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    "ocrText": "FOIA Number:\n2006-1733-F\nFOIA\nMARKER\nThis is not a textual record. This is used as an\nadministrative marker by the William J. Clinton\nPresidential Library Staff.\nCollection/Record Group:\nClinton Presidential Records\nSubgroup/Office of Origin:\nFirst Lady's Office\nSeries/Staff Member:\nSpeechwriting\nSubseries:\nLaura Schiller: HRC Speeches 1992 - 10/94\nOA/ID Number:\n24629\nFolderID:\nFolder Title:\n[HRC Speeches October - December 1993]: [Joint Armed Forces Wives' Luncheon 11/19/93]\nStack:\nRow:\nSection:\nShelf:\nPosition:\nS\n61\n2\n3\n1\nArmed forces wives 11-19\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nOffice of the Press Secretary\nFor Internal Use Only\nNovember 19, 1993\nTHE FIRST LADY\nAT THE JOINT ARMED FORCES WIVES' LUNCHEON\nA PARTICIPANT: Please be seated. The U.S. Coast\nGuard Band will now play the Service Medley. Everyone is\ninvited to sing along with all service songs, and please\nstand when your service song is played.\n(Applause)\nA PARTICIPANT: Good afternoon. The joint armed\nforces wives' luncheon is honored to have in attendance\ntoday, as our very special guests, the following dignitaries.\nAs I call your name, please stand.\nLee Perry, whose husband is the Deputy Secretary of\nDefense.\nJoyce Downey, whose husband is the Deputy Secretary\nof Transportation.\nMargaret Dalton, whose husband is the Secretary of\nthe Navy.\nBill Widnall, whose wife is the Secretary of the\nAir Force.\nJoan Shalikashvili, whose husband is the Chairman\nof the Joint Chiefs of Staff.\nConnie Jeremiah, whose husband is the Vice Chairman\nof the Joint Chiefs of Staff.\nAlma Powell, whose husband is the former Chairman\nof the Joint Chiefs of Staff.\nLandis Kelso, whose husband is the Chief of Naval\nOperations.\nVal Kime, whose husband is the Commandant of the\nMORE\nDiversified Reporting Services, Inc.\n918 16TH STREET, N.W. SUITE 803\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20006\n(202) 296-2929\n2\nCoast Guard.\nVictoria Carns, whose husband is the Vice Chief of\nStaff of the Air Force.\nJenny Lou Arthur, whose husband is the Vice Chief\nof Naval Operations.\nSandy Boomer, whose husband is the Assistant\nCommandant of the Marine Corps.\nPamela Pea, whose husband is the Vice Chief of\nStaff of the Army.\nAnd last, but certainly not least, Pat Nelson,\nwhose husband is the Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard.\nAt this time, I would like to invite Joan\nShalikashvili to come forward to the podium to introduce the\nJAFOWL Committee.\nMRS. SHALIKASHVILI: As the new honorary chairman\nof this committee, I'd like to welcome all of you to this\n1993 JAFOWL event. Two years ago, when I first heard the\nword JAFOWL, I thought it was a bird. (Laughter) But it\nstands for the Joint Armed Forces Officers' Wives'\nCommittee -- Luncheon. I do know what it stands for.\nAnd now I'd like to introduce my committee. And if\nyou'll please stand as I call your name, and remain standing\nuntil I'm through, and please hold your applause until I'm\nall done.\nFirst of all, we have the overall coordinator for\nus today, is Betsy Lynn, Navy. The other committee members\nare Kip Rout, Navy; Jane Radish, Navy; Liz Grassey, Air\nForce; Sarah Brown, Air Force; Lexalin Hooper, Army; Nancy\nDeibler, Army -- this is the one I have trouble with --\nJanice Sartucci, Coast Guard; Maureen Applebaum, Coast Guard;\nHelen Aitken, Marine Corps; and Debbie Gordon, Marine Corps.\nOur advisors are Connie Jeremiah and Jane Ryan.\nAnd I also need to recognize the past honorary chairman, Alma\nPowell; Alma, would you please stand?\nI'd like to thank all of you ladies for planning\nthis wonderful event for us. Thank you. (Applause) And\nMORE\nDiversified Reporting Services, Inc.\n918 16TH STREET, N.W. SUITE 803\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20006\n(202) 296-2929\n3\nagain welcome to all of you and I hope you enjoy the day.\nA PARTICIPANT: At this time I would like all\nguests to remain in their seats while Joan Johannsen gives\nour invocation.\nMRS. JOHANNSEN: Almighty Creator, we ask you to be\nwith us today, as we come together from our lives of\ndifferent experiences, lived in many different places, and\nrepresenting different channels of service to you and to our\ncountry.\nWe thank you for the strong bonds that bring all\nhere together and join us into one: faith and trust in you;\nlove and pride in our country; support and love for our\nspouses, whose lives are spent serving this great nation in a\nvariety of ways; the commitment to use our own gifts and\ntalents to help others; a deep concern for families, for our\nown and for our neighbors'; and the understanding, learned\nthrough the years of changes, moves, and travels, that every\npart of the country and the world is our neighborhood.