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�THE
PRES~OENT
H.A.S SEEN
OI-11-0V
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO THE LITTLE ROCK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Statehouse Convention Center
Little Rock, Arkansas
December 10, 1999
Thank you. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you, Shelby; and thank you, Joe, for your 'leadership.
They've both been friends of mine for a long time~ and it's
good to see this Chamber so well led. And, thank you, Joe,
for your pledge of support.
Congratulations to Bob and Beverly on the well-deserved
award.
I'm delighted to be up .here with Dr. Reed and Jesse and
Janet, and to be here with all of you.
I thank Senator Pryor
and Congressman Snyder for joining me, and Mayor D~ey.
I
think our speaker, Bob Johnson, is here and I was accompanied
this morning by Secretary Riley, the Secretary of Education,
from Washington, and Rodney Slater, our Secretary of
Transportation.
I thank them for coming with me.
~l~ht\
I want to thank you for this award. Herschel ~zoadj was
a friend of mine.
I was sitting here, racing through my mind,
over all the things he asked me to do over the 12 years I was
Governor. All the times there was one more emergency at Oak~
~ Park, which he and I both had a vested interest in.
I don't know if Beth Friday is here, but I want to thank
them both for their friendship, and thank you for this award.
And, Beth, if you're here, I love you and I'm ~t_ ~:ze el!l.
Thank you.
}
I also want to thank the Philander Smith Choir. You know,
whenever I have to take a trip, I stay up late the night before
and I try to get all the work done that I might have done in the
office if I had stayed there.
I talked to Hillary last night
for the last time about 1:00 a.m. in the morning. She said to
tell you hello, ~$he's doing well and Chelsea's doing fine.
But, anyway, when I got up this morning I was a little
tired.
I walked in here and I heard the Philander Choir
singing, and I'm ready to speak now.
Let me say something I'm sure a lot of you know, but this
is my first opportunity to speak to the press today.
I want to
express my profound sadness for the crash of the c~130 that flew
�2
out of the Little Rock Air Force Base and crashed in Kuwait
last night -- 96 people were on board, three were killed, 21
were injured. They were trying to land in terrible, terrible
weather.
I thank them for their service, and I extend my
deepest condolences to the families of those who were lost.
We also lost a helicopter off the coast of San Diego
yesterday with 18 people aboard. Eleven were recovered safely;
we have not recovered the other seven, and our thoughts and
prayers are with them.
I say this just to make a simple point,
that you might mention the next time you see someone in uniform.
We do not have to be at war for that to be dangerous work. Most
people have no earthly idea how dangerous it is to fly those
fast planes and to fire those powerful weapons and to undergo
the rigorous training that they have to undergo.
We are richly repaid for that training. We didn't lose
a single pilot in combat in the action in Kosovo. But it is
inherently dangerous work. So when you see people from the
.air base, thank them for putting their lives on the line for
the rest of us every day.
Shelby mentioned a couple of times that I have worked very
closely with this Chamber for a long time.
I don't know how
many times I went to your old building trying to hustle some
business for the Greater Little Rock area, or deal with some
issue that was before us in common.
I. think you picked the
right theme.
There are big changes coming. And the pace of
change will only accelerate in the years ahead.
I love the
logo.
I asked Shelby who designed the logo, and he told me,
and congratulations to you.
I think that what I would like to do today is to talk a
little about the library and, first, a little about the last
seven years and the next 14 months that I have left to serve
as your President.
I want to begin by thanking the people of
Arkansas who gave me the chance to serve for a dozen years as
governor, without which I could never have become President;
who gave me the chance to learn over those dozen years what
makes things really work, which is very often not what dominates
the headlines, or the time and the energy and the emotions of
people in Washington.
I want to thank those who serve in this administration.
We have been so blessed.
I want to begin by mentioning Mack
McLarty, who came down with me today. He was my first Chief
of Staff; he oversaw the passage by a single vote in both Houses
of the '93 economic plan, which was the~i~~most important
thing that gave u~ this economic boom,
~of that
deficit, ~ dr~viW~llilte interest rates down an ~linvestment
up in this country. He also oversaw the passage of NAFTA, the
Brady Bill, the Family and Medical Leave law, and set in motion
�T~E
3
9RE3l DEN: HAS SC:EN
01-11-0'0
•
lA
a team that, according to one Harvard scholar
he s&±J~
~the most loyal Cabinet since Thomas Jefferson's second
administration. That is in no small measure because of the
leadership that Mack McLarty gave to the White House in those
early days. And I thank him for iS·~
~~qually, for his later work as our Special Envoy to
Latin America, where we have reestablished ties that had been
too long neglected uite •e tltetl'l:' : 1 t '11 li1;:e.
I want to thank Secretary Slater, who is here with me
today; James Lee Witt, the most popular FEMA Director in
the history of the country; Bob Nash; Bruce Lindsey; Nancy
Hernreich, who came down with me today; Mel French, our
Protocol Ambassador; Janice Kearney; Earl Willock, who came
with me today, the farmers' advocate in the Department of
Agriculture: Mike Gaines now runs the Federal Parole
Commission. My scheduler, Stephanie Streett. Carol Rasco,
my former Do~~~~ic Policy Advisor, now runs the National America
Reads program~~as over a thousand colleges in America with
young people volunteering to go into the grade schools and make
sure every child can read independently by the age of 8.
Brady Anderson from Helena -- a lot of you know him
is
now the Director of the Agency for International Development,
the most important agency in the federal government in dealing
with the poor countries of the world. Craig Smith was my
political director and had a number of other important jobs
in the White House. Hershel Gober, the Deputy Secretary of
Veterans Affairs. Young Kris Engskov from Berryville, is here
with me today.
I first met him when he was 4 years old. Now
he's my personal aide. So between Kris and Nancy, at least
Arkansas still runs most of my life.
There are literally scores of others I might mention from
our state who have come to Washington, who are never noted in
the press, but who serve with real distinction, and I am
grateful for them. And you should be proud of them.
Now, let me just take a minute to sort of walk back through
Memory Lane. October of 1991, when I declared for president on
the steps of the Old State House.
I did it because I became
convinced that there was a limit to what Arkansas could do
unless America changed direction. And because I really felt
that our country had an enormous potential to ~ake the most of
the~ big changes we' o e eeen : r 1 1 -a:,n~ a1nnt ~ '-l\J..I.U1I"Wl •
�4
But it was a time of economic distress, social decline,
deep political division and the whole enterprise of government
had been profoundly discredited.
It's almost impossible to
remember what it was like just a few short years ago.
I felt, based on what I ·had learned working with you,
that the country ought to work more like we tried to work.
Yes, we'd have our political differences, yes; we'd fight at
election time -- sometimes, we'd fight in between -- but that
we ought to have a unifying theory of the public's business.
And so I asked the American people to give me a chance, along
with Vice President Gore, to implement a vision of opportunity
for every responsible American, to challenge every citizen to be
responsible, and to build a community that involved all of our
people in a world where America was still the leading force for
peace and freedom and prosperity.
~.....
'
.
~e battled through the politics, we battled through a
whole flurry of special interests, we battled through our fair
share of mistakes, but we never forgot who we were working for
or what the mission was. And I hope that all of you, without
whom I would never have become President, can take some pride
in the results.
We have the longest peacetime expansion in our history.
In February, it will become the longest economic expansion ever,
including that which embraced World War II. We have the lowest
unemployment rate in 30 years, the lowest welfare rolls in
30 years, the lowest poverty rates in 20 years, the highest home
ownership in history. We have the lowest African American and
Hispanic unemployment rates ever recorded, the lowest female
unemployment rate in 40 years, the lowest poverty rate among
single-parent households in 46 years, the first back-to-back
balanced budgets and surpluses in 42 years, and the federal
government is now the smallest it's been in 37 years.
It
worked, and I thank you.
Along the way, the society got stronger. We have the
lowest crime rate in 25 years, and I might add the Brady Bill
background checks stopped 470,000 felons, fugitives and stalkers
who shouldn't have gotten handguns from buying them, and not a
single Arkansan missed a day in the deer woods because of it.
About 20 million people have taken advantage of the Family
and Medical Leave Law.
I meant to ask Secretary Riley and
_forgot to, how many millions, but as many millions of young
people are now getting the Hope Scholarship, the $1,500 tax
credit, which effectively makes community college available for
100 percent of the people in America today.
�5
Ninety percent of our kids are immunized against serious
childhood diseases.
In 1994, when the Vice President and I said
we wanted to connect all our classrooms and schools to the
Internet, three percent of our classrooms and 14 percent of our
schools had some Internet connection. Today, over 50 percent of
our classrooms and over 80 percent of our schools are connected.
And we'll be over 90 percent in the new millennium.
This is changing the nature of opportunity in America.
I
also know that something that's been very interesting here that
the Governor and others have been interested in in this state
is providing health insurance to children. There are 2 million
more children with health insurance under the Child Health
Insurance Partnership we formed with the states in the Balanced
Budget Act of 1997.
Something that's very important to Hillary -- in the last
budget, we provided funds to help the hospitals who are unduly
burdened by the Medicare cuts and provide special funds to train
young doctors at children's hospitals throughout America,
something that will really help the Arkansas Children's Hospital
here, and we're very proud of that.
While the economy got better, the air got cleaner, the
water got cleaner. We set aside more land in protected areas
than any administration in the entire history of the country
except those of Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt. And here's
something you might like to know that you deserve more credit
for -- the people do -- than our particular administration,
although we have accelerated it quite a bit.
The United States, in the production of the volume of waste
of all kinds, whether it's what you throw away in the garbage at
home or in industrial products, is at a 20-year low, even though
we have 50 million more people than we had 20 years ago. We are
the number one recycling nation in the entire world now, and you
can be proud of that.
We've also had 150,000 young people serve our communities
in AmeriCorps, like those I met just down the block from the
Governor's mansion when the terrible tornado whipped through
Little Rock not very long ago.
America has been able to be a force for peace and
prosperity in the world. We've had over 270 trade agreements.
We just saw another successful move in our long effort to bring
peace to Northern Ireland.
I announced a couple of days ago
that the Israelis and the Syrians would come back to the United
,States next week, after four long years of not talking, to try
�6
to finish the work of making a lasting peace in the Middle East.
That's a pretty good Christmas legacy to give, and I'm thrilled
about that. Thank you.
We have work to make our children safer from the kind of
problems that will dominate the 21st century:
the ethnic and
, racial cleansing, and religious cleansing, you saw in Bosnia and
Kosovo; the presence of terrorism; and the threat of weapons of
mass destruction. And· I can say to you today, after seven
years, I am grateful that I've had the chance to serve.
I am
more convinced than I was when I went there that we have the
right mission with the right ideas. And I am absolutely
convinced that I never would have been able to do what I have
done to play my part in this remarkable renaissance if I hadn't
had the dozen years I had working with all of you as governor.
And I thank you for that.
Now, I'd also like to say that I get a little nervous when
I get awards. Normally, I don't think Presidents should get
awards, at least when they're alive.
I mean, the job is honor
enough. Although, I must say, I like this one.
I'm going to
put it up in the White House. But I think it's important to
remember that a significant chunk of the time that I have been
given to serve is still out there.
They said we wouldn't get anything done this year, and at
the end of the budget session we had 100,000 more teachers to
bring smaller classes to the early grades; we had 50,000 more
police to keep the crime rate coming down; we had 60,000 housing
vouchers to help people move from welfare to work and find a
place to live, to keep the welfare rolls coming down. We
doubled the amount of funds for after-school programs, something
that's really important to increase learning and keep our kids
off the street when they may not have any adult supervision.
For the first time I got the Congress to give me some money
to give states to identify schools that are failing, and turn
them around or shut them down -- something I think is very
important.
There are a lot of things I tried to do I didn't pass -the patients' bill of rights, the minimum wage, the hate crimes
I'll try to get them
legislation, aid for school construction.
next year.
�7
I think Arkansas has done well in these last seven years.
You know, the whole time I was governor, we went throtigh that
terrible time in the '80s when we had a bicoastal economy and
the country looked like it was doing well, but the middle of
the country wasn't. And then we had the recession that
everybody suffered through. tt\511; 11 ~~Igl!
t'a -- I had one
month the whole time I was governor, until 1992 when I ran for
President -- only one month when our unemployment rate was
below the national average.
Then it got down below the national
average in 1992 because I think of the accumulated efforts that
a lot of us made over many years.
In 1992, we ranked first or
second -- I never saw the final figures -- in job growth in the
entire country.·
But the unemployment rate was
office, and it's 4.3 percent today
ways, I think you've done well.
I
things, but I'd like to talk about
6.7 percent when I took
here. And in many other
could mention some specific
the general things.
The average Arkansas family now has $25,000 less federal
debt than you would have had if we hadn't passed the economic
plan in '93 and the Balanced Budget Act in '97. The average
family in this state and throughout the country, paying a home
mortgage, has interest costs that are about $2,000 a year lower.
The average car payment or college loan payment is about $200 a
year lower.
This has made a difference in real people's lives.
And as I look at the next 14 months, and as you as citizens
look at the coming election season, I just want to ask you,
without regard to your party, to think about this: What are we
going to do with our prosperity?
Over Thanksgiving, Hillary and I gathered up everybody in
our far-flung families we could, we brought them all in and then
after Thanksgiving we had some more friends come in to Camp
David and had a bunch of little kids there -- I just love having
them all around, my two nephews and a bunch of other little
kids. And this six-year-old girl looked at me -- on Saturday
after Thanksgiving -- she looked at me and she said, now, Mr.
President, how old are you really? And I said, I'm 53. And she
said, that's a lot. And, regrettably, I had to agree with her.
Here's what I want to say about that.
In my lifetime, in
those 53 years, there has never been another time, not one, when
our country had this level of economic prosperity, this level of
social progress, this level of national self-confidence, with
the absence of a crisis at home or a threat from abroad.
Never.
�8
Now, a lot of us who are old enough to remember the 1960s,
remember how good the economy was in the early '60s in the
country, and.how it was torn apart because of our inability to
fully integrate the civil rights challenge at home and deal with
Vietnam abroad.
This has never happened before.
So the question before us is, what are we going to do with
it? And as a citizen, I care about that -- and as a President.
I think there is a heavy responsibility on us, not just the
President and the Congress, and not just people in government,
but the whole country. We have never had this happen. And you
know as well as I do that nothing lasts forever.
It keeps you
going through the tough times, but it's important to remember in
the good times.
Here we are, on the edge of a new millennium with the first
opportunity in our lifetime as a country to really shape the
future of our dreams for our children. And I hope and pray
that I can devote every waking minute of the last 14 months of
my presidency, and that the American people will devote their
energies and concentration in their own lives and their vote
as citizens, to making a decision based on shouldering the
responsibility to shape that future for our children. And
that means big changes.
What are they? I'll just mention three or four, and end
with what I'm going to do when I leave you today. Number one,
we've got to deal with the aging of America. The number of
people over 65 is going to double in the next 30 years.
I hope
to be one of them.
It's going to double in the next 30 years.
There will be two people working for every one person drawing
Social Security. The Social Security trust fund is projected
to run out of money in 2034.
The Medicare trust fund, when I took office, is scheduled
to run out of money this year. We've pushed it back to 2015
now.
We've got to do something about this. Now, let me say _
there is a big difference of opinion about whether -- between
the two parties about whether Social Security should have
individual accounts, and if so, how should they be designed and
should we partially or completely privatize the system, and most
Republicans think we should do some·of that, and most Democrats
think we shouldn't.
But iet me just tell you one little simple thing:
If we
took the interest savings we have from paying down the national
debt because we're not spending the Social Security surplus
anymore -- if we just took the interest savings and put it back
in the trust fund, we could put that trust fund out to 2050,
which would take.us out beyond the life expectancy of almost
100 percent of the baby boomers, after which the demographics
start to get better again.
�9
Now, we've got the money to do that now. We don't have
to raise your taxes, we don't have to stop spending money on
anything else, we don't have to do anything.
It'll never be
this easy again. And, believe me, it hasn't been this easy for
our predecessors, and we ought to do this.
On Medicare, we ought to make some structural reforms that
will put some more life into the Medicare trust fund, take it
out over 20 years. We ought to let people over 55 and under 65
buy into it.
It doesn't cost the Treasury any money, and you
know, there's tons of people in this country who retire at 55
now, and then something happens to them and they're not covered
by a health insurance policy at work anymore, and they can't get
any health insurance.
It's a huge problem.
And we ought to provide a volunteer prescription drug
benefit, because 75 percent of the seniors in this country
cannot afford the drug regime their doctors say they need.
think we ought to do that.
So I
Now, number two, we ought to recognize that more and more
parents are working and do more to help balance work and family.
I gave the states the~option to use their workers' compensation
and their unemployment compensation funds if they wanted to, to
experiment with paid family leave. There are lots of other
things that can be.done, but you know, only 10 percent of the
people in the country eligible for federal assistance for child
care are getting it, and I've increased child care funding by
70 percent. And a lot of people go to work every day, really
worrying about whether their kids are in quality child care
facilities.
And it's a big problem.
The Family and Medical Leave law has been a godsend, but I
think we ought to broaden it some. And of course, we have to be
sensitive not to hurt the economy. But if you want people to
succeed at work, they can't be eaten up inside worrying about
their kids and whether they're all right.
If you have to make a choice, we lose before we start.
Because the most important job of any society is raising
children.
It is still the most important job of any society,
including ours, and we forget that at our peril. So we've got
to find a way, since all parents either want to work or have to
work, just about, at least the majority, we've got to find the
way to balance these things better.
The third thing we have to do, I think, is to work even
harder to give every child a world-class education.
We have the
largest and most diverse student body in history -- the first
time in the last two years we've got a student body bigger than
the baby boom generation. And they are going to do great if we
�10
give them the tools to do it.
I don't want to keep you here all
morning, and you know how I like to pontificate about education,
so I won't do that. But you need to make that a factor in your
decisions, just as I make it a factor in mine.
The next thing we need to do is to find better ways to
balance the preservation of the economy and the preservation
of the environment. A big thing has happened in the last five
to 10 years that most people don't believe has happened.
It
is now possible to grow the economy and reduce the emissions of
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. That's a fancy way of
saying you don't necessarily have to burn more coal and oil and
put it out in the atmosphere to get rich. Most people don't
believe it, but it's true.
The Agriculture Department had a seminar the other day on
biomass fuels, ethanol being the most prominent one now.
Right
now, it's a problem.
It takes seven gallons of gasoline to make
eight gallons of ethanol, so the conversion ratio is ·not too
good.
They're very, very close to coming up with the technology
to make eight gallons of ethanol with one gallon of gasoline.
When that happens, it will change the future of America.
In the next year or so, you're going to be able to buy cars
that.get 70 to 80 miles a gallon with fuel injection engines,
some that are blended. They start off on electricity, then go
to gasoline, then go back to electricity, and it's just the
beginning.
You can get windows in houses now that keep out five
times as much heat or cold and let in five times as much light.
You can buy lamps that, just in the life of the lamp, will save
one ton of greenhouse gas emissions.
With the changes in the White House we have made in the
last six years, just in the White House, we've taken the
equivalent of 700 cars off the highways. This is a big deal,
and it is not a question of -- in the popular vernacular,
hugging trees or growing the economy-- it's a question of how
to do the self-interested thing, which is to improve the
environment and the economy at the same time, and I predict to
you it will be a major, major focus of -the next 20 years.
The last thing I'd like to mention very briefly is this
because it really applies to Arkansas: we have to find a way
to keep the economy going and then to bring the benefits of the
economy to the people in places who haven't been a part of this
prosperity. And I just want to mentio'n three things.
Number
one, first things first -- we've got to keep paying down this
debt.
If we stay on the track we're on now -- if we stay on the
track we're on now -- just on the budget path that came out of
this last budget session, this country will be out of debt in
15 years for the first time since 1835.
�11
Now, what does that mean? What does that mean? Well,
let's take AllTel -- doing reasonably well. We passed the
Telecommunications Act.
It's led already to hundreds of
thousands of high-wage jobs at great, high-tech companies.
If the country's out of debt and we're not borrowing money,
that means there's more money for everybody else to borrow.
That means lower interest rates for business loans; faster
expansion; more jobs; higher incomes.
It means the average
family pays less for home mortgages and car payments and college
loans.
This is a big deal.
It's a progressive thing to do.
The second thing we ought to do is work through, and keep
working at it until we reach a national consensus on this trade
issue.
If you watched the so-called battle in Seattle, you know
that I said I understood why some of the people in the streets
wanted to make sure the concerns of working people and the
environment were taken account of in trade. But I think they're
dead wrong to believe that you can walk away from trade.
Let me tell you, this country 1s better off today because
for 50 years we have worked harder and harder and harder to
integrate the global economy. And, yes, if we buy stuff that's
made somewhere else, it's very sensitive in Arkansas, because we
were -- 50 years ago our per capita income was only 56 percent
of the national average.
So we had a lot of low-wage workers.
And, sure, if we buy stuff made somewhere else, where people
don't have the incomes we do, it puts more pressure on our lowwage workers. But it also creates a lot more high-wage jobs.
And the answer is to give everybody lifetime training, and
to have the kind of environment where you can get the kind of
investments to give good jobs to everybody. But we are better
off both economically and in terms of our security because, for
50 years, we have continued to expand trade.
And if you don't believe it, just look at all the places in
the world that are in trouble. You know that problem we've had
in Bosnia and Kosovo I had to send the military to solve -- do
you seriously believe we would have had to go to war in the
Balkans if their per capita income were not the lowest in
Europe? If it were the highest in Europe, would they be
fooling around with each other, would they care whether they
were Muslims or Orthodox Christians or Roman Catholics? If they
were all well-educated and they were used to working together,
and they had more in common than driving them apart?
Or in the Middle East, one of the problems is the abject
poverty of the Palestinians. And one of the problems for the
Israelis is the limits on their growth because they've got to
-spend so much on defense.
If we were in better shape there
�12
economically and everybody were more integrated, don't you think
we'd be closer to peace? Do you think people would still be
fighting there?
And I'm very proud of the role that I played in the Irish
peace process, and the role America played, and the role George
Mitchell played.
But let me tell you something. One big reason
they made peace in Ireland is that the Republic of Ireland had
the fastest-growing economy in Europe. A lot of American
companies were shipping data processing -- raw files to be
processed -- over to Northern Ireland every day and flying
them back, and all these kids were growing up saying, hey,
that's the future we want; we've got to let this other stuff go.
So we have got to -- you've got to help me on this. As
Americans, we have got to form a new consensus between business
and labor and the environmental community and everybody else
that allows us to continue to expand trade. And we ought to
put China in the World Trade Organization.
It's good for our
farmers, good for our manufacturers, good for our investors,
and it will make a safer world for our children and our
grandchildren.
It's a big deal. And I hope you will help me
do that as well.
Finally, we ought to give people the same incentives to
invest in poor areas in America like the Arkansas Delta we give
~hem to invest in poor areas in Latin America, or Asia, or
Africa. And I'm very proud of the fact that this Congress
supported my position to relieve the debt of the world's
poorest nations.
I want Americans to invest in poor countries.
I believe if you lift people out of poverty you minimize their
profound and primitive racial and ethnic and religious hatreds,
and you give them something to live for and look forward to when
they get up in the morning. But our people deserve the same
thing.
Let me ask you this, again -- if we don't do this now, if
we can't bring more entrepreneurs and more investment and more
jobs to the poorest counties in this state, and in our
neighboring states, and in Appalachia, and in Upstate New York
and rural New England, which is pretty depressed, or on the
Indian reservations -- the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in
South Dakota, the unemployment today is 73 percent. And if we
can't figure out something to do about this now, when in the
world will we ever get around to it?·
And when I leave you I'm going over to West Memphis and to
Earle and announce that I'm going to propose in my new budget
more than $110 million to create a Delta Regional Authority.
�13
This will be new investment to fund a bill sponsored by Senator
Blanche Lambert Lincoln and Representative Marion Berry,
supported by Congressman Snyder and the entire Arkansas
delegation.
I think we'll have big bipartisan support for this.
We've got to do something about this.
I headed that Delta Commission more than a decade ago.
Maybe the time wasn't right; maybe the economy was too tough.
We're in good shape now.
If we can't bring opportunity to these
people in our state and nation -- I'm telling you I've been
there.
People are dying to go to work. And intelligence is
evenly distributed; education is not, but intelligence is. We
can get this done now. And I ask for your support for that.
Now, because I believe this is a time of big changes, to
use your theme, and because I believe these big questions can't
possibly be resolved, when I come·home to build the library and
my policy center, I want to deal with a lot of these big
questions: How do you close the digital divide and use these
high-tech advances to benefit every America? How do you create
good jobs and a clean environment? How do you leave behind the
ethnic and religious hatreds, the other kind of hatred that is
manifested in hate crimes in America and the tribal slaughters
in Africa and all the wars in between? How do you create
genuine economic opportunity and empowerment for people who
have been poor a very long time?
'
These are the questions, the kinds of questions that I
intend to work on down to the last hour of the last day of my
presidency, and the kind of questions that will be central to
me when I come home to build the library and the policy center.
I'd like to begin by just thanking all of you who have
supported this.
I thank the Mayor, the City Board of Directors
and staff, and I'm sorry for the heat you've taken, but it will
be a good investment.
I thank Paul Harvel and the Greater
Little Rock Chamber.
I thank Shelby and Joe and the Downtown
Partnership.
I thank Dr. Alan Sugg and the university system.
I thank Skip Rutherford for being my.point person down here -all of you who. pave worked on this.
From the day I was elected President, I was determined
that when it was over, I would try to use this library and
policy center not only to continue my own interests and
passions, but to give something back to this state and this
community that have given so much to me. Like I said over and
over again, if it hadn't been for you, I never would have had
the chance to serve. And if it hadn't been for the experiences
you gave me and the lessons I learned, I wouldn't have been
prepared to serve at this moment in our history.
�------------~--------
THE PRES!OENT HAS :;EEN
ol 't1--oo
14
So I want to make some dreams come true here in Little
Rock.
This library can be an energizing force in the life of
the city and the broader community.
It will attract people
from all across the nation and all across the world.
Lots of
visitors and lots of people from business and labor and the
nonprofit groups in government and journalism.
j
It can play an important role in the growth and development
of Greater Little Rock and all of Central Arkansas.
I am
determined that it will be, first, a beautiful place.
The
site is wonderful, and so will the building be.
It will be
architecturally important, and it will be state of the art,
environmentally and technologically.
I've talked to Dr. Sugg and the university about starting
a graduate program in public policy. That's what they want to
do -- to prepare more of our young people for careers in public
service. And I also want to develop partnerships with
corporations all across America to bring their young executives
here, to get them to agree to let their young people take a
little time off to be in public service without being prejudiced
in their rise up the corporate hierarchy.
Let me tell you -- there is a program called the White
House Fellowships -- you may know about it -- and we just give
a few every year, enough for all the Cabinet Secretaries and one
for me, one for a couple of other people iri the White House.
Hundreds of people apply for them. Hundreds. And hundreds get
turned down who would be about as good as the handful, the less
than 20 we select every year. And so I got this idea.
Now, I realized how dependent we were on the White House
Fellows, what fabulous ~ork they did, what great ideas they
gave. And think of it -- if every company of any size would
establish a policy that every year, one or two or three people,
depending on the size of the company, would take a year off to
serve in state government, to serve in local government, to
serve in the federal government, in Washington ·or at the
regional level, to have the experience of government and then
come back to the company and continue thl~ career~ we could
change the nature of government, the quality of the ideas,
the.quality of the work, and the quality of.the partnership.
And we could end a lot of the kinds of battles that we'\·
seen here over too many dec~des. So this is one of the thine
that I hope we can do, thanks to Dr. Sugg and his leadership
the education issue.
---------------------------
J
j
j
j
j
I
I
�.•
THE PRESIDENT HAS SEEN
Dl . . l11:ro
15
I want to try to find some ways to--~~~~~r<~~~~
to help to bridge the racial and other divides in our
society and throughout the world.
I want to bring here people
from Northern ~and and the Middle~r~and Bosnia and Kosovo.
~ant pee~J.9 ~9€ members of e-J.si8ofl~l!!ll!?@>8t. African tribes.
I'll never forget being in Rwanda after they killed over threequarters of~illion people in 100 days with machetes in a
tribal war,~ R~anda had been a coherent country for about
500 years.
~
~alked
to a woman, a beautiful woman • 4IiHdiy zrfid" I
all dressed up in her fine
native dress.A
listened to this wonderful woman, who was
still t- young \J8RII&fi, talk I
liV about how her neighbors had
turned her in as a member of the other ethnic group, along with
her husband .and her six children, and how they had come after
them with these machetes, and how she was convinced she was
going to die. And she woke up covered in blood, and saw her
husband and her six children dead around her, all because they
were from another tribe. ~1rhat would be enough to break most
of us, but this woman was devoting her life to trying to help
other people let it go and get beyond it.
~9 e:M: 1 i ng ~S:: :alkin~ tis her
We could, in this state, in this place, become a beacon
of hope for those kinds of people. We could train people ln
societies whera these problems exist to get rid of them.
I think it is truly amazing at a time when we're talking
about uncovering the mysteries of the human genome, when'a lot
of my friends in the profession believe that sometime early in
the next century newborn babies will come home from the hospital
with a life expectancy of 100 years, when we'll probably find
out what's in the black holes in the universe attd we I4ta lc~
7
abc IT!!
s if tAn •'e:'llff 1 1'"'
l;to~
that the biggest problem of
society is the oldest one: we're still scared of people
~are different from us .. And we've got to find a way to let
it go.
q~~
I want to do more on education.
I want to do more on all
these issues I mentioned.
I also want this library to be a
great place of history, and I want to make it interactive,
especially for our children, with the latest technologies..
I
want to help our children and our grandchildren understand the
times and the forces that took me to the White House and that I
tried to shape and move forward. And then I want them to
understand how that relates to tomorrow.
I want this to be a museum, but not a mausoleum.
I want it
to be a place with a lot of touch.and involvement and learning.
I want to give our young people a window on the new millennium.
And I want them to believe when they walk out of there, based on
the story of my life and the people we tried to help, that every
one of them also has a chance to make their own history.
