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Republican Governor's Association Dinner 10/17/89 [OA 3536] [1]
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5
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
October 17, 1989
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO
REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR'S ASSOCIATION DINNER
The Capitol Hilton
Washington, D.C.
8:38 P.M. EDT
MR. PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you, Chairman
Hayden. Thank you, Mike, Governor, for that gracious introduction.
And my congratulations go to you for your effective tenure and to
your -- the success on this dinner and, of course, to your successor,
John Ashcroft, the Governor of Missouri. And I'm just delighted to
be here with both of you. (Applause.) And, Lee, it's always good to
see you here. I'm very proud of our national chairman. He's doing
an outstanding job in broadening the base of our party. (Applause.)
I want to thank the members of my Cabinet for being here.
We have a good Cabinet -- outstanding men and women of ability. We
have a real team and I think that is understood and appreciated
around this country. I'm proud of them all and I'm just delighted
they're here with me tonight.
I want to thank the Chaplain of the Senate, Chaplain
Halverson, for his invocation. Eight years I was Vice President and
that meant I was the President of the Senate. And though I had known
Dick Halverson before while I was there that I heard him, and I'm
just delighted that he's with us tonight. I don't want to start
singling out additional members of the White House staff who are
here, but I do think it's appropriate to mention my Chief of Staff, a
former governor, John Sununu -- he's out there somewhere.
(Applause.) He's gone.
And I'm very pleased that one of our retiring governors
-- retiring, meaning leaving office -- Tom Kean will be the part of
our team as the head of the Advisory Committee on the President's
Points of Light Initiative Foundation -- the whole voluntary effort
that I'm determined to see successful. And so, Professor Kean,
wherever you may be, before you go on, thank you. (Applause.) It's
very important and thank you for doing it. I'm also sorry that my
good friend and fellow Texan, Governor Clements could not make it
tonight. You may not know this -- I expect Tom Loeffler does -- but
the Dallas paper reported last week that Bill Clements was dining in
a restaurant when a hold-up and shoot-out occurred right in front of
him. The most remarkable part of all, however, is that not once
through the whole ordeal did he put down his hamburger. (Laughter.)
And I'm not sure if that was Texas courage or hunger or the need for
a new pair of glasses or a hearing aid. (Laughter.) But
nevertheless, you talk about trauma.
As you all know, I'm not an alumnus of this organization,
but over the years as I've worked with the governors, I have come to
fully appreciate the responsibility that you are shouldering and the
leadership that is provided at the state level. And I'm sure there
are times when federalism seems to be a mixed blessing. It's not
possible for a governor to shy away from the hard decisions. But 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.
MORE
- 2 -
And for that reason, I believe we can, indeed that we
must, as chief executives take responsibility, join forces and make
common cause of building a better America. And that is why we came
together in Charlottesville at an historic summit -- only the third
of its kind in the history of this country. And we came together
with your Democratic counterparts -- and I salute them for the
nonpartisan way in which they approached it -- in open, wide-ranging
and creative sessions to seek a new direction in education. And in
the end, we agreed to a historic compact -- a Jeffersonian compact,
if you will, to set national goals, to allow for greater flexibility,
more creativity and then to be accountable for the results.
And we could achieve this because in Charlottesville we
put progress before partisanship, the future before the moment and
our kids before ourselves. And America simply faces too many of
these long-term challenges for us to act only as Republicans or
Democrats or conservatives or liberals. And still, in spite of that,
there is a Republican approach to the challenges we face and we have
proven time and again that the Republican approach is the best
approach. (Applause.)
Now, I consider this a matter of record. A record that
includes 83 months of economic growth and more than 20 million new
jobs. A few years ago when our opponents said that a tax cut would
hurt the economy, we cut the taxes and did it the opposite. And when
our opponents said that a stronger defense would make the Soviets
more militant, we revitalized our Armed Forces and the Soviets met us
at the negotiation table.
In short, whatever has worked at the federal level
happened only because Republicans and enlightened Democrats in
Congress joined forces to make it work. And so the bottom line is
this: Throughout the 1980's the Republican Party has been the party
of ideas. This is no less true at the state level. And while
Republicans are leading the way, where is the opposition? Answer:
in the throes of an identify crisis. And after the longest peacetime
expansion in history, the Democrats can't quite bring themselves to
admit that Republicans were right. And nor do they have a new vision
of where America should be going. All they can do is cloak is their
out-of-step ideas in the language of moderation.
I don't often quote Franklin D. Roosevelt on partisan
matters. But the little story he told to make fun of his Republican
opponents fits the liberal Democrats so well today. Remember the
story of the unfortunate chameleon which turned brown when placed on
a brown rug and turned red when placed on a red rug, but who died a
tragic death when they put him on a scotch plaid. (Laughter.) And
this is precisely what we've got to do -- (applause) -- it's
precisely what we have to do in the 1990 election -- to keep the
focus on the issues and expose the true colors of the chameleon
candidates for the national and state elections of the 1990s -- will
not just be a battle of the century. It will be a battle for the
century -- the first battle for the 21st century.
We have proven time and again that our party can keep
the White House. But to win a majority of governorships, state
offices, seats in Congress, we've got to roll up our sleeves and get
down to the basics of winning elections. And we must be more
competitive; we must rededicate ourselves to the nuts and the bolts
of grassroots politics, as our opponents do. And as we look to the
upcoming elections, we have three obtainable goals. First, to move
toward our rightful place as the majority party of governors. As
federalism has enhanced your role, so the control of the
governorships has become one of the most critical national goals of
our party.
Our second goal is to recapture the United States Senate.
And third, we must open the House of Representatives to two-party
competition. But the key to all three goals is the first -- elect
more Republican governors. (Applause.) It is no coincidence that
our party slipped to minority status in the House of Representatives
as we became a minority in state government. The Founding Fathers
MORE
- 3 -
intended the House to be the most sensitive barometer of the changing
needs of the American people. And instead, whole generations have
never known what it means to experience a change in party control of
the House.
Let me tell you about our son, Neil, as a way to
illustrate the seemingly unending nature of the Democratic majority.
He's 34 years old. Born on January 22nd, 1955, and three weeks after
the last Republican Speaker turned the gavel over to a Democrat. Not
once in his lifetime has he seen the leadership of the House of
Representatives change parties not one time. And think of all the
millions of men and women across America in the 20s and 30s who have
never known true two-party competition in the House.
Well, will the House remain static for another 34 years?
Yes. But only if Republicans passively accept it.
Today, Democrats now have a redistricting advantage in
the states that compose about 90 percent of the seats in Congress.
And as Republican leaders, you can veto these gerrymandering schemes
and take our message to the voters of your states by declaring that
this form of voter discrimination must end. (Applause.)
But we have far greater reasons than reapportionment to
pursue the governorships of America. America faces tough problems --
problems that require more than federal solutions. And they require
national solutions. And solutions are now possible because the
states are embracing a new dynamism based on an old vision.
The great Supreme Court Justice, Louis T. Brandeis,
foresaw a time when a single courageous state may serve as a
laboratory and try novel social and economic experiments without risk
to the rest of the country. To borrow a phrase, the states are
becoming these laboratories of democracy, with each state endowed
with freedom -- freedom to fail, freedom to succeed, and freedom to
discover and share its discoveries.
In an era of tight resources, necessity the mother of
invention has also proven to be the mother of creative politics, of
policies. You're following the advice of Teddy Roosevelt, a great
Republican governor, who said that our national greatness is not what
we have that will make us a great nation, it is the way in which we
use it.
Dozens of states are experimenting with ways to remove
obstacles to opportunity and to bring the creative energy of
entrepreneurship to the public sector. Some of your experiments are
certain to become the national policies of the next century. But to
be creative, you've got to have freedom. You tell me the federal
government must not tie your hands, must not mandate your programs,
must not dictate your policies. And I hear you, and I am ready to
work with you to ease the federal control and mandates over the
states. (Applause.)
The states are at the forefront precisely because the
first instinct of our governors is not to look to Washington, but to
the combined strength of the public and private sector. And much has
been written about how governors in both parties are rejecting the
old ideologies and stale approaches of the past. Credit should be
given where it's due.
But I have to say, while Democrats have been adept at
promoting new programs that attract a lot of fanfare, the Republican
governors have quietly distinguished themselves with programs that
work. The people know this. And come November 1990, I believe the
voters will choose innovation and daring for their state government.
They will then vote Republican. (Applause.)
It's been a great pleasure for Barbara and me to be here
tonight, and a great pleasure to speak to you tonight. But due to
the Gramm-Rudman sequester, I have to cut my remarks by 5.3 percent.
(Laughter.) So let me leave this with you tonight. One thought --
MORE
- 4 -
to win big, you must think big. And Republican governors are already
thinking big -- thinking big, thinking ahead. And you are the
planners and the profits and the managers and divisionaries and the
dreamers and the doers. And you are the ones I look to, to join me
in a partnership to win the future.
So this is our vision. We are going to be the party that
leads the states; we're going to be the party that leads Congress,
and then we will be the party that leads America into the 21st
century. Thank all of you governors for being here tonight, and
thank those of you who were supporting this noble quest.
Thank you, and God bless you. And God bless the United
States. (Applause.)
END
8:53 P.M. EDT
REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS ASSOC., CAPITOL HILTON
TUESDAY, OcT. 17, 7 P.M.
THANK YOU CHAIRMAN HAYDEN -- MIKE --FOR - THAT
GRACIOUS INTRODUCTION. MY. CONGRATULATIONS GO TO YOU
FOR YOUR EFFECTIVE TENURE, AND TO YOUR SUCCESSOR, JOHN
ASHCROFT.
LET US ALSO HONOR A GOVERNOR WHO SHOWED GREAT
LEADERSHIP THROUGH A TIME OF TURBULENCE AND TRAGEDY
CARROLL CAMPBELL OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 11
AND I'M PLEASED THAT ONE OF OUR RETIRING
GOVERNORS, TOM KEAN, WILL BE A PART OF OUR TEAM AS THE
HEAD OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON THE PRESIDENT'S
POINTS OF LIGHT INITIATIVE FOUNDATION. THANKS
PROFESSOR.
- 2 -
((AND I'M ALSO SORRY THAT MY GOOD FRIEND AND
FELLOW TEXAN, GOVERNOR CLEMENTS, COULD NOT MAKE IT
TONIGHT. YOU MAY NOT KNOW THIS, BUT THE DALLAS PAPERS
REPORTED LAST WEEK THAT BILL WAS DINING IN A RESTAURANT
WHEN A HOLD-UP AND SHOOT-OUT OCCURRED RIGHT IN FRONT OF
HIM. BUT THE MOST REMARKABLE PART OF ALL, IS THAT NOT
ONCE THROUGH THE WHOLE ORDEAL DID BILL PUT DOWN HIS
HAMBURGER. III NOW BILL, I'M NOT SURE IF THAT'S
COURAGE, HUNGER OR THE NEED FOR A PAIR OF NEW
GLASSES. III BUT, YOU HAVE MY ADMIRATION ANYWAY.)
AS YOU KNOW, I AM NOT AN ALUMNUS OF YOUR
ORGANIZATION. BUT OVER THE YEARS, AS I WORKED WITH THE
GOVERNORS, I HAVE COME TO FULLY APPRECIATE THE
RESPONSIBILITY YOU ARE SHOULDERING, AND THE LEADERSHIP
YOU PROVIDE.
I'M SURE THERE ARE TIMES WHEN FEDERALISM SEEMS TO
BE A MIXED BLESSING. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR A GOVERNOR
TO SHY AWAY FROM THE HARD DECISIONS. BUT 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.
- 3 -
FOR THAT REASON I BELIEVE WE CAN, WE MUST, AS
CHIEF EXECUTIVES TAKE RESPONSIBILITY, JOIN FORCES, AND
MAKE A COMMON CAUSE OF BUILDING A BETTER AMERICA.
THAT IS WHY WE CAME TOGETHER IN CHARLOTTESVILLE,
AT AN HISTORIC SUMMIT, ONLY THE THIRD OF ITS KIND IN
OUR HISTORY. WE CAME TOGETHER, WITH YOUR DEMOCRATIC
COUNTERPARTS, IN OPEN, WIDE-RANGING AND CREATIVE
SESSIONS TO SEEK A NEW DIRECTION IN EDUCATION. IN THE
END, WE AGREED TO AN HISTORIC COMPACT -- A JEFFERSONIAN
COMPACT -- TO SET NATIONAL GOALS; TO ALLOW FOR GREATER
FLEXIBILITY, MORE CREATIVITY; AND THEN TO BE
ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE RESULTS.
WE COULD ACHIEVE THIS, BECAUSE IN CHARLOTTESVILLE
WE PUT PROGRESS BEFORE PARTISANSHIP, THE FUTURE BEFORE
THE MOMENT AND OUR CHILDREN BEFORE OURSELVES. AMERICA
SIMPLY FACES TOO MANY OF THESE LONG-TERM CHALLENGES FOR
US TO ACT ONLY AS REPUBLICANS OR DEMOCRATS,
CONSERVATIVES OR LIBERALS.
- 4 -
STILL, THERE IS A REPUBLICAN APPROACH TO THE
CHALLENGES WE FACE. AND WE HAVE PROVEN, TIME AND
AGAIN, THAT THE REPUBLICAN APPROACH IS THE BEST
APPROACH.
I CONSIDER THIS A MATTER OF RECORD, A RECORD THAT
INCLUDES EIGHTY-THREE MONTHS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH AND
MORE THAN TWENTY MILLION NEW JOBS. A FEW YEARS AGO,
WHEN OUR OPPONENTS SAID THAT A TAX CUT WOULD HURT THE
ECONOMY, WE CUT TAXES -- AND IT DID THE OPPOSITE. WHEN
OUR OPPONENTS SAID THAT A STRONGER DEFENSE WOULD MAKE
THE SOVIETS MORE MILITANT, WE REVITALIZED OUR ARMED
FORCES -- AND THE SOVIETS MET US AT THE NEGOTIATING
TABLE. IN SHORT, WHATEVER HAS WORKED AT THE FEDERAL
LEVEL HAPPENED ONLY BECAUSE REPUBLICANS AND ENLIGHTENED
DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS JOINED FORCES TO MAKE IT WORK.
so THE BOTTOM LINE IS THIS -- THROUGHOUT THE
1980S, THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS BEEN THE PARTY OF
IDEAS. THIS IS NO LESS TRUE AT THE STATE LEVEL.
