5 times, and then on the last marathon day I was up for 39 hours. 
And I didn't even do that in college. [Laughter]
    Now, when I go out, as we are tonight, to give a speech, it's always 
covered by the press. We feed these microphones into the press that is 
traveling with me, and there's a member of the press here tonight. And I 
always get these cards from my staff, these nice little cards that says 
Jim and Holly Brooks and all the reasons I'm for Barbara Boxer, as if I 
didn't know, and all that. [Laughter] And then what I did--it's too 
small a card, she said. [Laughter] And then what I do is I take these 
little cards and I write on them, these things, you see? And no one can 
read my writing. And at my age, even I can't read it when it's this 
small. [Laughter]
    So the last thing they said to me when I got off the plane was, 
``You went 39 hours without sleep; you've slept one night, last night, 
and got a little nap on the plane. Don't forget that. Read this card.'' 
[Laughter] ``We're afraid of what you will say if you--read this card.'' 
[Laughter]
    So I was on the way over here tonight, and I called Hillary, who 
wishes she could be here for this family event, to be with Barbara and 
Stu and Nicole and Doug and Tony and our nephew, Zach. And she said, 
``Read this card.'' [Laughter] So I think I'll read this card. 
[Laughter]
    Let me say first of all, I'm very honored to be here because Barbara 
Boxer is not just my friend; she is really my colleague, and I believe 
in her. I believe in the depth of her passion and the purity of her 
heart and the determination of her service. You clapped when she said I 
helped to bring California back from the worst recession you've had in 
the long time. Don't forget that, apart from whatever we did 
specifically for this State, it all began with one vote in August of 
1993 for the economic plan that reduced the deficit by 93 percent before 
the bipartisan balanced budget bill passed.
    That's what brought the interest rates down, got the investment 
going, got the economy going again. And when that vote was cast, there 
was not a single member of the other party who voted for it. It passed 
by one vote in the Senate and one vote in the House, only. If she had 
changed her vote, we'd be here talking about something else tonight. I 
might not even be here as your President tonight.
    And she could have said, ``Hey, I had a tough race in '92. I didn't 
win by so much, and it's the first time I'd ever been on a statewide 
ticket.'' And she could have taken a dive. But she stood up, and on that 
night she was not a little adult, she was 10 feet tall in my mind. And 
so that vote, every Member who cast it can claim to have had an equal 
hand in the revitalization of our economy.
    Barbara talked about the budget we passed and how we got the 100,000 
teachers and the money for after-school programs. That's a quarter of a 
million children--a quarter of a million--who can stay after school, who 
wouldn't be able to do it otherwise.
    She talked about a lot of other issues. I will tell you that her 
work for the environment has really been impressive, and one of the 
things we got in this budget, against all the odds, was a clean water 
initiative to help us deal with the fact that in spite of all of our 
environmental progress, 40 percent of

[[Page 2126]]

