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National Governors' Association, Chicago 7/31/89 [2]
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2:45 7/27
Davis/Martin
July 27, 1989
Draft: Four
Title: Governors
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: N.G.A./HYATT REGENCY, CHICAGO
Monday, July 31, 1989/10 a.m.
Governor Baliles ((Baa-lyles)) I want to commend you on the
success of your chairmanship. Governor Branstad, I know you will
bring your characteristic energy and vision to the leadership of
the Governors Association. Congratulations.
I also want to salute our host and my good friend, Jim
Thompson -- a great governor and a former N.G.A. Chairman who has
rocked the world of Illinois politics by announcing he will not
run for a fifth term
((And to think, Jim, they were just
getting used to you. ))
And if I may, let me recognize my chief of staff, another
former N.G.A. Chairman, ((and another quiet and retiring soul) )
John Sununu
And finally, let me salute the Secretary of
Transportation, Sam Skinner, who is doing such an excellent job
in developing a national transportation strategy.
Let us begin by asking: what is the role of the governor in
American political life? Well, the great 19th-century observer
of American politics, Alexis de Toqueville once asked a country
politician the same question. The answer he got was this: "The
governor counts for absolutely nothing and is paid only twelve
hundred dollars." ((PAUSE))
2
Well, you still can't get rich off a public salary. But
today, the office of governor counts for a great deal. In fact,
leadership in America is increasingly the sum of your efforts and
your vision. That is why I am a federalist. I was there when
Ronald Reagan issued the executive order on federalism; and I
want you to know that I stand by it.
As I look around me, I see more than fifty men and women
representing America's states, commonwealths and territories. I
see a people as diverse as our geography, as different as Bill
Clement's Texas and John Waihee's Hawaii, Bob Martinez's Florida
and Jock McKernan's beloved Maine.
And yet, we are a people, one nation, indivisible. Just as
we share our cherished Constitution, so we also share common
challenges and responsibilities. To cure our nation of
illiteracy, drug abuse and crime, we must act in tandem,
president with governor, and governor with mayor, up and down the
line. In short, we must find our collective will as a nation.
That is why I have come to Chicago to meet with my fellow
chief executives. We share, as executives, a special
responsibility
some describe it as a great burden. But for
us, if it is a burden, it is one cheerfully accepted. To sit
where the buck stops, to resolve disputes, to help those in need
and to set a course for the future, is to know a special kind of
satisfaction.
In fact, our missions as executives are so similar that many
presidents have called on you for guidance. It was Teddy
3
Roosevelt who 'called the nation's first conference of governors -
- the forerunner of this association -- at the White House. He
brought the nation's governors together to call for conservation,
for an end to the reckless denuding of our forests. And they
started a tradition that we are carrying on today, working
together as president and governors for a cleaner environment.
As you know, I have proposed the first major revision of the
Clean Air Act in more than a decade. It sets tough standards,
and gives states and industry the flexibility needed to reduce
costs and break the long-standing legislative logjam. The
potential for consensus is there. The American people want clean
air. We can work together to see that they get clean air.
It was another Roosevelt, also a great governor of New York
before he was a great president, who called on the governors to
help him stem the financial crisis of the Great Depression.
Today, we do not meet in a spirit of immediate crísis. The
nation is sound. But the decline of our educational system, the
threat of crime and drugs, the economic dependency of so many --
these simmering problems threaten to endanger the very leadership
position of America in the next century.
For America to remain competitive will require your best
efforts, your executive know-how. The ultimate challenge, as
Governor Baliles puts it, is "to become again the Yankee traders
we once were." ((Take note, Governor Cuomo, when the Governor of
Virginia says "Yankee trader," he's referring to clipper ships,
not to George Steinbrenner.) Your creative response to our
4
nation's compétitive position is more than perceptive; it is
forward-looking, an attribute of the best kind of leadership.
As you know, I have just returned from an economic summit
where the competitive position of our nation was an underlying
theme in discussions on the great economic issues of trade,
monetary policy and international debt. But no less important to
America was the start of my journey
in Eastern and Central
Europe. Of course, Poland and Hungary today are not the economic
magnets that we find in Western Europe or the Pacific Rim. But I
saw a tremendous potential in the awakening spirit of those
lands.
And the beauty of it is that we can boost reform without
massive government-to-government programs. We can do the most
good, as American leaders, by simply facilitating trade and
investment, by simply opening doors for opportunity.
But to open these doors will require leadership at every
level of government. You have already established a great
tradition of searching for those opportunities abroad. Now I ask
you to include Poland and Hungary on your list. While governors
have no formal role in foreign policy, you are becoming our
economic envoys and ambassadors of democracy. You are a new
force in restoring American international competitiveness and
expanding world markets for American goods and services.
Of course, your focus is on the critical domestic issues.
As chief executives, we know first-hand how crucial our social
health is to the future position of America.
5
A nation in which a half of our youth is ignorant of
geography, in which drugs are rampant, in which a substantial
proportion of the population knows little hope -- such a nation
will not long remain competitive. In the final analysis,
improving our schools, driving out drugs and bringing hope and
opportunity to those who need it most -- these are issues of our
national well-being, even our national security.
EDUCATION REFORM
First and foremost are our children and their education.
Working together, you and I can raise the level of learning in
the classrooms of America.
On April 5, I sent to Congress an educational reform
package, based on four principles rooted in the practical
experience of the states. To have reform, excellence and
achievement must be recognized and rewarded. To have reform,
federal dollars should be targeted to those most in need. To
have reform, we need flexibility and choice -- choice for
parents, and choice for schools in their selection of teachers
and principals. Finally, the essence of reform is accountability
in education and reward for those schools that show progress.
If implemented, I believe that these measures will restore
the quality of American education and redeem the future of
millions of children. But there is more to be done. On June 5,
I asked the business community to study what the private sector
can do to energize and support educational reform. Now I want to
6
renew my pledge to assemble the nation's governors in a summit,
to share ideas and to explore options for educational progress.
I invite you to this governors' summit on education, to be held
in at ( (location) ) on October ( (date) ) By working together, we
can find ways to strengthen our schools, to enlarge opportunities
and to improve our nation's educational performance.
CRIME
As chief executives, we also see drugs and crime as the most
harrowing domestic threat to the future of America.
I proposed, on May 15th, a common-sense approach to crime to
deter the criminals' use of weapons, to reform the criminal
justice system, to enhance enforcement and prosecution, and to
expand prison capacity to ensure both the certainty and severity
of punishment. I propose the hiring of 825 new federal agents
and staff; 1,600 new prosecutors and staff; and an additional one
billion dollars for federal prison construction.
I have proposed tough new laws, including mandatory prison
terms, no deals without cooperation and the death penalty for
cop-killers. But I need your leadership to see results. Work
with me. Toughen your laws. And put the worst offenders behind
bars. If you do, we will take back the streets. ((PAUSE))
WELFARE REFORM
Finally, America cannot continue to lead the world if we lag
in providing opportunity at home.
7
Last year, as you know, Congress and the Administration
enacted major welfare reform legislation, the Family Support Act
of 1988. This Act grew out of a consensus that the well-being of
children depends on more than material needs. Children need a
family environment that encourages self-sufficiency. In a word:
character.
With this in mind, I reestablished the Low Income
Opportunity Board within the White House. And I have asked the
board to assist you in the complex and time-consuming process of
obtaining federal approvals for experiments in state welfare
reform. So many innovative policies have come from the states.
Let us continue to work together to keep your administrations
free to experiment, free to be creative.
In fact, I have instructed the Domestic Policy Council, and
the Low Income Opportunity Board, to make flexibility the guiding
principle, so that states will have greater freedom to experiment
with welfare reform.
And I am pleased to announce that this week the DPC has
committed itself to allowing you greater room to maneuver; and to
grant waiver requests as quickly as possible.
CONCLUSION
Many of our responsibilities overlap in education, law
enforcement and welfare. At times, there has been friction
between the states and the "feds." Perhaps what we need between
the federal government and the states is a friendly competition
8
well known to Chicagoans. Here, along the majestic lakefront
skyline, there has been an on-going competition among developers
to retain the title of the world's tallest building. ( (You might
say this gives the phrase one-upmanship a whole new meaning.) ))
Yet, this is the kind of one-upmanship that builds, not
destroys, that lifts, not lowers, that takes us all a little
closer to the stars.