�16
:
These are the things I want to do with the library here in
Little Rock, not only to glimpse the future, but to shape it and
share it with our neighbors and our families.
So I say to all of you, again, thanks for helping me get
here; thanks for giving us a great seven years, and thanks for
your support of the future.
But remember, the most important
thing of all is that your theme is right -- big changes are
coming.
It's the only time in our lifetimes we've ever had a
chance to make the most of them, and we'd better do it.
Thank you very much.
�Margaret M. Suntum
12/10/99 01:09:59 PM
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Subject: remarks of the President to Little Rock Chamber of Commerce
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Little Rock, Arkansas)
December 10, 1999
For Immediate Release
RE MARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO THE LITTLE ROCK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Statehouse Convention Center
Little Rock, Arkansas
10:15 A.M. CST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you,
Shelby; and thank you, Joe, for your leadership. They've both been friends of mine for a long time, and
it's good to see this Chamber so well led. And, thank you, Joe, for your pledge of support.
Congratulations to Bob and Beverly on the well-deserved award. I'm delighted to be up here with
Dr. Reed and Jesse and Janet, and to be here with all of you. I thank Senator Pryor and Congressman
Snyder for joining me, and Mayor Daley. I think our speaker, Bob Johnson, is here and I was
accompanied this morning by Secretary Riley, the Secretary of Education, from Washington, and Rodney
Slater, our Secretary of Transportation. I thank them for coming with me.
I want to thank you for this award. Herschel Proddy was a friend of mine. I was sitting here,
racing through my mind, over all the things he asked me to do over the 12 years I was Governor. All the
times there was one more emergency at Oak Lawn Park, which he and I both had a vested interest in.
I don't know if Beth Friday is here, but I want to thank them both for their friendship, and thank you
for this award. And, Beth, if you're here, I love you and I'm glad to see you. (Applause.) Thank you.
I also want to thank the Philander Smith Choir. You know, whenever I have to take a trip, I stay
�up late the night before and I try to get all the work done that I might have done in the office if I had stayed
there. I talked to Hillary last night for the last time about 1:00 a.m .. in the morning. She said to tell you
hello, and she's doing well and Chelsea's doing fine.
But, anyway, when I got up this morning I was a little tired. I walked in here and I heard the
Philander Choir singing, and I'm ready to speak now. (Laughter.)
Let me say something I'm sure a lot of you know, but this is my first opportunity to speak to the
press today. I want to express my profound sadness for the crash of the C-130 that flew out of the Little
Rock Air Force Base, crashed in Kuwait last night with-- 96 people were on board, three were killed, 21
were injured. They were trying to land in terrible, terrible weather. And I thank them for their service, and
I extend my deepest condolences to the families of those who were lost.
We also lost a helicopter off the coast of San Diego yesterday with 18 people aboard. Eleven
were recovered safely; we have not recovered the other seven, and our thoughts and prayers are with
them. I say this just to make a simple point, that you might mention the next time you see someone in
uniform. We do not have to be at war for that to be
dangerous work. Most people
have no earthly idea how dangerous it is to fly those fast planes and to fire those powerful weapons and to
undergo the rigorous training that they have to undergo.
We are richly repaid for it. We didn't lose a single pilot in combat in the action in Kosovo. But it is
inherently dangerous work. So when you see some people from the air base, thank them for putting their
lives on the line for the rest of us every day. (Applause.)
Shelby mentioned a couple of times that I have·worked very closely with this Chamber for .a long
time. I don't know how many times I went to your old building trying to hustle some business for the
Greater Little Rock area, or deal with some issue that was before us in common. I think you picked the
right changes --there are big -- I mean, the right theme. There are big c;hanges coming. And the pace of
change will only accelerate in the years ahead. I love the logo. I asked Shelby who designed the logo,
and he told me, and congratulations to you.
I think that what I would like to do today is to talk a little about the library and, first, a little about
the last seven years and the next 14 months that I have left to serve as your President. I w·ant to begin by
thanking the people of Arkansas who gave me the chance to serve for a dozen years as governor, without
which I could never have become President; who gave me the chance to learn over those dozen years
what makes things really work, which is very often not what dominates the headline, the time and the
energy and the emotions of people in Washington.
I want to thank those who serve in this administration. We have been so blessed. I want to begin
by mentioning Mack Mclarty, who came down with me today. He was my first Chief of Staff; he oversaw
the passage by a single vote in both Houses of the '93 economic plan, which was the single most
important thing that gave us this economic boom, that got rid of that deficit, that drove the interest rates
down and got investment up in this country. He also oversaw the passage of NAFTA, the Brady Bill, the
Family and Medical Leave law, and set in motion a teamwork that, according to one Harvard scholar, he
said I had the most loyal Cabinet since Thomas Jefferson's second administration. That is in no small
measure because of the leadership that Mack Mclarty gave to the White House in those early days. And
I thank him for it. (Applause.)
And equally, for his later work as our Special Envoy to Latin America, where we have
reestablished ties that had been too long neglected with so many countries.
I want to thank Secretary Slater, who is here with me today; James Lee Witt, the most popular
FEMA Director in the history of the country; Bob Nash; Bruce Lindsey; Nancy Hernreich, who came down
with me today; Mel French, our Protocol Ambassador; Janice Kearney; Carl Whillock, who came with me
�today, the farmers' advocate in the Department of Agriculture. Mike Gaines now runs the Federal Parole
Commission. My scheduler, Stephanie Streett. Carol Rasco, my former Domestic Policy Advisor, now
runs the National America Reads program, has over a thousand colleges in America with young people
volunteering to go into the grade schools and make sure every child can read independently by the age of
8.
Brady Anderson from Helena -- a lot of you know him -- is now the Director of the Agency for
International Development, the most important agency in the federal government in dealing with the poor
countries of the world. Craig Smith was my political director and had a number of other important jobs in
the White House -- probably the -- political person to work with us from any state. Hershel Gober, the
Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Young Kris Engskov from Berryville, is here with me today. I first
met him when he was 4 years old. Now he's my personal aide. So between Kris and Nancy, at least
Arkansas still runs most of my life.
There are literally scores of others I might mention from out state who have come to Washington,
who are never noted in the press, but who serve with real distinction, and I am grateful for them. And you
should be proud of them.
Now, let me just take a minute to sort of walk back through Memory Lane. October of 1991, when
I declared for president on the steps of the Old State House. I did it because I became convinced that
there was a limit to what Arkansas could do unless America changed direction. And because I really felt
that our country had ari enormous potential to make the most of these big changes we've been talking
about.
But it was a time of economic distress, social decline, deep political division and the whole
enterprise of government had been profoundly discredited. It's almost impossible to remember what it
was like just a few short years ago.
I felt, based on what I had learned working with you, that the country ought to work more like we
tried to work. Yes, we'd have our political differences, yes, we'd fight at election time-- sometimes, we'd
fight in between -- but that we ought to have a unifying theory of the public's business. And so I asked the
American people to give me a chance, along with Vice President Gore, to implement a vision of
opportunity for every responsible American, to challenge every citizen to be responsible, and to build a
community that involved all of our people in a world where America was still the leading force for peace
and freedom and prosperity.
And we battled through the politics, we battled through a whole flurry of special interests, we
battled through our fair share of mistakes, but we never forgot who we were working for or what the
mission was. And I hope that all of you, without whom I would never have become President, can take
some pride in the results.
We have the longest peacetime expansion in our history. In February, it will become the longest
economic expansion ever, including that which embraced World War II. We have the lowest
unemployment rate in 30 years, the lowest welfare rolls in 30 years, the lowest poverty rates in 20 years,
the highest home ownership in history. We have the lowest African American and Hispanic
unemployment rates ever recorded, the lowest female unemployment rate in 40 years, the lowest poverty
rate among single-parent households in 46 years, the first back-to-back balanced budgets and surpluses
in 42 years, and the federal government is now the smallest it's been in 37 years. It worked, and I thank
you. (Applause.)
Along the way, the society got stronger. We have the lowest crime rate in 25 years, and I might
add the Brady Bill background checks stopped 470,000 felons, fugitives and stalkers who shouldn't have
gotten handguns from buying them, and not a single Arkansan missed a day in the deer woods because
of it. (Applause.)
�About 20 million people have taken advantage of the Family and Medical Leave Law. I meant to
ask Secretary Riley and forgot to, how many millions, but as many millions of young people are now
getting the Hope Scholarship, the $1,500 tax credit, which effectively makes community college available
for 100 percent of the people in America today.
Ninety percent of our kids are immunized against serious childhood diseases. In 1994, when the
Vice President and I said we wanted to connect all our classrooms and schools to the Internet, three
percent of our classrooms and 14 percent of our schools had some Internet connection. Today, over 50
percent of our classrooms and over 80 percent of our schools are connected. And we'll be over 90
percent in the new millennium.
This is changing the nature of opportunity in America. I also know that something that's been very
interesting here that the Governor and others have been interested in this state is providing health
insurance to children. There are 2 million more children with health insurance under the Child Health
Insurance Partnership we formed with the states in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.
Something that's very important to Hillary-- in the last budget, we provided funds to help the
hospitals who are unduly burdened by the Medicare cuts and provide special funds to train young doctors
at children's hospitals throughout America, something that will really help the Arkansas Children's Hospital
here, and we're very proud of that.
While the economy got better, the air got cleaner, the water got cleaner. We set aside more land
in protected areas than any administration in the entire history of the country except those of Franklin and
Theodore Roosevelt. And here's something you might like to know that you deserve more credit for, the
people do, than our particular administration, although we have accelerated it quite a bit.
The United States, in the production of the volume of waste of all kinds, whether it's what you
throw away in the garbage at home or in industrial prospects, is at a 20-year low, even though we have 50
million more people than we had 20 years ago. We are the number one recycling nation in the entire
world now, and you can be proud of that.
We've also had 150,000 young people serve our communities in AmeriCorps, like those I met just
down the block from the Governor's mansion when the terrible tornado whipped through Little Rock not
very long ago.
America has been able to be a force for peace and prosperity in the world. We've had over 270
trade agreements. We just saw another successful move in our long efforts to bring peace to Northern
Ireland. I announce a couple of days ago that the Israelis and the Syrians would come back to the United
States next week, after four long years of not talking, to try to finish the work of making a lasting peace in
the Middle East. That's a pretty good Christmas legacy to give, and I'm thrilled about that. (Applause.)
Thank you.
We have work to make our children safer from the kind of problems that will dominate the 21st
century, the ethnic and racial cleansing, and religious cleansing you saw in Bosnia and Kosovo; the
presence of terrorism and the threat of weapons of mass destruction. And I can say to you today, after
seven years, I am grateful that I've had the chance to serve. I am more convinced than I was when I went
there that we have the right mission with the right ideas. And I am absolutely convinced that I never
would have been able to do what I have done to play my part in this remarkable renaissance if I hadn't
had the dozen years I had working with all of you as governor. And I thank you for that. (Applause.)
Now, I'd also like to say that I get a little nervous when I get awards. Normally, I don't think
Presidents should get awards, at least when they're alive. (Laughter.) I mean, the job is honor enough.
Although, I must say, I like this one. I'm going to put it up in the White House. But I think it's important to
�remember that a significant chunk of the time that I have been given to serve is still out there.
They said we wouldn't get anything done this year, and at the end of the budget session we had
100,000 more teachers to bring smaller classes to the early grades; we had 50,000 more police to keep
the crime rate coming down; we had 60,000 housing vouchers to help people move from welfare to work
and find a place to live, to keep the welfare rolls coming down. We doubled the amount of funds for
after-school programs, something that's really important to increase learning and keep our kids off the
street when they may not have many adult supervision.
For the first time I got the Congress to give me some money to give states to identify schools that
are failing, and turn them around or shut them down, something I think is very important. (Applause.)
There are a lot of things I tried to do I didn't pass -- the patients' bill of rights, the minimum wage,
the hate crimes legislation, aid for school construction. I'll try to get them next year.
I think Arkansas has done well in these last seven years. You know, the whole time I was
governor, we went through that terrible time in the '80s when we had a bicoastal economy and the country
looked like it was doing well, but the middle of the country wasn't. And then we had the recession that
everybody suffered through. Not a single month -- I had one month the whole time I was governor, until
1992 when I ran for President -- only one month when our unemployment rate was below the national
average. Then it got down below the national average in 1992 because I think of the accumulated efforts
that a lot of us made over many years. In 1992, we ranked first or second -- I never saw the final figures
-- in job growth in the entire country.
But the unemployment rate was 6. 7 percent when I took office, and it's 4.3 percent today here.
And in many other ways, I think you've done well. I could mention some specific things, but I'd like to talk
about the general things.
The average Arkansas family now has $25,000 less federal debt than you would have had if we
hadn't passed the economic plan in '93 and the Balanced Budget Act in '97. The average family in this
state and throughout the country, paying a home mortgage, has interest costs that are about $2,000 a
year lower. The average car payment or college loan payment is about $200 a year lower. This has
made a difference in real people's lives.
And as I look at the next 14 months, and as you as citizens look at the coming election season, I
just want to ask you, without regard to your party, to think about this: What are we going to do with our
prosperity?
Over Thanksgiving, Hillary and I gathered up everybody in our flung families we could, we brought
them all in and then after Thanksgiving we had some more friends to come in to Camp David and had a
bunch of little kids there-- I just love having them all around, my two nephews and a bunch of other little
kids. And this six-year-old girl looked at me-- on Saturday after Thanksgiving --she looked at me and
she said, now, Mr. President, how old are you really? (Laughter.) And I said, I'm 53. And she said, that's
a lot. (Laughter.) And, regrettably, I had to agree with her.
Here's what I want to say about that. In my lifetime, in those 53 years, there has never been
another time, not one, when our country had this level of economic prosperity, this level of social
progress, this level of national self-confidence, with the absence of a crisis at home or a threat from
abroad. (Applause.) Never.
Now, a lot of us who are old enough to remember the 1960s, remember how good the economy
was in the early '60s in the country, and how it was torn apart because of our inability to fully integrate the
civil rights challenge at home and deal with Vietnam abroad. This has never happened before.
�So the question before us is, what are we going to do with it? And as a citizen, I care about that
as well as a President. I think there is a heavy responsibility on us, not just the President and the
Congress, and not just people in government, but the whole country. We have never had this happen.
And you know as well as I do that nothing lasts forever. It keeps you going through the tough times, but
it's important to remember in the good times.
Here we are, on the edge of a new millennium with the first opportunity in our lifetime as a country
to really shape the future of our dreams for our children. And I hope and prayed that I can devote every
waking minute of the last 14 months of my presidency, and that the American people will devote their
energies and concentration in their own lives and their vote as citizens, to making a decision based on·
shouldering the responsibility to shape that future for our children. And that means big changes.
What are they? I'll just mention three or four, and end with what I'm going to do when I leave you
today. Number one, we've got to deal with the aging of America. The number of people over 65 is going
to double in the next 30 years. I hope to be one of them. It's going to double in the next 30 years. There
will be two people working for every one person drawing Social Security. Social Security trust fund is
projected to run out of money in 2034.
The Medicare trust fund, when I took office, is scheduled to run out of money this year. We've
pushed it back to 2015 now. We've got to do something about this. Now, let me say there is a big
difference of opinion about whether-- between the two parties about whether Social Security should have
individual accounts, and if so, how should they be designed and should we partially or completely
privatize the system, and most Republicans think we should do some of that, and most Democrats think
we shouldn't.
But let me just tell you one little simple thing: If we took the interest savings we have from paying
down the national debt because we're not spending the Social Security surplus anymore -- if we just took
the interest savings and put it back in the trust fund, we could put that trust fund out to 2050, which would
take us out beyond the life expectancy of almost 100 percent of the baby boomers, after which the
demographics start to get better again.
Now, we've got the money to do that now. We don't have to raise your taxes, we don't have to
stop spending money on anything else, we don't have to do anything. It'll never be this easy again. And,
believe me, it hasn't been this easy for our predecessors, and we ought to do this.
On Medicare, we ought to make some structural reforms that will put some more life into the
Medicare trust fund, take it out over 20 years. We ought to let people over 55 and under 65 buy into it. It
doesn't cost the Treasury any money, and you know, there's tons of people in this country who retire at 55
now, and then something happens to them and they're not covered by a health insurance policy at work
anymore, and they can't get any health insurance. It's a huge problem.
And we ought to provide a volunteer prescription drug benefit, because 75 percent of the seniors
in this country cannot afford the drug machine their doctors say they need. (Applause.) So I think we
ought to do that.
Now, number two, we ought to recognize that more and more parents are working and do more to
help balance work and family. I gave the states the option to use their workers' compensation and their
unemployment compensation funds if they wanted to, to experiment with paid family leave. There are lots
of other things that can be done, but you know, only 10 percent of the people in the country eligible for
federal assistance for child care are getting it, and I've increased child care funding by 70 percent. And a
lot of people go to work every day, really worrying about whether their kids are in quality child care
facilities. And it's a big problem.
The Family and Medical Leave law has been a Godsend, but I think we ought to broaden it some.
�And of course, we have to be sensitive not to hurt the economy. But if you want people to succeed at
work, they can't be eaten up inside worrying about their kids, whether they're all right.
If you have to make a choice, we lose before we start. Because the most important job of any
society is raising children. It is still the most important job of any society, including ours, and we forget
that at our peril. So we've got to find a way, since all parents either want to work or have to work, just
about, at least the majority, we've got to find the way to balance these things better.
The third thing we have to do, I think, is to work even harder to give every child a world-class
education. We have the largest and most diverse student body in history-- the first time in the last two
years we've got a student body bigger than the baby boom generation. And they are going to do great if
we give them the tools to do it. I don't want to keep you here all morning, and you know how I like to
pontificate about education, so I won't do that. But you need to make that a factor in your decisions, just
as I make it a factor in mine.
The next thing we need to do is to find better ways to balance the preservation of the economy
and the preservation of the environment. A big thing has happened in the last five to 10 years that most
people don't believe has happened. It is now possible to grow the economy and reduce the emissions of
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. That's a fancy way of saying you don't necessarily have to burn
more coal and oil and put it out in the atmosphere to get rich. Most people don't believe it, but it's true.
The Agriculture Department had a seminar the other day on biomass fuels, ethanol being the
most prominent one now. Right now, it's a problem. It takes seven gallons of gasoline to make eight
gallons of ethanol, so the conversion ratio is not too good. They're very, very close to coming up with the
technology to make eight gallons of ethanol with one gallon of gasoline. When that happens, it will
change the future of America.
In the next year or so, you're going to be able to buy cars that get 70 to 80 miles' a gallon with fuel
injection engines, some that are blended. They start off on electricity, then go to gasoline, then go back to
electricity, and it's just the beginning. You can get windows in houses now that keep out five times as
much heat or cold and let in five times as much light. You can buy lamps that just in the life of the lamp,
will save one ton of greenhouse gas emissions.
With the changes in the White House we have made in the last six years, just in the White House,
we've taken the equivalent of 700 cars off the highways. This is a big deal, and it is not a question of-- in
the popular vernacular, hugging trees or growing the economy -- it's a question of how to do the
self-interested thing, which is to improve the environment and the economy at the same time, and I predict
to you it will be a major, major focus to the next 20 years.
The last thing I'd like to mention very briefly is this -- because it really applies to Arkansas --we
have to find a way to keep the economy going and then to bring the benefits of the economy to the people
in places who haven't been a part of this prosperity. And I just want to mention three thing. Number one,
first things first-- we've got to keep paying down this debt. If we stay on the track we're on now-(applause)-- if we stay on the track we're on now, just on the budget path that came out of this last budget
session, this country will be out of debt in 15 years for the first time since 1835. (Applause.)
Now, what does that mean? What does that mean? Well, let's take AIITel --doing reasonably
well. We passed the Telecommunications Act. It's led already to hundreds of thousands of high-wage
jobs at great, high-tech companies. If the country's out of debt and we're not borrowing money, that
means there's more money for everybody else to borrow. That means lower interest rates for business
loans; faster expansion; more jobs; higher incomes. It means the average family pays less for home
mortgages and car payments and college loans. This is a big deal. It's a progressive thing to do.
The second thing we ought to do is work through, and keep working at it until we reach a national
�consensus on this trade issue. If you watched the so-called battle in Seattle, you know that I said I
understood why some of the people in the streets wanted to make sure the concerns of working people
and the environment were taken account of in trade. But I think they're dead wrong to believe that you
can walk away from trade.
Let me tell you, this country is better off today because for 50 years we have worked harder and
harder and harder to integrate the global economy. And, yes, if we buy stuff that's made somewhere else,
it's very sensitive in Arkansas, because we were -- 50 years ago our per capita income was only 56
percent of the national average. So we had a lot of low-wage workers. And, sure, if we buy stuff made
somewhere else, where people don't have the incomes we do, it puts more pressure on our low-wage
workers. But it also creates a lot more high-wage jobs.
And the answer is to give everybody lifetime training, and to have the kind of environment where
you can get the kind of investments to give good jobs to everybody. But we are better off both
economically and in terms of our security because, for 50 years, we have continued to expand trade.
And if you don't believe it, just look at all the places in the world that are in trouble. You know that
problem we've had in Bosnia and Kosovo I had to send the military to solve -- do you seriously believe we
would have had to go to war in the Balkans if their per capita income were not the lowest in Europe? If it
were the highest in Europe, would they be fooling around with each other, would they care whether they
were Muslims or Orthodox Christians or Roman Catholics? If they were all well-educated and they were
used to working together, and they had more in common than driving them apart?
Or in the Middle East, one of the problems is the abject poverty of the Palestinians. And one of
the problems for the Israelis is the limits on their growth because they've got to spend so much on
defense. If we were in better shape there economically and everybody were more integrated, don't you
think we'd be closer to peace? Do you think people would still be fighting there?
And I'm very proud of the role that I played in the Irish peace process, and the role America
played, and the role George Mitchell played. But let me tell you something. One big reason they made
peace in Ireland is that the Republic of Ireland had the fastest-growing economy in Europe. A lot of
American companies were shipping data processing -- raw files to be processed -- over Northern Ireland
every day and flying them back, and all these kids were growing up saying, hey, that's the future we want;
we've got to let this other stuff go.
So we have got to-- you've got to help me on this. As Americans, we have got to form a new
consensus between business and labor and the environmental community and everybody else that allows
us to continue to expand trade. And we ought to put China in the World Trade Organization. It's good for
our farmers, good for our manufacturers, good for our investors, and it will make a safer world for our
children and our grandchildren. It's a big deal. And I hope you will help me do that as well. (Applause.)
Finally, we ought to give people the same incentives to invest in poor areas in America like the
Arkansas Delta we give them to invest in poor areas in Latin America, or Asia, or Africa. (Applause.) And
I'm very proud of the fact that this Congress supported my position to relieve the debt of world's poorest
nations. I want Americans to invest in poor countries. I believe if you lift people out of poverty you
minimize their profound and primitive racial and ethnic and religious hatreds, and you give them
something to live for and look forward to when they get up in the morning. But our people deserve the
same thing.
Let me ask you this, again -- if we don't do this now, if we can't bring more entrepreneurs and
more investment and more jobs to the poorest counties in this state, and in our neighboring states, and in
Appalachia, and in Upstate New York and rural New England, which is pretty depressed, or on the Indian
reservations -- the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the unemployment today is 73
percent. And if we can't figure out something to do about this now, when in the world will we ever get
�around to it?
And when I leave you I'm going over to West Memphis and to Earle and announce that I'm going
to propose in my new budget more than $110 million to create a Delta Regional Authority. (Applause.)
This will be new investment to fund a bill sponsored by Representative Blanche Lambert Lincoln and -Senator Lincoln --and Representative Marion Berry, supported by Congressman Snyder and the entire
Arkansas delegation. I think we'll have big bipartisan support for this. We've got to do something about
this.
I headed that Delta Commission more than a decade ago. Maybe the time wasn't right; maybe
the economy was too tough. We're in good shape now. If we can't bring opportunity to these people in
our state and nation -- I'm telling you I've been there. People are dying to go to work. And intelligence is
evenly distributed; education is not, but intelligence is. We can get this done now. And I ask for your
support for that. (Applause.)
Now, because I believe this is a time of big changes, to use your theme, and because I believe
these big questions can't possibly be resolved, when I come home to build the library and my policy
center, I want to deal with a lot of these big questions: How do you close the digital divide and use these
high-tech advances to benefit every America? How do you create good jobs and a clean environment?
How do you leave behind the ethnic and religious hatreds, the other kind of hatred that is manifested in
hate crimes in America and the tribal slaughters in Africa and all the wars in between? How do you create
genuine economic opportunity and empowerment for people who have been poor a very long time?
These are the questions, the kinds of questions that I intend to work on down to the last hour of
the last day of my presidency, and the kind of questions that will be central to me when I come home to
build the library and the policy center.
I'd like to begin by just thanking all of you who have supported this. I thank the Mayor, the City
Board of Directors and staff, and I'm sorry for the heat you've taken, but it will be a good investment.
Thank Paul Harvel and the Greater Little Rock Chamber. I thank Shelby and Joe and the Downtown
Partnership. I thank Dr. Alan Sugg and the university system. I thank Skip Rutherford for being my point
person down here-- all of you who have worked on this.
From the day I was elected President, I was determined that when it was over, I would try to use
this library and policy center not only to continue my own interests and passions, but to give something
back to this state and this community that have given so much to me. Like I said over and over again, if it
hadn't been for you, I never would have had the chance to serve. And if it hadn't been for the experiences
you gave me and the lessons I learned, I wouldn't have been prepared to serve at this moment in our
history.
So I want to make some dreams come true here in Little Rock. This library can be an energizing
force in the life of the city and the broader community. It will attract people from all across the nation and
all across the world. Lots of visitors and lots of people from business and labor and the nonprofit groups
in government and journalism.
It can play an important role in the growth and development of Greater Little Rock and all of
Central Arkansas. I am determined that it will be, first, a beautiful place. The site is wonderful, and so will
the building be. It will be architecturally important, and it will be state of the art, environmentally and
technologically.
I've talked to Dr. Sugg and the university about starting a graduate program in public policy.
That's what they want to do-- to prepare more of our young people for careers in public service. And I
also want to develop partnerships with corporations all across America to bring their young executives
here, to get them to agree to let their young people take a little time off to be in public service without
�being prejudice in their rise up the corporate hierarchy.
Let me tell you -- there is a program called the White House Fellowships -- you may know about it
-- and we just give a few every year, enough for all the Cabinet Secretaries and one for me, one for a
couple of other people in the White House. Hundreds of people apply for them . . Hundreds. And
hundreds get turned down who would be about as good as the handful, the less than 20 we select every
year. And so I got this idea.
Now, I realized how dependent we were on the White House Fellows, what fabulous work they
did, what great ideas they gave. And think of it-- if every company of any size would establish a policy
that every year, one or two or three people, depending on the size of the company, to take a year off to
serve in state government, to serve in local government, to serve in the federal government, in
Washington or at the regional level, to have the experience of government and then come back to the
company and continue that career, we could change the nature of government, the quality of the ideas,
the quality of the work, and the quality of the partnership.
And we could end a lot of the kind of battles that we've seen here over too many decades. So
this is one of the things that I hope we can do, thanks to Dr. Sugg and his leadership on the education
issue.
I want to try to find some ways to, as I said over and over, to help to bridge the racial and other
divides in our society and throughout the world. I want to bring here people from Northern Ireland and the
Middle East and Bosnia and Kosovo. I want people to see members of these different African tribes. I'll
never forget being in Rwanda after they killed over three-quarters of a million people in a 100 days with
machetes in a tribal war, and Rwanda had been a coherent country for about 500 years.
I talked to a woman, a beautiful woman -- Hillary and I were sitting there talking to her-- all
dressed up in her fine native dress. And I listened to this wonderful woman, who was still a young
woman, talk to me about how her neighbors had turned her in as a member of the other ethnic group,
along with her husband and her six children, and how they had come after them with these machetes, and
how she was convinced she was going to die. And she woke up covered in blood, and saw her husband
and her six children dead around her, all because they were from another tribe. And that would be
enough to break most of us, but this woman was devoting her life to trying to help other people let it go
and get beyond it.
We could, in this state, in this place, become a beacon of hope for those kind of people. We
could train people in societies where these problems exist to get rid of them.
I think it is .truly amazing at a time when we're talking about uncovering the mysteries of the
human genome, when a lot of my friends in the profession believe that sometime early in the next century
newborn babies will come home from the hospital with a life expectancy of 100 years, when we'll probably
find out what's in the black holes in the universe and we're talking about all this stuff, you know, that the
biggest problem of human society is the oldest one: we're still scared of people that are different from us.
And we've got to find a way to let it go.
I want to do more on education. I want to do more on all these issues I mentioned. I also want
this library to be a great place of history, and I want to make it interactive, especially for our children, with
the latest technologies. I want to help our children and our grandchildren understand the times and the
forces that took me to the White House and that I tried to shape and move forward. And then I want them
to understand how that relates to tomorrow.
I want this to be a museum, but not a mausoleum .. 1 want it to be a place with a lot of touch and
involvement and learning. I want to give our young people a window on the new millennium. And I want
them to believe when they walk out of there, based on the story of my life and the people we tried to help,
�------------------------------
that every one of them also has a chance to make their own history.
These are the things I want to do with the library here in Little Rock, not only to glimpse the future,
but to shape it and share it with our neighbors and our families.
So I say to all of you, again, thanks for helping me get here; thanks for giving us a great seven
years, and thanks for your support of the future. But remember, the most important thing of all is your
theme is right-- big changes are coming. It's the only time in our lifetimes we've ever had a chance to
make the most of them, and we'd better do it.
Thank you very much. (Applause.)
END
Message Sent To:
10:52 A.M. CST
�Terry Edmonds
12/09/9904:22:51 PM
Record Type:.
Record
To:
Heather F. Hurlburt/WHO/EOP@EOP
cc:
Subject:
insert for potus speech
here's the insert. Thanks
---------------------- Forwarded by Terry Edmonds/WHO/EOP on 12/09/99 04:22PM---------------------------
Lisa M. Kountoupes
12/09/99 03:16:20 PM
Record Type:
Record
To:
Terry Edmonds/WHO/EOP@EOP, Paul D. Glastris/WHO/EOP@EOP
cc:
Maria Echaveste/WHO/EOP@EOP, Lynn G. Cutler/WHO/EOP@EOP, Adrienne C.
