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FOIA Number: 2006-0462-F
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Speechwriting
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Terry Edmonds
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PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
REMARKS ON THE MINIMUM WAGE
BRIEFING ROOM
July 9, 1996
This is a very good day for America's working families. Today's vote by the Senate
means that there will be a minimum wage increase this year. A 90 cent increase in the
minimum wage will honor our most basic values: work and family, opportunity and
responsibility. It will help working people without hurting our economy. It is the right
thing to do.
Today, the minimum wage is not a living wage. You can't raise a family on $4.25
an hour. This restores the bipartisan commitment that the minimum wage will keep pace
with the cost of living. This action will directly benefit millions of hardworking Americans.
60% of minimum wage workers are women. More than a third are the sole breadwinners in
their households. Over 2 million children live in poor or near-poor families where a worker
will now get a raise.
I am gratified that a bipartisan majority of the Senators rejected a killer amendment
that would have stopped this bill. This provision would have been a powerful incentive for
employers to push employees out of their jobs after six months. It would have locked
millions of Americans into lower real wages.
The way has now been cleared to final passage of a minimum wage increase. I call
on Congress to send me a final bill quickly so American workers can get their raise as soon
as possible. There is no reason minimum wage workers should have to wait any longer for
their raise. It is no time to "nickel and dime" working families.
Our economy is now the sturdiest it has been in decades. We have seen 10 million
new jobs, the unemployment rate at 5.3%, 3.7 million new homeowners, and rising real
hourly wages for the first time in a decade. Now we must make sure that all Americans
have the opportunity to share the benefits of our growing economy.
This has been a tough fight, but working families have won a remarkable victory.
Today's vote by the Senate will make it possible for more of our people to reap the rewards
of hard work. Again, I thank the members of the Senate who took this step, and I look
forward to signing it into law.
###
7-8-97
(C)
Quinn/Chirwa memo on Supreme Court's July 1 denial of cert in Texas V.
Hopwood. History. Hopwood challenged the UT Law School's "dual-track"
admissions program which used lower numerical admissions standards for minority
candidates than for non-minority candidates. The district court held the program
unconstitutional, and the law school abandoned it in favor of an admissions program
fashioned after the Court's 1978 ruling in Bakke which approved the use of race as a
factor. Although the constitutionality of the law school's new admissions program
was not at issue before it, the 5th Circuit affirmed the district court's ruling, and held
that contrary to Bakke, universities may not take race into account when making
admissions decisions if the goal is simply to further diversity. Cert Petition. In filing
for cert, Texas did not appeal the lower courts' judgments that the law school's
original "dual-track" admissions program was unconstitutional, but requested that the
Court overturn the portion of the 5th Circuit ruling regarding the inapplicability of the
Bakke holding. DOJ filed an amicus brief in support of cert urging the Court to
declare that Bakke remains the law of the land. Supreme Court. Although the Court
declined to hear the case, the concurring opinion by Justices Ginsburg and Souter
acknowledged the issues raised by the 5th Circuit's ruling regarding the vitality of
Bakke. They did not view Hopwood as the appropriate case to resolve those issues,
however, because the constitutionality of the law school's current admissions program
was not squarely at issue before the Court.
(D)
Gibbons memo on Japanese support for science. The GOJ is embarking on a
&
major expansion of federal support of research. By the year 2000, they plan to have
a $37 billion non-military science and technology budget (about the same dollar level
as the U.S., and double their 1992 budget). "While we are focused on the struggle
with Congress to protect our S&T budget, I also urge that we take great care in our
own budget planning Under current Administration projections we are headed for
a substantial retreat in support for S&T. For the first time in history, Japanese
government spending on S&T could eclipse our own federal research investments."
E
Rasco follow-up on FDA review of Myotrophin. Carol is monitoring the FDA
approval process of the drug which may benefit June Davison, wife of Fred Davison,
and others with ALS. The FDA has granted patients and doctors early access to the
drug while it remains under study. Cephalon Inc., the manufacturer, expects demand
for the drug to exceed supply, and therefore is planning to distribute it through a
lottery and has set up a toll-free number to register patients for the lottery. Carol has
forwarded this news to the Davisons.
(F)
Tyson memo on Pete Peterson's Atlantic Monthly article. Laura forwards a
detailed assessment of the piece in response to your inquiries.
(G)
Sec. Reich memo on "GI Bill of Rights." He forwards a recommended statement.
We have forwarded copies to Laura Tyson, Don Baer and Gene Sperling.
(H)
Sec. Reich's July 2 National Press Club speech, "Nickel-and-Diming America's
can
Working Families." He suggests that it may be useful for a radio address.
"(8
all
a
they
good
THE PRESIDENT HAS SEEN
7-8-96
MEMORANDUM TO THE PRESIDENT
From: RBR
96JUL5 PI:22
Date: July 3, 1996
RE: "GI Bill of Rights"
You may want to make a statement like the one I have attached.
Attachment
A year and a half ago I proposed replacing our bureaucratic system of
job training with a market-based system. I asked Congress to consolidate the
federal government's 70 different job-training programs and give people who
had lost their job vouchers instead, up to $2,600 worth, which they could
cash in at a local community college or technical institute and get the training
they needed, when they needed it. Participating institutions would issue
"report cards" on how they were doing placing people in new jobs, so that laid-
off workers could be wise shoppers. Local businesses, educators, and citizens
from their communities would oversee one-stop career centers, where workers
could get career guidance.
Last fall it looked like we had a good, bi-partisan effort going. But then
something happened. For over 6 months, the other side simply disappeared
into negotiations with themselves. The product that emerged a few weeks ago
is a real disappointment. Vouchers have shrunk to little pilot projects. There
are no report cards at all. In fact, there are no standards -- most of the
training dollars simply go to state bureaucracies, with no accountability. There
are no local workforce development boards. And our hugely successful
School-to-Work apprenticeship program (in which over a half million young
people are now involved, with 100,000 participating businesses) would be
terminated.
What happened? The idea was hijacked by the radical right -- by Phyllis
Schlafly and her Eagle Forum. [...]
If Congress sent me a bill tomorrow which did all the things we set out
to do -- consolidate programs, offer vouchers and report cards, create
community-based workforce development boards, and continue our School-to-
Work program -- I'd sign it in a heartbeat.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
712
To:
96 JUL 3 P12: 00
Fr: RBR
Urehi. for Sat. radiv address?
THE PRESIDENT HAS SEEN
7-8-96
WORKING FOR AMERICA'S WORKFORCE
For Release
Nickel-and-Diming America's Working Families
Robert B. Reich
U.S. Secretary of Labor
The National Press Club
Washington, DC
July 2, 1996
The day after tomorrow, families across this land will engage in our annual
celebration of the American Dream. Next week, the United States Senate will decide whether
that dream is to be available to all hard-working families.
Struggling working families are the unspoken heroes of America. Mothers and fathers,
working long hours at tough jobs, sometimes doing two shifts. Doing work that's hard on
muscles and joints. Doing what needs to be done: Janitors, maids, child-care workers,
cashiers, busboys, fork-lift operators, gas-station attendants. The people who vacuum the
boardrooms, file the papers, answer the phones, serve the food, cut and sew the clothing,
empty the bedpans, pick the crops, sweep the halls.
These are the invisible workers of America.
Over ten million of them earn less than $5.15 an hour.
And they are the voiceless workers of America. They are not what the Beltway types
like to call a "special interest." There is no National Association of Working Poor on K
Street to lobby their cause in the halls of Congress.
These are the people who sit at kitchen tables late at night figuring out which bills
they must pay, which can let slide a few more weeks. Hoping they or their kids stay healthy
because they can't afford to see a doctor. Worrying that their golden years will go sour
because they have no pension.
They're not on welfare, although some come dangerously close. They don't need a
capital gains tax cut, because they have no capital. They don't need a "medical savings
account" because they can't afford to save. They simply work hard -- very, very hard -- and
play by the rules.
Today, in the most powerful nation on the planet, in the most successful economy in
the world, almost one out of ten working families lives in poverty.
1
National productivity is up. Corporate profits are up. Unemployment and inflation are
down. So far under our watch 9.7 million new jobs have been created -- most of them paying
well.
This economy is doing better than it has in three decades.
But millions of struggling families are in danger of being left behind.
And that's why the fight now being waged in Washington is so important.
-- We're proud of having expanded the earned income tax credit for 15 million hard-
working, low-wage families. But the other side wants to contract it.
-- We want to protect the extra overtime pay on which so many hourly workers
depend, and at the same time give working families the flexibility to take overtime as extra
leave. But they want to give employers -- not employees -- the right to decide whether and
when extra leave should substitute for extra pay.
-- We want to crack down on sweatshop employers who cheat their workers out of
hard-earned wages. But they continue to cut the number of workplace inspectors.
-- We want to expand opportunities for working people and their children to get the
education and skills they need -- including at least two years of free tuition at an average
community college. The other side seeks to cut funds for education and job training.
-- We want to give poor working women safe, affordable child care. But they
disagree. They won't provide the child care that poor women need in order to move from
welfare to work.
-- We want to preserve and protect the right of hardworking people to seek a better
life by forming unions and bargaining for better wages and benefits. The other side wants to
gut this right by allowing companies to set up sham unions.
Perhaps no issue better dramatizes the plight of struggling working families -- and the
struggle here in Washington to help them -- than the President's effort to pass a modest 90
cent increase in the minimum wage. We want to raise the minimum wage because $4.25 an
hour-- $8,500 a year -- is not a fair wage. The other side disagrees.
Who are these invisible workers, who would benefit if the minimum wage were
raised? More than two-thirds are adults. Almost 60 percent are women. More than a third are
the sole breadwinners in their households.
2
Talk about family values. We recently found that some 2.3 million children live in
poor or near-poor families where a worker would get a raise if the minimum wage were
increased 90 cents an hour.
The minimum wage is nearing a 40 year low in terms of real purchasing power. The
last increase, five years ago, has been all but wiped out by inflation. 97 percent of it already
gone. But the other side continues to fight, delay, obstruct, do whatever possible to deny
hardworking families this modest 90-cent adjustment for inflation.
Let me tell you what they're up to now. Raising the minimum wage is so popular with
the American public, who recognize it as an issue of basic fairness, that the other side wants
to set things up next week so that they can seem to be voting in favor of it.
Don't be fooled. It's a cruel shell game. They plan to amend it with a series of
exceptions whose net effect will be to deny this 90-cent-an-hour raise to millions of workers.
Here's shell game Number One: They propose to exclude anyone who's in a job less
than six months. Because low-wage workers change jobs so often, the practical effect of this
would be to deny a raise to 42 percent of workers who would otherwise get one: That's four
million working people. 1 And you don't need to be a rocket scientist to know that this
provision will create a powerful incentive for employers to push people out of jobs before the
6 months is up. The President will veto any bill with this cynical amendment.
Shell game Number Two: They want to exclude anyone employed by a company with
less than half a million dollars in yearly earnings This is much broader than the small
business exclusion in current law. Workers in fully two-thirds of all businesses would be
denied a raise. Another guaranteed veto.
Shell game Number Three: They want another six month delay -- until January 1997.
Remember it's been nearly a year-and-a-half since the President first offered his minimum
wage proposal. In fact, the second installment of that raise -- to $5.15 an hour -- would be
taking effect this week if the other side hadn't blocked it. Another six months will cost a
minimum wage worker $878. When you're making only $8,500 a year, $878 makes a big
difference. Another reason to veto.
They are pushing other mean-spirited exclusions. Consider this one, directly from the
pockets of the restaurant industry: They want to deny any increase to tipped employees like
waiters and waitresses. That's two million people right there who wouldn't get a raise.
1 Tabulations from the Current Population Survey. See
Appendix A.
3
So this is their response to the invisible workers of America: Here's 90 cents -- unless
you re among the excluded millions, who will be locked into a minimum wage at a 40-year
low.
Enough of this pettiness. Stop nickel-and-diming America's struggling working
families. The economy is strong. People at the top are doing better than ever. You've
delayed and obstructed long enough. Vote a clean 90 cent increase in the minimum wage,
and do it as soon as you return next week.
Let us resolve this Fourth of July weekend that the American dream will be available
to every American who puts in a hard day's work. And when the Senate returns next week,
let them honor the people who do the work that keeps America going.
###
4
Appendix A
Percentage of Hourly Paid Workers by Hourly Wage Rate and Tenure with Current Employer.
(16 years and over, Total reporting specific tenure; February 1995)
$4.25
Total
$4.25
to $5.14
1 year or less, Total
35.5%
76.6%
66.8%
6 months or less
20.4%
54.4%
42.3%
0 to 1 month
5.5%
15.3%
12.1%
0 to 3 months
11.2%
32.5%
24.2%
More than 1 year, Total
64.5%
23.4%
33.2%
Source: Unpublished tabulations from the Current Population Survey.
Note: The percentages in this table are based on data from the February 1995 Contingent Work
supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS), which included data on employer tenure. Due
to differences in sample, imputation, and weighting, the estimates of the number of hourly workers
and of those at or around any specific wage level based on this supplement differ somewhat from the
figures derived from the basic monthly CPS earnings sample.
Also, estimates of the number of hourly paid workers and those at particular wage levels are known
to vary during the course of the year due to seasonal fluctuations in the labor force. Seasonality
likely affects job tenure patterns as well; however, tenure data are only collected in occasional
supplements to the CPS.
Minimum Wage Increase: Who Benefits?
U.S. Department of Labor
July 2, 199
Kids benefit
Пi
2.34 million kids in poor or near-poor families
Including:
П
TT
1.52 million kids in poor or near-poor families with only a single bread-winner
Each icon = 100,000
Source: Economic Policy Institute,
based on 1995 Current Population Su
Minimum Wage Increase: Who Benefits?
U.S. Department of Labor
July 2, 199
Families benefit
1.19 million families with children
.........................