\nPlease bless this gathering and open our minds and\nhearts so that our whole beings will be nourished and\nrevitalized by the warmth of the friendship we now share, the\nstimulation of the ideas that we will hear, and the goodness\nof the meal we are about to receive. Amen.\nA PARTICIPANT: Now it is my pleasure to call your\nattention to a special musical presentation by the United\nStates Coast Guard Band, from New London, Connecticut,\ndirected by Commander Lou Buckley.\n(End of side 1, tape 1.)\nA PARTICIPANT: Good afternoon, ladies. If you\ncould please be seated, we'll proceed with our program.\nGood afternoon, ladies, Dr. Widnall, and honored\nguests. On behalf of the 1993 Joint Armed Forces Officers'\nWives' Luncheon Committee, I would like to welcome each and\nevery one of you here today to this luncheon.\nThis has truly become a greatly anticipated annual\nevent, and I'm sorry to say we could not accommodate all of\nthose who wished to participate. I know we will all have\nmuch to recount to our friends, and I would like to recognize\nMORE\nHiversified Reporting Services, Inc.\n918 16TH STREET, N.W. SUITE 803\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20006\n(202) 296-2929\n4\nall those on the committee who have spent endless hours,\nvolunteered much time and effort, to make this such an\noutstanding event.\nAll the military wives here today share a common\nbond that is at times difficult to express. However, our\nmost obvious commonality is the support we have for our\nhusband's career, and his significant contribution to the\nsecurity of America.\nThomas Paine told us that those who expect to reap\nthe blessings of freedom, must undergo the fatigues of\nsupporting it. We understand that fatigue, and in fact quite\noften feel that he has the easy job. (Laughter)\nWe're especially excited today to have with us a\nvery special guest speaker, someone with whom we can relate\nabout support for her husband and his unique career. We\nsincerely appreciate the time she's taken to be with us today\nto give us the opportunity to personally meet with her and to\ntell her firsthand what it's like to be a military spouse and\ndependent in the '90s.\nIt's my distinct pleasure and honor to introduce\nthe First Lady of the United States of America, Hillary\nRodham Clinton.\n(Applause)\nMRS. CLINTON: Thank you. Thank you all so much.\nThank you. This has been SO much fun. I don't usually get\nto say that when I go to events.\nI am very grateful for the invitation to be here,\nand I have certainly enjoyed my visits at lunch with a number\nof you, particularly at my table, and in the rest room. And\nI also enjoyed my visit earlier in the day to the Pentagon,\nwhere I got to meet some of your husbands who were there, and\nhad a chance to do a very quick, a much too quick, tour that\nI look forward to going back and expanding on.\nAnd I have really enjoyed the opportunity that I\nhave been given in the last months to get to know some of you\npersonally. And I look forward to being able to build on\nsome of those relationships and to expand them.\nThis has been a remarkable year in my life, and I\nMORE\nDiversified Reporting Services, Inc.\n918 16TH STREET, N.W. SUITE 803\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20006\n(202) 296-2929\n5\nhad the feeling, when I was asked to speak some months ago,\nthat I would probably have more in common with this group\nthan many groups with whom I would speak.\nBecause, in many ways, those of us who are in\npositions that are committed to our country, that have no\nreal set hours or even days or months it seems, who are on\ncall twenty four hours a day often, who raise families and\ndeal with the stresses and strains of everyday life from this\nkind of unusual perspective, maybe have some common\nexperiences that can be very useful to share and to learn\nfrom.\nAnd I enjoyed, particularly, my involvement, over\nthe years, with the Jacksonville Air Force Base that was down\nthe road from Little Rock, and the opportunities that I had\nto attend some of the activities of the officers' wives' club\nthere. And then today, again, I was reminded about the ways\nthat all of us have to become accustomed to supporting\nspouses who lead the kind of lives that yours do.\nI was struck, when I picked up and moved from\nLittle Rock, that it was a very difficult move for my family,\nbut you all do that two or three times a year.\nYou pack up and you take off. You make sacrifices\nthat many of the rest of America cannot even really imagine,\nand you move your children and have to resettle them. And I\nhad to go through the same thing. And for me it was a\ndifficult transition, one that took some months to get used\nto.