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https://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/files/original/4a9344e4087e2cb9e6f565145b8b9605.pdf
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July 29, 1994
TO:
FROM:
RE:
Leon Panetta
George Stephanopolous
Mark Gearan
Melanne Verveer
Greg Lawler
Laura Quinn
Christine Heenan
Jonathan Prince
Lissa Muscatine
Don Baer
6-2935
POTUS Remarks for Unity '94
Enclosed is a draft of POTUS remarks for today•s satellite feed
feed to the minority journalists• convention in Atlanta. Needless
to say, any suggested editions or changes must be made pronto
{tell Lissa). The event is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Apologies for
the delay in getting this to you.
�PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
REMARKS VIA SATELLITE TO UNITY '94 CONVENTION
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
JULY 29, 1994
DRAFT
Thank you Chief Mankiller. Hello to everyone in Atlanta at
the "Unity '94" convention. And congratulations to the four
journalists' associations, which are meeting together for the
first time at this groundbreaking occasion.
We are living in an extraordinary time, when people in
America and across the entire world are searching for common
ground.
Wilma and I last shared the stage on the White House lawn,
back in April, when the American Indian and Alaska Native tribal
leaders came together for the first time ever.
This week, on
that same spot, the King of Jordan and the Prime Minister of
Israel opened a new era of dialogue and cooperation between their
peoples. At about the same time, halfway around the world, the
President of Russia made an announcement that by the end of
August, for the first time since the end of World War II, all
Russian troops would be gone from Germany and Central and Eastern
Europe.
~d-.
exper1ences
:W.ha.Lw_~haY.e-1-ea-Fl'l:ed b,-&er and over,from
1'1ke
these ~& that people can transcend great historical, political,
and cultural obstacles in the name of progress.
And we have also learned that, here at home, the American
people are our greatest asset as we try to meet the challenges of
a ve-Fy-Gomp.l~i.Ga.t;.ed-w.o.:r::~d . ~ ~< F4 (,\;::(_ o... II\..€J..v ~ •
All of us can take pride that we have helped Arabs and
Israelis and other former enemies bridge their differences. But ~6~~~
we. must alsa_. d:r::a.w,.....~;.r-e;x;amJ:3-±-e-s-t.o-ins.pire us to strengthen
our own Amer:rc""&"h communify and to celebrate the richness of -etrr~.
great culture.
~
The job of your associations is to see that more Americans
of diverse backgrounds, races and ethnic heritage have an equal
chance in journalism. It's also to make sure that the~tlon sees
the faces and hears the voices of non-white Americans whose ideas
and achievements too often are ignored. My job here in Washington
is to ensure that every citizen has an equal chance at the
American Dream.
I've said many times -- and I firmly believe -- that America
does not have a single person to waste. Every person, no matter
1
�his or her background, has an idea, a vision, an opinion to share
that can enrich our nation.
That's why I've been
for people who work hard,
something of their lives.
something to give. And we
give their best.
fighting to create new opportunities
take responsibility and try to make
I believe that every person has
have to make it possible for them to
One of my proudest accomplishments as President is the
people I have appointed to serve in my Administration. If you
look at the top positions in the White House and Cabinet today,
you'll see the most able, most talented group ever assembled.
These appointees also happen to make up the up the most diverse
administration in American history.
If you look at our nominations to the federal bench you will
see that a higher percentage of them have been rated "wellqualified" by the American Bar Association than in any previous
Administration since these rankings have been made. A majority of
those appointees are people of color and women -- not a
minority, but a majority, for the first time ever.
None of these people were chosen because they were African
American, or Hispanic, or Asian-American, or American Indian, or
because they were women. These people were selected because they
were the best qualified for the job.
And they are proof that the American Dream is still alive
and within reach for those who choose to pursue it.
Still, we must not ignore the burdens and barriers that
prevent too many of our people from moving forward in their
lives.
I sought the presidency because I was worried that our
country was going in the wrong direction. The deficit was getting
bigger. The economy was on the decline. And Washington was
placing heavier and heavier burdens on the backs of middle class
Americans.
In just 18 months, we've begun the work of renewing the
American Dream. Our economic strategy will produce the smallest
federal bureaucracy in 30 years and three years in a row of
deficit reduction for the first time since Harry Truman was
president. The economy has created 3.8 million new jobs and core
inflation is the lowest in two decades.
Most important, we have reached out with greater energy and
compassion to responsible, working families who too often have to
struggle to make ends meet.
2
�·-------------------------------------------------
Already, in just a year and a half, we have offered real tax
relief to 15 million working parents through an expanded Earned
Income Tax Credit. We have made it easier for young people to get
to college. We have established greater job training and schoolto-work apprenticeships to help people find and keep good jobs.
We've sought tax incentives and grant money to stimulate the
economies in needy areas, through things like our Empowerment
Zones and Enterprise Communities; new Community Development
Banks; reform of the Community Reinvestment Act; and by making
the low income housing credit permanent.
Some of these achievements have come easier than others.
