    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 25 (Monday, June 26, 2000)]
    [Pages 1395-1399]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks at a Southwest Voter Registration Education Project Reception in
    Houston, Texas

    June 19, 2000

        Thank you very, very much. Well, I think Representative Noriega did
    his family proud, don't you? I thought it was great. Thank you.
    [Applause]
        I would like to thank all of you who are here, including the folks
    behind me: my good friend Bill White; and my long-time friend
    Representative Al Edwards; and Carlos Truan, whom I've known for nearly
    30 years. And Antonio Gonzalez, thank you very much. And Billie Carr is
    still working her cell phone after all these years. [Laughter] Tell
    whoever it is I said hello, Billie. [Laughter] I love this.
        I want to thank Representative Sheila Jackson Lee for being here.
    And Mickey Ibarra, who is my special assistant, who works with State and
    local government around the country; I thank him for coming down here,
    along with Steve Ricchetti, my Deputy Chief of Staff.
        I'm delighted to be with Southwest Voter Registration Project, and I
    want to thank you for all the work that you have done with me and the
    Vice President over the years, the work you have done to advance
    democracy, to bring Latino voters into the process, to promote education
    and economic development.
        I also appreciate the solidarity you have shown with others who also
    deserve to be empowered and to have a full portion of the American
    dream. And I want to acknowledge, again, Representative Al Edwards, who
    is here, because today is June 19th, which is known in the African-
    American community in the South as ``Juneteenth.'' It's the holiday that
    celebrates the emancipation of the slaves in Texas.
        And for those of you who don't know, basically, Abraham Lincoln, in
    what is now the Lincoln Bedroom, signed the Emancipation Proclamation in
    September of 1862. It became effective January 1, 1863. But most of the
    slaves who were freed did not find out until after the Civil War,
    because the proclamation ran to the States that had seceded. And formal
    notice came on June 19th, in Texas, and it became known as Juneteenth.
    In the western part of the southern States, it's still not uncommon to
    see these ``Juneteenth'' celebrations all across the South, particularly
    in little towns who have family ties going back to that period. And Al
    made it a holiday in Texas. We congratulate him. Thank you, old friend.
        And let me sort of pivot off of that to say that this day should be
    a day for rejoicing but also for reflection, and for reminding ourselves
    that there's still a lot of hardship out there and still a lot of
    discrimination against people because of their race or their sexual
    orientation or something else that makes them different, and therefore
    makes other people afraid of them, or believe that they can look down on
    them and do things that aren't right.
        On the way in here, I met with Louvon Harris and Darrell Verrett,
    the sister and the nephew of James Byrd. They're right here. Stand up.
    [Applause] It was 2 years ago this month that James Byrd was killed here
    in Texas, in a heinous act that shocked Americans in every corner of the
    country, including all the good people of Texas. It reminds us that
    crimes that are motivated by hate really are fundamentally different
    and, I believe, should be treated differently under the law.
        In the Federal Government we have Federal hate crimes legislation on
    the books that I believe should be stronger. But we have prosecuted a
    number of the cases. We have substantially increased the number of FBI
    agents working them; we have formed local hate crimes working groups;
    and for 3 years we've tried to pass a stronger Federal bill

    [[Page 1396]]