\nWhat I should have done is called and asked you to\ngive me some lessons. The idea that this would ever be\neasy -- and I've had the opportunity to hear some of the\nwomen at my table talk about how much they've enjoyed the\nchallenge of a new place -- was very heartening to me,\nbecause in politics nothing is secure. So, you know, I've\ngot to learn these lessons and be ready to pick up and move\nnearly at any time.\nThe kinds of changes that have gone on in my life\nare ones that I wanted to spend just a few minutes filling\nyou in on, because they are not something that I usually talk\nabout, but I feel very comfortable with all of you, and we\nhave all of these things in common, I believe. And many of\nyou have asked me, since I have come over today, some of the\nMORE\nDiversified Reporting Services, Inc.\n918 16TH STREET, N.W. SUITE 803\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20006\n(202) 296-2929\n6\nquestions that I would like to try to answer for everybody.\nThe two most common questions that I'm asked, and\nthey were asked today, are how is Chelsea and how is Socks.\nThat is what I am always asked, no matter what group I'm in,\nand Chelsea is fine, but it was a hard transition. And I\ndon't know, maybe there's a breakdown between moving under-\n13-year-old children and moving 13-year-old children and\nolder. Yes, I see lots of heads nodding.\nAgain, you all need to publish a book about this,\nbecause it was a rocky transition, leaving friends, leaving\nhome, leaving grandparents, leaving all of that, and moving\nto Washington. But I knew that we had finally gotten over\nthe hump when we were talking about Thanksgiving plans a few\nweeks ago, and we were in what I call our kitchen now.\nThis is on the second floor of the White House, and\nit is what is a serving kitchen, or used to be. Before the\nKennedys, you had to eat all your meals downstairs. And\nthat's on the ground floor, either in the State Dining Room,\nor in a little room called the Family Dining Room.\nNow, the idea of having to dress for every single\nmeal as though you might be photographed and have your image\nimprinted in the minds of your countrymen and women must have\ndone the same thing to Mrs. Kennedy that it would have done\nto me. So she took a bedroom, and she divided it, and she\nput up the second floor dining room, which is a lovely room,\npretty formal, and then had a serving kitchen.\nAnd that's how then it went from the Kennedys until\nthe Clintons. So that you could eat on the second floor, but\nyou had to eat in the formal dining room. So we would get\nthere for our meals, when we first got to the White House,\nand we would be sitting around, just the three of us, or\nmaybe the three of us and our family members, and it was like\nbeing at a formal dinner, for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.\nYou'd get finger bowls. (Laughter) And Chelsea\nkind of looked around, and you could just see this look on\nher face like \"I'll never be able to bring any new friends\nhome here.\"\nSo I sort of said, you know, \"That serving\nkitchen; it's got that great big butcher block in the middle.\nDo you think we could pull that out and maybe put a table in,\nMORE\nDiversified Reporting Services, Inc.\n918 16TH STREET, N.W. SUITE 803\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20006\n(202) 296-2929\n7\nand actually have a kitchen?\"\nI don't know what it's like when you have a\nquestion in the military that has never been asked before.\n(Applause) But I can tell you, there were probably more\nmeetings about turning the serving pantry kitchen into a\nworkable family kitchen than anything that's happened in this\nadministration from its inception.\nWe finally did. I bought a table and chairs, and\nwe put it in there. And we actually began eating there as a\nfamily when it was just the three of us, or maybe my mother\nor somebody was there with us. And it has made all the\ndifference in the world. And it made all the difference to\nher, that we could be a family, that we didn't have to sit\nthere, straight, on our best behavior with each other, which\nis hard.\nAnd finally I knew we had it -- we were sitting in\nthe kitchen, we were talking about Thanksgiving, and we were\nhaving dinner together, and I said, \"Well, you know, should\nwe ask Grandma and Ginger, which is what we call Bill's\nmother, and everybody to come up here, or should we go to\nArkansas?\"\nAnd Chelsea said, \"Well, we can do either, but you\nknow, I'm getting to like Washington.\" And you know what\nthat's like when you hear that as a mother. It's like, \"Oh,\nthank you, thank you, Lord.\" I mean, it's just the most\nwonderful feeling. So she's doing fine.