But I didn't ask for this job because I thought progress would be
easy. I asked for it so I could fight for the kind of change that
Americans demanded.
.
~
/c/1>-(.
g tu
~+- ~~+--'") ~
;vY'
And itys been worth it. Because all of our work has brought
us to a-wate-r"S"h-e"d-momen·t-in our history. This week alone has been
a remarkable one for our nation. We are on the verge of an
historic victory -- the toughest, largest, smartest federal
attack on crime in the history of the United States.
Think for a minute about what this crime bill means for all
of us as American citizens. For all of us as mothers and fathers
and husbands and wives and children. Look at the cost of crime to
the economy. Look at the cost of crime to our sense of community
and to the idea that we are an American family. Look at the cost
of crime to our efforts to empower every individual, including
far too many young people who are growing up in terribly
difficult circumstances.
Crime is holding too many Americans back from reaching the
American Dream.
It's splintering families.
It's making people
fear their neighbors.
It's interfering with our children's
educations. It's robbing too many us of our freedoms.
Whatever other goals we seek for ourselve's~ur families,
our children -- and for our nation -- we hav{-eo~~e-G~H~-±deRce
that we can live together with a shared respect for law, order,
and each other.
The most important thing about the crime bill is that it
creates a whole new way of thinking about how to deal with crime
-- one that doesn't pit one group of Americans against another.
It doesn't ask us to make a false choice between ~evere
punishment and strong prevention. It calls for a sensible balance
between the two. It doesn't ask us to make a false choice between
going after criminals and going after guns. It recognizes that
those sorts of debates divided us for too long while more and
more children were dying on our streets.
~at~_islat.i<:m.-aeeor@Tishes~roach to
3
�---------------------------
crirn~that GaT~~ for s€v~re pun~hment fo~ those who deserve it - atnd ~·6'ti ve fr:b.S~ntio~ograms _s9-a{ o1S~l--6Ilg--~
solutions to help break the cycle ~f crime.
, n..J. • __ ~
~ ~~~ ~~~ 9t..A.>- ~ la- ~ t~.-v~V-4.-.
~
It will put 100, 000 more police on the streets -- .t;::tra:ta-l s a
~
20 percent increase in the number of police officers patrolling
~
our neighborhoods today. More police, trained and deployed
~
properly, means less crime.
~~It includes a ban on assault-style weapons, something few
people ever dreamed could be accomplished. And it will send a
strong message to criminals that their behavior will not be
tolerated and that punishment will be tough and swift.
It will invest $9 billion in crime prevention over the next
six years. That includes giving young people more safe places to
go, more positive role models, and more opportunities to fulfill
themselves in healthy, constructive ways.
~
ove~/a~d
For six years this crime bill was debated
over
again. After intense argument and disagreement, w6 finally
succeeded because all the different interests involved were able
to find a common ground. We were able to put people over
politics. And now I want Congress to put this bill on my desk
within two weeks so that I can sign it before our children go
back to school.
(/'
If you think six years was long enough ~6 wait for a crime
bill, 60 years is far too long to wait be.f.o/e every American ti:P~
guaranteed health security that can never be taken away.
Many people across this country know what's like to dig and
scrape all their lives to have the opportunities that you and I
enjoy. And if you're like me, you know somebody without health
insurance or somebody at risk of losing their insurance. You
know somebody whose coverage is so meager they avoid the doctor
because it costs too much.
You know people who are eager to work
but are trapped in the welfare system because it's ~he only way
they can be assured of health care coverage for their families.
You and I know these people because there are millions and
millions of them out there. People who struggle all their lives
and play by the rules so that they can move forward, make
progress, build some security for their families, only to be
knocked off the ladder because of a pink slip, a catastrophic
illness, or a simple change in jobs.
We're moving in the wrong direction with our health care
system. We're moving in the wrong direction when millions of
hard-working people are losing their health insurance each year.
Ever since I began pushing for reform, I've made it clear
that I was open to suggestions about how to achieve it. I
4
�5
listened to concerns about my approach. And in response I
modified it to make it simpler, more flexible, more sensitive to
the needs of small business.
What I have not modified -- and will not modify -- are the
underlying values t~a-b-a-:r:e-~l:l:FlElamentai-~ reform. We must give
every American health security that is guaranteed in law. We must
have a system where everyone shares responsibility. And we must
have a system that works. That is certainly what the vast
majority of Americans want.
We know from experiences across the country what works and
what doesn't work. We've seen in state after state that, if you
have reform without universal coverage, your costs continue to go
up and your options for care go down.
~
And we know from looking at Hawaii that a system of
universal coverage in which employers and employees share
responsibility will not only control costs butlalso lead to a
healthier population.
We know it can be done.
~fter 60 years of waiting, I think it's time to say to every
American: if you change jobs, if you get sick, if you are laidoff, if your child has a serious illness, you will always be able
to afford health care as a citizen of the richest nation on
earth.
