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FOIA Number: 2006-0462-F
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Clinton Presidential Records
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Speechwriting
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Terry Edmonds
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1/26/96 Nat'l Assoc. Homebuilders (Video)
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193
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
01/25/96
9:00AM 1/26
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
VIDEO TAPING SCRIPT: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOMEBUILDERS
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
McCURRY
PANETTA
McGINTY
McLARTY
NASH
ICKES
QUINN
LIEBERMAN
RASCO
RIVLIN
SOSNIK
BAER
STEPHANOPOULOS
CURRY
STIGLITZ
EMANUEL
STREETT
GIBBONS
TYSON
GRIFFIN
WALLEY
HALE
WILLIAMS
EDMONDS
HERMAN
TOIV
HIGGINS
KLAIN
HAAS
LAKE
SPERLING
LINDSEY
REMARKS: Please forward any comments directly to Terry Edmonds by
9:00 A.M. on Friday, 01/26. Thanks
RESPONSE:
Staff Secretary
Ext. 6-2702
VIDEO REMARKS BY PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOME BUILDERS'
52ND ANNUAL CONVENTION AND 1996 BUILDERS' SHOW
JANUARY 26, 1996
96 JAN 25 P9 35
It is my great pleasure to welcome all of you to Houston and
the 1996 "Builders' Show." This is the world's largest annual
convention and exposition for the housing industry.
Let me first offer my congratulations to NAHB's outgoing
President, Jim Irvine of Portland, Oregon. And I join all of you
in welcoming your new president, Randy Smith.
As you know better than anyone, owning a home is central to
the American dream. For a young couple, a home is a place to
build a family, an oasis of stability, a place they can call
their own. For half a century, our nation has gone out of its
way to try to extend to every American the opportunity to own a
home. This commitment has helped make homebuilding a critical
part of the foundation of the American economy.
Housing represents roughly 5 percent of our overall Gross
Domestic Product. And as we all know, as housing goes, so goes
the rest of the economy. 4.1 million new housing units have been
built during the past three years -- a twenty percent increase
over the three years before I took office. Home ownership is at
a 15-year high.
The state of housing is strong. And, as I said on Tuesday,
the state of our union is strong, and growing stronger. We have
the lowest combined rate of unemployment and inflation in 27
years. In the last three years, we have created over 7.8 million
new American jobs -- 700,000 of those jobs were in construction.
Mortgage rates are down to about 7 percent. In fact, since
I took office, rates have been at their lowest sustained levels
since the 1960s. And employment in the construction sector'is up
sharply. It's increased by 17 percent since January 1993.
It's clear that low interest rates are critical to the
continued growth of your industry. In 1993, When my
administration passed an economic plan that cut the deficit
nearly in half. We all know that is one big reason why the rates
dropped so low.
Maintaining the stability of interest rates and growth
within the housing sector are two of the leading reasons that I'm
committed to working with the Congress to fashion a seven-year
balanced budget -- and cleanly raise the national debt limit.
Your industry and the American homeowner simply can't afford
the kind of economic disruption that will occur if we don't come
1
to agreement and preserve our fiscal integrity.
You should also know that my Administration, under the
leadership of HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, remains committed to
removing barriers to affordable housing production. You may
recall that I asked the Secretary to prepare a bold National
Homeownership Strategy in November of 1994. This is not another
big government program. It is a partnership with you and others
to cut costs and increase access to capital for homebuyers. And
it is working. Since Secretary Cisneros unveiled the plan last
May, home ownership rates have already increased by eight-tenths
of a percent [.8%]. We are well on our way to meeting the goal
of a 67.5 percent level by the year 2000.
You should also know that my Administration continues to
strongly support the Federal Housing Administration, which for 60
years has been a pioneer in making mortgages available to those
families locked out of the conventional market.
We live in an Age of Possibility. In order to seize this
moment, we are going to have to work together -- in our families,
our communities, our churches and synagogues, and in our
workplaces -- to make the most of our own lives and our own
communities.
That's why in the State of the Union I challenged all
Americans to help strengthen our families, improve education,
create safer streets, and a smaller, more efficient government.
Together we can meet any challenge.
In closing, let me thank all of you, not only for building
great homes, but also for all you do to build strong families and
communities. Have a great convention, and best wishes for a
happy and prosperous 1996.
Thank you and God bless you all.
