[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 25 (Monday, June 26, 2000)]
[Pages 1388-1391]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Reception for Representative Edolphus Towns in New York 
City

June 16, 2000

    Well, thank you very much. I, too, want to thank LaDane and Ed 
Bergassi and the McGoverns for making this possible. And Bronx Borough 
President Freddy Ferrer, I'm delighted to see you in here. We've been 
friends a long time now. And I'm very glad to be here for Ed and Gwen. 
You know, he was asking for that empowerment zone. I started to tell 
him, ``Ed, that's what fundraisers are, empowerment zones for 
politicians.'' [Laughter]
    We also have Jim McManus here, who is the president of the Manhattan 
Democratic Club, thank you for coming; and a lot of other people who 
have been active in public affairs in New York a long time. Let me just 
say, I'm honored to be here for Ed. I like this guy, and he has been 
with me for a very long time. I just reminded him that in January of 
1992, when I had been a candidate for President for about 3 months, 90 
days, at a time when only my mother felt I could be elected--
[laughter]--I spent Martin Luther King's birthday in his district going 
to Thomas Jefferson High School.
    And I remember what it was like. There was the sense that these kids 
really weren't sure anybody cared about them. A young person had just 
been shot in the school a week before; the circumstances were 
heartbreaking and tragic. He took me there. He wanted me to see those 
kids. He wanted me to hear their stories. He wanted me to talk to the 
people. He thought it would be good for me, and he thought I needed to 
represent his people if I intended to be President. And I thought I 
needed to go.
    Do you remember--at the time, I was terribly naive. President Bush 
was still referring to me as the Governor of a small, southern State. 
And I was so naive, I thought it was a compliment. [Laughter] Truth is, 
I still do. [Laughter] And what do you know? Now I'm a New Yorker--
[laughter]--and I like that.
    I want to thank you, Ed, for what you said about the empowerment 
zones. It's one of the things we did in our economic plan in 1993; it 
passed by one vote. As Vice President Gore says, whenever he votes, we 
win. So we had a tie vote. He broke the tie; we passed the economic 
plan. The deficit came down. Interest rates came down. The economy took 
off. The rest is history.
    But one of the things that was in that economic plan--that, I might 
add, got no votes from the other party--was the provision for 
empowerment zones, to give incentives for

[[Page 1389]]

people to invest in poor areas and neighborhoods that weren't 
participating in the mainstream economy. I want to say more about that 
in a moment.
    But tonight I want you to think about this election, just for a 
minute. Let's be serious just for a minute. I won't talk long, but I 
want you to think about it because somebody might ask you why you came 
here. And you ought to have an answer.
    I think the election of 2000 is just as important as the elections 
of '96 and '92. It's hard for me to say, since it's the first time I 
won't be on the ballot in over 25 years. [Laughter] Why is that? Why do 
I believe that? Because I think what a country does with its great times 
can be as stern a test of its judgment and character as what a country 
does in the face of adversity.
    You know, in '92, I'm very grateful--the State of New York gave me 
and Hillary and Al and Tipper Gore an enormous vote in '92, an even 
bigger one in '96, and I'm very gratified. But after all, the country 
was in trouble in '92. So people said, ``Well, you know, maybe this kid 
is a Governor of a small, southern State, but we're in trouble. Let's 
take a chance.''
    Now, I've done everything I could for 7\1/2\ years to turn this 
country around, to move it in the right direction, to get the economy 
going, to build one America, to reach across the racial and other lines 
that divide us, to deal with the crime issue, the welfare issue, the 
environmental issue, the health care issue, to do these things 
seriously, to make America a good friend and neighbor to the rest of the 
world.
    So what are we going to do with the longest expansion in history? 
What are we going to do with the first 3 years of back-to-back surpluses 
in anybody's memory? What are we going to do with the virtual certainty 
that we'll have surpluses for another 10 or 15 years now? What do you 
want to do with that? That's really what this election is all about.
    And the person who wins the Presidency and the party that wins the 
House and makes progress in the Senate races will depend upon what the 
American people think the election is about. Very often the answer to a 
question depends on what the question is.
    Now, what I think we ought to be doing is saying, ``Hey, this won't 
last forever, and we're not going to blow it; we're going to make the 
most of it, to build the future of our dreams for our children. We're 
going to take on the big problems that are still out there. We're going 
to seize the biggest opportunity that is there before us. We're going to 
do big, important things.'' That's what I think we ought to do.
    I think we ought to make a commitment to keep the economy going, to 
keep paying down the debt, and to give economic opportunity to all the 
neighborhoods that have been left behind. That's what my new markets 
initiative is all about. I want to give people like you, who can afford 
to come to this fundraiser, the same financial incentives to invest in 
poor areas in America we give you to invest in poor areas in Latin 
America and Africa and Asia today.
    I think we ought to make a commitment to eliminate poverty among 
children in working families, and to do more to help families balance 
work and family, with child care and with health care initiatives that 
working people can afford for their families. I think we ought to do 
more to guarantee excellence in education to all of our kids and access 
to college to everybody who gets out of high school. That's what I 
think. You may not agree with any of this. You have to decide.
    I think we ought to do more to roll back the tide of climate 
change--it's going to change life for New Yorkers dramatically in the 
next 30 years if we don't do it for all America--and to prove that you 
can keep cleaning up the environment and growing the economy. I think we 
ought to do more to build one America across all the lines that divide 
us. I think we ought to pass hate crimes legislation. I think we ought 
to pass employment and nondiscrimination legislation. I think that we 
ought to do these things.
    I think we ought to do more to be a force for peace and freedom and 
decency around the world. I don't think we ought to make the U.N. 
practically beg us just to pay our dues that we owe. We're honored to 
have the U.N. It's headquartered in New York. We get a lot out of it. 
It's a great source of prestige for our country. Every time the

