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20015075
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Radio Address 8/26/95
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20015075
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Radio Address 8/26/95
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Records of the Office of Speechwriting (Clinton Administration)
James (Terry) Edmonds' Files
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FOIA Number: 2006-0462-F
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the William J. Clinton
Presidential Library Staff.
Collection/Record Group:
Clinton Presidential Records
Subgroup/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting
Series/Staff Member:
Terry Edmonds
Subseries:
OA/ID Number:
10985
FolderID:
Folder Title:
Radio Address 8/26/95
Stack:
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Section:
Shelf:
Position:
S
0
0
0
0
crime
curfew
drug S
teen pregnancy
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Chautauqua, New York)
For Immediate Release
October 4, 1996
RADIO ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT
TO THE NATION
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Today I want to talk about some good news about our
nation's social fabric, just the latest good news we've had about the direction of our country.
For the past four years we've worked hard to expand opportunity, demand responsibility and
build a stronger sense of community. Look what we've achieved together: 10.5 million new jobs;
unemployment at its lowest level in 7.5 years; the deficit down 60 percent. And last week we
learned that incomes have risen by $1,600 after inflation since the passage of my economic plan.
We've had the biggest one-year decline in poverty in 27 years. Clearly, America is on the right track.
This strategy has not only been good for our economy, it has also helped us begin to mend
our social fabric. We've worked hard together to strengthen families and to give all Americans the
tools to make the most of their own lives. That includes sending a strong message to young people
that they must take responsibility for their own actions. That's why we've adopted a stand of zero
tolerance for guns and drugs in our schools, and why we've supported school uniforms, strong
truancy law enforcement and community curfews to reduce crime and promote discipline.
That's why I ordered tobacco companies to stop marketing cigarettes to our children -- the
strongest action ever taken to protect our children against this deadly threat. And we're working to
make sure young people get a clear message at school and at home: Drugs are wrong, drugs are
illegal and drugs can kill you.
But we all know that so many of our other social problems have their roots in the breakdown
of our families. For decades we have seen a stunning and simultaneous erosion of the institutions
that give our lives structure and keep us strong -- work, family and neighborhood. There is no more
troubling outgrowth of this social breakdown than the increase in teen pregnancy and out-of-wedlock
births in recent decades.
We know that children who are born into homes where there is no marriage are more likely
to drop out of school, get involved in crime and drugs and end up in poverty. That's why I've
worked so hard to demand responsibility from young people and reduce teen pregnancies. Earlier
this year I took executive action to require young mothers to stay in school or lose welfare payments.
We mounted an unprecedented crackdown on child support enforcement, and now child support
collections are up nearly 50 percent compared to four years ago.
We are saying to young men and young women alike, it is wrong to get pregnant or father
a child until you are married and ready to take on the responsibilities of parenthood. And all across
America -- in our religious institutions, our schools, our neighborhoods, our work places -- our
people are banding together, teaching young people right from wrong and helping steer them on the
right path. We are supporting many school and community-based efforts, especially those that
promote abstinence to reduce teen pregnancy.
Today I'm pleased to report that together we're making progress. I'm announcing the new
release of a report by the Centers For Disease Control showing that last year the teen birth rate went
down for the fourth year in a row. And, even more encouraging, the out-of-wedlock birth rate
declined for the first time in 20 years. This is occurring across all racial and cultural lines. If we're
going to save the American family it is absolutely critical that we keep moving in this direction.
There are still far too many children being born outside of marriage, but we are now finally seeing
that it is possible for us to move in the right direction.
For far too long too many Americans believed there was nothing we could do about our most
vexing social problems. They always seemed to be there, and they always seemed to be growing
worse. But, now, it's different. Crime is down four years in a row, one million fewer victims.
Poverty is down, the largest drop in 27 years. Nearly 2 million people have moved from welfare to
work, and now this good news on teen birth rates and out-of-wedlock pregnancies.
When the teen birth rate drops for four years in a row and out-of-wedlock births decline for
the first time in a generation, that is news we can all be proud of. Americans are standing up for our
values. The American family is getting stronger and we are making responsibility a way of life. Our
economy and our society are on the right track. If we continue to pull together, to meet our
challenges and protect our values, our best days are still ahead.
Thanks for listening.
END
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