Lavallee/WHO/EOP@EOP, Adrienne C. Erbach/OMB/EOP@EOP
insert for potus speech
Subject:
i'd like to see the remarks, and this is largely what i would like to insert thanks:
Later today I will announce a new budget initiative that will provide over $110 million in new
resources to create and fund a new "Delta Regional Authority."
This money will fund legislation introduced this year by Senator Lincoln and Representative
Berry and supported by the entire Arkansas Congressional delegation. It will infuse needed
resources for economic development and human resources from a number of federal
government agencies and provide a boost to local efforts in the area to improve the quality of
life.
That legislation already has a number of bipartisan cosponsors from across the Delta region. 1
want to work with all the interested memb~rs of congress and senators from the area to ensure
this legislation is enacted and that the funding we have dedicated to it will become a reality.
�Arkansas System; and so many others - for helping make my Library and the Clinton
Presidential Park part of Little Rock's latest success story here along the river.
As I've said before, all that I am or ever will be comes from this state - and I believe
the places we come from say a lot about us. Most important, they remind us that America's
greatness comes not only from its largest centers of wealth and power, but from every place
where children dream; and where adults dare to make those dreams come true.
Here in Little Rock, we are going to make some dreams come true. With your support,
this library can be an energizing force in the life of this city and the broader community attracting journalists, scholars and tourists from far and near, and drawing students and
families downtown by the thousands. With your support, this library can and will play an
important role in the growth and development of this city. And with your support, it can be a
state-of-the-art building - architecturally important and environmentally sound.
What we do inside the Clinton Center should also be state-of-the-art. I have talked with
Dr. Sugg and the University of Arkansas about starting a graduate program in public policy to prepare more of our young people for careers in public service. I want to develop
partnering programs with large corporations, to encourage their employees to take time off for ·
~
public service.
--J,t ~ /1~ ~close the gaps~ ~~i~ur
1 want to use this center try to find ways
American community;~~ t we've learned· Arkansas in the last 35 or 40 years to~
~mgqwe
-.ple, promote Meciliation and
·
th. And I want to bring in
~.,,~ti&:fl40"
.
people from overseas, to sha e Dtfr expenence,..LR~Mii &!IP@h'e bad, With people from Kosovo
or Northern Ireland or the Middle East, and see what we have to teach each other. We have
the potential to to bring people from all over the world here to see our state and to talk about
what we did and what we still nee~n our counl~J-~~;_:2! ~fl
J.'r.eJide~brary
Pi~~(!
-f/& {);;fe:J-
Of course, a
is first of <)I(a
I want to use al+"
)ci,R8B:~ technolog~make history come alive. 1~1 help all our children and grandchildren
understand the times and the forces that propelled the forty-sixth President of the United States·
from a town called Hope to the White House. ~yeJ~ a window on the events that
shaped our nation on the edge of the 21st century. l~v4If'help them believe that they too
have a place in the his~~~.
Here in L~ Rock, we will have the opportunity not just to glimpse the future
ourselves, but to share it with our neighbors, our families, and those who come after us. To
say to every business, every entrepreneur, every man, woman and child in this state who has
ever had a dream: here are the tools, here is the gateway; here is your chance to create a
future that is better than the past. I want my library to be a part of that- and with your help, I
know it will be.
Thank you very much.
�1
~~; ·, ~
Heather F. Hurlburt
12/09/99 05:51:44 PM
Record Type:
Record
To:
Terry Edmonds/WHO/EOP@EOP
cc:
Subject:
Joshua S. Gottheimer/WHO/EOP@EOP
new draft
1 pro -$TTLE ROCK CHAMBER.cbably haven't cut the top enough. See what you think.
Draft 12/09/99 5:50pm
Heather Hurlburt
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
REMARKS TO THE
GREATER LITTLE ROCK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS
December 10, 1999
Acknowledgements: Joe T. Ford (incoming Chairman) and Shelby Woods (outgoing
Chamber Chairman); I am honored to receive this award named for my friend Herschel
Friday. And I understand Beth Friday is in the audience today. Thank you to the Philander
Smith College Choir; your beautiful music has carried me through two Election Nights and one
Inaugural. I hope you 'II be there when we open the library.
~~~
&.Jlo
The Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce and I have been working togetlisr since . ~
before most of the choir was old enough to sing a note. We haven t always been singing ftom ~~
tbe same sheet of mlJ.&ie, but we've always tt ied to work: in harmony fm the gol"lcl of-this
- - -- ~ ~ (/
7
community -
I want to talk to you today about what together we've accomplished for Americatp.
~nqzr, and what we have left to do, next year and after I leave office.
We are ending this century on a high note. We have erased our budget deficit and
turned it into a surplus of $124 million this year. Just last week we crossed a truly remarkable
threshold: the creation of 20 million new jobs, good jobs, on which you can support a family
and save for retirement. We have the lowest unemployment and the smallest welfare rolls in a
generation. And we have the highest home ownership, including the highest minority home
ownership, in the history of our country.
�But there
still far too many people and places that have not been touched by this
new prosperitY. including places in the Deltalike West Memphis and Earle, which I will visit
later today. I ~aimounce a budget initiative to provide more than $110 million to create a
Delta Regional Authority - new federal money to invest in economic development and in our
greatest resource, people. This initiative will fund legislation introduced by Senator Lincoln
and Representative Berry, and supported by all the Arkansas delegation. I look forward to
working with a bipartisan group of Members of Congress from the Delta region to get this
project up and running. Now, none of these programs has ever succeeded without private M.~ _..,.P
sector commitment- and I want to say how much I appreciate the commitment of fiftHs like ~ J /_(
EWT~RGY and \Vayne teumtfcl iR the Delta. Let's work together to make sure everyon~
l
~
shares in the nation's growth.
~
v;
/J'!tha
~lJ!ic.... •
Last month, I signed the first budget of the 21st century. It's a budget that lives within
our means and up to our values. It is a budget that puts 100,000 new teachers in our schools
and 50,000 more policemen on our streets; a budget that protects our environment; and~
b~kllg Hkat preserves our global leadership by paying our UN dues and funding our
commitments.
But we have a great deal of work left to do. Let me mention just one area, which is our
awamP+ ~~- We have won tremendous new access for our farmers, manufacturers and ~
investors to China's huge market. And we have negotiated tough safeguards against dumping
---.......~.,
of products or surges of imports into this country. Now we need to lock those gains in by
extending normal trade relations to China, so it can enter the WTO. And we need to focus in
on agriculture, treat it every bit as fairly as any other sector of the global economy, and expand
our farmers' opportunities to sell food for reasonable prices around the world.
We are only beginning to create a 21st-century trading system. We are only beginning
to bring the benefits of technology to every business, large and small. And we are only
beginning to understand how we can keep our economy growing - without the threat of
inflatio~~ ~~~~~~e~~~~~::-~J'<,A:
will we use high-tech act'vances to benefit every American? Will we create jobs and clean up
our environment at the same time? Will we leave behind at last the ethnic and religious hatreds
that hold us back? And will our prosperity help lift the world's prosperity, so that humanity
isn't split between those at the cutting edge, and those at the edge of survival?
These are the questions that I will focus on until the last minute of the last day of my
Presidency; and they are questions that will still be central the next time we meet, in your new
Chamber Building and in my Library.
I want to thank you all - Paul Harvel and the Greater Little Rock Chamber of
Commerce, Shelby Woods and Joe Ford and the Downtown Partnership; Mayor Jim Dailey,
the Little Rock City Board of Directors and the city staff; Dr. Alan Sugg and the University of
�and religious hatreds that hold us back? And will our prosperity help lift the world's
prosperity, so that humanity isn't split between those at the cutting edge, and those at the edge
of survival?
These are the questions that I will focus on until the last minute of the last day of my
Presidency; and they are questions that will still be central the next time we meet, in your new
Chamber Building and in my Library.
I want to thank you all- the Chamber of Commerce, 50 for the Future, the Little Rock
Board of Directors, the Arkansas Legislature, the University of Arkansas, and so many others
- for helping make sure my Presidential Library could be part of Little Rock's latest success
story here along the river.
\As I've said before, all that I am or ever will be comes from this state - and I believe
the places we come from say a lot about us. Most important, they remind us that America's
greatness comes not only from its largest centers of wealth and power, but from every place
where children dream; and where adults dare to make those dreams come true.
Here in Little Rock, we are going to make some dreams come true. With your support,
this library can be an energizing force in the life of this city and the broader community attracting journalists, scholars and tourists from far and near, and drawing students and
families downtown by the thousands. With your support, it can be a beautiful designstate-of-the-art and environmentally sound. And with your support, this library can and will
play an important role in the growth and development of this city.
This library is a chance to present a real slice of America. It will help all our children
and grandchildren understand the times and the forces that propelled the forty-sixth President
of the United States from a town called Hope to the White House. And it will give them a
window on the events that shaped our nation on the edge of the 21st century.
Here in Little Rock, we will have the opportunity not just to glimpse the future
ourselves, but to share it with our neighbors, our families, and those who come after us. To
say to every business, every entrepreneur, every man, woman and child in this state who has
ever had a dream: here are the tools, here is the gateway; here is your chance to create a
future that is better than the past. I want my library to be a part of that- and with your help, I
know it will be.
Thank you very much.
�PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
REMARKS TO THE
GREATER LITTLE ROCK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Little Rock, Arkansas
December 10, 1999
Acknowledgements: Shelby Woods (outgoing Chamber Chairman); Joe T. Ford
(incoming Chairman). Thank you to the [Philander Smith College] Choir; your beautiful music
has carried me through two Election Nights and [one?TK] Inaugural. I hope you'll be there when
we open the library.
The Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce and I have been working together since
before most of the choir could sing a note. I gave a keynote speech here in the mid-1980s, when
I was Governor. I probably spoke for a long time. And we worked together afterwards anyway.
We've done a lot of good things together. I thank you all for coming with me on this
wonderful ride. And don't think for a second it's over yet. I don't know how to be a lame duck,
and we have plenty of work left to do in Washington. All these wonderful people who have
come with me today- Rodney Slater, Richard Riley, Aida Alvarez, James Lee Witt- are going
to have a busy year.
I am gearing up for next year, to push Congress to put partisanship aside and do some
things Americans will give us all credit for. Put Soci
urity on a sound financial footing.
Pass a strong patients' bill of rights. Extend o
ew Markets Initiative, which is making it
easier for businesses and banks to invest· America's poorest communities. Add a prescription
drug benefit to Medicare, so no one' arents or grandparents must choose between buying food
and having the medications they ed.
And I am going to e working very hard to put this country's trade agenda back on track:
an agenda for trade that ·s freer, and fairer; trade that creates a race to the top, not to the bottom;
and trade that lifts the lives of all Americans, not just a fortunate few.
We've got to start, early next year, by extending normal trade relations to China, so we
can bring them into the WTO. This is important for Arkansas, because China's membership
guarantees new access for our farmers, manufacturers and investors to China's huge, untapped
market- 2 billion people needing more food than they can grow, and wanting more Western
products than they can get. China's membership locks in new safeguards against unfair pricing
or dumping of imports in our country. And China's membership in the WTO brings them into a
rule of law system, where following through on a promise matters; where honest business
practices matter; and where China's people will come in contact with more and more of the ideas
and freedoms that their own government denies them. I'm going to go all out to get this done,
and quickly.
But like so many other issues, we are going to be working to define our 21 51 century trade
for years to come. All of us are going to need to keep working at it- I certainly intend to. That
�lowest unemployment and the smallest welfare rolls in a generation, and the lowest
African-American and Hispanic unemployment ever recorded. And we have the highest home
ownership, including the highest minority home ownership, in the history of our country.
Now, there are still far too many people and places that have not been touched by this
new prosperity - including places in the Delta like West Memphis and Earle, which I will visit
later today. We need to do more to make sure that all of Arkansas shares in the nation's
growth. Just last month, I went back to Hermitage, where I have been so many times, to see
how their tomato cooperative has been able to breathe new life into an entire community. I
made that trip as part of my New Markets initiative, which is creating incentives for
investment in America's poorest communities. I will be asking Congress to help me expand
this initiative next year.
Last month, I signed the first budget of the 21st century. It's a budget that lives within
our means and up to our values. But our work is not done. We must complete the unfinished
business of this century - from commonsense gun safety legislation to meaningful hate crimes
legislation; from a real raise in the minimum wage to a real patients' bill of rights; from
strengthening Social Security to modernizing Medicare with a prescription drug benefit.
And I am going to be working very hard on this country's agenda for international
trade:
trade that is fairer as well as freer, and that lifts the lives of all Americans,, not just a fortunate
few. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - _ _ _ _ ,
\W. e have one piece of important business aheal¥ and that is extending normal trade
relations to China, to allow its entry into the WTO. This is important for Arkansas, because it
guarantees new access for our farmers, manufacturers and investors to China's h,uge, untapped
market - 1.2 billion people needing more food than they can grow, and wanting more of our
products than ever. China's membership will lock in new safeguards against unfair pricing or
dumping of imports here. And it will bring China into a rule of law system, where honest
business practices matter; and where China's people will come in contact not only with new
products, but with new people and new ideas.
Let me also say that agriculture is very high on my trade agenda -- making sure that
agriculture is treated every bit as fairly as any other sector of the global economy, and
expanding our farmers' opportunities to sell food for fair prices around the world.
We are only beginning to create a 21st-century trading system. We are only beginning
to bring the benefits of technology to every business, large and small. And we are only
beginning to understand how we can keep our economy growing - without the threat of
inflation. This will not happen overnight, but we must make sure that the first steps we take in
the new century are the right steps for America.
The years ahead will be exciting -but also challenging. We have to ask ourselves:
will we use high-tech advances to benefit every American? Will we create jobs and clean up
our environment at the same time? Will we be wise enough to leave behind at last the ethnic
�--
-----------------------------------
Let me also say that agriculture is very high on my trade agenda~- making sure that
agriculture is treated every bit as fairly as any other sector of the global economy, and expanding
our farmers' opportunities to sell food for reasonable prices around the world.
We are only begitming to create a 21 s1-century trading system. We are only beginning to
bring the benefits of technology to every business, large and small. And we are only beginning
to understand how we can keep our economy growing- without the threat of inflation. None of
this will happen overnight, but we must make sure that the first steps we take in the new century
are the right steps for America.
The years ahead will be exciting- but also challenging. We have to ask ourselves: will
we use high-tech advances to benefit every American? Will we create jobs and clean up our
environment at the same time? Will we be wise enough to leave behind at last the ethnic and
religious hatreds that hold us back? And will our prosperity help lift the world's prosperity, so
that humanity isn't split between those at the cutting edge, and those at the edge of survival?
These are the questions that I will focus on until the last minute ofthe last day of my
Presidency; and they are questions that will still be central the next time we meet, in your new
Chamber Building and in my Library.
I want to thank you all- the Chamber of Commerce, 50 for the Future, the Little Rock
Board ofDirectors, the Arkansas Legislature, the University of Arkansas, and so many othersfor helping make sure my Presidential Library could be part of Little Rock's latest success story
here along the river.
As I've said before, all that I am or ever will be comes from this state- and I believe the
places we come from say a lot about us. Most important, they remind us that America's
greatness comes not only from its largest centers of wealth and power, but from every place
where children dream; and where adults dare to make those dreams come true.
�Here in Little Rock, we are going to make some dreams come true. With your support,
this library can be an energizing force in the life of this city and the broader communityattracting journalists, scholars and tourists from far and near, and drawing students and families
downtown by the thousands. With your support, it can be a beautiful design- state-of-the-art
and environmentally sound. And with your support, this library can and will play an important
role in the growth and development ofthis city.
This library is a chance to present a real slice of America. It will help all our children and
grandchildren understand the times and the forces that propelled the forty-sixth President of the
United States from a town called Hope to the White House. And it will give them a window on
the events that shaped our nation on the edge of the 21st century.
Here in Little Rock, we will have the opportunity not just to glimpse the future ourselves,
but to share it with our neighbors, our families, and those who come after us. To say to every
business, every entrepreneur, every man, woman and child in this state who has ever had a
dream: here are the tools, here is the gateway; here is your chance to create a future that is better
than the past. f want my library to be a part of that- and with your help, I know it will be.
Thank you very much.
�Draft 12/09/99 4:00pm
Heather Hurlburt
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
REMARKS TO THE
GREATER LITTLE ROCK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS
December 10, 1999
Acknowledgements: Shelby Woods (outgoing Chamber Chainnan); Joe T. Ford
(incoming Chairman). Congratulations to Bob Russell, winner of the Pinnacle Award. Thank
you to the Philander Smith College Choir; your beautiful music has carried me through two
Election Nights and one Inaugural. f hope you'll be there when we open the library.
The Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce and I have been working together since
before most of the choir was old enough to sing a note. We haven't always been singing from
the same sheet of music, but we've always tried to work in harmony for the good of this
community.
l want to talk to you today about what together we've accomplished for America's
economy, and what we have left to do, next year and after I leave office.
We have put this country back on track- and we are ending this century on a high note.
We have erased our budget deficit and turned it into a surplus of$124 million this year. And we ....
haye cr:ated this ce~mtrj' ';,longest p€laE€ltims scorwffiie eJtflaRsiet1:~
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(.I ust last week we crossed a truly remarkable threshold: the creation of 20 million new
jobs, good jobs, on which you can support a family and save for retirement. We have the lowest · ~
unemployment and the smallest welfare rolls in a generation. And we have the highest home ~~ v , .
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ownership, including the highest minority home ownership, in the history of our country
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Now, there are still far too many people and places that have not been touched by this
new prosperity- including places in the Delta like West Memphis and Earle, which I will visit
later today. We need to do more to make sure that all of Arkansas shares in the nation's growth"/
Ju~t l<lst n1enth, l weRt back to Helllritage, vvhere l hav€l been ~g f!=Ian;· times, to see !tow th@ir
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Last month, 1 signed the first budget of the 21st century. It's a budget that lives within
our means and up to our values.
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attracting journalists, scholars and tourists from f: rand
.and drawing families downtown tor celebrations.
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This Presidential library is a chance to present a real slice of America. It will help all our PI ~
.
children and grandchildren understand the times and the forces that propelled the forty-sixth
President of the United States from a town called Hope to the White House. And it will give
them a window on the events that shaped our nation on the edge of the 21st century.
Here in Little Rock, we will have the opportunity not just to glimpse the future ourselves,
but to share it with our neighbors, our families, and those who come after us. To say to every
business, every entrepreneur, every man, woman and child in this state who has ever had a
dream: here are the tools, here is the gateway; here is your chance to create a future that is better
than the past. I want my library to be a part of that- and with your help, I know it will be.
Thank you very much.
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�Draft 12/09/99 10:00 am
Heather Hurlburt
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
REMARKS TO THE
GREATER LITTLE ROCK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS
December 10, 1999
Acknowledgements: Shelby Woods (outgoing Chamber Chainnan); Joe T. Ford
(incoming Chairman). Congratulations to Bob Russell, winner of the PinnacleAward. Thank
you to the Philander Smith College Choir; your beautiful music has carried me through two
Election Nights and one Inaugural. I hope you'll be there when we open the library.
The Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce and I have. been working together since
before most of the choir was old enough to sing a note. We haven't always been singing from
the same sheet of music, but we've always tried to work in harmony for the good ofthis
community.
f want to talk to you today about what together we've accomplished for America's
economy, and what we have left to do, next year and after I leave office.
We have put this country back on track- and we are ending this century on a high note.
We have erased our budget deficit and tumed it into a surplus of$124million this year0 with- ro-t!.
,smplnses projected for years to oOHIO. And we ltave created the longest economic expansionrttr
11
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kis!Or¥-
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~~f::lt::tt'- ~
tf11~
Just last week we crossed a truly remarkable threshold: 20 million new jobs, good jobs,
on whi 1 you can support a family and save for retirement. We have the lowest unemployment
and the
elfare rolls in a gerieration, and the lowest African-American and Hispanic
unemployment ever recorded. And we have the highest home ownership, including the highest
minority home ownership, in the history of our country.
rOc.JtL
Now, there are still far too many people and places that have not been touched by this !J
.new J3rospsrit~'- including places in the Delta like West Memphis and Earle, which J will visit
later today. We need to do more to make sure that all of Arkansas,..llsj3eeHIIly tl:t~ Dslt=a,.shares in
the nation's prosperity. Just last month, I went back to Hennitage, where I have been so many
times, to see how their tomato cooperative has been able to breathe new life into an entire
community. !made that trip as part of my New Markets initiative, which is creating incentives
for investment in th~ pia~€~ tl:!Oit bOI"€ B88!)'sft 13ohins. I will be asking Congress to help me
expand this initiative next year.
~'(0.) po61J.Jtf-- J;!flf'fw(t:fi;io.
(
Last month, I signed the first budget ofthe 21 51 century. It's a budget that lives within
our means and up to our values. But our work is not done. We must complete the unfinished
�fkJ
()_
business of~, century- from commonsense gun safety legislation to meaningful hate
crimes 1-e.f,r.islat;,'~; from a real raise in the minimum wage to a real patients' bill of rights; from
strengthening Social Security to modernizing Medicare with a prescription drug benefit.
And I am going to be working very hard on this country's agenda for international trade:
~or trade that is freer and fairer;~ that creates a race to the top, not to the bottom; and~e
that lifts the lives of all Americans, not just a fortunate few. That includes making sure that
agriculture is treated every bit as fairly as any other sector of the global economy, by expanding
our farmers' opportunities to sell food for fair prices around the world.
~0\.L
We have one ieee of important business ahead, and that is extending normal trade
relations to China, t allow its entry into the WTO. This is important for Arkansas, because it
guarantees new ac ess for our farmers, manufacturers and investors to China's huge, untapped
market- 1.2 billio people needing more food than they can grow, and wanting more of our
products than eve ~r~a's membership will lock in new safeguards against unfair pricing or
dumping of imports ffl oru cotmtry. And it will bring China into a rule of law system, where
honest business practices matter; and where China's people will come in contact not only with
new products, but with new people and new ideas.
['m going all out to get this done, but in many ways we are only at the first step of
building a 21 51 -century trading system for our nation- and the world. This will not happen
overnight, but we must make sure that the first steps we take in the new century are the right
steps for America.
The years ahead will be exciting- but also challenging. We have to ask ourselves: will
we use high-tech advances to benefit every American,..e~w~eially tl".le peer~? Will we be
innovative enough to create jobs and clean up our environment at the same time? Will we be
wise enough to leave behind at last the ethnic and religious hatreds that still hold us back? And
will our prosperity help lift the world's prosperity, so that humanity isn't split between those at
the cutting edge, and those at the edge of survival?
These are the questions that 1 will focus on until the last minute of the last clay ofmy
Presidency; <~n~ they ar~ questi~ns that will still be central th_e next tin~e w meeJtln y~ur new
Chamber Butlclmg anclm my Library.
t>cwll/ ~
5 JAA?Z(
.1.J'Ikf.
~<it!~
M
./W(~eU)
I want to thank you- the Chamber of Con merce, 50 forth Future, the Little Rock
Board of Directors, the Arkansas Legislature,
Universit , and so many others- for
helping make sure my Presidential Library could be\~igiit here in Little Reck As I've said
before, all that I am or ever will be comes from this state- ancll believe the places we come
from say a lot about us. Most important, they remind us that America's greatness comes not
only from its largest centers of wealth and power, but from every place where children dream;
and where adults clare to make those dreams come true. ·
Here in Little Rock, we are going to make some dreams come true. With your support,
this library can be an energizing force in the life of this city and the broader community-
�Draft 12/09/99 5:50pm
Heather Hurlburt
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
REMARKS TO THE
GREATER LITTLE ROCK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS
December 10, 1999
Acknowledgements: Joe T. Ford (incoming Chaim1an) and Shelby Woods (outgoing
Chamber Chaim1an); I am honored to receive this award named for my friend Herschel Friday.
And I understand Beth Friday is in the audience today. Thank you to the Philander Smith
College Choir; your beautiful music has carried me through two Election Nights and one
Inaugural. I hope you'll be there when we open the library.
The Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce and I have been working together since
before most of the choir was old enough to sing a note. We haven't always been singing from
the same sheet of music, but we've always tried to work in ham1ony for the good of this
community.
1 want to talk to you today about what together we've accomplished for America's
economy, and what we have left to do, next year and after I leave office.
We are ending this century on a high note. We have erased our budget deficit and turned
it into a surplus of$124million this year. Just last v-:eek we crossed a truly remarkable
threshold: the creation of 20 million new jobs, good jobs, on which you can support a family and
save for retirement. We have the lowest unemployment and the smallest welfare rolls in a
generation. And we have the highest home ownership, including the highest minority home
ownership, in the history of our country.
But there are still far too many people and places that have not been touched by this new
prosperity- including places in the Delta like West Memphis and Earle, which I will visit later
today. I will announce a budget initiative to provide more than $110 million to create a Delta
Regional Authority- new federal money to invest in economic development and in our greatest
resource, people. This initiative will fund legislation introduced by Senator Lincoln and
Representative Berry, and supported by all the Arkansas delegation. I look forward to working
with a bipartisan group of Members of Congress from the Delta region to get this project up and
running. Now, none of these programs has ever succeeded without private sector commitmentandl want to say how much I appreciate the commitment of fim1s like ENTERGY and Wayne
Leonard in the Delta. Let's work together to make sure everyone shares in the nation's growth.
Last month, I signed the first budget of the 21st century. It's a budget that lives within
our means and up to our values. lt is a budget that puts 100,000 new teachers in our schools and
50,000 1i1ore policemen on our streets; a budget that protects our environment; and a budget that
preserves our global leadership by paying our UN dues and funding our commitments.
�But we have a great deal of work left to do. Let me mention just one area, which is our
agenda for trade. We have won tremendous new access for our farmers, manufacturers and
investors to China's huge market. And we have negotiated tough safeguards against dumping of
products or surges of imports into this country. Now we need to lock those gains in by ext,ending
normal trade relations to China, so it can enter the WTO. And we need to focus in on
agriculture, treat it every bit as fairly as any other sector of the global economy, and expand our
farmers' opportunities to sell food for reasonable prices around the world.
We are only beginning to create a 21 st_century trading system. We are only begi1ming to
bring the benefits of technology to every business, large and small. And we are only beginning
to understand how we can keep our economy growing- without the threat of inflation.
The years ahead will be exciting- but also challenging. We have to ask ourselves: will
we use high-tech advances to benefit every American? Will we create jobs and clean up our
environment at the smi1e time? Will we leave behind at last the ethnic and religious hatreds that
hold us back? And will our prosperity help lift the world's prosperity, so that humanity isn't split
between those at the cutting edge, and those at the edge of survival?
These are the questions that I will focus on until the last minute of the last day of my
Presidency; and they are questions that will still be central the next time we meet, in your new
Chamber Building and in my Library.
I want to thank you all- Paul Harvel and the Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce,
Shelby Woods and Joe Ford and the Downtown Partnership; Mayor Jim Dailey, the Little Rock
City Board of Directors and the city staff; Dr. Alan Sugg and the University of Arkansas System;
and so many others- for helping make my Library and the Clinton Presidential Park part of
Little Rock's latest success story here along the river.
As I've said before, all that I am or ever will be comes from this state- and I believe the
places we come from say a lot about us. Most important, they remind us that America's
greatness comes not only from its largest centers of wealth and power, but from every place
where children dream; and where adults dare to make those dreams come true.
Here in Little Rock, we are going to make some dreams come true. With your support,
this library can be an energizing force in the life of this city and the broader communityattracting journalists, scholars and tourists from far and near, and drawing students and families
downtown by the thousands. With your support, this library can and will play an imp01iant role
in the growth and development of this city. And with your support, it can be a state-of-the-art
building- architecturally important and environmentally sound.
What we do inside the Clinton Center should also be state-of-the-art. I have talked with
Dr. Sugg and the University of Arkansas about starting a graduate program in public policy- to
prepare more of our young people for careers in public service. I want to develop pminering
programs with large corporations, to encourage their employees to take time off for public
service.
�l want to use this center to try to find ways to close the gaps in the fabric of our American
community, use what we've learned in Arkansas in the last 35 or 40 years to help empower
people, promote reconciliation and healing and growth. And I want to bring in people from
overseas, to share our experience, the good and the bad, with people from Kosovo or Northern
Ireland or the Middle East, and see what we have to teach each other. We have the potential to
to bring people from all over the world here to see our state and to talk about what we did and
what we still need to do in our country and in our world.
Of course, a Presidential library is first of all a place for history. And I want to use all
kinds of technology to make history come alive. It will help all our children and grandchildren
understand the times and the forces that propelled the forty-sixth President of the United States
from a town called Hope to the White House. 1t will give them a window on the events that
shaped our nation on the edge of the 21st century. And it will help them believe that they too
have a place in the history of America.
Here in Little Rock, we will have the opportunity not just to glimpse the future ourselves,
but to share it with our neighbors, our families, and those who come after us. To say to every
business, every entrepreneur, every man, woman and child in this state who has ever had a
dream: here are the tools, here is the gateway; here is your chance to create a future that is better
than the past. 1 want my library to be a part of that- and with your help, l know it will be.
Thank you very much.
�These are the questions that you in your 21 st_century Chamber, and I in my Library, are
going to have to answer.
With your support, this library can be an architectural monument- a statement, like your
Chamber building, about our drive toward the future as a new century begins. It should be filled
with state-of-the-art technology, as its neighbor, the Chamber, will be ..
lt should become a force in the life of Little Rock and the broader community- drawing
families downtown for celebrations, bringing in students for exhibits, and attracting tourists,
journalists and scholars from far and near.
And when they get here, there should be more to see than just fifty million pieces of
paper. For example, the Kennedy library also houses the papers ofErnest Hemmingway. The
Eisenhower library hosts an on-line support group for the sailors and families of the U.S.S.
Eisenhower. From Hyde Park, New York to Independence, Missouri to Simi Valley, California,
Presidential libraries are cornerstones of their communities. 1 want our library to be part of the
foundation of a 21 st_century Little Rock- and of a wider community.