[[Page 1390]]

U.N. sends a peacekeeping mission somewhere, it's a place we don't have 
to send American soldiers. And I think it's awful that some in our 
Congress act like they're doing the world a favor when they pay what we 
owe to the United Nations. That's what I think. And I think we ought to 
be a better partner and look for more opportunities to work with and 
through other people in the years ahead. But you've got to decide what 
you think.
    I think we ought to do more to meet the challenge of the aging of 
America. I'm the oldest baby boomer. When all of us baby boomers retire, 
there will only be two people working--[laughter]--for every one person 
on Social Security. Now, there will be more than two people working--
[laughter]--but there will only be two people working for every one 
person on Social Security. So what are we going to do?
    Well, we can have more people on Social Security working; that's why 
we lifted the earnings limit on Social Security this year--a good thing 
we all did together, with the Republicans and the Democrats.
    I think we ought to preserve Medicare and add a prescription drug 
benefit. If we started a Medicare program today for seniors, we would 
never have one without drugs--ever. But in 1965, when Medicare was 
established, being old was a very different thing. First of all, 
everybody who lives to be 65 in America today has got a life expectancy 
of 83. Some of you younger people here, who are still having children, 
will give birth to children whose life expectancy, once we decode the 
human gene, will be nearly 100.
    And I think when we know that pharmaceuticals more and more will 
keep us alive, let us live longer and let us live better, to have a 
Medicare program without a program that is affordable for all of our 
seniors I think is crazy. So I think it's a big deal. Now, that's what I 
think it's about.
    The other point I want to make to you is, there are big differences 
between the parties--legitimate. Second point, all the Republicans 
opposed my economic plan in '93. They said it would be bad. Well, 22 
million jobs later, and we've got the longest economic expansion in 
history. This is not an argument. We were right, and they were wrong. 
Now, their argument is, ``Okay, we've got a good economy; let's go give 
all this money away in a big tax cut again.''
    You have to decide. It's very appealing. You might think this thing 
is so strong, nobody can mess it up, and you'd like to have the extra 
cash. Our position is harder to take. Our position is, we want a tax 
cut, but not as big as theirs because we think we still need money to 
educate our kids, and we think we need money to meet our other 
commitments, and we think we ought to keep paying this debt down. We're 
for a minimum wage; they're against it. We think we ought to have a more 
aggressive environmental program; they think we ought to relax our 
environmental efforts. There are real differences.
    We think we ought to do more to help the cities; by and large, they 
disagree. The only area where we've got just a chance to have a 
bipartisan agreement is to give incentives for people who invest in the 
poor areas of urban and rural America, and I'm hoping and praying we get 
it. There are big differences.
    So number one, mistakes are high. Number two, there are big 
differences. Here is the third, most important point: They hope you 
won't think there are very big differences on election day. So there's a 
lot of nice talk and kind of bumping and hugging going along here in 
these elections.
    For example, there was a big story in the press today about how the 
Republicans had hired pollsters to teach them how to talk about the 
importance of providing prescription drugs, to teach them the words--
say, you know, ``We could lose the Congress over this, because we're not 
really for giving all these seniors prescription drugs.'' So they hired 
pollsters to tell them the words to say to convince you that they are 
for it. And they're nice words. I would like to say some of those words. 
I have said some of those words.
    But there is a big difference. They don't believe that all seniors 
should get the help. They believe that we should subsidize, with tax 
money, insurance policies that even the insurance companies--I've got to 
give them this; I fought with them for 7 years--but even the health 
insurance companies say they

[[Page 1391]]

cannot offer policies at affordable prices that real people will buy.
    So the Republican plan does not offer our seniors a chance to get 
prescription drug coverage--like he wants--Ed Towns--badly.
    Now, you need to think about this. I mean, you're here for him, and 
we couldn't beat him with a stick of dynamite with this one. But it's 
important that you understand that every one of these elections matters. 
And I'm not on the ballot. I've done everything I could do to turn this 
country around.
    I talked to a gentleman the other day who said, for a lame duck, I 
was still quacking pretty loudly. [Laughter] I'm doing all I know to do. 
But I want you to think about this.
    I want you to remember, number one, we've got the chance of a 
lifetime; what are we going to do with it? I think we ought to be 
dealing with the big issues, big opportunities, big challenges. Number 
two, there are real differences between the two parties--honest--we 
don't have to say anything bad about the Republicans. I don't like all 
this. They're just differences. But number three, they hope you won't 
understand how deep those differences are, because most folks agree with 
us.
    Now, those are the things I want you to remember. So if somebody 
asks you how come you came, say, ``I like Ed Towns; he's been a good 
Congressman. He's fighting to deal with the things that we ought to deal 
with, and I'm determined not to blow the greatest chance America has 
ever had to build the future of our dreams for our children. And I know 
there are differences, and I'm going to go vote based on what I think is 
right.''
    Thank you, and God bless you.

 Note:  The President spoke at 8:15 p.m. at Trump Towers. In his 
remarks, he referred to event cochairs LaDane Williamson, Ed Bergassi, 
and Kevin and Lisa McGovern; James R. McManus, district leader, McManus 
Midtown Democratic Association; and Representative Towns' wife, 
Gwendolyn. This item was not received in time for publication in the 
appropriate issue.