2
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
OFFICE OF
SPEECHWRITING
PHONE: (202) 456-2777
FAX: (202) 456-5709
TO:
BRUCE KAtz, Chief of Staff
FROM:
Terry Edmonds
RECEIVER FAX:
708 2476
RECEIVER PHONE:
NUMBER OF PAGES (INCLUDING COVER SHEET): 3
COMMENTS:
PLEASE REVIEW AND ber
BACK TO ME ASAP TONIGHT.@
456-2499
***WARNING***
Unauthorized use of these materials is subject to federal prosecution
VIDEO REMARKS BY PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOME BUILDERS'
52ND ANNUAL CONVENTION AND 1996 BUILDERS' SHOW
JANUARY 26, 1996
It is my great pleasure to welcome all of you to Houston and
the 1996 "Builders' Show." This is the world's largest annual
convention and exposition for the housing industry.
Let me first offer my congratulations to NAHB's outgoing
President, Jim Irvine of Portland, Oregon. And I join all of you
in welcoming your new President, Randy Smith.
I know I don't have to tell you how tremendously important
the housing sector is to our national economy. Housing represents
roughly 5 percent of our overall Gross Domestic Product. And as
we all know, as housing goes, so goes the rest of the economy.
4.1 million new housing units have been built during the past
three years -- a twenty percent increase over the previous three
years before I took office.
The state of housing is strong. And, as I said in my annual
address to the Congress on January the 23rd, the state of our
union is strong, and growing stronger. We have the lowest
combined rate of unemployment and inflation in 27 years. In the
last three years, we have created over 7.8 million new American
jobs, including over a million in basic industries like
construction and automobiles.
Your industry is a big part of that resurgence. Mortgage
rates are down to about 7 percent. In fact, since I took office,
rates have been at their lowest sustained levels since the 1960s.
And employment in the construction sector is up sharply. It's
increased by 17 percent since January 1993 -- and from that time
forward through December of 1995 -- the unemployment rate in
construction has come down from 14.7 to 11.4 percent.
But on a more personal level, your industry provides shelter
to millions of Americans and gives them a piece of the American
Dream -- a roof over their heads, a place to raise their
families, and a larger sense of neighborhood and community.
That's why you should know that maintaining the stability of
interest rates and growth within the housing sector are two of
the leading reasons that I'm committed to working with the
Congress to fashion a seven-year balanced budget -- and cleanly
raise the national debt limit.
Your industry and the American homeowner simply can't afford
the kind of economic disruption that will occur if we don't come
to agreement and preserve our fiscal integrity.
1
You should also know that my Administration, under the
leadership of Henry Cisneros, remains committed to removing
barriers to affordable housing production. You may recall that I
asked the Secretary to prepare a bold National Homeownership
Strategy in November of 1994. He unveiled that plan last May --
with a goal to raise the nation's homeownership rate from 64.2
percent in the first quarter of 1995 to a 67.5 percent level by
the year 2000. I'm proud to tell you that by the third quarter
of 1995, that rate was already up to 65 percent.
4.1 million new housing units have been built during the
past three years -- a twenty percent increase over the previous
three years.
In order to sustain and build on this progress, all of us
are going to have to work together -- in our families, our
communities, our churches and synagogues, and in our workplaces -
- to make the most of our own lives and our own communities.
That's why in the State of the Union I challenged all
Americans to help strengthen our families, improve education,
create safer streets, and a smaller, more efficient government.
Together we can meet any challenge.
In closing, let me thank all of you, not only for building
great homes, but also for all you do to build strong families and
communities. Have a great convention, and best wishes for a
happy and prosperous 1996.
Thank you and God bless you all.
2
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
OFFICE OF
SPEECHWRITING
PHONE: (202) 456-2777
FAX: (202) 456-5709
TO: Bill Samuels
FROM: Terry Edmonds
RECEIVER FAX:
2197971
RECEIVER PHONE:
NUMBER OF PAGES (INCLUDING COVER SHEET):
3
COMMENTS:
PLEASE REVIEW AUD
GET BACK TO ME ASAP
TONIGHT
***WARNING***
Unauthorized use of these materials is subject to federal prosecution
FACE
Office: (517) 799-4341
FAX: (517) 799-4437
UAW
of HOPE
DENNIS FITING
President - UAW-GM
GM
Amalgamated - Local 455
GM POWERTRAIN
S.M.I.
SAGINAW
110 Florence St.
MALLEABLE IRON
Saginaw, MI 48602
1
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
UNITED AUTO WORKERS CONVENTION
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA VIA SATELLITE
JUNE 12, 1995
I want to thank you, Owen for that fine introduction. And I want
to congratulate you and all the other officers who are retiring.
I also want to say a hello to Dennis Fitting, President of Local
455 out of Saginaw. Dennis was with me last Friday at the White
House for a reunion of a group of exceptional citizens whom I met
along the campaign trail in 1992. We call this group "The Faces
of Hope. I want to thank Dennis for coming and for his
commitment to America.
You all know better than anybody that Owen Bieber has dedicated
his life to improving the lives of working families. He took
over the UAW 12 years ago, during one of the toughest periods in
your history.
