Ask the Scholar

{
    "localId": "40488910",
    "label": "HRC - Clinton/Gore Speeches 95-96: [9/5/96 Clinton/Gore Rally, University of Texas, Austin]",
    "core": "doc",
    "dtoType": "document",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40488910"
}

{
    "id": "40488910",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40488910",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "HRC - Clinton/Gore Speeches 95-96: [9/5/96 Clinton/Gore Rally, University of Texas, Austin]",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40488910",
    "collections": [
        "Records of the First Lady's Office (Clinton Administration)",
        "Laura Schiller's Files"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/10/4889/40488910/content/presidential-libraries/clinton/foia/2006/2006-1733-F/2006-1733-F-Laura-Schiller/Box_027/42-t-18546099-20061733F-027-019-2015/42_t_18546099_20061733F_027_019_2015_Page_001.JPG",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/10/4889/40488910/content/presidential-libraries/clinton/foia/2006/2006-1733-F/2006-1733-F-Laura-Schiller/Box_027/42-t-18546099-20061733F-027-019-2015/42_t_18546099_20061733F_027_019_2015_Page_001.JPG",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/10/4889/40488910/content/presidential-libraries/clinton/foia/2006/2006-1733-F/2006-1733-F-Laura-Schiller/Box_027/42-t-18546099-20061733F-027-019-2015/42_t_18546099_20061733F_027_019_2015_Page_001.JPG",
    "imageCount": 21,
    "hasImages": true,
    "source": "import",
    "hasTranscription": false
}

{
    "url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40488910",
    "naId": 40488910,
    "levelOfDescription": "fileUnit",
    "otherTitles": [
        "42-t-18546099-20061733F-027-019-2015"
    ],
    "recordType": "description",
    "ocrSource": "nara-archive"
}

{
    "seq": 21,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "document",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/10/4889/40488910/content/presidential-libraries/clinton/foia/2006/2006-1733-F/2006-1733-F-PDF/Box_27/42-t-18546099-20061733F-027-019-2015.pdf",
    "mediaId": "a725a563b09ad819",
    "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 9/95 - 11/96, Clinton/Gore Speeches 1996\nOA/ID Number:\n24622\nFolderID:\nFolder Title:\nHRC - Clinton/Gore Speeches 95-96: [9/5/96 Clinton/Gore Rally, University of Texas, Austin]\nStack:\nRow:\nSection:\nShelf:\nPosition:\nS\n61\n2\n4\n1\nUniversity of Texas\n9/5\nFIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON\nUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS\nAUSTIN, TEXAS\nSEPTEMBER 5, 1996\nTRANSCRIPT\nThank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you. Thank you\nvery much. I am very pleased to be here with you.\nI want to thank Guadelupe for her introduction.\nI want to thank Bernard Rappapord for his lifetime of devotion to this University\nwhich he loves so much.\nI want to thank Gary Mauro for a lifetime of support and laughs. I think you all are\nvery lucky to have him as your Land Commissioner here in Texas, and I'm very glad to\nhave him as a friend.\nI also want to thank the University Democrats for inviting me here today. I was\nlooking forward to coming back because the last time I was here, in the Spring of 1993, we\nwere just beginning in the White House to see the President make his efforts to bring alive\nthe American dream for people. We could see just in those first months and now much\nmore clearly what he meant when he campaigned here in Austin during the 1992\nPresidential Election. It was a straight-forward message and one that I think has been\ncarried through clearly into this campaign. That if we, according to what the President has\nsaid, follow this simple but profound strategy, we can all be successful.\nNumber one provide opportunity for all. Make it possible for every young person\nin this state to dream about attending the University of Texas and to make it a reality by\nbeing available to him.\nNumber two -- by asking responsibility from all of us. A dream alone is not\nenough. You are here as part of one of the great universities in the world because you took\nresponsibility for yourselves. It was the combination of opportunity and responsibility that\nworked for you and will work for all Americans.\nAnd finally to remember we are part of one community. The American\ncommunity needs to be strong, and it needs to include all of us. Now, four years later, it's\ntime for an accounting. In effect, what the President is doing is to say to all of you,\n\"Here's what I've done for the last four years. I want you to renew my contract.\" And he\ncame before you at the Democratic Convention and he will during the next two months\ntalking about why his strategy is working and what he wants to do for the next four years.\nLet us think back four years ago. If we remember, the country was struggling with\nhigh unemployment, stagnant wages, increasing crime and welfare, and a ballooning deficit.\nToday, four years later, we have the lowest combined rates of unemployment,\ninflation, and home mortgages in twenty-eight years. There are ten million new jobs in\nAmerica and over half of them are high-wage jobs. 4.4 million Americans are now living\nin a home for the first time. Hundreds of thousands of people have started new businesses,\nand I'm particularly pleased that women and minority owned businesses are at a record\nhigh, because small businesses create prosperity.\nAfter a long struggle, ten million minimum wage workers will be getting the raise\nthey deserve to have.\nTwenty-five million Americans will be able to keep their health insurance because\nthe Kennedy-Kassebaum bill says you cannot lose your insurance if you're sick or you\nchange jobs.\nThe crime rate has declined, finally, four years in a row. We are beginning to know\nwhat works, and what works is what the President advocated. Put more police on the\nstreets, in community policing, walking a beat. And do something about gangs and assault\nweapons and the other ways that criminals terrorize people.