A Presidential library is a chance to present a real slice of America, in context- to help
all our children and grandchildren understand the forces that took a man from Hope to the White
House. That tumed our economy around and created the strongest growth and lowest
·
unemployment in decades. That saw optimism renewed and leadership reborn.
This library is going to bring the world to Little Rock. I want to make sure it also takes
Little Rock to the world.
We have the opportunity, with your state-of-the-art teleconferencing center, with the best
minds in science and policy, with the resources of a Presidential library, not just to glimpse the
future ourselves, but to share it with our neighbors, our customers, our families, and those who
come after us. To say to every business, every entrepreneur, every man, woman and child in this
state who has ever had a dream: here are the tools, here is the gateway; here is your chance to
create a future that is better than the past.
Together, we can make it happen. And 1 believe we will.
Thank you very much.
fjJossibly conclude with one of the JFK quotes from the walls of his library}
�PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
REMARKS TO THE
GREATER LITTLE ROCK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Little Rock, Arkansas
December 10, 1999
Acknowledgements: Shelby Woods (outgoing Chamber Chaim1an); Joe T. Ford
(incoming Chaim1an). Thank you to the [Philander Smith College] Choir; your beautiful music
has carried me through two Election Nights and [one?TK] Inaugural. I hope you' II be there
when we open the library.
The Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce ancll have been working together since
before most of the choir could sing a note. I gave a keynote speech here in the micl-1980s, when
1 was Governor. I probably spoke for a long time. And we worked together afterwards anyway.
We've clone a lot of good things together. I thank you all for coming with me on this
wonderful ride. And don't think for a second it's over yet. I don't know how to be a lame cluck,
and we have plenty of work left to do in Washington. All these wonderful people who have
come with me today- Rodney Slater, Richard Riley, Aida Alvarez, James Lee Witt- are going
to have a busy year.
I am gearing up for next year, to push Congress to put partisanship aside and do some
things Americans will give us all credit for. Put Social Security on a sound financial footing.
Pass a strong patients' bill of rights. Extend our New Markets Initiative, which is making it
easier for businesses and banks to invest in America's poorest communities. Add a prescription
drug benefit to Medicare, so no one's parents or grandparents must choose between buying food
and having the medications they need.
And I am going to be working very hard to put this country's trade agenda back on track:
an agenda for trade that is freer, and fairer; trade that creates a race to the top, not to the bottom;
and trade that lifts the lives of all Americans, not just a fortunate few.
We've got to start.,..@arly HEmt ysar,.by extending nom1al trade relations to China, so we
can bring them into the WTO. This is important for Arkansas, because China's membership
guarantees new access for our farmers, manufacturers and investors to China's huge, untapped
market -12 billion people ne cliq~wre fl o han they can grow, and wanting more Western
products than they~.
· s'~· 11 ers 11 ~ci<$ new safeguards against unf~~cing
or clumping of imports in our country. And Chinn's l·;net~bsn;;hi]'J in tl:ie WT0 bringS
1 mto a
rule of law system, where following through on a promise matters; where honest business
practices matter; and where China's people will come in contact with mere Bi1S mgrs a{ the ideas
..miTI1reedorl"'l':'5 that their own government~ them. I'm going to go all out to get this clone,
and quickly.
-JftLll ~~ ~lBut like so many other issues, we are going to be working to define our 21st century trade
for years to come. All of us are going to need to keep working at it- I certainly intend to. That
�is just one of the areas I hope we will be working on together here, through your new state-ofthe-art Chamber building and my Presidential Library right beside it.
/
/
1 want to thank~aa;, mail) efyou- the Chamber of Commerce, 50 for the Future, the
Little Rock Board of Directors, the Arkansas Legislature, Arkansas University, and so many
others- for helping make sure my Presidential Library could be here. I've said before that all
that l am or ever will be comes from this state- and I believe the places we come from say a lot
about us. Most important, they remind us that America's greatness comes not only from its
largest centers of wealth and power, but from every place where children dream; and where.,Qe..
adults~ dare to make those dreams come true.
Here in Little Rock, we are going to make some dreams come true. We are going to
make this into a truly world-class city.
We are going to build up the education our children need to compete and win in a global
economy -- and raise a generation committed to public service.
We are going to see what we can contribute to a national politics that focuses less on
sterile divisions and partisan rancor, and more on constructive thinking that gets the job done.
We are going to attract and keep high-quality investment and jobs. We are going to work
on spreading economic opportunity to people and places that have missed out on our growing
prosperity. And we are going to go global. We've got to get all our businesses and farmers
hooked into the global economy; we've got to help people see past their fears to how they and
their communities can prosper.
And we are going to take a hard look at teclmology and what it means for our common
future.
The day l took office as President there were only 50 websites on the Internet in the
whole world, 50. And probably none were in Arkansas. That's how far we've come, how much
has changed- and how much we have to change our thinking to get ready to compete, and to
prosper, in the 21st century.
·
. ~
~
~e
Nev,r tselmolugy is going to come fast and furious in the years ahsaEI.
excitingbut also bewildering, especially for those of us who have trouble with the teclmology we've
already got. Will we use high-tech advances to benefit every American, especially the poorest?
Will we be smart enough to create jobs and clean up our environment at the same time? Will we
be creative enough to remain the world's leader in innovation and science?
G2
Just think about one area- health care. Our life expectancy is already [TK. Soon, it will
be normal to I ive to I 00 or more. We wi II learn the secrets of our genes - and ·seases that are
death sentences today will be easily controlled. These advances are wonderful news. But are we
ready? How will we provide housing, health care, nursing? How will we help older Americans
live meaningful, productive lives? JU(11/6w will we live together, and get past the hatreds and
p;t;:cZt :~~~tlt['"c? 4<4;:;"' ~~ 12f~
�Mothe:Jones
THE FOUNDATION FOR NATIONAL· PROGRESS
731 ·Market Street
suite 600
san Francisco, CA 94)03
T 4156656637
F 415 665 6696
E cohn@motherjones.com
.wwwmotherjones.com
Roger Cohn
Editor in Chief
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The Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce
ANNUAL MEETING
Friday, December 10, 1999 J 9~00 a.m.*
Statehouse Convention. Center I Governor's Hall II
*Attendees urged to arrive at least one hour early for Secret Service security clearance.
TIMED AGENDA I Musical Entertainment begins at 8;30 a.m. as guests.continue to enter
. through security checkpoints I Program begins at 9:00a.m. and ends at 10;30 a.m.
7:30a.m.
Doors Open To Govemor•s Hall I1 with magnetometers set up at entry doors off hall
foyer. Chamber Ambassadors, choir members, color guard, speakers and event staff will
be cleared through security frrst.
8:30a.m.
Philander Smith Choir begins performance, building to short Opening Ceremony song at
8:55a.m.
9:00a.m.
9:02a.m.
Janet Jones I 2 minute maximum
Chamber 1998 Chairman
Welcome
Presentation of Colors and Pledge of Allegiance I 3 minutes maximum
Little Rock Air Force Base Color Guard
Jesse Mason, 1999 Chainnan ofEducation
Trudie Reed, Ed.D. I 2 minutes maximum
President of Philander Smith College
9:05a.m.
Invocation
9:07a.m.
(Short break for breakfast entre_e $ervice) I 23 minutes maximum with all food
service staff leaving hall when completed
9:30a.m.
President Clinton arrival at back of staging area to Hail to the Chief Fanfare anc;l
standing ovation from. audience as he joins the head table and is seated I ~minutes
.9:36 a.m.
~o-d.J :s,fVt.lJL, ~ -.J~ a:l Cc;f(.... c6dc:m MJtds-
· Pinnacle Award Presentation To B~ell I 3 minutes
I
9:39a.m.
Chairman's Report
9:50a.m.
7
Keynote Address
10:20 a.m.
l0:23 a.m.
10:24 a.m.
10:30 a.m.
3r ;ru'AJ.di:J
of ''IJrdft,. ~,... .... • ,
i'nrf.
Shelby Woods I 11 minutes maximum
1999 Chamber Chairman of the Board.
President Clinton I 30 minutes
Special Presentation to President Clinton by Shelby Woods I 3 minutes
Presentation of plaque to Shelby ·woods by Joe T. Ford I 1 minute
''Big CIU\NGES" for tho Future
and Adjournment
fl1 I/I.I{DttfS{ffA(C~
Lf/5/
'UR
Joe T. Ford I 6 minutes ftl
{1c.;_,..__
2000 Chamber Chairman (Nod)S t.rf(}AC\.v\!1
_
·
Vv'an<-out Music I President Clinton invited to shake hands with guests
behind roped area at ground level in front of stage for as long as he wishes
flU ( fC.VtJJV4>
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Where Business Comes Together
GREATER LITTLE ROCK
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
October 27, 1999
Bob Nash
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. Nash:
As a follow-up to letters written to President Clinton from Chamber Chairman of the Board Shelby Woods,.
I wanted to write and make an additional, heartfelt appeal that President Clinton attend.our Chamber's Annual
Meeting on December lOth here in Little Rock.
.
Our Annual Meeting this year is truly an historic event, building on the excitement of the turn of the. century,
the construction of our new Chamber Center, and ALLTEL Corporation's Joe Ford becoming our Chairman of
the Board for the year 2000. With a groundbreaking event scheduled for December 2nd, the new, $6 million
Chamber Center will be built only about ~ee ]2locks from the site of the Presidential Library complex. Our
new Chamber building will be one-of-a-kind in the nation, and iS'being built to compliment the activities and
special needs of the Presidential Library. One of the many high-tech features of the new buitding will be a
special video teleconferencing auditorium seating approximately 100 --- designed as a possible shared
component with the Presidential Library complex and the newly expanded Statehouse Convention Center.
r
Attendance for this year's Annual Meeting is projected at over 1,200 guests in the new ballroom of the . .
Statehouse Convention Center. This gathering ofGreater Little Rock's business leadership will include many
individuals representing firms that have already pledged significant contributions towards the Presidential
Library project. 03y having President Clinton speak at our Annual Meeting, he will have a quality audience of
other potential donors and "set the stage" to begin the Presidential Library project, to be built in his honor.-:l
.
.
If you or Nancy Hernreich have any questions regarding the scope of ~ur Annual Meeting or would like to
discuss specific details of how we would feature President Clinton as keynote speaker, please call me at (501)
374-4871. Obviously, we are running.short on time to finalize our plans for the Annual Meeting and need to
hear back from you or the President by late next week.
Sincerely~~
fJi at~
Paul Harvel
President & CEO
cc. Shelby Woods, Chairman of the Board
SERVING UTILE ROCK, NORTH LITTLE ROCK AND CENTRAL ARKANSAS
101 S. SPRING ST., STE. 200, LlffiE ROCK, AR 72201·2486 +(501) 374-4871 + FAX (SOl) 374-6018 +E-MAIL: chambeT®littlerockchamber.com +WEBSITE: hup://www.litrlerockchamber.com
�r.uc.
Briefing Paper
Re: Clinton Presidential Library Site/Little Rock
The city of Little Rock is in the process of acquiring about 27 acres for the William
Jefferson Clinton Presidential Park The city will acquire the property, make it ready for
construction and dedicate it as a city park. It will be part of the River Market District
and will be an extension of the city's popular Riverfront Park.
The Clinton Foundation plans to lease a portion of the park. Land in the park also will
be dedicated and made available to the Federal Government through the National
Archives.
All the property has been acquired, with the exception of the vacant May Supply
warehouse o'W'n.ed by Gene Pfeifer. Pfeifer has filed a lawsuit contending the city's
eminent-domain acquisition is not a public purpose. The price of the property is not an
issue. City Attorney Tom Carpen.ter feels confident and expects to file a summary
judgment motion in the next few weeks.
Additionally, Republican activist Nora Harris filed a lawsuit challenging the ·
constitutionality of city park bonds being used to acquire the site. The city prevailed at
the chancery court level, but Ms. Harris has appealed to the Supreme Court. Briefs are
currently being filed. The city feels confident and resolution is expected in early 2000.
�!
[
i
I
November 17, 1999
The Honorable William J. Clinton
President of the United States of America
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500-2000
Dear Mr. President:
Thank you very much for coming home and agreeing to be our
keynote speaker at our annual chamber meeting.
'"'We plan to make this one of your most important and
pleasurable trips. We look forward to recognizing you for your
contributions to our city and state.
Enclosed you will find a copy of "Little Rock Business" that will
be mailed to our membership on Friday. We expect to have
2,000 people in attendance.
Best regards,
- /)tAt,
4e~ wocks
Send to Burkhardt for reply?
YesL
Chairman of the Board
No _ __
.
CG ·.
&.
'Oc\Jwl~ J
ds
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'l3
501-975-6251. Fax 501-975-4241. www.CJrw.com
Eastern Office. Raleigh, North Carolina
�$2 Million To
UJar Memorial
With President Bill
Clinton scheduled as
keynote speaker, "BIG
CHANGES" are taking
place on Friday, December 1Oth, as the
Greater Little Rock
Chamber of Commerce
hosts its 133rd Annual
Meeting. The breakfast
meeting will be held in
the Statehouse Convention Center and
will celebrate the
changes ahead for our
entire community as we
enter a new century of
progress.
In addition to President Clinton's keynote
address, the breakfast
program at the Annual
Meeting will include a
review
of
the
Chamber's accomplishments over the past
year by current Chamber Chairman of the
Board Shelby Woods
and 2000 Chairman Joe
Ford will outline the
changes ahead. These
changes will include an
all new visual identity
and image for the
Chamber, as part of a
broad marketing campaign tied to the
Chamber's plans to
move into its new hightech home, the new
Chamber Center, to be
completed Fall 2000
(see back cover article).
Special invitations
for the Annual Meeting
will soon be mailed to
Chamber members.
The invitations include
reservation procedures
for both the Annual
Meeting on December
lOth and the "BIG
DIG" groundbreaking
event for the new
Chamber
Center,
scheduled for December 2nd (see page 3 for
more information about
the
"BIG
DIG"
groundbreaking). Seating will be limited for
the Annual Meeting,
which will be a sell-out.
Ticket details will soon
. be announced.
SPECIAL
AWARD
RECOGNITION
Also dur\ng the Annual Meeting, recognition will be given to the
1999 recipients, and
their companies, who
earned special Cham-
Hational
Maqazine Puts
ANNUAL
MEETING
133RD
President
Bill Clinton
Keynote Speaker
Shelby Woods
1999 Chairman
]oe T. Ford
2000 Chairman
ber of Commerce
awards. The Top
Chamber Membership
Volunteer, Ambassador
of the Year and Small
Business Spotlight
Award winners will be
announced and honored.
Our Chamber committee chairs and dedicated volunteers have
accomplished much in
1999. A printed Annual Report will be distributed at the Annual
Meeting to further
document the area's
growth
and
the
Chamber's scope of accomplishments -providing a condensed
overview of the thousands of volunteer
hours devoted to bettering our comm;mity.
�·Baptist Health Baptist Memorial Medical Center Opens
1ggg BoartlofDirectors
Baptist Health dedicated its
newest healthcare facility, the
Baptist Health Baptist Memorial Medical Center on October 24th and opened on November 6th. The $110 million
project is the largest construe-
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
tion project in Arkansas history. General contractor for
the project was Baldwin &
Shell Construction Company.
The new 320,000 square foot
hospital is located at the intersection ofl-40 and U.S. High-
way 67/167 in North Little
Rock.
Opening with 134 beds, the
new Baptist Health Baptist
Memorial Medical Center is
on a campus ~etting that will
also hquse a child care center
and a 125,000 square-foot,
free-standing medical office
building with an Ambulatory
Surgery Center and CART!.
Long-term development planning will also include two hotels and a restaurant on the
campus. The programs and services that will be available at
the new hospital were developed after extensive work involving numerous civic and
community organizations and
is based upon estimates of future disease and utilization pat- .
terns for demographics unique
to Central Arkansas.
Located on a 157-acre campus, the new Baptist Health Baptist
Memorial Medical Center in North Little Rock represents a major
addition to Greater Little Rock's healthcare industry.
Chairman of the Boanl
Shelby Woods
Chairman-Elect
]oeT. Ford
Past Chairman
Janet jones
Presidatt/CEO
Paul H. Harvel
Treasurer
Jack Reischauer
VP/Ewnomic Development
Bob Birch
VP/Lirtle Rock 2txXJ
Bill Clark
VP/Educmron/
Community Affairs
]esse Mason
VP/New Toc/mology/Ccmmuniauioru
Brian Fatter
VP/Membership Development
Diana Hueter
VP/Gooernmental Affairs
Eddie Drilling
Ed Ligon
VP/Public Safery/CRIMEOlfr!
Fifry For The Fu!Ure
John Steuri
Doubleday Fund
AI McDowell
Gary B. Barker
Uttle Rock Port Authariry
Downtown Partnership
Bob East
LR Advertising Promotion Comn.
Wally Allen
DIRECTORS
Hubert Barksdale
Jane Krutz
Rick Campbell
Dr. Les Carnine
Block 2Lofts Groundbreak Across From Chamber Center Site
The Vanadis Group broke
ground October 7th on the
Block 2 Lofts development,
located at Main and Markham
Streets diagonally from the
planned site for the new
Chamber Center. The loft
apartments project will provide housing in the downtown
area with the first phase to be
completed in the spring of
2000 and the balance by the
fall of 2000. When completed,
the development will feature
retail and food shops on the
first floor and 145 loft- type
apartments on the remaining
three floors. The renovations
of three historic, multi-level
buildings is key to the project's
Bobby Lester
Mike Coulson
Mark McLarty
Hon. jim Dailey
Mike Means
jerry Davis
Barbara A. Douglas
jim Pledger
Dr. Trudie Reed
Dexter Doyne
Gary Smith
David Featherstone
]ames Smith
Col. Paul]. Retcher
Ron Strother
Lloyd Garrison
Pat Torvestad
Lynn Hamilton
Barry Travis
Russ Harrington, Jr.
Han. Buddy Villines
James T. Harvey
Woodson D. Walker
Dr. Charles Hathaway
Millie Ward
Dr. Harry Ward
Hon. Patrick Hays
Kevin Hogan
Jack Williams
Drake Keith
An artist's rendering hints at the renovated design work under way to
create the Block 2 Lofts now under development across from the
Statehouse Convention Center expansion in downtown Little Rock.
Business is published monthly by the
Greater Little Rock Chamber qf Commerce.
101 S. Spring St., Sre. 200
Little Rock, AR 72201
Telephone: 501-374-4871
FAX: 501-374-6018
ary and be completed in time
for the year 2000 football season. War Memorial Stadium is
the state's largest outdoor entertainment facility.
priated by Gov. Huckabee during this past legislative session.
It will be used to help fund
phase two of the stadium renovatio~, which will be in Janu-
Ben Wyatt
BUSINESS
Gouemor Presents $2 Million For Stadium Henouation
Governor Huckabee recently presented a $2,000,000
check to the War Memorial
Stadium Commission for continued renovation of the stadium. The funding was appro-
Deborah Schwam
Reggie Corbitt
on the National Historic Register.
goal of maintaining integrity
for these downtown buildings
Bill Lambright
BUSINESS (USPS 0004-195) is published
monthly except December for $3 per year
for members and $225 for non-members, by
the Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, IOI S. Spring St., Ste. 200, Little
Rock, AR 7220!. Periodical postage is paid
at Little Rock, AR. POSTMASTER: Send
address changes to BUSINESS, IOI S.
Spring St., Ste. 200, Lirtle Rock, AR 7220 I2486.
2
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�BUSINESS
Chamber Center
Groundbreak1nq Set
For December 2
All Chamber members
should mark their calendars for
the "BIG DIG" at 10:45 a.m.
on December 2nd. Everyone is
invited to this special outdoor
media event to. officially
"break ground in a BIG way"
for the new Chamber Center.
COLLECTIVE PARTNERSHIP CELEBRATES
GROUNDBREAKING FOR TRINITY COURT
PLACE APARTMENTS
A recent groundbreaking and ribbon cutting ceremony took place to celebrate the beginning
of construction of the Trinity Court Place Apartments, located at 2000 Main Street in Little
Rock. Pictured above cutting the ribbon (from left to right) are Chamber Ambassador June
Cia; Dale Taylor of Regions Bank; Chris Murdoch of Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas;
Jack Griffiths with Apollo Housing Capital of Cleveland; Paul Kelly, current City Director
for Ward 9 and past Director for The Arc of Arkansas; Linda Galey, vice president of
Metropolitan National Bank; and Steve Hitt, executive director of the Arc of Arkansas.
CEREMONY TO BE
ATTENDED BY
GOVERNOR MIKE
HUCKABEE
The historic ground-breaking ceremony, to be attended .
by Governor Mike Huckabee
and other civic leaders, will be
held on the actual construction site located just east of the
Statehouse Convention Center expansion in downtown
Little Rock.
WATCH YOUR MAIL
Your "BIG DIG" invitation
should be arriving soon, along
with an invitation to the
Chamber's Annual Meeting.
For more information about
the new Chamber Center and
how you and your company
can share in this major economic development project,
see the back cover.
STATE'S OLDEST EMPLOYMENT AGENCY HAS NEW OWNER
Dianne Sims, new owner of the Lovette Employment Agency, accepts a chamber
membership plaque. Chamber Ambassadors listened as Ms. Sims explained the history of the
agency and what services are offered through her agency. The Lovette Employment Agency,
located in the Executive Building at 2020 West 3rd Street, has been in operation since
1952. The agency's focus is on permanent professional placement, and Sims' specialty is
human resources. She'll be joined by Marilyn Archer, who has been in the employment
business for 12 years.
3
�--BUSINESS
MICKEY'S SPECIAL AFFAIRS CELEBRATES NEW LOCATION
AT 11614 HURON IN LITTLE ROCK
Chamber Ambassadors recently conducted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the new
location of Mickey's Special Affairs at 11614 Huron. In the photo above, Ambassadors
present a chamber membership plaque and coffee mug to the Elegant Events Gallery
Partners (from left to right): Kendra Boyle, ABC certified coordinator and planner; Dave
Anderson, entertainment specialist; Dorothy Coleman, cake design specialist; Bettye
. Flowers, catering specialist; and Carla Fugate, specialist in wedding gowns, tuxedos, floral
design and wedding accessories, and also an ABC certified coordinator.
leadersh1p 2000
Climbs to Hew Heiqhts
On October 21, Class XV
of Leadership Greater Little
Rock, under the direction of
volunteers Lisa Joiner and
Mark Stodola, participated in
the 4-H Center's ExCEL Outdoor Challenge, or "ropes
course." A series of obstacle
courses; the ropes course is designed to promote self-confidence, teamwork, trust and
cooperation:. While part of the
class was climbing a rock wall
or doing trust falls, others were
conquering "high elements"
from the treetops.
Prior to the ropes course,
the class had a weekend orientation/retreat at Mountain
Harbor Resort. In addition to
the study of individual personality types, led by Dr. Taibi
Kahler, and a close look at
leadership
styles
and
teambuilding, led by Dr. Bo
Thomas, the class was treated ·
to a shrimp feast prepared by
Leadership Alumni volunteers, and a ride on Bill
Sowell's boat, the Pig Sty.
In November the class will
learn more about the past,
present and future of Little
Rock in a session led by journalist Bob McCord. The session will be sponsored by
Mitchell, Williams, Selig,
Gates and Woodyard.
For more information, contact Judy Knod at 374-4871.
CHAMBER AMBASSADORS AND NAVY LEAGUE CELEBRATE
224TH BIRTHDAY OF UNITED STATES NAVY
Chamber Ambassador Chairman Mary Menard "takes the cake" from Arkansas Council
Navy League President Joe Havens (also a Chamber Ambassador) in celebration of the
United States Navy's 224th Birthday as other Chamber Ambassadors look on. The Navy
League is a civilian organization dedicated to the education of citizens and offers support for
the men and women of the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard and the Merchant
Marines, and the families of those enlisted. The League has a network of over 330 Councils
across the U.S. and boasts over 70,000 active members.
Leadership Greater Little
Rock's Class XV participating
in 4-H Center's "ropes
course," described by members
as "challenging," and
"exhilarating," but mostly
"fun!"
4
�Leadership Alumni
Hold Annual Meetinq
The Leadership Greater
Little Rock Alumni Association held its annual meeting at
the ALLTEL Arena on October 20. The well-attended luncheon meeting featured
Michael Marion, General
Manager for the ALLTEL
Arena, as guest speaker.
Marion spoke about the challenges facing the Arena Board
and management, and was optimistic about its future.
Alumni were given the opportunity to join Marion on a tour
of the building. .
At this meeting new officers and board members were
elected for the 1999-2000 fiscal year. The officers who will
serve this term are: Chip
Culpepper, Chair; Consevella
James, Vice Chair; Sandra
Robertson, Past Chair;
Michael Manley, Secretary
andJeffHildebrand, Treasurer.
Other board members are
Loretta Alexander, Wayne
Berger, Russ. Berryhill, Julie
Kaplan, Tim Orellana, Paula
Patterson, Carole Smith,
Dwayne Stuart, Diane
Vibhakar, and Paul Vitale. Lisa
Joiner and Mark Stodola will
represent Class XV on the
board.
BUSINESS
RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY MARKS GRAND OPENING
OF CLARK'S RESTAURANT ON CANTRELL ROAD
Chamber Ambassadors were recently on hand to conduct a ribbon-cutting ceremony to
celebrate the grand opening of Clark's Restaurant, located at 8805 Cantrell Road. In the
photo above, Clark Parkison (middle) poses with Chamber Ambassadors at the entrance of
the new restaurant. Clark's has a wide variety of appetizers, salads, burgers and
sandwiches, grilled and fried entrees, pasta dishes, kids meals and sweet treats. Clark's
serves both lunch and dinner and is open for business Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to
9 p.m. and from II a.m. to 10 p.m on Fridays and Saturdays.
Hational Maqazine
Puts Little Hock
In Top 25
Business Development
Outlook magazine's "Top
Choice Cities for 1999" recently ranked Little Rock
among the top 25 U.S. cities
overall in which to operate a
business. Ranked 24th on the
list, Little Rock was chosen
after the magazine evaluated a
variety of costs and other factors for businesses. For more
information, visit BDO's
website at www.bdomag.com.
ARKANSAS HOSPITALITY ASSOCIATION CONDUCTS
55TH ANNUAL CONVENTION AND TRADE EXPO
The Chamber Ambassadors recently assisted in the ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the
beginning of what is known as "The Great Arkansas Food, Lodging and Travel Show."
Pictured above at the ceremony are (from left to right): Rob Best, president of the Arkansas
Restaurant Association; Linus Raines, past president of the Arkansas Lodging Association;
Governor Mike Huckabee; Miss Arkansas Brandi Rhoades; Montine McNulty, executive
director of the Arkansas Hospitality Association; Richard Davies, executive director of the
Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism; and Wayne Woods, past president of Arkansas
Travel Council.
5
�.·~"41o--
BUSINESS
Chamber Recognizes
Jeanne lllallace
Rs Top Ambassador
For October
Jeanne Wallace
Mercantile Bank
ONLINE TECHNOLOGIES MOVES TO NEW LOCATION
AT 10307 MAUMELLE BOULEVARD
Phil and Becky Dively, owners of Online Technologies, and Chamber Ambassadors cut the
ribbon of their new location in front of one of their new products - a wall-mounted gas plasma
screen. Online Technologies started as a sales and service business for IBM products in 1985
and began audio-visual equipment sales in 1990. Since then it has come to deal exclusively
with portable audio-visual projectors from a variety of manufacturers. They provide
installation for all of their products and specialize in fixed remote-controlled systems. Their
new location serves businesses throughout the state with two demo rooms, a board room and
home theater.
THE COFFEE BEANERY INTRODUCES NATIONAL RE-DESIGN
WITH NEW WEST LITTLE ROCK LOCATION
Chamber Ambassador Bret Curry (middle) and]ohn Lloyd, co-owner (right) listen to Turner
Lloyd, co-owner (left) as he welcomes Chamber Ambassadors and guests to the new Coffee
Beanery.lo.cated in the Centre at Chenal at 17200 Chenal Parkway. The Coffee Beanery is
introducing a re-design of its national chain of stores at the Lloyd's new location. This design
will be eventually incorporated nationwide. In addition to specialty coffee drinks and a light
menu, the new location features indoor and outdoor seating, coffee beans and coffee-making
accessories, and a wide selection of desserts. Live entertainment is provided on weekends and
a player piano operates during the week.
6
Jeanne Wallace, a business development officer
for Mercantile Bank of
Central Arkansas, has once
again been awarded top
honors as Ambassador of
the Month and recognized
for her outstanding service
to the Chamber.
Wallace values the bu,5iness and personal relationships she builds through being an active Chamber Am-,
bassa:dor. She has participated in literally dozens of
ribbon cuttings, ground
breakings, new member receptions and other Chamber hosted activities. Interested in the growth of Little
Rock, Wallace promotes
the Chamber not only
through her involvement as
an Ambassador, but also in
serving on the Chamber's
Chairman's Club Member
Recruitment Committee.
You too can benefit from
being a Chamber Ambassador.
Not only are Chamber Ambassadors involved with growth
and exciting things happening
in the area, but also in networking with other people interested in the future of our
city. For more information,
call 3 74-48 71.
.
�MEMBERS
Acadia Restaurant
Matthew Krause,
3000 Kavanaugh, Suite 202
Little Rock, AR 72205
501/603-9630
RESTAURANTS/CLUBS
Recruited by: Jane Krutz,
The Executive Building
Cotham's In The City
Jon Griffin
1401 W. 3rd Street
Little Rock, AR 72212
501/370-9177
RESTAURANTS/CLUBS
Recruited by: Jane Krutz,
The Executive Building
Fitness Concepts
Training Studio
Perry Shock, III
11715 Rainwood, Suite C- 2
LittleRock, AR 72212
501/221-9929
HEALTH/FITNESSCENTERS & EQUIPMENT
Recruited by: Susie Marks,
Chamber Staff
H P Vending
Jerry Hendrix
1015 S. Monroe
Little Rock, AR 72204
501/280-0145
VENDING MACHINES
Recruited by: Susie Marks,
Chamber Staff
Old State House
Museum
Dale Walters
JOO West Markham St.