Tomorrow I will travel to Independence, Missouri -- to Harry
Truman's home state -- to talk about health care. Harry Truman
was a man of great decency and common sense who believed that
America would be stronger if every American had health security.
He was right.
Now it's up to us to fulfill his vision and renew the
American Dream. It's time to build on our economic progress,
build on the success of the crime bill, and take the next big
step by passing real, substantive health care reform. That is the
challenge our generation faces today. And that is our
opportunity.
Thank you, and God bless all of you.
###
5
�j
PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
REMARKS VIA SATELLITE TO UNITY '94 CONVENTION
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
JULY 29 1 1994
DRAFT
Thank you Chief Mankiller. Hello to everyone in Atlanta at
the "Unity '94" convention. And congratulations to the four
journalists' associations, which ~e meeting together for the
first time at this0Jroun~reakingjoccasion.
We are living in an extraordinary time, when people in
America and across the entire world are searching for common
ground.
Wilma and I last shared the stage on the White House lawn,
back in April, when the American Indian and Alaska Native tribal
leaders came together for the first time ever. This week, on
that same spot, the King of Jordan and the Prime Minister of
Israel opened a new era of dialogue and cooperation between their
peoples. At about the same time, halfway around the world, the
President of Russia made an announcement that by the end of
August, for the first time since the end of World War II, all
Russian troops would be gone from Germany and Central and Eastern
Europe.
What we have learned over and over from experiences like
these is that people can transcend great historical, political,
and cultural obstacles in the name of progress.
And we have also learned that, here at home, the American
people are our greatest asset as we try to meet the challenges of
a very complicated world.
~ ~-·~
.
We.~ ~.to.,_
·r)'H~ ~
All of us can ~~~i4e that our spir1t of unity has helped
Arabs and Israelis'and othef former enemies bridge their
differences. But we should 1 also be inspired to work harder to
strengthen our own sense of community and to celebrate the
richness of our great culture.
The job of your associations is to see that more Americans
'~
of~iverse backgrounds, races and ethnic heritage have an e~al &0·~~~
ch · ce in journalism-- and to make sure that the news mediaJ ~wY~·'
do~ n't ignore a huge segment of our population. My job here in ~ ~- .• A~
Wa~ington is to see that every citizen has an equal chance at
(~~
the American Dream.
I've said many times-- and I firmly believe-- that. America
does not have a single person to waste. Every person, no matter
his or her background, has an idea, an ideal, a vision to share
1
.
�~enr1c
. h na t'1on.
th a t can our
That's why I've been fighting to create new opportunities
for people who work hard, take responsibility and try to make
something of their lives~nd ~'t's why ~ w~nt t~ ~o~4 ~!ica
lfw\avf-FGm- -P~-t-t:t.n-G:f-e'\ccl~' ~ -0? one of incl'1slion 4wa1 from a
\\'Y'P'\em bf ep;nd nee to one f nd~pend nee, and\~wa &o an
hie of
er.na~ · sm to ope o ernpof/ermept.
_ .\
~ J<> w--J(;Q J_ ~
~
·t-.v--'~. ;tNt
.!>(.c)
1:- ~ t:-o ~ ~h ¢ ~ ~ <.....e
. /~~ One of my proudest accomplishments as President is the
/
people I have appointed to serve in my Administration. If you
look at the top positions in the White House and Cabinet today,
you'll see the most able, most talented group ever assemb~ed.
These appointees also happen to make up ~' the most d1verse
administration in American history. )
_
r f\.4-
~
- ul
~~
~
If you look at our nominations to the federal bench you will
'~lsee that a higher percentage of them have been rated "well~- qualified" by the American Bar Association than in any previous
-\vf' ·$') Administration since these rankings have been made. A majority of
\ ~-~ those appointees are women and people of color -- not a
vP~ minority, but a majority, for the first time ever.
~
None of these people were chosen because they were African
American, or Hispanic, or Asian-American, or American Indian, or
because they were women. These people were selected because they
were the best qualified for the job.
And they are proof that the American Dream is still alive
and within·reach for those who choose to go after it.
Still, we must not ignore the burdens and barriers that
block too many of our people from moving forward-in their lives.
We have to keep fighting to expand opportunities for the working
people of America. A-R-d I am comm-i-tted-to-a-brcra:d-a:qerrd·crof change
_
th-a-t.-~p..l.e--tfl.e-pGW:e-F---"E-e-sti-eeeed. ~ l ~ ~~ \..Me. \.e.. ~ 't\.t u.,_;,.,_(~ ~
Alread~~just
a_h~vJe
a year and
have offered real tax
relief to 15 million working parents through an expanded Earned
Income Tax Credit. We have made it easier for young people to
get to college. We have established greater job training and
school-to-work apprenticeships to help people find and keep good
jobs.