Each icon = 100,000
Source: Economic Policy Institute,
based on 1995 Current Population Su
720,000 families with no children
##############
1.39 million single adults
all have somthing to contribute. Divorce or separation are
simply not an option for our national family.
When a child is gunned down on a street in the Bronx, no matter
what our race, he is our child. When a woman dies from a
beating, no matter what our race, she is our sister.
Now, on October 16, 1995 we are confronting two Americas. Under
my watch, I will do everything in my power to see that soon there
is only one. One America under the rule of law; one justice
system; equal opportunity; one America.
We mst begin
How do we get there? By recommitting ourselves to the values
that have stood us so well for so long: opportunity and
responsibility.
mst do met
Let us begin with opportunity. It is obvious that we we still have a
big job to do in equalazing opportunity in this country. And
frankly, it is becoming more difficult because of the current
rush to dismantle many of the basic economic protections we put
in place over the past 50 years. Take the minimum wage for
example. Today, a person who works full-time at the minimum wage
brings home only $8,500. It's just not enough to support a
family. Its real value today is 27 percent lower than it was in
1979. If we do not raise it this year, it will be at a 40-year
Anners
all
low. We need to raise the minimum wage so that more people, black
and white can raise their children in dignity and security.
crurs,
The same thing can be said about our efforts to give tax relief
to 14 million low-income, working Americans. Ronald Reagan called
the Earned Income Tax Credit "The best anti-poverty, the best
pro-family, the best job creation measure to come out of
Congress. " So why are we fighting to keep it alive? Why is there
even a question about the EITC, Medicare, Medicaid, college
loans? They are our best guarantee of equal opportunity, for they
help people help themselves.
Lor the tools may need to
Head start
Responsibility is a two-way street. And nowhere is this more
important than in our efforts to promote public safety and
us
preserve the rule of law. Citizens must respect the law and those
let must not
who enforce it. And police have a life and death responsibility
to never abuse the power given them by the people. On this
covenant, our vision of law and order rests.
Fahrhood
mrs,
Finally T out to spede to met abt anter, very specific area or
There's another area of responsibility I want to talk about The
single biggest social problem our society faces is the absence of
fathers. One child in four grows up in a home without a father.
Without a father to nurture, without a father to teach, without a
father to care, without a father to teach boys to be men and to
teach girls to expect respect from men.
This is not only a black problem or Latino problem or a white
problem, it is an American problem.
4
untress
I know this in my own life. My father died before I was born.
My stepfather fought a lifelong battle with alcohol that stopped
him from being the father I needed. But as an adult, a father in
turn, I did what illions of men do every day. I know what it's
like to stay up until dawn rocking a sick child, and I know what
it's like to watch my child go out to play -- a child whom I
would defend with my life -- and know that there may be danger
down the street. I've done all of this I've made my mistakes
I
know that it isn't easy: building a family is the hardest job a
man can do. But it is also the most important.
That is why I honor the hundreds of thousands of black men
marching in Washington as a demonstration of their commitment to
themselves, their families and their communities. They understand
that, while we all have responsibilities to each other, it is
they who hold the key to their progress in this country.
That is why I honor the millions more at home. Men of every color
who day-in and day-out do what it takes to be good fathers.
That is why I say to all men, wherever you are today: step up and
be the kind of father you needed and wanted and, if you were
lucky, actually got.
I say to those men who have never met their children: reach out
to your them. Be there for them. Your child, your flesh and
blood, needs you.
And I say to those men who send money to support their kids in
keeping with their promises: Keep sending those checks. Your
children need them. We'll enforce the law and catch you if you
stop. But your money is no replacement for your nurturing, your
caring, and your loving your child.
That yn +
And I say to those men who go home every night and love and care
for their children. I say to them as President, as a father, as a
man, and as a former fatherless child: God Bless you.
Ld
rowlar,
is
all wat we are me
all
too
Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters -- Americans of all races,
let us remember our commitment to each other. We have no better
areat man withed we
example than the man who walked, not only this campus, but the
dirt roads, the main streets, and the inner cities of this queat
not why
country. Lyndon Johnson lived a life dedicated to the promise of
equality of opportunity and compassion for all. He said, "I want
to be the President who helped to end hatred among his fellow men
and who promoted love among the people of all races and all
regions. " If President Johnson were here today, we could tell
him that though we may not have realized that dream, we will not
rest until it is made real.
Yes, mere or men in
Some voices would undermine our progress by selling short the
great character of the American people. But they will not win
5
me great role models pust and
present who will lead is In
vah 01 reguts ness: Name are.
T unt to syle art
the day. We will win the day. And, with your help, that day
will come soon.
Thank you and God bless you all.
6
DRAFT 10/14/95 11:00 am
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
REMARKS FOR THE LIZ CARPENTER LECTURE
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
OCTOBER 16, 1995
Acknowledgments: [The First Lady spoke in 1993] ; President Robert
Berdahl ["Bird-All"] Bernard Rappaport [chairman, Board of
Regents] Nicole Bell [student; introduces you] Chancellor Bill
Cunningham; Barbara Jordan; Lucy Johnson; Congressman Pickle;
Sheldon Eklund [Dean of Liberal Arts]; Jane Cummings {Chairperson
of Students Distinguished Lectures]; Gary Mauro; and, most of
all, Liz Carpenter.
Liz said she has a file of letters longer than War and Peace
inviting me to come here. [This plays off joke in Liz Carpenter's
intro.] We all know she didn't need anything that long. When she
asked me to come to Austin, I knew I was going.
After all, anyone whose life has been touched by this remarkable
woman -- a woman who worked side-by-side with President and Mrs.
Johnson, who mastered the White House press corps, who reared not
only her own children, but, at the age of 70, her late brother's
teenage children, too -- knows there is one word that is simply
not in her vocabulary, and that word is "no."
Come to think of it, I don't know all that many Texans who take
"no" for an answer.
My dear friends and fellow Americans, in recent weeks every one
of us has been made aware of a simple fact. We have been made
aware of it so clearly that there is absolutely no excuse to
avert our eyes: white Americans and black Americans often see the
same world in drastically different ways. The issue is not the
outcome of any one event but, rather: What can we do now?
First, while many hearts are sore, let us take a moment to give
thanks for the fact that we have made progress up that mountain
Dr. King described. Remember, it was not so long ago that our
neigborhoods, businesses, schools, jobs, and voting booths were
closed to many Americans simply because of the color of their
skin.
It was not so long ago that there were hardly any people
of color serving in our state houses, our school boards, our city
halls, and even our Congress. No one can deny that we are doing
better.
have ame a day
Reconciliation is the great dream of the American people. We
mayo
should not underestimate its power. That power fueled the civil
rights movement of the sixties and motivated the sanitation
workers in Memphis in 1968 who stood bravely with their leader,
Dr. King, wearing the sober faces of men who simply wanted to
1
raise their families. The placards they held said sumply, "I am a
Man. "
Second, let me tell you today that the racial debate we are
having today is not a setback for us, but a great opportunity --
one that we cannot let pass us by. Some of our best moments as
Americans have come when we have had the courage to face the
truth about those times when we have failed to live up to our own
best ideals. That act is not one of weakness, but of proud
American optimism.
These confrontations with the truth bring about what historians
call "open moments. " At such turning points, Americans moved
against slavery, struggling away from the horror that one
American could hold another captive; they moved to embrace
women's suffrage, recognizing at last that we don't have an
American to waste. These moments left us with a legacy of
greatness because we looked in the national mirror and were brave
enough to say: "This is not who we are. We are better than that. "
(mdet
As the Great Emancipator said, "A house divided upon itself
cannot stand. " The two worlds we see now each contain both truth
and distortion. And what I am going to do today is tell the truth
about racism to both black and white America. Only this kind of
honesty will bring about the many acts of reconciliation that
will unite both these worlds into one America.
word dryped
Here is where the worstnof black Americans have some merit: the
justice system has a history of racial abuses, ranging from the
Scottsboro case to Emmett Till to Rodney King. Police forces in
some of our towns and cities reveal persistent vestiges of the
bad old days.
hay onto
We know that African American males are many times more likely to
be the victims of homicide than any other group in this country.
And there are still more African American men in our prisons than
in our colleges. A report released just the other day revealed
not fn
that nearly one in three African American men in their twenties
the
were either in jail, on parole, or otherwise under the
supervision of the criminal justice system. Nearly one in three.
If one in three white men were under criminal justice
wet
supervision, the nation would declare a national emergency.
We
must first face and then erase that ugly truth. There is
anguy
something beyond wrong when a law-abiding black father has to
Makes
tell his law-abiding son to fear the police whose salaries are
paid by his taxes.
not
Second, and even more fundamental: there is great economic
disparity between blacks and whites. It is fashionable to talk
about African Americans as if they were part of a protected
class. Many whites think blacks are getting more than their fair
share in jobs and promotions. The truth is African Americans
2
still make an average of 60 percent less than white people. More
than half of African American children live in poverty.
Clearly, we must do better.
Here is where the worst of white fears have some merit. There is
a fear of the violence that is too prevalent in urban areas.
There is legitimate fear of a few black leaders who -- in
contrast to the vast majority of African Americans -- want to
play on hatred and venom to do the work of inspiration. Finally,
there is the fear that African Americans will not be able to see
white people as more than enemy faces, all of whom carry a sliver
of bigotry in their hearts.
This gap between the two realities is unacceptable for the
functioning of a democracy, for our growth and prosperity, and
for our service as a light unto the rest of the world. As Dr.
King said, "We must learn to live together as brothers, or [we
will] perish as fools."
But having recognized one another's real grievances, I now say:
that is not enough. We must also take responsibility for
ourselves. No one can complain about bad treatment without also
cleaning out their own house.
To white America I say: clean your house of racism. Too many
destructive ideas are gaining currency in your midst. The taped
voice of one policeman should fill you with outrage. Stand up and
be heard denouncing this sort of rhetoric
so
loudly
and
clearly
that your black fellow citizens can hear you. White racism may be
black people's burden, but it is white people's problem. Again I
say: clean your house.
Black America -- I honor the presence of millions of men in
Washington today committed to personal responsibility and I call
on you and your brothers and sisters across this nation to clean
your house: Step up to your responsibilities as parents. Step up
to your responsibilities as role models. Step up to your
responsibilities as citizens. You do have a stake in the American
Dream.
But let me be clear: One million men are right to be standing up
for personal responsibility. But one million men do not make one
man right if his message is one of division and hate. No good
house was ever built on a bad foundation. Nothing good ever came
of hate.
too
There are many today -- white and black, on the left and the
right, on street corners and on the radio waves -- who for their
own purposes SOW division. To them I say: this must end. We are
all one family. One family. Not just neighbors, not fellow
citizens; not separate camps; but family: white, black, latino,
men, women, able-bodied, disabled. No matter our differences, we
^
3
DRAFT 10/13/95
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
REMARKS FOR THE LIZ CARPENTER LECTURE
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
OCTOBER 16, 1995
Acknowledgments: [The First Lady spoke in 1993] ; Bernard
Rappaport [chairman, Board of Regents/introduces you]; President
Bob Berdahl [Bird-all] Chancellor Bill Cunningham; Barbara
Jordan; Lucy Johnson; Congressman Pickle; Sheldon Eklund [Dean of
Liberal Arts]; Jane Cummings [Chairperson of Students
Distinguished Lectures]; Gary Mauro; and most of all, Liz
Carpenter.
Liz said she has a file of letters longer than War and Peace
inviting me to come here. [This plays off joke in Liz Carpenter's
intro. ] We all know she didn't need anything that long. When she
asked me to come to Austin, I knew I was going.
After all, anyone whose life has been touched by this remarkable
woman
a woman who worked side-by-side with President and Mrs.
Johnson
a woman who mastered the White House press corps
a
woman who reared not only her own children, but, at the age of
70, her late brother's teenage children, too
anyone who knows
Liz Carpenter knows there is one word that is simply not in this
woman's vocabulary, and that word is "no."
My dear friends and fellow Americans, today I want to talk about
the issue of race in America. In recent weeks, it has become
apparant to many of our citizens that there is a deep, widening,
and dangerous divergence in the way African Americans and White
Americans view our national community. As I have said many
times, diversity is the great strength of America. We literally
don't have a person to waste. And the worst thing we can do at
the dawn of the 21st century is to drift apart. I have seen and
confronted racial division from all sides all my life.
Eliminating it is one of the driving passions of my service to
America. I share the frustration of so many good Americans who
want to see us finally conquer the sickness of racism. But
unfortunately, racial division is still a fact of life in
America. And all of us have a responsibility to do something
about it.
Dignity and reconciliation is the great dream of the American
people. We should not underestimate the power of that dream.
That was the power that fueled the civil rights movement of the
sixties. That was the power of the sanitation workers in Memphis
who stood bravely with their leader, Dr. Martin Luther King,
wearing the sober faces of men who wanted to raise their
families. Wearing placards around their necks that simply said,
"I am a Man."
1
Lyndon Johnson understood this when he said in 1965, "I want to
be the President who helped to end hatred among his fellow men
and who promoted love among the people of all races and all
regions and all parties." I want to be able to tell Lyndon that
he may not have realized that dream, but we have not forgotten it
and we will not rest until it is made real. It is true that
there are many voices that would undermine our progress by
fundamentally misreading and underestimating the character of the
American people. But they will not win the day. We will win the
day. Peace and harmony will win the day.
It is important to identify the barriers to the achievement of
racial harmony. I believe they are two-fold. First, we must
face the fact of the great economic disparity that still exists
in this country between Blacks and Whites. It is fashionable
these days to talk about African Americans as if they were part
of a protected class, protected by Affirmative Action and other
social perks. Many Whites think that Blacks are getting more
than their fair share in terms of jobs, promotions, and a helping
hand. The truth is African Americans still make less than 60
percent on average of what Whites do in this country. More than
50 percent of African American children live in poverty. We also
know that African American males are many times more likely to be
the victims of homicide than any other group in this country.