- 5 -
AND WHILE REPUBLICANS ARE LEADING THE WAY, WHERE
IS THE OPPOSITION? ANSWER: IN THE THROES OF AN
IDENTITY CRISIS. AFTER THE LONGEST PEACETIME EXPANSION
IN HISTORY, THE DEMOCRATS CAN'T QUITE BRING THEMSELVES
TO ADMIT THAT REPUBLICANS WERE RIGHT. NOR DO THEY HAVE
A NEW VISION OF WHERE AMERICA SHOULD BE GOING. ALL
THEY CAN DO IS CLOAK THEIR OUT-OF-STEP IDEAS IN THE
LANGUAGE OF MODERATION.
I DON'T OFTEN QUOTE FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT ON
PARTISAN MATTERS. BUT THE LITTLE STORY HE TOLD TO MAKE
FUN OF HIS REPUBLICAN OPPONENTS FITS THE LIBERAL
DEMOCRATS so WELL TODAY. IT IS THE STORY OF THE
"UNFORTUNATE CHAMELEON WHICH TURNED BROWN WHEN PLACED
ON A BROWN RUG, AND TURNED RED WHEN PLACED ON A RED
RUG, BUT WHO DIED A TRAGIC DEATH WHEN THEY PUT HIM ON A
SCOTCH PLAID. "\\
THIS IS PRECISELY WHAT WE MUST DO IN THE 1990
ELECTION -- TO KEEP THE FOCUS ON THE ISSUES, AND EXPOSE
THE TRUE COLORS OF THE CHAMELEON CANDIDATES. FOR THE
NATIONAL AND STATE ELECTIONS OF THE 1990S WILL NOT JUST
BE A BATTLE OF THE CENTURY; IT WILL BE A BATTLE FOR THE
CENTURY -- THE 21ST CENTURY.
- 6 -
WE HAVE PROVEN, TIME AND AGAIN, THAT OUR PARTY CAN
KEEP THE WHITE HOUSE. BUT TO WIN A MAJORITY OF
GOVERNORSHIPS, STATE OFFICES AND SEATS IN CONGRESS, WE
MUST ROLL UP OUR SLEEVES AND GET DOWN TO THE BASICS OF
WINNING ELECTIONS. WE MUST BE MORE COMPETITIVE. WE
MUST REDEDICATE OURSELVES TO THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF
POLITICS, THE GRASSROOTS, AS OUR OPPONENTS DO.
AS WE LOOK TO THE UPCOMING ELECTIONS, WE HAVE
THREE OBTAINABLE GOALS. FIRST, TO MOVE TOWARD OUR
RIGHTFUL PLACE AS THE MAJORITY PARTY OF GOVERNORS.
AS FEDERALISM HAS ENHANCED YOUR ROLE, SO THE CONTROL OF
THE GOVERNORSHIPS HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST CRITICAL
NATIONAL GOALS OF OUR PARTY. OUR SECOND GOAL IS TO
RECAPTURE THE U.S. SENATE. AND THIRD, WE MUST OPEN THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO TWO-PARTY COMPETITION. 11
BUT THE KEY TO ALL THREE GOALS IS THE FIRST -- TO ELECT
MORE REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS.
- 7 -
IT'S NO COINCIDENCE THAT OUR PARTY SLIPPED TO
MINORITY STATUS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AS WE
BECAME A MINORITY IN STATE GOVERNMENT. THE FOUNDING
FATHERS INTENDED THE HOUSE TO BE THE MOST SENSITIVE
BAROMETER OF THE CHANGING NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
INSTEAD, WHOLE GENERATIONS HAVE NEVER KNOWN WHAT IT
MEANS TO EXPERIENCE A CHANGE IN PARTY CONTROL OF THE
HOUSE.
LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY SON NEIL, AS A WAY TO
ILLUSTRATE THE SEEMINGLY UNENDING NATURE OF THE
DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY. NEIL IS THIRTY-FOUR YEARS OLD.
HE WAS BORN ON JANUARY, 22, 1955, THREE WEEKS AFTER THE
LAST REPUBLICAN SPEAKER TURNED THE GAVEL OVER TO A
DEMOCRAT. NOT ONCE IN HIS LIFETIME HAS HE SEEN THE
LEADERSHIP OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CHANGE
PARTIES. NOT ONE TIME. THINK OF ALL THE MILLIONS OF
MEN AND WOMEN ACROSS AMERICA IN THEIR TWENTIES AND
THIRTIES WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN TRUE TWO-PARTY
COMPETITION IN THE HOUSE.
- 8 -
WE'VE SEEN THE DEMOCRATS USE THEIR POWER IN THE
STATEHOUSE TO DRAW CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS TO SUIT
THEMSELVES I'VE HEARD SOME SAY THE GERRYMANDERED
DISTRICTS OUT IN CALIFORNIA REMIND THEM OF MODERN ART.
THAT'S A TERRIBLE INJUSTICE // TO PICASSO. ///
WILL THE HOUSE REMAIN STATIC FOR ANOTHER THIRTY-
FOUR YEARS? YES, BUT ONLY IF REPUBLICANS PASSIVELY
ACCEPT IT. TODAY, DEMOCRATS NOW HAVE A REDISTRICTING
ADVANTAGE IN STATES THAT COMPOSE ABOUT 90 PERCENT OF
THE SEATS IN CONGRESS. AS REPUBLICAN LEADERS, YOU CAN
VETO THESE GERRYMANDER SCHEMES AND TAKE OUR MESSAGE TO
VOTERS OF YOUR STATES BY DECLARING THAT THIS FORM OF
VOTER DISCRIMINATION MUST END.\\
BUT WE HAVE FAR GREATER REASONS THAN
REAPPORTIONMENT TO PURSUE THE GOVERNORSHIPS OF AMERICA.
AMERICA FACES TOUGH PROBLEMS THAT REQUIRE MORE THAN
FEDERAL SOLUTIONS. THEY REQUIRE NATIONAL SOLUTIONS.
AND SOLUTIONS ARE NOW POSSIBLE BECAUSE THE STATES ARE
EMBRACING A NEW DYNAMISM BASED ON AN OLD VISION.
- 9 -
THE GREAT SUPREME COURT JUSTICE LOUIS D. BRANDEIS
FORESAW A TIME WHEN: "A SINGLE COURAGEOUS STATE MAY
...
SERVE AS A LABORATORY AND TRY NOVEL SOCIAL AND
ECONOMIC EXPERIMENTS WITHOUT RISK TO THE REST OF THE
COUNTRY." ((TO BORROW A PHRASE)) THE STATES ARE
BECOMING THESE "LABORATORIES OF DEMOCRACY," WITH EACH
STATE ENDOWED WITH FREEDOM -- FREEDOM TO FAIL, FREEDOM
TO SUCCEED, AND FREEDOM TO DISCOVER AND SHARE ITS
DISCOVERIES.
IN AN ERA OF TIGHT RESOURCES, NECESSITY, THE
MOTHER OF INVENTION, HAS ALSO PROVEN TO BE THE MOTHER
OF CREATIVE POLICIES. YOU ARE FOLLOWING THE ADVICE OF
TEDDY ROOSEVELT, A GREAT REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR, WHO SAID
THAT OUR NATIONAL GREATNESS "IS NOT WHAT WE HAVE THAT
WILL MAKE US A GREAT NATION; IT IS THE WAY IN WHICH WE
USE IT."
DOZENS OF STATES ARE EXPERIMENTING WITH WAYS TO
REMOVE OBSTACLES TO OPPORTUNITY, AND TO BRING THE
CREATIVE ENERGY OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP TO THE PUBLIC
SECTOR. SOME OF YOUR EXPERIMENTS ARE CERTAIN TO BECOME
THE NATIONAL POLICIES OF THE NEXT CENTURY.
- 10 -
BUT TO BE CREATIVE, YOU NEED FREEDOM. YOU TELL ME
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MUST NOT TIE YOUR HANDS; MUST
NOT MANDATE YOUR PROGRAMS; MUST NOT DICTATE YOUR
POLICIES. I HEAR YOU. AND I AM READY TO WORK WITH YOU
TO EASE FEDERAL CONTROL. 11
THE STATES ARE AT THE FOREFRONT PRECISELY BECAUSE
THE FIRST INSTINCT OF OUR GOVERNORS IS NOT TO LOOK TO
WASHINGTON, BUT TO THE COMBINED STRENGTH OF THE PUBLIC
AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR. MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT
HOW GOVERNORS IN BOTH PARTIES ARE REJECTING THE OLD
IDEOLOGIES AND STALE APPROACHES OF THE PAST. CREDIT
SHOULD BE GIVEN WHERE IT IS DUE. BUT I HAVE TO SAY,
WHILE DEMOCRATS HAVE BEEN ADEPT AT PROMOTING NEW
PROGRAMS THAT ATTRACT A LOT OF FANFARE, THE REPUBLICANS
GOVERNORS HAVE QUIETLY DISTINGUISHED THEMSELVES WITH
PROGRAMS THAT WORK. THE PEOPLE KNOW THIS. AND COME
NOVEMBER, 1990, I BELIEVE THE VOTERS WILL CHOOSE
INNOVATION AND DARING FOR THEIR STATE GOVERNMENT. THEY
WILL VOTE REPUBLICAN. ////
[[IT'S BEEN A PLEASURE TO SPEAK TO YOU TONIGHT.
HOWEVER, DUE TO THE GRAMM-RUDMAN SEQUESTER, I HAVE TO
CUT MY REMARKS 111 BY 5.3 PERCENT ]]
- 11 -
BUT, LET ME LEAVE YOU WITH THIS THOUGHT: TO WIN
BIG, YOU MUST THINK BIG. AND REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS ARE
ALREADY THINKING BIG, THINKING AHEAD. YOU ARE THE
PLANNERS AND THE PROPHETS, THE MANAGERS AND THE
VISIONARIES, THE DREAMERS AND THE DOERS. YOU ARE THE
ONES I LOOK TO JOIN ME, IN A PARTNERSHIP, TO WIN THE
FUTURE.
SO THIS IS OUR VISION: WE ARE GOING TO BE THE
PARTY THAT LEADS THE STATES. WE ARE GOING TO BE THE
PARTY THAT LEADS CONGRESS. THEN WE WILL BE THE PARTY
THAT LEADS AMERICA INTO THE 21ST CENTURY. 11
THANK YOU, GOD BLESS YOU AND GOD BLESS AMERICA.
#
#
#
081213SS
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
10/16/89
---
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION
CAPITOL HILTON, TUES., OCT. 17, 1989
SUBJECT:
(10/10 - draft: two)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
ROGERS
WINSTON
CICCONI
PINKERTON
DEMAREST
WRAY
FITZWATER
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
The attached has been forwarded to the President.
RESPONSE:
61 :Ed 91 100 James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
1989 OCT 14 PM 2: 49
Oct. 14, 1989
INFORMATION
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
Through:
CHRISS WINSTON
From:
MARK DAVIS
amformo
Subject:
Republican Governors Association
SUMMARY: You will address the Republican Governors Association
at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 17, at the Capitol Hilton. You will be
introduced by Governor Mike Hayden of Kansas, the current RGA
Chairman, who will soon relinquish his post to Governor John
Ashcroft of Missouri. The crowd will consist of 500 people.
Your remarks will be teleprompted and last approximately 12 to 15
minutes.
DISCUSSION: This speech looks back to the Charlottesville
summit, and acknowledges the need for bipartisan cooperation on
urgent national issues. At the same time, the best ideas and
leadership have always come from the Republican Party -- a claim
proven by our record of peace and prosperity. This speech
denounces the unfair, partisan gerrymander -- a form of voter
discrimination that governors can help end. At the same time,
this speech makes it clear that in this age of federalism,
governorships are valued for what they can achieve -- not just
for their influence on reapportionment. Majority control of the
governorships is a national goal of the Republican Party.
Davis/Martin
Oct. 10, 1989
Title: Governors
Draft: Two
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS ASSOC., Capitol Hilton
Tuesday, Oct. 17, 7 p.m.
Thank you Chairman Hayden for that gracious introduction.
My congratulations go to you for your effective tenure, and to
your successor, Governor Ashcroft.
Let us also honor a governor who showed great leadership
through a time of turbulence and tragedy
...
Carroll Campbell
of South Carolina.
And I'm pleased that one of our retiring governors, Tom
Kean, will be a part of our team as the head of the Advisory
Panel of the Thousand Points of Light Foundation.
((It's good to see my good friend, Gov. Clements, from ny
home state of Texas. You may not know this, but the Dallas
papers reported last week, that Gov. Clements was dining in a
restaurant when a hold-up and shoot out occurred right in front
of him. But the most remarkable part of all, is that not once
through the whole ordeal did Gov. Clements put down his
hamburger. \\\ Bill, I'm not sure if that's courage or hunger.
111 But, you have my admiration anyway. ))
((Finally, I also want to recognize a former chairman of
this association, and my chief of staff, John Sununu. John,
did you hear of the boy in the spelling bee who was asked if he
could spell your last name? The boy said he could spell
"Sununu," but he just wasn't sure when to stop. )) 11
2
As you know, I am not an alumnus of your organization. But
over the years, as I worked with the governors, I have come to
fully appreciate the responsibility you are shouldering, and the
leadership you provide.
