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- Parte de Records of the Office of the Chief of Staff (Clinton Administration), Harold Ickes, Jr.'s Files
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WA
SATELLITE ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
LA RAZA CONFERENCE
DALLAS, TEXAS
JULY 19, 1995 95 JUL 19 Pl: 09
Thank you, Raul Yzaguirre [EE-SAH-GEAR-EH], for that warm
introduction. It is good to see so many friends out there. I
want to say a special hello to chairwoman, Irma Flores Gonzalez,
and her predecessor, Dr. Audrey Alvarado.
My wife, Hillary, sends her regrets at not being able to be with
you. I hope you are not too disappointed in her stand-in. I'm
sorry I can't be with you in person as I was last year in Miami.
A little over an hour ago, at the National Archives in
Washington, I announced the results of my Administration's review
of federal affirmative action programs. I made it clear that an
essential part of our search for common ground and the exercise
of our freedoms is an unwavering commitment to genuine equal
opportunity.
Hispanics are making huge strides in ways we couldn't even have
imagined a generation ago. I don't want any Hispanic child to
feel that his or her race is an impediment to full achievement.
Every child has a right to the American Dream and all of us have
a responsibility to nourish that dream.
But, until this country has achieved equality of opportunity and
stamped out discrimination, we will need the remedy of
affirmative action. But it must be done the right way. It must
It must be flexible. It must be fair. And it must work.
Let me be clear: This Administration is against quotas and
guaranteed results, but we do need to guarantee genuine equality
of opportunity for all Americans. We want to support the.
programs that are working, but we want to get rid of the ones
that are not. So, we need to mend, not end, affirmative action.
Our study showed that indeed, affirmative action has been an
effective tool in expanding opportunity for those who have
suffered discrimination. In the Army, in education, in small
business loans, in employment by federal contractors, in the
"set-aside" program -- we have seen again and again that when
affirmative action is done right, it has helped more minorities
and women pursue the American Dream. People like Paul Gutierrez
in Omaha, who owns Midwest Maintenance; Ernest Gonzalez of West
Babylon, New York, who owns a chemical distribution company; and
Santos Garza of Bethesda, Maryland, who owns a security company.
But, after 25 years of experience, we have to take a good look at
what is working and what is not.
That's why I announced a series of steps we will take to change
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