our lakes and rivers are still not fit for swimming and fishing. And 
there was so much else. So I am for her because she has a good record. 
I'm also for her because we do have a lot to do.
    If you just look at where we are now, in this budget, again, against 
all the odds, because my fellow Democrats stood with me, we beat off an 
unwise election-year tax cut scheme to save the surplus for Social 
Security until we reform that. We finally, after 8 months of imploring, 
got America's contribution to the International Monetary Fund so that I 
can try to organize the world to deal with this global financial turmoil 
we're all dealing with. So we got a lot done. But we have a lot to do.
    If you look ahead--let me just mention some of the things that I 
think are terribly important. Number one, the next Congress will have to 
face the reform of Social Security for the baby boom generation. When 
all the baby boomers get in the Social Security system, we'll only have 
two people working for every one person drawing. Now, because we have 
the first surplus in 29 years, and because it's projected that over 
time--making allowances for recessions taking the money up and down--
over time, we'll be able to stay on a balanced budget surplus pattern. 
We have the opportunity now to reform Social Security in a way that will 
secure its integrity for the baby boomers without putting undue 
financial burdens on our children and their ability to raise our 
grandchildren.
    But if we don't do that--that is, if either we throw the money away 
on something else, or we just don't make the tough decisions--then when 
the time comes, we will be faced with one of two unpleasant 
alternatives. And keep in mind, not everybody in my age group is going 
to have as good a pension as I will. [Laughter] Today, you should know 
that half of the seniors in this country are living out of poverty 
because of Social Security. And if Social Security were taken away, they 
would be in poverty.
    So if we don't do this, we'll have the following decisions that will 
affect every single person in this audience who is my age or younger, 
one way or the other. We will either have to say, ``Well, I'm sorry, we 
spent the money on ourselves when we wanted it,'' or, ``We just couldn't 
bear to make the tough decisions.'' And so when push comes to shove, we 
can say to the seniors, ``I'm sorry, I hope you've saved enough for your 
own retirement.'' We've done a lot, by the way, to make that easier, and 
I thank Barbara for that. But what will happen is we'll see a lot of 
seniors in abject misery again. Or that will kill our consciences, and 
we'll say, ``We can't do that; we have to maintain the system we have.'' 
And that will cause a whopping tax increase, which will lower the 
standard of living of our children and their ability to raise our 
grandchildren. Either side is wrong and unnecessary. But you need to 
think about that when you go to the polls. Who do you trust to make the 
complex but, ultimately, value-based decision to reform Social Security 
in a way that will care for the baby boom generation in a way that does 
not undermine our obligations to our children and grandchildren? It is a 
huge issue, very important.
    The second thing this election is about, Barbara already talked 
about--we've got the first downpayment on 100,000 teachers. And we had 
to fight like crazy to get it. My ability to keep going until we do 
that, which will lower class size in the early grades to an average of 
18 all across America, depends upon who's in the Congress.
    The one thing we tried to do that we couldn't get done, that is so 
terribly important, is to pass a program that for the first time would 
have the National Government, through a paid-for tax incentive, help to 
build or repair 5,000 schools in this country. Where are the teachers 
going to teach? We've got the biggest group of schoolchildren in 
history. You have it here in this county. It's a big problem.
    The next big issue we have to face is how we should reform the laws 
as they relate to HMO's and other managed care plans. Now, let me say, I 
feel a special responsibility here, because I've never been anti-HMO, 
per se. When I became President, health care costs were rising at 3 
times the rate of inflation. It was totally unsustainable. It was going 
to bankrupt businesses, consume people's personal income, take away 
money we needed to be investing in education, in the environment, in 
medical research. It was a terrible

[[Page 2127]]

problem. It was imperative that we manage our health care system better.
    But no management tool should be allowed to consume the objective of 
the enterprise. I don't care what you're doing. I don't care whether 
you're running a school or a law office or a grocery store or a filling 
station or anything else--all management tools are designed to enhance 
the quality of the enterprise, not overcome it.
    Now, we tried to pass a Patients' Bill of Rights, and we were 
defeated strictly on partisan lines. We had a handful of members of the 
other party who helped us, and I'm grateful for that, but not enough to 
overcome their opposition. And all our law says is--our Patients' Bill 
of Rights--is the medical decisions ought to be made by doctors, not 
accountants; if you get hurt in an accident, you ought to go to the 
nearest emergency room, not one clear across town because it's covered 
by your plan; if your doctor says you need a specialist, you should be 
able to see one; if your employer changes health care providers while 
you're in the middle of treatment, like you're pregnant, you're taking 
chemotherapy, whatever it is, you ought to be able to finish the 
treatment with the doctor you started with; and your medical records 
ought to be private. I think it's a good law, and I think we need it. 
And I think it's an important reason to reelect Barbara Boxer.
    I'll tell you something else we're going to have to do--we may need 
help from Congress to do it. The global economy has benefitted us 
greatly. It has played a major role in the resurgence of California. I 
think all of you know that--Asia, Latin America--you know what turmoil 
it's in now. Now, some of these things are growing pains; they were 
inevitable. Other developments are more harsh than they can safely be 
allowed to continue to be. And I need a Congress that will not wait 8 
months just to make our elemental, fundamental investment--America's 
investment--in stabilizing the global economy, because we're going to 
have more tough decisions. And if we want the benefits of the global 
economy--and no country in the world has benefitted as much as we have--
we have to be willing to assume the responsibilities of leadership. 
That's a big issue in the next election.
    Then there are some other things I'd just like to mention. We 
weren't able to overcome their majority last time in passing legislation 
to protect our children from the dangers of tobacco, the number one 
public health problem for kids in America. If we had a few more people 
like Barbara Boxer in the Congress, we could do that. We were not able 
to pass campaign finance reform. We were not able to raise the minimum 
wage. You know, you can't support a family on $5.15 an hour, and we have 
rarely had an economy with such low unemployment and such low inflation 
where there was so little risk to raising the minimum wage. And, you 
know, the people that we're arguing for will never be able to afford to 
come to an event like this, but they're Americans, too, and they 
deserve, if they're willing to work hard, their share of the future. And 
I feel strongly about that.
    Now, let me just say one last thing. I thank you for coming here. I 
thank you for your contributions. I thank you for enabling Barbara to go 
up on television. But let me say, as you come here to the last 10 days 
or so of this election, most people know that we've got the right agenda 
for America, that we're pushing, that we have the ideas, that we're 
driving. On the other side, they have a lot more money than we do. Even 
after tonight, they will have more money than we do. [Laughter]
    I saw some reports a couple of days ago that said that in these sort 
of independent expenditure committees, Democrats would be outspent 
better than three to one in the last 2 weeks of the election. There is 
something else they've got going for them, too, which is that this is 
not a Presidential election year. In Presidential elections, most people 
make an extra effort to vote. In the off-year elections they don't. And 
we are disproportionately, the Democrats, disadvantaged.
    Why? Because we have a disproportionate number of the single working 
mothers, for example. Every day is big enough hassle. You've got to 
figure out what are you going to do with your kids, the child care, the 
school, go to work, get home. And now--