    and to support similar actions in States across the country.
        I know you were disappointed when the State hate crimes legislation
    didn't pass here. But I am pleased to be able to tell you that the
    United States Senate has finally agreed, the leadership of the Senate,
    to allow a vote, up or down, on hate crimes legislation that has now
    been held up since November of 1997, * when I had the first White House
    Conference on Hate Crimes. But it's now going to be voted on.
        * White House correction.
        And I want to tell you about it. The bill has been strengthened. The
    version of the bill that is now going to be voted on will be introduced
    by Senator Kennedy today on the Senate floor. It strengthens the Federal
    hate crimes legislation and also gives State and local officials more
    Federal resources to help to prosecute these crimes.
        Now, we believe that most hate crimes should be prosecuted--
    investigated and prosecuted by State and local officials, with the
    Federal Government being a partner. But too often Federal officials have
    literally been prevented from teaming up with local law enforcement, and
    that has kept communities from being able to do what needed to be done
    to work these offenses.
        Senator Kennedy's bill takes steps to change that by giving State
    and local officials the assistance they need. It also requires the
    Attorney General to confer with them before bringing a case in Federal
    court. So we have actually strengthened the original bill, put some more
    resources in it, and done it in a way that I hope and pray will get us
    enough Republican votes to actually pass the bill. And I ask all of you
    to stand with this fine family. They've been out here working for this
    for 2 years now. They have worked through their grief and through their
    pain. They've been willing to stand up and be counted.
        And we have a chance now to pass this at the Federal level. And I
    know that Representative Sheila Jackson Lee cares very deeply about
    this. I brought two United States Senators down to Texas with me today,
    Ron Wyden and Bob Torricelli, who are profoundly committed to it. And I
    just want to ask you to help us. You have shown your solidarity on all
    these human rights issues. We have people here from the Human Rights
    Campaign Fund in this room today. I want to ask you to help us. We've
    got a chance now. We have to pass this legislation.
        I'd like to mention one or two other things, if I might. Congress, I
    hope, will pass some legislation to correct two long-standing injustices
    that affect immigrants in our country. First, we need to amend our
    immigration laws to provide equitable treatment for all Central American
    immigrants. In that connection, we should give migrants with
    longstanding ties to our country the chance to legalize their status.
        As all of you know, we had a huge amount of turmoil in Central
    America right through the 1980's, into the early nineties. The Federal
    law actually discriminates against Central Americans who came here for
    the same reasons, depending on what country they came from and what the
    nature of the conflict was back home. And I don't think any of us think
    that is right. And a lot of these folks have been here a long time.
    They've established families. They've married people from other
    countries or from our country. They've got kids in our schools, and we
    need to do this.
        The third thing I'd like to ask your help on is to continue working
    with us to see that our Federal courts reflect America's growing
    diversity. [Applause] I appreciate you clapping, but I want you to
    really help us do something about this.
        Representative Noriega said that I had appointed and nominated the
    most diverse group of Federal judges in history. We've appointed more
    Hispanic-Americans to the Federal bench than any administration before.
    Twenty-four of my judicial appointees have been Hispanic-Americans, more
    than the previous two Republican administrations combined. I'm proud of
    that. But--yes, but--[laughter]--and the ``but'' is important, several
    imminently qualified minority nominees have become casualties of a
    highly politicized confirmation process.
        Let me back up and say that, generally, if you--there have been lots
    and lots of scholarly articles pointing out that my nominees are the
    most highly regarded by the

    [[Page 1397]]