\nEven before he signed welfare reform, we were seeing progress because the\nPresident gave authority to states to start experimenting about moving people from welfare\nto work. And there are nearly two million fewer people on welfare today than when my\nhusband took the office of the President.\nWe are also making it possible for more people to take responsibility. Child support\ncollections have gone up by 40 percent.\nWe know that if we don't care for the next generation, nothing we do and nothing\nyou study here will make that much of a difference. And importantly for all of you who\nare here at this university, the deficit has gone down by 60 percent, and the President's\nbalanced budget plan would move it towards zero -- if he could get the support that he\nneeds.\nSo, I think that any fair accounting of the last four years would not only include that\nbut include the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Earned Income Tax Credit and many\nother pieces of legislation and executive actions that are not just abstract political\ndevelopments, but have actually made a difference in the lives of millions and millions of\nAmericans.\nBut the work is not finished. And as the President and Vice-President explained in\ntheir speeches in Chicago, there is a lot ahead of the country. A good groundwork has\nbeen laid. But now it is up to all of us to do what we have to do to move that positive\nagenda forward. It is almost hard for me to believe that this election will choose the last\nPresident of the twentieth century and the first President of the twenty-first century. By our\n2\nvotes, we will be making a statement about how we intend to meet the challenges that lie\nahead of us.\nThis is no time to look backward. This is not time to build a bridge to the past that\nnever existed for most people in this country. Instead, this is a time to look to your future\nand to America's future. And the President talked about the kind of bridge he wants your\nhelp in building to that future.\nA bridge that is broad enough and strong enough for every American. A bridge that\ncherishes and strengthens children, our families, and our communities and our nation. A\nbridge that if we build it together, helps parents be both good workers and good parents.\nHelps you and every other American get the education and training you need. Helps\ncontinue to lower the crime rate. Helps you to have a safer world both at home and\nabroad. Helps to preserve our environment for future generations and maintains America's\nleadership now and into the next century.\nNow, there is much that I hope you will talk about and follow in this election, but I\nwant, particularly because we are here at a University, to talk about education. To talk\nabout how important it is we do everything we can to make education available and alive in\nthe lives of every American child. We have to work together to raise the standards in our\npublic schools. We have to provide choices among public schools so that parents and\nteachers and students can have more control over their education.\nWe have to make sure, as the President has said, that every classroom in America\nfrom the smallest town in rural Texas to the richest district in a big city in this state, is\nhooked through the information super-highway. So every youngster gets access to the same\ninformation and the same real time.\nThe President has also proposed that we all work to make sure every third grader in\nAmerica can read on his or her own by the year 2000. Right now, that's not the case.\nAbout 40 percent of our eight year olds cannot read as well as they should. That is an\nabsolute obstacle to them ever being here at the University. By the time a child is in the\nthird grade, much of their academic success can be predicted. There are always exceptions,\nbut for a general rule, helping youngsters to learn by that age is essential.\nParents have to take responsibility. All of us do, and I want to commend the\nUniversity of Texas for the University's involvement in AmeriCorps, because through\nnational service and AmeriCorps, you have students who are working right now to help\nchildren in schools here in Austin learn how to do math better, understand literacy better.\nThat kind of service commitment can change lives, and I know that there is a lot going on\non this campus that makes a very big difference in the lives not only of students who are\ngiving service, but to those who are receiving it.\nAnd I also want to commend the University for designating 1996 and 1997 as the\n3\nyear of the child. There is no more important commitment that any of us can make. If we\nfocus on education and we do what we should in pre-school, providing opportunities like\nHead Start, making it possible for youngsters to learn to read, providing volunteers like you\nare doing, setting goals and standards so that we know how our schools need to be\nachieving, then we also have to make it real so that any young person who does well in\nschool can go on to college, and there is no financial obstacle to that young person doing\nso.\nI know that in this audience there are students from Zavala Elementary School.\nZavala has one of the highest reading scores in this city because everyone, including\nUniversity of Texas students and church members and other volunteers, works with parents\nand teachers to serve as tutors and guardian angels for every single child. I want to\ncongratulate the students for doing so well in school, but I want to challenge all of us to\nmake sure that when these youngsters graduate from high school, the doors of college are\nopen to them.\nAnd for that reason, my husband has proposed a $1500 a year tuition tax credit that\nwill make virtually every community college free for any American who is willing to study\nhard. That's called the Hope Scholarship. It would be renewable for a second year so that\nwe could literally make the first two years of college within the financial reach of every\nsingle American family. In addition, the President wants to make sure that every working\nfamily, the vast majority of your families, can also deduct up to $10,000 a year in college\ntuition costs, and if the President is re-elected, he will see that families are able to save\nmoney for college in tax-free IRAs. Everybody will be able to go to college.