We've sought tax incentives and grant money to stimulate the
economies in needy areas, through things like our Empowerment
Zones and Enterprise Communities; new Community Development
Banks; reform of the Community Reinvestment Act; and by making
the low income housing credit permanent. ·
We have cut the deficit(b~55 billion dollars. We've
h7lped.the deficit go down f~~ th~e~ears in a row for the first
t1me s1nce Harry Truman was ~r s dent. We've cut the federal
2
~
~
�bureaucracy so'/~at it is n~w
t it~lOWfo\stfieveVSj.nC~dy
was Pr~sident. And,Jlhe ?~st r ~~a~: w~ve created 3.8
milli~riv{ew\__fob inllUOnt s.
Some-;-of these achievemen~s have come easier ~han o~ ~ut
a.s~eder1ck~-ass~Qnc_e sa1d -- and _l*S"gfe- K-1.-ng-Huss~~n 9'n9
r'E:t;.im~'\Minis~ I_<q:~
~tWgg\.e" tlfer~ no pr
uld~fllQ}(gl:lt": V'1'f/therej's\..l'1p r- L). ~
~e~ "';,tV-~\
""'\ 'J ~ket ~~ 'p~-- \..
,.'L
lll
S
-..~w-
CUA.
Our struggles have brought us to a watershed moment in our ,~ ... ~
history. And that's what makes this period so challenging -- and ~~-~l
so exciting.
~~This week alone has been an historic one for our nation. We
are on the verge of a remarkable victory -- the toughest,
largest, smartest federal attack on crime in the history of the
United States.
Think for a minute about what this crime bill means for all
of us as American citizens. For all of us as mothers and fathers
and husbands and wives and children. Look at the cost of crime to
the economy. Look at the cost of crime to our sense of community
and to the idea that we are an American family. Look at the cost
of crime to our efforts to empower every individual, including
far too many young people who are growing up in terribly
difficult circumstances.
Crime is holding too many Americans back from reaching the
American Dream. It's splintering families.
It's making people
fear their neighbors.
It's interfering with our children's
educations. It's robbing too many us of our freedoms.
I
.j ['
li
(}~
'ljJ ~
. }<j~
\.: t
All the other goals we seek for ourselves, our families, our
children -- and for our nation -- depend on our ability to live
together ~knawing__th.a.t-,-a.ll~redlfferent by\racef\
ry~..ig'i·enJ ,~b.Y\Pf'i\i't}~s, /by ~?st~s/aljld~a~ty~/a few-"'basrc
~ ~ ~~1 q_s terget~r: lA fun¥amental respect ~·W-r-G~,
lm' lrman bemgs .
.PY-:J
0
f~~e really hope to rebu~·
ld the economy, or r~bui).~ ,;?ur
sensev,f c nunut&.ty /"or Aoow.~u· n i · a
t_Q\ t_~ont:ib¥ cl>f
their liv s W w~arMca~ sil y by crime? The most important thing about the crime bill is that it
creates a whole new way of thinking about how to deal with crime.
It doesn't ask us to make a false choice between severe
punishment and strong prevention. It calls for a sensible balance
between the two. It doesn't ask us to make a false choice between
going after criminals and going after guns. It recognizes that
those sorts of debates divided us for too long while more and
more children were dying on our streets.
What this legislation accomplishes is a sensible approach to
3
�crime that calls for swift and severe punishment for those who
deserve it -- and effective prevention programs that offer longterm s~tions to help break the cycle of crime.
J.> Jo_·20V percent
~ft will put 100, 000 more police
increase in the number of
J
~
on the streets -- that's a
police officers patrolling
our neighborhoods today. More police, trained and deployed
properly, means less crime.
It will invest nine billion dollars in crime prevention
over the next six years.
It will send a strong message to
criminals that their behavior will not be tolerated. It will give
young people more safe places to go, more positive role models,
and more opportunities to fulfill themselves in healthy,
constructive ways.
For six years this crime bill was debated over and over
again. In the end we succeeded because, after lots of arguing and-r~
disagreeing, all the different interests involved were able to
~
~
p.ut_people ove:r p.o.~i.t.i.GS. We focused on what the country needed. c;..:'J ..ft:>~
And hopefully within ~ weeks I will be able to signl-;t.e.. ~~
this bill into law.
.
~
. ,.,.,_ L. 1.
""0
'f ~ G <tft~ l> ~ ~ & c.v~ {Y (). w.I..L h;u.., /Lt.,... '-0 ~' ($ ~- ~- • · •
~
[this transi~ion is pretty weak] But we can't stop here. Now
JA
we must continue our work so that ordinary, hard-working
d~~O.
Americans are guaranteed the health security they deserve.
Or ) ~
wt·v-
~
J. .:d j
,
If you're like me, you know somebody without insurance or
Y>lf" ~
. · somebody at risk of losing their insurance. You know somebody
~t~
~~ ~ · ' whose coverage is so meager they avoid the doctor because it
· (}-.· b\?