But of course, there are times when federalism seems to be a
mixed blessing. It is not possible for a governor to shy away
from the hard decisions. You are responsible, as am I. You are
forced to confront the gritty problems, as am I. Some describe
this responsibility as a great burden. But as I said before, for
us, if it is a burden, it is one we cheerfully accept. 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.
For that reason I believe we can, we must, as chief
executives take responsibility, join forces, and make a common
cause of building a better America.
That is why we came together at Charlottesville, at an
historic summit, only the third of its kind in our history. We
came together, with your Democratic counterparts, in open, wide-
ranging and creative sessions to seek a new direction in
education. In the end, we agreed to an historic compact -- a
Jeffersonian compact -- to set national goals; to allow for
greater flexibility, more creativity; and then to be accountable
for the results.
We could achieve this, because at Charlottesville we put
progress before partisanship, the future before the moment and
3
our children before ourselves. America simply faces too many of
these long-term challenges for us to act only as Republicans or
Democrats, conservatives or liberals. We must work together to
redeem our schools. We must work together to save our children
from drugs. We must work together to protect the environment and
meet the changing needs of the American family.
Still, this does not mean that there is no time and place
for partisanship. There is a Republican approach to the
challenges we face. And we have proven, time and again, that the
Republican approach is the best approach.\
I consider this a matter of record, a record that includes
eighty-three months of economic growth and more than twenty
million new jobs. A few years ago, when our opponents said
that a tax cut would hurt the economy, we cut taxes -- and it did
the opposite. When our opponents said that a stronger defense
would make the Soviets more militant, we revitalized our armed
forces -- and the Soviets met us at the negotiating table. In
short, whatever has worked at the federal level happened only
because Republicans and conservative Democrats in Congress joined
forces to make it work.
So the bottom line is this -- throughout the 1980s, the
Republican Party has been the party of ideas. This is no less
true at the state level.
And while Republicans are leading the way, where is the
opposition? Answer: in the throes of an identity crisis. After
the longest peacetime expansion in history, the Democrats can't
4
quite bring themselves to admit that Republicans were right. Nor
do they have a new vision of where America should be going. All
they can do is cloak their out-of-step ideas in the language of
moderation.
I don't often quote Franklin Delano Roosevelt on partisan
matters. But the little story he told to make fun of his
Republican opponents fits the liberal Democrats so well today.
It is the story of the "unfortunate chameleon which turned brown
when placed on a brown rug, and turned red when placed on a red
rug, but who died a tragic death when they put him on a Scotch
Plaid.
This is precisely what we must do in the 1990 election -- to
keep the focus on the issues, and expose the true colors of the
chameleon candidates. For the national and state elections of
the 1990s will not just be a battle of the century; it will be a
battle for the century -- the 21st century.
We have proven, time and again, that our party can keep the
White House. But to win a majority of governorships, state
offices and seats in Congress, we must roll up our sleeves and
get down to the basics of winning elections. We must be more
competitive. We must rededicate ourselves to the nuts and bolts
of politics, the grassroots, as our opponents do.
As we look to the upcoming elections, we have three
obtainable goals. First, to move toward our rightful place as
the majority party of governors.\ As federalism has enhanced
your role, so the control of the governorships has become one of
5
the most critical national goals of our party. Our second goal
is to recapture the U.S. Senate. And third, we must open the
House of Representatives to two-party competition. But the key
to all three goals is the first -- to elect more Republican
governors.
It's no coincidence that our party slipped to minority
status in the House as we became a minority in state government.
It's no coincidence that the House majority remains in force
today. The Founding Fathers intended the House of
Representatives to be the most sensitive barometer of the
changing needs of the American people. Instead, whole
generations have never known what it means to experience a change
in party control of the House.
Let me tell you about my son Neil, as a way to illustrate
the seemingly unending nature of the Democratic majority. Neil
is thirty-four years old. Neil was born on January, 22, 1955,
three weeks after the last Republican Speaker turned the gavel
over to a Democrat. Not one time in his life has Neil seen the
leadership of the House of Representatives change parties. Not
one time. Just like Neil, there are millions of men and women
across America in their twenties and thirties who have never
known true two-party competition in the House.
Will the House remain static for another thirty-four years?
Yes, but only if Republicans passively accept it. Today,
Democrats now have a redistricting advantage in states that
6
compose about 90 percent of the seats in Congress. This must not
continue.
You know how the ugly gerrymander dilutes the votes of
Republicans and Independents across this country. We have
protested this in the past; but now it is time for us to raise
our voices, to become true activists. As Republican leaders, you
can take our message to voters of your states. You must declare
that this form of voter discrimination must end.
To lead America in the next century, we must make aggressive
gains at the state level in the next few years. A majority, or
even a large minority, of Republicans in state legislatures can
join with you to sustain the veto of outrageous gerrymander
schemes, strengthening our numbers in the U.S. House. Strong
state parties can also help us to win back the U.S. Senate.
But we have far greater reasons than reapportionment to
pursue the governorships of America. America faces tough
problems that require more than federal solutions. They require
national solutions. And solutions are now possible because the
states are embracing a new dynamism based on an old vision.
The great Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis foresaw a
time when: "a single courageous state
may serve as a
laboratory and try novel social and economic experiments without
risk to the nation." ( (To borrow a phrase)) The states are
becoming these "laboratories of democracy," with each state
endowed with freedom -- freedom to fail, freedom to succeed, and
freedom to discover and share its discoveries.
7
In an era of tight resources, necessity, the mother of
invention, has also proven to be the mother of creative policies.
You are following the advice of Teddy Roosevelt, a great
Republican governor who said that our national greatness "is not
what we have that will make us a great nation; it is the way in
which we use it."
Dozens of states are experimenting with ways to remove
obstacles to opportunity, and to bring the creative energy of
entrepreneurship to the public sector. Some of your experiments
are certain to become the national policies of the next century.
The states are at the forefront because the first instinct
of our governors is not to look to Washington, but to the
combined strength of the public and the private sector. Much has
been written about how governors in both parties are rejecting
the old ideologies and stale approaches of the past. Credit
should be given where it is due. But I have to say, while
Democrats have been adept at promoting new programs that attract
a lot of fanfare, the Republicans governors have quietly
distinguished themselves with programs that work.
The people know this. And come November, 1990, I believe
the voters will choose innovation and daring for their state
government. They will vote Republican.
But to win big, you must think big. We must have the
audacity -- not just to hold our own in the Senate, but to win it
back. We must have the tenacity -- not just to elect more
Members of Congress, but to reach for the Speaker's Chair. And
8
we must have the daring to seize the majority position among
governors.
Republican governors are already thinking big, thinking
ahead. You are the planners and the prophets, the managers and
the visionaries, the dreamers and the doers. You are the ones I
look to join me, in a partnership, to win the future.
So this is our vision: We are going to be the party that
leads the states. We are going to be the party that leads
Congress. Then we will be the party that leads America into the
21st Century.
Thank you, God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
"unfortunate shameleon which turned broun when placed on a
broun rug, and turned red when placed on a red rug, but who died
a tragic death when they put him on a Scotch plaid."
-Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"a single courageous statemay may serve as a laboratory
and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the
nation. "
"laboratories of democracy"
rest of the country
-Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis
"is not what we have that will make us a great nation; it is
the way in which we use it."
-Teddy Roosevelt
[re: national greatness]
THE PRESIDENT HAS SEEN
REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS ASSOC., CAPITOL HILTON
TUESDAY, OcT. 17, 1989, 7 P.M.
1939
10/17/89
--Mihe - -
OCT 18 PM 6:16
THANK YOU CHAIRMAN HAYDEN, FOR THAT GRACIOUS
INTRODUCTION. MY CONGRATULATIONS GO TO YOU FOR YOUR
EFFECTIVE TENURE, AND TO YOUR SUCCESSOR, GOVERNOR JOHN
ASHCROFT.
LET US ALSO HONOR A GOVERNOR WHO SHOWED GREAT
LEADERSHIP THROUGH A TIME OF TURBULENCE AND TRAGEDY
CARROLL CAMPBELL OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 11
AND I'M PLEASED THAT ONE OF OUR RETIRING
GOVERNORS, TOM KEAN, WILL BE A PART OF OUR TEAM AS THE
HEAD OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON THE PRESIDENT'S
POINTS OF LIGHT INITIATIVE FOUNDATION. THANKS
PROFESSOR
like would near
it
FINE
we
h
If
little
>.-
or
wf
evol
in
the
we
- 2 -
AND I'm SORRY
THAT
t Fellow Texas,
((IT'S ALSO GOOD TO SEE MY GOOD FRIEND, GOVERNOR
COULD NOT MAKE 10 TONIGHT,
CLEMENTS, FROM MY HOME STATE OF TEXAS YOU MAY NOT
KNOW THIS, BUT THE DALLAS PAPERS REPORTED LAST WEEK
THAT BILL WAS DINING IN A RESTAURANT WHEN A HOLD-UP AND
SHOOT-OUT OCCURRED RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. BUT THE MOST
REMARKABLE PART OF ALL, IS THAT NOT ONCE THROUGH THE
WHOLE ORDEAL DID BILL PUT DOWN HIS HAMBURGER. III NOW
BILL, I'M NOT SURE IF THAT'S COURAGE, HUNGER OR THE
NEW
E
NEED FOR A PAIR OF GLASSES. III BUT, YOU HAVE MY
ADMIRATION ANYWAY. ))
AS YOU KNOW, I AM NOT AN ALUMNUS OF YOUR
ORGANIZATION. BUT OVER THE YEARS, AS I WORKED WITH THE
GOVERNORS, I HAVE COME TO FULLY APPRECIATE THE
RESPONSIBILITY YOU ARE SHOULDERING, AND THE LEADERSHIP
YOU PROVIDE.
I'M SURE THERE ARE TIMES WHEN FEDERALISM SEEMS TO
BE A MIXED BLESSING. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR A GOVERNOR
TO SHY AWAY FROM THE HARD DECISIONS. BUT 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.
- 3 -
FOR THAT REASON I BELIEVE WE CAN, WE MUST, AS
CHIEF EXECUTIVES TAKE RESPONSIBILITY, JOIN FORCES, AND
MAKE A COMMON CAUSE OF BUILDING A BETTER AMERICA.
THAT IS WHY WE CAME TOGETHER IN CHARLOTTESVILLE,
AT AN HISTORIC SUMMIT, ONLY THE THIRD OF ITS KIND IN
OUR HISTORY. WE CAME TOGETHER, WITH YOUR DEMOCRATIC
COUNTERPARTS, IN OPEN, WIDE-RANGING AND CREATIVE
SESSIONS TO SEEK A NEW DIRECTION IN EDUCATION. IN THE
END, WE AGREED TO AN HISTORIC COMPACT -- A JEFFERSONIAN
COMPACT -- TO SET NATIONAL GOALS; TO ALLOW FOR GREATER
FLEXIBILITY, MORE CREATIVITY; AND THEN TO BE
ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE RESULTS.
WE COULD ACHIEVE THIS, BECAUSE AT CHARLOTTESVILLE
WE PUT PROGRESS BEFORE PARTISANSHIP, THE FUTURE BEFORE
THE MOMENT AND OUR CHILDREN BEFORE OURSELVES. AMERICA
SIMPLY FACES TOO MANY OF THESE LONG-TERM CHALLENGES FOR
US TO ACT ONLY AS REPUBLICANS OR DEMOCRATS,
CONSERVATIVES OR LIBERALS.
- 4 -
STILL, THERE IS A REPUBLICAN APPROACH TO THE
CHALLENGES WE FACE. AND WE HAVE PROVEN, TIME AND
AGAIN, THAT THE REPUBLICAN APPROACH IS THE BEST
APPROACH.
I CONSIDER THIS A MATTER OF RECORD, A RECORD THAT
INCLUDES EIGHTY-THREE MONTHS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH AND
MORE THAN TWENTY MILLION NEW JOBS.\ A FEW YEARS AGO,
WHEN OUR OPPONENTS SAID THAT A TAX CUT WOULD HURT THE
ECONOMY, WE CUT TAXES -- AND IT DID THE OPPOSITE. WHEN
OUR OPPONENTS SAID THAT A STRONGER DEFENSE WOULD MAKE
THE SOVIETS MORE MILITANT, WE REVITALIZED OUR ARMED
FORCES -- AND THE SOVIETS MET US AT THE NEGOTIATING
TABLE. IN SHORT, WHATEVER HAS WORKED AT THE FEDERAL
LEVEL HAPPENED ONLY BECAUSE REPUBLICANS AND ENLIGHTENED
DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS JOINED FORCES TO MAKE IT WORK.
so THE BOTTOM LINE IS THIS -- THROUGHOUT THE
1980S, THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS BEEN THE PARTY OF
IDEAS. THIS IS NO LESS TRUE AT THE STATE LEVEL.
- 5 -
AND WHILE REPUBLICANS ARE LEADING THE WAY, WHERE
IS THE OPPOSITION? ANSWER: IN THE THROES OF AN
IDENTITY CRISIS. AFTER THE LONGEST PEACETIME EXPANSION
IN HISTORY, THE DEMOCRATS CAN'T QUITE BRING THEMSELVES
TO ADMIT THAT REPUBLICANS WERE RIGHT. NOR DO THEY HAVE
A NEW VISION OF WHERE AMERICA SHOULD BE GOING. ALL
THEY CAN DO IS CLOAK THEIR OUT-OF-STEP IDEAS IN THE
LANGUAGE OF MODERATION.