I have committed the powers of my office to lift America --
starting in the classrooms and the streets.
Working together, we can achieve a national consensus.
Working together, we can make the next century another American
century.
Thank you, God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
July 26, 1989
INFORMATION
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
CHRISS WINSTON cw
FROM:
MARK DAVIS MD
SUBJECT:
NATIONAL GOVERNORS' ASSOCIATION SPEECH
I. SUMMARY
On Monday, July 31, 1989, at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago,
you will appear at the annual Summer meeting of the National
Governors' Association. You will speak at approximately 10 a.m.
for 15-20 minutes, and your text will be prepared on speechcards.
The crowd will consist of 300 people -- governors, spouses, and
staff. Also tentatively scheduled to speak are Samuel Skinner
and Andrew Young.
II. DISCUSSION
This speech addresses three main themes: Education reform,
crime, and welfare.
Davis/Martin
July 27, 1989
Draft: Three
Title: Governors
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: N.G.A./HYATT REGENCY, CHICAGO
Monday, July 31, 1989/10 a.m.
Governor Baliles ((Baa-lyles)), I want to commend you on the
success of your chairmanship. Governor Branstad, I know you will
bring your characteristic energy and vision to the leadership of
the Governors Association. Congratulations.
I also want to salute our host and my good friend, Jim
Thompson -- a great governor and a former N.G.A. Chairman who has
rocked the world of Illinois politics by announcing he will not
run for a fifth term
((And to think, Jim, they were just
getting used to you.) )
And if I may, let me recognize my chief of staff, another
former N.G.A. Chairman, ((and another quiet and retiring soul) )
John Sununu
And finally, let me salute the Secretary of
Transportation, Sam Skinner, who is doing such an excellent job
in developing a national transportation strategy.
Let us begin by asking: what is the role of the governor in
American political life? Well, the great 19th-century observer
of American politics, Alexis de Toqueville once asked a country
politician the same question. The answer he got was this: "The
governor counts for absolutely nothing and is paid only twelve
hundred dollars." ((PAUSE))
2
Well, you still can't get rich off a public salary. But
today, the office of governor counts for a great deal. In fact,
leadership in America is increasingly the sum of your efforts and
your vision.
As I look around me, I see more than fifty men and women
representing America's states, commonwealths and territories. I
see a people as diverse as our geography, as different as Bill
Clement's Texas and John Waihee's Hawaii, Bob Martinez's Florida
and Jock McKernan's beloved Maine.
And yet, we are a people, one nation, indivisible. Just as
we share our cherished Constitution, so we also share common
challenges and responsibilities. To cure our nation of
illiteracy, drug abuse and crime, we must act in tandem,
president with governor, and governor with mayor, up and down the
line. In short, we must find our collective will as a nation.
That is why I have come to Chicago to meet with my fellow
chief executives. We share, as executives, a special
responsibility
some describe it as a great burden. But for
us, if it is a burden, it is one cheerfully accepted. To sit
where the buck stops, to resolve disputes, to help those in need
and to set a course for the future, is to know a special kind of
satisfaction.
In fact, our missions as executives are so similar that many
presidents have called on you for guidance. It was Teddy
Roosevelt who called the nation's first conference of governors -
- the forerunner of this association -- at the White House. He
3
brought the nation's governors together to call for conservation,
for an end to the reckless denuding of our forests. And they
started a tradition that we are carrying on, today, working
together as president and governors for a cleaner environment.
As you know, I have proposed the first major revision of the
Clean Air Act in more than a decade. It sets tough standards,
and gives states and industry the flexibility needed to reduce
costs and break the long-standing legislative logjam. The
potential for consensus is there. The American people want clean
air. We can work together to see that they get clean air.
It was another Roosevelt, also a great governor of New York
before he was a great president, who called on the governors to
help him stem the financial crisis of the Great Depression.
Today, we do not meet in a spirit of immediate crisis. The
nation is sound. But the decline of our educational system, the
threat of crime and drugs, the economic dependency of so many --
these simmering problems threaten to endanger the very leadership
position of America in the next century.
For America to remain competitive will require your best
efforts, your executive know-how. The ultimate challenge, as
Governor Baliles puts it, is "to become again the Yankee traders
we once were." ((Take note, Governor Cuomo, when the Governor of
Virginia says "Yankee trader," he's referring to clipper ships,
not to George Steinbrenner.) ) Your creative response to our
nation's competitive position is more than perceptive; it is
forward-looking, an attribute of the best kind of leadership.
4
As you know, I have just returned from an economic summit
where the competitive position of our nation was an underlying
theme in discussions on the great economic issues of trade,
monetary policy and international debt. But no less important to
America was the start of my journey
in Eastern and Central
Europe. of course, in economic terms, Poland and Hungary today
are not the economic magnets that we find in Western Europe or
the Pacific Rim. But I saw a tremendous potential in the
awakening spirit of those lands. No one who has witnessed the
courage of the workers of Gdansk, or the exuberance of the young
people of Budapest, could doubt the coming achievements, the
future greatness of the Polish and Hungarian peoples.
America can be the catalyst for change in these countries --
change that is certain to open new markets for American products.
But we have our eyes on a greater vision of what trade means --
not just the trading of goods, but the free flow of people and
ideas that can only be called freedom. ((PAUSE))
And the beauty of it is that we can boost reform without
massive government-to-government programs. We can do the most
good, as American leaders, by simply facilitating trade and
investment, by simply opening doors for opportunity.
But to open these doors will require leadership at every
level of government. You have already established a great
tradition of leading trade missions abroad. Now I ask you to
take another bold step, to enlist your leadership, to ask each of
you to go to Poland, to go to Hungary. While governors have no
5
formal role in foreign policy, you are becoming our economic
envoys and ambassadors of democracy. You are a new force in
restoring American international competitiveness and expanding
world markets for American goods and services.
of course, your focus is on the critical domestic issues.
As chief executives, we know first-hand how crucial our social
health is to the future position of America.
A nation in which a half of our youth is ignorant of
geography, in which drugs are rampant, in which a substantial
proportion of the population knows little hope -- such a nation
will not long remain competitive. In the final analysis,
improving our schools, driving out drugs and bringing hope and
opportunity to those who need it most -- these are issues of our
national well-being, even our national security.
EDUCATION REFORM
First and foremost are our children and their education.
Working together, you and I can raise the level of learning in
the classrooms of America.
On April 5, I sent to Congress an educational reform
package, based on four principles rooted in the practical
experience of the states. To have reform, excellence and
achievement must be recognized and rewarded. To have reform,
federal dollars should be targeted to those most in need. To
have reform, we need flexibility and choice -- choice for
parents, and choice for schools in their selection of teachers
6
and principals. Finally, the essence of reform is accountability
in education and reward for those schools that show progress.
If implemented, I believe that these measures will restore
the quality of American education and redeem the future of
millions of children. But there is more to be done. On June 5,
I asked the business community to study what the private sector
can do to energize and support educational reform. Now I want to
renew my pledge to assemble the nation's governors in a summit,
to share ideas and to explore options for educational progress.
I invite you to this governors' summit on education, to be held
in at ((high school)) on October ((date)) By working together,
we can find ways to strengthen our schools, to enlarge
opportunities and to improve our nation's educational
performance.
CRIME
As chief executives, we also see drugs and crime as the most
harrowing domestic threat to the future of America.
I proposed, on May 15th, a common-sense approach to crime to
deter the criminals' use of weapons, to reform the criminal
justice system, to enhance enforcement and prosecution, and to
expand prison capacity to ensure both the certainty and severity
of punishment. I propose the hiring of 825 new federal agents
and staff; 1,600 new prosecutors and staff; and an additional one
billion dollars for federal prison construction.