And there are still more African American men in our prisons than
in our colleges.
Two days after the country was riveted by the O.J. Simpson
verdict, another verdict was rendered that received very little
attention. A report by the Washington-based Sentencing Project
revealed that nearly one in three African American men in their
twenties were either in jail, on parole, or otherwise under the
supervision of the criminal justice system. Nearly one in three!
One of the authors of the report remarked that if one in three
White men were under criminal justice supervision, the nation
would declare a national emergency. We must first face, and then
erase that ugly truth. How do we do it? With a combination of
greater personal responsibility and greater opportunity.
It is obvious that we still have a big job to do in equalizing
opportunity in this country. And frankly, it is becoming more
difficult because of the current rush to dismantle many of the
basic economic protections we put in place over the past 50
years. Take the minimum wage for example. Today, a person who
works full-time -- 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year -- at the
minimum wage brings home only $8,500. It's just not enough to
support a family. The minimum wage is not a livable wage. Its
real value today is 27 percent lower than it was in 1979. If it
is not boosted this year, it will be worth less than at any time
in 40 years. I don't understand why we are having this big fight
in Washington about this. We need to raise the minimum wage so
that more people, Black and White can raise their children in
2
dignity and security.
The same thing can be said about our efforts to give tax relief
to 14 million low-income, working Americans. Ronald Reagan
called the Earned Income Tax Credit "The best anti-poverty, the
best pro-family, the best job creation measure to come out of
Congress.' So why are we fighting like hell to keep it alive?
We are having similar debates about Medicare and Medicaid,
college loans, and the other issues. If we really believe in
equal opportunity in this country, we've got to help those at the
bottom lift themselves up. That's number one.
The second thing we've got to do is demand greater responsibility
from everyone, Black and White, rich, middle class and poor.
Poverty should not be an excuse for hatred, violence, or
irresponsible behavior. Wealth should not be an excuse for
callousness.
Today, thousands of Black men are marching in Washington as a
demonstration of their commitment to themselves, their families
and their communities. They understand that, while we all have
responsibilities to each other, it is they who hold the key to
their progress in this country -- not White people and not
government. I honor their presence and I call on them to live up
to the promise of this day. America needs its strong Black men
if we are going to move forward in the days to come.
But, let me be clear: One million men are right to be standing
up for personal responsibility. But one million men do not make
one man right if his message is one of division and hate. No
good house has ever been built on a bad foundation. Nothing good
ever came out of hate.
Responsibility is a two-way street. And one where is this more
important than in our efforts to promote public safety and
preserve the rule of law. Citizens have an obligation to respect
and honor the law and those who enforce it. This basic contract
is at the core of civilized society. But, police have a special
responsibility to be impartial. To be fair. They must never
abuse the power we have given them.
Here is where the worst fears of some African Americans have some
merit. The concerns of many African Americans are not baseless.
The criminal justice system has a history of racial abuses,
ranging from the Scottsboro case to Emmett Till, to the heinous
crimes of lynching. Vestiges of the bad old days of the abuse of
police power still exist in some of our towns and cities. There
is something beyond wrong when a law-abiding black father has to
tell his law-abiding Black son to fear the police whose salaries
are paid by his taxes. I pledge to all of you that I will do
everything in my power to weed out these abuses and abusers.
They have no place in this land of opportunity.
3
In closing, let me say that the single biggest social problem our
society faces is the absence of fathers. There just are not
enough daddies. One child in four grows up in a home without a
father Without a father to nurture, without a father to teach,
without a father to care, without a father to teach boys to be
men and to teach girls what to expect from men.
This is not only a Black problem or an Hispanic problem or a
White problem, it is an American problem.
Today, hundreds of thousands of black men are gathered in
Washington. There are 120 million more men at home. I say to all
men, of every color, wherever you are today: step up and be the
kind of father you needed and wanted and, if you were lucky,
actually got.
I didn't. My father died before I was born. My stepfather fought
a lifelong battle with alcohol that stopped him from being the
father I wanted and needed. But I did my part. I know what it's
like to stay up until dawn rocking a sick child, and I know what
it's like to watch my child go out to play -- a child whom I
would defend with my life -- and know that there may be a
criminal lurking down the street. I've done all of this, and I
know that it isn't easy; that building a family is the hardest
job a man can do. But it is also the most important.
So I say to those men who have never met their children: reach
out to your them. Be there for them. Your child, your flesh and
blood, needs you.
And I say to those men who send checks. Keep sending them. Your
child needs them. We'll enforce the law and catch you if you
stop. But your check and your money is no replacement for your
nurturing, your caring and your loving your child.
And I say to those men who go home every night and love and care
for their children. I say to them as President, as a father, as
a man, and as a former fatherless child: God Bless you and thank
you.
4
DRAFT 10/14/95
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
REMARKS FOR THE LIZ CARPENTER LECTURE
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
OCTOBER 16, 1995
Acknowledgments: [The First Lady spoke in 1993] ; President Robert
Berdahl ["Bird-All"]; Bernard Rappaport [chairman, Board of
Regents] Nicole Bell [student; introduces you] Chancellor Bill
Cunningham; Barbara Jordan; Lucy Johnson; Congressman Pickle;
Sheldon Eklund [Dean of Liberal Arts]; Jane Cummings {Chairperson
of Students Distinguished Lectures]; Gary Mauro; and, most of
all, Liz Carpenter.
Liz said she has a file of letters longer than War and Peace
inviting me to come here. [This plays off joke in Liz Carpenter's
intro.] We all know she didn't need anything that long. When she
asked me to come to Austin, I knew I was going.
After all, anyone whose life has been touched by this remarkable
woman -- a woman who worked side-by-side with President and Mrs.
Johnson, who mastered the White House press corps, who reared not
only her own children, but, at the age of 70, her late brother's
teenage children, too -- knows there is one word that is simply
not in her vocabulary, and that word is "no."
Come to think of it, I don't know all that many Texans who take
"no" for an answer.
My dear friends and fellow Americans, in recent weeks every one
of us has been made aware of a simple fact. We have been made
aware of it so clearly that there is absolutely no excuse to
avert our eyes: white Americans and black Americans often see the
same world in drastically different ways. The issue is not the
outcome of any one event but, rather: What can we do now?
First, while many hearts are sore, let us take a moment to give
thanks for the fact that we have made progress up that mountain
Dr. King described. Remember that the closeness and respect
between the races in daily life -- much of which we take for
granted today -- would, a mere 30 years ago, have been
undreamable.
Reconciliation is the great dream of the American people. We
should not underestimate its power. That power fueled the civil
rights movement of the sixties and motivated the sanitation
workers in Memphis in 1968 who stood bravely with their leader,
Dr. King, wearing the sober faces of men who simply wanted to
raise their families. The placards they held said simply, "I am a
Man. "
1
Lyndon Johnson, who walked this campus many times, understood
this dream, too. "I want to be the President who helped to end
hatred among his fellow men and who promoted love among the
people of all races and all regions and all parties, " he said 30
years ago. I want to be able to tell President Johnson that he
may not have realized that dream, but we will not rest until it
is made real. Some voices would undermine our progress by
fundamentally misreading and underestimating the character of the
American people. But they will not win the day. We will win the
day.
the racial dehate we are having today
Second, let me tell you today that this is not a setback for us,
but a great opportunity -- one that we cannot let pass us by.
Some of our best moments as Americans have come when we have had
the courage to face the truth about those times when we have
failed to live up to our own best ideals. That act is not one of
weakness, but of proud American optimism.
These confrontations with the truth bring about what historians
call "open moments.' " At such turning points, Americans moved
against slavery, struggling away from the horror that one
American could hold another in thrall; they moved to embrace
women's suffrage, recognizing at last that we don't have an
American to waste. These moments left us with a legacy of
greatness because we looked in the national mirror and were brave
enough to say: "This is not who we are. We are better than that. "
As the Great Emancipator said, "A house divided upon itself
cannot stand. " The two worlds we see now each contain both truth
and distortion. And what I am going to do today is tell the truth
about racism to both black and white America. Only this kind of
honesty will bring about the many acts of reconciliation that
will unite both these worlds into one America.
Here is where the worst of black Americans have some merit: the
justice system has a history of racial abuses, ranging from the
Scottsboro case to Emmett Till to the heinous crimes of lynching.
Police forces in some of our towns and cities reveal persistent
vestiges of the bad old days.
We know that African American males are many times more likely to
be the victims of homicide than any other group in this country.
And there are still more African American men in our prisons than
in our colleges. A report released just the other day revealed
that nearly one in three African American men in their twenties
were either in jail, on parole, or otherwise under the
supervision of the criminal justice system. Nearly one in three.
There is something beyond wrong when a law-abiding black father
has to tell his law-abiding son to fear the police whose salaries
are paid by his taxes.
Second, and even more fundamental: there is great economic
2
still make an average of 60 percent less than white people. More
than half of African American children live in poverty.
Clearly, we must do better.
Here is where the worst of white fears have some merit. There is
a fear of the violence that is too prevalent in urban areas.
There is legitimate fear of a few black leaders who -- in
contrast to the vast majority of African Americans -- want to
play on hatred and venom to do the work of inspiration. Finally,
there is the fear that African Americans will not be able to see
white people as more than enemy faces, all of whom carry a sliver
of bigotry in their hearts.
This gap between the two realities is unacceptable for the
functioning of a democracy, for our growth and prosperity, and
for our service as a light unto the rest of the world. As Dr.
King said, "We must learn to live together as brothers, or [we
will] perish as fools."
But having recognized one another's real grievances, I now say:
that is not enough. We must also take responsibility for
ourselves. No one can complain about bad treatment without also
cleaning out their own house.
To white America I say: clean your house of racism. Too many
destructive ideas are gaining currency in your midst. The taped
voice of one policeman should fill you with outrage. Stand up and
be heard denouncing this sort of rhetoric so loudly and clearly
that your black fellow citizens can hear you. White racism may be
black people's burden, but it is white people's problem. Again I
say: clean your house.
Black America -- I honor the presence of millions of men in
Washington today committed to personal responsibility and I call
on you and your brothers and sisters across this nation to clean
your house: Step up to your responsibilities as parents. Step up
to your responsibilities as role models. Step up to your
responsibilities as citizens. You do have a stake in the American
Dream.
But let me be clear: One million men are right to be standing up
for personal responsibility. But one million men do not make one
man right if his message is one of division and hate. No good
house was ever built on a bad foundation. Nothing good ever came
of hate.
There are many today -- white and black, on the left and the
right, on street corners and on the radio waves -- who for their
own purposes SOW division. To them I say: this must end. We are
all one family. One family. Not just neighbors, not fellow
citizens; not separate camps; but family: white, black, Latino,
men, women, able-bodied, disabled. No matter our differences, we
3
all have somthing to contribute. Divorce or separation are
simply not an option for our national family.
When a child is gunned down on a street in the Bronx, no matter
what our race, he is our child. When a woman dies from a
beating, no matter what our race, she is our sister.
Now, on October 16, 1995 we are confronting two Americas. Under
my watch, I will do everything in my power to see that soon there
is only one. One America under the rule of law; one justice
system; equal opportunity; one America.
How do we get there? By recommitting ourselves to the values
that have stood us so well for so long: opportunity and
responsibility.
Let us begin with opportunity. It is obvious that we still have a
big job to do in equalizing opportunity in this country. And
frankly, it is becoming more difficult because of the current
rush to dismantle many of the basic economic protections we put
in place over the past 50 years. Take the minimum wage for
example. Today, a person who works full-time at the minimum wage
brings home only $8,500. It's just not enough to support a
family. Its real value today is 27 percent lower than it was in
1979. If we do not raise it this year, it will be at a 40-year
low. We need to raise the minimum wage so that more people, black
and white can raise their children in dignity and security.
The same thing can be said about our efforts to give tax relief
to 14 million low-income, working Americans. Ronald Reagan called
the Earned Income Tax Credit "The best anti-poverty, the best
pro-family, the best job creation measure to come out of
Congress." So why are we fighting to keep it alive? Why is there
even a question about the EITC, Medicare, Medicaid, college
loans? They are our best guarantee of equal opportunity, for they
help people help themselves.
because
Responsibility is a two-way street. And nowhere is this more
important than in our efforts to promote public safety and
preserve the rule of law. Citizens must respect the law and those
who enforce it. And police have a life and death responsibility
to never abuse the power given them by the people. On this
covenant, our vision of law and order rests.
There's another area of responsibility I want to talk about. The
single biggest social problem our society faces is the absence of
fathers. One child in four grows up in a home without a father.
Without a father to nurture, without a father to teach, without a
father to care, without a father to teach boys to be men and to
teach girls to expect respect from men.
This is not only a black problem or Latino problem or a white
problem, it is an American problem.
4
disparity between blacks and whites. It is fashionable to talk
about African Americans as if they were part of a protected
class. Many whites think blacks are getting more than their fair
share in jobs and promotions. The truth is African Americans
still make an average of 60 percent less than white people. More
than half of African American children live in poverty.
Clearly, we must do better.
Here is where the worst of white fears have some merit. There is
a fear of the violence that is too prevalent in urban areas.
There is legitimate fear of a few black leaders who -- in
contrast to the vast majority of African Americans -- want to
play on hatred and venom to do the work of inspiration. Finally,
there is the valid fear that African Americans will not be able
to see white people as more than enemy faces, all of whom carry a
sliver of bigotry in their hearts.
This gap between the two realities is unacceptable for the
functioning of a democracy, for our growth and prosperity, and
for our service as a light unto the rest of the world.
But having recognized one another's real grievances, I now say:
that is not enough. We must also take responsibility for
ourselves. No one can complain about bad treatment without also
cleaning out their own house.