    American Bar Association professional evaluation in 40 years, that they
    have by and large not been political, that they have not been on one
    ideological extreme; they have been mainstream appointees. And they have
    constantly been attacked in the Senate, because they didn't fit the
    ideological mold that the Republican majority wanted.
        For example, Ricardo Morado, my candidate for the Southern District
    here in Texas, his nomination has been put on hold. Kathleen McCree
    Lewis in Detroit--her father, Wade McCree, was one of the two or three
    most important lawyers in the entire civil rights movement, highly
    regarded lawyer. Never been an African-American woman on the Court of
    Appeals there. Can't get a hearing for her.
        And perhaps the most egregious case in the entire country, I think,
    is the case of Enrique Moreno, who I nominated to the Court of Appeals
    for the Fifth Circuit. He has been waiting more than 275 days, without
    even receiving a judiciary committee hearing. And last month Senator
    Gramm and Senator Hutchison said they were going to oppose his
    nomination because he wasn't qualified. They said he wasn't experienced.
    Well, you be the judge. From humble beginnings in El Paso, he
    established, first of all, an utterly brilliant academic career--I might
    add, more brilliant than that of virtually everyone who'd be voting on
    his confirmation. [Laughter]
        The State judges in Texas said he was one of the top three trial
    attorneys in El Paso. The American Bar Association gave him their
    highest rating--not just a good rating, their highest rating. But this
    State's Republican Senator said he's not qualified. And apparently,
    everybody else is going along with it because there's been no voice to
    the contrary. Now, I don't know about you, but if he's not qualified,
    who is?
        This is the kind of thing--we've been going through this--I can give
    you lots of other examples. The first African-American ever to serve on
    the Missouri Supreme Court was defeated in the Senate by a blatant
    partisan misrepresentation of his record. And we can't have this kind of
    thing in our country.
        It wasn't as if I said, ``Well, I want a quota here, and I'm going
    to appoint this guy because he's Hispanic.'' This guy has a brilliant
    academic record, a brilliant record as a lawyer. The American Bar
    Association says they give him their highest rating. And the Senators
    here say he's not qualified. And this is part of a distinctive pattern.
        This should not be partisan. I went out of my way because we'd had
    20 years of partisan fights in judgeships. I went out of my way to try
    to pick people that would not raise partisan hackles, to be totally
    bipartisan in this. And in spite of that, because there are those in the
    other party who see the courts as an instrument of partisan policy and
    want it to be that--not because I've made it there but because neutral
    is not good enough, fair is not good enough, unbiased is not good
    enough--that's what's going on here. And if you feel strongly about it,
    you better be heard.
        And the device is always to deny these people a hearing or to deny
    them a vote. Why? Because they don't want them on the court, but they
    don't want the people you're trying to register to vote to know they
    don't want them on the court. Right? So the answer is, blur everything,
    shift, kind of just sort of waver around here, and let it all die and
    hope nobody will know what really happened.
        So I'm here to tell you this is a good man. If he was involved with
    me politically, I don't know it. Maybe that's--I don't. I appointed him
    because the people came to me and said we've got a chance to appoint a
    guy who's superbly qualified, who can get the highest ABA rating and be
    a good thing for Texas, a good thing for the Fifth Circuit, and so I did
    it. And I think for him to be denied, not because he's political, but
    because he's not political enough in the right way, is wrong.
        Now, let me just say a couple of things in closing. We've got to get
    everybody to vote in this election, and then they need to know what the
    stakes are. You want people to register to vote and to make intelligent
    choices. And I think we're actually quite fortunate in this millennial
    election, because we don't have to engage in a kind of personal,
    negative histrionics. I think you've got two good people running for
    President who have profound disagreements. But it's important people
    know what the differences are. I think you've got good people running
    for the Senate all

    [[Page 1398]]