\nSocks, there's a mixed report. You know I was\ntrying to explain to Lexalin and some of the others at the\ntable -- she's a big cat lover, as I am -- that this has been\nthe most traumatic part of the move for us.\nBecause before, he could range freely and do\nanything. And now he has to be confined, because we're\nworried if we let him loose, he might get cat-napped. And\nthis is a very serious concern. I don't think I can get away\nwith assigning secret service agents to watch Socks, so the\nalternative is that we have to kind of keep him on that\nleash, and those are terrible pictures, I know.\nYou know, those of you who love cats, to see this\nbeautiful cat, who is really descended from cat nobility\ngoing back to the Egyptians, on this leash. But you will\nMORE\nDiversified Reporting Services, Inc.\n918 16TH STREET, N.W. SUITE 803\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20006\n(202) 296-2929\n8\nbe -- I mean, even with cats, things finally get better.\nYou will be happy to know he does finally have some\nfriends. And they are coming to visit him. There are two\ngray cats, and they kind of hang out with him. But it's a\ngood thing that Socks doesn't read regularly. It's a good\nthing that nobody in our family reads newspapers and\nmagazines regularly, but particularly Socks. (Applause)\nBecause there was an article that I found just\nincredible, that was published in some magazine, which\nsomebody clipped out for me, which said that this family that\nhad been touring around the White House had counted 250 rats.\nNow, I've been outside the White House a lot, and\nI've walked around, and there are rats. I don't think we can\ndeny we do have some rats. But there aren't that many. But\nwhat I thought about, was think how Socks would feel. Socks,\nwho is this great hunter.\nIf he knew that he was not fulfilling his most\nfundamental responsibility to our country, which is to keep\nthe rats out of the White House. So we've kept that from\nhim, but he seems to be adjusting. And I'm so grateful.\nAnd my husband, you can read about him. He's doing\ngreat. Every day it gets better and better and I'm so proud\nof him. But, generally, we have made the transition. But I\ncould have used some advice.\nAnd so one of the things JAFOWL should really\nconsider, and I think it would be a big, big moneymaker, are\nhints for moving and for adjusting and for transitions.\nBecause I certainly would have bought up the entire stock and\npassed them out to everybody who came with us.\nThe biggest things that we have really enjoyed,\nthough, are getting to know people, and particularly people\nfrom all walks of life and from different kinds of\nexperiences. And many of our most interesting and, for us,\npersonally gratifying moments have been the times that we\nhave spent getting to know some of your spouses, your\nhusbands primarily, except for Bill, who is here. And I\nthink that deserves a big round of applause, Bill.\n(Applause)\nThe only thing that I was a little sad about was\nMORE\nDiversified Reporting Services, Inc.\n918 16TH STREET, N.W. SUITE 803\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20006\n(202) 296-2929\n9\nwhen the Coast Guard band started playing that wonderful\nmusic that made everybody want to dance, I couldn't figure\nout how we could organize it so that Bill could dance with\nall of us. You know, sort of seriatim. We'd line up, and\nhe'd do a little spin, and we'd go on.\nBut to get to know, and to really share with so\nmany of you and your husbands the kind of common commitment\nthat we have to this country. And it is a commitment that\nhas certainly withstood the test of history and challenge and\nall kinds of crises. But it is one that in every generation\nhas to be renewed and has to be put into a new context.\nThe challenges facing us today are not the same as\nthose that faced our parents and our grandparents. There are\ncommon threads which run through them, that demand the best\nfrom us. And the answers, I believe, are rooted in the same\nvalues and attitudes that really have created the climate of\nchange that America has always been able to respond to.\nBut in this time and at this moment in our history,\nwe have some new and some different challenges. And for\nthose of you in the military, you know that the military\nmission is changing. After we had the cold war come to that\nend, which it did, thank goodness, there were those who said,\n\"Oh, my goodness, now we have such a great opportunity!\" And\nwe do.\nBut we also have some continuing and new dangers\nand new threats and new problems that we have to deal with.\nSo our time now today gives us the opportunity to shape what\nAmerica's present and future will be like. And if we look at\nevery area of our life, we can see what is out there waiting\nfor us, what are really the kind of generational challenges\nthat we confront.