I DON'T OFTEN QUOTE FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT ON
PARTISAN MATTERS. BUT THE LITTLE STORY HE TOLD TO MAKE
FUN OF HIS REPUBLICAN OPPONENTS FITS THE LIBERAL
DEMOCRATS SO WELL TODAY. IT IS THE STORY OF THE
"UNFORTUNATE CHAMELEON WHICH TURNED BROWN WHEN PLACED
ON A BROWN RUG, AND TURNED RED WHEN PLACED ON A RED
RUG, BUT WHO DIED A TRAGIC DEATH WHEN THEY PUT HIM ON A
SCOTCH PLAID. "\\
THIS IS PRECISELY WHAT WE MUST DO IN THE 1990
ELECTION -- TO KEEP THE FOCUS ON THE ISSUES, AND EXPOSE
THE TRUE COLORS OF THE CHAMELEON CANDIDATES. FOR THE
NATIONAL AND STATE ELECTIONS OF THE 1990S WILL NOT JUST
BE A BATTLE OF THE CENTURY; IT WILL BE A BATTLE FOR THE
CENTURY -- THE 21ST CENTURY.
- 6 -
WE HAVE PROVEN, TIME AND AGAIN, THAT OUR PARTY CAN
KEEP THE WHITE HOUSE. BUT TO WIN A MAJORITY OF
GOVERNORSHIPS, STATE OFFICES AND SEATS IN CONGRESS, WE
MUST ROLL UP OUR SLEEVES AND GET DOWN TO THE BASICS OF
WINNING ELECTIONS. WE MUST BE MORE COMPETITIVE. WE
MUST REDEDICATE OURSELVES TO THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF
POLITICS, THE GRASSROOTS, AS OUR OPPONENTS DO.
AS WE LOOK TO THE UPCOMING ELECTIONS, WE HAVE
THREE OBTAINABLE GOALS. FIRST, TO MOVE TOWARD OUR
RIGHTFUL PLACE AS THE MAJORITY PARTY OF GOVERNORS.
AS FEDERALISM HAS ENHANCED YOUR ROLE, so THE CONTROL OF
THE GOVERNORSHIPS HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST CRITICAL
NATIONAL GOALS OF OUR PARTY. OUR SECOND GOAL IS TO
RECAPTURE THE U.S. SENATE. AND THIRD, WE MUST OPEN THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO TWO-PARTY COMPETITION. 11
BUT THE KEY TO ALL THREE GOALS IS THE FIRST -- TO ELECT
MORE REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS.
- 7 -
IT'S NO COINCIDENCE THAT OUR PARTY SLIPPED TO
MINORITY STATUS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AS WE
BECAME A MINORITY IN STATE GOVERNMENT. THE FOUNDING
FATHERS INTENDED THE HOUSE TO BE THE MOST SENSITIVE
BAROMETER OF THE CHANGING NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
INSTEAD, WHOLE GENERATIONS HAVE NEVER KNOWN WHAT IT
MEANS TO EXPERIENCE A CHANGE IN PARTY CONTROL OF THE
HOUSE. In fort the Democrab have controlled
the House for 50/mg that
LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY SON NEIL, AS A WAY TO
ILLUSTRATE THE SEEMINGLY UNENDING NATURE OF THE
DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY. NEIL IS THIRTY-FOUR YEARS OLD.
HE WAS BORN ON JANUARY, 22, 1955, THREE WEEKS AFTER THE
LAST REPUBLICAN SPEAKER TURNED THE GAVEL OVER TO A
ONCE
TIME
DEMOCRAT. NOT ONE TIME IN HIS LIFE HAS HE SEEN THE
LEADERSHIP OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CHANGE
THINK OF ALL THE
PARTIES. NOT ONE TIME. JUST LIKE NEIL, THERE ARE
MILLIONS OF MEN AND WOMEN ACROSS AMERICA IN THEIR
TWENTIES AND THIRTIES WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN TRUE TWO-
PARTY COMPETITION IN THE HOUSE.
- 8 -
WILL THE HOUSE REMAIN STATIC FOR ANOTHER THIRTY-
FOUR YEARS? YES, BUT ONLY IF REPUBLICANS PASSIVELY
ACCEPT IT. TODAY, DEMOCRATS NOW HAVE A REDISTRICTING
ADVANTAGE IN STATES THAT COMPOSE ABOUT 90 PERCENT OF
THE SEATS IN CONGRESS. AS REPUBLICAN LEADERS, YOU CAN
VETO THESE GERRYMANDER SCHEMES AND TAKE OUR MESSAGE TO
VOTERS OF YOUR STATES BY DECLARING THAT THIS FORM OF
VOTER DISCRIMINATION MUST END.\\
joke
BUT WE HAVE FAR GREATER REASONS THAN
REAPPORTIONMENT TO PURSUE THE GOVERNORSHIPS OF AMERICA.
AMERICA FACES TOUGH PROBLEMS THAT REQUIRE MORE THAN
FEDERAL SOLUTIONS. THEY REQUIRE NATIONAL SOLUTIONS.
AND SOLUTIONS ARE NOW POSSIBLE BECAUSE THE STATES ARE
EMBRACING A NEW DYNAMISM BASED ON AN OLD VISION.
THE GREAT SUPREME COURT JUSTICE LOUIS D. BRANDEIS
FORESAW A TIME WHEN: "A SINGLE COURAGEOUS STATE
MAY SERVE AS A LABORATORY AND TRY NOVEL SOCIAL AND
ECONOMIC EXPERIMENTS WITHOUT RISK TO THE NATION." ((TO
BORROW A PHRASE)) THE STATES ARE BECOMING THESE
"LABORATORIES OF DEMOCRACY," WITH EACH STATE ENDOWED
WITH FREEDOM -- FREEDOM TO FAIL, FREEDOM TO SUCCEED,
AND FREEDOM TO DISCOVER AND SHARE ITS DISCOVERIES.
- 9 -
IN AN ERA OF TIGHT RESOURCES, NECESSITY, THE
MOTHER OF INVENTION, HAS ALSO PROVEN TO BE THE MOTHER
OF CREATIVE POLICIES. YOU ARE FOLLOWING THE ADVICE OF
TEDDY ROOSEVELT, A GREAT REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR, WHO SAID
THAT OUR NATIONAL GREATNESS "IS NOT WHAT WE HAVE THAT
WILL MAKE US A GREAT NATION; IT IS THE WAY IN WHICH WE
USE IT."
DOZENS OF STATES ARE EXPERIMENTING WITH WAYS TO
REMOVE OBSTACLES TO OPPORTUNITY, AND TO BRING THE
CREATIVE ENERGY OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP TO THE PUBLIC
SECTOR. SOME OF YOUR EXPERIMENTS ARE CERTAIN TO BECOME
THE NATIONAL POLICIES OF THE NEXT CENTURY.
BUT TO BE CREATIVE, YOU NEED FREEDOM. YOU TELL ME
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MUST NOT TIE YOUR HANDS; MUST
NOT MANDATE YOUR PROGRAMS; MUST NOT DICTATE YOUR
POLICIES. I HEAR YOU. AND I AM READY TO WORK WITH YOU
TO EASE FEDERAL CONTROL. 11
- 10 -
THE STATES ARE AT THE FOREFRONT PRECISELY BECAUSE
THE FIRST INSTINCT OF OUR GOVERNORS IS NOT TO LOOK TO
WASHINGTON, BUT TO THE COMBINED STRENGTH OF THE PUBLIC
AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR. MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT
HOW GOVERNORS IN BOTH PARTIES ARE REJECTING THE OLD
IDEOLOGIES AND STALE APPROACHES OF THE PAST. CREDIT
SHOULD BE GIVEN WHERE IT IS DUE. BUT I HAVE TO SAY,
WHILE DEMOCRATS HAVE BEEN ADEPT AT PROMOTING NEW
PROGRAMS THAT ATTRACT A LOT OF FANFARE, THE REPUBLICANS
GOVERNORS HAVE QUIETLY DISTINGUISHED THEMSELVES WITH
PROGRAMS THAT WORK. THE PEOPLE KNOW THIS. AND COME
NOVEMBER, 1990, I BELIEVE THE VOTERS WILL CHOOSE
INNOVATION AND DARING FOR THEIR STATE GOVERNMENT. THEY
WILL VOTE REPUBLICAN.
LET ME LEAVE you with this those Lt:
BUT TO WIN BIG, YOU MUST THINK BIG. AND
REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS ARE ALREADY THINKING BIG, THINKING
AHEAD. YOU ARE THE PLANNERS AND THE PROPHETS, THE
MANAGERS AND THE VISIONARIES, THE DREAMERS AND THE
DOERS. YOU ARE THE ONES I LOOK TO JOIN ME, IN A
PARTNERSHIP, TO WIN THE FUTURE.
IIII
program.
- 11 -
SO THIS IS OUR VISION: WE ARE GOING TO BE THE
PARTY THAT LEADS THE STATES. WE ARE GOING TO BE THE
PARTY THAT LEADS CONGRESS. THEN WE WILL BE THE PARTY
THAT LEADS AMERICA INTO THE 21ST CENTURY. 11
THANK YOU, GOD BLESS YOU AND GOD BLESS AMERICA.
#
#
#
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
Oct. 14, 1989
INFORMATION
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
Through:
CHRISS WINSTON
From:
MARK DAVIS amformo
Subject:
Republican Governors Association
SUMMARY: You will address the Republican Governors Association
at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 17, at the Capitol Hilton. You will be
introduced by Governor Mike Hayden of Kansas, the current RGA
Chairman, who will soon relinquish his post to Governor John
Ashcroft of Missouri. The crowd will consist of 500 people.
Your remarks will be teleprompted and last approximately 12 to 15
minutes.
DISCUSSION: This speech looks back to the Charlottesville
summit, and acknowledges the need for bipartisan cooperation on
urgent national issues. At the same time, the best ideas and
leadership have always come from the Republican Party -- a claim
proven by our record of peace and prosperity. This speech
denounces the unfair, partisan gerrymander -- a form of voter
discrimination that governors can help end. At the same time,
this speech makes it clear that in this age of federalism,
governorships are valued for what they can achieve -- not just
for their influence on reapportionment. Majority control of the
governorships is a national goal of the Republican Party.
Davis/Martin
Oct. 10, 1989
Title: Governors
Draft: Two
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS ASSOC., Capitol Hilton
Tuesday, Oct. 17, 7 p.m.
Thank you Chairman Hayden for that gracious introduction.
My congratulations go to you for your effective tenure, and to
your successor, Governor Ashcroft.
Let us also honor a governor who showed great leadership
through a time of turbulence and tragedy
Carroll Campbell
of South Carolina.
And I'm pleased that one of our retiring governors, Tom
Kean, will be a part of our team as the head of the Advisory
Committee on the President's Points of Light Iniative Foundation.
Panel of the Thousand Points of Light Foundation.
((It's good to see my good friend, Gov. Clements, from ny
home state of Texas. You may not know this, but the Dallas
papers reported last week, that Gov. Clements was dining in a
restaurant when a hold-up and shoot out occurred right in front
of him. But the most remarkable part of all, is that not once
through the whole ordeal did Gov. Clements put down his
hamburger. Bill, I'm not sure if that's courage or hunger.
\\\ But, you have my admiration anyway. ))
( (Finally, I also want to recognize a former chairman of
this association, and my chief of staff, John Sununu. John,
did you hear of the boy in the spelling bee who was asked if he
could spell your last name? The boy said he could spell
"Sununu," but he just wasn't sure when to stop. ))
2
As you know, I am not an alumnus of your organization. But
over the years, as I worked with the governors, I have come to
fully appreciate the responsibility you are shouldering, and the
leadership you provide.
But of course, there are times when federalism seems to be a
mixed blessing. It is not possible for a governor to shy away
from the hard decisions. You are responsible, as am I. You are
forced to confront the gritty problems, as am I. Some describe
this responsibility as a great burden. But as I said before, for
us, if it is a burden, it is one we cheerfully accept. 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.
For that reason I believe we can, we must, as chief
executives take responsibility, join forces, and make a common
cause of building a better America.
That is why we came together at Charlottesville, at an
historic summit, only the third of its kind in our history. We
came together, with your Democratic counterparts, in open, wide-
ranging and creative sessions to seek a new direction in
education. In the end, we agreed to an historic compact -- a
Jeffersonian compact -- to set national goals; to allow for
greater flexibility, more creativity; and then to be accountable
for the results.
IN
We could achieve this, because at Charlottesville we put
progress before partisanship, the future before the moment and
3
our children before ourselves. America simply faces too many of
these long-term challenges for us to act only as Republicans or
Democrats, conservatives or liberals. We must work together to
redeem our schools. We must work together to save our children
from drugs. We must work together to protect the environment and
meet the changing needs of the American family.
still, this does not mean that there is no time and place
for partisanship. There is a Republican approach to the
challenges we face. And we have proven, time and again, that the
Republican approach is the best approach.
I consider this a matter of record, a record that includes
eighty-three months of economic growth and more than twenty
million new jobs. A few years ago, when our opponents said
that a tax cut would hurt the economy, we cut taxes -- and it did
the opposite. When our opponents said that a stronger defense
would make the Soviets more militant, we revitalized our armed
forces -- and the Soviets met us at the negotiating table. In
short, whatever has worked at the federal level happened only
because Republicans and conservative Democrats in Congress joined
forces to make it work.
So the bottom line is this -- throughout the 1980s, the
Republican Party has been the party of ideas. This is no less
true at the state level.
And while Republicans are leading the way, where is the
opposition? Answer: in the throes of an identity crisis. After
the longest peacetime expansion in history, the Democrats can't
4
quite bring themselves to admit that Republicans were right. Nor
do they have a new vision of where America should be going. All
they can do is cloak their out-of-step ideas in the language of
moderation.
I don't often quote Franklin Delano Roosevelt on partisan
matters. But the little story he told to make fun of his
Republican opponents fits the liberal Democrats so well today.
It is the story of the "unfortunate chameleon which turned brown
when placed on a brown rug, and turned red when placed on a red
rug, but who died a tragic death when they put him on a Scotch
Plaid.
P
This is precisely what we must do in the 1990 election -- to
keep the focus on the issues, and expose the true colors of the
chameleon candidates. For the national and state elections of
the 1990s will not just be a battle of the century; it will be a
battle for the century -- the 21st century.