Little Rock, AR 72201
501/324-9685
MUSEUMS
Recruited by:
Gerald Tumer,
Chamber Staff
Roberts
& Company, Inc.
Mark Roberts
2701 w. 7th
Little Rock, AR 72205
501/3 74-5000
CONTRACTORSCOMMERCIAL/
INDUSTRIAL/
RESIDENTIAL
We have your
next office
staff member!
STAFFING FOR INDUSTRY
West Little Rock 221-0055
mr
BUSINESS
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AMERICAN TAEKWONDO ASSOCIATION BREAKS GROUND
FOR THE ATA INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM
Pictured above from left to right are Lottie Shackleford, Linus Raines of Arkansas' Excelsior
Hotel, Little Rock Mayor ]imDailey, Mrs. H. U. Lee and Grand Master H. U. Lee, and
Chamber Ambassador Chairman Mary Menard. The first International Martial Arts
museum will also involve an expansion for the Association's headquarters, located at 6210
Ba.Seline Road in Little Rock.
�Check out the preliminary drawings
of your new Chamber Center, to be
located. in downtown Little Rock just
across the street from the expanded
Statehouse Convention Center at
the entrance to the River
Market District. The site will
provide a thrilling view of the
Arkansas River and Riverfront
Park from the building's two-story
glass atrium.
.
Planning For the Future
The new, high-tech home for the Greater Little Rock Chamber of
Commerce is being designed to offer you a wide range of new services and
valuable benefits. Inside the building, you'll find the Southwestern Bell
Technology Center wing with state-of-the-art video teleconferencing facilities.
World-class meeting facilities are also being planned for the John A. Riggs, Jr. Business
Center wing of the new Chamber Center. Watch for more details in future issues
of BUSINESS.
Business
A Publication of the
Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce
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TO:
PRESIDENT CLINTON
.: ' ....,
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THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Hope, Arkansas)
March 12, 1999
For Immediate Release
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT DEDICATION OF HIS CHILDHOOD HOME
Hope, Arkansas
1:30 P.M. CST
THE PRESIDENT:
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. My
friend, Tillman Ross, thank you for the prayer. And, Joe, thank you
of the introduction.
I have to say that I'm here with mixed feelings-- this
is the coldest March 12th in the past 100 years in Hope, Arkansas.
(Laughter.)
You have totally destroyed the case I have been making
for global warming for the last five years.
(Laughter.)
You know, we were at the airport and the congressmen and
state officials and the judge and county officials and city board,
everybody came out there. And it was worse there than it is here,
believe it or not.
It was raining a whole lot harder, the wind was
blowing.
And there must have been 600 people out there -- all the
school kids -- I'm sure I made a lot of money for the hospitals in
the area.
(Laughter.)
There will be people being treated for flu
for three or four weeks after this.
But I was very moved.
And in a funny way, the rain
makes this day more poignant for me.
I'd like to thank the young
people who sang from the Hope and Yerger Choirs.
I ,want to thank my
good friends who are here from the State Legislature, and Jimmy Lou
Fisher, Mark Pryor and Gus Winfield, and Charlie Daniels, our state
officials who came.
I don't know if Congressman Dickey is still here
-- he was at the airport -- I thank him.
I thank all the people who
had anything to do with this, that people on the Foundation and those
who gave their money and time, those who gave memorabilia and
memories.
I'd like to thank all the members of my family who are
here.
I'd like to say a special word of appreciation because my
brother and sister-in-law and my little nephew came all the way from
California to be with us today, and they're over there. And
I'm glad they're here.
(Applause.)
I would like to thank all the people from Arkansas who
came down here and who have been a part of my administration, but I
have to single out my good friend, Mack McLarty -- he and Donna Kay
came down and, as all of you know, he's been an integral part of
every good thing that's happened since I've been President. And I
want to tha0k him and thank them for coming down with me today.
(Applause. )
And I'd like to thank-- a lot of people from Arkansas
came, but I'd like to say a special word of thanks to Bob Nash,
because I'm going to Texarkana when I leave here and he's from there.
Thank you, Bob.
(Applause.)
He also has the worst job in the White
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House, because he supervises my appointments -- which means when I
appoint somebody I write them a letter and they're happy; and when I
disappoint them, which is about a 10-l ratio, Bob has to tell them.
(Laughter.)
I want to thank Becky Moore and Joe Purvis and my
longtime friend, Rose Crane, for all the work they've done and along
with the Foundation Board.
The three of them just gave me a tour of
the house.
I saw the old pictures and the toys and everything, and
I'm just stunned by the work that has been done.
There are so many more people I'd like to thank-- Ben
Thompson, the architect; Stan Jackson -- all of you who rescued this
old place.
Last time I was here before you started working on it was
in 1990, and I thought when I walked through the front door it would
come down around my ears. And I cannot tell you how moved I am by
this.
It's cold and it's windy and it's rainy and I won't keep
you long, but I would like to say a few things that I worked on last
night and this morning. A poet once wrote, "The accent of one's
birthplace lingers in the mind and in the heart, as it does in one's
speech." Well, so many accents of Hope linger in my mind and my
heart.
We're not far from the site of the old sawmill where my
grandfather worked as a night watchman, and where as a little boy I
used to go spend the night with him, climbing the sawdust pile and
sleep in the back seat of his car. We're just minutes -- I just
drove by -- from the place on which his little grocery store stood,
where I used to look up at the countertop aryd wish I could reach the
Jar of Jackson's cookies.
I still remember that my grandfather was the first
person who taught me by his example to treat all people without
regard to their race the same. And also, without regard to their
income -- because he gave food to people without regard to whether
they had a dime in their pocket.
We're not far from Miss Mary Perkins' kindergarten where
I went with my friends, Mack McLarty, Bill Purvis, Vince Foster,
George Wright -- maybe some more people who are here today -- and
where I broke my leg in the first of many major mistakes I was to
make in my life, jumping rope in my cowboy boots.
(Laughter.)
And we're not far from Rosehill Cemetery, where my
beloved mother, my grandparents, and my father who I knew only in my
dreams and my mother's memory, lie now in eternal rest.
In this house, I learned to walk and talk; I learned to
pray; I learned to read; I learned to count from the playing cards my
grandparents tacked up on the kitchen windows which are directly
behind us now.
Though I was only four when I left this place, it still
holds very, very vivid memories for me, and I just relived a lot of
them walking through the house.
I remember we watched the house burn
right across the street there, where the trucks are.
I remember
throwing a pocketknife into the ground in that backyard I shared with
my friend, Vince Foster.
I remember hurrying down the stairs on
Christmas morning and dragging my little toys across the living room
floor; waiting outside on that sidewalk for my grandmother to walk
home from work.
I remember watching the old telephone when it rang,
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always hoping that it was Mother calling from New Orleans, where she
went to study anesthesia after my father died.
I still miss her
every day.
She would love what you have done here -- the fact that
you preserved her mother's rosebush and that her birthday club
planted one of her bushes here. And I want to especially thank my
good friends, Elias and Jody Ghanem, for this garden which they have
made possible to be planted in her memory.
Thank you and God bless
you.
In that wonderful video that my friends, Harry and Linda
Thomason, made when I ran for President in 1992, I talked about how I
used to fly all over this country, look out across the vast landscape
of America, and think about how far I had come from this little
woodframe house.
Well, believe it or not, I still think about that,
no matter where I travel.
I said back then something I want to say again.
In many
ways, I know that all I am or ever will be came from here -- a place
and a time where nobody locked their doors at night, everybody showed
up for a parade on Main Street, kids like me could dream of becoming
part of something bigger than themselves.
Of course, Hope wasn't
perfect; it was part of the segregated South and it's had its fair
share of flaws.
And as Mack and I were reminiscing this morning, it
had a gossip or two.
But in those long-ago days after World War II,
we were raised to believe in two great qualities that I have tried to
bring back to America:
a sense of personal optimism and a sense of
community, of belonging, of being responsible for the welfare of others
as well as yourself.
I believed then and I believe now, the places we come
from say a lot about us. And places like this say a lot about
America, Mr. Mayor.
That's why people take family trips'to towns
like Lamar, Missouri, to see the birthplace of Harry Truman-- it's a
small white frame house, just 20 feet by 28 feet -- why they go to
Stonewall, Texas, to see the two-story farmhouse where Lyndon Johnson
was born.
We visit these places not because great events happened
there, but because everyday events happened there.
Not because
they're grand, but precisely because they are ordinary-- the modest
homes of modest people. We make them into landmarks because they
remind us that America's greatness can be found not only in its large
centers of wealth and culture and power, but also in its small towns,
where children learn from their families and neighbors the rhythms
and rituals of daily life.
They learn about home and work, about
love and loss, about success and failure, about endurance and the
power and dignity of their dreams.
I want to close with a story.
Back when
whenever I would come to Hope, I'd always drop
Buddy and Aunt Olli.
They helped to raise me,
lot.
After they had been married well over 50
developed Alzheimer's, and she had to be moved
facility that's connected to the hospital.
I was Governor,
by and visit my Uncle
and I loved them a
years, my Aunt
to that nursing
One night, I st'opped by to see my Uncle Buddy when he
was living alone and going to see his wife, when most of the time she
didn't really know who he was anymore.
Our talk was like so many we
had over the years; it was full of his country wisdom and full of
funny jokes, and he was laughing and making me laugh.
But when I got
up to go, for the first and only time in our long, long relationship,
he grabbed my arm and I turned around and I saw tears in his eyes.
And I said to my uncle, this is really hard, isn't it? And he said
these words I will remember until the day I die.
He said, "Yeah, it
is.
But I signed on for the whole load-- and most of it's been
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pretty good."
Now, in this town, from my family and friends, that's
what I learned -- to sign on for the whole load.
Though far from
perfect, I have tried to do just that for my family and my friends,
for our beloved state and nation.
If I had not learned that lesson
here, SO years ago, we wouldn't be here today.
And so, to my family and friends I say, thank you for
love and loyalty and the lessons of a lifetime; thank you for being
there for me through this whole wonderful ride.
To these young
people I say, dream your dreams and know that you can best fulfill
them if your neighbors get to live their dreams, too.
Because of these gifts I can say with even greater
conviction what I said to America back in 1992, I still believe in a
place called Hope.
Thank you and God bless you.
END
4 of 4
(Applause. )
1:40 P.M.
CST
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Jeff Shesol
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
REMARKS AT THE DEDICATION OF THE CLINTON BIRTHPLACE HOME
HOPE, ARKANSAS
March 12, 1999
Acknowledgments: Mayor Dennis Ramsey; Rep. Jay Dickey TBD; Tillman Ross; State
Rep. Sandra Rogers; State Sen. Jim Hill; State Treasurer Jimmy Lou Fisher; children from the
William Jefferson Clinton Primary School [who will present you with quilt after remarks]; Hope
High School Choir and Yeager Junior High School Choir; the Clinton Birthplace Foundation and
everyone else who has worked so hard on this project; members of my family who are present.
I just had a wonderful tour of the house by Rose Crane, Beckie Moore, and Joe Purvis. I
want to thank the three of them for everything they've done to make this day a reality.
Every time I am back here in Hope, back here at home, I feel just like the poet who wrote:
"The accent of one's birthplace lingers in the mind and in the heart as it does in one's speech."
There are so many memories of Hope that linger in my mind, so many places here I hold
dear to my heart. We are just minutes from my grandfather's country store, where I used to look
up at him from well below the countertop, wishing I could reach as high as that big jar of Jackson
cookies on the shelf. I remember the way he treated everyone the same, whether they were black
or white, and whether they walked in the door without a dime in their pocket. We're just a few
blocks from Miss Mary Perkins' kindergarten, where I went with my friends Mack McLarty and
Joe Purvis and Vince Foster, whose house is right behind mine, here. And we are not far from
Rosehill Cemetery, where my beloved grandparents and my father, whom I knew only in my
dreams, now lie in eternal rest.
I
Hope was home. I learned to walk and talk here; I learned to pray here; I learned to read
here, from the flashcards my grandparents tacked up on the kitchen windows. And I learned all
the lessons my mother taught me: of family and hard work, of sacrifice and courage. She held
steady through hard times. She held us together. As a child, I watched her head off to work each
day at a time when it wasn't at all easy to be a working mother. I miss her every day. More than
I can say. I know she would love this beautiful garden you have planted in her memory.
In that wonderful video that Harry Thomason and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason made
when I ran for President in 1992, I talked about how I used to fly around the country, look out
across the vast landscape of America, and think about how far I'd come from this little woodframed house. I still think about that, no matter how far I travel. But as I said back then, "in
many ways I know that all I am or ever will be came from [here]. A place and a time where
nobody locked their doors at night, everybody showed up for a parade on Main Street, and kids
like me could dream of being part of something bigger than themselves."
�I believed then and I believe still that the place we come from says a lot about a person;
and that places like this say a lot about America. That's why people take family trips to places
like Lamar, Missouri, to see the birthplace of Harry Truman-- a small white frame house, only
20 by 28 feet; or to the two-story farm house in Stonewall, Texas, where Lyndon Johnson was
born. We visit these places not because great events happened there, but because everyday
events did: children playing in the grass, families working the soil. We visit them not because
they are grand, but precisely because they are ordinary: the modest homes of people of modest
means. We make them into landmarks because they remind us that America's greatness resides
not only in its institutions, but in its families and its small towns.
Sometimes we think this America is lost, a thing of the past. It is not. It still exists-- and
thrives-- in towns like Lamar, or Stonewall, or Hope. Places of small-town pride and bighearted character. Places of family and faith. Places Americans are proud to call home. And
that is why, just as strongly as I did in 1992, "I still believe in the promise of America. And I
still believe in a place called Hope."
2
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THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Highfill, Arkansas)
November 6, 1998
For Immediate Release
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT OPENING CEREMONIES OF
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS REGIONAL AIRPORT
Highfill, Arkansas
3:05 P.M. CST
THE PRESIDENT:
Thank you so much, Secretary Slater,
for your support of this project and your terrific work.
Thank
you, Administrator Garvey, Senator Hutchinson, Congressman
Hutchinson, Senator-elect Blanche Lambert-Lincoln.
Now, up here
in Northwest Arkansas, from my point of view she's got the best
of all worlds.
She's a Democrat with a Republican last name.
(Laughter.)
I want you to get to know her, you'll like her a
lot.
Congressman Dickey, Congressman Hammerschmidt.
Mr.
Green, thank you for your marvelous work here.
Mr. Bowler, thank
you for bringing American Eagle here.
I want to thank the
Springdale Band and the Fayetteville Choir.
I thought they both
did a superb job.
(Laughter.)
You know-- I've got all these notes,' but I don't
really want to use them today.
I was flying home today, and I
have to begin by bringing you greetings from two people who were
with me this morning who, for different reasons, wanted to come
and couldn't -- one is the First Lady, Hillary, who wanted me to
tell her friends in Northwest Arkansas hello and to say she
wished she could be here.
(Applause.)
And the other is Senator
Bumpers, who has a sinus condition and was told by his doctor not
to get on the airplane, although I told him I thought it was a
pretty nice plane I was trying to bring him down here in -(laughter) -- and that we were trying to demonstrate that
Northwest Arkansas had a world-class airport.
But he asked to be
remembered to you.
I want to thank my good friend, former Chief of
Staff and our Envoy to Latin America, Mack McLarty, for being
here.
And all of you all out here-- I've been looking out in
this crowd at so many people I've known for 25 years, many more
-- I've been sort of reliving the last 25 years.
I think I
2hould begin by saying that in every project like this, there are
always a lot of people who work on it.
Rodney mentioned that
many years ago, Senator Fulbright, who was my mentor, had the
idea of there ought to be an airport here.
I know how long
Congressman Hammerschmidt has worked on this.
This project
started in the planning stage under the Bush administration, and
we completed it.
We had bipartisan support and as Senator
Hutchinson said, invoking our friend, Senator McCain, we had
. bipartisan opposition to it as well.
(Laughter.)
And I have found that there is in any project like
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this a certain squeaky wheel factor; there are people that just
bother you so much that even if you didn't want to do it, you'd
go on and do it anyway. And I would like to pay a certain
special tribute to the people who were particular squeaky wheels
to me -- starting with Alice Walton, who wore me out.
(Laughter
and applause.)
Uvalde and Carol Lindsey, who guilt-peddled me
about every campaign they'd ever worked for me in.
(Applause.)
And Dale Bumpers, who made me re-live every favor he'd ever done
for me for 20 years.
(Laughter.)
Now, there were others as
well, but I want to especially thank them.
I want to say to all of you, I'm delighted to see
Helen Walton here and members of the Walton family.
I, too, wish
Sam were here to see this day.
I thank J.B. Hunt, who talked to
me about this airport.
George Billingsly once said, you
remember, I gave you the first contribution you ever got in
Benton County, now build that airport.
(Laughter.)
I have a lot
of stories about this airport.
I want you to understand how high
public policy is made in Washington.
(Laughter.)
And we're all
laughing about this, but the truth is, this is a good thing and
it needed to be done.
You know, when I was a boy growing up in Arkansas -Tim talked about how we were all raised to believe you could
build a wall around Arkansas
we thought in the beginning, for
a long time that roads would be our salvation.
Forty-two years
ago President Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act into
law, a bill sponsored by the Vice President's father, Albert
Gore, Sr., in the United States Senate. And it did a lot of good
for America and a lot of good for Arkansas -- and a lot of
trucking companies in this state did a lot of good with it, and a
lot of poultry companies, like Tyson's and others, made the most
of those roads.
And then we began to see that air traffic was
important as well.
And Secretary Slater talked a lot about that.
And I got tickled when Senator Hutchinson was talking about
transporting apples from Hiwassee by railroad in the '20s.
I
thought to myself, I wonder if I'm the first President who has
ever known how to get to Hiwassee?
(Laughter.)
But I got to thinking about that and how now we move
from interstates to highways, and the people -- all these people
I mentioned today -- Senator Hutchinson, Senator Bumpers, Senator
Pryor, certainly Congressman Hammerschmidt and Congressman
Hutchinson now, and Secretary Slater, and before him, Secretary
Pena, and all the people in Northwest Arkansas and their
supporters -- understand today if you can't fly you can't
compete.
But if you can fly, you can soar to new heights.
Today
in a sentence, at long last Northwest Arkansas can fly.
(Applause.)
And this means a lot to me.
When I was landing
here, I called all my Secret Service detail leaders together and
I said, I want you guys to look out the window.
This is where I
started my political career.
I've been on every one of these
roads.
And we were sitting here, Congressman Hammerschmidt
reached over and he said, "You know, your career, the career that
led you to the presidency, really started 24 years ago last
Tuesday." What he didn't say was, comma, "when I beat you like a
drum up here-- (laughter.)
But I learned a lot in that race, and ever since,
driving into all the little towns and hamlets in this area.
Then
as governor, flying in and out of Northwest Arkansas and all the
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airports that were up here.
I have known for a long time that
this could bring opportunity and empowerment, access to markets,
a boom to tourism --all of this will happen. And what I'd like
to ask all of you to think about is to think of this airport -and it's not just going from here to Chicago, but from here to
tomorrow.
I am glad to tell you that the FAA will release today
a $5-million letter of intent for continued development of this
airport.
(Applause.)
I'm glad to say that we have not abandoned our
bipartisan commitment -- we Arkansans -- to other kinds of
transportation. When the Congress passed with the vote of every
member of Congress here present, and I signed the Transportation
Equity Act this year, it will mean $100 million more a year over
the next six years to the state of Arkansas alone.
And it, too,
will do a lot of good to take us to the future.
(Applause.)
We are committed also to modernizing the air traffic
system.
Our air traffic control system, with the new investments
we're making in aviation service and infrastructure, will now be
able to better handle the -- listen to this -- the 50-percent
increase in global air travel we expect in just the next seven
years.
Our policy has helped our airlines and aerospace
industries return to profitability. Now we're finalizing new
means to promote more competition and lower fares at home.
We've
signed more than 60 agreements to expand air service with other
nations, opening skies above as we open markets below.
We're also trying to do more to make sure those
skies are safe and secure.
Onder the Vice President's
leadership, with the joint efforts of the FAA and NASA and the
airline industry, we're working to convert our air traffic
control system to satellite technology, to change the way we
inspect older aircraft and, most important over the long run, to
combat terrorism with new equipment, new agents, new methods.
In the world of the future we'll need great
airports, we'll need wonderful airplanes, we'll need well-trained
-- well-trained pilots and people to maintain those airplanes.
Our prosperity more and more will depend upon keeping the world's
skies safe, secure and open.
·
I've got to mention one other personal thing.
I saw
Lt. Governor Rockefeller here, and he probably has to hide it
around election time, but when we were younger men we studied in
Oxford, England together -- when people typically took a boat.
Now, people our age then look at me when I tell them I took six
days to get from here to England and they think I need my head
examined.
We are moving around very fast now.
And the last thing I'd like to ask you to think
about is where we are going and how we're going to get there.
We'll have better roads, we'll have better airports, we'll have
safer air travel.
But to me -- as I have seen all the people
before me speak, the people that really d~d the work -- all I had
to do as President was to make sure my Budget Office didn't kill
these requests and to make sure everybody I knew, knew that I was
personally supportive of this.
But the members of Congress and
the others here present, the citizens, they did all the work.
And all of you who worked on this -- I saw the
leaders stand up when their names were called -- to me, this
symbolizes America at its best; people working on a common
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objective, across party lines, putting people first, thinking
about the future.
It's a symbol of what I have tried to do in
the six years I have been in Washington.
And I learned most of
what I know driving around on these back roads.
And I just want to tell all of you that I thank you
for the role that you have played in helping to bring this
country to the point where we not only have a surplus for the
first time in 29 years, but the lowest percentage of people on
welfare in 29 years, the lowest unemployment in 28 years, the
lowest crime rate in 25 years, the highest home ownership in
history, with the smallest government in Washington since the
last time John Glenn orbited the Earth.
And I am proud of that.
(.1\pplause. )
And what I ask you to think about is that we are
--all of us -- living in a smaller and smaller world, where our
independence and our own power depends upon our constructive
j_nterdependence with our friends and neighbors beyond our borders
--the borders of our region, our state, our nation.
If we're
going to build a pathway to the future, we have to build it with
air travel, we have to build it with the Internet, we have to
build it with modern medical and scientific research, and we have
to build it by giving every child -- without regard to income,
race, region, or background -- a world-class education.
We have to build it by recognizing that -- all the
differences that exist in this increasingly diverse country.
I
know there are churches here in Northwest Arkansas that now_have
services in Spanish on Sunday, which would have been unthinkable
24 years ago, when I first started traipsing around on these
roads.
All of that is a great blessing -- if we decide when we
soar into the future, we're all going to take the flight
together.
You built this airport together.
Take it into the
future together;
Thank you, and God bless you all.
(Applause.)
END
4 or4
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�Revised Final 11/05/98 6:00pm
Jeff Shesol
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
REMARKS AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS REGIONAL AIRPORT
HEIGHFILL, ARKANSAS
November 6, 1998
Acknowledgments: Sec. Slater; Sen. Bumpers; Sen. Tim Hutchinson; Sen. Pryor; Sen.elect Blanche Lincoln; Rep. Asa Hutchinson; Administrator Jane Garvey ofFAA; John Paul
Hammerschmidt, chair ofNW Ark. Council; Stan Green, chair ofNW Ark. Regional Airport
Authority; Peter Bowler, Pres. of American Eagle; Alice & Helen Walton
It was 42 years ago that President Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act into
law. The bill was sponsored in the Senate by Albert Gore, Sr., and it was one of the landmark
pieces of legislation in this century. By creating the most efficient network of roads in this
nation's history, it connected millions of Americans to the economic mainstream, expanding
opportunity and ushering in unprecedented economic growth. These were roads to the future -for most Americans, a far better future.
Around that same time, another Senator was working to build an airport in this very
region of Arkansas. That senator, of course, was J. William Fulbright. When I worked for him
during my college years, I learned a lot about a lot of things, from education to foreign policy;
and I also learned quite a bit I didn't know about my home state. Among them, I came to
understand that the highways my friends and I criss-crossed as teenagers were vital to the
economic well being of our families and our communities. They connected us to one other and
to the rest of America. They linked country and city, people and products, heartland and home.
They were to our present what the railroads had been to our past.
What Senator Fulbright knew, four decades ago, was that the airways were every bit as
important to our future. Every day -- every single day of the year -- almost 4 million passengers
take flight worldwide. And in the new global economy, as Secretary Slater just pointed out,
nearly half of all world commerce is conducted by air. A modernized national airspace system
will determine our ability to compete in the 21st Century. Simply put: Ifyou can't fly, you can't
compete. If you can't fly, you can't soar to new heights. Today, at long last, northwest Arkansas
can fly.
Where will we go, as we take to these open skies? We will head to the 21st Century-- to
a new, more modem Arkansas, a new, more modem America. So we are not merely cutting the
ribbon on a new airport; we are opening' a gateway to the future. A better future. It is not just
airplanes that will take us there: it is better public schools, where our children have the cutting~
edge tools and skills it will take to succeed, and will rise on wings ofknowledge. It is the
information superhighway, which can transport the great libraries of our nation and the world to
the desk of a child in a one-room schoolhouse. We need new airports, yes, and we need better
�roads, but the infrastructure of the new century is also being built with the bricks and books of
schoolrooms, and with copper wire and fiber-optic cable.
The real test ofthis new airport is not simply whether the skies are streaked with the
contrails of jet planes. The real test of this new airport is the growth it generates, the jobs it
creates, and the hope it inspires. It is found in the eyes of the children living on farms, and in
these mountains, children who look skyward and imagine the places they will go.
I know the difference this airport is going to make in this region and in people's lives.
I have spent a lot of time here, over the years. I taught here. Ran for office here. Hillary and I
were married here. Twenty-four years ago, when Representative Hammerschmidt and I were
running for Congress and driving to every quiet comer of this district, we both could see that
northwest Arkansas needed better roads. As Governor, I used to fly into Fayetteville, over the
mountain. So I know this new airport will make travel easier for everybody. I also know what
else a new airport means to·the people of this region: It means opportunity. It means
empowerment. It means better access to markets abroad, and a boon to tourism here at home.
The Northwest Arkansas Airport-- as well as the new four-lane highway-- are the kind
of investments that will pay dividends to the people of this region and the state as a whole for
generations. We have heard about the many jobs they will generate, about the new opportunities
they will provide in this fast-growing region -- a wave of economic development that ripples
outward, reaching and empowering rural, border counties, where some families have yet to
experience the wonder of air travel. Now, in an hour and a half, a regional jet can whisk them to
Chicago; and, from there, they -- and their products and ideas -- can go anywhere in the world.
That is why I am pleased to announce that today, the FAA will release a $5 million dollar
Letter oflntent for the continued development of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport.
Partnerships like this are a powerful symbol of what we can achieve when we work together:
state and federal officials, government and business, Democrats and Republicans.
For six years, my administration has been working hard with members of both parties to
make the same kinds of investments in our future -- even as we balanced the budget for the first
time in a generation, even as we cut the federal government to its smallest size in 35 years. In
June, I was proud to sign the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, the largest
transportation bill in the history of this country. In Arkansas alone, it will mean over $100
million more per year for the next 6 years. It will strengthen Arkansas and the rest of America
by modernizing and building roads, bridges, transit systems, and railways to link our nation
together and to permit a freer flow of goods. It will make our cars and roads safer, and will
enable more Americans to move from welfare to work by offering transportation assistance.
But if we are truly to fulfill the promise of this age of opportunity, we must extend the
reach of our efforts further across the earth's surface and upward to the skies. During the next
year, we will have a remarkable opportunity to do just that; and we can make 1999 the year of
2
�aviation. We are already off to a great start. We have made considerable investments in our
nation's aviation services and infrastructure. Our air traffic control system will now be better
able to handle the 50 percent increase in global air travel we expect over the next 7 years. Our
policies have helped return the airline and aerospace industries to profitability, and we are
finalizing new means to promote competition and lower fares at home. Abroad, we have signed
more than 60 agreements to expand air service with other nations, opening the skies just as we
have opened markets down below.
We are also doing everything in our power to ensure those skies -- and the aircraft that
travel across them -- are safe and secure. It is important to note that air travel is still our safest
mode of transportation. But under the leadership of the Vice President, and with the joint effort
oftheFAA, NASA, and the airline industry, we are ~orking to make it even safer: to convert our
air traffic control system to satellite technology; to change the way we inspect older aircraft; to
combat terrorism with new equipment, new agents, and new methods.
We know that, in the decades to come, our national prosperity will depend even more
greatly on keeping the world's skies safe, secure, and open. We will, of course, still need roads
and bridges. But we will also need more airports like this. It is, as I said, a gateway to the future
--a model for moving people and products across barriers that, one by one, are falling away. By
empowering people to move more freely into and out of this region, we can revitalize rural
communities and bring them into the economic mainstream. We can build a solid infrastructure
for the future. And if we do so, we will honor and fulfill the vision of Senator Fulbright, and
ensure that we do not leave anyone behind as we venture, together, into the 21st Century. Thank
you.
3
�---
-
------------------
Withdrawal/Redaction Marker
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
AND TYPE
001. letter
DATE
SUBJECT/TITLE
Skip Rutherford to Wayne Cranford [partial] (1 page)
11/151199
RESTRICTION
P6/b(6)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Speechwriting
Heather Hurlburt
OA/Box Number: 19909
FOLDER TITLE:
December 1999-WH: Presidential Library 12/99 [12-10-99]
2008-0700-F
wr546
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act- [44 U.S.C. 2204(a))
Freedom of Information Act- [5 U.S.C. 552(b))
Pl
P2
P3
P4
b(l) National security classified information [(b)(l) of the FOIA)
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA)
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA)
b( 4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA)
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA)
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA)
b(S) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
financial institutions [(b)(S) of the FOIA)
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA)
National Security Classified Information )(a)(l) of the PRA)
Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA)
Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA)
Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA)
PS Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(S) of the PRA)
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA)
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
of gift.
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
2201(3).
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
�November 15, 1999
Mr. Wavne Cranford
Dear Wayne:
In regard to our recent conversation about President Clinton and Arkansas, I
wanted to share the following with you.