7
I have proposed tough new laws, including mandatory prison
terms, no deals without cooperation and the death penalty for
cop-killers. But I need your leadership to see results. Work
with me. Toughen your laws. And put the worst offenders behind
bars. If you do, we will take back the streets. ( (PAUSE) )
WELFARE REFORM
Finally, America cannot continue to lead the world if we lag
in providing opportunity at home.
Last year, as you know, Congress and the Administration
enacted major welfare reform legislation, the Family Support Act
of 1988. This Act grew out of a consensus that the well-being of
children depends on more than material needs. Children need a
family environment that encourages self-sufficiency. In a word:
character.
With this in mind, I reestablished the Low Income
Opportunity Board within the White House. And I have asked the
board to assist you in the complex and time-consuming process of
obtaining federal approvals for experiments in state welfare
reform. So many innovative policies have come from the states.
Let us continue to work together to keep your administrations
free to experiment, free to be creative.
In fact, I have instructed the Domestic Policy Council, and
the Low Income Opportunity Board, to make flexibility the guiding
principle, so that states will have greater freedom to experiment
with welfare reform.
8
And I am pleased to announce that this week the DPC has
committed itself to allowing you greater room to maneuver; and to
1.
grant waiver requests as quickly as possible.
CONCLUSION
Many of our responsibilities overlap in education, law
enforcement and welfare. At times, there has been friction
between the states and the "feds." Perhaps what we need between
the federal government and the states is a friendly competition
well known to Chicagoans. Here, along the majestic lakefront
skyline, there has been an on-going competition among developers
to retain the title of the world's tallest building. ( (You might
say this gives the phrase one-upmanship a whole new meaning.) )
Yet, this is the kind of one-upmanship that builds, not
destroys, that lifts, not lowers, that takes us all a little
closer to the stars.
I have committed the powers of my office to lift America --
starting in the classrooms and the streets.
Working together, we can achieve a national consensus.
Working together, we can make the next century another American
century.
Thank you, God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
Davis/Martin
July 27, 1989
Draft: Four
Title: Governors
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: N.G.A./HYATT REGENCY, CHICAGO
Monday, July 31, 1989/10 a.m.
Governor Baliles ((Baa-lyles)), I want to commend you on the
success of your chairmanship. Governor Branstad, I know you will
bring your characteristic energy and vision to the leadership of
the Governors Association. Congratulations.
I also want to salute our host and my good friend, Jim
Thompson -- a great governor and a former N.G.A. Chairman who has
rocked the world of Illinois politics by announcing he will not
run for a fifth term
((And to think, Jim, they were just
getting used to you. ))
And if I may, let me recognize my chief of staff, another
former N.G.A. Chairman, ((and another quiet and retiring soul)),
John Sununu
And finally, let me salute the Secretary of
Transportation, Sam Skinner, who is doing such an excellent job
in developing a national transportation strategy.
Let us begin by asking: what is the role of the governor in
American political life? Well, the great 19th-century observer
of American politics, Alexis de Toqueville once asked a country
politician the same question. The answer he got was this: "The
governor counts for absolutely nothing and is paid only twelve
hundred dollars." ((PAUSE))
7
2
Well, you still can't get rich off a public salary. But
today, the office of governor counts for a great deal. In fact,
leadership in America is increasingly the sum of your efforts and
your vision. That is why I am a federalist. I was there when
Ronald Reagan issued the executive order on federalism; and I
want you to know that I stand by it.
As I look around me, I see more than fifty men and women
representing America's states, commonwealths and territories. I
see a people as diverse as our geography, as different as Bill
Clement's Texas and John Waihee's Hawaii, Bob Martinez's Florida
and Jock McKernan's beloved Maine.
And yet, we are a people, one nation, indivisible. Just as
we share our cherished Constitution, so we also share common
challenges and responsibilities. To cure our nation of
illiteracy, drug abuse and crime, we must act in tandem,
president with governor, and governor with mayor, up and down the
line. In short, we must find our collective will as a nation.
That is why I have come to Chicago to meet with my fellow
chief executives. We share, as executives, a special
responsibility
some describe it as a great burden. But for
us, if it is a burden, it is one cheerfully accepted. To sit
where the buck stops, to resolve disputes, to help those in need
and to set a course for the future, is to know a special kind of
satisfaction.
In fact, our missions as executives are so similar that many
presidents have called on you for guidance. It was Teddy
3
Roosevelt who called the nation's first conference of governors -
- the forerunner of this association -- at the White House. He
brought the nation's governors together to call for conservation,
for an end to the reckless denuding of our forests. And they
started a tradition that we are carrying on today, working
together as president and governors for a cleaner environment.
As you know, I have proposed the first major revision of the
Clean Air Act in more than a decade. It sets tough standards,
and gives states and industry the flexibility needed to reduce
costs and break the long-standing legislative logjam. The
potential for consensus is there. The American people want clean
air. We can work together to see that they get clean air.
It was another Roosevelt, also a great governor of New York
before he was a great president, who called on the governors to
help him stem the financial crisis of the Great Depression.
Today, we do not meet in a spirit of immediate crisis. The
nation is sound. But the decline of our educational system, the
threat of crime and drugs, the economic dependency of SO many --
these simmering problems threaten to endanger the very leadership
position of America in the next century.
For America to remain competitive will require your best
efforts, your executive know-how. The ultimate challenge, as
Governor Baliles puts it, is "to become again the Yankee traders
we once were." ( (Take note, Governor Cuomo, when the Governor of
Virginia says "Yankee trader," he's referring to clipper ships,
not to George Steinbrenner.) Your creative response to our
4
nation's competitive position is more than perceptive; it is
forward-looking, an attribute of the best kind of leadership.
As you know, I have just returned from an economic summit
where the competitive position of our nation was an underlying
theme in discussions on the great economic issues of trade,
monetary policy and international debt. But no less important to
America was the start of my journey
in Eastern and Central
Europe. of course, in economic terms, Poland and Hungary today
are not the economic magnets that we find in Western Europe or
the Pacific Rim. But I saw a tremendous potential in the
awakening spirit of those lands. No one who has witnessed the
courage of the workers of Gdansk, or the exuberance of the young
people of Budapest, could doubt the coming achievements, the
future greatness of the Polish and Hungarian peoples.
America can be the catalyst for change in these countries --
change that is certain to open new markets for American products.
But we have our eyes on a greater vision of what trade means --
not just the trading of goods, but the free flow of people and
ideas that can only be called freedom. ((PAUSE))
And the beauty of it is that we can boost reform without
massive government-to-government programs. We can do the most
good, as American leaders, by simply facilitating trade and
investment, by simply opening doors for opportunity.
But to open these doors will require leadership at every
level of government. You have already established a great
tradition of leading trade missions abroad. Now I ask you to
5
take another bold step, to enlist your leadership, to ask each of
you to go to Poland, to go to Hungary. While governors have no
formal role in foreign policy, you are becoming our economic
envoys and ambassadors of democracy. You are a new force in
restoring American international competitiveness and expanding
world markets for American goods and services.
of course, your focus is on the critical domestic issues.
As chief executives, we know first-hand how crucial our social
health is to the future position of America.
A nation in which a half of our youth is ignorant of
geography, in which drugs are rampant, in which a substantial
proportion of the population knows little hope -- such a nation
will not long remain competitive. In the final analysis,
improving our schools, driving out drugs and bringing hope and
opportunity to those who need it most -- these are issues of our
national well-being, even our national security.
EDUCATION REFORM
First and foremost are our children and their education.
Working together, you and I can raise the level of learning in
the classrooms of America.
On April 5, I sent to Congress an educational reform
package, based on four principles rooted in the practical
experience of the states. To have reform, excellence and
achievement must be recognized and rewarded. To have reform,
federal dollars should be targeted to those most in need. To
6
have reform, we need flexibility and choice -- choice for
parents, and choice for schools in their selection of teachers
and principals. Finally, the essence of reform is accountability
in education and reward for those schools that show progress.
If implemented, I believe that these measures will restore
the quality of American education and redeem the future of
millions of children. But there is more to be done. On June 5,
I asked the business community to study what the private sector
can do to energize and support educational reform. Now I want to
renew my pledge to assemble the nation's governors in a summit,
to share ideas and to explore options for educational progress.