We have proven, time and again, that our party can keep the
White House. But to win a majority of governorships, state
offices and seats in Congress, we must roll up our sleeves and
get down to the basics of winning elections. We must be more
competitive. We must rededicate ourselves to the nuts and bolts
of politics, the grassroots, as our opponents do.
As we look to the upcoming elections, we have three
obtainable goals. First, to move toward our rightful place as
the majority party of governors. As federalism has enhanced
your role, so the control of the governorships has become one of
5
the most critical national goals of our party. Our second goal
is to recapture the U.S. Senate. And third, we must open the
House of Representatives to two-party competition.\ But the key
to all three goals is the first -- to elect more Republican
governors.
It's no coincidence that our party slipped to minority
status in the House as we became a minority in state government.
It's no coincidence that the House majority remains in force
today. The Founding Fathers intended the House of
Representatives to be the most sensitive barometer of the
changing needs of the American people. Instead, whole
generations have never known what it means to experience a change
in party control of the House.
Let me tell you about my son Neil, as a way to illustrate
the seemingly unending nature of the Democratic majority. Neil
is thirty-four years old. Neil was born on January, 22, 1955,
three weeks after the last Republican Speaker turned the gavel
over to a Democrat. Not one time in his life has Neil seen the
leadership of the House of Representatives change parties. Not
one time. Just like Neil, there are millions of men and women
across America in their twenties and thirties who have never
known true two-party competition in the House.
Will the House remain static for another thirty-four years?
Yes, but only if Republicans passively accept it. Today,
Democrats now have a redistricting advantage in states that
6
compose about 90 percent of the seats in Congress. This must not
continue.
You know how the ugly gerrymander dilutes the votes of
Republicans and Independents across this country. We have
protested this in the past; but now it is time for us to raise
our voices, to become true activists. As Republican leaders, you
can take our message to voters of your states. You must declare
that this form of voter discrimination must end.\\
To lead America in the next century, we must make aggressive
gains at the state level in the next few years. A majority, or
even a large minority, of Republicans in state legislatures can
join with you to sustain the veto of outrageous gerrymander
schemes, strengthening our numbers in the U.S. House. Strong
state parties can also help us to win back the U.S. Senate.
But we have far greater reasons than reapportionment to
pursue the governorships of America. America faces tough
problems that require more than federal solutions. They require
national solutions. And solutions are now possible because the
states are embracing a new dynamism based on an old vision.
The great Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis foresaw a
may,
time when: "a single courageous state
may-serve as a
laboratory and try novel social and economic experiments without
rest of the country.
risk to the nation." ( (To borrow a phrase)) The states are
becoming these "laboratories of democracy," with each state
endowed with freedom -- freedom to fail, freedom to succeed, and
freedom to discover and share its discoveries.
7
In an era of tight resources, necessity, the mother of
invention, has also proven to be the mother of creative policies.
You are following the advice of Teddy Roosevelt, a great
Republican governor who said that our national greatness "is not
what we have that will make us a great nation; it is the way in
which we use it."
Dozens of states are experimenting with ways to remove
obstacles to opportunity, and to bring the creative energy of
entrepreneurship to the public sector. Some of your experiments
are certain to become the national policies of the next century.
The states are at the forefront because the first instinct
of our governors is not to look to Washington, but to the
combined strength of the public and the private sector. Much has
been written about how governors in both parties are rejecting
the old ideologies and stale approaches of the past. Credit
should be given where it is due. But I have to say, while
Democrats have been adept at promoting new programs that attract
a lot of fanfare, the Republicans governors have quietly
distinguished themselves with programs that work.
The people know this. And come November, 1990, I believe
the voters will choose innovation and daring for their state
government. They will vote Republican.
But to win big, you must think big. We must have the
audacity -- not just to hold our own in the Senate, but to win it
back. We must have the tenacity -- not just to elect more
Members of Congress, but to reach for the Speaker's Chair. And
8
we must have the daring to seize the majority position among
governors.
Republican governors are already thinking big, thinking
ahead. You are the planners and the prophets, the managers and
the visionaries, the dreamers and the doers. You are the ones I
look to join me, in a partnership, to win the future.
So this is our vision: We are going to be the party that
leads the states. We are going to be the party that leads
Congress. Then we will be the party that leads America into the
21st Century.
Thank you, God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
Tuesday, October 17, 1989 -- A-8
Bush Orders 5 Percent Cuts In Federal Programs To Meet Deficit
In the second-largest federal budget cut ever approved, President
Bush ordered slashes Monday of about 5 percent in many federal programs
to meet a deficit-reduction deadline. However, congressional leaders said
they expected to rescind the cutbacks within a few weeks.
Among the most immediate impact of the cuts is that Medicare checks
will immediately be reduced by 2 percent. If the cuts remain in effect,
more than 160,000 military personnel could be laid off, the anti-drug
budget could be slashed by 10 percent and the anti-AIDS budget could be
cut by 5 percent.
Bush, who was required by the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings law to sign
the $16 billion cutback order, said through a spokesman that it might be
all right to leave the cuts in effect. And his budget director, Richard
Darman, told reporters Monday that if Congress approved legislation
erasing the cutbacks Bush might veto that legislation so the cutbacks
remained in effect. Congressional leaders, however, dismissed that as a
negotiating ploy.
(Michael Kranish, Boston Globe)
Bush Poised To Sign Mandatory Cuts As Congress Starts Budget Talks
President Bush was prepared to order $16.1 billion in
across-the-board spending cuts Monday as House leaders began
negotiations to craft a budget measure that would satisfy mandatory deficit
reduction targets.
Bush was required to sign the order by midnight Monday because
Congress and the Administration failed to produce a fiscal 1990 budget that
would cut the deficit to $110 billion. While the so-called sequestration
would not be immediately noticeable to most Americans, it could eventually
require deep cuts in military and domestic programs.
"We do not have any choice," said White House Budget Director
Darman
It is important to have discipline in this system, and it is the
only trace of discipline that we have got, " Darman said.
(Robert Dodge, Dallas Morning News)
Bush Orders $16.1 Billion Cut From Budget
President Bush ordered $16.1 billion set aside from the new budget
at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday after six months of negotiations failed to reduce
this year's deficit to levels set in a bipartisan agreement
Bush's order -- signed at about 7 p.m. Monday and sent to the
Federal Register for use if a bill had not passed by midnight -- mandates
cuts across the board, with 5.3 percent cut from non-defense programs
that do not require "entitlement" payments and 4.3 percent from each line
item in the Department of Defense budget.
(Frank Murray & Chris Harvey, Washington Times, A3)
-more-
Tuesday, October 17, 1989 -- A-9
BUSH LIKELY TO VETO ABORTION FUNDING
After Series Of Meetings, Aides Expect
President To Stand By Position
President Bush is almost certain to veto legislation that provides
abortion funding to poor women who are the victims of rape and incest,
White House officials said Monday.
Despite Bush's statement last week that he was seeking "room for
flexibility" on the issue, two White House officials said a series of White
House meetings and phone conversations with congressional opponents of
abortion and Republican leaders failed to provide "any good, solid
reasons" why the President should change his opposition to such funding.
A formal veto threat may come Tuesday, either in a letter from Bush
to lawmakers who are meeting on the legislation, or in a White House
statement, officials said.
Administration and congressional sources suggested that in the wake
of the failed coup in Panama the White House is particularly sensitive to
charges that Bush is unwilling to back up his words with deeds. "We
don't need any more Bush waffles stuff," said an adviser to the White
House.
(Ann Devroy, Washington Post, A5)
LIBERALS DENOUNCE FLAG AMENDMENT
Senate conservatives launched their campaign Monday for a
constitutional amendment to outlaw desecration of the U.S. flag and ran
into a barrage of opposition from liberals who charged it was a partisan,
political ploy by President Bush.
The proposed amendment was denounced as a desecration of the
Constitution, an attempt to censor speech and an attack on the First
Amendment that would not protect the flag and lead to a "hodge podge" of
conflicting state laws.
Supporters of the amendment brushed off the accusations, saying that
only a constitutional amendment could assure that desecration of the flag
would be outlawed.
(Steve Gerstel, UPI)
BENNETT'S ANTI-DRUG INITIATIVE
MAKING LITTLE HEADWAY IN D.C.
National drug policy director Bennett called it an "emergency"
initiative -- an immediate dose of federal aid to help the District
government fight a drug problem that was spiraling "out of control."
But six months later, Bennett's efforts have failed to make any
discernible dent in the local drug trade, federal and city officials agree.
And Bennett's campaign has been plagued by bureaucratic roadblocks and
squabbling, leaving his office unable to deliver on crucial elements of his
plan.
Bennett's biggest failure, critics say, has been his inability to relieve
the city's clogged prisons -- which Bennett had said in April was what the
District needed the most. They are now more crowded than ever.
"My problems are worst today than they were six months ago," said
Walter Ridley, the District's acting corrections director, whose office had
been targeted for the most help under Bennett's plan. "I can't think of
any significant assistance that we've gotten."
At a news conference scheduled for Thursday, Bennett plans to
release the first of what he promised would be regular semiannual progress
reports on the D.C. initiative.
(Michael Isikoff, Washington Post, A1)
-more-
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
1989 OCT 14 PM 2: 49
THE PRESIDENT HAS SEEN
Oct. 14, 1989
10/16/89
on
INFORMATION
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
Through:
CHRISS WINSTON(
From:
MARK DAVIS amformo
Mark let's add but by
Subject:
Republican Governors Association
page
SUMMARY: You will address the Republican Governors Association
at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 17, at the Capitol Hilton. You will be
introduced by Governor Mike Hayden of Kansas, the current RGA
Chairman, who will soon relinquish his post to Governor John
It's S
Ashcroft of Missouri. The crowd will consist of 500 people.
minutes. Your remarks will be teleprompted and last approximately 12 to
befor 15 elem
DISCUSSION: This speech looks back to the Charlottesville
summit, and acknowledges the need for bipartisan cooperation on
urgent national issues. At the same time, the best ideas and
leadership have always come from the Republican Party -- a claim
proven by our record of peace and prosperity. This speech
51 my 11
denounces the unfair, partisan gerrymander -- a form of voter
discrimination that governors can help end. At the same time,
this speech makes it clear that in this age of federalism,
governorships are valued for what they can achieve -- not just
for their influence on reapportionment. Majority control of the
governorships is a national goal of the Republican Party.
speed a swall
fine
1
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
DATE: 10/15/89
FROM THE PRESIDENT
To:
mark/chriss mark / Chriss
I prefer not even to
D
talk about the
"burdens A the office"
etc.
D
almost
Please cite/unanimous
view of Gommons
"stop tying our hands.
Stop mandating mn programs
stop Dictating to the states"
I agree with this view
Davis/Martin
Oct. 10 1989
Title: Governors
Draft: Two
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS ASSOC., Capitol Hilton
Tuesday, Oct. 17, 7 p.m.
Thank you Chairman Hayden for that gracious introduction.
My congratulations go to you for your effective tenure, and to
your successor, Governor Ashcroft.
Let us also honor a governor who showed great leadership
through a time of turbulence and tragedy
Carroll Campbell
of South Carolina.
And I'm pleased that one of our retiring governors, Tom
Kean, will be a part of our team as the head of the Advisory
Panel of the Thousand Points of Light Foundation.
Also
((It's good to see my good friend, Gov. Clements, from by my
home state of Texas. You may not know this, but the Dallas
papers reported last week, that Gov. Clements was dining in a
restaurant when a hold-up and shoot out occurred right in front
of him. But the most remarkable part of all, is that not one
through the whole ordeal did Gov. Clements put down his
the But, for have a hearing aid or new )) glassis.
hamburger. need Bill, I'm not sure if that's çourage of hunger, and
you my admiration anyway.
(Finally, I also want to recognize a former chairman of
this association, and my chief of staff, John Sununu. John,
did you hear of the boy in the spelling bee who was asked if he
could spell your last name? The boy said he could spell
"Sununu," but he just wasn't sure when to stop.)
2
As you know, I am not an alumnus of your organization. But
over the years, as I worked with the governors, I have come to
fully appreciate the responsibility you are shouldering, and the
leadership you provide.
I'msune
But of course, there are times when federalism seems to be a
mixed blessing. It is not possible for a governor to shy away
and
from the hard decisions. You are responsible, as am I. You are
forced to confront the gritty problems, add Some describe
this responsibility as a great burden. But as I said before, for
I it is a burden, it is one you we cheerfully accept. 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.
For that reason I believe we can, we must, as chief
executives take responsibility, join forces, and make a common
cause of building a better America.
That is why we came together at Charlottesville, at an
mistoric summit, onl the third of its kind in our hiscory. We
came together, with your Democratic counterparts, in open, wide-
ranging and creative sessions to seek a new direction in
education. In the end, we agreed to an historic compact -- a
Jeffersonian compact -- to set national goals; to allow for
greater flexibility, more creativity; and then to be accountable
for the results.
We could achieve this, because at Charlottesville we put
progress before partisanship, the future before the moment and
3
our children before ourselves. America simply faces too many of
these long-term challenges for us to act only as Republicans or
Democrats, conservatives or liberals. We must work together to
?
redeem our schools. We must work together to save our children
from drugs. We must work together to protect the environment and
meet the changing needs of the American family
Still, this does not mean that there is no time and place
for partisanship. There is a Republican approach to the
challenges we face. And we have proven, time and again, that the
Republican approach is the best approach.
I consider this a matter of record, a record that includes
eighty-three months of economic growth and more than twenty
million new jobs. A few years ago, when our opponents said
that a tax cut would hurt the economy, we cut taxes -- and it did
the opposite. When our opponents said that a stronger defense
would make the Soviets more militant, we revitalized our armed
forces -- and the Soviets met us at the negotiating table. In
short, whatever has worked at the federal level happened only
because Republicans and conservative. culightemed Democrats in Congress joined
forces to make it work.