Owen has never wavered, even in the face of administrations in
Washington that were less than friendly. He has stood strong,
not only for UAW workers and their families, but for the kind of
broad social progress that has been the hallmark of the UAW since
its beginnings in the 1930s. Whether it was the fight for civil
rights, or the fight to end Apartheid in South Africa, or your
solidarity with American farm workers, the UAW has always been
there. Owen Bieber has carried on the legacy of Walter Ruether.
And he has set the stage for even greater strength in the 21st
century. We all owe him our deepest gratitude and best wishes.
Now, I know that you haven't elected your new officers yet, but I
wanted to say that I'd feel a whole lot better if my campaign
could go into 1996 with poll numbers looking like Steve Yokich's
do right now.
One of the most memorable moments of my 1992 campaign was the
opportunity to walk the picket line with Owen and the striking
workers of Caterpillar in Peoria. Looking into the tired but
determined faces of the men and women on that picket line, I
realized how much was at stake. I ran for President because I
believed we could do more to help those workers and millions of
Americans who had seen their stake in the American Dream uprooted
during the eighties.
Like too many Americans, those employees were working harder for
the same or lower wages than they earned fifteen years ago. They
were losing many of the benefits their parents had struggled to
win. And they were being abandoned by Washington. Their
struggle showed me better than any report or poll ever could that
the fight to save the American Dream and our families must begin
with the fight to save American workers. The struggle at
Caterpillar is still not over. But my administration continues
1
to walk the line with you.
I came to Washington to work with you and all Americans to shrink
the underclass and grow the middle class. To rebuild the sense
of hope and community that have made this country strong. The
key to doing all that lies in reducing the deficit, increasing
investment in education and training, promoting real welfare
reform, and expanding trade -- things that will help people make
the most of their own lives.
And so, my Administration has developed an economic strategy that
focuses on creating jobs and raising incomes, and a social
strategy that rewards work, family, responsible parenting, and
good citizenship. And it is working.
In the past two-and-a-half years, we have added nearly 7 million
new jobs -- almost all of them in the private sector. And we're
cutting the deficit by $1 trillion over seven years. In fact, we
are reducing it for three years in a row for the first time since
Harry Truman was President.
This has allowed us to reward working families. We've given a
tax cut to 15 million working Americans through an expansion of
the EITC. And we've helped hard working parents be good parents
and good workers at the same time through our passage of the
Family and Medical Leave Act.
Now, let me say, as I've said many times before, I certainly want
to balance the budget. But we can't do it by giving a huge,
untargeted tax cut to the well-off paid for by cuts in Medicare.
And we can't do it by walking away from our investment in
education and training.
We all know that the countries that do the best job of educating
all their people will be winners in the new global economy. No
one understands this more than you. You have led the way for
decades with your apprenticeship and training programs. That's
why I have made lifelong learning central to my efforts to
revitalize the American middle class. And that's why I am
fighting to preserve our investments in our direct student loan
initiative, our innovative School-to-Work apprenticeship effort,
and our successful national service initiative, AmeriCorps. We
can't afford not to support something as important to our future
as education and training for all our people.
Let me take a moment to talk about one other aspect of our
strategy that is crucial to our future. As we enter the 21st
century, trade is becoming more and more important to the long-
term health of our economy. America is only four percent of the
world's population. Our success in the future rests heavily on
selling American goods and services to the remaining 96 percent
of the world. When we open new markets, we find new consumers for
2
American products. When we sell more American products, we create
more jobs. Every $1 Billion in new exports creates 17,000 new
American jobs.
That's why I've done my level-best as President to open markets
around the world. That's why Congress has helped me. Because it
means so much to our economy and, yes, to our way of life. The
fight for open trade is not a partisan issue. Democrats and
Republicans worked together to put in place more than 80 trade
agreements in just over two years. I know you haven't always
agreed with us, but. I believe we did the right thing. The
agreements we've reached are not just pieces of paper -- they are
meaningful, concrete pacts that create growth and jobs.
Open trade is expanding around the world. Everywhere, that is,
but Japan. Of all the industrialized countries, Japan imports
less manufactured goods for their size than any other -- by a
long shot. At times, some people said it was our fault. Our
deficit was too high. They said our products were not
competitive. So, we cut the deficit. All of you worked to make
sure that our products could compete and win.
And we have made progress with Japan over the last two and a half
years. We've concluded 14 results-oriented agreements. Now
they're eating American rice in Tokyo. Japanese consumers are
buying everything from our apples to our telecommunications
equipment.
But in many areas, Japan's markets remain stubbornly closed.
There's no question this is about artificial trade barriers --
not the quality of American products. By some estimates, if Japan
had open markets, the increase in U.S. exports would create
hundreds of thousands of American jobs.