I invite you to this governors' summit on education, to be held
in at ((location)) on October ((date)) By working together, we
can find ways to strengthen our schools, to enlarge opportunities
and to improve our nation's educational performance.
CRIME
As chief executives, we also see drugs and crime as the most
harrowing domestic threat to the future of America.
I proposed, on May 15th, a common-sense approach to crime to
deter the criminals' use of weapons, to reform the criminal
justice system, to enhance enforcement and prosecution, and to
expand prison capacity to ensure both the certainty and severity
of punishment. I propose the hiring of 825 new federal agents
and staff; 1,600 new prosecutors and staff; and an additional one
billion dollars for federal prison construction.
7
I have proposed tough new laws, including mandatory prison
terms, no deals without cooperation and the death penalty for
cop-killers. But I need your leadership to see results. Work
with me. Toughen your laws. And put the worst offenders behind
bars. If you do, we will take back the streets. ((PAUSE))
WELFARE REFORM
Finally, America cannot continue to lead the world if we lag
in providing opportunity at home.
Last year, as you know, Congress and the Administration
enacted major welfare reform legislation, the Family Support Act
of 1988. This Act grew out of a consensus that the well-being of
children depends on more than material needs. Children need a
family environment that encourages self-sufficiency. In a word:
character.
With this in mind, I reestablished the Low Income
Opportunity Board within the White House. And I have asked the
board to assist you in the complex and time-consuming process of
obtaining federal approvals for experiments in state welfare
reform. So many innovative policies have come from the states.
Let us continue to work together to keep your administrations
free to experiment, free to be creative.
In fact, I have instructed the Domestic Policy Council, and
the Low Income Opportunity Board, to make flexibility the guiding
principle, so that states will have greater freedom to experiment
with welfare reform.
8
And I am pleased to announce that this week the DPC has
committed itself to allowing you greater room to maneuver; and to
grant waiver requests as quickly as possible.
CONCLUSION
Many of our responsibilities overlap in education, law
enforcement and welfare. At times, there has been friction
between the states and the "feds." Perhaps what we need between
the federal government and the states is a friendly competition
well known to Chicagoans. Here, along the majestic lakefront
skyline, there has been an on-going competition among developers
to retain the title of the world's tallest building. ((You might
say this gives the phrase one-upmanship a whole new meaning.) )
Yet, this is the kind of one-upmanship that builds, not
destroys, that lifts, not lowers, that takes us all a little
closer to the stars.
I have committed the powers of my office to lift America --
starting in the classrooms and the streets.
Working together, we can achieve a national consensus.
Working together, we can make the next century another American
century.
Thank you, God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
89 JUL 25 P6: 27
July 25, 1989
Memorandum to Chriss Winston
Ansten Ansten Funcefor Funcefor
From:
Jim Pinkerton
Subject:
National Governors Association Draft Speech
This draft is well-crafted but is a little slow in reaching
the substance. We do not reach the three substantive points
until the fourth page. We should put these up front: education,
crime, and welfare.
pg. 1, para. 4, lines 3-6
The Tocqueville quote is a deft
touch. Good research.
2,2,5
"John McKernan" is known familiarly as "Jock" McKernan
V
2,3,7
"collective will" has the ring of Rousseau's volante
general, and suggests all the negative connotations of the word
"collective." We suggest something like "common purpose" or
"cooperative purpose" or "combined will."
4,1,1
"Gdansk" is mispelled here.
5,2,2
"[Better to] light one candle [than to] curse the
darkness, is, if we are not mistaken, an ancient Chinese
proverb. In any case, it is now often used as a parody of
fortune-cookie sententiousness, and notwithstanding that FDR used
it, we ought to be able to come up with a less hackneyed line,
e.g. some famous Governor on education (Wilbur Cross of
Connecticut was eloquent on this score).
6,3,2
"
a common-sense approach to crime to limit
criminals' access to weapons " The emphasis here should be on
tougher punishments for committing crimes in which weapons are
used, therefore, we suggest " to deter the criminal use of
weapons...
7,1,3
We are pleased to see the use of the word "character"
here. This word, and, in particular, the phrase "cultivating
character,' will go a long way toward shifting the public
discourse on issues involving the underclass.
(more)
2-2-2
7,3,8
"One-upsmanship" is a poison phrase and while the use
is clever here, we believe that the word's bad connotations
cannot be overcome. Perhaps a pun, such as "writing a new story
in history" or "edifice complex" or "Chicago's municipal bird is
the crane" might be able to carry the image in the same way, but
in any case, avoiding one-upsmanship will be the safer course.
#
Document No. 056651
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
07/24/89
C.O.B. Tuesday 07/25
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: N.G.A. - CHICAGO, IL
SUBJECT:
(07/21 Draft one)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
STUDDERT
BATES
UNTERMEYER
BREEDEN
ROGERS
CARD
PINKERTON
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
ANDERSON
FITZWATER
BENNETT
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by close of business on Tuesday, 07/25, with a copy to
my office. Thanks.
RESPONSE:
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Document No. 056651
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
07/24/89
C.O.B. Tuesday 07/25
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: N.G.A. - CHICAGO, IL
(07/21 Draft one)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
X
DARMAN
\
STUDDERT
BATES
UNTERMEYER
BREEDEN
ROGERS
CARD
PINKERTON
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
ANDERSON
FITZWATER
BENNETT
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by close of business on Tuesday, 07/25, with a copy to
my office. Thanks.
RESPONSE:
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Davis/Martin
July 21, 1989
Draft: One
Title: Governors
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: N.G.A./HYATT REGENCY, CHICAGO
Monday, July 31, 1989/10 a.m.
Governor Baliles ((Baa-lyles) ) I want to commend you on the
success of your chairmanship. Governor Branstad, you will bring
your energy and vision to a Governors Association that has 15 DOING
much TO HELP
already become a powerhouse of ideas ideas to lead America as MEET
we face the challenges of a new century.
I also want to salute our host and my good friend, Jim
Thompson -- a great governor and a former N.G.A. Chairman who has
rocked the world of Illinois politics by announcing he will not
run for a fifth term
((And to think, Jim, they were just
getting used to you. ))
And if I may, let me recognize my chief of staff, another
former N.G.A. Chairman, ( (and another quiet and retiring soul) )
John Sununu
Let us begin by asking: what is the role of the governor in
American political life? Well, the great 19th-century observer
of American politics, Alexis de Toqueville once asked a country
politician the same question. The answer he got was this: "The
governor counts for absolutely nothing and is paid only twelve
hundred dollars." ((PAUSE))
Well, you still can't get rich off a public salary. But
today, the office of governor counts for a great deal. [In In fact,
2
leadership in America is increasingly the sum of your efforts and
your vision.
As I look around me, I see more than fifty men and women
representing America's states, commonwealths and territories. I
see a people as diverse as our geography, as different as Bill
Clement's Texas and John Waihee's Hawaii, Bob Martinez's Florida
and John McKernan's beloved Maine.
And yet, we are a people, one nation, indivisible. Just as
we share our cherished Constitution, so we also share common
challenges and responsibilities. [TO become competitive as a
nation, we must become competitive as states.] To cure our nation
of illiteracy, drug abuse and crime, we must act in tandem,
president with governor, and governor with mayor, up and down the
line. In short, we must find our collective will as a nation.
That is why I have come to Chicago to meet with my fellow
chief executives. We share, as executives, a special
responsibility
I, FOR ONE, Do
some describe it as a great burden.
But
for
NOT VIEN IT AS
IN my CONVERSATIONS WITH MANY OF you, I SENSE
us, if it is a burdeno it is one cheerfully accepted To sit
THAT you ALSO VIEW OUR TASKS AS BOTH A GREAT CHALLENGE AND A GREAT
where the buck stops, to resolve disputes, to help those in need
and to set a course for the future, is to know a special kind of
satisfaction.
In fact, our missions as executives are so similar that many
presidents have called on you for guidance. It was Teddy
OPPORTUNITY. To SIT
Roosevelt who called the nation's first conference of governors -
- the forerunner of this association -- at the White House. He
3
brought the nation's governors together to call for conservation,
for an end to the reckless denuding of our forests.