~ ~ ~ · costs too mu~h. You know people who are eager to work but are
, ~~~
....I-!~ ~ trapped in t
welfare system because it's the only way they can
\Ji0""'~3 ~
be assured o health care coverage for their famili~s . ._
3 "" •
~, ~ {1\. l'l-tt (.4..eo... (&, Ud. 'ih-ei..,_ ~ /o~ I ~ (o !,t. _. 1\ ' • • •
. s ·~J "'
You and I know these people because there are millioe,~a~d. "1 ~
~ ~{1,<. millions of them out there. People who ~e'ii11 t:nEh~
,J ~
g lives so that they can move forward, make progress, build some 0 _ .
~ security for their families, only to be knocked off the ladder w ~~
~~
.~because of a pink slip, a catastrophic illness, or a simple
~'
change in jobs.
~
j
7.!:,J
©} .
~~
~he
dire~tion.
t;ea~th
"\:<»~-
We're moving. in
wrong
with our
care
system. We're mov1ng 1n the wrong d1rect1on when m1ll1ons of
hard-working people are losing their health insurance.
~~ex~?~ p....,L; v<.. 4.6 ~')
~ ~ i...f.. ck-..
Whe.fl-t'-f.i-r--s-1=--ta.l.ke.d.-a.bo.u.t-heal th care reform, I -1::-atk"e-daDout .
the
t of every Ameri .an-t-e-h·ave-hea±th-seel:H:'-i-t::y-tnat can
'":>.,., ~
never be taken away. I invited sug_~kions-L~w-we-mrght get
~~~
tnerer. And in response to some of the concerns I heard I modified
my approach to make it simpler, more flexible, more sensitive to
the needs of small business. r-<1 will~\- lrv..o~ ~ t\ ~~ ~
What I have not modified is my belief taa~ur-h-~eh-~e ~
4
~~-
�~e~~~
~ I..Ra.e.X\ (.e.~~ ,.._u:> L be ~ A-Lv-e_ ~ ~ ~ La. w(~ 5(/\..e...-i u:riW
~~Jp
~~~~~<
v~~
~-
~~
~·~
y
~ -~
~
~ . b~
~ w( ~ ~ ~ ¥ .;."'- 1- fJ
~
.
/system must work and must be fair. Theft"' s what I want ana that'si.> ~ ·
what the vast majority of the American people want. Poll after ~~
poll shows that 70 percent
even 80 percent -- of our people
believe the right thing to do is guarantee private insurance to
every citizen.
/\
(
~
loV'<
I/Vvl.../l (;.
P--o f-
Unfortunately there are many politicians who come before
you and say they support universal coverage. But they forget to
tell you how they're going to finance it. We know from experience
around the country, in dozens of states, that/there is only one
way that works. It's the system most Americans already use. It's
the most equitable, efficient system because it builds on shared
responsibility between employers and employees.
~
And it can be done. We know from looking at Hawaii's
success.
~
~~-~~. .r~LQl...-.- t1me
•
•
to say to every Amer1can:
if you change jobs, if you get sick, if you are laid-off, if your
child has a serious illness, you will always be able to afford
health care as a citizen of the richest nation on earth.
~-~~-~u~=~rc ~1~
Many of you know that barriers aren't broken overnight;
great victories are never won without hard work. But every
struggle we are in is worth it. We are making progress. We are
challenging historical odds, just as King Hussein and Prime
Minister Rabin showed us is possible earlier this week.
With your spirit of unity and cooperation guiding us, we can
build an America that is more equitable, more inclusive, more
productive, and more secure for each and every one of us.
Thank you, and God bless all of you.
###
t.u?w~
whJ- ~ l~ !\<. w(~~
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I
PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
REMARKS VIA SATELLITE TO UNITY '94 CONVENTION
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
JULY 29, 1994
DRAFT
Thank you Chief Mankiller. Hello to everyone in Atlanta at
the "Unity '94" convention. And congratulations to the four
journalists' associations, which are meeting together for the
first time at this ground breaking occasion.
We are living in an extraordinary time, when people in
America and across the entire world are searching for common
ground.
Wilma and I last shared the stage on the White House lawn,
back in April, when the American Indian and Alaska Native tribal
leaders came together for the first time ever. This week, on
that same spot, the King of Jordan and the Prime Minister of
Israel opened a new era of dialogue and cooperation between their
peoples. At about the same time, halfway around the world, the
President of Russia made an announcement that by the end of
August, for the first time since the end of World War II, all
Russian troops would be gone from Germany and Central and Eastern
Europe.
What we have learned over and over from experiences like
these is that people can transcend great historical, political,
and cultural obstacles in the name of progress.
And we have also learned that, here at home,. the American
people are our greatest asset as we try to meet the challenges of
a very complicated world.
All of us can take pride that our spirit of unity has helped
Arabs and Israelis and other former enemies bridge their
differences. But we should also be inspired to work harder to
strengthen our own sense of community and to celebrate the
richness of our great culture.
The job of your associations is to see that more Americans
of diverse backgrounds, races and ethnic heritage have an equal
chance in journalism -- and to make sure that the news media
doesn't ignore a huge segment of our population. My job here in
Washington is to see that every citizen has an equal chance at
the American Dream.