\nSo in addition to the accomplishments and what we've already seen happen in the\nlast four years, if you renew the President's contract, we will work hard, every one of us,\nand we'll ask for your help to make sure every eight year old is able to read, every twelve\nyear old can log onto the Internet, every eighteen year old will be able to go to college.\nThat way, by the twenty-first century, Americans will have the skills they need not only to\nbuild that bridge to they twenty-first century, but to cross over it with optimism and\nconfidence about their own futures.\nHe has proposed all of this in a balanced budget. He has said that in his budget,\nwhich is open for any voter's review, it is budgeted line by line, dime by dime. There are\nno gimmicks. No big promises that cannot be fulfilled. All of the tax cuts are targeted and\npaid for. So we should be able to cut taxes for those things that will make us strong while\nwe continue to lower the deficit to zero.\nBoth of those investments on the one hand, getting our deficit under control on the\nother, are important for your future. And that's why I hope that in the next several weeks,\neach of you will think seriously about this election and will talk to your friends, your\nneighbors, your fellow students, and co-workers.\n4\nThere are many people I'm sure in Texas, like every other state in the union, who\nthink politics has nothing to do with them. They look at the t.v. and they read the\nheadlines, and it's just kind of a confusing mess as far as they're concerned. It doesn't\nmake sense. And what we have to do and what the President is trying to do is link up\nwhat does happen in the White House and in Congress with what happens in people's lives.\nIt makes a difference who is in the Oval Office.\nIt made a difference to more than twelve million Americans that we finally had a\nPresident who would sign the Family and Medical Leave Law.\nIt made a difference that we finally had a President who would sign the Brady Bill\nand take away from sixty-thousand felons, fugitives and stalkers the right to get handguns.\nThe President hopes to expand that so we also prevent anyone who's convicted of domestic\nabuse from getting a handgun in a moment of anger. But I have to say here in Texas and\non the brink of the dove season, there is not a hunter anywhere in Texas or Arkansas or\nanywhere in America who has been deprived of a single hunting season or a single\nopportunity because we finally have some sensible legislation to take assault weapons off\nthe streets and out of the hands of criminals and gangs.\nYou know, I was thinking about that earlier because I've been duck hunting. I have\nactually, believe it or not, killed a duck on the fly, and I never saw an AK-47 anywhere in\nthe duck camp I went to. And so we want to be really straightforward about this. You've\ngot a President, a Vice-President who understand and care about hunting. They grew up in\nArkansas and Tennessee. But we also know that what's been done to protect people and\nlower the crime rate is working and it hasn't interfered with lawful gun ownership one\nsingle bit. So it's that kind of sensible approach to lowering the crime rate, to standing up\nand saying this has to be done, that this President will continue to represent.\nSo there is much that will have to be done by all of us in order for America to meet\nits challenges and for the rest of us to meet our own challenges in work and at home, but I\nfeel good as I travel around the country about what I see. I see a lot of confidence and\noptimism. I see people who are ready, willing to invest themselves in a better future for\nthemselves and their children.\nAnd I see a lot of people who want to build build bridges with this President\nbecause they know that the best days of America are ahead of us. And if you also believe\nthat, I hope you will take whatever time you have, educate yourself about this election and\nthese issues, talk to people, have conversations about it, get information to those who say\nthey won't vote or they don't think it makes a difference. Because this election, far more\nthan it is about Mr. Rappapord or Mr. Mauro or me, is about every single one of you. If\nwe make the right decision in November, we will have made the right decision for the\ncourse of the next century.\nThank you all very much.\n5\n###\n6\nFIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON\nREMARKS FOR CLINTON/GORE '96 RALLY\nUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS\nAUSTIN, TEXAS\nSEPTEMBER 5, 1996\n[Acknowledgments: Garry Mauro; Bernard Rappaport, chairman, UT board of regents]\nThank you, Guadalupe [Becerra]. I'm so happy to be back in Texas, back at UT, and\nback in Longhorn country. I want to thank the University Democrats for inviting me here today.\nThough I spent most of my adult life in the state next door, I've always had a soft spot for\nLone Star state. Almost 25 years ago, my husband and I came to Texas to help the Democratic\nParty get out the vote. I spent a summer and a fall traveling across the state, meeting and\nworking with Texans of all colors and all walks of life. I learned a valuable political lesson from\nthat first time in Texas: In Texas, the people, not the politicians, are the ones who really decide\nwhat's going on here. So I thank you for taking your power as voters seriously and for coming\nout today.\nThe last time I was on this campus, in the spring of 1993, the President was just beginning\nhis effort to keep the American Dream alive for all people who were willing to work for it, to\nunify and strengthen our community, and to keep America the world's strongest force for peace,\nfreedom and prosperity.\nMy husband promised to meet these challenges by following a simple, but profound\nstrategy: providing opportunity for all, asking responsibility from all, and bringing all of us\ntogether to forge one strong, united American community.\nNow, nearly four years later, the strategy is working. Four years ago, our country was\nstruggling with high unemployment, stagnant wages, crime, welfare, and a ballooning deficit.