\nWe are, with the wonderful leadership of people\nlike Retired General Powell, and now General Shalikashvili,\nand the others, we are shaping a new military in America. We\nare figuring out how we can continue to be the best, and to\ncontinue to lead, and to know where to use our military\nstrength, and where to partner it with economic and other\nkinds of opportunities.\nAnd on the domestic front, we see also what is\nclearly facing us as a people. We know that we have to do\nbetter at dealing with some of the problems that are\nMORE\nDiversified Reporting Services, Inc.\n918 16TH STREET, N.W. SUITE 803\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20006\n(202) 296-2929\n10\nundermining our strength and productivity here at home. We\ncan't turn our backs on them.\nAnd I often think, as my husband talks about the\nchallenges, that they really do all fall under a broad rubric\n-- you might call it \"Security and Responsibility\" -- both on\nthe domestic and the international front.\nBut we have to redefine what those words mean here\nat home. And for me, security means that we have to rebuild\nthe sense of security that Americans have, so that they can\nbe equipped to deal with the challenges that confront them.\nIt is very difficult to tell people who don't have\nsome of the basics of their lives taken care of, that they\nshould go out and be productive and future oriented and\nresponsible.\nAnd there are three areas that are of particular\nconcern. One is economic security. We have to a better job\nmaking it possible for people to have good jobs. It used to\nbe that, if you had a job, you could kind of count on it for\nthe rest of your life if you did what you were supposed to\ndo. And we all know that's no longer the case.\nAnd so for many people, what they had thought they\nhad worked for, or what they had taken for granted, is no\nlonger there. So we have to think about how do we make\npeople economically secure? How do we get jobs back into\nplaces where there aren't enough? Or how do we try to\nprovide opportunities for the people to move out of places to\ntake jobs where they can be creative?\nHow do we invest in making new jobs, so that we can\nbegin to see wages rise again? Because in the private\nsector, most wages for most working people have stayed\nstagnant now for fifteen years. They've not had very many\nincreases. And for many people who have lost what were once\ngood paying jobs, they find it difficult to match those wages\nin the job market.\nAnd many of the kinds of stories that you read\nabout now, with layoffs and other things occurring, that is\nprobably a necessary part of the changes that are going on.\nBut it's not enough to just say, \"Fine, those people will\nfind something else.\" Unless we make some of the changes\nthat we are making, that may not be the case. So economic\nMORE\nDiversified Reporting Services, Inc.\n918 16TH STREET, N.W. SUITE 803\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20006\n(202) 296-2929\n11\nsecurity is very important.\nAnother kind of security which is critical is\nphysical security. It is not an accident that finally we are\nfocusing on crime and violence, because it has gotten to such\na point that none of us can ignore it any longer. It has\nbeen a growing problem in many regions of our country,\nparticularly in our inner cities, for a number of years.\nBut it hadn't quite spilled over, so that it\nbrought the attention of the entire country the way it has\nnow. And I think that much of the reason for its finally\ngrabbing center stage is because of the number of children\nbeing killed, the number of innocent children being shot on\nplaygrounds, shot in schools, being the victims of drive by\nshootings, and the number of children who are killing other\nchildren.\nSomehow that has pierced our consciousness unlike\nany of the rest of the violence that has been occurring. And\nI am so grateful that finally it looks like we are on the\nbrink of addressing that. (Applause) We are on the brink of\nfinally saying, \"Enough is enough.\" The most basic duty of a\nsociety, and certainly of a government, is to provide for the\nsafety of its citizens.\nThat's what your husbands spend their lives doing,\nto protect us around the globe. And yet we can't protect\nourselves in our own country. And I think that the\ncombination of more police officers, which is very important.\nYou know, in the 1950s we had three police officers on the\nstreet for every serious crime.\nToday we have one police officer for every three\nserious crimes. So increasing the number of police will make\na difference. Using different kinds of punishment --boot\ncamps, which many of your husbands know a lot about, is\nsomething that, if we get young people early enough and we\nreally give them the right combination of discipline and\nfocus, can make a difference.