Under Bill Clinton's leadership, America has experienced the strongest
economy in a generation. Individuals, families and businesses, as well as
state and local governments, have all benefited. In my opinion, a good
economy--much like good health- is often taken for granted until it js lost.
As one small town Arkansas Mayor told me recently, "It doesn't get any better
than this."
Had there been high unemployment, high interest rates and double-digit
inflation from 1993 forward, President Clinton would have certainly received
the blame. So let's be fair and give him credit for presiding over a very good
national economy. We've have the largest budget surplus in history;
unemployment is the ]owest it's been in 29 years; we also have the highest
homeownership rate in history; and the lowest crime rates in 25 years.
Arkansas families have certainly been among those to benefit from these
developments.
Regarding Arkansas industry, people forget that in 1993 after President
Clinton took office, over $70 million in federal monies began corning to the
Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport. With strong support from the
President and Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, this project, after many
years of planning and study, finally became a reality. Without President
Clinton's and Secretary Slater's personal support, it would not have
happened. After all, the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport is only the
�DEC 06 '99 10:59 FR
TO 12024565709-2601 P.11/12
Mr. Wayne Cranford
November 15, 1999
Page 2
third new commercial airport built in the last 25 years, with Dallas-Fort
Worth and Denver being the other two. In times of balanced budgets--and
not big deficits--$70 million for one project is not only significant, it's huge.
For many years to come, this airport will enhance the economic development
of Northwest Arkansas, Southern Missouri and Eastern Oklahoma. It
certainly is very positive for the University of Arkansas.
In addition, Little Rock Air Force Base, unlike some other military
installations, remains strong. We should all do everything we can to save
and grow the Base.
The Clinton Presidential Library--which could have been located in other
Arkansas cities as well as other states--will also be an economic and tourism
asset. An independent study concluded Little Rock's annual economic::
benefit would be about $11 million a year, whkh means it would pay for the
city's investment in about a year. But in fact, the Clinton Library is already
paying dividends. Here's what Charles Morgan said at the announcement of
the new Acxiom downtown complex:
my sincere appredation to those who've been
involved in making this District a reality, including bringing the
Clinton Presidential Library here. Knowing that the Library was
going to be here was a key factor in our decision because it
demonstrated to us that there would be continued development
in this area."
"I want to express
Above and beyond Acxiom, I can't even begin to tell you the number of
people that have called and continue to call me about investing in the River
Market and adjacent areas because of the Clinton Library. It's exciting, and I
believe the best is yet to be.
In addition, thousands of Arkansans have had the personal opportunity to
visit Washington, tour the White House and make many new friends and
connections .. I certainly have. Many Arkansans have received appointments
to prestigious national boards and commissions. Individually, Mack McLarty,
Carol Rasco, James Lee Witt, Rodney Slater, Vanessa Weaver and Bob Nash-among many others--have or will have successful post-White House careers
which should benefit our state for years to come.
�DEC 06 '99 10:59 FR
TO 12024565709-2601 P.12/12
Mr. Wayne Cranford
November 15, 1999
Page3
Again, I appreciate your point and thank you for giving me the opportunity
to respond. Good to be with you and Frances in Fayetteville.
Best Wishes,
Skip Rutherford
Encs.
**TOTAL PAGE.12 **
�When completed, the new Chamber Center will give
the Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce
the ability to ...
IIi be the "premier" meeting and technology facility in Central Arkansas
IIi be the "premier" networking site, with hundreds of business people attending
meetings each week in the facility
II contribute substantially to the renaissance already underway in downtown
Little Rock, as we continue revitalization at our urban core
II build stronger relationships throughout all facets of the community, including
partnerships with city government in Little Rock and North Little Rock, the
Clinton Presidential Library, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the
Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau
li better support the special needs of our small businesses and established
industries --- with an increased emphasis on workforce development; "start-up"
assistance; training; an aggressive schedule of new activities; and even hosting
meetings by other economic development-related organizations serving our
business community
The new Chamber Center building in downtown Little Rock will become a.landmark,
representing the "front door" of our community to visitors and business people. It's
already been described as a "Marketing Machine" for Greater Little Rock. You'll soon
understand why!
Doing Business Differently
Thanks to advances in technology, there are new ways for small businesses to "do
business" and new ways to market our area. At the heart of the new Chamber Center's
concept is a pledge to include the latest cutting edge, "state of the art" communications
and computer technology.
Preliminary plans for the new Chamber Center include first-class meeting facilities, a
two-story glass atrium lobby with a view of the Arkansas River and two video
·
teleconferencing centers --- a full~size, 100-seat, multi-media auditorium and a special
conference room with the ability to host video-teleconferences with business people,
government leaders and educators all over the globe via the latest in video
teleconferencing and satellite technology.
�1
~·-"4>··
.Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce
Annual Meeting and Breakfast
Where Business Comes Toge1her
GREATER UTILE ROCK
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
EVENT:
INFORMATION POINTS
Prepared for the White House by Joe Swaty, APR
For additional information call (501) 374-4871
The Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce
Annual Meeting and Breakfast
With Keynote Speaker President Bill Clinton
Friday, December 10th I Program Begins at 9:00a.m.
Statehouse Convention Center I Governors Hall ll
OVERVIEW:
The Greater Little Rock Chamber's Annual Meeting is the market's ·largest business·
event of the year. This year's event takes on special, historical significance with President
Clinton returning home.to address local business leaders on the eve of a new century.
The theme for the year's breakfast meeting is "BIG CHANGES!" and builds on the
area's popular "BIG ON LITTLE ROCK" city pride and tourism theme. This year's Annual
Meeting marks completion of the Chamber's 133 year of service to the 2entral Arkansas
·
region's business community.
Additional significance of this year's meeting are the "BIG CHANGES" underway for
the Chamber, with a ground-breaking event (the "BIG DIG") being held on Thursday,
.
December 2nd, for the Chamber's new high-tech home--- The Chamber Center.
Located adjacent to the Statehouse Convention Center at the entrance to the River
Market District, the new Chamber Center is a $5.3 million dollar project. It will be "one-of-akind" in the nation, unlike traditional Chamber of Commerce buildings, with over $1 million
dollars budgeted for "state of the art" telecommunications equipment and technology features.
Only blocks from the Clinton Presidential Library complex, the Chamber Center will
_offer President Clinton and his staff access to extensive telecommunications equipment for
global applications, including a unique video-teleconference auditorium allowing
approximately 100 real-time, on-line participants. (See additional information sheets,
attached, including a production script draft of the entire event).
Another BIG CHANGE for the Chamber will be the implementation of an entire new
. graphic image for the Chamber, along with an aggressive marketing campaign. The new
"logo" and marketing campaign will be premiered at the end of the Annual Meeting program.
SERVING UTILE ROCK, NORTH UTILE ROCK AND CENTRAL ARKANSAS
101 S. SPRING ST., SUITE 200, LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS 72201-2486 +(501) 374-4871 +E-MAIL: chambe1®littlerockchamber.com <)WEBSITE: http://www.littlerockchamber.com
�SPECIFIC POINTS TO BE CONSIDERED FOR INCLUSION
IN PRESIDENT CLINTON'S REMARKS:
Recognition of his long, friendly relationship with the Greater Little Rock
Chamber of Commerce _...:,_even having served as the organization'skeynote.speaker in the mid-80's while he was Governor, in addition to
working with business prospects considering Arkansas for expanded
operations.
Reasons why Central Arkansas was selected as the site for his Presidential
Library and how he envisions its impact on the local economy.
Recognize the Chamber's leadership-role (along with another senior-level
business organization -Fifty For The Future) in helping, behind _the scenes,
to encourage him to make his selection of Greater Little Rock as the site
for his Library.
How he envisions his Presidential Library complex to impact on the area
and the entire state - with an economic development impact, educational impact and social impact
Possibly the "BIG CHANGES" he sees for the nation and the various
political agendas he sees as important as ":e enter the new millennium
\
Recognition of the economic impact provided by the Little Rock Air Force
Base
Recognition of the social impact of Central High School (and possibly a
note of appreciation regarding the Chamber's on-going role in support of
public education and workforce development throughout Pulaski County)
�The new Chamber Center will also include a computer center offering hands-on
trainillg, Internet access and computer-assisted meetings --- all elements designed to
mesh with a joint educational partnership approach with UALR, providing technology
education for current and future business leaders. These are the tools that business
people must master to compete in the 21st century. Exciting floor plans are in
development for the two-level structure, as these preliminary drawings below indicate ...
·-......
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�The new Chamber Center's
"high tech" components, will ...
0 provide computer-access and training facilities to a broad range of chamber
members, small business people and community leaders
0 allow satellite-delivered programming for business education purposes of all
kinds
0 allow video teleconferences with decision makers worldwide
for virtually any size group
0 help us truly compete on a global level with intemation~ marketing
capabilities and "reach"
0 help us better serve the growing companies who are members of the
Knowledge-Based Companies of Arkansas (KBC), an organization staffed by the
Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce
0 keep us competitive with other cities' prospect and economic development
activities outside of Arkansas, while working closer in partnership with economic
developers throughout our own state
0 increase the cost-efficiency of our staff and raise productivity
ft expand and expedite all Internet and e-mail links to prospects, with same day
tum-around on all specific information queries, augmented with fast, broad
bandwidth connections
ft allow for a "one stop shop" approach to "Fast Track" all levels of prospect
activity
0 help us make a positive first impression when hosting prospects
0 allow us to add significant value to Chamber members who are small
businesses --- especially minority and women-owned businesses needing special
assistance to grow and prosper
�The New Chamber Center's "Price Tag"
There is a $5.3 million projected budget for the new Chamber Center. Pledges have
already been secured to fund over $4 million of the project. Two major donors have
pledged their support for the new Chamber Center.
Riggs Family and Southwestern Bell Support
Jack Riggs, senior chairman of the board of J.A. Riggs Tractor Company, has already
made a major philanthropic donation from his family of $1 million in funding for the
new Chamber Center. The donation is in memory of his father, John A. Riggs, Jr., who
served as the Chamber's Chairman of the Board in 1955.
Southwestern Bell had originally approached the Chamber to help explore and develop
the technology components planned for the new facility. The company has pledged
over $1.3 million in technology components and capital funding for the new Chamber
Center.
The Building Site Is Perfect
The new Chamber Center is being built just east of the newly-expanded Statehouse
Convention Center, right at the entrance to the River Market District. The site is a
"picture-perfect" focal point for the downtown area, with a breath-taking Riverfront
Park view, directly across the river from the new ALLTEL Arena. It strategically links
pedestrian traffic moving back and forth from the expanded Statehouse Convention
Center to the River Market District to the Clinton Presidential Library complex. Cause
for additional excitement is the fact that the site will also possibly serve as a special
trolley stop for a colorful new trolley system traveling over the Arkansas River into the
River Market District and beyond!
Without a doubt, the site for the new Chamber Center is at the very center of activity for
the 21st ,Century. It also is a site tied to a mission of urban redevelopment, further
enhancing the economic prospects for growth of the entire downtown area and its many
wonderful neighborhoods on both sides of the Arkansas River. One can only imagine
the combined, long-term economic impact of the new Chamber Center, the expanded
Statehouse Convention Center and the new, $100 million private investment planned for
the nearby Clinton Presidential Library complex.
�����TO 12024565709-2601 P.01/12
DEC 06 •gg 10:55 FR
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Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods
FAX TRANSMITTAL SHEET
Date:
To:
From:
i
Ski~ Eu tberford
Number of pages sent induding this sheet:
,
II
If you have any problerri_~.:rec:eiving this facsimile, please contact Dianne Kelly
at (501) 975-7266.
._.,
Thank you.
Copitol Center I 303 West Capitol Avenue I Little Rock, Arkansas 72201-3593
FAX: (SOl) 975-6045 or (501) 975-6085
CONF!DENT1ALITY NOTE: The information in this facsimile transmittal is confidential
information i.ntended only for the usc of lhe U,dividual or entity named above, lf the reader 01.
this mcssa~;c: is not the intend~::d recipient, you are kereby notified thar any disseminaiiC'In
distribution or copy of the trA.nsrni((.:.l is stri~::tly prohibited. t£ you receive thi!> tr<\n~mitlill 11,
error. please immediately notify us by ~elcphone. <1nd return the Clri~;in<d \1' u~ ,1t tlh' o>.l:-><'' ('
.lddrc::\5 vi<~ the t)niled St~LCS Post:~! Service. Thank you.
�12/08/1999
12:01
N0.958
1717 Pennsylvania Avenue~ N.W.
Suite 625
Washington. D.C. 20006
Phone: (202) 822-8182
Fax: (202) 822-8108
To:
Heather
From: Carl Lingenfelter,
Director
Fax:
456-5709
Pages: 28
Phone:
Date:
December 8, 1999
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�12/08/1999
N0.958
12:01
Gl02
MACK MCLARTY
LEADERSHIP GREATER LITTLE ROCK GRADUA TJON
LITTLE ROCK, AR
JUNE 25, 1999
[Acknowledge whoever introduces you]
13 ,···l·-t-
clowt-L-.
Graduates of Class 1.4, Leadership Greater Little Rock ... employers, 1-..rdt,.,sd''CJ
j)c.. $ p ,' -k J"t-- ..yo-- ,...... t ... c I ...l. J ~ /iltJet. -f.> ""' ~t.. '1J /., 'sa.f
sponsors, alumni and friends: It's wonderful to be home~ it's great to be~'Af/r
P
a private cit}zen~ and I'm honore~ to join you here today for this
1UN. ~M.I.{~-~-t ~ .J_:_~ - )_~jL, r v - ~r ..h:. - ~
important occasion. 7}1. A· I..J.rn-- 11 ~'- ~ :3 L. t ~ ~. .-, t..l .ArA-r J~ .~
t. v: .f. t/
~'-"l/t.. (:)(~...
I've been futzing over what I wanted. to say to you today, but.-ey son
'$"(1 .... (1
/)A (~
Mark has told me not to worry. He ~.:thet being a graduation speaker
is a little like being the corpse at an Irish wake: They need you there for
the party, but no one expects you to say very m.uch.
Mark's comment may reflect the impertinence of youth-- but his advice
is sound. So
I~ 11 try
to be brief. And since this is a Chamber gathering,
�12/08/1999
12:01
N0.958
2
let me begin with the bottom line: Congratulations, Member(of Class
C .J ~./y-,. f.-In .f.:~/.t
·
::1
~n completing this important, intensive and rather inspiring
'
commWlity program.
The first hurdle you crossed was your very selection, against pretty
s.-h-f.t
cJ· FV'r.S'?; Ad~
eKffi:alt competition. One glance at the ro~ter of alu.mni shows the high
5 L (6.--r.J .I fJ.A 1er ( C./A .tI ::t"
standard this program demands. Individually, all of you are clearly
leaders in your fields -- from medicine to media, from banking to the
Boy Scouts. CollectivelyD you reflect the best that Little Rock has to
offer: Competent, committed, compassionate men and worn~ with a
~
demonstrated willingness to serve.
'--
=---
Over the past nine months, you've had a close~ up view of the workings
~ lA ,._
t) ~-.....
ofyour community-- from~ wealthiest districts to some of-its meanest
01.-t-
st:reets,
from~
6 .. /.1-
schools to its prisons, from Camp Robinson to St.
..-
-
Vincent. I'm sure you've co1ne to appreciate its varied strengths and
weaknesses, its opportunities and challenges, .its history, hopes and
dreams. And in the process, yol.l 've gotten to know one another -- and
Q03
�12/08/1999
12:01
N0.958
3
also, perhaps, yourseJves a bit better -- as you thought about ways to
improve your com.m.unity, neighborhood by neighborhood, block by
~
block.
Your program is over. But all of you know that your work is just
beginning. Now you. join the almost 600 alum.ni who form the
Leadership network. And from taking part in the PTA to running for
public office, it's up to you to take what you've learned and put it into
/l~SP
action. It IS up to you to help meet~ I believe, our most important task for
the 21st century: to renew a sense of community and a spirit of shared
responsibility.
/ ) . C...C... IS
,./ •·
d ~ ...IJ-
jh- "'~ IJ J .J (/..
We live jn an era of remarkable opportunity, but also significant
'•
challenge.
By any measure, the United States is the strongest economy on earth -- a
tribute to a vibrant and productive private sector, to businesses large and
small, and also, I am proud to say, to the Clinton Administration, which
[;104
�12/08/1999
12:01
N0.958
IJ05
4
has provided the certainty in !he landscape that has enabled our economy
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to thrive. Just think: The longest peacetime economic expansion in our
history ... the highest real wage growth in over two decades ... the Dow
above 10,000 ... unemploym.ent below five percent... more women than
ever starting businesses of their own ... and in the midst of global
t";~rJ
'i In<
C4
... :._.--/
turmoil, ou.r economy grew for the third year in a row. Even Alan
l•IIJ
Greenspan, hardly a fountainhead of optimis.m;called America's
_
·
ir &>"" t-1"1# I ~J (.. .. _.,.... "".t , ,. . -.. L ,. ;. . ~ 1 JL 1 t i"" r
performance extraordinary. But too many Americans still lack the skills
~
S' (..( ~~,-~.)..
'
to thnve m. the new econmny. The gap between rich and poor is
growing while our nation's social safet-y net has shrunk.
Socially, Am.erica's prospects
~p
as negative trends have swung
~
down. Crime is down. Two million Americans have come off welfare
I\..
0
L,,...5".
~.
Teenage pregnancy and school drop-out rates are down-- while
reading scores are up. We remain the most religiously observant of all
advanced societies. Even our divorce rates have declined. But from
(,..) w t./N. ~..j....).~J
+
tabloid journalism to Jerry Springer tG the tra.g~s ia JonesbQOO and
~
~~·'
r •. 1 , ...........
cc I A-tA."f--.- u
U~tes,
· . t )• Je..-s ,.-."<>
/'
~
the fabric of society has coarsened. And intolerance and hate /VI
c ·I~
~. """" (.. ""'..>
r-Q.f4
�12/08/1999
12:01
N0.958
Gl05
5
still claim people's lives for what they look like, where they worship or
who they love.
On a global scale, our nation's ideals are ascendant arou.nd the world.
I've seen it first-hand. in Asia, where on a sunlit, sparkling day bef~re
M/i;:J.e.t/4- t IJs,~ :J
one million South Koreans, President Kim Dae· Jung declared at his
inaugural that democracy and open· markets are two sides of the same
coin. And I've seen it in. our he.1nisphere, where a qu.iet revolution of
freedom has swept the A.mericas.
7) P- tL ~s-.; ~
I've sometimes said that my career has been a journey from Main Street
to Wall Street to Pennsylvania Avenue to the Pan-American and
international highways. But what really surprised me is the way these
distant highways led me back ho.me. As the President's Special ~nvoy
for the Americas, I saw that business people in South America shared
A-/'A 13 '- 5 ; ..t:., /../J ~
~~I.;.I~s
the values I learned growing up in He.mpstead County; devotion to ~c.c';'..;
L,·~ ~,.t..
family and faith ... a commitment to political and economic freedom ... a
desire to pass on to their children a better world than the one they knew.
�12/08/1999
12:01
N0.958
7
(.,.J t.
Q08
s c.. e. ' +
Little Rock their passport to a world of knowledge ... in electronic
:::::;- ;2 I
.,
i...+
t, q>C.
I
J 4- t,..... ,S ~ .f
commerce that lets entrepreneurs move goods, services and capital
around the world with the touch of their index finger. But we also see it
Cl'+-/ ,.J-:.
in financial shocks, drug trafficking and terrorism~- threats that emraot
~-p
be contained in a world where borders are dissolving. We must face
what President Clinton calls the ''inexorable logic of globalization-- that
everything, from the strength of our economy to the safety of our cities
to the health of our people depends on events not only within our
borders but half a world away."
~:
So how do we seize the opportunities of this new era, while guarding
IV'\ft /..-<.. 11..-L ,_. f r 1 c.l....r.../!'- ·
· against its dangers? How do we meet our challenges, while preserving
our basic values?
Certainly, some problern.s must be tackled at the highest levels, such as
saving Social Security and Medicare for tomorrow,s generation.
/•,J.-:c-4
)
�12/08/1999
12:01
N0.958
GJ09
8
And some must be fixed at the kitchen table -- because as my friend,
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom Friedman has observed, preparing
~
our kids for the Internet world requires ~'not more whiz-bang high-tech
~
skills, but rather .more old-fashioned fundamentals --reading, writing
and arithmetic, plus church and synagogue." That's why he has
proposed what he calls Fried1nan' s Law: That parents should add one
hour of quality time with their children each week for every time the
speed of their son or daughter's modem doubles.
'
-
/)t"-!.r~~+"'""'·"'·t·
f.j~~
.
;_'1. tA-< . . -t.· ~ /
...
/..., ;-.''7 L/1"~<.../.
But many of the issues and challenges we face, from education to the
environment to public safety, can onJ£ ,tfl}ly be resolve<1itveryone .
•
~
1,. 11./c. t)./~~o '-~"' ~ ~,.,_, ~~·· ,_~ e.. eo~-1,..... '~·.r"
pulls together. And in order to pull together, we need leaders and role .r;:eqsf-S·
models like you to point the way·- to show that, for all our differences,~:.,.~'~
""',..,_ w-'
there is much more we have in corn.mon ... that each of us, no matter our ""'-.)........
~;-.+
privilege, can be enriched by the contributions of the least of us ... that
~.(
-f.,. . . . r ~
none of our children can reach their fullest potential if!U:X~me' s children c.~--- J./
~
,, ..
.....
are left behind ... th@e find unity in communityl the whole will be
-
greater than. the sum of its parts.
.~ .~
,
�12/08/1999
N0.958
12:01
9
We need not~ and m.ust not, choose between self-interest and mutual
interests, between material needs and the need for family, faith and
--- ---
community that gives our economic and professional success its truest
---------------------
meaning and purpose. And even ~we take the lessons we've learned
~-
from business into the community, we must never forget to bring the
lessons of community back into the way that we do business.
I remember when I was elected State Representative, I went to see one
of Hope's most venerable leaders, Senator Lloyd
Spencer~
for advice.
And he said, "Mack, I have one thing to say. Whatever that Little Rock
Chamber is for, you should be against."
~ N""' f;tt~;
I thought a lot about that when I became President of the Chamber some
ju_..,. ,5}1ft-'-~ oU S'. C '-0' ./5 j.., 5 ~>/'-..;, "'")
years later. But I genuinely believe this Chamber is important to Central
Arkansas and our entire state. By helping to build the civic pride that is
key to commercial success, it upholds the spirit of my dear friend, the
late Ron Brown: It does well and it does good at the same time.
[;110
�12/08/1999
12:01
NO. 958
Gl11
10
I am confident the members of Class 14 will make the Chamber, your
tVbW
sponsors and your fellow citizens proud./I'm not going to reveal your
~.,./ '7
<1'-
~L-~(-u.J~~ ~ 7u'-,. ,;I.A..~
personality profiles -- but whether persisters~ promoters, reactors,
rebels~
dreamers or workaholics, all of you have what it takes to lead, and I
commend you for that.
'"------------
To close, let me say that being here withyou today brings me back to a
wiJ
-·~-
bygone era, ·a!! I was embarking on .my own career in public and private
life. I had the honor of serving my home county in the legislature in
wW lJ~I"~ !?~~..!> U(\~ ~~z em:;·~ f~ ''"") f,;, . . $-+·~
1971 -- back when the Brady Bunch was in its third season ... polyester
e.,
.£,)
pant suits were considered the height of fashion ... the Fords at my
JT~
family's auto dealership in Hope were equipped with 8-track
tapedecks ... and kids wore their baseball caps facing forward, as strange
as that may seem today. When I took over our family business in 1973,
electric typewriters were cutting edge and Paln1 Pilots were the stuff of
science fiction.
C.sv.
�12/08/1999
N0.958
12:01
11
Much has changed since those years. But one thing remains the same:
The need for people who are wil11ng to step forward, to reach out, to
lend a hand, to share and care. It may be true, as the Leadership
application- says, that "leaders are not born, they are developed.'' But
each of you carries deep inside a special kind of gift: The drive and
determination to stand for something larger than yourselves.
It is a gift for which the rest of us are more grateful than we can say.
Congratulations, Class 14. We wish you the best of success and I am
truly honored to be with you today.
###
Q12
�12/08/1999
N0.958
12:01
PFI
REMARKS FOR NORTH LITTLE ROCK CHAMBER OF
COM:MERCE
<acknowledge introduction>
_
Cj.;~--~
(
"'-~,..-..
J.
1', ?
The recent progress of thi; communicy is matched only by
~
its future potential.
L; v<'"'""
~ downtown redevelopment efforts begun a decade ago
are reaching critical mass, with the Streetscape project and the
historic preservation initiatives of the Argenta Conununity
Development Corporation.
Small business and retajl openi.ogs in Nonh Little Rock
continue to flower. The I-440 Industrial Park, which your new
President, Todd Larson, helped spearhead* is a magnet for new
business investment.
·1-
G.l13
�12/08/1999
12:01
N0.958
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PPI
The health care industry is increasingly visible, with the
Baptist Memorial Hospital and St. Vincent North under
construction.
Tourism is booming, with all the associated benefits in
lodging and dining facilities.
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New investors~ visitors and residents have fed the area's
growth, but many existing businesses and civic institutions are
flourishing, too, including the North Little Rock Times. entering
its 10l 5t year of service-and three auto dealerships whose rising
/1 rr~r,..~~~~""
fortunes I have watched ~!rely, even while in
Washington.
·2-
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aaa
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.'
�12/08/1999
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N0.958
PPI
All the quality of life indicators-increasingly a dominant
f3 1.1"' .J'f' s5'"
factor in oerpar£tte investment decisions-are pointed straight up.
I am especially impressed by this chamber's strong focus on
building linkages between the business community and the
schools, including the Vital Links program that introduces
1'-MSL--
students to the world of work, and a viAety of scholarships and
other awards.
And of course, all these positive developments will be
enormously reinforced by the ALLTEL arena, and the rapid
enhancement of the River Market area on both sides of the river.
13 ~ h fl..~- i_u ,.., c ·:k,l.
If I had to choose two words to describe why North Little
Rock is doing well, I would choose "leadenltip'' and
''partnersbip.n
-3·
FEe
9 ·ss
lJ:qa
1:115
�12/08/1999
12:01
N0.958
PP!
This city and its business community have benefitted from
a talented and dedicated group of leaders in recent years,
/-.---1 /w-.r;:, -~-~ /,..,,41
including outgoing Chamber chairman Gary Dean and incoming
cha.Uperson DoiUla Hardcastle. :Hbouki alse lfteatioa tflt}
chamber's multipurpose facility board chaired by Bah Russell
r
for its morJ< OR the a:zeua, and m:e advertismg arul promotion
c, (..
_......
c0ftl:H"U5sien led@faxy §ryavenport.
But matching your wealth of leadership has·beeo your
habit of partnership-between public and private sectors, to be
(..I,>. .. f~...,.,~L-•I.f
·. /1 S W ~~
sure, but also across boundaries. North Little Rock Mayor
w~~
v1.i .( ,b,...,..
Patrick Henry Hayes..... lohg·time friend of mine-has worked
with Little Rock Mayor Jim Daly and Pulaski County Judge
Buddy VillineHo create the best working relation~hiy ~ this area
::{)of CG 'I •4 u --'S"
in living memory. A .-<1 1:?g; :o- i I ; i'q ~~+
w
J_:;o' ' .ti;pl [ ; ..
..
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FEE!
9
'99
10:44
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Gl15
�12/08/1999
N0.958
12:01
PPt
That's one important reason the river has all but stopped
being a dividing line between communities, and has once .again
assumed its ancient role as a common resource from which all
our people draw sustenance.
Toe first step towardt partnership is often the recognition
of common resources and common opportunitie&e crosscutting nature of common challenges.
This is tru~ of our nation, and well as our own community
here in Arkansas.
·5·
FS:B
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1:3,44
[;117
�12/08'1999
ND.958
12:01
PF!
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In 1993, when I moved to Washingtonltfijainf¥ iaeet
~MJJ&i§C
Hmws
~tWf,
many economists, historians, and
policy experts believed America's dominant and successful role
~ ...... 1-'1-4-s '( t.v~ S" ,,..; "f1.. u"-./
in the world had come to an end-ironically, just after our victory
in the Cold War and in the Persian Gulf War as well. A whole
body
of literature had grown up on the theory of inevitable
American decline. Some observers thought it was obvious that
Japan specifically, or East Asia generally, would soon replace
North America as the center of the global economy and the
engine of innovation and growth.
More than a few analysts suggested there was something
weak and defective in our national character, ~yrn~liz~"St)
deficits.
-6-
FE8
9
'99
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[;118
�12/08/1999
N0.958
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~19
We were told.~ were a nation incapable @_elfdiscipline and teamwork necessazy to make basic decisions
essential to our own economic well-being.
_t
•
A,; g_t-
Today these projections look pretty sfl.!1. By any
measurement, the United States is the strongest economy on
earth, with the strongest potential for furure growth. Each day
we set new records by continuing the longest peacetime
economic expansion in our history. Average unemployment last
year was 4.5%, the lowe,st annual rate in thirty years. Our
--lvd,e.r: 15'-1 a u,,~r·d· p .....·. . ~~-£ 5£. --b-.
-r......;,.,.s /S.Jt.. ~4 ,..,J
economy created--17:'7 million jobs last year, and they weren't
.s-~~
,c .
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low-wage, low-skill jobs ehher. In fact, our wage growth is
.
runnmg at twice the rate of inflation, 1
·
(,J e"' {- ~ -(f..4./~
; .~- · IioI'<~.~ .. rJ.·~,
j)
nowvrtork in cuttitig-edge teclmology-iiius&!y jobs earnmg two-
FEe
9 '99 l3t45
j3 il-J....F
�----------------------------------------------------------~ND~-958
12/08/1999
12:01
FEB-le~t999
~3:52
PF!