So the bottom line is this -- throughout the 1980s, the
Republican Party has been the party of ideas. This is no less
true at the state level.
And while Republicans are leading the way, where is the
opposition? Answer: in the throes of an identity crisis. After
the longest peacetime expansion in history, the Democrats can't
4
quite bring themselves to admit that Republicans were right. Nor
do they have a new vision of where America should be going. All
they can do is cloak their out-of-step ideas in the language of
moderation.
I don't often quote Franklin Delano Roosevelt on partisan
matters. But the little story he told to make fun of his
Republican opponents fits the liberal Democrats so well today.
It is the story of the "unfortunate chameleon which turned brown
when placed on a brown rug, and turned red when placed on a red
rug, but who died a tragic death when they put him on a Scotch
Plaid.
This is precisely what we must do in the 1990 election -- to
keep the focus on the issues, and expose the true colors of the
chameleon candidates. For the national and state elections of
the 1990s will not just be a battle of the century; it will be a
battle for the century -- the 21st century.
We have proven, time and again, that our party can keep the
White House. But to win a majority of governorships, state
offices and seats in Congress, we must roll up our sleeves and
get down to the basics of winning elections. We must be more
competitive. We must rededicate ourselves to the nuts and bolts
of politics, the grassroots, as our opponents do.
As we look to the upcoming elections, we have three
obtainable goals. First, to move toward our rightful place as
the majority party of governors As federalism has enhanced
your role, so the control of the governorships has become one of
5
the most critical national goals of our party. Our second goal
is to recapture the U.S. Senate. And third, we must open the
House of Representatives to two-party competition. But the key
governors.
to all three goals is only. the first -- to elect more Republican
It's no coincidence that our party slipped to minority
status in the House as we became a minority in state government.
It's no coincidence that the House majority remains in force
today
The Founding Fathers intended the House of
Representatives to be the most sensitive barometer of the
changing needs of the American people. Instead, whole
generations have never known what it means to experience a change
in party control of the House.
Let me tell you about my son Neil, as a way to illustrate
the seemingly unending nature of the Democratic majority. Neil
is thirty-four years old. Neil was born on January 22, 1955,
three weeks after the last Republican Speaker turned the gavel
over to a Democrat. Not one time in his life has Neil seen the
leadership of the House of Representatives change parties. Not
one time. Just like Neil, there are millions of men and women
across America in their twenties and thirties who have never
known true two-party competition in the House.
Will the House remain static for another thirty-four years?
Yes, but only if Republicans passively accept it. Today,
Democrats now have a redistricting advantage in states that
6
compose about 90 percent of the seats in Congress. This must
not
continue.
You know how the ugly gerrymander dilutes the votes of
Republicans and Independents across this country. We have
protested this in the past; but now it is time for us to raise
our voices, to become true activists. As Republican leaders, you
can take our message to voters of your states. You must declare
that this form of voter discrimination must end.
To lead America in the next century, we must make aggressive
gains at the state level in the next few years. A majority, or
even a large minority, of Republicans in state legislatures can
join with you to sustain the veto of outrageous gerrymander
schemes, strengthening our numbers in the U.S House. Strong
state parties can also help us to win back the U.S. Senate.
But we have far greater reasons than reapportionment to
pursue the governorships of America. America faces tough
problems that require more than federal solutions. They require
national solutions. And solutions are now possible because the
states are embracing a new dynamism based on an old vision.
The great Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis foresaw a
time when: "a single courageous state
may serve as a
their
laboratory and try novel social and economic experiments without
risk to the nation." ( (To borrow a phrase)) The states are
becoming these "laboratories of democracy," with each state
endowed with freedom -- freedom to fail, freedom to succeed, and
freedom to discover and share its discoveries.
7
In an era of tight resources, necessity, the mother of
invention, has also proven to be the mother of creative policies.
You are following the advice of Teddy Roosevelt, a great
Republican governor who said that our national greatness "is not
what we have that will make us a great nation; it is the way in
which we use it."
Dozens of states are experimenting with ways to remove
obstacles to opportunity, and to bring the creative energy of
entrepreneurship to the public sector. Some of your experiments
are certain to become the national policies of the next century
The states are at the forefront because the first instinct
<flex
of our governors is not to look to Washington, but to the
combined strength of the public and the private sector. Much has
been written about how governors in both parties are rejecting
the old ideologies and stale approaches of the past. Credit
should be given where it is due. But I have to say, while
Democrats have been adept at promoting new programs that attract
a lot of fanfare, the Republicans governors have quietly
distinguished themselves with programs that work.
The people know this. And come November, 1990, I believe
the voters will choose innovation and daring for their state
government. They will vote Republican.
But to win big, you must think big We must have the
audacity -- not just to hold our own in the Senate, but to win it
back. We must have the tenacity -- not just to elect more
Members of Congress, but to reach for the Speaker's Chair. And
8
we must have the daring to seize the majority position among
governors.
Republican governors are already thinking big, thinking
ahead. You are the planners and the prophets, the managers and
the visionaries, the dreamers and the doers. You are the ones I
look to join me, in a partnership, to win the future.
So this is our vision: We are going to be the party that
leads the states. We are going to be the party that leads
Congress. Then we will be the party that leads America into the
21st Century.
Thank you, God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
10/16
Date:
TO:
CHRISS WINSTON
FROM: JOHN S. GARDNER
Special Assistant to the President
and Assistant Staff Secretary
Information
Action
Let's Discuss
On the President's comments,
"blue" refers to the "From the
President" note attached. Also,
the President's middle comment
on your memo reads "It is before
dinner."
Thanks.
J.
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
1989 OCT 14 PM 2: 49
THE PRESIDENT HAS SEEN
10/16/89
on
Oct. 14, 1989
INFORMATION
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
Through:
CHRISS WINSTON
Mark let's add longuye but reduce by
From:
MARK DAVIS amformo
Subject:
Republican Governors Association
SUMMARY: You will address the Republican Governors Association
at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 17, at the Capitol Hilton. You will be
introduced by Governor Mike Hayden of Kansas, the current RGA
Chairman, who will soon relinquish his post to Governor John
Ashcroft of Missouri. The crowd will consist of 500 people.
minutes.
befor 15 elima
It's
Your remarks will be teleprompted and last approximately 12 to
DISCUSSION: This speech looks back to the Charlottesville
summit, and acknowledges the need for bipartisan cooperation on
urgent national issues. At the same time, the best ideas and
leadership have always come from the Republican Party -- a claim
proven by our record of peace and prosperity. This speech
denounces the unfair, partisan gerrymander -- a form of voter
discrimination that governors can help end. At the same time,
12 better is the
this speech makes it clear that in this age of federalism,
governorships are valued for what they can achieve -- not just
for their influence on reapportionment. Majority control of the
governorships is a national goal of the Republican Party.
Speed swall
fine
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
DATE: 10/15/89
FROM THE PRESIDENT
To:
mark /chriss
I prefer not even to
D
talk about the
"burdens of the office"
etc.
D
almost
Please cite , unanimous
view of Gommons
"stop tying our hands.
Stop mandating mn programs
stop Dictating to the states"
[aquee with this view
Davis/Martin
Oct. 10, 1989
Title: Governors
Draft: Two
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS ASSOC., Capitol Hilton
Tuesday, Oct. 17, 7 p.m.
Thank you Chairman Hayden for that gracious introduction.
My congratulations go to you for your effective tenure, and to
your successor, Governor Ashcroft.
Let us also honor a governor who showed great leadership
through a time of turbulence and tragedy
...
Carroll Campbell
of South Carolina.
And I'm pleased that one of our retiring governors, Tom
Kean, will be a part of our team as the head of the Advisory
Panel of the Thousand Points of Light Foundation.
((It's good to see my good friend, Gov. Clements, from ny
home state of Texas. You may not know this, but the Dallas
papers reported last week, that Gov. Clements was dining in a
restaurant when a hold-up and shoot out occurred right in front
of him. But the most remarkable part of all, is that not once
through the whole ordeal did Gov. Clements put down his
the need for a hearing aid or new )) glasses.
hamburger. 111 Bill, I'm not sure if that's çourage of hunger, on
But, you have my admination anyway.
((Finally, I also want to recognize a former chairman of
this association, and my chief of staff, John Sununu. John,
did you hear of the boy in the spelling bee who was asked if he
could spell your last name? The boy said he could spell
"Sununu," but he just wasn't sure when to stop.) 1\\
2
As you know, I am not an alumnus of your organization. But
over the years, as I worked with the governors, I have come to
fully appreciate the responsibility you are shouldering, and the
leadership you provide.
But of course, there are times when federalism seems to be a
mixed blessing. It is not possible for a governor to shy away
and
from the hard decisions. You are responsible, ac am I.
You are
forced to confront the gritty problems, add
Some describe
this responsibility as a great burden. But as I said before, for
If it is a burden, it is one we cheerfully accept. To sit
you
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.
For that reason I believe we can, we must, as chief
executives take responsibility, join forces, and make a common
cause of building a better America.
That is why we came together at Charlottesville, at an
historic summit, only the third of its kind in our history. We
came together, with your Democratic counterparts, in open, wide-
ranging and creative sessions to seek a new direction in
education. In the end, we agreed to an historic compact -- a
Jeffersonian compact -- to set national goals; to allow for
greater flexibility, more creativity; and then to be accountable
for the results.
We could achieve this, because at Charlottesville we put
progress before partisanship, the future before the moment and
3
our children before ourselves. America simply faces too many of
these long-term challenges for us to act only as Republicans or
Democrats, conservatives or liberals. We must work together to
redeem our schools. We must work together to save our children
from drugs. We must work together to protect the environment and
meet the changing needs of the American family.
Still, this does not mean that there is no time and place
for partisanship. There is a Republican approach to the
challenges we face. And we have proven, time and again, that the
Republican approach is the best approach.
I consider this a matter of record, a record that includes
eighty-three months of economic growth and more than twenty
million new jobs.\\ A few years ago, when our opponents said
that a tax cut would hurt the economy, we cut taxes -- and it did
the opposite. When our opponents said that a stronger defense
would make the Soviets more militant, we revitalized our armed
forces -- and the Soviets met us at the negotiating table. In
short, whatever has worked at the federal level happened only
culightened
because Republicans and conservative Democrats in Congress joined
forces to make it work.
So the bottom line is this -- throughout the 1980s, the
Republican Party has been the party of ideas. This is no less
true at the state level.
And while Republicans are leading the way, where is the
opposition? Answer: in the throes of an identity crisis. After
the longest peacetime expansion in history, the Democrats can't
4
quite bring themselves to admit that Republicans were right. Nor
do they have a new vision of where America should be going. All
they can do is cloak their out-of-step ideas in the language of
moderation.
I don't often quote Franklin Delano Roosevelt on partisan
matters. But the little story he told to make fun of his
Republican opponents fits the liberal Democrats so well today.
It is the story of the "unfortunate chameleon which turned brown
when placed on a brown rug, and turned red when placed on a red
rug, but who died a tragic death when they put him on a Scotch
Plaid.
This is precisely what we must do in the 1990 election -- to
keep the focus on the issues, and expose the true colors of the
chameleon candidates. For the national and state elections of
the 1990s will not just be a battle of the century; it will be a
battle for the century -- the 21st century.
We have proven, time and again, that our party can keep the
White House. But to win a majority of governorships, state
offices and seats in Congress, we must roll up our sleeves and
get down to the basics of winning elections. We must be more
competitive. We must rededicate ourselves to the nuts and bolts
of politics, the grassroots, as our opponents do.
As we look to the upcoming elections, we have three
obtainable goals. First, to move toward our rightful place as
the majority party of governors. As federalism has enhanced
your role, so the control of the governorships has become one of
5
the most critical national goals of our party. Our second goal
is to recapture the U.S. Senate. And third, we must open the
House of Representatives to two-party competition.\ But the key
to all three goals is the first -- to elect more Republican
governors.
It's no coincidence that our party slipped to minority
status in the House as we became a minority in state government.
It's no coincidence that the House majority remains in force
today. The Founding Fathers intended the House of
Representatives to be the most sensitive barometer of the
changing needs of the American people. Instead, whole
generations have never known what it means to experience a change
in party control of the House.
Let me tell you about my son Neil, as a way to illustrate
the seemingly unending nature of the Democratic majority. Neil
is thirty-four years old. Neil was born on January 22, 1955,
three weeks after the last Republican Speaker turned the gavel
over to a Democrat. Not one time in his life has Neil seen the
leadership of the House of Representatives change parties. Not
one time. Just like Neil, there are millions of men and women
across America in their twenties and thirties who have never
known true two-party competition in the House.
Will the House remain static for another thirty-four years?
Yes, but only if Republicans passively accept it. Today,
Democrats now have a redistricting advantage in states that
6
compose about 90 percent of the seats in Congress. This must not
continue.
You know how the ugly gerrymander dilutes the votes of
Republicans and Independents across this country. We have
protested this in the past; but now it is time for us to raise
our voices, to become true activists. As Republican leaders, you
can take our message to voters of your states. You must declare
that this form of voter discrimination must end.)
To lead America in the next century, we must make aggressive
gains at the state level in the next few years. A majority, or
even a large minority, of Republicans in state legislatures can
join with you to sustain the veto of outrageous gerrymander
schemes, strengthening our numbers in the U.S. House. Strong
state parties can also help us to win back the U.S. Senate.
But we have far greater reasons than reapportionment to
pursue the governorships of America. America faces tough
problems that require more than federal solutions. They require
national solutions. And solutions are now possible because the
states are embracing a new dynamism based on an old vision.
The great Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis foresaw a
time when: "a single courageous state
may serve as a
laboratory and try novel social and economic experiments without
like it
risk to the nation." ((To borrow a phrase)) The states are
becoming these "laboratories of democracy," with each state
endowed with freedom -- freedom to fail, freedom to succeed, and
freedom to discover and share its discoveries.
7
In an era of tight resources, necessity, the mother of
invention, has also proven to be the mother of creative policies.