To white America I say: clean your house of racism. Too many
destructive ideas are gaining currency in your midst. The taped
voice of one policeman should fill you with outrage. Stand up and
be heard denouncing this sort of rhetoric
so
loudly
and
clearly
responder
that your black fellow citizens can hear you. White racism may be stepup
black people's burden, but it is white people's problem. Again
say: clean your house.
today
step families set I back to
Black America I honor the presence of millions of men in
your children God- and with
resist
Washington committed to personal responsibility and I call to
you: clean your house of racism. One million men are right to be
all might your
standing up for personal responsibility. But one million men do
not make one man right if his message is one of division and
the
and
hate. No good house was ever built on a bad foundation. Nothing
hogly
good ever came of hate. to those who would build your
siren
your
unity and self reliance on the hatred of others.
brothers + sisters +
call of call
There are many today -- white and black, on the left and the
racism.
right, on street corners and on the radio waves -- who for their
Parents
own purposes SOW division. To them I say: this must end. We are
all one family. One family. Not just neighbors, not fellow
citizens; not separate tribes; but family: white, black, latino,
weare
men, women, able-bodied, disabled. Some family members have more
del
power, some have more obligations, some are weaker, some are
different
stronger: but there is no such thing as divorce or separation.
That is not an option.
allhame Bittal
3
something
Despite to contribute
Now, on October 16, 1995 we are confronting two Americas. Under
my watch, I will do everything in my power to see that soon there
is only one. One America under the rule of law; one justice
system; equal opportunity; one America.
trensfring
So
do
there
valuesthat
how
we
get
by
What we must do: Opportunity and responsibility.
have made this country great
Let us begin with opportunity. Today, a person who works full-
time at the minimum wage brings home only $8,500. It's just not
enough to support a family. Its real value today is 27 percent
lower than it was in 1979. If we do not raise it this year, it
will be at a 40-year low. We need to raise the minimum wage so
that more people, Black and White can raise their children in
dignity and security.
The same thing can be said about our efforts to give tax relief
to 14 million low-income, working Americans. Ronald Reagan called
the Earned Income Tax Credit "The best anti-poverty, the best
pro-family, the best job creation measure to come out of
Congress." So why are we fighting to keep it alive? Why is there
even a question about the EITC, Medicare, Medicaid, college
loans? They are our best guarantee of equal opportunity, for they
help people help themselves.
Responsibility is a two-way street. And nowhere is this more
important than in our efforts to promote public safety and
preserve the rule of law. Citizens must respect the law and those
who enforce it. And police have a life and death responsibility
to never abuse the power given them by the people. On this
covenant, our vision of law and order rests.
In closing, let me say that the single biggest social problem our
society faces is the absence of fathers. One child in four grows
up in a home without a father. Without a father to nurture,
without a father to teach, without a father to care, without a
father to teach boys to be men and to teach girls to expect
respect from men.
This is not only a black problem or Latino problem or a white
problem, it is an American problem.
I know this in my own life. My father died before I was born.
My stepfather fought a lifelong battle with alcohol that stopped
him from being the father I needed. But as an adult, a father in
turn, I did my best to do my part. I know what it's like to stay
up until dawn rocking a sick child, and I know what it's like to
watch my child go out to play -- a child whom I would defend with
my life -- and know that there may be danger down the street.
I've done all of this, I've made my mistake, I know that it isn't
easy: building a family is the hardest job a man can do. But it
is also the most important.
4
That is why I honor the hundreds of thousands of black men
marching in Washington as a demonstration of their commitment to
themselves, their families and their communities. They understand
that, while we all have responsibilities to each other, it is
they who hold the key to their progress in this country.
That is why I honor the 120 million more men at home. Men of
every color who day-in and day-out dedicate themselves to being
good fathers.
That is why I say to all men, wherever you are today: step up and
be the kind of father you needed and wanted and, if you were
lucky, actually got.
I say to those men who have never met their children: reach out
to your them. Be there for them. Your child, your flesh and
blood, needs you.
And I say to those men who send money to support their kids in
keeping with their promises: Keep sending those checks. Your
children need them. We'll enforce the law and catch you if you
stop. But your money is no replacement for your nurturing, your
caring and your loving your child.
And I say to those men who go home every night and love and care
for their children. I say to them as President, as a father, as a
man, and as a former fatherless child: God Bless you.
5
DRAFT 10/14/95 11:00 am
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
REMARKS FOR THE LIZ CARPENTER LECTURE
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
OCTOBER 16, 1995
Acknowledgments: [The First Lady spoke in 1993], ; President Robert
Berdahl ["Bird-All"]; Bernard Rappaport [chairman, Board of
Regents] Nicole Bell [student; introduces you] Chancellor Bill
Cunningham; Barbara Jordan; Lucy Johnson; Congressman Pickle;
Sheldon Eklund [Dean of Liberal Arts]; Jane Cummings {Chairperson
of Students Distinguished Lectures]; Gary Mauro; and, most of
all, Liz Carpenter.
Liz said she has a file of letters longer than War and Peace
inviting me to come here. [This plays off joke in Liz Carpenter's
intro.] We all know she didn't need anything that long. When she
asked me to come to Austin, I knew I was going.
After all, anyone whose life has been touched by this remarkable
woman -- a woman who worked side-by-side with President and Mrs.
Johnson, who mastered the White House press corps, who reared not
only her own children, but, at the age of 70, her late brother's
teenage children, too -- knows there is one word that is simply
not in her vocabulary, and that word is "no."
Come to think of it, I don't know all that many Texans who take
"no" for an answer.
My dear friends and fellow Americans, in recent weeks every one
of us has been made aware of a simple fact. We have been made
aware of it so clearly that there is absolutely no excuse to
avert our eyes: white Americans and black Americans often see the
same world in drastically different ways. The issue is not the
utcome of any one event but, rather: What can we do now?
First, while many hearts are sore, let us take a moment to give
thanks for the fact that we have made progress up that mountain
Dr. King described. Remember, it was not so long ago that our
neigborhoods, businesses, schools, jobs, and voting booths were
closed to many Americans simply because of the color of their
skin. It was not so long ago that there were hardly any people
of color serving in our state houses, our school boards, our city
halls, and even our Congress. No one can deny that we are doing
better.
Reconciliation is the great dream of the American people. We
should not underestimate its power. That power fueled the civil
rights movement of the sixties and motivated the sanitation
workers in Memphis in 1968 who stood bravely with their leader,
Dr. King, wearing the sober faces of men who simply wanted to
1
Se only
plainly
raise their families. The placards they held said simply, "I am a
Man."
Second, let me tell you today that the racial debate we are
having today is not a setback for us, but a great opportunity --
one that we cannot let pass us by. Some of our best moments as
Americans have come when we have had the courage to face the
truth about those times when we have failed to live up to our own
best ideals. That act is not one of weakness, but of proud
American optimism.
These confrontations with the truth bring about what historians
call "open moments.' At such turning points, Americans moved
against slavery, struggling away from the horror that one
American could hold another captive; they moved to embrace
women's suffrage, recognizing at last that we don't have an
American to waste. These moments left us with a legacy of
greatness because we looked in the national mirror and were brave
enough to say: "This is not who we are. We are better than that."
remidedus,
against
As the Great Emancipator said, "A house divided upon itself
cannot stand. " The two worlds we see now each contain both truth
and distortion. And what I am going to do today is tell the truth
about racism to both black and white America. Only this kind of
honesty will bring about the many acts of reconciliation that
will unite both these worlds into one America.
Here is where the worst of black Americans have some merit: the
justice system has a history of racial abuses, ranging from the
Scottsboro case to Emmett Till to Rodney King. Police forces in
some of our towns and cities reveal persistent vestiges of the
bad old days.
also know that there are wide
We know that African American males are many times more likely to
be the victims of homicide than any other group in this country.
And there are still more African American men in our prisons than
in our colleges. A report released just the other day revealed
that nearly one in three African American men in their twenties
were either in jail, on parole, or otherwise under the
supervision of the criminal justice system. Nearly one in three.
If one in three white men were under criminal justice
supervision, the nation would declare a national emergency. We
must first face and then erase that ugly truth. There is
something beyond wrong when a law-abiding black father has to
tell his law-abiding son to fear the police whose salaries are
paid by his taxes.
Second, and even more fundamental: there is great economic
disparity between blacks and whites. It is fashionable to talk
about African Americans as if they were part of a protected
class. Many whites think blacks are getting more than their fair
share in jobs and promotions. The truth is African Americans
2
I know this in my own life. My father died before I was born.
My stepfather fought a lifelong battle with alcohol that stopped
him from being the father I needed. But as an adult, a father in
turn, I did what millions of men do every day. I know what it's
like to stay up until dawn rocking a sick child, and I know what
it's like to watch my child go out to play -- a child whom I
would defend with my life -- and know that there may be danger
down the street. I've done all of this, I've made my mistakes, I
know that it isn't easy: building a family is the hardest job a
man can do. But it is also the most important and the ost rewarding.
That is why I honor the hundreds of thousands of black men
marching in Washington as a demonstration of their commitment to
themselves, their families and their communities. They understand
that, while we all have responsibilities to each other, it is
they who hold the key to their progress in this country.
That is why I honor the millions more at home. Men of every color
who day-in and day-out do what it takes to be good fathers.
Tha is I say to all men, wherever you are today: step up and
be the kind of father you needed and wanted and, if you were
lucky, actually got.
I say to those men who have never met their children: reach out
to your them. Be there for them. Your child, your flesh and
blood, needs you.
only
And I say to those men who send money to support their kids
keeping with their promises: Keep sending those checks. Your
children need them. We 11 enforce the law and catch you if you
stop. But your money is no replacement for your nurturing, your
caring and your loving your child.
And I say to those men who go home every night and love and care
for their children. I say to them as President, as a father, as a
man, and as a former fatherless child: God Bless you.
Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters -- Americans of all races,
let us remember our commitment to each other. We have no better
example than the man who walked, not only this campus, but the
dirt roads, the main streets, and the inner cities of this great
country. Lyndon Johnson lived a life dedicated to the promise of
equality of opportunity and compassion for all. He said, "I want
to be the President who helped to end hatred among his fellow men
and who promoted love among the people of all races and all
regions. " If President Johnson were here today, we could tell
him that though we may not have realized that dream, we will not
rest until it is made real we do.
Some voices would undermine our progress by selling short the
great character of the American people. But they will not win
5
the day. We will win the day. And, with your help, that day
will come soon.
Thank you and God bless you all.
6
SEP-14-95 FRI 04:57
OFFICE OF COUNSELOR
FAX NO. 2022195693
P.01
The U.S. Department of Labor
DEPARTMENT OF
Office of the Counselor to the Secretary
200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room S-2233
UNITED LABOR. .
AMERICA
Washington, D.C. 20210
TEL (202) 219-6331
STATES OF
FAX (202) 219-5693
FAX COVER SHEET
DATE:
TO: Terry Edwonds
ORG: WH Speech writing
TEL #:
FAX#: 456-5709
FROM:
# OF PAGES (INC. COVER): 6
Term -
hear you already have the Pons's
remarks I at the Women's Bureau event. Here's some
Rach stuff that might also help (see p.4)_
Dan
The information contained in this facsimile message is privileged, confidential and protected
from disclosure. If you think you have received this fax in error, if you do not receive all the
pages. or if you have any problem receiving this transmission, please call (202) 219-6331.
Thank you.
NUMAN
services
Office of the Assistant Secretary
MEALTH
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
for Public Affairs
for
Speechwriting Division
working families
Minium wage
Talking Points-
Alameda-
budget we need a taxcut
lay out conditions
speison of final budget
deal diminsh - st this - doesn't
must not have a tax increase
onworking families -
Miss Harvey
622-0016-
10:30-ma22-0016 622-0016
MUMAN
Office of the Assistant Secretary
******
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
for Public Affairs
Speechwriting Division
Radio Address-
7- anti-
Alameda t manterey-
LahorDay-Pressure
on wases 7 Part free
growing Prosperity Passing
If you bad told me that we
would have in butthat
wases that couldn'the -
rewase xtra
2thirs (- EITC -
need to wase ( berry pressured
PRINTER FONT 12 POINT_COURIER
PRINTER FONT 12 POINT COURIER
REWARDING WORK:
THE CASE FOR INCREASING THE MINIMUM WAGE
"The most important thing is, you can't make a living
on $4.25 an hour. Especially if you have children,
even with the working families tax cut we passed last
year. In the past, the minimum wage has been a
bipartisan issue, and I think it should be again. So I
want to challenge you to have honest hearings on this;
to get together; to find a way to make the minimum wage
a living wage."
President Clinton
State of the Union Address
January 24, 1995
The President's Proposal: The President's proposal
would increase the minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.15
over two years, through two 45 cent increases. The
last increase, passed by a bipartisan vote in 1989, was
also a 90 cent increase in two 45 cent stages. For a
full-time, year-round worker at the minimum wage, a 90
cent increase would raise yearly income by $1,800 -- as
much as the average family spends on groceries in over
7 months.
Maintaining the Historic Value of Work: If the minimum
wage were to stay at its, current level ($4.25), it
would fall to its lowest real level in forty years.
Indeed, the value of the minimum wage is now 27% lower
than it was in 1979, and has fallen 45 cents in real
value since its last increase in April of 1991. The
first half of the President's 90 cent proposal simply
restores the minimum wage to its value from the last
increase.
Raising the Minimum Wage Primarily Helps Adult Workers
-- Most of Whom Rely on Their Minimum Wage Jobs to
Support Their Families: Nearly two-thirds of minimum
wage workers are adults (64%) ; over one third of all
minimum wage workers (38%) are the sole breadwinners in
their families; the average minimum wage worker brings
home half of his or her family's earnings. Thus, a
wage increase significantly boosts the standard of
living for millions of households.
Rewards Work Over Welfare: The minimum wage increase
provides another crucial measure to reward work and an
additional incentive to choose work over welfare.