\nThe kinds of programs that General Powell worked on\nwhen he was at the Pentagon, to try to reach young people,\nparticularly in their 13, 14 year period, and get them\ninterested in Junior ROTC. That's a symbolic effort that can\nbe multiplied across the country if adults will take the time\nto go into some of these ravaged areas and work with these\nMORE\nDiversified Reporting Services, Inc.\n918 16TH STREET, N.W. SUITE 803\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20006\n(202) 296-2929\n12\nyoungsters.\nAnd doing something about a different way of\ncombatting the drug war. Yes, doing everything we can to\nkeep the drugs out, but beginning to focus more on the demand\nside. Trying to get these people not to be addicted by using\nsome of the treatments that we know work.\nThere's a drug court in Miami that has had a\nphenomenal success rate. It takes drug offenders and it\nsays, \"We will postpone punishing you by sending you to jail\nif you will go into drug treatment.\" And it's a little\ncontroversial because it uses acupuncture. But it works.\nAnd so we need to be creative and try some things\nto break the cycle of drug addiction.\nAnd then finally, and this I am so grateful for,\nand I think all of us should be, we are finally beginning to\ndo something about taking the guns off the streets of our\ncities. (Applause) So working on physical security so that\nwe can all feel safe again.\nYou know, this came through to me, as often these\nthings do in personal ways, one day about a year and a half\nago, when I was still in Arkansas. And Chelsea came to me\nand she said, \"Can I ride my bike with so-and-so up to the\nlibrary?\"\nThe library was only about eight blocks away, and\nwe were a lot freer to get around in Arkansas than we are\nnow, but I stopped and I said, \"No, I'll drive you, because\nI was scared to let her get on a bike in the middle of the\nday, with a friend, and ride to the library.\nAnd I thought about the countless days, when I\nwould run into the house and I would yell, \"Mom, we're going\nto the library. We're going to the park. We're going to the\nmovie.\" We'd get on our bikes, and she'd yell as we drove\nout the driveway, \"Just be back in time for dinner.\"\nAnd she didn't worry, and we didn't worry. And\nlook what we have done to our children. We have robbed them\nof their childhoods; we have taken away the opportunity for\nthem to explore and to learn, that all of us took for\ngranted.\nMORE\nDiversified Reporting Services, Inc.\n918 16TH STREET, N.W. SUITE 803\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20006\n(202) 296-2929\n13\nAnd the third area of security, which is one that I\nhave worked on now for a number of months, is health\nsecurity. It is very hard to imagine what it is like for the\nmillions of Americans who do not have the guarantee of health\ncoverage.\nBut even for those who do, it is hard for any of us\nto know for sure that we will have it next year at this time,\nbecause nobody is entitled to it in our country. It depends\nupon what you can pay, and who you are, and where you live,\nand who you work for, and whether you've ever been sick. And\nas I have travelled around the country, I have these\nindelible images stuck in my mind of the faces of people all\nover who have told me their stories.\nAnd every one that I hear convinces me even more\nthat, until every American has health care security, none of\nus is secure. And I know that for many people this whole\nhealth care debate seems very complicated. But that's\nbecause it's a big, big issue. It's one that has a lot of\nvarious aspects to it.\nBut there are some simple, fundamental principles\nthat I think everybody can agree on. The first is that you\nought to be able to get health care coverage, no matter who\nyou are, as long as you're an American. And that means, no\nmatter where you live. And that means, no matter whether\nyou've had a pre-existing condition.\nAnd it ought to be health care coverage that takes\ncare of you, not that disappears when you read the fine\nprint, not that is not accessible to you.\nIt's one thing -- and I know it's one of the\ncomplaints that I learned about as I studied the military and\nthe VA systems -- is that sometime we say there's health\ncare, but, in effect, we make it very difficult to access.\nWe tell people, \"Oh it's there, but you're going to have to\ngo through 900 hoops, and wait forever before you get it.\"\nThat's in effect, for many people, being told it's\nnot accessible to them. And what we have tried to provide,\nin the President's plan, for everybody, is a series of plans\nthat you can choose. And this is going to be true, also, for\nmilitary dependents and retirees and for VA-eligible people,\nbecause we want all of you to have choice that means\nsomething.