\nToday, we have the lowest combined rates of unemployment, inflation and home mortgages in 28\nyears. There are 10 million new jobs in America, and over half of them are high wage jobs.\n4.4 million Americans are now living in a home of their own for the first time. Hundreds of\nthousands of women have started their own new businesses.\nUnder the President's leadership, 10 million workers will be getting the raise they deserve.\n25 million Americans will be able to keep their health insurance because the Kennedy-Kassebaum\nlaw says you can't lose your insurance when you change jobs. The crime rate has declined four\nyears in a row. There are nearly 2 million fewer people on welfare than when my husband took\noffice. Child support collections have gone up by 40 percent. And the deficit has shrunk by 60\npercent.\nWe are on the right track to the 21st century.\n1\nBut our work and Bill Clinton and Al Gore's work -- is not finished. In a few months,\nwe are going to be choosing the last President of the 20th century and the first President of the\n2 st century. We will be electing the person who will help all of us meet the challenges of the\nfuture while protecting the values that made our country great. This is no time to look backward,\nno time to build bridges to a past that never even existed for many citizens of this country.\nInstead, it is a time to look to the future.\nI believe Bill Clinton is the President who can help America build our bridge to the future -\n- a bridge that cherishes and strengthens our children, our families, our communities, and our\nnation. The bridge Bill Clinton wants to build is one that helps parents raise their children; one\nthat helps young people and adults get the education and training they need, one that makes our\nstreets safer, that helps Americans succeed at home and at work, that breaks the cycle of poverty\nand dependence, that protects our environment for future generations, that maintains American\nleadership for peace and freedom throughout the world.\nFor centuries, education has been the cornerstone of our democracy. It will be the\ncornerstone of America's bridge to the 21 st century. Our democracy has thrived because all of\nour children have had the opportunity to go to school to learn about the duties of citizenship and\nto gain the skills they need to make the most of their abilities.\nIf our children are going to be ready for a new millennium then all of us\nof us must demand more of ourselves and our schools. We need to work together to raise\nstandards in our public schools, to make sure that our children are fluent in the old basics --\nreading, writing, arithmetic, as well as the new basics they'll need to succeed in a fast-paced,\nglobal information age.\nThat's why the President is committed to hooking every classroom in America to the\nInternet.\nAnd that's why the President has set clear national goals to make sure every third grader\nin America can read on his or her own. When 40 percent of our eight-year olds cannot read as\nwell as they should, we have to do something. In a second term, the President would send\n30,000 reading specialists and national service corps members to mobilize an army of one million\nreading tutors for 3rd graders all across America. They will make sure that our children will have\nthe key to unlock worlds of information.\nBut parents must lead the way. We must empower parents to take more active roles in all\naspects of their children's education. That's why the President supports public school choice --\nallowing parents to shop around for the schools that best meet the needs of their children. It's\nwhy he believes in charter schools that offer teachers and parents the freedom to try new ideas\nthat will raise the quality of education and discipline in the classroom.\nNot only parents, but the entire community can -- and must -- play a role in raising the\n2\nstandard of education in America. I know that in this very audience are children from Zavala\nElementary School. Zavala has one of the highest reading scores in the city because everyone --\nparents, teachers, UT students, church members, and other volunteers from the community\nworked together to tutor and serve as guardian angels for our children. Let me congratulate you\non your achievement.\nBut education can't just end after twelve years. In the next four years, my husband\nbelieves America must throw the doors of learning open even wider. That's why he proposes\n$1,500 a year tuition tax credit that will make community college free for any American who is\nwilling to study hard. He is working to make sure that every working family can also deduct up\nto $10,000 a year in college tuition costs. And if the President is re-elected, he will see that\nfamilies are able to save money for college in tax-free IRAs.\nIf we are serious about in investing in the future, we should not tax middle-income\nAmericans for the money they spend on college.\nAnd if we are going to be prepared for the 21st century, then education must become a\nlifelong habit. It is not a one-shot deal. The President has also proposed a new G.I. Bill for\nAmerican Workers a $2,600 grant for unemployed and underemployed Americans so that they\ncan get the training they need to go back to work or find better paying jobs.\nSo, if you send Bill Clinton back to Washington for another four years, every 8-year old\nwill be able to read; every 12-year old will be able to log on to the Internet; every 18-year old will\nbe able to go to college. And all Americans will have the skills they need to cross the bridge to\nthe 21st century.\nMy husband knows that if we are going to preserve the legacy of opportunity for the next\ngeneration, then we must balance the budget in ways that protect our values, that preserves\nMedicare, Medicaid, education, the environment, the integrity of our pensions, and the strength of\nour people.\nLast year, when the Republicans sent the President a budget the violated those values --\none that took school lunches away from poor children, health care away from our parents, and\ninvited companies to pollute the water we all drink, he vetoed it. And he would do it again.