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Republican Governors Association 10/17/89 [OA 8748]
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Mark Davis Subject Files
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
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MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Davis, Mark, Files
Subseries:
Subject File, 1989-1991
OA/ID Number:
13874
Folder ID Number:
13874-004
Folder Title:
Republican Governors Association, 10/17/89
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19
2
6
7
Oct. 13, 1989
INFORMATION
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
Through:
CHRISS WINSTON
From:
MARK DAVIS
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. Your remarks will be teleprompted.
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 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 themselves -- not just for their influence on
reapportionment. Majority control of the governorships is a
national goal of the Republican Party.
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. 11
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.
- 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. /// 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.
#
#
#
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.
My congratulations go to you for your effective tenure, and to
your successor, Governor Ashcroft.
Let us also honor a governor who stood his ground through a
time of turbulence and tragedy
Carroll Campbell of South
Carolina.
Governor Kean, I'm pleased you'll soon be joining my
Administration as the head of the Advisory Panel of the Thousand
Points of Light Foundation. ((I'm sure we'll be just perfect
together. 1111
( (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
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.
#
#
#