You are following the advice of Teddy Roosevelt, a great
Republican governor who said that our national greatness "is not
what we have that will make us a great nation; it is the way in
which we use it."
Dozens of states are experimenting with ways to remove
obstacles to opportunity, and to bring the creative energy of
entrepreneurship to the public sector. Some of your experiments
are certain to become the national policies of the next century.
The states are at the forefront because the first instinct
of our governors is not to look to Washington, but to the
combined strength of the public and the private sector. Much has
been written about how governors in both parties are rejecting
the old ideologies and stale approaches of the past. Credit
should be given where it is due. But I have to say, while
Democrats have been adept at promoting new programs that attract
a lot of fanfare, the Republicans governors have quietly
distinguished themselves with programs that work.
The people know this. And come November, 1990, I believe
the voters will choose innovation and daring for their state
government. They will vote Republican.
But to win big, you must think big. We must have the
audacity -- not just to hold our own in the Senate, but to win it
back. We must have the tenacity -- not just to elect more
Members of Congress, but to reach for the Speaker's Chair. And
8
we must have the daring to seize the majority position among
governors.
Republican governors are already thinking big, thinking
ahead. You are the planners and the prophets, the managers and
the visionaries, the dreamers and the doers. You are the ones I
look to join me, in a partnership, to win the future.
So this is our vision: We are going to be the party that
leads the states. We are going to be the party that leads
Congress. Then we will be the party that leads America into the
21st Century.
Thank you, God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
7
distinguished themselves with programs that work. The people
know this. And come November, 1990, I believe the voters will
choose innovation and daring for their state government. They
B.F.
will vote Republican.
But to win big, you must think big. And the Republican
governors are already thinking big, thinking ahead. You are the
planners and the prophets, the managers and the visionaries, the
dreamers and the doers. You are the ones I look to join me, in a
partnership, to win the future.
So this is our vision: We are going to be the party that
leads the states. We are going to be the party that leads
Congress. Then we will be the party that leads America into the
21st Century.
\\
Thank you, God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
081213SS
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
10/12/89
FRIDAY, OCT. 13, 4:00 pm
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1989
SUBJECT:
(draft: one)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
ROGERS
CARD
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
PINKERTON
FITZWATER
WRAY
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide comments/edits on the attached directly to
Chriss Winston, Room 122, x2930, no later than 4:00 p.m.,
Friday, October 13, with a copy to my office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
91:1d 91 100 into 68
Comments phanel chiss 12-89 vinita
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Davis/Martin
Oct. 10, 1989
Title: Governors
Draft: One
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS ASSOC.,
Tuesday, Oct. 17, 7 p.m.
Thank you Chairman Hayden for that gracious introduction.
1989 OCT i2 PM 04 07
My congratulations go to you for your effective tenure, and
your successor, Governor Ashcroft.
I also ask you to join me in honoring another governor among
us today, someone who stood his ground through a time of
turbulence and tragedy, a great governor and a true leader
Carroll Campbell of South Carolina. \\
( (Finally, I also want to recognize a former chairman of
this association, and my chief of staff, John Sununu. John,
did you hear of the boy in the spelling bee who was asked if he
could spell your last name? The boy said he could spell
"Sununu," but he just wasn't sure when to stop. ) 111
( (By the way, did you hear that ABC is going to air a made-
for-T.V. movie entitled: "George Bush, the War Years"?\\ You can
pretty much guess what this movie will be about. It'll be about
the time I had to bail out. And to think, Terry Branstad, that
there are actually people out there who would want to see a movie
about the Iowa primary. \\\\))
As you know, I am not an alumnus of your organization. But
over the years, as I worked with the governors, I have come to
fully appreciate the responsibility you are shouldering, and the
leadership you provide.
- Joh WASHEK
857-5114
2
But of course, there are times when federalism seems to be a
mixed blessing. It is not possible for a governor to shy away
from the hard decisions. You are responsible, as am I. You are
forced to confront the gritty problems, as am I. Some describe
this responsibility as a great burden. But as I said before, for
us, if it is a burden, it is one we cheerfully accept. 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.
For that reason I believe we can, we must, as chief
executives take responsibility, join forces, and make a common
cause of building a better America.
That is why we came together at Charlottesville, at an
historic summit, only the third of its kind in our history. We
came together, with your Democratic counterparts, in open, wide-
ranging and creative sessions to seek a new direction in
education. In the end, we agreed to an historic compact -- a
Jeffersonian compact -- to set national goals; to allow for
greater flexibility, more creativity; and then to be accountable
for the results.
We could achieve this, because at Charlottesville we put
progress before partisanship, the future before the moment and
our children before ourselves. America simply faces too many of
these long-term challenges for us to act only as Republicans or
Democrats, conservatives or liberals. We must work together to
redeem our schools. We must work together to save our children
3
from drugs. We must work together to protect the environment and
meet the changing needs of the American family.
Still, this does not mean that there is no time and place
for partisanship. There is a Republican approach to the
challenges we face. And we have proven, time and again, that the
Republican approach is the best approach.
I consider this a matter of record, a record that includes
eighty-three months of economic growth and more than twenty
million new jobs. A few years ago, when our opponents said
that a tax cut would hurt the economy, we cut taxes -- and it did
the opposite. When our opponents said that a stronger defense
would make the Soviets more militant, we revitalized our armed
forces -- and the Soviets met us at the negotiating table. In
short, whatever has worked at the federal level happened only
because Republicans and conservative Democrats in Congress joined
forces to make it work.
So the bottom line is this -- throughout the 1980s, the
Republican Party has been the party of ideas. This is no ess
true at the state level. Who is implementing alternative teacher
certification? Our Republican governors. Who enacted the first
child-care programs based on the principle of choice? Out
Republican governors. Who is leading the way to welfare reform?
Or to protect our wetlands and environment? Again, it is you.
While Republicans lead the way, where is the opposition?
Answer: in the throes of an identity crisis. After the longest
peacetime expansion in history, the Democrats can't quite bring
4
themselves to admit that Republicans were right. Nor do they
have a new vision of where America should be go_ng All they can
do is cloak their out-of-step ideas in the language of
moderation.
I don't often quote Franklin Delano Roosevelt on partisan
matters. But the little story he told to make fun of his
Republican opponents fits the liberal Democrats so well today.
It is the story of the "unfortunate chameleon which turned brown
when placed on a brown rug, and turned red when placed on a red
rug, but who died a tragic death when they put him on a Scotch
Plaid. "\\
This is precisely what we must do in the 1990 election -- to
keep the focus on the issues, and expose the true colors of the
chameleon candidates. For the national and state elections of
the 1990s will not just be a battle of the century; it will be a
battle for the century -- the 21st century.
We have proven, time ard again, that party can keep the
it. House. But t wha majorie, 0 : governo h: 5, state
offices and seats in Congress, we must roll up our sleeves and
get down to the basics of winning elections. We must be more
competitive, for when it comes to the nuts and bolts of politics,
our opponents are the master mechanics of all time.
As we look to the upcoming elections, we have three
obtainable goals. First, to move toward our rightful place as
the majority party of governors. As federalism has enhanced
your role, so the control of the governorships has become one of
5
the most critical national goals of our party. Our second goal
is to recapture the U.S. Senate. And third, we must open the
House of Representatives to two-party competition. But the key
to all three goals is the first -- to elect more Republican
governors.
It's no coincidence that our party slipped to minority
status in the House as we became a minority in state government.
It's no coincidence that the House majority remains in force
today. The Founding Fathers intended the House of
Representatives to be the most sensitive barometer of the
changing needs of the American people. Instead, whole
generations have never known what it means to experience a change
in party control of the House.
Let me tell you about my son Neil, as a way to illustrate
the seemingly unending nature of the Democratic majority. Neil
is thirty-four years old. Neil was born on January, 22, 1955,
three weeks after the last Republican Speaker turned the gavel
over to a Democrat. Not one time in his life has Neil seen the
leadership of the House of Representatives change parties. Not
one time. Just like Neil, there are millions of men and women
across America in their twenties and thirties who have never
known true two-party competition in the House.
Will the House remain static for another thirty-four years?
Yes, but only if Republicans passively accept it. Today,
Democrats now have a redistricting advantage in states that
6
compose about 90 percent of the seats in Congress. This must not
continue. \\
You know how the ugly gerrymander dilutes the votes of
Republicans and Independents across this country. We have
protested this in the past; but now it is time for us to raise
our voices, to become true activists. As Republican leaders, you
can take our message to voters of your states. You must declare
that this form of voter discrimination must end.
To lead America in the next century, we must make aggressive
gains at the state level in the next few years. A majority, or
even a large minority, of Republicans in state legislatures can
join with you to sustain the veto of outrageous gerrymander
schemes, strengthening our numbers in the U.S. House. Strong
state parties can also help us to win back the U.S. Senate.
But we have far greater reasons than reapportionment to
pursue the governorships of America. America faces tough
problems that require more than federal solutions. They require
national solutions. And solutions are now possible because the
states are embracing a new dynamism based on an old vision.
The great Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis foresaw a
time when: "a single courageous state
may serve as a
laboratory and try novel social and economic experiments without
risk to the nation." ( (To borrow a phrase)) The states are
becoming these "laboratories of democracy," with each state
endowed with freedom -- freedom to fail, freedom to succeed, and
freedom to discover and share its discoveries.
7
In an era of tight resources, necessity, the mother of
invention, has also proven to be the mother of creative policies.
You are following the advice of Teddy Roosevelt, a great
Republican governor who said that our national greatness "is not
what we have that will make us a great nation; it is the way in
which we use it."
Dozens of states are experimenting with ways to remove
obstacles to opportunity, and to bring the creative energy of
entrepreneurship to the public sector. Some of your experiments
are certain to become the national policies of the next century.
The states are at the forefront because the first instinct
of our governors is not to look to Washington, but to the
combined strength of the public and the private sector. Much has
been written about how governors in both parties are rejecting
the old ideologies and stale approaches of the past. Credit
should be given where it is due. But I have to say, while
Democrats have been adept at promoting new programs that attract
a lot of fanfare, the Republicans governors have quietly
distinguished themselves with programs that work.
The people know this. And come November, 1990, I believe
the voters will choose innovation and daring for their state
government. They will vote Republican.
But to win big, you must think big. We must have the
audacity -- not just to hold our own in the Senate, but to win it
back. We must have the tenacity -- not just to elect more
Members of Congress, but to reach for the Speaker's Chair. And
8
we must have the daring to seize the majority position among
governors.
Republican governors are already thinking big, thinking
ahead. You are the planners and the prophets, the managers and
the visionaries, the dreamers and the doers. You are the ones I
look to join me, in a partnership, to win the future.
So this is our vision: We are going to be the party that
leads the states. We are going to be the party that leads
Congress. Then we will be the party that leads America into the
21st Century.
Thank you, God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
Davis/Martin
Oct. 10, 1989
Title: Governors
Draft: Two
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS ASSOC., Capitol Hilton
Tuesday, Oct. 17, 7 p.m.
Thank you Chairman Hayden for that gracious introduction.
My congratulations go to you for your effective tenure, and to
your successor, Governor Ashcroft.
Let us also honor a governor who showed great leadership
through a time of turbulence and tragedy
Carroll Campbell
and I'm plsa that one
South Carolina.
of Boo. Tom keen will
,
Governor Kean, New Jersey 's lost is the Administration's
gain. I'm pleased you will be a part of our team as the head of
the Advisory Panel of the Thousand Points of Light Foundation.
}
m sure we 'll be just perfect together
Tements
((Finally, I also want to recognize a former chairman of
this association, and my chief of staff, John Sununu.
John,
did you hear of the boy in the spelling bee who was asked if he
could spell your last name? The boy said he could spell
"Sununu," but he just wasn't sure when to stop. ))
As you know, I am not an alumnus of your organization. But
over the years, as I worked with the governors, I have come to
fully appreciate the responsibility you are shouldering, and the
leadership you provide.
But of course, there are times when federalism seems to be a
mixed blessing. It is not possible for a governor to shy away
from the hard decisions. You are responsible, as am I. You are
2
forced to confront the gritty problems, as am I. Some describe
this responsibility as a great burden. But as I said before, for
us, if it is a burden, it is one we cheerfully accept. 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.
For that reason I believe we can, we must, as chief
executives take responsibility, join forces, and make a common
cause of building a better America.
That is why we came together at Charlottesville, at an
historic summit, only the third of its kind in our history. We
came together, with your Democratic counterparts, in open, wide-
ranging and creative sessions to seek a new direction in
education. In the end, we agreed to an historic compact -- a
Jeffersonian compact -- to set national goals; to allow for
greater flexibility, more creativity; and then to be accountable
for the results.
We could achieve this, because at Charlottesville we put
progress before partisanship, the future before the moment and
our children before ourselves. America simply faces too many of
these long-term challenges for us to act only as Republicans or
Democrats, conservatives or liberals. We must work together to
redeem our schools. We must work together to save our children
from drugs. We must work together to protect the environment and
meet the changing needs of the American family.
3
still, this does not mean that there is no time and place
for partisanship. There is a Republican approach to the
challenges we face. And we have proven, time and again, that the
Republican approach is the best approach.
I consider this a matter of record, a record that includes
eighty-three months of economic growth and more than twenty
million new jobs. A few years ago, when our opponents said
that a tax cut would hurt the economy, we cut taxes -- and it did
the opposite. When our opponents said that a stronger defense
would make the Soviets more militant, we revitalized our armed
forces -- and the Soviets met us at the negotiating table. In
short, whatever has worked at the federal level happened only
because Republicans and conservative Democrats in Congress joined
forces to make it work.
So the bottom line is this -- throughout the 1980s, the
Republican Party has been the party of ideas. This is no less
true at the state level.