\nAll of the President's tax cuts are targeted. They're paid for within his budget. They\nwill speed economic growth. And unlike his opponents', they will not take us backward to a time\nof higher interest rates, exploding budget deficits, and massive national debts.\nWe should cut taxes for the family, for sending a child to college, for the family saving to\nbuy a home, for families hoping to adopt a child, especially one with special needs. That is the\nright way to cut taxes: pro family, pro-education, pro-growth.\n3\nEducation and tax cuts will mean nothing if our children cannot cross the bridge into the\n21st century in safety. That is why the President is committed to taking guns off our streets and\nputting more police officers on them. Because of the Brady Bill 60,000 felons, fugitives and\nstalkers couldn't get handguns, but not a single hunter in Texas or anywhere missed a hunting\nseason.\nThough the crime rate has fallen four years in a row, the President knows that America\ncan do better. We need to expand the Brady bill to prevent anyone who has committed an act of\ndomestic violence from buying a gun.\nThe President knows that families must be the building blocks of America's bridge to the\n21st century My husband wants an America where children are cherished and protected from\ndestructive forces, where parents can succeed at home and at work.\nThe first piece of legislation my husband signed was the Family and Medical Leave Law.\nBecause of this law, millions of American workers can take time off to care for sick family\nmembers without fear of losing the jobs. It's a fair and simple concept, but it a took a President\nwho believed not only in talking about family values but also in acting in ways that valued families\nto make that law a reality.\nThe President is committed to expanding Family Leave so that parents can have time off\nto take their children to the doctor or attend a parent-teacher conference. He wants to pass a flex\ntime law that allows employees to take their overtime pay in money or in time off, depending on\nwhat's better for the family.\nThis election, more than any other, will determine how Americans will live in the next\ncentury. Do we want our children to live in a country run by the gun and cigarette lobby or one\nthat is led by a President who is not afraid the stand up to the NRA and the Tobacco Institute. Do\nwe want a society divided by income, race, or gender? Or do we want one that lives up to our\nprinciples of inclusion, compassion, community, or teamwork?\nThe real choice in this election is whether we will build a bridge to the future or the past;\nabout whether we believe our best days are still ahead of us or our best days are behind us; about\nwhether we want a country of people all working together or one where you're on your own.\nBill Clinton believes that if we all work together, America's best days are yet to come.\n###\n4\nFIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON\nREMARKS FOR CLINTON/GORE '96 RALLY\nUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS\nAUSTIN, TEXAS\nSEPTEMBER 5, 1996\n[Acknowledgments: Garry Mauro; Bernard Rappaport, chairman, UT board of regents]\nThank you, Guadalupe [Becerra]. I'm so happy to be back in Texas, back at UT, and\nback in Longhorn country. I want to thank the University Democrats for inviting me here today.\nThough I spent most of my adult life in the state next door, I've always had a soft spot for\nLone Star state. Almost 25 years ago, my husband and I came to Texas to help the Democratic\nParty get out the vote. I spent a summer and a fall traveling across the state, meeting and\nworking with Texans of all colors and all walks of life. I learned a valuable political lesson from\nthat first time in Texas: In Texas, the people, not the politicians, are the ones who really decide\nwhat's going on here. So I thank you for taking your power as voters seriously and for coming\nout today.\nThe last time I was on this campus, in the spring of 1993, the President was just\nbeginning his effort to keep the American Dream alive for all people who were willing to work\nfor it, to unify and strengthen our community, and to keep America the world's strongest force\nfor peace, freedom and prosperity.\nMy husband promised to meet these challenges by following a simple, but profound\nstrategy: providing opportunity for all, asking responsibility from all, and bringing all of us\ntogether to forge one strong, united American community.\nNow, nearly four years later, the strategy is working. Four years ago, our country was\nstruggling with high unemployment, stagnant wages, crime, welfare, and a ballooning deficit.\nToday, we have the lowest combined rates of unemployment, inflation and home mortgages in\n28 years. There are 10 million new jobs in America, and over half of them are high wage jobs.\n4.4 million Americans are now living in a home of their own for the first time. Hundreds of\nthousands of women have started their own new businesses.\nUnder the President's leadership, 10 million workers will be getting the raise they\ndeserve. 25 million Americans will be able to keep their health insurance because the Kennedy-\nKassebaum law says you can't lose your insurance when you change jobs. The crime rate has\ndeclined four years in a row. There are nearly 2 million fewer people on welfare than when my\nhusband took office. Child support collections have gone up by 40 percent. And the deficit has\nshrunk by 60 percent.\nWe are on the right track to the 21st century.\n1\nBut our work -- and Bill Clinton and Al Gore's work -- is not finished. In a few months,\nwe are going to be choosing the last President of the 20th century and the first President of the\n21 st century. We will be electing the person who will help all of us meet the challenges of the\nfuture while protecting the values that made our country great. This is no time to look backward,\nno time to build bridges to a past that never even existed for many citizens of this country.\nInstead, it is a time to look to the future.