I've said many times -- and I firmly believe -- that America
does not have a single person to waste. Every person, no matter
his or her background, has an idea, an ideal, a vision to share
1
�that can our enrich nation.
That's why I've been fighting to create new opportunities
for people who work hard, take responsibility and try to make
something of their lives. And it's why I want to move America
away from a pattern of exclusion to one of inclusion, away from a
system of dependence to one of independence, and away from an
ethic of paternalism to one of empowerment.
One of my proudest accomplishments as President is the
people I have appointed to serve in my Administration. If you
look at the top positions in the White House and Cabinet today,
you'll see the most able, most talented group ever assembled.
These appointees also happen to make up the up the most diverse
administration in American history.
If you look at our nominations to the federal bench you will
see that a higher percentage of them have been rated "wellqualified" by the American Bar Association than in any previous
Administration since these rankings have been made. A majority of
those appointees are women and people of color -- not a
minority, but a majority, for the first time ever.
None of these people were chosen because they were African
American, or Hispanic, or Asian-American, or American Indian, or
because they were women. These people were selected because they
were the best qualified for the job.
And they are proof that the American Dream is still alive
and within reach for those who choose to go after it.
Still, we must not ignore the burdens and barriers that
block too many of our people from moving forward in their lives.
We have to keep fighting to expand opportunities for the working
people of America. And I am committed to a broad agenda of change
that will people the power to succeed.
Already, in just a year and a half, we have offered real tax
relief to 15 million working parents through an expanded Earned
Income Tax Credit. We have made it easier for young people to
get to college. We have established greater job training and
school-to-work apprenticeships to help people find and keep good
jobs.
We've sought tax incentives and grant money to stimulate the
economies in needy areas, through things like our Empowerment
Zones and Enterprise Communities; new Community Development
Banks; reform of the Community Reinvestment Act; and by making
the low income housing credit permanent.
We have cut the deficit by 255 billion dollars. We've
helped the deficit go down for three years in a row for the first
time since Harry Truman was President. We've cut the federal
2
�bureaucracy so that it is now at its lowest level since Kennedy
was President. And, the best result of all: we've created 3.8
million new jobs in 18 months.
Some of these achievements have come easier than others. But
as Frederick Douglass once said -- and I'm sure King Hussein and
Prime Minister Rabin would echo this thought:
"If there is no
struggle there is no progress."
Our struggles have brought us to a watershed moment in our
history. And that's what makes this period so challenging -- and
so exciting.
This week alone has been an historic one for our nation. We
are on the verge of a remarkable victory -- the toughest,
largest, smartest federal attack on crime in the history of the
United states.
Think for a minute about what this crime bill means for all
of us as American citizens. For all of us as mothers and fathers
and husbands and wives and children. Look at the cost of crime to
the economy. Look at the cost of crime to our sense of community
and to the idea that we are an American family. Look at the cost
of crime to our efforts to empower every individual, including
far too many young people who are growing up in terribly
difficult circumstances.
crime is holding too many Americans back from reaching the
American Dream.
It's splintering families.
It's making people
fear their neighbors.
It's interfering with our children's
educations. It's robbing too many us of our freedoms.
All the other goals we seek for ourselves, our families, our
children -- and for our nation -- depend on our ability to live
together knowing that, although we are different by race, by
religion, by politics, by tastes and attitudes, a few basic
things hold us together: A fundamental respect for law, order,
and our fellow human beings.
Can we really hope to rebuild the economy, or rebuild our
sense of community, or empower individuals to take control of
their lives if we are scared silly by crime?
The most important thing about the crime bill is that it
creates a whole new way of thinking about how to deal with crime.
It doesn't ask us to make a false choice between severe
punishment and strong prevention. It calls for a sensible balance
between the two. It doesn't ask us to make a false choice between
going after criminals and going after guns. It recognizes that
those sorts of debates divided us for too long while more and
more children were dying on our streets.
What this legislation accomplishes is a sensible approach to
3
�crime that calls for swift and severe punishment for those who
deserve it -- and effective prevention programs that offer longterm solutions to help break the cycle of crime.
It will put 100,000 more police on the streets -- that's a
20 percent increase in the number of police officers patrolling
our neighborhoods today. More police, trained and deployed
properly, means less crime.
It will invest nine billion dollars in crime prevention
over the next six years.
It will send a strong message to
criminals that their behavior will not be tolerated. It will give
young people more safe places to go, more positive role models,
and more opportunities to fulfill themselves in healthy,
constructive ways.
For six years this crime bill was debated over and over
again. In the end we succeeded because, after lots of arguing and
disagreeing, all the different interests involved were able to
put people over politics. We focused on what the country needed.
And hopefully within a matter of weeks I will be able to sign
this bill into law.
(this transition is pretty weak] But we can't stop here. Now
we must continue our work so that ordinary, hard-working
Americans are guaranteed the health security they deserve.
If you're like me, you know somebody without insurance or
somebody at risk of losing their insurance. You know somebody
whose coverage is so meager they avoid the doctor because it
costs too much.