202 :)<14 5EH4
P. i:F.l~'l8
I cite these familiar statistics because they provide so
dramatic a contrast with the economic pessimism of the early
---
1990s-and because they didn't just happen by accident. ~ ~r L h
1
Clearly, the private sector was the engine of this era of
~ ......... ~L
c ..•-t-/.<.t.;,_f,· ... ,
growth, but at least pan of the credit should go to series of early
t;._
r"""(..""
decisions made by the Clinton Adm.inisttation-helped by many
Members of Congress, with a powerful assist from Federal
/)t-c;"s, ,~s--f\--.1 1~ ,t k ~~'"'·'•j
Reserve Board Chainnan Alan Greenspan k) ebfie doWil the
federal budget deficit, reduce the size of the federal govenunent..
aggressively expand international trade.
and invest in the
productive capacity of our people. I wish, in fact, I could claim
personal credit for the steady boom of the 1990s-but then I'd
have to explain why it boomed right along without a hiccup
when lleft the Administration last year.
FE13
9
'9S
J:J;~s
~20
�12/08/1999
~~0.
12:01
~21
958
Pfl
But the fact remains that the deficit did not just go down,
but turned into surpluses. The federal government's payroll is
J' -=t "- i_lfl$ f'/'JJ .~J$=. ""4. ~
lower than it's been since ttw. i(@aM~l .As~strafiefl. We
( "j".J"..,
!r
have succeeded in expanding business starts and new jobs
through expanded exports. We are in a commanding
international position in a wide array of economic sectors. And
we are beginning to see the benefits of economic growth spreacl
.
.
~ J..,'h-- J.. (,.J "" (..1 .i.) I ~Lz J.. C' 11..k j
more broadly through our workforce as !t g~ the skills for che
'Z
r.; .fl.
.t~~ ...
Cl)J.J
jobs of the present and future.
We can let future historians sort out the credit for this
resurgence of U.S. economic power, just as they will
Wldoubredly son out the blame if we lose ou.r momentum and
sl-uink from the challenges just ahead.
-9-
FEa
9
'99 13:45
~
l,.. ..p..G(.
�12/08/1999
N0.958
12:01
P~l
~ ~ ....
;'-'- 4-(,f...LI
1\
But no one can doubt that the people of •
country, and
~ leaders in the business community and in government have
met the flrst great challenge of the era of globalization and rapid
technological change: we've refused to retreat, we've refused to
withdraw behind our own borders or into our old ways of doing
d
business, and we've regained our historic role as a beacon of
economic growth and opportunity.
.
Just as North Little Rock has put aside histo.ric rivalries .and
-
reached Ollracross old boundaries, our country is building new
economic partnerships around the world, recognizing that in an
f.-~J.J.
0\-
in!ormation age you can no longer perpetually block the
movement of goods, services, capital, or innovations.
~!0-
FEB
9
'99
13:46
Q22
�N0.958
PPJ
Just as North Little Rock has recognized the
interdependency of this region, our country is recognizing that.;.
l.vc...
must remain competitive globally to stand strong in the
(,.Jr...
turbulent winds of economic change, and must also strengthen
p~
........
Me neighbors
against those winds if we are to channel their
energy into productive uses .
.$;
~ dt-1,:~
There is a rangible connection between What we are doing
in Arkansas and what we are doing as Americans in the broader
world. Not only does kkansas benefit from the strength of our
overall economy-but increasingly. Arkansas can and must
contribute to America's success in the world.
·ll-
F~a
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Gi 23
�12/08/1999
F~~-:a-1s~s
~""'- '-1 jJ e /Ji
N0.958
12:01
1J:s~
F'Pl
;--
,5 ~rf
Domestic and international economic trends are now so
woven together that they are mutually reinforcing if you
succeed; and mutually destructive if you don't. You can no
more remove expanded trade and investment from the mix of
""'""-
"'-.--""
"-
....
----
factors that has created our strong domestic economy than you
~
....
can pull a spark plug from a speeding car and expect it to keep
on running strong.
By the sarne token, there's no reason on earth why the
1\-(.~t.JC.
/}-r..t..~•,..:lllr .;-v...(
goods and services~ produce in North Little Rock cannot
find markets overseas at some point in the near future-as many
already have. And if you do, you may be surprised, as I was, at
how familiar this brave new world of the global economy
actually looks and feels.
-12-
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9
'99
J:J:<l6
Gl24
�12/08/1999
12:01
N0.958
FEB-1a-1~3
13:5a
I've sometimes summarized my career by saying I traveled
from Main Street to Wall Street, spent some time on
Pennsylvania Avenue, and then found my way onto the Pan
American and international highways. But what really surprised
me is that the Pan American highway led me back home.
As the President's Special Envoy to the Americas, I
discovered that business people in South America shared the
same values I learned in Hope, Arkansas. They certainly share
our devotion to family and faith. To an ever-increasing degree,
they share our COmmitment to political and economic freedom.
Whatever their native tonguel they speak the same language of
supply and demand, and have the same hopes for their
shareholders, their employees, and their communities.
-13-
Gl25
�12/08/1999
12:01
rm.9SB
PP!
---
-----
.............
_.
lol.t
the values ¥9t1learned at home.. Like the river between here and
Little Rock, the Gulf and Mexico and the Caribbean Sea are
becoming~of a ~~mmllllities,
G
~
a common resoutce nourishing common values and aspirations.
Just as North Little Rock's strong values and rising living
standards are mutually reinforcing, so are berrer lives and more
prosperous times linked for all of us. While most of the
economic prophets of doom of the early 1990s have fallen
L--
....
"$'P~
-----
-
.....&
silent,~ voices still cry that America's current prosperity is '5 ·
,-fo ~ I "-<i<- "'i .i.._t f'·<--'g
built on crass materialism-that we've bought economic growth
and higher incomes at the price of our families and our civic
strength.
·14-
292 544
~914. P~GE.BI$
... L.j
[;126
�12/08/1999
ND.958
12:01
Well, that's not necessarily true, either. As remarkable as rk
eight straight years of low-inflation economic growth may seem,
it's no more remarkable than five straight years of falling
violent crime rates. As inconceivable as it may have been in
J:.. &.- J, ~ ... ~+s .e,. .,.;ltt-'-'7
1993 to imagine a federal budget in surplus, it's &Qt as stunning
• I
~-~- w-~. ~tv.~
'-
an-accdmjj#l!hiiiWt ae:a 40% reduction in welfare dependency.
e:&4
.
Teen pregnancy rates are down, divorce rates are down~ and ;tv--f ~~
school drop-out rates are down. Crack cocaine is receding as a
~ t 11, ~'a 1... ,..-.. ...._. '- ,..,...._ w ,.,....( ,.J-.L.I..s ~ &<. ,
ravager of lives in our inner cities, and even gun ·violence is
~ ':_::-t.'-st...fl.
, "' ' ..... r
down. America remains the most religiously observant of all
advanced societies, and even our sense of moral decline may
partly flow from our enduring thirst for righteousness.
-lS-
FE8
S
'99
I:J;47
~
2a2 $44
5~14
PRGE.BJ6
Gl27
�12/08/1999
N0.958
12:01
PPl
I cite these examples not to claim that America, s troubles
are over. but simply to suggest that we can meet our challenges,
economic and social, while preserving our values.
In a very real sense, the Main Street you are reviving here
in North Little Rock extends far beyond your borders to the far
ends of the earth, and you can travel them without leaving your
Main Street values behind.
The oceans that separate America from the world can
-=of become no more of a barrier to our prosperity and our way
r--
.............._
-
'
than the river that separates North Little Rock from Little
·16-
Fea
9
'99
~~,47
IJ28
�12/08/1999
N0.958
12:01
We need not choose between domestic and. international
success, just as we must not choose between economic and
moral health.
And in recognizing the recent improvements in our
r:-
-
'
economy and our society, we cannot become complacent, but
'
--------
must continue to reach across boWldaries to include our
neighbors,-near and far, in the winner's circle.
7'h /l..J--1 ~
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.
TOT~
FEB
9 '99 13:47
282 5G4 !0\4
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IJ29
�DEC 06 '99 10:55 FR
TO 12024565709-2601 P.02/12
The Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce
ANNUAL ~ETING
Friday, December 10,1999/9:00 a.m.*
Statehouse Convention Center I Governor's Hall II
*Attendees urged to arrive at least one hour early for Secret Service security clearance.
TIMED AGENDA I Musical Entertainment begins at 8:30a.m. as guests continue to enter
tluough security checkpoints I Program begins at 9:00a.m. and ends at 10:30 a.m.
7:30a.m.
Doors Open To Governor's Hall II with magnetometers set up at entry doors off hall
foyer. Chamber Ambassadors, choir members, color guard, speakers and event staff will
be cleared through security first.
8:30a.m.
Philander Smith Choir begins performance, building to short Opening Ceremony song at
8:55a.m.
Janet Jones I 2 minute maximum
Chrup.ber 1998 Chairman
9:00a.m.
Welcome
9:02a.m.
Presentation of Colors and Pledge' of Allegiance I 3 minutes maximum
Little Rock Air Force Base Color Guard
.Jesse Mason, 1999 Chairman of Education
9:05a.m.
Invocation
9:07a.m.
(Short break for breakfast entree service) I 23 minutes maximum with all food
service staff leaving hall when completed
9:30a.m.
President Clinton arrival at back of staging area to Hail to the Chief Fanfare and
standing ovation from audience as he joins the head table and is seated I 6 minutes
9:36 a.m.
Pinnacle Award Presentation To Bob Russell I 3 minutes
9:39a.m.
Chairman's Report
9:50a.m.
Keynote Address
10:20 a.m.
10:23 a.m.
Trudie Reed, Ed.D. I 2 minutes maximum
President of Philander Smith College
Shelby Woods I 11 minutes maximum
1999 Chamber Chairman of the Board
President Clinton I 30 minutes
Special Presentation to President Clinton by Shelby Woods I 3 minutes
Presentation of plaque to Shelby W.oods by Joe T. Ford I l minute
Joe T. Ford I 6 minutes
2000 Chamber Chairman
10:24 a.m.
''Big CHANGES" for the Future
and Adjourrunent
10:30 a.m.
Walk-out Music I President Clinton invited to shake hands with guests
behind roped area at ground level in front of stage for as long as he wishes
�DEC 05 '99 10:55 FR
TO 12024555709-2501 P.03/12
Briefing Paper
Re: Clinton Presidential Library Site/Little Rock
The city of Little Rock is in the process of acquiring about 27 acres for the William
Jefferson Clinton Presidential Park. The city will acquire the property, make it ready for
construction and dedicate it as a city park. It will be part of the River Market District
and will be an extension of the city's popular Riverfront Park.
The Clinton Foundation plans to lease a portion of the park Land in the park also will
be dedicated and made available to the Federal Government through the National
Archives.
All the property has been acquired, with the exception of the vacant May Supply
warehouse owned by Gene Pfeifer. Pfeifer has filed a lawsuit contending the city's.
eminent-domain acquisition is not a public purpose. The price of the property is not an
issue. City Attorney Tom Carpenter feels confident and expects to file a summary
judgment motion in the next few weeks.
Additionally, Republican activist Nora Harris filed a lawsuit challenging the
constitutionality of city park bonds being used to acquire the site. The city prevailed at
the chancery court level, but Ms. Harris has appealed to the Supreme Court. Briefs are
currently being filed. The city feels confident and resolution is expected in early 2000.
�TO 12024565709-2601 P.04/12
DEC 06 •gg 10=56 FR
'-'ltatito~r.
'·
gets going
on builditjg
Officirus laud projeCt
at LR groundbrealdng
BY ROB MORITZ
ARKANSAS DEMOCKA'I:(;AZEHE ,
Ground was broken Thursday
for the new $5.3 million Greater
Little Rock Chamber of Commerce
Center building, after more than
three years of planning and a fllndraising campaign that has ra~scd
about 80 percent of the cost.
"This will be an outstanding addition to Little Rock," Joe Ford,
chairman-elect of the chamber,
said after the event.
.
"This is great for the city of Ltt·
tle Rock and the state," said Paul
HalVel, president of the chamber
and credited with being the driving force behind the project.
"This will be our sho'M"oom."
Dis~ussions about a new chamber building began more th~n
three years ago, and the fund-ratsing campaign began earlier this
year, he said.
The 17,000-square-foot Chamber
Center will be just east of the
Statehouse Convention Center on
West Markham at the entrance to
River Market District. It also
will he wjthjn walki~distanceof
the 1'1HI'tllee EJ.I.i.nton presidential
li¥IY Mt e Huckabee
ov.
com~lex.
Arkllr'las Oemocret-GezsNe!STEVE KEESEE
Business and chic leaden watch Thursday as a large Sc:ccp of dirt is removed from
the parklng lot on East Markham Street during ;:~ groundbreaking ceremony fer the
future home of the Greater Uttle Rock Chamber of Commerce. The 17,000·squarefoot, ~3 million Chamber Center will be located just east f!/. the Stateh~u~ Co~
ven~on Center on West Mar1d1am at the entrana:. to the Rlv9r Marl<et Oistnct.
Chamber
• Continued frorn Page 1B
cant project and it's brought a lot
of people together."
The governor, who noted that
North Little Rock Mayor Patrick
Henry Hayes and Pulaski Cowtty
Judge Buddy Villines were both at
the event, said the center will not
just be for Little Rock, but for the
entire state.
.
"As Little Rock develops, Arkansas develops, and as Arkansas
develops, Little Rock develops,"
Huckabee said.
The two-stacy building, expected to open in about a year, wlll in·
dude a computer center with
videoteleconferenci.ng, state-of-theart comm!Ulications and multimedia computer equipment, meeting
rooms and offices. It also will include a two-story glass atrium lob-
by and a full-size, ll~l-seat. multi·
media auditorium.
About -$4 million has been
raised through both public and private donationB, including $1 million
ftom the family of Jack Riggs, and a
$1..3 million pledge from Southwestem Bell Telel)hone Co.
Shelby Woods, chairman of the
chamber, said the organization
hopes to eventually raise enough
money to cover the entire cost of
the center.
The center will enable Little
Rock to compete nationally for
rnore business and economic development, Ford said.
"This is extremely important to
GZ"eater Little Rock." Ford said,
adding that Little Rock is one ofthe
few dties of its size without a new
chamber of commeree center.
Riggs, whose family donated $1
million in memory of John A Riggs
Jr., former chairman of J .A. Riggs
·
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was on i
hand to watch the ground breaking ,
and praised the chamber for its vi· t
sio~What
an incredible moment,"
Huckabee said. "This is a signifiSee
CHAMI)fR, Page
.
128
.
I
1
·:~·
.
Tractor Co. and a chaiP.ne.r. chairman in 1955, said the chamber's ~
fices have been in rental spa
and "hav~ not been veey conduci .
to good community relations to im:
press new industry leaders that
Little Rock and central Arkansas
was the place to be."
"There will be some great opportunities for business people,
both small and large, to use this fa.
cility," he said.
Woods .said the center will offer
all information needed by new
businesses that are thinking about
moving to the area.
In honor of the largest contributors, the west wing of the building
will be called the John A Riggs Jr.
Bwincss Center, and the east wing
will be named the Southwestern
Bell 'Thchnology Center.
The center was designed by Polk
Stanley Yeary Architects and is to
be built by CDI Contractors, Inc.
�TO 12024565709-2601 P.05/12
DEC 06 '99 10:57 FR
··• ·. ··.That eveni.tl.g,· Clinton wUl. fly to
. Orlando~ ,EJ.iL::~.stay (Jyernigb.t .and
· · attend thfee;fund~ralsers ....:.. iti Or. lando,· Fort La.uderd~le and Miami .......: the next day. ·
Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, a native of Marianna
who .is spearheading the "New
.Markets" initiative· in the Delta,
will accompany Clinton to West
Bflta;·
onLRtrlP1
Memphis and Earle.
Slater has ·said he is trying to
~
ARKANSAS DEMOCRA.T-GAZETIE
BY SUSAN ROTH
secure funding to help pay for a
bridge across the Mississippi River near: Arkansas City, where the
proposed Interstate 69 could be
built. · · · · ·.
· · Chamber chairinan Shelby
Woods said last week he ·expects
. Clinton to discuss how he sees his
presidential library j.n Li~le Rock
· · t.akil:Jg.shape, as well as A;rka.nsas
WASHINGTON - President
Clinton will visit the ArkanSas
Delta, too, when he comes to:the
state next week to: address.~the
Greater Little Rock Chamber! .of
Commerce, the White House· announced Friday.
:. ,j :: ,: ·
It will be Clinton's thiJ'd trip to
Arkans8:$ .and to _the Del~;:'~e
summer. He has mcluded-:th~. ·re;.
gion in his "New Markets'' ii:lltiative· aimed at' bolsteri..ng ecpnomic
development in areas: of the· nation that have not benefited from
the current boom.
Last week the chamber announced that the president would
give the keynote address at its
133rd annual meeting at the State-.
house Convention Center .on Friday morning.
.. , Afterthe meetin;:~Clin~on ..will
. ~Visit West Memphis Qd E~tei'~as ·
part of his continuing .~oiD..Iili~ent
tp. . . . . the. ec@omi~l:aevd.i
·_ ·c,.;.t;~evelopment jnatters.
,
~J
· · confirmed thatd Clinton
1:;' w.ill Wk ·about .·the library but
· 'plaYed: it down.
·
.
"MY guess is, given the Little
Rock buSiness commwlity's stake in
this, that he'll probably talk to them
a little bit about it in the speech,"
Lockhart said. "I don't· know that
that's the purpose of the. speech.
But I c~ think, given the busi-
ness ~(Jnmunity's iri.terest asl busi':ee PRESIDENT, Page 12B
UjJ~.U.OI;JJ,L'.' in· that; regi.Q~J;~te
·.
. said..
S~cre~'Jo~clt~-
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·
. ~ ,,: r ~f~-~~~p:;umng a museum f~~
ness genera~r ~ ..the; ~own~wn:. :·,·, b~~C;J,i ,of tile. Uiliversity of ~m
:re ....~~~~~fi.~,om~ time..· :S~ sy~teiJl, ~d.a J?ermanent .~!k
. . ·', .. l.:.. .
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denc;~Jo:t:th~presldent.
Ji;<,.; ••
_Lo_c~ sai~ .Clinfe!n has b~en ... : .<Woo~
Ubra:ry coor~t;;
. W9rki.ng-Wl~.~:proJect's ~estgD.- Skip Ru~enord have said· th'~
ers 8J).d a:,cru~ts ~ ~ tqought don't expect Clinton to visit-:tlie
~1®?-· ho~·-·he. wants'· to. orga-: · ·site, meet with potential4onorsor
> n1ze ~ phys1~~1y, _liD.~ then also attend· iUlV fund-raisers fot.~
t ~J.~~ content:-rse; WU,l_ ~e struc- project on th~ trip to Littl~ :Rpc~
.· ,
. · ..
: :.
. . Further details of tile pres1deD,t-s
s
The libr~, proj~ctjil a ~ark· vis~ts tci We~ Memphis
~~e
o.n -.~.7· acres ·east of the _...:.:..,,, . <;~ere
.~·_;;;·
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _;...,__ ;R1v~~·. . . , . not _av~~ab.le Friday;
.
... ,•LS
-and
an'd
�Air base's C-130 role
'permanent; Lott says
Senator vows to land J-model simulator in state
BY SANDY DAVIS
would split the C-130 training mis-
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
sion at the base, which has been
there for several decades, with
Keesler Air Force Base, Miss:, and
Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga.
Those proposals were included in
an Air Force study released in
June on the future of its C-130 cargo airplanes.
Lott said the newest model of
the C-130, the J-model, would fll'St
be delivered to his home state.
"I lobbied hard for those airplanes and I got them,u he said.
"We had C-130s that were 3{1 to 35
years old, and they were falling
apart. Our C--130s are hurricane
hunters and that's an important
mission. We needed them and we
Sen. Trent L<Jtt, R-Miss., minced
no words when he announced Friday that Little Rock Air Force Base
. Arl<ansas Democrat-GazaHeiKAAEN E. SEGRAVE
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi (center} laughs with Sen. Tim
Hutcllinson, R-Ant, (right) and termer state Rep. Mike Wilson of JackSonville fust
after Lotl arrived Friday at Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville.
would remain the "permanent" C130 training base for the nation.
"It is the current and future C130 center of excellence," Lott
said just before a fund-raiser for
Sen. Tim Hutchinson, R-Ark., at
the Capital Hotel. "It is the permanent training base for C--130s. It is
the current and future C--130 training base."
Lott, the Senate majority
leader, came to Arkansas on Friday at Hutchinson's invitation.
Hutchinson has been working
to kill an Air. Force proposal that
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�DEC 06 '99
rcsase
10:'~5~7~F~R--------------~--------------------------------------------------~
P.07/12
• Continued trom Page , A
;ot them.
· ·'But our base is confined in
Biloxi. We don't have the inftastrucure or the space to be home to a
pem1anent C-130 training school.
)urs will only be temporary and
will be used to train the hurricane
hunters. That's it."
Lott arrived at the Jacksonville
base Friday afternoon, where he
met Hutchinson and Air Force officials.
"They gave me a windshield tour
<\nd I must admit l didn't realize it
was that big or that nice," Lott said.
"Little Rock does have all the airsp;Ke. the drop zones. the space at
lhe base. They are the C-130 training
school. Frankly, I was venr impressed with what I saw at the base."
Altl1ough Lott admitted that Mississippi did have a new C-130 simulator, something Little Rock hasn't
had in nearly two decades, he said
he would work hard to get a C-13CU'
simulator at Little Rock.
·'I pledge that I'm going back and
I'm going to work hard to not only
get C-13UJ simulators at· Little Rock
but to also get the C-130Js delivered
Arkansas Oemocrat·Gazette/KAAEN E. SEGAAVE
to Little Rock sooner," Lott said.
The base is scheduled to get its Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. of Mississippi answers questions Friday
first C-13UJ in 20Cti, but Lott said evening after a news conference at the Capital Hotel in downtown Little Rock.
''that's not a reasonable schedule if
they're going to be the pennanent
C-130 training school."
Lott said he was not concerned
about a training school being set up
in Georgia to train aircrews on the
C~130
C-130H model.
''Georgia does not have powerful
enough represent.ltion in Washing-Trent Lott
ton to be any threat,'' Lott said. "I'm
not even worried about that."
When asked what the Air Force
Friday was the first time that
Personnel at the base did ''a
might say about this, Lott dismissed
good job" gjving Lott a tour Friday Lott has spoken publicly on the istllat, too.
sue. The Arkansas congressional
"l am elected by the people, as is afternoon, Hutchinson said. "They delegation has been grumbling for
very clearly pointed out the advan·
Mr. Hutchinson and all the other sent.lges the base has for the training months that it was the Republicans,
ators and represent.ltives," he said.
particularly Lott, who were making
"We represent the people. We'll Lis- school," he said.
Little Rock Air Force Base is a grab for the Jacksonville base's
ten to what the Pentagon has to say,
home to the Department of De- main mission.
but the final decision is up to us."
The C-l30s have long been considfense's initial C-130 training school
Lott spoke highly of Hutchinson,
and trains aircrews from all ere.d one of the most politicized airsaying that Arkansans had little to
craft in the militdly. Nearly 30 states
worry about because Hutchinson is branches of the military, as well as have C.l30s assigned to Air Force Rethose from Z7 allied nations.
on the Senate Armed Services ComThe C-130 cargo airplane is serve or National Guard units.
mittee. "I'm going to accomplish a
"I'm really pleased that Sen. l.Dtt
known for its ability to land in auslot of what I want because I have
tere conditions on short landing is going to work with us," Hutchinpeople like Tim Hutchinson on
strips. It transports people, equip- son said. "I'm pleased at how
these committees," he said.
strong and forceful he was. Now
Hutchinson said he was pleased ment and other cargo within a the- we're going to hold him to it."
ater of war.
at Lott's pronotmcements on the Air
Force base. "That's a major commitment from the Senate majority >
leader," he said. "Now I hope the
president will put this into the 2001
budget. We have to act now if we're
going to get the J sooner. as well as
''They gave me a windshield tour and I must admit I
didn't realize it was that big or that nice. Linle Rock does
have all the airspace, the drop zones, the space at the
base. They are the
training schooL Frankly, I was
very impressed with what I saw at the base."
') ~ illl \ l \;"\\I'll' ..
�DEC 06 '99 10:58 FR
TO 12024565709-2601 P.OB/12
Suggested Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce talking points:
In addition to talking about the presidential library, he could make an all-out call for
corporate involvement to help others. A recent quote by Wayne Leonard, Chief
Executive Officer of the Entergy Corporation (which provides electric service to this
area and to the Delta region): "If you offer help (lower rates) to business, it's called
economic development; if you offer them to the poor, it's called welfare."
Leonard is chairman of the Delta BusinessLINC Chapter. BusinessLINC is a
nationwide program which was conceived by the Department of Treasury and whose
operation has now been taken over by the Business Roundtable-a group of CEO's from
Fortune 500 companies. BusinessLINC is to provide partnerships between large
businesses/ corporations and smaller developing firms.
�DEC 06 •gg 10=58 FR
TO 12024565709-2601 P.09/12
U.S. GOVERNMENT
WANTS TO LEASE OFFICE SPACE
General Services Administration (GSA) is Interested -in
Leasing Approximately 50,000 Net Rentable Square
Feet of Archival Storage and Office Space Which
Yields 42,000· BOMA Usable Square Feet for the
National Archives and Record Administration for the
Interim Storage of the Clinton Presidential Materials.
The space r11ust conform to GSA requirements for fire
and life safety and handicap accessibility. No asbestos ·containing fireproofing or insulation materials,
whether friable or non-friable, will be permitted. All
offers are · subject asbestos and polychlorinated
biphenyls (PBC's) inspection and testing proceoures.
On-site Parking for 25 vehicles and access to a load·
ing dock for 25 foot long Tractor Trailers will be
required. Unique Requirements: Storage Area (Appro·ximately 36,966 BOMA)-Live Floor Load of 200
pounds; Floor to Ceiling clearance of 10 feet (12 Foot
preferred); minimum of 1 Truck Leveling Plates on the
Dock; Temperature and Humidity Controlled; Office
(Approximately 6,230 .BOMA)-Ciass A Office with no
windows. location: The central· business district of
Little Rock shall be. given first preference. Term: The
lease Term is fo.r 6 years with the Government having
termination rights after the . 5 years of occupancy.
E.xpre·ssjons of. interest Must be Submitted in Writing
No later Than December 31, 1999 and must include .·
the minimum information. Building Name, Street
Address with Map location; name, address, phone
and fax number of individual to be contacted: evidence that said person is authorized to represent
owner. Authorized Contacts: In no event shall the
offeror enter into negotiations concerning the space
with representative of federal agencies otHer Than
General Services Administration Contracting Officer or
Designated Representative.
This is an inquiry for available space only, not an invitation to bid. Interested parties should contact Lisa
McCollough, Realty specialist, on 817-978-2037; Fax
No. 817-978-61"61 or Internet Hsa.mccollough@gsa.gov.
Or mail to
Lisa McCollough
General Services Administration
819 Taylor Street, Room 12A26
For~ Worth, TX 76102
�t
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',? R~.~ults- Clinton and atl5 (Presidential Library) and editori<a'Iysiwyg:/1126/http://www.lexis.cornlresea...bz&_md5=956307664e731ea6dbf0f02e011e12•
a:
Source: All Sources : News : News Group File, Most Recent Two Years
Terms: clinton and atl 5 (presidential library) and editorial! {Edit Search)
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, March 22, 1998, Sunday
Copyright 1998 Little Rock Newspapers, Inc.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
March 22, 1998, Sunday
SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. J4
LENGTH: 1144 words
HEADLINE: The Clinton Library;
An investment in Little Rock
BODY:
DO YOU think the Clinton Library will be fitting shrine to a much misunderstood president or just
a monument to spin?
,
·
Why not both? Most presidential libraries are. One generation's goat is another's hero--and vice
versa. There are fashions in presidential reputations as well as everything else. Some of us can
remember when Harry Truman was less a proper noun than a cussword, and now he ranks high in
American memory and nostalgia.
Even presidents like Washington and Lincoln have had their detractors, and to some FDR is still That
Man whose tenure marked the End of America As We Knew It. Consider the historical fortunes of
James Buchanan, who usually brings up the rear in presidential rankings; he has a stout defender in
the novelist John Updike. Not just history has its cycles but historiography, and the decision to build
a presidential library should be made on sounder ground than how one feels about a particular
president.
Just where Bill Clinton will rank in American history will depend on the historian doing the ranking,
and the spirit of the era making the judgment. But this much is already clear about the presidential
library due to rise on Clinton Avenue, now East Markham: It's going to be good for downtown Little
Rock. And for the whole state.
A just released study, paid for by the capital city's businessmen, says the$ 11.5-million investment
in the library will attract some 300,000 visitors every year. And those visitors should spend some $
10.7 million a year. That's good news for Little Rock's restaurants, hotels and shops--and all the folks
they employ and support and buy from in town. It's called the multiplier effect, and it'll be most
welcome.
There is hardly a family around who wouldn't put up$ 11.50 if mom and dad could get$ 10.70 back
every year for the rest of their lives. Well, that's the kind of return on their investment that folks in
Little Rock can expect. Even better, it's only part of the return. Individuals and foundations
throughout the country are to donate another$ 80 million-plus to build the presidential library.
And the library itself should create hundreds of construction jobs, doing wonders for the value of
property along East Markham and adjoining streets. What's more, a presidential library isn't the
kind of industry that may get up and leave town someday. It's permanent.
WHY WAS this study needed? Doesn't everybody already know that a sound investment will make a
profit? Well, it's possible that the city's business community was responding to concerns that John Q.
has voiced in recent months. Mainly, where is the money going to come from to buy the land for the
library?
The city's board of directors bungled the answer early on. S()me directors proposed a tax
increase--without, however, letting the people vote on it. They might as well have waved a red flag
a
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12/8/1999 10:11 AM
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SearL£~- 12 Results- Clinton and atl5 (Presidential Library) and editori\'l'l)!siwyg:/1126/http://www.Iexis.com/resea... bz&_md5=956307664e731ea6dbf0f02e011el2<
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at a bull. Maybe they feared an election about raising the hamburger tax would turn out to be a
referendum on Bill Clinton. Whatever their skewed reasoning, their lordly approach prompted anger
and confusion instead of the calm and clarity that the issue called for.