It was another Roosevelt, also a great governor of New York
before he was a great president, who called on the governors to
help him stem the financial crisis of the Great Depression.
Today, we do not meet in a spirit of immediate crisis. The
nation is sound. But the decline of our education, the threat of
crime and drugs, the economic dependency of so many -- these
simmering problems threaten to endanger the very leadership
position of America in the next century.
For America to remain competitive will require your best
efforts, your executive know-how. The ultimate challenge, as
Governor Baliles puts it, is "to become again the Yankee traders
we once were." For the governors to formulate a creative
response to our nation's competitive position is more than
perceptive; it is forward-looking, an attribute of the best kind
of leadership.
As you know, I have just returned from an economic summit
where the competitive position of our nation was an underlying
theme in discussions on the great economic issues of trade,
monetary policy and international debt. But no less important to
America was the start of my journey
in Eastern and Central
Europe. Of course, in economic terms, Poland and Hungary today
are not the economic magnets that we find in Western Europe or
the Pacific Rim. But I saw a tremendous potential in the
awakening spirit of those lands. No one who has witnessed the
4
courage of the workers of Gdnask, or the exuberance of the young
people of Budapest, could doubt the coming achievements, the
future greatness of the Polish and Hungarian peoples.
America can be the catalyst for change in these countries --
change that is certain to open new markets for American products.
But we have our eyes on a greater vision of what trade means --
not just the trading of goods, but the free flow of people and
ideas that can only be called freedom. ((PAUSE))
And the beauty of it is that we can boost reform without
massive government-to-government programs. We can do the most
good, as American leaders, by simply facilitating trade and
investment, by simply opening doors for opportunity.
To open these doors will require leadership at every level
of government. That is one reason why I have come to Chicago, to
?/
enlist your leadership, to ask each of you to go to Poland, to go
to Hungary. While governors have no formal role in foreign
policy and trade, you are becoming our economic envoys and our
ambassadors of democracy. You are a new force in restoring
American international competitiveness.
Of course, your focus is on the critical domestic issues.
As chief executives, we know first-hand how crucial our social
health is to the future position of America.
A nation in which a half of the youngest generation is
ignorant of geography, in which drugs are rampant, in which a
substantial proportion of the population knows LITTLE no hope -- such a
nation will not long remain competitive. In the final analysis,
5
improving our schools, driving out drugs and bringing hope and
opportunity to those who need it most -- these are issues of our
national well-being, even our national security.
EDUCATION REFORM
ELEANOR(?)
First and foremost are our children and their education.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt said: "We can light a candle or curse
the darkness." Working together, you and I can bring
enlightenment to every classroom in America.
On April 5, I sent to Congress an educational reform
FOUR
package, based on a few principles rooted in the practical
experience of the states. To have reform, excellence and
achievement must be recognized and rewarded. To have reform,
federal dollars should be targeted to those most in need. To
have reform, we need flexibility and choice -- choice for
parents, and choice for schools in their selection of teachers
and principals. Finally, the essence of reform is accountability
in education and reward for those schools that show progress.
If implemented, I believe that these measures will restore
the quality of American education and redeem the future of
millions of children. But there is more to be done. On June 5,
I asked the business community to study what the private sector
can do to energize and support educational reform. Now I want to
NATION'S GOVERNORS
renew my pledge to assemble the executive talent of America in a
summit, to share ideas and to explore options for educational
GOVERNORS
progress. I invite you to a summit on education, to be held [in
6
OCTOBER
at ( (high school)) on September ((date)). By working together,
FIND WAYS
STRENGTHEN OUR
we can reach a consensus on long term goals, ways to better the
TO ENCARGE OPPORTUNITIES, AND TO IMPROVE OUR PERFORMANCE.
schools, of America,
NATION'S EDUCATIONAL
CRIME
As chief executives, we also see drugs and crime as the most
harrowing domestic threat to the future of America.
I proposed, on May 15, a common-sense approach to crime to
limit criminals' access to weapons, to reform the criminal
justice system, to enhance enforcement and prosecution, and to
expand prison capacity to ensure both the certainty and severity
of punishment. I propose the hiring of 825 new federal agents
and staff; 1,600 new prosecutors and staff; and an additional one
billion dollars for federal prison construction.
I have proposed tough new laws, including mandatory time, no
deals without cooperation and the death penalty for cop-killers.
To effectively fight crime, we need the same approach at the
state level. Work with us, toughen your laws, and together we
can take back the streets. ((PAUSE))
WELFARE REFORM
Finally, America cannot continue to lead the world if we lag
in providing opportunity at home.
Last year, as you know, Congress and the Administration
enacted major welfare reform legislation, the Family Support Act
of 1988. This Act grew out of a consensus that the well-being of
7
children depends on more than mere material needs. Children need
a family environment that encourages self-sufficiency. In a
word: character.
With this in mind, I reestablished the Low Income
Opportunity Board within the White House. And I have asked the
board to assist you in the complex and time-consuming process of
obtaining federal approvals for experiments in state welfare
reform. So many innovative policies have come from the states.
Let us continue to work together to keep your administrations
free to experiment, free to be creative.
CONCLUSION
Many of our responsibilities overlap in education, law
enforcement and welfare. At times, there has been friction
between the states and the "feds." Perhaps what we need between
the federal government and the states is a friendly competition
well known to Chicagoans. Here, along the majestic lakefront
skyline, there has been an on-going competition among developers
to retain the title of the world's tallest building. ( (You might
say this gives the phrase one-upmanship a whole new meaning.) )
Yet, this is the kind of one-upmanship that builds, not
destroys, that lifts, not lowers, that takes us all a little
closer to the stars.
I have committed the powers of my office to lift America --
starting in the classrooms and the streets.
8
Working together, we can achieve a national consensus.
Working together, we can make the next century another American
century.
Thank you, God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
Document No. 056651
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
07/24/89
C.O.B. Tuesday 07/25
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: N.G.A. CHICAGO, IL
SUBJECT:
(07/21 Draft one)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
\
STUDDERT
BATES
UNTERMEYER
BREEDEN
ROGERS
CARD
PINKERTON
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
ANDERSON
FITZWATER
BENNETT
GRAY
HAGIN
68
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by close of business on Tuesday, 07/25, with a copy
my office. Thanks.
JU 26, $12: 48
RESPONSE:
I
think the needs news hard DPC Ands 7/25
James
W.
Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Davis/Martin
July 21, 1989
Draft: One
Title: Governors
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: N.G.A./HYATT REGENCY, CHICAGO
Monday, July 31, 1989/10 a.m.
Governor Baliles ((Baa-lyles) I want to commend you on the
success of your chairmanship. Governor Branstad, you will bring
your energy and vision to a Governors Association that has
already become a powerhouse of ideas -- ideas to lead America as
we face the challenges of a new century.
I also want to salute our host and my good friend, Jim
Thompson -- a great governor and a former N.G.A. Chairman who has
rocked the world of Illinois politics by announcing he will not
run for a fifth term
((And to think, Jim, they were just
getting used to you. ))
And if I may, let me recognize my chief of staff, another
former N.G.A. Chairman, ((and another quiet and retiring soul) )
John Sununu
...
Let us begin by asking: what is the role of the governor in
American political life? Well, the great 19th-century observer
of American politics, Alexis de Toqueville once asked a country
politician the same question. The answer he got was this: "The
governor counts for absolutely nothing and is paid only twelve
hundred dollars." ((PAUSE))
Well, you still can't get rich off a public salary. But
today, the office of governor counts for a great deal. In fact,
2
leadership in America is increasingly the sum of your efforts and
your vision.
As I look around me, I see more than fifty men and women
representing America's states, commonwealths and territories. I
see a people as diverse as our geography, as different as Bill
Clement's Texas and John Waihee's Hawaii, Bob Martinez's Florida
and John McKernan's beloved Maine.
And yet, we are a people, one nation, indivisible. Just as
we share our cherished Constitution, so we also share common
challenges and responsibilities. To become competitive as a
nation, we must become competitive as states. To cure our nation
of illiteracy, drug abuse and crime, we must act in tandem,
president with governor, and governor with mayor, up and down the
line. In short, we must find our collective will as a nation.