\nI believe Bill Clinton is the President who can help America build our bridge to the future\n-- a bridge that cherishes and strengthens our children, our families, our communities, and our\nnation. The bridge Bill Clinton wants to build is one that helps parents raise their children; one\nthat helps young people and adults get the education and training they need, one that makes our\nstreets safer, that helps Americans succeed at home and at work, that breaks the cycle of poverty\nand dependence, that protects our environment for future generations, that maintains American\nleadership for peace and freedom throughout the world.\nFor centuries, education has been the cornerstone of our democracy. It will be the\ncornerstone of America's bridge to the 21st century. Our democracy has thrived because all of\nour children have had the opportunity to go to school to learn about the duties of citizenship and\nto gain the skills they need to make the most of their abilities.\nIf our children are going to be ready for a new millennium then all of us\nof us must demand more of ourselves and our schools. We need to work together to raise\nstandards in our public schools, to make sure that our children are fluent in the old basics --\nreading, writing, arithmetic, as well as the new basics they'll need to succeed in a fast-paced,\nglobal information age.\nThat's why the President is committed to hooking every classroom in America to the\nInternet.\nAnd that's why the President has set clear national goals to make sure every third grader\nin America can read on his or her own. When 40 percent of our eight-year olds cannot read as\nwell as they should, we have to do something. In a second term, the President would send\n30,000 reading specialists and national service corps members to mobilize an army of one\nmillion reading tutors for 3rd graders all across America. They will make sure that our children\nwill have the key to unlock worlds of information.\nBut parents must lead the way. We must empower parents to take more active roles in all\naspects of their children's education. That's why the President supports public school choice --\nallowing parents to shop around for the schools that best meet the needs of their children. It's\nwhy he believes in charter schools that offer teachers and parents the freedom to try new ideas\nthat will raise the quality of education and discipline in the classroom.\nNot only parents, but the entire community can -- and must -- play a role in raising the\n2\nstandard of education in America. I know that in this very audience are children from Zavala\nElementary School. Zavala has one of the highest reading scores in the city because everyone --\nparents, teachers, UT students, church members, and other volunteers from the community\nworked together to tutor and serve as guardian angels for our children. Let me congratulate you\non your achievement.\nBut education can't just end after twelve years. In the next four years, my husband\nbelieves America must throw the doors of learning open even wider. That's why he proposes\n$1,500 a year tuition tax credit that will make community college free for any American who is\nwilling to study hard. He is working to make sure that every working family can also deduct up\nto $10,000 a year in college tuition costs. And if the President is re-elected, he will see that\nfamilies are able to save money for college in tax-free IRAs.\nIf we are serious about in investing in the future, we should not tax middle-income\nAmericans for the money they spend on college.\nAnd if we are going to be prepared for the 21: st century, then education must become a\nlifelong habit. It is not a one-shot deal. The President has also proposed a new G.I. Bill for\nAmerican Workers -- a $2,600 grant for unemployed and underemployed Americans so that they\ncan get the training they need to go back to work or find better paying jobs.\nSo, if you send Bill Clinton back to Washington for another four years, every 8-year old\nwill be able to read; every 12-year old will be able to log on to the Internet; every 18-year old\nwill be able to go to college. And all Americans will have the skills they need to cross the bridge\nto the 21st century.\nMy husband knows that if we are going to preserve the legacy of opportunity for the next\ngeneration, then we must balance the budget in ways that protect our values, that preserves\nMedicare, Medicaid, education, the environment, the integrity of our pensions, and the strength\nof our people.\nLast year, when the Republicans sent the President a budget the violated those values --\none that took school lunches away from poor children, health care away from our parents, and\ninvited companies to pollute the water we all drink, he vetoed it. And he would do it again.\nAll of the President's tax cuts are targeted. They're paid for within his budget. They\nwill speed economic growth. And unlike his opponents', they will not take us backward to a\ntime of higher interest rates, exploding budget deficits, and massive national debts.\nWe should cut taxes for the family, for sending a child to college, for the family saving to\nbuy a home, for families hoping to adopt a child, especially one with special needs. That is the\nright way to cut taxes: pro family, pro-education, pro-growth.\n3\nEducation and tax cuts will mean nothing if our children cannot cross the bridge into the\n21st century in safety. That is why the President is committed to taking guns off our streets and\nputting more police officers on them. Because of the Brady Bill 60,000 felons, fugitives and\nstalkers couldn't get handguns, but not a single hunter in Texas or anywhere missed a hunting\nseason.\nThough the crime rate has fallen four years in a row, the President knows that America\ncan do better. We need to expand the Brady bill to prevent anyone who has committed an act of\ndomestic violence from buying a gun.\nThe President knows that families must be the building blocks of America's bridge to the\n21st century My husband wants an America where children are cherished and protected from\ndestructive forces, where parents can succeed at home and at work.\nThe first piece of legislation my husband signed was the Family and Medical Leave Law.