Between 11 Million and 13 Million Workers would
Benefit from the President's Proposal to Increase the
Minimum Wage: An estimated 11 million workers, paid by
the hour, earn between $4.25 and $5.14. Research
indicates that an increase in the minimum wage to $5.15
could have a "ripple" effect on another 2.5 million
workers who earn within 60 cents of the new minimum
wage.
Empirical Evidence Shows the President's Proposal Can
Increase Wages without Costing Jobs: Over a dozen
empirical studies have found that moderate increases in
the minimum wage do not have a significant impact on
employment. As Nobel Laureate Robert Solow stated:
"[T]he evidence of job loss is weak. And the fact that
the evidence is weak suggests that the impact on jobs
is small."
A 90 Cent Increase in the Minimum Wage Will Lift a
Family of Four Out of Poverty: The dramatic extension
of the Earned Income Tax Credit helped lift hundreds of
thousands of working families out of poverty. Yet, by
1996, even the EITC is not enough to lift above the
poverty line a family of four making the minimum wage.
With the 90 cent minimum wage increase, food stamps,
and the EITC, a family of four with a year-round
minimum wage worker would be lifted above the poverty
line.
The Last Minimum Wage -- Also 90 Cents -- Garnered
Strong Bipartisan Support. In 1989, the minimum wage
was passed by votes of 382-37 (135 Republicans) in the
House, and 89-8 in the Senate (36 Republicans) and was
supported by Senator Dole and Rep. Gingrich.
Staff Contact:
Robert Gordon, NEC
Last Updated:
July 7, 1995
Laber
Anne Lewis
219-6181
6220016
Michael Barr
Treasury EiTe
Jasan 62620
War
Week Ending Friday, May 26, 1995
Remarks at the Women's Bureau
to talk her out of it because I thought it
Reception
would be bad for her career. But it's worked
May 19, 1995
out all right for her, I think. [Laughter]
You know, 75 years ago a reception like
Thank you very much. I was sitting here
this would not have taken place. In 1920,
listening to my marvelous wife speak, and I
women had less than one in five jobs in this
was thinking, you know, I've been seeing her.
economy and, as Hillary said, were only then
the
lately long distance, on Oprah Winfrey and
gaining the right to vote. When she said, "In
for
on the "Morning Show" this morning, and
25 years from now, the President and her
I thought, boy, I'm glad she lives here.
husband would open the time capsule," I
[Laughter]
looked at Karen and Bob and said, "If the
I want to thank Secretary Reich and the
demographic trends continue, the percent-
Women's Bureau Director, Karen Nuss-
ages will almost mandate a woman Presi-
baum. She has done a wonderful job. I am
dent." [Laughter] Karen said, "Yes, if they
very grateful to her and to him. I want to
vote their own interests." [Laughter] To
in
say a special word of appreciation to the peo-
which I replied, "We should give them every
ple who sponsored this event today: from
opportunity." [Laughter]
American Home Products, the senior vice
When the Women's Bureau was born, it
president, Fred Hassan, and the corporate
was designed then to improve the lot of
secretary, Carol Emerling. Let's give them
women in the work force by fighting for fair
914
a hand for what they did. [Applause] There
wages and expanding opportunities for edu-
are many distinguished women leaders here,
cation and training and protecting women
13
today, but I do want to recognize one person
physically at work.
who has been a friend of mine for more than
Those folks 75 years ago, I think, would
20 years now, Congresswoman Eddie Ber-
be surprised at how far we've come. Hun-
nice Johnson, from Texas. We're glad to see
dreds of women here celebrate the progress
you. Thank you very much for being here.
that we have made in all walks of American
You know, the concerns of working women
life. I'm proud that in this administration we
are one of the few subjects that I didn't have
have six women Cabinet Secretaries, twice
to be educated about-[laughter]-because
as many as has ever served in any Cabinet
I grew up with them. I lived with my grand-
of the President before. Over 40 percent of
parents till I was 4, and my grandmother was
our appointees have been women, and a far
a working woman from the 1930's on. In the
higher percentage of women have been ap-
little town where I was born, an awful lot
pointed to the bench and to major Federal
of the women, both white and black, who
positions than previous administrations. Two
of the
lived in poor families or near-poor families
of these appointees are former Directors of
23607:
worked as a matter of course. No one gave
the Women's Bureau: Esther Peterson, the
much thought to it one way or the other.
U.S. Representative to the U.N. General As-
Doeu-
My mother was a working woman from the
sembly, and the Assistant to the President
20402.
will be
1940's on, beginning shortly after I was old
for Public Liaison, Alexis Herman, who is
:r year
enough to at least crawl around on my own.
here with six other Directors of the Women's
ers for
And it certainly never occurred to me from
Bureau. Let's give them all a hand here. [Ap-
ments,
!. The
the first day that I met Hillary that she would
plause]
ailing)
do anything other than pursue her career.
All of you represent women across this
aterial
[Laughter] As a matter of fact, I spent the
country who work long hours, do your best
Docu-
first 2 or 3 years of our relationship trying
to raise your families, and contribute to your
867
868
May 19 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 1995
communities. Extraordinary working women
matically expand and make more affordable
today are doing their best to hold our country
loans to go to college.
together, our communities together, and
But there is much, much more to be done.
frankly, our hard-pressed middle class to-
I am proud of the fact that last year the Small
gether. They deserve our admiration, our re-
Business Administration cut its budget but
spect, and most importantly, our support.
expanded loans to women entrepreneurs by
I ran for office in large measure because
85 percent in one year-I might add, without
I was afraid that having won the cold war,
reducing loans to qualified males. [Laughter]
we might squander the peace and the victory;
We expanded for everybody.
that having struggled so hard to make the
But I think it's important that we recognize
American dream available to other people
that women in the workplace are caught in
around the world, we might lose it for large
a lot of cross-currents today, because all
numbers of our people here at home as we
American workers, or at least more than half
move into the 21st century and the global
of us, are working longer hours for the same
economy, the technological revolution open-
or lower pay that we were making 10 years
ing all of us to unbelievable pressures and
ago. And therefore, more and more parents
changes which can be good or difficult.
are working harder for the same or less and
I believe that my job is, first, to provide
spending less time with their children.
for the security of the American people; sec-
Women feel this pressure very deeply insofar
ondly, to give people the tools they need to
as they have either sole, primary, or even just
help themselves live up to their God-given
half of the responsibility for taking care of
potential; and thirdly, to try to create as many
their children as well as earning a living. Be-
opportunities as I possibly can.
cause male workers over the age of 45, on
In a way, the first major piece of legislation
average, have lost 14 percent of their earning
I signed as President, which had been bounc-
power in the last 10 years, women in the
ing around here for 7 years and had suffered
work force and in the home feel the anxiety
through two vetoes, was emblematic of all
of their husband's sense of loss and insecurity
three of those objectives. It was the family
and frustration and anger.
and medical leave law.
What is causing all this, and what are we
Not very long ago, I was home for a couple
to do about it? Well, what is causing it all
of days and I went back to my old church,
is the impact of the global economy and the
and a lady I didn't know came up to me and
dramatic revolution in technology on our so-
said, "I really want to thank you. I know we're
ciety, opening up all kinds of new changes
not supposed to talk about politics at church,
in ways that are perfectly wonderful if you
but I don't really think this is politics. I got
can access them but terrifying if you cannot.
cancer, and I had to take some time off and
For example-we don't have the figures yet
deal with it, and my husband had to take
on '94, but I think '94 will confirm '93's
some time off and work with me. And neither
trend-in 1993 we had the largest number
one of us lost our jobs, and we're both back
of new businesses started in America in any
working now. And it wouldn't have happened
year in history and the largest number of new
if it hadn't been for the family and medical
millionaires in America in any year in history.
leave law."
And that is a good thing. That is a good thing.
I am proud of the fact that we have moved
And that is happening because so many of
aggressively to immunize all of our children
us are now able to access the world of the
under the age of 2; to enroll every pregnant
future. Many of you in this room are part
woman and infant in the country who needs
of the trend toward a brighter, bigger, broad-
it in the Women, Infants and Children Pro-
er tomorrow.
gram for nutrition; to expand Head Start and
But there is also a fault line in our society
lift the standards in our schools and expand
that is splitting the middle class apart, putting
apprenticeship programs for young people
unbearable pressures on families, making
who don't go on to universities; and some-
them less secure and making them less able
thing which will make a big difference in the
to live up to the fullest of their abilities. You
lives of young women in the future, to dra-
know it, and I know it.
1995
Administration of William J. Clinton, 1995 / May 19
869
dable
That's why the family and medical leave
it was a national program or one of the State
law was important. If people are going to be
networks around here, but they went down
done.
working for smaller companies, not bigger
South to a town that had a lot of minimum
Small
ones, and moving around, at least they ought
wage workers. And they went in this plant
but
to know they can take some time off without
to interview a remarkable woman who
by
losing a job if there's someone sick in their
worked in this plant at a minimum wage. And
family or if a baby is born or some other
they said to this lady, "You know, your em-
emergency arises. That's why it was impor-
ployer says, if we raise the minimum wage,
tant.
that they'll either have to lay people off or
That's why the efforts of the Secretary of
put more money into machinery and reduce
in
Labor and the Secretary of Education to cre-
their employment long-term. What do you
all
ate a fabric, a seamless fabric, of lifelong
say to that?" I could not have written the
half
learning, whenever people lose their jobs or
script. [Laughter] This lady sort of threw her
same
feel that they're underemployed, it's terribly
shoulders back and looked into the eyes of
years
important.
the television reporter and said, "Honey, I'll
And that's why I believe it is especially im-
take my chances." [Laughter]
and
portant to women that we raise the minimum
If we are going to bring our budget deficit
wage this year. Women represent three out
into balance, which will be good for all of
sofar
of five minimum wage workers but only half
us, if we are going to have to over a period
just
the work force.
of years cut back on expenditures that the
of
I have done everything I could to create
Government used to make, that makes it
Be-
a climate in which people are encouraged to
even more important for people who do go
on
choose work over welfare, in which people
out into the private sector and work full-time,
are encouraged to be successful parents and
play by the rules, and want to make their
the
successful workers. I believe that. That's
own way without public assistance, to be re-
what the earned-income tax credit was all
warded for that work. This is a huge issue.
about in 1993. Let me tell you what that
One other thing I want to say that must
meant: That meant this year that the average
be done this year: The Secretary of Labor
we
family of four with an income under $27,000
has taken the initiative in trying to consoli-
it
all
got a $1,000 tax cut below what they paid
date a lot of these various job-training pro-
the
before this administration came into office.
grams into a fund from which you can get
so-
And it means 3 years from now, if the Con-
a check or a voucher, if you're unemployed
gress will stick with it and not repeal it, we
or underemployed, to take to the local com-
you
will be able to say that no one who works
munity college or the training institution of
full-time and has children at home, when
your choice to get permanent reeducation
yet
they go home from work, will live below the
opportunities for a lifetime. And we ought
'93's
poverty line. That is the best war against wel-
to do that.
fare we could wage.
I'd like to close by introducing someone
any
But it isn't enough. If we do not raise the
who was a working woman, who was a par-
new
minimum wage this year, next year it will be,
ticular influence in my life at an early time.
in real dollar terms, the lowest it has been
The people who sponsored this event invited
in 40 years. Now that is not my idea of what
me to pick someone to participate, and so
of
the 21st century American economy is all
I picked this person. Lonnie Luebben was
the
about. I want a smart-work, high-wage econ-
my 11th grade honors English teacher. And
part
omy, not a hard-work, low-wage economy.
I believe that I was in the first class she
road-
And the working women of America and
taught, but anyway, she looked awful young
their children and their husbands deserve it
at the time-{laughter}-and she still does.
is well.
She had a remarkable way of making lit-
You know, I don't get to watch a lot of
erature come to life. And one of the most
kind of extra television, but the other night,
memorable trips I ever took in my life-I
able
just by accident, I was watching a news pro-
still remember-it was the first time I ever
You
gram where a special was being done on the
went to the wild mountains of the Ozarks
minimum wage. And I don't even know if
in north Arkansas, along the river that was
870
May 19 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 1995
Ad
the first river Congress, over 20 years ago,
the U.S. Merchant Marine has built on its
set aside in the national wild rivers act. They
legacy of patriotism. Its great tradition of
m:
thought it was the wildest of all the rivers
courage and valor is an inspiration to all
ye:
in the United States. [Laughter] And we ex-
Americans.
ty-
plored caves that still had ammunition stored
-This year, as we honor those who served
ed
from the Civil War. We talked to mountain
and sacrificed for our Nation during World
nir
people who had never been more than 20
War II, the contributions of the U.S. Mer-
miles away from home. It was one of the
chant Marine are a special source of pride.
most remarkable experiences I have ever
We will always remember the heroism of
[Fi
had. She taught me a great deal about Amer-
those mariners and the dangers they faced
11:
ican folklore and literature and life. And just
to protect our liberty.
before we walked out here, she gave me a
America's Merchant Marine and civilian
No
contribution for the time capsule, the text-
Fed
seafarers have put themselves at risk- time
book with which she taught our class so many
reco
and again to support our Armed Forces.
issu.
years ago.
They provided pivotal service during OPER-
So if you will forgive me, I would like to
ATION DESERT STORM, during Ameri-
close this event by asking my teacher to come
ca's humanitarian mission in Somalia, and
The
up here and accept my thanks for being a
throughout OPERATION RESTORE DE-
Ma.
working woman over 30 years ago. Thank you
MOCRACY in Haiti.
very much.
Again. let me thank American Home Prod-
Today, our country remains determined to
C
ucts. Let me thank all of you for coming.
maintain a strong U.S. flag presence on the
Tre:
high seas, a commitment central to advancing
will
Let me thank Congresswoman Eddie Ber-
our Nation's national and economic security.
bloc
nice Johnson. And I've just been told that
Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey is also here
I urge Americans to join efforts in support
Whi
somewhere; thank you. There she is, the her-
of maritime revitalization legislation and our
traff
oine of the State of the Union Address.
ongoing shipbuilding production program.