    over America, and running for the House. There's one Senate race I'm
    especially interested in. [Laughter]
        But anyway, you've got all these good people. We don't have to run
    an election where anybody badmouths anybody else. Just everybody stand
    up and say where they disagree, and let the voters make up their mind.
        But it is important not to think that there are no disagreements and
    that there aren't any consequences, because there are. Just because we
    have a bunch of good people doesn't mean there are no consequences to
    the decisions the voters will make. So people have to make up their
    mind. And first, they have to register, then they have to vote. And when
    they go, they need to actually have a clear view of, if I vote for this
    set of candidates, this is what I get, these are the decisions I get,
    this is the direction I get; if I vote for this section, this group,
    this is what I get.
        And I've done everything I could to try to turn the country around.
    And I'm very proud of the fact that we're paying down the debt instead
    of running it up, that we've got the longest economic expansion in
    history and over 22 million jobs and the lowest Hispanic unemployment
    rate ever recorded and the lowest poverty rate in 20 years and the
    highest Hispanic homeownership and 2\1/2\ times as many SBA loans and
    all that.
        But the truth is, all that matters is, what are we going to do with
    it? What is it that you propose to do with it? I'm glad we had a
    successful empowerment zone in south Texas. I'm glad that we've been
    able to do these things.
        But the issue is, what are you going to do with it? What should the
    economic policy of the country be? Should we continue paying down the
    debt and protecting Social Security and Medicare and investing in
    education? Or should we give all the projected surplus back to you in a
    tax cut and just hope that we won't run a deficit and hope somehow we'll
    find the money to invest in education?
        What should we do in education? Should we modernize our schools and
    make sure we hire enough teachers and identify schools that aren't
    succeeding and turn them around, or change the leadership? Or should we
    adopt a voucher program and say that public schools probably can't be
    made to work, so let's go to a voucher system?
        I was in a school in New York City this week--let me just give you
    one example, one example. Two years ago Public School 96, in Spanish
    Harlem--2 years ago, 80 percent of those kids in this grade school were
    reading below grade level--2 years ago. Today, 74 percent of them are
    reading at or above grade level, and doing math at or above level--in 2
    years.
        I was in a school in Kentucky the other day that was one of the
    worst performing schools in the State--elementary schools. There were 5
    percent of the kids reading at or above grade level 4 years ago; today,
    57 percent of them are. There were 12 percent of the kids doing math at
    or above grade level; today, 70 percent are. There were zero percent of
    the kids doing science at or above grade level; today, two-thirds are--
    basically, in 3 years. It's the 19th best elementary school in the State
    of Kentucky. And way over half the kids are on free or reduced school
    lunches.
        So what I want you to know is that without regard to income or
    background, intelligence is equally distributed, and schools can be made
    to work if we just do what we know works. And that's what I think we
    ought to make a commitment to do. You know, when I started this school
    reform business 20 years ago in Arkansas, when I was trying to do it, we
    didn't really know what worked. But we do now. And it would be a
    terrible mistake for us to turn away from what works toward something
    that we don't have any idea whether it works or not but would drain a
    lot of money off--I think.
        What about the economy? Well, I think it's important that we do more
    to bring the benefits of the economy to people and places that haven't
    fully participated. That's why I want to increase the earned-income tax
    credit, something you helped me do before--lifted over a million
    Hispanics out of poverty in the years that I've been in office. That's
    why I think we ought to raise the minimum wage again.
        That's why I think we ought to adopt this new markets initiative.
    It's the only really good bipartisan thing we've got going up in
    Washington now. We are working really well

    [[Page 1399]]

    in the House in a bipartisan way. It's really quite touching, and I
    thank the Speaker of the House for doing it. And I hope we can do it in
    the Senate. It's why I think we ought to implement a lot of the
    recommendations of the Southwest Border Initiative Task Force that I
    got. A lot of you have been involved in that in one way or the other.
        What are we going to do about health care? Are we going to have a
    Patients' Bill of Rights or not? Are we going to let all the seniors on
    Medicare have access to affordable prescription drugs or not? Are we
    going to do more to let working families have access to affordable
    health insurance or not? I've got a big proposal on that. I think
    Houston has one of the highest percentages of working people without
    access to health insurance in the entire United States--a lot of them
    Latino. This is a big issue.
        So that's the last thing I leave you with. The country is moving in
    the right direction. Things are better than they were 8 years ago. But
    how a nation deals with its prosperity is as stern a test of its
    character and judgment as how it deals with adversity. And those of us
    that are old enough to remember different times know that nothing lasts
    forever. And when you're in the bad times, you can thank God for that.
    But when you're in great times, you should be humble and grateful and
    make up your mind to make the most of them.
        We've got the best chance in my lifetime to deal with the big
    challenges still out there, to seize the big opportunities out there.
    And that's why it's important that you empower people. They can't take
    good times for granted. And if they're still in trouble, they shouldn't
    take that for granted, either. The vote is the voice, just like your
    sign says.
        And it's been a great honor for me to serve. It's been a great honor
    for me to work with you. I've had the time of my life. This is the first
    election in 25 years I'm not part of; most days I'm okay about it.
    [Laughter] But as a noncandidate, the only thing I ask everybody to do
    is to vote and to be intelligent about it, to make up your mind what you
    think we ought to do with this moment of prosperity, and then to clearly
    understand the choices before you and go out and make yours. If we do
    that, America will be in good hands.
        Thank you very much.

     Note:  The President spoke at 11:35 a.m. in the Austin Room at the Four
    Seasons Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Texas State
    Representatives Rick Noriega and Al Edwards; Bill White, former chair,
    and Billie Carr, executive council member, Texas State Democratic Party;
    Texas State Senator Carlos F. Truan; Antonio Gonzalez, president,
    Southwest Voter Registration Education Project.