Japan's trade barriers are most unfair when it comes to cars and
car parts. In the last 25 years, we shipped 400,000 cars to
Japan. They shipped forty million cars to us -- a 100:1 ratio.
In 1973, the Big Three had less than one percent of Japan's auto
market. Every President since then has tried to fix this problem
and open the Japanese market to American cars. And you know what
kind of market share the Big 3 has today? A whopping 1.5 percent.
You know how bad this problem is. Our auto industry accounts for
about five percent of the GDP. It employs 2.5 million Americans.
When the auto industry does well, so do a lot of other people:
People who make the iron, steel, aluminum, rubber, glass, and
semi-conductors that the auto industry needs.
American auto parts are SO good that we have an auto parts trade
surplus of $5.1 billion around the world -- because demanding
companies like BMW and Mercedes use them all the time. But with
3
Japan, we have a $12.8 Billion trade deficit.
This is a simple question of fairness. The American auto market
is open to Japanese products. The Japanese auto market is closed
to American products. We have tried other means long enough. Now
we must act decisively to level the playing field and protect
American jobs.
I ordered the U.S. Trade Representative to impose 100 percent
tariffs on 13 Japanese-made luxury cars by June 28 unless Japan
agrees to open its markets to cars and car parts before then. Now
the ball is in their court. I hope Japan is ready to reach a
serious agreement, but make no mistake: If we have not resolved
this by June 28, these sanctions will go into effect. And I'm
gratified that there's such overwhelming bipartisan support for
this policy in Congress. It's time for the Japanese to play by
the same rules the rest of us play by.
If working Americans see us continue to put up with unfair deals,
they' 11 lose faith in open trade, and we can't afford that. And
we have made too much progress opening markets to risk letting
this problem with Japan spin out of control.
We must not hesitate to fight for our rights. Japan is a valued
friend and partner. We cooperate on a host of other issues. Our
trade relationship must also be a two-way street. And that's
what I'm working to do.
Just as we must be good partners with the other nations of the
world, we want all of you to be our partners in strengthening the
economy. And I believe that good, strong unions and good-faith
collective bargaining are essential to helping us meet the
challenges of the future.
That's why one of the first things I did upon taking office was
to rescind anti-union executive orders of the previous 12 years.
And three months ago, I signed an Executive Order that states
loud and clear: "We will not allow companies that do business
with the government to permanently replace workers." The right
to strike is a fundamental American right. And anyone who tries
to deny that right can expect a fight from this Administration.
We will also fight any attempts by companies to dominate labor
unions. I will veto any effort to weaken section 8 (a) (2) of the
National Labor Relations Act.
And I am drawing a line to preserve your hard-earned wage
protections. The Davis-Bacon and Service Contract Acts are
foundations for decent living standards. Some want to take that
away. We will be at your side to protect the standard of living
you have fought so long and hard to maintain. I will veto any
effort to repeal those laws.
4
We believe, as you do, that collective bargaining is not a
privilege. It's a right! Our appointments to the NLRB -- Bill
Gould, Peggy Browning and General Counsel, Fred Feinstein -- are
committed to preserving that right.
So, together, we are fighting hard to help you hold on to what
you've struggled to win over six decades. But, after standing in
your way for 12 years, there are those in Congress who now want
you to believe they are on your side. It kind of reminds me of
the words to a country and western song, "How can anything that
sounds SO good, make me feel so bad?" They say they care about
the health and safety of working Americans, and they try to gut
health and safety standards. They claim they're for work over
welfare, but they have crafted a bill that's weak on work, tough
on kids, and that the Congressional Budget Office says is
unworkable. They say that work should pay, and then refuse to
make the minimum wage a living wage.
You all understand how important the minimum wage has been to
making sure people have a decent standard of living in this
country. Let me tell you something I saw recently that brings
home the need for an increase in the minimum wage. I was
watching a news special the other night. They went down south to
a town that had a lot of minimum wage workers. And they talked
to a remarkable woman in a local plant who worked at a minimum
wage. They said to this woman: "You know, your employer says if
we raise the minimum wage that they'll either have to lay people
off or put more money into machinery and reduce their employment
long-term. What do you say to that?" I could not have written a
better script. This woman just threw her shoulders back and
looked into the eyes of the television reporter and said:
"Honey, I'll take my chances." That woman deserves our support.
And the truth is, we've looked at the data, and a raise in the
minimum wage will not cost jobs. So, let's get on with the
business of giving everybody a fair shot at the middle class.
In closing, let me say our work is about a partnership with you
to get us ready to compete and win in the 21st century. The
future of this nation depends on workers like you. You and your
families are the heart and soul of America. Let's work together
to preserve what we have won. Let's continue the fight for jobs,
for justice, for the American Dream.
Thank you and God bless you all.
5