Pc
I thank you all. Please stay around. Have
Americans' pioneering spirit has endowed
oper
our Nation with the most innovative mari-
Rep
a good. time. We're delighted to see you.
Goodbye. Thank you.
time technologies and the most skilled inno-
sinat
the
vative maritime technologies and the most
skilled maritime labor force on Earth. Work-
Thro
NOTE: The President spoke at 5:38 p.m. on the
South Lawn at the White House, at a 75th anni-
Gulf
ing together, we can preserve this critical ad-
versary celebration of the Department of Labor's
close
vantage for generations to come.
Women's Bureau. This item was not received in
In recognition of the importance of the
by t
time for publication in the appropriate issue.
Servi
U.S. Merchant Marine, the Congress, by a
distin
joint resolution approved May 20, 1933, has
admi
Proclamation 6803-National
designated May 22 of each year as "National
Maritime Day, 1995
Maritime Day" and has authorized and re-
publi
Th
May 19, 1995
quested the President to issue annually a
Dire
proclamation calling for its appropriate ob-
of ex
By the President of the United States
servance.
famil
of America
Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton,
and (
President of the United States of America,
and
A Proclamation
do hereby proclaim May 22, 1995, as Na-
guest
The United States owes much to our mer-
tional Maritime Day. I urge the people of
Th
chant sailors. At our Nation's beginning,
the United States to observe this day with
tect 1
these outstanding citizens opened new ave-
appropriate programs, ceremonies, and ac-
years
nues of commerce and helped nurture a
tivities and by displaying the flag of the Unit-
and t
fledgling democracy into a beacon of free-
ed States at their homes and in their commu-
are tl
dom for people around the world. Since
nities. I also request that all ships sailing
Thou
President Franklin D. Roosevelt first pro-
under the American flag dress ship on that
that
claimed National Maritime Day 62 years ago,
day.
work
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Monterey, California)
For Immediate Release
September 4, 1995
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT ALAMEDA COUNTY ANNUAL LABOR DAY PICNIC
Alameda County Fairgrounds
Pleasanton, California
3:30 P.M. PDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Can you hear me in the
back? Good. Ladies and gentlemen, I am so glad to be here to
share Labor Day with you, to count our blessings and to embrace
our challenges. But let me just begin by thanking you for that
wonderful welcome. I feel right at home, and I'm proud to be
with the working families of this country. (Applause.)
I also want to say how very pleased I am to be here
with all the distinguished labor leaders and public officials who
are here behind me from the state of California, some from our
administration; to be here with President Donahue. You know,
this is his birthday. He has to celebrate his birthday on Labor
Day. He gets a two-fer today, so we ought to say happy birthday,
Tom. (Applause.)
I'm delighted to be here with Jack Henning, who
still gives one of the best speeches I ever heard; with John
Sweeney and Laura Miller and Chuck Mack and George Korpius, and
all the other labor leaders who are here. I thank Judy Goff and
Orrin Merrin for having me here. And I want to say a special
word of thanks to the people who represent you in Congress, two
of the finest people in the entire United States Congress,
Congressman Ron Dellums and Senator Barbara Boxer. They are
great people. (Applause.)
You know, we are going through a sea change in
American life. You know it and I know it. What I want to tell
you is I believe that when the history of this time is written
and people look back on how you and other ordinary Americans
lived, they will say that this period represented the biggest
challenge and the biggest change to the way we live and
work and raise our families of any period since 100
years ago, when we changed from being a primarily
agricultural and rural society to being an industrial
society and a more urban one.
All of you know that facts. We've ended the
Cold War. We're moving into a global economy. We have
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more and more competition and more and more technology.
We have more opportunities and more fears. And there
are a lot of good things that are going on today, but
there are a lot of troubling things as well.
And I came here to tell you that in the next
90 days in Washington, DC, we're going to make some
decisions that will say a lot about what kind of people
we are and where we're going. And I believe -- I
believe that if we decide to work together and work for
the future, the 21st century and the global economy
will be America's time. But we have to make that
decision.
I want a high-wage, high-growth,
high-opportunity future; not a hard-work, low-wage,
insecure future for the working families of the United
States of America. (Applause.)
I've worked as hard as I know how to bring
the economy back. But let me ask you this -- you all
know what the problem is. If I had told you 30 months
ago, the day I became President, that the following
things would happen -- just listen to this as a good
news, bad news story. In our country we have 7 million
new jobs. We have 2.5 million new homeowners. We have
1.5 million new small businesses. We have reduced the
deficit from $290 billion to $260 billion a year.
(Applause.) We have done it while increasing our
investment in education and training and technology and
research to generate new jobs. We have doubled the
loans of the small business administration to try to
create more small business opportunities.
We have done all these things. In
California, as hard hit as you were by all the defense
cuts, the jobs that were lost in the previous four
years have been replaced and then some. And we're
overcoming the impacts. of earthquakes and fires and
defense cuts. And California's coming back. But you
know what? In spite of all of that, the median wage
has dropped one percent. That means most working
people are working harder for the same or lower wages
that they were making not just two years ago, but 10
and 15 years ago. That is the great challenge of this
time.
Are we going to be a smart-work,
high-opportunity, high-wage country, or a hard-work,
low-wage country where the middle class is dividing?
And that is the thing that ought to inform every
decision we make. I think I know what we have to do,
and I want you to stand with me because you know what
we have to do.
MORE
The first thing we ought to do -- the very
first thing we ought to do is to say we are going to do
no harm, we're going to stop trying to undo the
protections in the American law for working men and
women. (Applause.) We're going to stop trying to
weaken workplace safety. Let's work in partnership
with managers to make it a safer workplace in America,
not walk
away from our obligations to the safety, health and
welfare of the American workers. (Applause.)
Then, what is our affirmative agenda?
Number one, don't cut education and training -- spend
more on it. (Applause.) And for those who say --
those who say we have to do that to balance the budget,
I say, that is wrong. My balanced budget plan gives
the working families of America a tax deduction for the
cost of all education after high school. (Applause.)
Our balanced budget plan would give working people who
lose their jobs the right to a voucher worth $2,600 a
year for two years to take to the nearest community
college or other education and training institution to
get a better start in life. (Applause.)
Increase our investment in education. Don't
cut it.
The second thing we ought to do is to have
fair as well as free trade. That's what the fight with
the Japanese over autos and auto parts was all about.
I'm all for more trade, but it's got to be more fair.
It's got to be fair to American workers. We can now
compete with anybody in the world and win if we're
given a fair chance to do SO. (Applause.)
The third thing we ought to do is raise the
minimum wage. (Applause.) Let me tell you, there is
not evidence to support the claim that opponents of the
minimum wage always make that it costs jobs. But we
know one thing for sure: On January, 1, 1996, if we do
not raise the minimum wage this year, it will drop in
terms of what the money will buy to a 40-year low.
Two-thirds of the people making minimum wage are
adults. Forty percent of the people making the minimum
wage are the sole support of their families. We have
children growing up on it. It is wrong to expect
people to work for $4.25 an hour. Let us raise the
minimum wage and do it now. (Applause.)
In California, we have a lot of other things
to do. We have to maintain the defense conversion
programs that our administration has put in place. We
should not cut the attempts to build people's future.
I have worked as hard as I could to make sure that you
knew that the defense contractors and the people that
worked on the military bases, who won the Cold War for
this country, would not be left out in the cold when
the defense budget was cut. And we have to keep
working on that.
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Let me give you an example of the kind of
thing I'm talking about. Today, it is my honor to
announce that our Department of Transportation is going
to give to Cal-Start, a consortium of California
companies, $3.4 million to help them start building
electric cars for the future of America. (Applause.)
Men and women who used to weld Bradley
fighting vehicles together for our national defense
will now build family vehicles that will use smart
technology, help the environment and give people good
jobs for a good future for their families. That's the
kind of thing we ought to be doing more of in this
country. (Applause.) They will be made at what used
to be the Alameda Naval Air Station. This is the kind
of thing that I want our government to do, to work with
you in partnership for the future.
And just today, right before I came out
here, the head of Amerigon, Lon Bell, and George
Korpius, the head of the Machinist Union, signed an
agreement that commits both sides, management and
labor, to teamwork and a true partnership on the shop
floor, working together, working for tomorrow. America
ought to follow that model. We need more of it.
(Applause.)
Folks, this is happening all over
California. Earlier today, in Monterey, I dedicated
the new campus of Cal State on the grounds of Fort Ord.
(Applause.) They had --instead of a place that is a
shell, an empty shell, they're now going to have a
vital university. They had 4,000 applications for the
first 600 places open there. And within just a few
years, they'll have thousands and thousands of people
there, creating more jobs than were there when Fort Ord
was running at full steam. That is the future of
American -- (applause) -- working together, working for
tomorrow. (Applause.)
In Sacramento, Packard Bell has already
hired about 5,000 people, including 500 people where
they've moved jobs from overseas back to the United
States to Northern California to assemble personal
computers at a former Army depot, with more jobs there
than were lost at the height of the defense production.
That is the future of California and the future of
America. (Applause.)
Let me just say one more thing on this Labor
Day. In the last 2.5 years, we had 7 million new jobs,
2.5 million new homeowners, 1.5 million new businesses,
record corporate profits, the stock market's gone to
4,700. I think it is time for American businesses to
follow the lead of our best employers and share more of
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those profits with their working people. The
government can't do that; business has to do that.
(Applause.)
Thirty years ago, in the biggest companies
in this country, the average executive made about 12
times what the average shop worker did. Today it's 120
times. It's time for the working people --
AUDIENCE: Boooo!
THE PRESIDENT: All right, let me tell you.
I'm all for people becoming millionaires. We've had
more self-made millionaires since I've been President
than any comparable period in American history. And I
like that. That's the American idea. But the people
of this country that make it go are the average working
families. And they deserve their fair share of their
own productivity and competitiveness. And it's time to
do it. (Applause.)
So when I leave you today, I'm going back to
Washington for the critical struggles over the budget
in the next 90 days. And I will say again, this is the
period of biggest change we've had in 100 years. We
are going to shape the future. Are we going forward
together, looking toward tomorrow, or are we going to
be divided? Are we going to have a high-wage,
high-growth, high-opportunity future for your children,
or a hard-work, low-wage future for half of the working
people in this country? Those are the questions.
Yes, we have to balance the budget, but
let's do it in a way that increases our investment in
education, technology, research and the good jobs of
tomorrow. Let's not walk away from it. (Applause.)
Yes, middle-class people ought to have tax
relief for education and child-rearing. But let's
don't cut taxes so much just to find tax cuts for
people who don't need it and, in turn, turn around and
raise the cost of Medicare, raise the cost of nursing
home care on ordinary, elderly people and their
middle-class children who cannot afford it. That is
wrong. We should not do that. (Applause.)
Yes, we ought to reform regulation and
reduce cumbersome bureaucracy. You know something
this is something you ought to tell tomorrow when
you're talking to people -- our administration has
reduced the size of government, the number of
regulations, and the number of government programs more
in two years than the previous two administrations did
in 12. But I did not reduce worker protections and our
commitments to clean water, clean air and safe food.
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That is nuts. We should not do that. It is not good
for America. (Applause.)
So as Congress comes back to work, as you
send Ron Dellums and Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein
back to their labors, let me tell you, folks, send a
message to everybody. This country, it got where it is
today because we pulled together and we worked together
and we worked for tomorrow.
I just got back from Hawaii, celebrating the
50th anniversary of the end of World War II. I met
with veterans from all different races and all
different backgrounds who forgot all their differences
and worked together. And that's why we won. And when
they came home, the G.I. Bill gave them all the chance
to go to college and to own their own homes and to
educate their children. And that's why America won the
Cold War and did so well. (Applause.)
This idea, this crazy idea that somehow we
can go into the 21st century by weakening our middle
class, by dividing our people against each other, by
convincing hard-working middle-class people that the
reason they don't have a good income is because of
welfare or affirmative action or immigration -- all of
which need improvement, and we've done more on that the
guys did before as well -- but that's not what's
holding your wage down. What's holding your wage down.
What's holding your wage down is the inability to get a
fair deal in a competitive global economy because we
need more investment in education, more investment in
training, more investment in high-wage jobs. And you
know that in your heart of hearts.
This country never got anywhere being
divided against one another. So let's go forward
together for a better future. (Applause.)
God bless you all and thank you.
(Applause.)
END
3:46 P.M. PDT
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Monterey, California)
For Immediate Release
September 4, 1995
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT THE DEDICATION OF THE FORMER FORT ORD
AS CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY AT MONTEREY BAY
California State University at Monterey Bay
Monterey, California
12:02 P.M. PDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much. It's a gorgeous day.
It's a wonderful reception. I thank you. I can't imagine anybody in
America who's having a better time on Labor Day than I am right now.
And I thank you. (Applause.)
Senator Boxer and Lieutenant Governor Davis, Congressman
Mineta, Secretary West, Chancellor Munitz, President Peter Smith --my
longtime friend from the time he was the Lieutenant Governor of
Vermont and I was the Governor of Arkansas; we worked on education
together. You've got a good person here. You're very lucky to have
him. (Applause.)
To my good friend, Congressman Sam Farr, who has worked
like a demon for this project, and talks to me about it incessantly.
(Applause.) You think I came out here because of Leon, but the truth
is I showed up today because I couldn't bear to watch Sam Farr cry if
I hadn't come. (Laughter and applause.)
And let me say to Beatrice, I'm glad your daddy is here.
If you were my daughter, I'd have been very proud of you here today.
You were great. You were terrific. (Applause.) Thank you.
(Applause.) Stand up there. (Applause.) Give him a hand.
(Applause.) Give him a hand. (Applause.) Thank you, sir.
(Applause.) Thank you. (Applause.)