That is why I have come to Chicago to meet with my fellow
chief executives. We share, as executives, a special
responsibility
some describe it as a great burden. But for
us, if it is a burden, it is one cheerfully accepted. To sit
where the buck stops, to resolve disputes, to help those in need
and to set a course for the future, is to know a special kind of
satisfaction.
In fact, our missions as executives are so similar that many
presidents have called on you for guidance. It was Teddy
Roosevelt who called the nation's first conference of governors -
- the forerunner of this association -- at the White House. He
3
brought the nation's governors together to call for conservation,
for an end to the reckless denuding of our forests.
It was another Roosevelt, also a great governor of New York
before he was a great president, who called on the governors to
help him stem the financial crisis of the Great Depression.
Today, we do not meet in a spirit of immediate crisis. The
nation is sound. But the decline of our education, the threat of
crime and drugs, the economic dependency of so many -- these
simmering problems threaten to endanger the very leadership
position of America in the next century.
For America to remain competitive will require your best
efforts, your executive know-how. The ultimate challenge, as
Governor Baliles puts it, is "to become again the Yankee traders
we once were." For the governors to formulate a creative
response to our nation's competitive position is more than
perceptive; it is forward-looking, an attribute of the best kind
of leadership.
As you know, I have just returned from an economic summit
where the competitive position of our nation was an underlying
theme in discussions on the great economic issues of trade,
monetary policy and international debt. But no less important to
America was the start of my journey
in Eastern and Central
Europe. Of course, in economic terms, Poland and Hungary today
are not the economic magnets that we find in Western Europe or
the Pacific Rim. But I saw a tremendous potential in the
awakening spirit of those lands. No one who has witnessed the
4
courage of the workers of Gdnask, or the exuberance of the young
people of Budapest, could doubt the coming achievements, the
future greatness of the Polish and Hungarian peoples.
America can be the catalyst for change in these countries --
change that is certain to open new markets for American products.
But we have our eyes on a greater vision of what trade means --
not just the trading of goods, but the free flow of people and
ideas that can only be called freedom. ( (PAUSE))
And the beauty of it is that we can boost reform without
massive government-to-government programs. We can do the most
good, as American leaders, by simply facilitating trade and
investment, by simply opening doors for opportunity.
To open these doors will require leadership at every level
of government. That is one reason why I have come to Chicago, to
enlist your leadership, to ask each of you to go to Poland, to go
to Hungary. While governors have no formal role in foreign
policy and trade, you are becoming our economic envoys and our
ambassadors of democracy. You are a new force in restoring
American international competitiveness.
Of course, your focus is on the critical domestic issues.
As chief executives, we know first-hand how crucial our social
health is to the future position of America.
A nation in which a half of the youngest generation is
ignorant of geography, in which drugs are rampant, in which a
substantial proportion of the population knows no hope -- such a
nation will not long remain competitive. In the final analysis,
5
improving our schools, driving out drugs and bringing hope and
opportunity to those who need it most -- these are issues of our
national well-being, even our national security.
EDUCATION REFORM
First and foremost are our children and their education.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt said: "We can light a candle or curse
the darkness." Working together, you and I can bring
enlightenment to every classroom in America.
On April 5, I sent to Congress an educational reform
package, based on a few principles rooted in the practical
experience of the states. To have reform, excellence and
achievement must be recognized and rewarded. To have reform,
federal dollars should be targeted to those most in need. To
have reform, we need flexibility and choice -- choice for
parents, and choice for schools in their selection of teachers
and principals. Finally, the essence of reform is accountability
in education and reward for those schools that show progress.
If implemented, I believe that these measures will restore
the quality of American education and redeem the future of
millions of children. But there is more to be done. On June 5,
I asked the business community to study what the private sector
can do to energize and support educational reform. Now I want to
renew my pledge to assemble the executive talent of America in a
Education
Summit
summit, to share ideas and to explore options for educational
progress. I invite you to a summit on education, to be held in
6
October
at ((high school) ) on September (date) ) By working together,
we can reach a consensus on long-term goals, ways to better the
schools of America.
CRIME
As chief executives, we also see drugs and crime as the most
harrowing domestic threat to the future of America.
I proposed, on May 15, a common-sense approach to crime to
limit criminals' access to weapons, to reform the criminal
justice system, to enhance enforcement and prosecution, and to
expand prison capacity to ensure both the certainty and severity
of punishment. I propose the hiring of 825 new federal agents
and staff; 1,600 new prosecutors and staff; and an additional one
billion dollars for federal prison construction.
I have proposed tough new laws, including mandatory time, no
deals without cooperation and the death penalty for cop-killers.
weak
To effectively fight crime, we need the same approach at the
state level. Work with us, toughen your laws, and together we
can take back the streets. ((PAUSE))
WELFARE REFORM
Finally, America cannot continue to lead the world if we lag
in providing opportunity at home.
Last year, as you know, Congress and the Administration
enacted major welfare reform legislation, the Family Support Act
of 1988. This Act grew out of a consensus that the well-being of
7
children depends on more than mere material needs. Children need
a family environment that encourages self-sufficiency. In a
word: character.
With this in mind, I reestablished the Low Income
Opportunity Board within the White House. And I have asked the
board to assist you in the complex and time-consuming process of
obtaining federal approvals for experiments in state welfare
reform. So many innovative policies have come from the states.
lexand
Let us continue to work together to keep your administrations
JDR
free to experiment, free to be creative.
CONCLUSION
Many of our responsibilities overlap in education, law
enforcement and welfare. At times, there has been friction
between the states and the "feds." Perhaps what we need between
the federal government and the states is a friendly competition
well known to Chicagoans. Here, along the majestic lakefront
skyline, there has been an on-going competition among developers
to retain the title of the world's tallest building. ( (You might
say this gives the phrase one-upmanship a whole new meaning. ) )
Yet, this is the kind of one-upmanship that builds, not
destroys, that lifts, not lowers, that takes us all a little
closer to the stars.
I have committed the powers of my office to lift America --
starting in the classrooms and the streets.
I
1
8
Working together, we can achieve a national consensus.
Working together, we can make the next century another American
century.
Thank you, God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
Document No. 056651
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
07/24/89
C.O.B. Tuesday 07/25
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: N.G.A. - CHICAGO, IL
SUBJECT:
(07/21 Draft one)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
STUDDERT
BATES
UNTERMEYER
BREEDEN
ROGERS
CARD
PINKERTON
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
ANDERSON
FITZWATER
BENNETT
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by close of business on Tuesday, 07/25, with a copy to
my office. Thanks.
RESPONSE:
Sml
comments
89 JUL 26 P12:
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Davis/Martin
July 21, 1989
Draft: One
Title: Governors
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: N.G.A./HYATT REGENCY, CHICAGO
Monday, July 31, 1989/10 a.m.
Governor Baliles ((Baa-lyles)), I want to commend you on the
success of your chairmanship. Governor Branstad, you will bring
your energy and vision to a Governors Association that has
already become a powerhouse of ideas -- ideas to lead America as
we face the challenges of a new century.
I also want to salute our host and my good friend, Jim
Thompson -- a great governor and a former N.G.A. Chairman who has
rocked the world of Illinois politics by announcing he will not
run for a fifth term
((And to think, Jim, they were just
getting used to you. ))
And if I may, let me recognize my chief of staff, another
former N.G.A. Chairman, ((and another quiet and retiring soul) )
John Sununu
Let us begin by asking: what is the role of the governor in
American political life? Well, the great 19th-century observer
of American politics, Alexis de Toqueville once asked a country
politician the same question. The answer he got was this: "The
governor counts for absolutely nothing and is paid only twelve
hundred dollars." ((PAUSE))
Well, you still can't get rich off a public salary. But
today, the office of governor counts for a great deal. In fact,
2
leadership in America is increasingly the sum of your efforts and
your vision.
As I look around me, I see more than fifty men and women
representing America's states, commonwealths and territories. I
see a people as diverse as our geography, as different as Bill
Clement's Texas and John Waihee's Hawaii, Bob Martinez's Florida
and John McKernan's beloved Maine.