\nBecause of this law, millions of American workers can take time off to care for sick family\nmembers without fear of losing the jobs. It's a fair and simple concept, but it a took a President\nwho believed not only in talking about family values but also in acting in ways that valued\nfamilies to make that law a reality.\nThe President is committed to expanding Family Leave so that parents can have time off\nto take their children to the doctor or attend a parent-teacher conference. He wants to pass a flex\ntime law that allows employees to take their overtime pay in money or in time off, depending on\nwhat's better for the family.\nThis election, more than any other, will determine how Americans will live in the next\ncentury. Do we want our children to live in a country run by the gun and cigarette lobby or one\nthat is led by a President who is not afraid the stand up to the NRA and the Tobacco Institute. Do\nwe want a society divided by income, race, or gender? Or do we want one that lives up to our\nprinciples of inclusion, compassion, community, or teamwork?\nThe real choice in this election is whether we will build a bridge to the future or the past;\nabout whether we believe our best days are still ahead of us or our best days are behind us; about\nwhether we want a country of people all working together or one where you're on your own.\nBill Clinton believes that if we all work together, America's best days are yet to come.\n###\n4\nFIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON\nREMARKS FOR CLINTON/GORE '96 RALLY\nUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS\nAUSTIN, TEXAS\nSEPTEMBER 5, 1996\n[Acknowledgments: Garry Mauro; Bernard Rappaport, chairman, UT board of regents]\nThank you, Guadalupe [Becerra]. I'm so happy to be back in Texas, back at UT, and\nback in Longhorn country. I want to thank the University Democrats for inviting me here today.\nThough I spent most of my adult life in the state next door, I've always had a soft spot for\nLone Star state. Almost 25 years ago, my husband and I came to Texas to help the Democratic\nParty get out the vote. I spent a summer and a fall traveling across the state, meeting and\nworking with Texans of all colors and all walks of life. I learned a valuable political lesson from\nthat first time in Texas: In Texas, the people, not the politicians, are the ones who really decide\nwhat's going on here. So I thank you for taking your power as voters seriously and for coming\nout today.\nThe last time I was on this campus, in the spring of 1993, the President was just beginning\nhis effort to keep the American Dream alive for all people who were willing to work for it, to\nunify and strengthen our community, and to keep America the world's strongest force for peace,\nfreedom and prosperity.\nMy husband promised to meet these challenges by following a simple, but profound\nstrategy: providing opportunity for all, asking responsibility from all, and bringing all of us\ntogether to forge one strong, united American community.\nNow, nearly four years later, the strategy is working. Four years ago, our country was\nstruggling with high unemployment, stagnant wages, crime, welfare, and a ballooning deficit.\nToday, we have the lowest combined rates of unemployment, inflation and home mortgages in 28\nyears. There are 10 million new jobs in America, and over half of them are high wage jobs.\n4.4 million Americans are now living in a home of their own for the first time. Hundreds of\nthousands of women have started their own new businesses.\nUnder the President's leadership, 10 million workers will be getting the raise they deserve.\n25 million Americans will be able to keep their health insurance because the Kennedy-Kassebaum\nlaw says you can't lose your insurance when you change jobs. The crime rate has declined four\nyears in a row. There are nearly 2 million fewer people on welfare than when my husband took\noffice. Child support collections have gone up by 40 percent. And the deficit has shrunk by 60\npercent.\nWe are on the right track to the 21st century.\n1\nBut our work and Bill Clinton and Al Gore's work is not finished. In a few months,\nwe are going to be choosing the last President of the 20th century and the first President of the\n21st century. We will be electing the person who will help all of us meet the challenges of the\nfuture while protecting the values that made our country great. This is no time to look backward,\nno time to build bridges to a past that never even existed for many citizens of this country.\nInstead, it is a time to look to the future.\nI believe Bill Clinton is the President who can help America build our bridge to the future -\n- a bridge that cherishes and strengthens our children, our families, our communities, and our\nnation. The bridge Bill Clinton wants to build is one that helps parents raise their children; one\nthat helps young people and adults get the education and training they need, one that makes our\nstreets safer, that helps Americans succeed at home and at work, that breaks the cycle of poverty\nand dependence, that protects our environment for future generations, that maintains American\nleadership for peace and freedom throughout the world.\nFor centuries, education has been the cornerstone of our democracy. It will be the\ncornerstone of America's bridge to the 21st century. Our democracy has thrived because all of\nour children have had the opportunity to go to school to learn about the duties of citizenship and\nto gain the skills they need to make the most of their abilities.\nIf our children are going to be ready for a new millennium then all of us\nof us must demand more of ourselves and our schools. We need to work together to raise\nstandards in our public schools, to make sure that our children are fluent in the old basics --\nreading, writing, arithmetic, as well as the new basics they'll need to succeed in a fast-paced,\nglobal information age.\nThat's why the President is committed to hooking every classroom in America to the\nInternet.