The city directors now plan to pay for the land by issuing bonds. The bonds would be backed by park
revenues, but how does the city replace the$ 1.2 million a year from the parks, money that now
goes into the city's operating budget? Local taxpayers have the right to know what programs the
directors will cut, or what fees they will raise, to come up with the$ 1.2 million.
This year, happily, the city raised more money than it needed to pay its bills, so the $ 1.2 million can
be taken out of surplus.
But what about a couple years down the road? Does anybody think the economic cycle has been
outlawed by the Fed's Alan Greenspan and there will never again be a dip in the city's revenues?
Little Rock's city directors seem content to put off any questions about the future, and make the
source of the bond payments a year-to-year decision. Spend now, figure out just how to pay later.
This is not the kind of planning, candor, and stewardship that taxpayers have a right to expect from
their local government. No wonder some folks are calling for an election on the library bonds.
Cy Carney, the city manager, says don't worry, be happy. He doesn't anticipate that any programs
will need to be cut in order to make up for the$ 1.2 million a year that would be used to pay off the
bonds. The natural growth of city revenues may take care of it. Note the clinton clause: may.
The city's voters deserve more than vague assurances. They deserve a solid proposal. And nothing
concentrates the mind like the prospect of having to face the voters. Confronted by such a necessity,
the city's leaders might clarify their ideas--and let the voters in on their plans, if any. Once that is
done, an election might not even be necessary to assure local taxpayers. All most folks want, surely,
is to know that City Hall does have a plan and a list of priorities if it has to cut the operating budget.
PLEASE NOTE: This library isn't an investment in Bill Clinton but in history--and in Little Rock. And
it's a promising investment at that. The latest economic study only buttresses that impression.
The outfit that did the study--MRA International of Philadelphia--toted up the library's pluses and
couldn't find any minuses. Listen to MRA's Bob Gorman, who oversaw the facts and figures. He says
that whatever happens to Bill Clinton--whether he resigns, is impeached, or goes on to win the
Nobel Prize--folks are going to visit this place. "Regardless of the headlines," he adds. "The tourists
are going to come." Just build it--like any other field of dreams.
Presidential libraries aren't so much about an individual president but about the history of America
during his presidency. And if Bill Clinton is like any other president, whether a Lincoln or a Nixon, a
Harding or a Carter, his library is still going to be a tourist attraction. Fame attracts and so does
notoriety, maybe more so. Wouldn't you rather visit Richard Nixon's library than Gerald Ford's?
Yes, the capital city already has a number of other magnets for visitors. Little Rock's downtown is
improving right before the city's eyes. There's the new museum, the new public library and the new
farmers' market. But these draws alone may not be enough for folks to take off work for a week and
see Little Rock. Note the way visitors to Austin, Texas, are drawn to ·the LBJ Library not just for itself
but because it tops off the city's other attractions.
A city needs what Bob Gorman called "centers of critical mass," where visitors can entertain
themselves for a few days. A presidential library is just such a center. Put it together with Little
Rock's other assets, and a few to come, and the capital city can add tourism to its major industries.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: March 30, 1998
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The New York Times, September 13, 1998
Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
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September 13, 1998, Sunday, Late Edition- Final
SECTION: Section 1; Page 37; Column 1; National Desk
LENGTH: 1487 words
HEADLINE: TESTING OF A PRESIDENT: THE LEGACY;
As Clinton Library Is Planned, Tough Questions Abound
BYLINE: By KEVIN SACK
DATELINE: LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Sept. 10
BODY:
Here on the south bank of the Arkansas River, on a site now strewn with weedy lots and aging
warehouses, one version of Bill Clinton's history will be written some day.
And as Little Rock leaders and Clinton friends stoically confront the tasks of raising money and
sketching plans for the proposed Clinton Presidential Library, they are encountering questions not
only about how the President's perilous political status may shape the legacy that the museum must
portray but also about how his problems will dampen the fund-raising enthusiasm needed to build it.
Several prominent Presidential historians and biographers said in interviews this week that the
Clinton library, if it is to maintain any credibility, would have to include some substantive treatment
of Mr. Clinton's extramarital relationship with Monica S. Lewinsky, a former White House intern, and
of the investigation and subsequent report of the President's activities by Kenneth W. Starr, the
Whitewater independent counsel.
Obviously, they said, the historical weight that should be given to the tortured sixth year of the
Clinton Presidency will be determined well after events run their course, including possible
impeachment proceedings.
But regardless of the outcome, the historians said it was clear that this year's events would demand
interpretation, presenting an unenviable task for the curator who has to tell the seamiest of American
political stories with integrity, context and taste. Already, library planners have started to hear
tongue-in-cheek suggestions about exhibiting the most salacious artifact of this scandal, Ms.
Lewinsky's stained dress.
"You don't want a Presidential library with a bimbo hall of fame, but they're going to have to deal
with these issues in some way," said Douglas Brinkley, a historian at the University of New Orleans
and the author of "The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House"
(Viking Press, 1998). Perhaps, Mr. Brinkley suggested, a skillful curator could depict Mr. Clinton's
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extramarital relationships as part of an exhibition on the breakdown of family life in the latter half of
the century, portraying the President as "a generational figure."
Edmund Morris, a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of Theodore Roosevelt whose new book, "Dutch:
A Memoir of Ronald Reagan," is to be published soon by Random House, said the Clinton library,
unlike most other Presidential museums, would not be able to indulge in sentimentality.
"The instinct of Presidential libraries is always to immortalize," Mr. Morris said, "and in this case
they're going to be confronted with the impossible task of immortalizing somebody who is manifestly
mortal."
Mr. Clinton has not selected an architect or curator for his library, nor have his supporters started to
raise the estimated $80 million to $100 million needed to build and endow it. Any serious discussion
of the library's exhibitions, therefore, is years away.
But Skip Rutherford, the president of the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, which will design
and finance the library, agreed that the Starr report and the Lewinsky matter would have to be
acknowledged in balance with Clinton achievements like eliminating the Federal budget deficit,
reforming welfare, repositioning the Democratic Party and working for peace in Bosnia and Northern
Ireland.
"Presidential libraries are not about someone being perfect," said Mr. Rutherford, a Little Rock public
relations executive and civic leader who has known Mr. Clinton for nearly 25 years. "They're not
shrines or pyramids. They're about history, about the wins,. the defeats, the successes, the failures,
the goods, the bads of the time the President is in office."
In fact, several of the country's 11 Presidential libraries have been criticized over the years for being
monuments more than museums. In many instances, historians and curators said, the libraries have ·
managed to present a fuller portrait of Presidential shortcomings only after a significant passage of
time, or after the death of the former President. The Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif.,
now provides a much fuller explanation of the Iran-contra affair than it once did, and the Lyndon
Baines Johnson Library and Museum in Austin, Tex., has changed its exhibits to emphasize how the
Vietnam War divided the nation.
·The National Archives operates 10 Presidential libraries, which serve as both museums and
repositories for documents. The libraries are built with private money, and then transferred to the
Government on the day of dedication. The Nixon Library and Birthplace Foundation, in Yorba Linda,
Calif., is not part of the Federal system because of continuing litigation by the Nixon estate over
records and tape recordings that were seized by the Government when President Nixon resigned from
office in 1974.
Like Americans elsewhere, many residents of Little Rock are wrestling with feelings of
disappointment and betrayal at Mr. Clinton's actions. For some here, those emotions are made more
personal by their intense familiarity with the former Arkansas Governor and by their sense that his
behavior has stigmatized their state.
But this city of 175,000 is also learning to make peace with the worst of its history, as shown last
year by the dedication of a museum ,commemorating the ugly standoff over integration at Central
High School in 1957. And there are few apparent signs in Little Rock that the Clinton library has
become undesirable, at least partly because the 26.6-acre site selected by the President late last
year is vital to the city's efforts to redevelop its long-dormant riverfront.
"For us, this is an economic development issue pure and simple," said Harold E. Boldt, the city's
finance director, "and you shouldn't let politics get in the way of it."
In recent years, Little Rock has a new marketplace, city library, science and history museum,
amphitheater, restaurants, taverns and galleries develop along the Arkansas River. A riverfront
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convention center is being expanded, and an 18,000-seat arena is rising just across the river in
North Little Rock.
Little Rock plans to donate the land for the Clinton project, buying 10 parcels with $11 million
generated by a $16.4 million sale of revenue bonds in June. The bond sale has inspired a lawsuit by
residents concerned that the deal was illegal because the bonds are secured by revenues from the
city's zoo and golf courses, which received only a small fraction of the bond proceeds.
The method allowed the city to sell the bonds quickly without a public referendum, which would have
been required if the city had sold general obligation bonds. The city has yet to decide how to replace
the $1.3 million -- about 1 percent of the city budget -- that will be needed to pay annual debt
service on the bonds.
Mr. Rutherford and Mayor Jim Dailey estimate that the Clinton library will draw 300,000 visitors a
year, with a direct annual economic impact of $10 million. None of the existing Presidential libraries
have attracted that many visitors in the last three years. But many of those libraries are off the
beaten path, even when located in large cities like Boston (Kennedy) and Atlanta (Carter), and Little
Rock officials think that the synergy between the library and other riverfront attractions will increase
attendance.
Though Mr. Rutherford has yet to begin a formal fund-raising campaign, he expressed supreme
confidence in his foundation's ability to collect the needed checks.
"There have been commitments, and they are substantial," he said, declining to be more specific.
"Have some occurred in the last week? You bet. I have every confidence that we will meet and
exceed our goal."
Mr. Rutherford, 48, who befriended Mr. Clinton as they watched their young daughters play softball,
can only hope that other friends share his sense of loyalty.
"I was raised in a family of personal forgiveness," he said. "I'm not saying this hasn't been tough,
but a 25-year-old friendship is not something you walk away from."
But several Little Rock business leaders said they assumed that the scandal in Washington would
make it significantly more challenging to raise money for the library.
"People here are shocked, even those that might have suspected the President had these dalliances,"
said Carmie L. Henry, the vice president for government affairs of the Arkansas Electric Cooperatives.
"I sense a real hush across the state."
Another Little Rock businessman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that many
Arkansans took the view that they gave generously to Mr. Clinton's two Presidential campaigns only
to see the state's reputation suffer because of his failings.
"People are wondering what happened to the return on investment," the businessman said. "To
contemplate a significant fund-raising campaign now just makes you tired."
GRAPHIC: Photo: Skip Rutherford, president of the foundation that will design and finance the
Clinton library, showed the area where it will be built. (Kelly Quinn for The New York Times)
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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The Associated Press State & Local Wire November 26, 1999
The Associated Press State & Local Wire
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The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. These materials may not be
republished without the express written consent of The Associated Press.
November 26, 1999, Friday, PM cycle
SECTION: State and Regional
LENGTH: 417 words
HEADLINE: Museum hosts exhibit destined for Clinton library
BYLINE: By JAMIE STENGLE, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: LITTLE ROCK
BODY:
Patrons of the Decorative Arts Museum will have the chance to see some of the items that
decorated President and Hillary Rodham Clinton's home.
The White House Collection of American Crafts will be on display at the museum until Jan. 12,
museum curator Alan DuBois said.
The 72-piece collection was displayed in the White House in winter 1993, which was considered the
year of the American craft. The exhibit has traveled the country since then and will make a final
home in Clinton's presidential library.
·
"I think people are pretty impressed with the material and excited about it coming to Little Rock as
part of the library/ DuBois said.
The exhibits include works made of wood, glass, ceramics and metal.
Among the 67 artists represented are seven Arkansans: Michael Haley and Susy Siegele of
Huntsville; Robyn Horn of Little Rock; Leon and Sharon Niehues of Huntsville; and Ed and Amy
Pennebaker of Green Forest.
DuBois said the crafts - everything from a delicate glass-blown bowl to a wooden rocking chair- are
part of the studio craft movement that began after World War II. He said the exhibit features the
craft artists who are at the top of their field.
- "It's been a great plus for the artist," he said. "That kind of recognition has helped a great deal for
the craft movement in genera I."
Several large photographs displayed in the museum show how the crafts were used as decorations in
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the White House. One photograph shows how three colorful stoneware bowls with a gold covering
inside were placed on a table in front of a gilded mirror in a White House room.
Hand woven baskets are on display, as is a whimsical menorah featuring five bronze dancing men
holding candles.
DuBois said that while some of the pieces could be functional, such as a porcelain tea pot, only one
item that he knows of was used - but not for long. He said fruit was placed in a bowl made of sterling
silver, pewter and gold leaf, but the fruit was removed when it began to change the bowl color.
"All of these things are meant to be more than just useful," he said.
The library, to located on a 26-acre site along the Arkansas River, will house Clinton's presidential
papers and trinkets and include a museum-style exhibit about his presidency.
DuBois said there have been 58,000 objects given to Clinton during his administration, not including
the papers. He said the craft exhibit will be part of the permanent library collection and will be part
of the display rotation.
GRAPHIC: AP Photo
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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Terms: clinton and (presidentiallibrary)and little rock and debate (Edit Search)
Copyright 1999 THE STATESMAN (INDIA) November 9, 1999
Copyright 1999 FT Asia Intelligence Wire
All Rights Reserved
Copyright 1999
Copyright 1999 THE STATESMAN (INDIA)
November 9, 1999
SECTION: News
LENGTH: 2076 words
HEADLINE: "Play rattlesnake and not the knight-errant"
BODY:
Letter from America. V.S.MANIAM
The intermittent debate over foreign policy has spurted again following the Senate's failure to ratify
the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and Congressional Republicans' effort to trim the foreign aid
budget. Also contributing to the present spurt are what many regard as the isolationist views voiced
by conservative commentator and presidential aspirant Patrick J Buchanan in his recently published
book, A Republic, Not an Empire. Mr Buchanan - who switched from ttle Republican Party to Ross
Perot's Reform Party early last fortnight, saying that only the lc:~tter offered "a hope of a real debate
and a real choice qf destinies for our country" - holds that American foreign policy ought to be
squarely based on a territorial concept of vital interests. And the US role should be not of "a.
knight-errant that sets out to right the wrongs of a sinful world gut as the coiled rattlesnake that
threatens none so long as it is not threatened and its domain not intruded upon".As a corollary, he
criticises, if implicitly, America's involvement in World War II. Hitler, he avers, "made no overt move
to threaten US vital interests". He asks whether in 1939 Hitler chose to wage war with the West or
was driven to it by the promise by Britain and France to declare war on Germany if the Nazis invaded
Poland. He maintains that Hitler was interested strictly in eastward expansion. "By the fall of 1941,
the two great combatants were Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. Most Americans did not believe
their husbands, fathers or sons should die for eit,her one."A revisionist account of World War II soft
on Hitler, one scholar called Mr Buchanan's views. The uninhibited, like billionaire developer and
presidential aspirant Donald J Trump, che~racterised Mr Buchanan a "Hitler lover". Senator John
McCain, a more reckonable presidential aspirant, denounced Mr Buchanan's world view as being "so.
far outside the phi"losophy of what America is all about that it's unacceptable".The pugnacious Mr
Buchanan keeps defending his position. He wrote in The Washington Post: "Had Britain not declared
war, Hitler would have attacked an unprepared Stalin in 1940. The result might have been the
eradication of Bolshevism in Russia and China, no Cold War, no Korea and no Vietnam. Instead of six
years of World War II bloodletting, we might have seen six months of a Hitler-Stalin war, ending with
one dead and the other crippled."The more serious strand to the present phase of the debate,
however, is the wide dismay over Congressional Republicans' recent actions relating to foreign policy
issues and their seeming belief that American interests are best served by minimal involvement in
foreign affairs and alliances. Foreign affairs columnist of The New York Times Thomas Friedman felt
the Republican drive to cut the foreign appropriations budget was difficult to comprehend. "One
might have understood this if the US economy were doing poorly or if the US were not the keystone
of the whole international system," he wrote. The Republican Party, he added, "is now led by people
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with no sense of how important America is to the world, both as an example and as a stabiliser". And
its sole objective seemed to be to embarrass President Clinton.National security adviser Samuel R
Berger had a slightly different view. In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, he
said: "It's tempting to say that the isolationist right in Congress has no foreign policy, that it's driven
only by partisanship. But that underestimates it. I believe there is a coherence to its convictions, a
vision of America's role in the world."Mr Berger went on to note that the nee-isolationists "would
have us rely solely on our military d~fences to protect our security ... In effect, they believe in a
survivalist foreign policy - build a fortified fence around America, and retreat behind it" .A third view,
voiced by one commentator in The Nation weekly is that nee-isolationism "engages the world, but
solely on the basis of unchallengeable force. In this vision, the United States, impervious to any
attack yet itself capable of striking at a moment's notice anywhere on earth, seems to preside,
withdrawn yet omnipotent, over a world otherwise left to stew in its own anarchy" .In an editorial
titled "Isolationism's Return", The New York Times wondered whether the real threat to America's
tradition of global engagement was not generational rather than political. For an entire generation
was now growing up with no connecti<;>n to World War II and only the dimmest memories of the Cold
War. "The task for internationalists in both parties will be to make the case for an expansive world
view that defines broader diplomatic engagement and leadership by the United States as necessary
components of national security and global stability," the paper added.At least some note that
nee-isolationism is little more than a belief that America can be engaged in world affairs without
attempting to dominate them. These cite what Walter Lippmann said when dubbed a nee-isolationist
for his opposition to the Vietnam War. America, the famed columnist wrote, should "eschew the
theory of a global and universal duty, which not only commits it to unending wars of intervention but
intoxicates its thinking with the illusion that it is a crusader for righteousness". What is Mr Buchanan's
own reply? "They call us isolationists," he said when leaving -or "bolting" or "abandoning", as media
reports said almost invariably - the Republican Party. "Well, if they mean I intend to isolate America
from all the bloody territorial, tribal and ethnic wars of the 21st century, I plead guilty. "Mr Buchanan,
it seems, is not alone. The Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist political organisation based in
Washington, reported last week that according to a poll commissioned by it, Republican voters were
far less likely than Democrats to support inter~qtional arms treaties, US intervention in foreign
disputes and other instances of global activism.Significantly, the poll found also that young adults
and people who regularly use the l!lternet were more likely to support an active US role in
international matters.
TAKING SHAPEON
A 27-acre site along the Arkansas River in Little Rock in the southern state of Arkansas where Bill
Clinton served as Governor for eight years before winning the US presidency in 1992, the
presidential library and museum that will bear his name is beginning to take shape. The complex,
which will be part of the University of Arkansas, will be the repository for the records of the Clinton
White House, together with the President's letters, musings and memorabilia.A highly regarded team
of architects, museum planners and exhibition designers who created a new section of the American
Museum of Natural History in New York has been chosen to design the complex. "One might expect a
structure that is crisply modern, intricately detailed and generally understated," a report in a national
daily commented.The cost of the project is expected to be around (USDollar) 125 million, which
makes it the most expensive among presidential libraries. Fund raising, by the William Jefferson
Clinton Presidential Foundation set up for the creation of the library, is in progress. Presidential
library foundations, as private non-profit groups, can accept any amount of money from anyone,
includiflg a foreign government.Though generally built with private financing, these libraries are
transferred to the government on the day of their dedication and are maintained and operated by the
National Archives. There are 11 presidential libraries.The complex will include, besides the
presidential library and museum, a research centre. Mr Clinton - "more than just a little concerned
with his legacy", according to one report- is said to be keen that it should serve as a fulcrum for
policy studies relating to race relations, education and world peace.There has been some discussion
on whet.her the library would include material relating to the Starr investigations. "The instinct of
presidential libraries is always to immortalise," Edmund Morris, author of the Reagan book, Dutch,
was quoted as saying. "And in this case, they are going to be confronted with the impossible task of
immortalising somebody who is manifestly mortal." The president of the Clinton library foundation
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said in reply: "Presidential libraries are not about someone being perfect. They are not shrines ...
They are about history, about the wins, the defeats, the goods, the bads of the time the President is
in office."
LISTING WRITERS
Listing the best writers of the century now fast coming to an end has so far been done from one
perspective - that of the reader. How would the list look if compiled from the perspective of the
writer? The Writer's Oigest answered that question in its November issue, putting together a list of
the 100 best writers of the 20th century on the basis of three criteria: influence on the writing world;
the quality of the work; and the degree of originality or experimentation. Writers who figure in its list,
the magazine underlined, have two things in common: they made time to write; and they did not
give up.The top 10 authors in the list:
* John Steinbeck, novelist whose works include The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and who won·
the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. One member of the Writer's Digest's advisory board that chose
the top 10 said of Steinbeck: "The scope, honesty, courage and originality of his writings inspired ...
aspiring writers trying to find a voice."
* Ernest Hemingway, Nobel Laureate (1954). The magazine commended as good advice for any
writer Hemingway's dictum in A Moveab,le Feast: "All you have to do is write one true sentence."
*William Faulkner, Nobel Laureate (1949). The magazine quotes with approval a writer's statement
that Faulkner "taught me that it. is okay to fall in love with the written word, and even to wallow in it
a little ... okay, a lot."
* Eugene O'Neill, the only American playwright to win the Nobel (1936). "We rediscover ourselves in
his characters and our lives in his stories," one member of the magazine's advisory board said.
O'Neill's 1946 play, The Iceman Cometh, had an acclaimed revival on New York's Broadway earlier
this year.
·
* TS Eliot, US-born poet and Nobel Prize-winner (1948). "Art should reflect life, Eliot believed, and so
as life became more complex in the 20th century, so did t'\is P,Oetry," the magazine wrote.
* Willa Cather, novelist. "Her language was elegant, quiet and complete, and spoke for multitudes of
people on the prairies, in industrial cities, in situations that were, in many cases, the cornerstones of
our emotional civilisation," one advisory board member commented.
* Robert Frost, possibly the best known American poet. "His greatness can be appreciated only by
those who understand the genius of composing substantive poems that not only cont9in the best
words in the best order but that also rhyme, scan and startlewith imagery, symbol and metaphor."
Four-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, Frost was US Poet Laureate in 19~8-59.
* James Baldwin. The magazine recalled Baldwin's credo that the responsibility of a writer is to
excavate the experiences of the people who produced him and noted how scrupulously the
African-American author adhered to it in every book, whether fiction or non-fiction.
* Eudora Welty, novelist and short story writer regarded as an inheritor of the Faulknerian Southern
Gothic tradition. Born in 1909, she is the only living author among the top 10 in the list. "Eccentric
people live in the world of this Southern daughter, and Miss Eudora has been kind enough to share
them with us," the magazine said of her.
* EB White. Best known for Elements of Style, White also wrote children's stories like Charlotte's Web
and was a newspaper and magazine writer. He was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize in 1978 for the
body of his work.The magazine told aspiring writers it hoped they would derive inspiration from the
list. Read these masters, it admonished. "What makes their characters special? Why does their
dialogue sing? What lines of poetry do you read over and over again? Note what works and what
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doesn't and put what you have learned to use in your own writing."
Copyright 1999: The Statesman (India). All Rights Reserved.
LANGUAGE: English
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Terms: polsheck or polshek (Edit Search)
The San Francisco Chronicle JANUARY 10, 1999, SUNDAY,
Copyright 1999 The Chronicle Publishing Co.
The San Francisco Chronicle
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JANUARY 10, 1999, SUNDAY, SUNDAY EDITION
SECTION: SUNDAY DATEBOOK; Pg. 33
LENGTH: 702 words
HEADLIN~:
Proud Parent of Stanford Museum's New Wing
BYLINE: Sam Whiting, Chronicle Staff Writer
BODY:
Architect James Polshek speak? of his buildings as if they were his children. Each has a unique
personality (lrid is rais~d to respect its environment.
The new wing of the Stanford University Museum of Art, for instance, could easily have b~en spoiled
like the Getty. It had rich benefactors -- Iris and B. Gerald Cantor-- and an expensive location in a
grove among magnificent live oaks and Rodin sculptures. But the new wing and its stepsister, the qld
Stanforc:l Mu~e.ym, grew up under a st_rict di~ciplinary allowance of $3!).8 million.
"We went through some very difficult fiscal shenanigans. Nobody was going to come up with (lny
magic new money, so we had to really skin this down," says Polshek, whose New York-based firm
wori the c;le~ign competition. "-But in the end, those economie,~. turned out to make a more
interesting, tough~r building. Maybe a little less polite, less refined. I'm very happy with that."
The new wing, which is 42,000 square feet, includes 12,000 feet of exhibition space, a sculpture
terrace, cafe, bookshop and auqitorium. It has been grafted onto the old building, which is nearly
twice the si~e. Ope,ned in ~~Q4 ~s ~he largest private museum in the United States, the Stqnford
Museum wa,s one of the first concrete structures in the West. The main building sto9d its ground
against th~ 1906 eart,hquake whil~ its gri~k annexes came down in piles.
The main building was heavily damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta quake. Deemed unsafe, it was
padlocked for five years until the money was raised for a retrofit and reconstruction.
On his first visit, "I saw this abandoned hulk that was not very impressive at all," recalls Polshek,
68. "It looked like it was all going to come down, and I was very nervous walking around in a hard
hat."
Polshek and Partners specialize in nonprofits. They designed the boxy and clever theater at the
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and are the architects for Robert Moridavi's new American Cente.r for
Wine, Food and the Arts.
By contrast, the Stanford project was a study in "transf6rmatiori," Polshek says. "Taking something
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old and merging it into something new, where the riewness is iibt compromised by the oldness.
Doing it in a way that makes it comfortable as a totality is very gratifying."
The totality involved redesigning a grand promenade heading north along Museum Way into the
classical entrance and creating a second student entrance heading east from the campus through the
Rodin Sculpture Garden.
The student entrance is into the original rotunda, where the old museum joins with the new.
Pols.h~k wanted to hide the seam behind a wall, a "bit of scenography, to set the stage," he says.
That is· when he learned that Stanford President Gerhard Casper counts architecture among his
qisciplin.e.~.
Polshek is a respected academic in his own right. He spent is years as dean of the Columbia
University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.
"I was very keen on that wall. (Casp'er) felt that it was artifice, and he was not incorrect," says
Polshek, who bent to Casper's w·ill.- Ttiere is no wall.
He .also had· to comprqmise his design to meet safety codes, each added expense causing a cutback
somewhere eJse.
There was no wiggle room for budget overruns, and the tight funds meant skimping on some
mat~rials.
··
"In a fancy-pants museum: like the Getty, we woqldn't have had concrete (floors)" he says. But he
wa~ ab,le to retain travertine for embel)i~hments o.n the neyy vying'~ exterior to juxapose with the
stucco. "It is a kind of old and new, playing back.and forth."
To test the effect, he likes to look at it from a distance, under a live oak, or wa.lking in from the
Cq1J1pus as a 5;tudent would, or driving qlong Museum Way.
Most of the on-site work for the Stanford Museu.m was done by Polshek's partner Richard Olcott,
who was principal designer.
Since ground was broken on Oct. 26, 199S, Olcott has come ou.t from New York SO times, compared
with P9lshek's 10 trip~. The~t's still enough for Polshek to feel like. the proud pe~rent as he walks .the
grounqs, seeing his design fully grown.
"It's like .havin9.. a kid, ttien the kid is taken away," he says. "Slowly, the features re-emerge."
GRAPHJC: PHOTO, Architect James Polshek looked out from the terrace above the new auditorium
at Stanford University's Cantor Center for Visual Arts I Kat Wade/The Chronic;)e
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University Wire October 14, 1999
Copyright 1999 Michigan Daily via U-Wire
University Wire
October 14, 1999
LENGTH: 670 words
HEADLINE: U. Michigan honors philanthrop.ist for$ 30M gift
BYLINE: By Michael Grass, Michigan Daily
SOURCE: U. Michigan
DATELINE: Ann Arbor, Mich.
BODY:
A new age for the University of Michigan's College of Architecture a·nd Urban Planning officially
began Wednseday.
More than 300 students, faculty, alumni and Univers_ity administrators crowded inside a tent outside
of the Art and Architecture Building on North Campus to honor philanthropist A. Alfred Taubman,
who gave a $ 30 million donation to the school in June.
"This gift will allow us to r:each much higher, to build a stronger faculty and student body," said
Douglas Kelbaugh, dean of the renamed A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban
Planning.
"I can't express how excited I am about the future contributions this college will make to our world,"
Taubman told the crowd, many of who lined the sides of a specially built enclosed tent as wind and
rain battered the temporary structure.
In his keynote address, New York architect James Polshek said the donation is an extraordinary gift
and provides the University with a unique opportunity to change the face of architecture in the
United States.
"I hope that this gift will reconnect architecture to the society it is meant to serve," Polshek said,
adding that architecture in the United States has "eroded" to a state of "nickel and dime"
cheapness. He explained that many contemporary architects do not focus on quality and
thoughtfulness in their designs, rather they place greater emphasis on reducing costs.
Because Taubman's donation is aimed at strengthening the college's program, not on the
construction of a new building for the 'school, Polshek said "Alfred Taubman's gift provides a historic
cha c
change things in architecture. The whole world will be watching what happens here."
lann
erved for 15 years as dean of Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture,
Preservation and was selected to design President Clinton's Presidential Library in
t· tie-Rock, Ark.
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1218119991153AM
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Heather Hurlburt
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Office of Speechwriting
Heather Hurlburt
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1999-2001
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36161" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7431953" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2008-0700-F
Description
An account of the resource
Heather Hurlburt's speechwriting collection consists of speeches, drafts, correspondence, and background research. Hurlburt worked as Special Assistant and Speechwriter to President Clinton. Her speechwriting files date from 1999-2001. As a speechwriter, Hurlburt prepared remarks on primarily domestic issues ranging from health care to the Special Olympics to the Mississippi Delta Region to the Kennedy Center Awards. She wrote remarks for policy speeches, radio addresses, commencements, taped video remarks, and award ceremonies or tributes. She also prepared a few speeches for the First Lady, and one undelivered speech for Sandy Berger on the topic of military reform.
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
128 files in 11 boxes
Text
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Original Format
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Paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
December 1999: Presidential Library 12/99 [12/10/99]
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Office of Speechwriting
Heather Hurlburt
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2008-0700-F
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 5
<a href="http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/2008/2008-0700-F.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7431953" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
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Adobe Acrobat Document
Medium
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Reproduction-Reference
Date Created
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12/15/2014
Source
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42-t-7431953-20080700F-005-005-2014
7431953