[[Page 2128]]

ah, it's Tuesday, I've got to figure out how to vote, too?
    We have a disproportionate share of people living in inner-city 
neighborhoods where it's all they can do to get on the bus and go to 
work, and now they've got to figure out, is the polling place on the bus 
line, or forking over the money for a taxi cab. These are not idle 
questions here. But we also have a lot of people who just don't think 
it's that big a deal. Now, I'm telling you, this is a big deal--a big 
deal.
    And if you believe in this agenda, if you believe that we ought to 
do more on education, if you believe we ought to do more to stabilize 
the global economy, if you believe we ought to pass the Patients' Bill 
of Rights, if you want us to reform Social Security and do it in the 
right way, if you want these other things done, then between now and 
election day you've got to get everybody you know to show up.
    And if you think about the people you work with, the people you 
socialize with, the people you worship with, the people you come in 
contact with--just in this crowd--there will be tens of thousands of 
people touched by you between now and November 3d who will never come to 
a political event like this. Tens of thousands of people. And I want you 
to talk to them about this.
    You know, you were so nice to give me such a nice reception over 
this Middle East peace breakthrough. And I thank you for that. But let 
me tell you something, I want you to know something about it. Number 
one, it's my job. [Laughter] Number two, I loved it, even the meanest, 
toughest moment. [Laughter] And number three, it was a profound honor. 
It was an honor.
    But why did you do that? Why did you do that? Because it makes--when 
people who have been fighting and killing each other, when people who 
have their own political problems when two leaders who both will be in 
more danger, both political and physical, because they did this, do 
something like this, it just fills us up, it makes us feel good. It 
gives us hope. It gives us energy. It appeals to our better selves. When 
people saw the heroic figure of King Hussein going back and forth, 
intervening--every time I called him, he showed up, and he went down 
there. And you know that he's dealt with these terrible health 
challenges, and still he labors on. It touches our common humanity.
    Why? Because down deep inside we know that the most important 
victories in life are not the victories we win over other people; 
they're the victories we win for our common humanity. You know it, and I 
know it. And the older you get and the more times you win and the more 
times you lose, you know that in the end what counts are the victories 
you win for what you share in common with other people.
    And if you think about the elation we felt over the Middle East 
peace process, the heartbreak we felt at the brutal beating and killing 
of young Matthew Shepard--why do we hate that? Because it violated our 
common humanity. Some people marked him out and said he didn't belong.
    Now, when I came to California, running for President in 1992, I 
said I wanted to do three things to prepare our country for the new 
century: I wanted to restore opportunity for every American who would 
work for it; I wanted to bring this country together in a community 
across all the lines that divide us; and I wanted our country in a new 
era to still be the world's leader for peace and freedom and prosperity 
for everyone, not just ourselves.
    We're further along than we were 6 years ago, but we have a great 
deal to do. And I'm telling you, there is a clear choice in this 
election. And if you really liked how you felt when you saw those two 
tough, grizzled enemies--[laughter]--that I kept up for 39 hours until 
they could hardly stand up--[laughter]--standing up there--and keep in 
mind, it was a lot harder for them than it was for me. All I had to do 
was to stay awake. [Laughter] All I had to do was stay awake. They have 
to go home and face the music. If you like how you felt when you saw 
them overcoming all their limitations, all their hatreds, all their 
scars, all the memories of their dead friends--in the Prime Minister of 
Israel's case, his dead brother--if you liked that, and you really 
believe that public life and citizenship is about the victories we win 
for our children, for our future, and our common humanity, then you get 
everybody you can to the polls November 3d.

[[Page 2129]]

    Thank you, and God bless you.

Note: The President spoke at 6:53 p.m. at a private residence. In his 
remarks, he referred to reception hosts Jim and Holly Brooks; Senator 
Boxer's husband, Stuart, their son, Doug, their daughter, Nicole and her 
husband, Tony Rodham, and their grandson, Zachary Rodham; Prime Minister 
Binyamin Netanyahu of Israel; Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian 
Authority; and King Hussein I of Jordan.