You know people who are eager to work but are
trapped in the welfare system because it's the only way they can
be assured of health care coverage for their families.
You and I know these people because there are millions and
millions of them out there. People who dig.and scrape all their
lives so that they can move forward, make progress, build some
security for their families, only to be knocked off the ladder
because of a pink slip, a catastrophic illness, or a simple
change in jobs.
We're moving in the wrong direction with our health care
system. We're moving in the wrong direction when millions of
hard-working people are losing their health insurance.
When I first talked about health care reform, I talked about
the right of every American to have health security that can
never be taken away. I invited suggestions for how we might get
there. And in response to some of the concerns I heard I modified
my approach to make it simpler, more flexible, more sensitive to
the needs of small business.
What I have not modified is my belief that our health care
4
�5
system must work and must be fair. That's what I want and that's
what the vast majority of the American people want. Poll after
poll shows that 70 percent
even 80 percent -- of our people
believe the right thing to do is guarantee private insurance to
every citizen.
Unfortunately there are many politicians who come before
you and say they support universal coverage. But they forget to
tell you how they're going to finance it. We know from experience
around the country, in dozens of states, that there is only one
way that works. It's the system most Americans already use. It's
the most equitable, efficient system because it builds on shared
responsibility between employers and employees.
And it can be done~ We know from looking at Hawaii's
success.
Now is the time. Now is the time to say to every American:
if you change jobs, if you get sick, if you are laid-off, if your
child has a serious illness, you will always be able to afford
health care as a citizen of the richest nation on earth.
Many of you know that barriers aren't broken overnight;
great victories are never won without hard work. But every
struggle we are in is worth it. We are making progress. We are
challenging historical odds, just as King Hussein and Prime
Minister Rabin showed us is possible earlier this week.
With your spirit of unity and cooperation guiding us, we can
build an America that is more equitable, more inclusive, more
productive, and more secure for each and every one of tis.
Thank you, and God bless all of you.
###
5
�..
~~a$~~
7/28/94 12:00 pm
President William J. Clinton
Unity '94 convention of minority journalist
live satellite feed to Atlanta
July 29, 1994
Thank you Chief Mankiller. Hello to everyone in Atlanta at
the "Unity '94" convention. And congratulations to the four
journalist associations, which are meeting together for the first
time at this ground breaking occasion.
We are living in an extraordinary time, when people in
,.,.&,..fu-L
America and across the entire world are searching for common
,").c..:~
ground.
~~
Wilma and I last shared the stage on the White House lawn,
back in April, when the American Indian and Alaska Native tribal
leaders came together for the first time ever. On that same spot
this week, the King of Jordan and the Prime Minister of Israel
opened a new era of dialogue and cooperation between their
peoples.
Hopes for new partnerships make it possible while the new
global economy makes it necessary.
Investment and ideas travel
farther and faster than ever before. Amidst all of this
movement, however, the greatest asset of America remains our
p~.
f
That's why I am working to bring the American community
together, strengthen our economy and empower our people to live
up to the best of their God-given pot~
----------------------------
The job of your associations is to see that more Americans
of diverse backgrounds, races and ethnic heritage have an equal
chance in journalism. My job here in Washington is to see that
every citizen has an equal chance at the American Dream.
~
r~~
I want
~
to cr ate new o~portunities for people who take
respAnsibility fo Gh:angingjtheir own lives, to move America away
from7exclusion to inclusion, from dependence to independence, and
from paternalism to empowerment.
I a)/i ~
1
1
(J.Jc.. d-d .-1-~ 4- &'\~~ ~ olD~~. ~ ~ a.u.A 1h.. ~{l, 6 . ~
From the beginning, this administration has sought to lead
~
by example.
From day one, we have had the most diverse cabinet, ~ ~
diverse White House staff and most inclusive administration in
... ~
American history.
~
A_
_
Consider our nominations to the federal bench. A majority
of them are people of color and women -- not a minority, but a
majority, for the first time ever. And a higher percentage of
our appointees have been rated "well-qualified" by the American
Bar Association than those of any administration since these
rankings have been made.
I'm
pr~ of the
1\''
inclusive record of this administration.
�,.
~
.
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But we all know that across our country, barriers still prevent
many of our people from realizing the American Dream. There are
too many Americans working harder, stretching budgets thinner an~
running faster just to stay in place.
J
In a year and a half, we've done a lot to change that. We
expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit for 15 million working
r~
parents. We made it easier for young people to get to college.~
We've established greater job training and school-to-work
apprenticeships to help people find and keep good jobs.
We've sought tax incentives and grant money to stimulate the
economies in needy areas, through things like our Empowerment
Zones and Enterprise Communities; new Community Development
Banks; reform of the Community Reinvestment Act; and by making
the low income housing credit permanent.