I want to thank all the others who made this possible,
the other distinguished platform guests. And to Melrose
Basco (phonetic) -- thank you for singing the National
Anthem. You were terrific. (Applause.) I thank the
Watsonville (phonetic) Community Band, and the Bethel
Missionary Church Choir, the Western Stage of Hartinel
College (phonetic.) El Tiatro Composino (phonetic) --
everyone who kept you occupied and entertained in the
beginning. I thank the members of the General Assembly
who worked hard to make this possible.
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You know, I was listening to Leon talk about
the time he introduced me in Rome. That's really true.
He translated my remarks in Rome. We were in the town
square there -- thousands and thousands of those handsome,
robust Romans were around (laughter) -- Leon and I
standing before the cheering crowd. They were chattering
away in Italian. The attractive, young mayor of Rome was
to my left. I leaned over and I said, "What are they
saying, Mayor?" He said, "Do you really want to know?"
(Laughter.) I said, "Yes." He said, "They're saying,
who's that guy up there with Leon Panetta?" (Laughter and
applause.) This fall I'm going to take him to Ireland and
give him a dose of his own medicine. (Laughter.)
We were in there a few moments ago, and I was
meeting some of the folks that helped to make this project
possible. And one lady went through the line and shook my
hand, and she said, "Mr. President, follow your heart --
and do what Leon tells you to." (Laughter.) I want to
say if she had told me to do what Sylvia tells me to, I'd
come nearer to doing it. (Laughter.)
One of the reasons that I felt so strongly --
the first time I had a talk with Leon Panetta and I asked
him to become head of the Office of Management and Budget,
which, in many ways, in a time when we're downsizing the
government and when we have to cut so much and still try
to save enough money to invest in things like education,
it was really important for me to have someone who not
only understood the value of a dollar and how the budget
worked, but someone I thought had good, basic American
values and knew what it would take to build the community
of America for the 21st century. That's why I asked Leon
Panetta to do that job. (Applause.)
And I have to tell you, when you pick somebody
you don't know for a position, you don't know real well,
it's very difficult to know whether you're making the
right decision. You always kind of look for clues, you
know. And I'm now old enough and been in enough jobs that
I've hired thousands of people to do different things.
And I have to tell you, one of the things that made the
biggest impression on me, probably because of my own
experience, was the partnership that Leon and Sylvia had
working for this congressional district over so many
years. That's the kind of thing we need more of in our
country today, and it made a big impression. And I thank
you. (Applause.)
I've got a lot to say today, and you may not
remember much of it. If you don't remember anything else,
remember this: This country will be the greatest country
in the world in the 21st century, just as it has been in
the 20th century, if, but only if, we take all the
challenges that are before us and approach them in the
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same way that you approached the challenge that you face
when Fort Ord closed and you made this the 21st campus for
the 21st century in California. (Applause.)
We are at a period of historic change -- the
way we work; the way we live; the way we relate to each
other; the way we relate to others beyond our borders; the
way we think about our lives; the way we think about the
relationship of the economy to the environment; the way we
think about the relationship of managers to workers; the
way we think about our respective obligations to raise our
children well and to succeed in the workplace at the same
time. These things are undergoing a profound change,
greater than anything we have seen in our country since
the beginning of the 20th century when we moved from being
primarily an agricultural and rural country into being an
industrial and more urban country.
We are out of the Cold War. We have moved into
a global economy. We are transforming our economy, even
manufacturing and agriculture, into a more
information-based, technology-based economy. Things are
changing rapidly. And what we know and what we can learn
more than ever before will determine what we can earn, and
in some cases, whether we can earn.
This is a period of very, very profound change.
And when you face these kind of challenges, it matters not
only what particular decisions you make, but how you do
it. And what has always made America great is when the
chips were down and when we have a lot of challenges, we
overlook our differences, we embrace what we have in
common, we work together and we work for tomorrow. That
is what I have been trying to say to the American people
since the day I announced for President in October '91.
This is a new and different time. We've got to work
together and we've got to work for tomorrow. (Applause.)
You know, I just had the profound honor of
representing all of you as the President to commemorate
the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. It was
moving to me in many ways. But I would ask you to
remember what happened to this country. If you look back
in history now, you think, well, we couldn't have lost.
But in the war in the Pacific, we lost all our early
battles, and we had to come back. In the war in Europe
before we got in, Great Britain hardly won a battle for
two years and they had to come back. When we began, there
were 17 countries in the world with bigger armies than the
United States had. And we had to put it all together. It
looked so inevitable in the light of history, but it
wasn't. It happened because free people beat dictators.
People who chose to live together beat empires. People
who willfully found common ground and bridged their
differences joined hands and moved forward. That's how we
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did that. And don't you ever forget it. And that's what
we have to do now if we want this country to be what we
expect it to be in the 21st century. (Applause.)
It's amazing how long it took us after the war
to learn the lessons of the war in the peace. We honored
our veterans. We gave them the G.I. Bill. They had a
chance to go to college. They had a chance to buy a home
because we recognized our obligations to each other and to
the future. We built the greatest economy the world had
ever know in the aftermath of the second world war. We
rebuilt our former enemies -- Germany and Japan. We
rebuilt our allies in Europe who were devastated. We
expanded the benefits of global commerce to Latin America,
to Asia and to other places. We did a good job in that
because we worked together and we worked for tomorrow. We
won the Cold War because we were strong and resolute and
because, eventually, people's hunger for freedom brought
down the Iron Curtain because we worked together and we
worked for tomorrow.
Now, if you look at what we have to do today in
this period of profound change -- I will say again, a
period of change as great as we have faced in 100 years --
we have to change the whole way our national government
works. It has to be smaller, it has to be less
bureaucratic. It has to be more oriented toward results
and releasing the energies of people and establishing
these kinds of partnerships, and less oriented just
telling people exactly what they have to do. (Applause.)
We have got to balance the federal budget. You
know, I say this to all the people who like government
programs that can promote education, as I do. This
country never had a permanent deficit in all of our
history until 1981. We had deficits when we needed them.
When the economy was slow, we'd spend a little more money
and juice it up. Then when the economy got good, we'd
balance the budget and clear our debts and go on.
or we'd borrow money when we wanted to invest
in something, just the way you borrow money if you start a
business or build a home or buy an automobile. But we
didn't borrow money just to go out to dinner at night. We
weren't borrowing money all the time until 1981. And
after having been a country now for 217 -- 19 years now,
almost 219 years, we quadrupled our debt in only 12 years.
That's bad for you and me. Our budget would be
balanced today if it weren't for the interest run up in
the 12 years before I became president. (Applause.) And
-- that we have to pay on that debt. It would be balanced
today. And next year -- unless we have real luck with the
interest rates -- next year interest on the debt will
exceed the defense budget.
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Now, that's not good. That's not a good thing.
Nobody in this audience -- I don't care if you're a
Democrat or a Republican or an independent or whatever
your politics are -- you don't want that little baby that
was held up to me in the audience a few moments ago to
grow up into a world where everybody pays taxes just to
pay interest on the debt. Nobody's got any money to
invest in this kind of project a generation from now. So
we have to do that.
We have to reassert the values that made this
country great, that helped us in the war and afterward.
We have to have policies and practices that strengthen our
families and our communities and that reward personal
responsibility. And above all, we have got to equip our
people to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Our parents built America and passed it on to
my generation. And we dare not let this time pass without
making sure that we have given the next generation a
chance to live the American Dream. (Applause.)
I will say again: There is nothing we have to
do at the national level as a people that we cannot do if
we follow the directions that you have laid out here --
common sense, common ground, higher ground. Think about
what we've got in common. Think about possibilities, not
problems. Believe in the future.
Colonel Hendrickson, who was once Fort Ord's
commander and is now the Vice President of Administration
for this fine institution, says -- and I quote -- "On the
same ground where we once taught 18-year-old soldiers to
fight and survive in a war environment, we are now
teaching 18-year-old students to compete and flourish in
the global economy." That's what you have done together,
and that's what America must do together. (Applause.)
I am proud of the contribution that your
national government could make. I think we owed it to
you, with the economic development grants, the
environmental clean-up, the help for the displaced
workers, the young AmeriCorps volunteers who were working
to help people here. I am proud of all that. (Applause.)
But that $240 million was an investment in your future
and you earned it. You contributed to our victory in the
Cold War. Your nation could not leave you out in the
cold. It was the right thing to do. But you made it
possible by all the things that you did here.
So I ask everybody who is cynical about
America's future to just look around. You want to know
what to do. You want to know how we ought to do our
business in Washington, how should we decide how to
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balance the budget. Look around. We ought to behave the
way you did. You couldn't run a family, a business, a
university, a church, a civic organization, you couldn't
run anything in this country the way people try to run
politics in Washington -- (laughter and applause) --
where talking is more important than doing; the night's
sound bite on the evening news, if you want to be on it,
you know you have to have conflict, not cooperation. If
you have cooperation, people will go to sleep, and you
won't get on the news. (Applause.) You have to
exaggerate every difference and make it 10 times bigger
than it is. And you have to be willing to sacrifice every
good in the moment for the next election. No one could
run anything that way.
So we have an obligation now to do what you do,
to do what you did here. The large buildings to my left
and right were battery headquarters for artillery units.
One is the library, the other is a multimedia center. I
don't know whether a Republican or a Democrat turned them
into that. I just know it's good for the country because
you're going to be better educated. That's the way we
ought to run the country. (Applause.)
The old airfield will become an airport for
business planes. And when people land and give their
numbers, they won't have to talk about politics, they'll
just be permitted to land and do their business. Not only
that, the golf courses, are going to be operated for the
public. (Applause.)
This is happening throughout California, you
know. And Alameda County, where I'm going later,
machinists who once welded Bradley fighting vehicles
together are now going to be building electric cars for
the 21st century. (Applause.)
Up in Sacramento, Packard Bell has already
hired almost 5,000 people, including 500 jobs they brought
back from overseas to assemble personal computers at a
former Army depot. We can do this, folks. (Applause.)
It's not complicated, it's just hard. (Applause.) It's
hard. It requires a lot of effort, but it's not
complicated.
All across America on this Labor Day, our
people are beginning to convert from the Cold War economy
to the new economy of the 21st century. And we are trying
to do what we can to help. We brought the deficit down
from $290 billion a year when I took office to $160
billion this year. Interest rates are down. (Applause.)
Trade and exports are up. (Applause.) Investment in
education and technology and research are all up. We've
got 7 million new jobs, 2.5 million new homeowners, 1.5
million new small businesses -- a record in this time
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period. (Applause.)
California lagged behind because California
rose so much on the economy of the Cold War. So when the
Cold War was over, you got hurt worse than other states.
Then you had to deal with earthquakes and fires and, you
know, God just wanted to test you and see how strong you
were. (Applause.). Leon's a Catholic -- he tells me it's
a character-builder. (Laughter.) He's advising me on
this every day.
But California is coming back. The
unemployment rate is down, but much more importantly,
people here are building for the long run. That's what
this is. This is a decision. This thing we celebrate
today is a decision that you made for yourselves, your
children and your grandchildren. It's a decision you made
for the 21st century. It's a decision you made by working
together to prepare for tomorrow. It's not very
complicated. That's what your country needs to do. And
that's what I'm determined that we will do. (Applause.)
Now, I want to emphasize one of our greatest
challenges on this Labor Day when we reward work. One of
our greatest challenges is that the global economy works
so differently from the economy we've lived in, that
everybody's work is no longer being rewarded.
If you had told me -- I thought I understood
this economy. I was a governor for a dozen years. I
worked on base closings and defense conversion, everything
like that, with committees like the one that made this
possible. I thought I really understood this economy.
But if you had told me on the day I became President that
in 30 months we'd have over seven million jobs, the stock
market would be at 4,700, corporate profits would be at a
record high, we'd have 2.5 million new homeowners, we'd
have the largest number of new small businesses recorded
in any two-year period since the end of World War II, but
the median wage would go down one percent, I wouldn't have
believed it. And most of you wouldn't either.
But technology is changing so fast -- so many
jobs are in competition in the global economy, and money
can move across national borders like that. And nothing
any person in public life can do will stop that -- that
the working people of this country that are bringing our
economy back have not gotten their fair share of our
prosperity. And that is our biggest challenge on this
Labor Day. (Applause.)
What is the answer? The answer, first of all,
is not to close our borders, it's to continue to expand
trade because trade-related jobs pay about 20 percent more
than jobs that have nothing to do with the global economy.
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We can't turn away from that. (Applause.) But we have
to for fair as well as free trade. And that's why I'm so
proud of the agreement we negotiated with the Japanese
over automobiles and auto parts. We want more trade, but
on terms that are fair to all Americans.
The other thing we have to do is to do more of
what you're doing. We must see that all of our young
people finish high school and that everybody -- everybody
-- has access to education after high school. We've got
to open the doors of college education to all Americans.
(Applause.)
Our administration has worked hard to make more
affordable college loans available to all the young people
in this country. Millions of people now can borrow money
to go to college at lower cost on better repayment terms.
We have worked hard to try to increase our investment in
education from Head Start through college.
I have two proposals now before the Congress in
our balanced budget plan that I pray will pass. One would
give American middle class people a tax deduction for the
cost of all education after high school -- (applause) --
without regard to the age of the people who get it.
(Applause.) The other would collapse about 70 different
government training programs into a big pot of money. And
whenever anybody is unemployed or underemployed or on
welfare, they could get a voucher worth $2,600 a year to
take to the nearest community education institution like
this one. (Applause.) Don't go through a program -- go
to your local institution. (Applause.) That's something
we could do to provide a G.I. Bill in our time for
America's working people. (Applause.) Those two things
would lift the incomes of the American people.
I also think we ought to raise the minimum
wage. (Applause.) Let me tell you, if we don't raise the
minimum wage this year, on January the 1st of next year,
our minimum wage in terms of what the money will buy will
be at a 40-year low. I want a high-wage, high-growth,
high-opportunity, not a hard-work, low-wage 21st century.