\nMORE\nIliversified Reporting Services, Inc.\n918 16TH STREET, N.W. SUITE 803\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20006\n(202) 296-2929\n14\nAnd we're going to be creating networks of military\nand civilian health care providers, so that we can honestly\ntell you, \"You not only have coverage, you can access that\ncoverage.\" And I think that will make a big difference to a\nlot of military dependents and retirees.\nSo security is key, and every time I think that I\nhave kind of hardened to the stories that I hear, I hear\nanother one. And last Friday I heard one that I can't get\nout of my mind. I was at the Rainbow Babies and Children\nHospital in Cleveland, Ohio, which I think is a great name\nfor a children's hospital. All the doctors have little\nrainbows on their pockets, and it's a very happy place.\nAnd I was meeting with the families of chronically\nill children, you know, the children with cystic fibrosis and\ncerebral palsy and diabetes and arthritis and leukemia and\nthe kinds of things that make you have to go back to the\ndoctor all the time.\nAnd there was a family, a mother and a father with\ntheir three children, their healthy son, and their two\ndaughters who had cystic fibrosis. And the mother was\nholding the younger of the two daughters on her lap.\nAnd she said, \"I want you to know how hard my\nhusband and I have tried to be able to buy insurance to take\ncare of our daughters. He's a small businessman. We're more\nthan willing to pay our fair share. We have coverage for\nourselves and our son, but we can't get insurance for our\ndaughters.\"\nAnd she said, \"I didn't realize how my family was\nviewed, really, until recently, when I sat across the table\nat an insurance company office, trying to work out a way to\nhave some kind of insurance for these girls. When finally\nthis person across this table from me looked at me and said,\n'I'm sorry, but we don't insure burning houses.\nAnd, you know, I was sitting there when this mother\nsaid it. And she just said it in a way that just pierced my\nheart. You know, I thought, \"What if I were in that\nposition, with my daughter?\" I don't know that I would be so\ncalm. I'm not sure I could tell my story one more time.\nAnd yet she wanted to, with the hope that we could\ndo something for her and her family and the millions of\nMORE\nDiversified Reporting Services, Inc.\n918 16TH STREET, N.W. SUITE 803\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20006\n(202) 296-2929\n15\nfamilies like her. And I'm hoping that we can, too.\nI remember talking to some of your husbands a few\nmonths ago, when we were at an event at the White House. And\nwe were talking about health care, because I was excited\nabout what we were proposing for DOD and VA, and they had\nbeen briefed, and they seemed very happy and satisfied about\nit.\nAnd one of them said to me, \"You know, I never\nreally stopped to think about this until I realized that of\ncourse we provide health security for our military members.\nI mean, how could we send people off on missions or into\nbattle if they weren't sure they'd be taken care of? How\ncould we do that?\"\nAnd he said, \"And I suddenly realized that\neveryday, in the civilian sector, most people don't know that\nthey will be taken care of.\" Some of them who are insured\nthink they will, but you have such things like lifetime\nlimits and other kinds of obstacles that all of a sudden pop\nup. And then millions more who aren't.\"\nAnd I remember telling him about a family I had met\nwho had told me that had finally had to tell their sons they\nhad to quit sports, because they couldn't afford insurance,\nand they didn't want the boys taking a chance of being hurt.\nAnd that little story -- it wasn't about a tragic\nillness -- but that little story was as meaningful to me as\nthe big stories that I hear.\nSo trying to provide health security to everybody\nis absolutely fundamental. So security and responsibility,\ntwo words that have meant a lot to you and your families and\nto your husbands over the years, are two words that need to\nmean a lot again to Americans.\nYes, we want to provide better security, economic,\nphysical, and health. And, yes, we want people to begin to\nbe more responsible for themselves and their families,\nparticularly their children. And that two-edged message, we\nhave to get out, and talk about with everyone.\nAnd you have, in many ways, lived that. You've\ndemonstrated what it means to put yourselves on the line, to\nmake sacrifices, to stand behind what you believe and what\nMORE\nIliversified Reporting Services, Inc.