\nAnd that's why the President has set clear national goals to make sure every third grader\nin America can read on his or her own. When 40 percent of our eight-year olds cannot read as\nwell as they should, we have to do something. In a second term, the President would send\n30,000 reading specialists and national service corps members to mobilize an army of one million\nreading tutors for 3rd graders all across America. They will make sure that our children will have\nthe key to unlock worlds of information.\nBut parents must lead the way. We must empower parents to take more active roles in all\naspects of their children's education. That's why the President supports public school choice --\nallowing parents to shop around for the schools that best meet the needs of their children. It's\nwhy he believes in charter schools that offer teachers and parents the freedom to try new ideas\nthat will raise the quality of education and discipline in the classroom.\nNot only parents, but the entire community can -- and must -- play a role in raising the\n2\nstandard of education in America. I know that in this very audience are children from Zavala\nElementary School. Zavala has one of the highest reading scores in the city because everyone --\nparents, teachers, UT students, church members, and other volunteers from the community\nworked together to tutor and serve as guardian angels for our children. Let me congratulate you\non your achievement.\nBut education can't just end after twelve years. In the next four years, my husband\nbelieves America must throw the doors of learning open even wider. That's why he proposes\n$1,500 a year tuition tax credit that will make community college free for any American who is\nwilling to study hard. He is working to make sure that every working family can also deduct up\nto $10,000 a year in college tuition costs. And if the President is re-elected, he will see that\nfamilies are able to save money for college in tax-free IRAs.\nIf we are serious about in investing in the future, we should not tax middle-income\nAmericans for the money they spend on college.\nAnd if we are going to be prepared for the 21st century, then education must become a\nlifelong habit. It is not a one-shot deal. The President has also proposed a new G.I. Bill for\nAmerican Workers a $2,600 grant for unemployed and underemployed Americans so that they\ncan get the training they need to go back to work or find better paying jobs.\nSo, if you send Bill Clinton back to Washington for another four years, every 8-year old\nwill be able to read; every 12-year old will be able to log on to the Internet; every 18-year old will\nbe able to go to college. And all Americans will have the skills they need to cross the bridge to\nthe 21st century.\nMy husband knows that if we are going to preserve the legacy of opportunity for the next\ngeneration, then we must balance the budget in ways that protect our values, that preserves\nMedicare, Medicaid, education, the environment, the integrity of our pensions, and the strength of\nour people.\nLast year, when the Republicans sent the President a budget the violated those values --\none that took school lunches away from poor children, health care away from our parents, and\ninvited companies to pollute the water we all drink, he vetoed it. And he would do it again.\nAll of the President's tax cuts are targeted. They're paid for within his budget. They\nwill speed economic growth. And unlike his opponents', they will not take us backward to a time\nof higher interest rates, exploding budget deficits, and massive national debts.\nWe should cut taxes for the family, for sending a child to college, for the family saving to\nbuy a home, for families hoping to adopt a child, especially one with special needs. That is the\nright way to cut taxes: pro family, pro-education, pro-growth.\n3\nEducation and tax cuts will mean nothing if our children cannot cross the bridge into the\n21st century in safety. That is why the President is committed to taking guns off our streets and\nputting more police officers on them. Because of the Brady Bill 60,000 felons, fugitives and\nstalkers couldn't get handguns, but not a single hunter in Texas or anywhere missed a hunting\nseason.\nThough the crime rate has fallen four years in a row, the President knows that America\ncan do better. We need to expand the Brady bill to prevent anyone who has committed an act of\ndomestic violence from buying a gun.\nThe President knows that families must be the building blocks of America's bridge to the\n21st century My husband wants an America where children are cherished and protected from\ndestructive forces, where parents can succeed at home and at work.\nThe first piece of legislation my husband signed was the Family and Medical Leave Law.\nBecause of this law, millions of American workers can take time off to care for sick family\nmembers without fear of losing the jobs. It's a fair and simple concept, but it a took a President\nwho believed not only in talking about family values but also in acting in ways that valued families\nto make that law a reality.\nThe President is committed to expanding Family Leave so that parents can have time off\nto take their children to the doctor or attend a parent-teacher conference. He wants to pass a flex\ntime law that allows employees to take their overtime pay in money or in time off, depending on\nwhat's better for the family.\nThis election, more than any other, will determine how Americans will live in the next\ncentury. Do we want our children to live in a country run by the gun and cigarette lobby or one\nthat is led by a President who is not afraid the stand up to the NRA and the Tobacco Institute. Do\nwe want a society divided by income, race, or gender? Or do we want one that lives up to our\nprinciples of inclusion, compassion, community, or teamwork?\nThe real choice in this election is whether we will build a bridge to the future or the past;\nabout whether we believe our best days are still ahead of us or our best days are behind us; about\nwhether we want a country of people all working together or one where you're on your own.\nBill Clinton believes that if we all work together, America's best days are yet to come.\n###\n4"
}