And while Republicans are leading the way, where is the
opposition? Answer: in the throes of an identity crisis. After
the longest peacetime expansion in history, the Democrats can't
quite bring themselves to admit that Republicans were right. Nor
do they have a new vision of where America should be going. All
they can do is cloak their out-of-step ideas in the language of
moderation.
I don't often quote Franklin Delano Roosevelt on partisan
matters. But the little story he told to make fun of his
4
Republican opponents fits the liberal Democrats so well today.
It is the story of the "unfortunate chameleon which turned brown
when placed on a brown rug, and turned red when placed on a red
rug, but who died a tragic death when they put him on a Scotch
Plaid.
This is precisely what we must do in the 1990 election -- to
keep the focus on the issues, and expose the true colors of the
chameleon candidates. For the national and state elections of
the 1990s will not just be a battle of the century; it will be a
battle for the century -- the 21st century.
We have proven, time and again, that our party can keep the
White House. But to win a majority of governorships, state
offices and seats in Congress, we must roll up our sleeves and
get down to the basics of winning elections. We must be more
competitive. We must rededicate ourselves to the nuts and bolts
of politics, the grassroots, as our opponents do.
As we look to the upcoming elections, we have three
obtainable goals. First, to move toward our rightful place as
the majority party of governors. As federalism has enhanced
your role, so the control of the governorships has become one of
the most critical national goals of our party. Our second goal
is to recapture the U.S. Senate. And third, we must open the
House of Representatives to two-party competition.\ But the key
to all three goals is the first -- to elect more Republican
governors.
5
It's no coincidence that our party slipped to minority
status in the House as we became a minority in state government.
It's no coincidence that the House majority remains in force
today. The Founding Fathers intended the House of
Representatives to be the most sensitive barometer of the
changing needs of the American people. Instead, whole
generations have never known what it means to experience a change
in party control of the House.
Let me tell you about my son Neil, as a way to illustrate
the seemingly unending nature of the Democratic majority. Neil
is thirty-four years old. Neil was born on January, 22, 1955,
three weeks after the last Republican Speaker turned the gavel
over to a Democrat. Not one time in his life has Neil seen the
leadership of the House of Representatives change parties. Not
one time. Just like Neil, there are millions of men and women
across America in their twenties and thirties who have never
known true two-party competition in the House.
Will the House remain static for another thirty-four years?
Yes, but only if Republicans passively accept it. Today,
Democrats now have a redistricting advantage in states that
compose about 90 percent of the seats in Congress. This must not
continue.
You know how the ugly gerrymander dilutes the votes of
Republicans and Independents across this country. We have
protested this in the past; but now it is time for us to raise
our voices, to become true activists. As Republican leaders, you
6
can take our message to voters of your states. You must declare
that this form of voter discrimination must end.\\
To lead America in the next century, we must make aggressive
gains at the state level in the next few years. A majority, or
even a large minority, of Republicans in state legislatures can
join with you to sustain the veto of outrageous gerrymander
schemes, strengthening our numbers in the U.S. House. Strong
state parties can also help us to win back the U.S. Senate.
But we have far greater reasons than reapportionment to
pursue the governorships of America. America faces tough
problems that require more than federal solutions. They require
national solutions. And solutions are now possible because the
states are embracing a new dynamism based on an old vision.
The great Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis foresaw a
time when: "a single courageous state
may serve as a
laboratory and try novel social and economic experiments without
risk to the nation. ( (To borrow a phrase)) The states are
becoming these "laboratories of democracy," with each state
endowed with freedom -- freedom to fail, freedom to succeed, and
freedom to discover and share its discoveries.
In an era of tight resources, necessity, the mother of
invention, has also proven to be the mother of creative policies.
You are following the advice of Teddy Roosevelt, a great
Republican governor who said that our national greatness "is not
what we have that will make us a great nation; it is the way in
which we use it. "
7
Dozens of states are experimenting with ways to remove
obstacles to opportunity, and to bring the creative energy of
entrepreneurship to the public sector. Some of your experiments
are certain to become the national policies of the next century.
The states are at the forefront because the first instinct
of our governors is not to look to Washington, but to the
combined strength of the public and the private sector. Much has
been written about how governors in both parties are rejecting
the old ideologies and stale approaches of the past. Credit
should be given where it is due. But I have to say, while
Democrats have been adept at promoting new programs that attract
a lot of fanfare, the Republicans governors have quietly
distinguished themselves with programs that work.
The people know this. And come November, 1990, I believe
the voters will choose innovation and daring for their state
government. They will vote Republican.
But to win big, you must think big. We must have the
audacity -- not just to hold our own in the Senate, but to win it
back. We must have the tenacity -- not just to elect more
Members of Congress, but to reach for the Speaker's Chair. And
we must have the daring to seize the majority position among
governors.
Republican governors are already thinking big, thinking
ahead. You are the planners and the prophets, the managers and
the visionaries, the dreamers and the doers. You are the ones I
look to join me, in a partnership, to win the future.
8
So this is our vision: We are going to be the party that
leads the states. We are going to be the party that leads
Congress. Then we will be the party that leads America into the
21st Century.
Thank you, God bless you and God bless America.
#
#
#
Document No. 081213SS
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
10/12/89
FRIDAY, OCT. 13, 4:00 pm
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1989
SUBJECT:
(draft: one)
3:20
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE N/C
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES N/C
UNTERMEYER
CARD
ROGERS N/C
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
PINKERTON N/C
FITZWATER
WRAY 7730
GRAY N/C
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide comments/edits on the attached directly to
Chriss Winston, Room 122, x2930, no later than 4:00 p.m.,
Friday, October 13, with a copy to my office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
33 : Olv EI 100 68
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Davis/Martin
Oct. 10, 1989
Title: Governors
Draft: One
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS ASSOC.,
Tuesday, Oct. 17, 7 p.m.
Thank you Chairman Hayden for that gracious introduction.
989 OCT i2 PM 7:04+ 04 07
My congratulations go to you for your effective tenure, and
your successor, Governor Ashcroft.
I also ask you to join me in honoring another governor among
tone
us today, someone who stood his ground through a time of
turbulence and tragedy, a great governor and a true leader
Keau
Carroll Campbell of South Carolina. \\
(Finally, I also want to recognize a former chairman of
this association, and my chief of staff, John Sununu. 11 John,
did you hear of the boy in the spelling bee who was asked if he
could spell your last name? The boy said he could spell
"Sununu," but he just wasn't sure when to stop. ))\\
((By the way, did you hear that ABC is going to air a made-
for-T.V. movie entitled: "George Bush, the War Years"?\\ You can
pretty much guess what this movie will be about. It'll be about
the time I had to bail out. \\ And to think, Terry Branstad, that
there are actually people out there who would want to see a movie
caucus
about the Iowa primary. \\\\))
As you know, I am not an alumnus of your organization. But
over the years, as I worked with the governors, I have come to
fully appreciate the responsibility you are shouldering, and the
leadership you provide.
2
But of course, there are times when federalism seems to be a
mixed blessing. It is not possible for a governor to shy away
from the hard decisions. You are responsible, as am I. You are
forced to confront the gritty problems, as am I. Some describe
this responsibility as a great burden. But as I said before, for
us, if it is a burden, it is one we cheerfully accept. 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.
For that reason I believe we can, we must, as chief
executives take responsibility, join forces, and make a common
cause of building a better America.
That is why we came together at Charlottesville, at an
historic summit, only the third of its kind in our history. We
came together, with your Democratic counterparts, in open, wide-
ranging and creative sessions to seek a new direction in
education. In the end, we agreed to an historic compact -- a
Jeffersonian compact -- to set national goals; to allow for
greater flexibility, more creativity; and then to be accountable
for the results.
We could achieve this, because at Charlottesville we put
progress before partisanship, the future before the moment and
our children before ourselves. America simply faces too many of
these long-term challenges for us to act only as Republicans or
Democrats, conservatives or liberals. We must work together to
redeem our schools. We must work together to save our children
3
from drugs. We must work together to protect the environment and
meet the changing needs of the American family.
Still, this does not mean that there is no time and place
for partisanship. There is a Republican approach to the
challenges we face. And we have proven, time and again, that the
Republican approach is the best approach.
I consider this a matter of record, a record that includes
eighty-three months of economic growth and more than twenty
million new jobs. A few years ago, when our opponents said
that a tax cut would hurt the economy, we cut taxes -- and it did
the opposite. When our opponents said that a stronger defense
would make the Soviets more militant, we revitalized our armed
forces -- and the Soviets met us at the negotiating table. In
short, whatever has worked at the federal level happened only
because Republicans and conservative Democrats in Congress joined
forces to make it work.
So the bottom line is this -- throughout the 1980s, the
Republican Party has been the party of ideas. This is no ess
true at the state level. Who is implementing alternative teacher
certification? Our Republican governors. Who enacted the first
child care programs based on the principle of choice? Our
Republican governors. Who is leading the way to welfare reform?
Or to and, protect our wetlands and environment? Again, it is you.
While Republicans lead mg the way, where is the opposition?
are
Answer: in the throes of an identity crisis. After the longest
peacetime expansion in history, the Democrats can't quite bring
4
themselves to admit that Republicans were right. Nor do they
have a new vision of where America should be going All they can
do is cloak their out-of-step ideas in the language of
moderation.
I don't often quote Franklin Delano ROOsevelt on partisan
matters. But the little story he told to male Sun of his
Republican opponents fits the liberal Democrats so well today.
It is the story of the "unfortunate chameleon which turned brown
when placed on a brown rug, and turned red when placed on a red
rug, but who died a tragic death when they put him on a Scotch
Plaid. "\\
This is precisely what we must do in the 1990 election -- to
keep the focus on the issues, and expose the true colors of the
chameleon candidates. For the national and state elections of
the 1990s will not just be a battle of the century; it will be a
battle for the century -- the 21st century.
We have proven, time and again, that nur can keep the
it. House. But t whamarit C : governo h S, state
offices and seats in Congress, we must roll up our sleeves and
get down to the basics of winning elections. We must be more
we must repledse arselves
competitive, for when it comes to the nuts and bolts of politics, the
grass roots our as
do.
opponents are the master mechanics of all time.
As we look to the upcoming elections, we have three
obtainable goals. First, to move toward our rightful place as
the majority party of governors. As federalism has enhanced
your role, so the control of the governorships has become one of
5
the most critical national goals of our party. Our second goal
is to recapture the U.S. Senate. And third, we must open the
House of Representatives to two-party competition. But the key
to all three goals is the first -- to elect more Republican
governors.
It's no coincidence that our party slipped to minority
status in the House as we became a minority in state government.
It's no coincidence that the House majority remains in force
today. The Founding Fathers intended the House of
Representatives to be the most sensitive barometer of the
changing needs of the American people. Instead, whole
generations have never known what it means to experience a change
in party control of the House.
Let me tell you about my son Neil, as a way to illustrate
the seemingly unending nature of the Democratic majority. Neil
is thirty-four years old. Neil was born on January, 22, 1955,
three weeks after the last Republican Speaker turned the gavel
over to a Democrat. Not one time in his life has Neil seen the
leadership of the House of Representatives change parties. Not
one time. Just like Neil, there are millions of men and women
across America in their twenties and thirties who have never
known true two-party competition in the House.
Will the House remain static for another thirty-four years?
Yes, but only if Republicans passively accept it. Today,
Democrats now have a redistricting advantage in states that
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compose about 90 percent of the seats in Congress. This must not
continue.
You know how the ugly gerrymander dilutes the votes of
Republicans and Independents across this country. We have
protested this in the past; but now it is time for us to raise
our voices, to become true activists. As Republican leaders, you
can take our message to voters of your states. You must declare
that this form of voter discrimination must end. \\
To lead America in the next century, we must make aggressive
gains at the state level in the next few years. A majority, or
even a large minority, of Republicans in state legislatures can
join with you to sustain the veto of outrageous gerrymander
schemes, strengthening our numbers in the U.S. House. Strong
state parties can also help us to win back the U.S. Senate.
But we have far greater reasons than reapportionment to
pursue the governorships of America. America faces tough
problems that require more than federal solutions. They require
national solutions. And solutions are now possible because the
states are embracing a new dynamism based on an old vision.
The great Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis foresaw a
time when: "a single courageous state
may serve as a
laboratory and try novel social and economic experiments without
risk to the nation." ( (To borrow a phrase)) The states are
becoming these "laboratories of democracy," with each state
endowed with freedom -- freedom to fail, freedom to succeed, and
freedom to discover and share its discoveries.
7
In an era of tight resources, necessity, the mother of
invention, has also proven to be the mother of creative policies.
You are following the advice of Teddy Roosevelt, a great
Republican governor who said that our national greatness "is not
what we have that will make us a great nation; it is the way in
which we use it."
Dozens of states are experimenting with ways to remove
obstacles to opportunity, and to bring the creative energy of
entrepreneurship to the public sector. Some of your experiments
are certain to become the national policies of the next century.
The states are at the forefront because the first instinct
of our governors is not to look to Washington, but to the
combined strength of the public and the private sector. Much has
been written about how governors in both parties are rejecting
the old ideologies and stale approaches of the past. Credit
should be given where it is due. But I have to say, while
Democrats have been adept at promoting new programs that a tract
a lot of fanfare, the Republicans governors have quietly
distinguished themselves with programs that work.
The people know this. And come November, 1990, I believe
the voters will choose innovation and daring for their state
government. They will vote Republican.
But to win big, you must think big. We must have the
audacity -- not just to hold our own in the Senate, but to win it
back. We must have the tenacity -- not just to elect more
Members of Congress, but to reach for the Speaker's Chair. And
8
we must have the daring to seize the majority position among
governors.
Republican governors are already thinking big, thinking
ahead. You are the planners and the prophets, the managers and
the visionaries, the dreamers and the doers. You are the ones I
look to join me, in a partnership, to win the future.
So this is our vision: We are going to be the party that
leads the states. We are going to be the party that leads
Congress. Then we will be the party that leads America into the
21st Century.
Thank you, God bless you and God bless America.
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