[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 20 (Monday, May 22, 2000)]
[Pages 1126-1127]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Reception Following the New York State Democratic 
Convention in Albany, New York

May 16, 2000

    First of all, I want you to know how I came to be here tonight. 
[Inaudible]--but before we knew exactly when Hillary was going to give 
her speech, I agreed to appear tonight at the Mexican American Legal 
Defense Fund and to a campaign event for the Democratic Senate Campaign 
Committee. So I told all that group, I said, ``I've been with you folks 
a long time, and if you'll let me go hear my wife give a speech, I'll do 
any event you want, anywhere in America, any time.'' [Laughter] And I 
told the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee that the Senate campaign I 
was most interested in was otherwise occupied tonight, and I was going 
there. [Laughter]
    So I'm delighted to see you. And I want to thank Judith Hope for 
doing a wonderful job as the chair. A lot of you don't know this, but 
Judith Hope grew up in Warren, Arkansas, in a community that I never 
failed to carry as Governor, proof positive that people from Arkansas 
can do very well in New York.
    I want to thank all the leaders of Congress and the State 
legislature and your State officials who are here with me tonight, and 
my good friend Andrew Cuomo, for the wonderful job he's done as our HUD 
Secretary.
    I want to ask you one question. Did Hillary give a great speech 
tonight? I was sitting next to Senator Moynihan, and she kept going over 
all these issues. And Senator Moynihan looked at me, and he said, ``Good 
speech.'' [Laughter] ``Now, that would be like the rest of us who--
[inaudible]--into the Gettysburg Address.'' [Laughter] And I knew that 
she was on a roll.
    I want to say three things very quickly. First of all, I do not have 
the words to express to the people of New York my gratitude for the 
primary victory in '92, for the magnificent convention in '92, for the 
overwhelming margin of victory in '92, and the even bigger margin of 
victory you gave to me and to Al Gore in 1996. I will never forget it.
    The second thing I want to say is that I am profoundly grateful to 
you for the way you have embraced Hillary and the way you supported her 
tonight and the way you have been helping her. And I thank you for that. 
But I can tell you this, that she will not disappoint you. She'll be one 
of the great Senators this country has ever--[applause].
    And the last thing I want to say is this. On this night we've had a 
lot of fun. And big tests facing New York and America is what are we 
going to do with this magic moment of prosperity we have all worked so 
hard for? And a moment like this imposes a test on people just as severe 
as great adversity does. When we were flat on our back in the Depression 
and we elected Franklin Roosevelt President, we did in part out of 
desperation. We knew we had to have somebody who was upbeat and strong 
and who would try new things.
    When I was elected President in 1992, the American people took a 
huge chance. I was just, as President Bush used to say, the Governor of 
a small southern State. [Laughter] And I was so dumb and inexperienced, 
I thought he was complimenting me. I was kind of proud of it. [Laughter]
    But we were feeling rather desperate, and now we feel good. But I 
was so proud by the response you gave Hillary tonight, because this is a 
great test for us. And make no mistake about it, this election in 2000 
is every bit as important as the election in '96 was, every bit as 
important as the election in '92 was. I worked so hard for 8 years with 
clearly the finest and most effective Vice President in the history of 
the United States to turn this country around.
    Now we've got a campaign, and the people have to choose. And the 
Republicans are telling us they're compassionate. [Laughter] And they're 
saying, ``I'm for all the same things that they're for, we're just doing 
it a little different. And we want to give you a whole

[[Page 1127]]

lot bigger tax cut. We'll give you everything else you ever dreamed 
of.'' And it's all sort of being blurred.
    What I want to tell you is if you believe the things that Hillary 
said, that you clapped for tonight, if you believe that she's worth 
fighting for, then you have to believe me. I'm not running for 
anything--[laughter]--but I know a little something about American 
history. It may be 30, it may be 50, it may be 80 or 100 years before 
our country ever has so much prosperity, so much social progress, so 
little internal crisis and external threat as we have today. We are 
being tested as surely as if we were in the middle of war or a 
depression. And we are being tested.
    It's easy for us to be distracted. And I'm telling you, if you want 
this to go on, if you want to continue to change in this direction, 
you've got to elect Al Gore; you've got to elect Hillary; you've got to 
elect these Democrats who have supported this direction. I will do my 
best to be a supporting part in that.
    The next Senator of New York, my wife.

 Note:  The President spoke at 11 p.m. in the Ten Eyck Ballroom at the 
Crown Plaza Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Judith Hope, chair, 
New York State Democratic Party. A tape was not available for 
verification of the content of these remarks.