\n918 16TH STREET, N.W. SUITE 803\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20006\n(202) 296-2929\n16\nour country needs.\nAnd as we approach Thanksgiving, I would not only\njust thank you for what you have done, but challenge you to\nalso reach out to those beyond, those who also need to know\nwhat it means to be responsible in today's world. And what\nkind of changes America must make if we are to remain strong\nand leading this extremely complicated planet that we find\nourselves on.\nI have every confidence that we are going to\nemerge, in the 21st century, stronger than ever, because\nwe're going to live up to the challenges we face. But it's\ngoing to take a lot of hard work and a lot of individual\ncommitment to get us there. And I salute all of you for\nsymbolizing what I mean when I talk about that, and ask you\nto be part of helping us make the changes we know our country\nneeds to have made.\nThank you all very much.\n(Applause.)\nA PARTICIPANT: Mrs. Clinton, we are so very, very,\nvery honored that you're here, and I didn't have that written\ndown. We want to thank you for attending the 16th annual\nJoint Armed Forces Officers' Wives' Luncheon. And the\ncommittee is pleased to present you with a small token of our\nappreciation.\nMRS. CLINTON: Thank you very much. Can I look?\nA PARTICIPANT: Oh, certainly. The committee is\nalso pleased to donate this year's charitable contribution,\nas chosen by Mrs. Clinton, to Army Emergency Relief, Navy\nMarine Corps Relief Society, Air Force Aid Society, and Coast\nGuard Mutual Assistance.\nAgain, thank you very much.\nMRS. CLINTON: Thank you very much. (Applause)\nA PARTICIPANT: Mrs. Clinton, it became apparent\nfrom your first days in Washington that you would keep a\nhectic schedule, and so we are honored that you chose to\nspend a few hours with us today. (Applause)\nMORE\nDiversified Reporting Services, Inc.\n918 16TH STREET, N.W. SUITE 803\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20006\n(202) 296-2929\n17\nWe are grateful for this opportunity to get to know\neach other better and to hear about your interest in security\nand responsibility, a message that we promise to pass on to\nthe others of our members who couldn't be here today.\nTo our honored guests, we thank you for being here\ntoday too, and we appreciate your support of our 16th annual\nluncheon.\nTo the officer wives of Washington, we are here\ntoday to celebrate the sisterhood of military wives. All\naround the globe, 24 hours a day, our families live the life\nof service to country and sacrifice. The two are\ninseparable, and that is what unites us.\nI hope all of you have had a chance to reach out\nand meet someone from another service. That's part of what\nthis day is all about. We thank you for coming, and we look\nforward to being together again next year.\nI would now like to introduce Chris Oster, a marine\nwife, who will offer the benediction. Following that, may I\nask you to remain seated until the dining room doors have\nbeen opened, at which time you are welcome to leave.\nMrs. Oster.\nMRS. OSTER: Let us pray. Heavenly Father, thank\nyou for the men and women of the Army, Navy, Air Force,\nMarine Corps, and Coast Guard, who have faithfully served\nthis great nation throughout history. We are a chosen\nnation, we love our God. We love and support those who\ndefend our precious freedoms.\nThank you, Lord, for providing us with families who\nsustain our servicemen and women as they perform difficult\nduties around the globe. Thank you, Father, for the women\nhere today, and for others like them, throughout the world,\nwho make defending this nation a blessed and honorable task.\nGuide and direct us as we strive to uphold the\nmoral values that you taught us are important. And let us\nnot become weary of doing good, for at the proper time we\nwill reap a harvest if we do not give up.\nEven in this time of great change, we, as a family,\nrepresent a most powerful force for good. Heavenly Father,\nMORE\nIliversified Reparting Services, Inc.\n918 16TH STREET, N.W. SUITE 803\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20006\n(202) 296-2929\n18\nwe humbly pray that you work your perfect will in the lives\nof our leaders. We pray especially for President Clinton and\nMrs. Clinton and for our great nation.\nHelp us always remember the psalmist, who wrote,\n\"Blessed is the nation whose God is Lord. The people He\nchose for His inheritance.\"\nWe offer this prayer according to the tradition of\nour individual faith, and I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.\n(End of proceedings. )\n* * * *\nIliversified Reporting Services, Inc.\n918 16TH STREET, N.W. SUITE 803\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20006\n(202) 296-2929"
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