    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 33 (Monday, August 21, 2000)]
    [Pages 1899-1900]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks to the Community
    in Monroe, Michigan

    August 15, 2000

        Thank you. Are you ready to win this election for Al Gore and Joe
    Lieberman? [Applause] Let me begin by thanking Mayor Cappuccilli and his
    whole family for meeting me and Hillary and Al and Tipper. I thank you
    for coming out here today.
        When we were riding in here, Hillary and Chelsea and I came in in a
    separate car from Al and Tipper, but we were looking at all the fields
    along the way, and then we looked at this really beautiful community
    that you live in. And it reminded us so much of all the places we
    visited on our bus tour in 1992, when we all got on the bus together and
    rode across America. The people who live here are the kind of people we
    ran to change the future for, the kind of people that work in our auto
    plants--and I thank Steve Yokich and the UAW for being here--the kind of
    people represented in Congress by John Dingell, who is recovering from
    surgery, but his wife, Debbie, is here--and Marcy Kaptur over in Ohio.
        And miraculously for us, the people of Michigan and the people of
    Ohio twice gave us a chance to serve. Al Gore and I have worked for
    nearly 8 years now to put you first, never to forget about you, to get
    the economy going again, and to get our society moving in the right
    direction, to make us a more united nation, a stronger, a better nation.
        I got to talk about that a little last night, and say--I imagine
    there were some people out there in the country that didn't like it,
    because when they met a couple of weeks before, they didn't follow that
    old Joe Friday maxim. I just gave you the facts last night. And one of
    the facts that I want to reiterate is that every good thing that has
    happened, that came out of our administration in the last 8 years, Al
    Gore was at the heart of it. He has been a leader for the new economy, a
    leader for welfare reform, a leader for education, a leader for lowering
    the crime rates.
        The mayor talked about the brownfield program. That's a program that
    Al Gore took the lead in initiating that helped this community. You've
    got a community college here. We have 10 million Americans taking
    advantage of the HOPE scholarship tax credit, which makes community
    college virtually free in every State in the country. You got it, right?
    He got it right there, exhibit A.
        When we took office in January of 1993, the unemployment in this
    community was 8.8 percent. Today, it is 2.2 percent, one-quarter of what
    it was before.
        Now, I want to make just a couple of points and bring on the Vice
    President. Number one, this wasn't a matter of chance; it was a matter
    of choice. Not just us--nothing we did in Washington would have amounted
    to anything if you weren't doing your part out here, the working people,
    the business people, the local leaders of all kinds. I know that. But
    our job was to create the conditions and give you the tools to live your
    own dreams and make your own future. And I think the record is clear.
    This country is better off than it was 8 years ago.
        Here's the second thing, and I hope you'll take my word for this
    because I spent most of my adult life studying economics and the
    development of our country. The things that have happened in the last 8
    years, the good things, are nothing compared to the good things that can
    happen in the next 8 years--nothing.
        But we've got to make the right choice. And you, all of you who came
    out here today, what you owe yourselves and your family and your future
    is to make sure that every single citizen you know in this country, all
    your friends and neighbors here, understand exactly what the choice is,
    what are the differences in the leaders and the parties, on the economy,
    on crime, on welfare, on civil rights, on choice, on all the issues that
    will shape our future.
        I can tell you that as we move into the future, the nominee of the
    Democratic Party, my partner and friend for the last 8 years,

    [[Page 1900]]

    understands where we are, where we're going, and how it will affect
    ordinary citizens more than any other public figure in this country over
    the last 20 years. He is the right person to be the first President of
    the 21st century, Al Gore.

     Note:  The President spoke at 3:32 p.m. at Loranger Square. In his
    remarks, he referred to Mayor C.D. (Al) Cappuccilli of Monroe; and
    Stephen Yokich, president, United Auto Workers. The transcript released
    by the Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks of Vice
    President Al Gore.