And yet, we are a people, one nation, indivisible. Just as
we share our cherished Constitution, so we also share common
challenges and responsibilities. To become competitive as a
nation, we must become competitive as states. To cure our nation
of illiteracy, drug abuse and crime, we must act in tandem,
president with governor, and governor with mayor, up and down the
line. In short, we must find our collective will as a nation.
That is why I have come to Chicago to meet with my fellow
chief executives. We share, as executives, a special
responsibility
some describe it as a great burden. But for
us, if it is a burden, it is one cheerfully accepted. To sit
where the buck stops, to resolve disputes, to help those in need
and to set a course for the future, is to know a special kind of
satisfaction.
In fact, our missions as executives are so similar that many
presidents have called on you for guidance. It was Teddy
Roosevelt who called the nation's first conference of governors -
- the forerunner of this association -- at the White House. He
3
brought the nation's governors together to call for conservation,
for an end to the reckless denuding of our forests.
It was another Roosevelt, also a great governor of New York
before he was a great president, who called on the governors to
help him stem the financial crisis of the Great Depression.
Today, we do not meet in a spirit of immediate crisis. The
nation is sound. But the decline of our education, the threat of
crime and drugs, the economic dependency of so many -- these
simmering problems threaten to endanger the very leadership
position of America in the next century.
For America to remain competitive will require your best
efforts, your executive know-how. The ultimate challenge, as
Governor Baliles puts it, is "to become again the Yankee traders
we once were." For the governors to formulate a creative
response to our nation's competitive position is more than
perceptive; it is forward-looking, an attribute of the best kind
of leadership.
As you know, I have just returned from an economic summit
where the competitive position of our nation was an underlying
theme in discussions on the great economic issues of trade,
monetary policy and international debt. But no less important to
America was the start of my journey
in Eastern and Central
Europe. Of course, in economic terms, Poland and Hungary today
are not the economic magnets that we find in Western Europe or
the Pacific Rim. But I saw a tremendous potential in the
awakening spirit of those lands. No one who has witnessed the
4
courage of the workers of Gdnask, or the exuberance of the young
people of Budapest, could doubt the coming achievements, the
future greatness of the Polish and Hungarian peoples.
America can be the catalyst for change in these countries --
change that is certain to open new markets for American products.
But we have our eyes on a greater vision of what trade means --
not just the trading of goods, but the free flow of people and
ideas that can only be called freedom. ((PAUSE))
And the beauty of it is that we can boost reform without
massive government-to-government programs. We can do the most
good, as American leaders, by simply facilitating trade and
investment, by simply opening doors for opportunity.
To open these doors will require leadership at every level
of government. That is one reason why I have come to Chicago, to
enlist your leadership, to ask each of you to go to Poland, to go
to Hungary. While governors have no formal role in foreign
policy and trade, you are becoming our economic envoys and our
ambassadors of democracy. You are a new force in restoring
American international competitiveness and expanding world markets
for Of American goods and services.
course, your focus is on the critical domestic issues.
As chief executives, we know first-hand how crucial our social
health is to the future position of America.
A nation in which a half of the youngest generation is
ignorant of geography, in which drugs are rampant, in which a
substantial proportion of the population knows no hope -- such a
nation will not long remain competitive. In the final analysis,
5
improving our schools, driving out drugs and bringing hope and
opportunity to those who need it most -- these are issues of our
national well-being, even our national security.
EDUCATION REFORM
2018 FOR about
First and foremost are our children and their education.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt said: "We can light a candle or curse
how
the darkness." Working together, you and I can bring
enlightenment to every classroom in America.
On April 5, I sent to Congress an educational reform
package, based on a few principles rooted in the practical
experience of the states. To have reform, excellence and
achievement must be recognized and rewarded. To have reform,
federal dollars should be targeted to those most in need. To
have reform, we need flexibility and choice -- choice for
parents, and choice for schools in their selection of teachers
and principals. Finally, the essence of reform is accountability
in education and reward for those schools that show progress.
If implemented, I believe that these measures will restore
the quality of American education and redeem the future of
millions of children. But there is more to be done. On June 5,
I asked the business community to study what the private sector
can do to energize and support educational reform. Now I want to
renew my pledge to assemble the executive talent of America in a
summit, to share ideas and to explore options for educational
progress. I invite you to a summit on education, to be held in
site we monday
won't know
now october
6
at ( (high school)) on September ((date)). By working together,
we can reach a consensus on long-term goals, ways to better the
schools of America.
CRIME
As chief executives, we also see drugs and crime as the most
harrowing domestic threat to the future of America.
I proposed, on May 15, a common-sense approach to crime to
limit criminals' access to weapons, to reform the criminal
justice system, to enhance enforcement and prosecution, and to
expand prison capacity to ensure both the certainty and severity
of punishment. I propose the hiring of 825 new federal agents
and staff; 1,600 new prosecutors and staff; and an additional one
billion dollars for federal prison construction.
I have proposed tough new laws, including mandatory time, no
deals without cooperation and the death penalty for cop-killers.
To effectively fight crime, we need the same approach at the
state level. Work with us, toughen your laws, and together we
can take back the streets. ((PAUSE))
WELFARE REFORM
Finally, America cannot continue to lead the world if we lag
in providing opportunity at home.
Last year, as you know, Congress and the Administration
enacted major welfare reform legislation, the Family Support Act
of 1988. This Act grew out of a consensus that the well-being of
7
children depends on more than mere material needs. Children need
a family environment that encourages self-sufficiency. In a
word: character.
With this in mind, I reestablished the Low Income
Opportunity Board within the White House. And I have asked the
board to assist you in the complex and time-consuming process of
obtaining federal approvals for experiments in state welfare
reform. So many innovative policies have come from the states.
Let us continue to work together to keep your administrations
free to experiment, free to be creative.
CONCLUSION
Many of our responsibilities overlap in education, law
enforcement and welfare. At times, there has been friction
between the states and the "feds." Perhaps what we need between
the federal government and the states is a friendly competition
well known to Chicagoans. Here, along the majestic lakefront
skyline, there has been an on-going competition among developers
to retain the title of the world's tallest building. ( (You might
say this gives the phrase one-upmanship a whole new meaning. ))
Yet, this is the kind of one-upmanship that builds, not
destroys, that lifts, not lowers, that takes us all a little
closer to the stars.
I have committed the powers of my office to lift America --
starting in the classrooms and the streets.
8
Working together, we can achieve a national consensus.
Working together, we can make the next century another American
century.
Thank you, God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
OFFICE OF THE VICEORESIDENTS VICE PRESIDENTS :
58
WASHINGTON
July 26, 1989
MEMORANDUM FOR CHRISS WINSTON
FROM:
WILLIAM KRISTOL
WK,
ByJF
SUBJECT:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: N.G.A. - CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Given the President's interest in product liability and tort
reform, and the fact that the Competitiveness Council and the
Domestic Policy Council are working energetically on that issue,
you may want to add a sentence or two on page 4 urging the
governors to focus on product liability tort laws. We have
written in a couple of sentences on the enclosed text on page 4.
Document No. 056651
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
07/24/89
C.O.B. Tuesday 07/25
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: N.G.A. - CHICAGO, IL
SUBJECT:
(07/21 Draft one)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
STUDDERT
BATES
UNTERMEYER
BREEDEN
ROGERS
CARD
PINKERTON
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
ANDERSON
FITZWATER
BENNETT
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by close of business on Tuesday, 07/25, with a copy to
my office. Thanks.
RESPONSE:
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Davis/Martin
July 21, 1989
Draft: One
Title: Governors
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: N.G.A./HYATT REGENCY, CHICAGO
Monday, July 31, 1989/10 a.m.
Governor Baliles ((Baa-lyles)), I want to commend you on the
success of your chairmanship. Governor Branstad, you will bring
your energy and vision to a Governors Association that has
already become a powerhouse of ideas -- ideas to lead America as
we face the challenges of a new century.