And I think you do, too. (Applause.) And that's what we
ought to do. (Applause.)
Now, I believe that the reason wages are
stagnant for so many people is that we haven't done enough
to educate our people. We haven't done enough to try to
raise the incomes of our people. The government can't do
all that, however. The people in the private sector have
a responsibility, too. The best American companies are
out there today sharing their profits with their workers
and making sure that they're well-treated. And all
American companies on this Labor Day should be challenged
to follow the example of the best American companies. The
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people of this country are our most important resource.
(Applause.)
In the next year or so, all of you are going to
have to decide what you think the answer to this wage
problem is. There are people who will tell you that the
answer to the -- the real reason middle class wages are
stagnant is that welfare people are taking all your tax
money away, or that we have too many immigrants, or that
affirmative action is destroying opportunities for the
middle class.
Well, let me tell you, in each of those areas,
we have problems. But that's not the real reason for the
middle class economic anxieties. We ought to move more
people from welfare to work because they'd be better off
and their kids would be better off and our country would
be stronger. But the welfare rolls are going down as the
job rolls go up. It's only five percent of our budget. I
want desperately to have more welfare reform. I've done
more in the last two years than was done in the previous
12 years to have more welfare reform. I have done more in
the last two years than was done in the previous 12 years
to move people from welfare to work. And I will continue
to do that. But if we want to raise wages of middle-class
people, we have to have good jobs, good educations, and a
competitive economic policy.
If you look at the immigration issue, there are
problems. We have too many illegal immigrants in the
country. We've done what we could to close the borders
and to send people back. But you know what? This is a
nation of immigrants. Most of us do not have ancestors
who were born here. (Applause.)
So I've tried to deal with this issue in a
responsible way. Former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, a
great American, headed a commission for us and said,
here's how you can relieve the problems of immigration in
America and still make us a nation of immigrants.
When I was in Hawaii -- let me just tell you
one story. When I was in Hawaii for the 50th anniversary
of World War II, the commission asked me if I would spend
the afternoon playing golf with six veterans of World War
II. And I did, and we just sort of lolled around. We
didn't even finish the round. We had the best time in the
world talking.
Let me tell you, one of those men was a
Japanese American who came to this country on his own as a
boy because he dreamed of coming to America. When the war
broke out, they put him in an internment camp. He still
volunteered to serve his country. By the grace of God,
the war ended about three days before he would have been
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on an island fighting against two of his own brothers who
were in uniform for Japan. When the bomb was dropped in
Japan, it injured his house, and his mother and his
youngest brother subsequently died of radiation poisoning.
There's not another country in the world that
could tell that story. Why? Because people from all over
the world wanted to be part of what is America. And we
should never forget that. We'll have times when we can
have higher immigration quotas and times when we should
have smaller ones because of the economy and how much it
takes to absorb people. But we should never, ever, ever
permit ourselves to get into a position where we forget
that almost everybody here came from somewhere else, and
that America is a set of ideas and values and convictions
that make us strong. (Applause.)
I feel the same way about this affirmative
action issue. I have lived with this for 20 years now.
And let me tell you, there are problems with the
affirmative action programs of the federal government.
I've already abolished one that I thought was excessive.
And I was glad to do it. And we're reforming a lot of
them. But let me tell you that we are a better, stronger
country because we have made a conscious effort to give
people without regard to their race or gender an
opportunity to live up to their God-given capacities.
(Applause.) We are a better, stronger country.
(Applause.)
I'm against quotas. I'm against reverse
discrimination. I'm against giving anybody unqualified
anything they're not qualified for. But I am for making a
conscious effort to bring the American people together.
If you doubt it, look at our military. We have
the best military in the world. Nobody doubts it.
(Applause.) It's the most successfully integrated
institution in the United States of America and nobody
unqualified gets anything. But there was a conscious
effort made to do that. Last year, a quarter of a million
new roles were open to American women in military services
and they're doing every one of them very well. And that's
just one example. (Applause.)
So I say to you, let's look at this -- let's
fix the problems in America, but let's do it with common
sense. Let's look for common ground. Let's do it the way
you built this great institution. Let's do it in a way
that will grow our economy.
So when we come back to Washington, we've got
some tough decisions to make. I've got a plan to balance
the budget. The Congress has two different plans in the
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House and Senate. We have to cut government spending.
I'm all for that. But we ought not to cut education. We
ought to increase our investment in education as we
balance the budget. (Applause.)
We ought to cut taxes, but we shouldn't cut
taxes so much and give such tax cuts to people who don't
need them that we have to cut Medicare and Medicaid and
hurt our obligations to the elderly people in this country
-- (applause) -- who depend upon them for health care.
(Applause.)
We ought to cut the size of government and we
ought to cut regulation. Let me tell you, we have already
reduced the size of your federal government by 150, 000
people. It will be reduced by 270,000 people if not
another law is passed by what's already been done. We
have reduced thousands of regulations. We ought to do
more of that. But we should not cripple the ability of
the American people through their government to assure
safe food, clean air, clean water and a decent
environment. Because we all have a stake in that.
(Applause.)
I want all of you to follow this very closely.
When I go back to Washington and the Congress takes up its
business, this will be no ordinary time. For the first
time, both parties are committed to balancing the federal
budget. The question is, how will we do it and what will
the priorities be. And that will determine what kind of
country we're going to be.
I believe we've got to work together and work
for tomorrow. I do not want any more of the politics of
partisan polarization. I believe the American people are
pretty much like all of you sitting around here today.
You are celebrating an incredible achievement that you
know is a good, right, decent thing. And you are here as
Americans.
Now, there will be plenty of things for us to
disagree on, but at this moment our national security in
the 21st century depends upon our agreeing to invest in
our people, and to grow our economy, and to pull our
country together as we balance this budget. So the
decisions made in the next 60 to 90 days will determine
what kind of country we're going to be into the 21st
century. And I ask every one of you, without regard to
your party or your philosophy, to implore your
representatives to reach for that common higher ground, to
work together and to work for tomorrow.
Just think about it. By Christmas, if we do
our job right, we could have passed a balanced budget,
provided for that tax deduction for education expenses,
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overhauled welfare, expanded educational opportunities,
strengthened instead of undermined health care security
and put our people on the road to raising their incomes as
they work harder.
We can do that. But we've got to do what you
did here. We have got to work together and we've got to
work for tomorrow. Wish us well. Insist on it and help
us get it done.
Thank you and God bless you all. (Applause.)
END
12:36 P.M. PDT
EITC Talking Points
0
The Republican budget proposal targets the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for $25 billion
in cuts. EITC is critical to helping low and moderate income people to stay off welfare and
remain at work.
The Congressional majority's proposal raises income taxes on as many as 14.4 million
working American families. These working Americans - about 12% of all taxpayers -
would face an average tax hike of $239 in 1996 alone.
The Clinton Administration believes it is important to balance the budget and has a plan to do
so. Our plan would accomplish this objective without raising taxes on those struggling to
work their way out of poverty or trying to stay in the middle class. We should not balance
the budget on the backs of hard working American families by raising their taxes.
The EITC supports working Americans with a tax credit which helps families stay off
welfare, go to work, get into and stay in the middle class. In 1996, the Administration's
EITC will reduce taxes, on average, by nearly $1,400 for over 20 million American workers
and their families who earn up to $28,500 a year.
The EITC furthers two key goals: First, the ETTC helps move families move from welfare to
work by making work pay. Second, together with the President's minimum wage, it rewards
work so parents who work full-time do not have to raise their children in poverty.
Social security taxes and various means-tested benefits create economic disincentives for
welfare recipients to move to work; for each additional dollar a worker earns, benefits decline
and payroll taxes increase. The EITC offsets these disincentives and rewards work. At the
lowest income levels, the EITC grows with each dollar of earnings; more work means more
working tax credits. The EITC is a welfare-to-work initiative with no bureaucracy.
The ETTC (and the minimum wage) helps ensure that families who work hard and play by
the rules do not have to raise their children in poverty or see their living standards decline
even further. In the last twenty years, payroll taxes have increased, the minimum wage has
declined to its lowest real value in 40 years, and income inequality has been growing.
The EITC, now in its 20th year, has long enjoyed bipartisan support. Presidents Reagan,
Bush and Clinton all expanded the credit. President Reagan called the EITC "The best anti-
poverty, the best pro-family, the best job creation measure to come out of Congress."
Under the Republican plan, over 2 million families in California alone - about 15% of
California taxpayers - would each face a tax increase averaging $245 in 1996 and $3,319
over seven years. The over one million California families with two more children would be
the hardest hit, with an average tax increase of $315 in 1996 alone.
Huge cuts in this working person's tax credit will have a punishing effect on families
struggling to stay even in our economy. Every dollar counts when it comes to raising a
family, and this plan would take money out of the pockets of working people. It will make it
harder for many to enter the workforce, force others onto welfare, and even push families out
of the middle class.
0
The Republican assault on the value of work is not limited to their tax hike on working
families; they are also opposing a real minimum wage; they're gutting education and training
to prepare American workers to compete and win in the global economy; they are
undermining workplace safety; their welfare reform proposals don't help families get off
welfare and into work.
Memorandum
To:
Gene Sperling
From:
Michael Barr
Republican efforts to raise taxes on working families by cutting the EITC will be an important part of
the budget debate this fall, for three reasons:
First, Republicans cuts in the EITC are a tax hike on over 14 million working families. The impact
is direct, and directly counter to the Republican's main tax cut message. Their tax breaks for the rich
are a perfect foil. And we can correctly charge them with pushing families out of the middle class.
Second, as the Republicans find their Medicare and Medicaid cuts harder to sustain, they will turn
next to the ETTC; in order effectively to pursue our Medicare strategy, we need to cut off the EITC
as an alternative place to look for budget savings, or our efforts on Medicare will be for naught.
Third, in their zeal to find money for their 7 year plan and tax cuts for the most affluent, Republicans
are abandoning the value of work, and of work over welfare. As you know, President Reagan called
the EITC "the best antipoverty, the best pro-family, the best job-creation measure to come out of the
Congress." The fight about EITC is also then a fight about the value of work.
Our ETTC efforts need to be escalated during recess and early September. The push on Medicare is
already bearing fruit, and there are now signs that Republicans are looking elsewhere for budget
savings to fill the likely significant shortfall in their plan. We have indications that even moderate
House members are seeking to triple the currently understood House cuts in ETTC.
Over the past month and a half, we have been explaining the EITC cuts to the press and interested
groups, and making the EITC an important part of Treasury's budget events. Secretary Rubin has
highlighted the EITC in press interviews, with remarkably strong results. Favorable press stories
have come out every week for the past month and a half. Now, we think a higher level of visibility
is needed in key markets. We believe that this can be accomplished without distracting from the
Medicare effort.
Secretary Rubin will focus on EITC on Labor Day. The White House (and others) should put limited
additional resources over recess into explaining the effects of the ETTC tax hikes in a handful of
high-participation, anti-tax, conservative states: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Oklahoma.
Almost a third of Mississippi taxpayers, a quarter of Louisiana, a fifth of Alabama, and over 16% of
Senator Nickles' Oklahomans taxpayers filed for the EITC in 1993. Later, we would suggest adding
in other high utilization, conservative states such as Texas, North and South Carolina, South Dakota,
or high utilization states such as Delaware (Roth). We would then add in high-utilization states, such
as Rhode Island (Chafee), Oregon (Packwood), New York (D'Amato).
Date: 09/14/95 Time: 15:04
House GOP Plans Cuts in Working-Poor Tax Credit, Corporate Breaks
WASHINGTON (AP) House tax-writers will consider legislation
next week trimming $30 billion over seven years from corporate tax
preferences and carving the earned-income tax credit for the
working poor by $23 billion.
The money would be used to reduce the budget deficit and extend
a parcel of expiring tax credits aimed at encouraging corporations
to conduct research, hire the hard-to-employ and reimburse
employees' tuition.
If approved by the Ways and Means Committee next week, the bill
would be folded into the massive deficit-reduction package expected
to reach the House floor later in the fall.
The tax measure, proposed by Rep. Bill Archer, R-Texas, chairman
of the Ways and Means Committee, is separate from the House-passed
$350 billion Contract With America'' tax cut, which includes a
$500-per-child tax credit and a 50 percent cut in capital-gains
taxes.
Earlier this year, Archer had resisted calls by Democrats and
even some Republicans, including Rep. John Kasich of Ohio, the
House Budget Committee chairman, to prune so-called corporate
welfare.
Archer objected to loophole closing, considering it a back-door
tax increase, but agreed to review existing preferences to see if
any had become outdated. He said he had come up with a list of
about two dozen revisions that would raise about $30 billion
through 2002.
I want to change business as usual by focusing on what I
believe are good public policies, Archer said.
Some of the loophole-narrowing provisions have been much
debated, such as a GOP version of a Clinton administration proposal
to tax wealthy people who renounce their citizenship to avoid
federal taxes.
Others had been previously announced but little noticed, such as
a bipartisan proposal to limit corporations' tax-favored stock
swaps.
Others have received little public debate but have been hotly
contested behind the scenes by lobbyists.
Among these, according to a source familiar with Archer's
proposal, is repeal of the Section 936 credit encouraging
manufacturers to operate in U.S. territories. Existing
beneficiaries, most of whom are pharmaceutical companies operating
in Puerto Rico, would continue to receive the credit for 10 years.
Also targeted are tax advantages for ethanol producers, large
family-owned corporate farms and producers of films and other
entertainment, the source said.
Meanwhile, Democratic aides said Republicans plan also to reduce
the earned-income credit by $23 billion over seven years. The GOP
plan would tighten anti-fraud enforcement, deny the credit to
childless persons and those with retirement income and eliminate it
for those now at the top of the eligibility range, they said in a
memo for Democratic Ways and Means members.
The credit was designed as an incentive for poor families to
continue working, rather than go on welfare.
APNP-09-14-95 1513EDT