I also want to salute our host and my good friend, Jim
Thompson -- a great governor and a former N.G.A. Chairman who has
rocked the world of Illinois politics by announcing he will not
run for a fifth term
((And to think, Jim, they were just
getting used to you. ))
And if I may, let me recognize my chief of staff, another
former N.G.A. Chairman, ((and another quiet and retiring soul) )
John Sununu
Let us begin by asking: what is the role of the governor in
American political life? Well, the great 19th-century observer
of American politics, Alexis de Toqueville once asked a country
politician the same question. The answer he got was this: "The
governor counts for absolutely nothing and is paid only twelve
hundred dollars." ((PAUSE))
Well, you still can't get rich off a public salary. But
today, the office of governor counts for a great deal. In fact,
2
leadership in America is increasingly the sum of your efforts and
your vision.
As I look around me, I see more than fifty men and women
representing America's states, commonwealths and territories. I
see a people as diverse as our geography, as different as Bill
Clement's Texas and John Waihee's Hawaii, Bob Martinez's Florida
and John McKernan's beloved Maine.
And yet, we are a people, one nation, indivisible. Just as
we share our cherished Constitution, so we also share common
challenges and responsibilities. To become competitive as a
nation, we must become competitive as states. To cure our nation
of illiteracy, drug abuse and crime, we must act in tandem,
president with governor, and governor with mayor, up and down the
line. In short, we must find our collective will as a nation.
That is why I have come to Chicago to meet with my fellow
chief executives. We share, as executives, a special
responsibility
some describe it as a great burden. But for
us, if it is a burden, it is one cheerfully accepted. To sit
where the buck stops, to resolve disputes, to help those in need
and to set a course for the future, is to know a special kind of
satisfaction.
In fact, our missions as executives are so similar that many
presidents have called on you for guidance. It was Teddy
Roosevelt who called the nation's first conference of governors -
- the forerunner of this association -- at the White House. He
3
brought the nation's governors together to call for conservation,
for an end to the reckless denuding of our forests.
It was another Roosevelt, also a great governor of New York
before he was a great president, who called on the governors to
help him stem the financial crisis of the Great Depression.
Today, we do not meet in a spirit of immediate crisis. The
nation is sound. But the decline of our education, the threat of
crime and drugs, the economic dependency of so many -- these
simmering problems threaten to endanger the very leadership
position of America in the next century.
For America to remain competitive will require your best
efforts, your executive know-how. The ultimate challenge, as
Governor Baliles puts it, is "to become again the Yankee traders
we once were." For the governors to formulate a creative
response to our nation's competitive position is more than
perceptive; it is forward-looking, an attribute of the best kind
of leadership.
As you know, I have just returned from an economic summit
where the competitive position of our nation was an underlying
theme in discussions on the great economic issues of trade,
monetary policy and international debt. But no less important to
America was the start of my journey
in Eastern and Central
Europe. Of course, in economic terms, Poland and Hungary today
are not the economic magnets that we find in Western Europe or
the Pacific Rim. But I saw a tremendous potential in the
awakening spirit of those lands. No one who has witnessed the
4
courage of the workers of Gdnask, or the exuberance of the young
people of Budapest, could doubt the coming achievements, the
future greatness of the Polish and Hungarian peoples.
America can be the catalyst for change in these countries --
change that is certain to open new markets for American products.
But we have our eyes on a greater vision of what trade means --
not just the trading of goods, but the free flow of people and
ideas that can only be called freedom. ((PAUSE))
And the beauty of it is that we can boost reform without
massive government-to-government programs. We can do the most
good, as American leaders, by simply facilitating trade and
investment, by simply opening doors for opportunity.
To open these doors will require leadership at every level
of government. That is one reason why I have come to Chicago, to
enlist your leadership, to ask each of you to go to Poland, to go
to Hungary. While governors have no formal role in foreign
policy and trade, you are becoming our economic envoys and our
ambassadors of democracy. You are a new force in restoring
American international competitiveness.
Of course, your focus is on the critical domestic issues
Another issue, which,
As chief executives, we know first-hand how crucial our social
our nation's turnesses abilih b develop and meaket and beneficial services. products
health is to the future position of America.
A nation in which a half of the youngest generation is
ignorant of geography, in which drugs are rampant, in which a
substantial proportion of the population knows no hope -- such a
nation will not long remain competitive. In the final analysis,
Many of these are key to our global competitiven.
One ,which I know/Las recently seen great propers in trestots
/ Sreform of product liability and fort Laused that Stille
5
improving our schools, driving out drugs and bringing hope and
opportunity to those who need it most -- these are issues of our
national well-being, even our national security.
EDUCATION REFORM
First and foremost are our children and their education.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt said: "We can light a candle or curse
the darkness." Working together, you and I can bring
enlightenment to every classroom in America.
On April 5, I sent to Congress an educational reform
package, based on a few principles rooted in the practical
experience of the states. To have reform, excellence and
achievement must be recognized and rewarded. To have reform,
federal dollars should be targeted to those most in need. To
have reform, we need flexibility and choice -- choice for
parents, and choice for schools in their selection of teachers
and principals. Finally, the essence of reform is accountability
in education and reward for those schools that show progress.
If implemented, I believe that these measures will restore
the quality of American education and redeem the future of
millions of children. But there is more to be done. On June 5,
I asked the business community to study what the private sector
can do to energize and support educational reform. Now I want to
renew my pledge to assemble the executive talent of America in a
summit, to share ideas and to explore options for educational
progress. I invite you to a summit on education, to be held in
6
at ((high school)) on September ( (date) By working together,
we can reach a consensus on long-term goals, ways to better the
schools of America.
CRIME
As chief executives, we also see drugs and crime as the most
harrowing domestic threat to the future of America.
I proposed, on May 15, a common-sense approach to crime to
limit criminals' access to weapons, to reform the criminal
justice system, to enhance enforcement and prosecution; and to
expand prison capacity to ensure both the certainty and severity
of punishment. I propose the hiring of 825 new federal agents
and staff; 1,600 new prosecutors and staff; and an additional one
billion dollars for federal prison construction.
I have proposed tough new laws, including mandatory time, no
deals without cooperation and the death penalty for cop-killers.
To effectively fight crime, we need the same approach at the
state level. Work with us, toughen your laws, and together we
can take back the streets. ((PAUSE))
WELFARE REFORM
Finally, America cannot continue to lead the world if we lag
in providing opportunity at home.
Last year, as you know, Congress and the Administration
enacted major welfare reform legislation, the Family Support Act
of 1988. This Act grew out of a consensus that the well-being of
7
children depends on more than mere material needs. Children need
a family environment that encourages self-sufficiency. In a
word: character.
With this in mind, I reestablished the Low Income
Opportunity Board within the White House. And I have asked the
board to assist you in the complex and time-consuming process of
obtaining federal approvals for experiments in state welfare
reform. So many innovative policies have come from the states.
Let us continue to work together to keep your administrations
free to experiment, free to be creative.
CONCLUSION
Many of our responsibilities overlap in education, law
enforcement and welfare. At times, there has been friction
between the states and the "feds." Perhaps what we need between
the federal government and the states is a friendly competition
well known to Chicagoans. Here, along the majestic lakefront
skyline, there has been an on-going competition among developers
to retain the title of the world's tallest building. ( (You might
say this gives the phrase one-upmanship a whole new meaning.) )
Yet, this is the kind of one-upmanship that builds, not
destroys, that lifts, not lowers, that takes us all a little
closer to the stars.
I have committed the powers of my office to lift America --
starting in the classrooms and the streets.
8
Working together, we can achieve a national consensus.
Working together, we can make the next century another American
century.
Thank you, God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
Document No. 056651
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
+
07/24/89
C.O.B. Tuesday 07/25
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: N.G.A. - CHICAGO, IL
SUBJECT:
(07/21 Draft one)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
\
STUDDERT
BATES
UNTERMEYER
BREEDEN
ROGERS
CARD
PINKERTON
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
ANDERSON
FITZWATER
BENNETT
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by close of business on Tuesday, 07/25, with a copy to
my office. Thanks.
RESPONSE:
OK
ES :6v 26 7nr 68
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702