We cut the deficit by 255 billion dollars. We're making the
deficit go down for three years in a row for the first time since
Harry Truman was President. We've cut the federal bureaucracy is
at its lowest level since Kennedy was President. And, the best
result is 3.8 million new jobs.
s~ ~ ~ 6~ k ....~ J..--
C.O.uo LM:n.c.
e~' ~ ~ ~ <: •
Now, we're on the verge of realizing two lOhg-held goals
that Americans have waited on for years: a national,
comprehensive anti-crime bill, and health care reform.
[Crime Bill news insert]
Crime is holding too many Americans back from reaching the
American Dream.
It splinters families.
It makes people fear
their neighbors.
It divides us more than anything. The Crime
Bill in Congress is about is about giving our people the tools to
make their make their communities safe. 'l>O'Ve- "h. bJuz ~ 1 ~
""'. ( I
t-ow-. ,.. V\.-:. i...AIt wouia put 100,000 more police on the streets. More
police, trained and deployed properly, means less crime.
~--~~\~--~[
This Crime Bill also makes a mass~,~~l~estment in America's
young generation.
It will invest nine billion dollars in crime
prevention over the next six years.
It will give young people ~~~~~·~
more safe places to go to. More role models and positive
influences. More job opportunities and hope.
The Crime Bill is about giving more of our children clear
pathways into adulthood.
It's about improving the way America
raises its young people.
It's about replacing the illegal
activity on our streets with economic activity in our
neighborhoods.
I
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Some people dig and scrape all their l~ves.
They do. all
.·~ 1\::C
they can to move forward, make progress, bu1ld some secur1ty for ~~
their families, only to be knocked off the ladder because of a
Jho(
pink slip, a catastrophic illness, or a simple change in jobs.
~~~
If you're like me, you know somebody without insurance or
somebody at risk of losing their insurance. You know somebody
whose coverage is so meager they avoid the doctor because it
costs too much. You know people who want to go to work and raise
their families right, but their lack of health care traps them in
the welfare system, because it's the one place where their
coverage can never be taken away.
C-.....v. h - .{:. ~ U\..,....... { rv..;.,. U..CJ.J~
Oo ~. c...ua..u.;- o...... ~...
1>u ~ ~ o.... ~ •
That's the ~y:;;;tem X&e have right now, and its wrong
We
ought to say to every American: if you change jobs, if you get
sick, if you are laid-off, if your child develops an illness
whatever your situation -- you will always be able to afford
health care as a citizen of the richest nation on earth.
For 18 months, I've been fighting for health care that gives
everybody a fair chance.
I want health care that covers
everybody, because universal coverage is the only way to protect
everybody and bring costs under control at the same time.
~t·s~A ~. nP.t...~.
Our people'understand Ehat.
Poll after poll shows that 70
percent -- even 80 percent -- of our people want universal
coverage.
So, don't let a few noisy naysayers drown out the rest
of us who know what's right.
Some in Congress are looking for the easy vote, the halfmeasure that lets them say they are for health care without
really doing much to guarantee it. But across America, in state
after state, the partial solutions have not worked. Only Hawaii,
with universal coverage, has done the right thing and brought
costs under control.
It's time we made health care work for all
Americans across the board.
Every American deserves a place at the table and a chance at
the American Dream. That's why I want health care that covers
everybody; more opportunity for people who take responsibility; a
Crime Bill and economic incentives that encourage everyone in our
communities to work together.
Many of you know that barriers aren't broken overnight;
great victories are never won without a struggle. We are in a
legislative struggle for the Crime Bill and health care.
The
work is hard; but we've seen movement, and there's more movement
to come.
If we keep working hard in the weeks ahead, I know we
will finally get it done.
Thank you.
;-
L
1'-C""'
�,,
---
------------
-----
·'
I
/
i
:
PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
REMARKS VIA SATELLITE TO UNITY '94 CONVENTION
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
JULY 29, 1994
DRAFT
U7SL
--
Thank you Chief Mankiller. Hello to everyone in Atlanta at
the "Unity '94 11 convention. And congratulations to the four
journalists' associations, which are meeting together for the
first time at this ground breaking occasion.
We are living in an extraordinary time, when people in
America and across the entire world are searching for common
ground.
Wilma and I last shared the stage on the White House lawn,
back in April, when the American Indian and Alaska Native tribal
leaders came together for the first time ever. This week, on
that same spot, the King of Jordan and the Prime Minister of
Israel opened a new era of dialogue and cooperation between their
peoples. At about the same time, halfway around the world, the
President of Russia made an announcement that by the end of
August, for the first time since the end of World War II, all
Russian troops would be gone from Germany and Central and Eastern
Europe.
What we have learned over and over from experiences like
these is that people can transcend great historical and cultural
\ p~h-.e
obstacles in the name of progress.
,... ('t OfAI- oc- o--,. ~
And~ we have also learned~ that, here at home,~~~~
people are our greatest asset as we try to meet the challenges of
a very complicated world.
~~ ~
{tv())4"" , ~ f-
'~
0
c 'i8iiiiCk..
As Americans, we should be proud of the role Wo/ have played
in helping aoee aestile peoples bridge their differnces. But we
should also be inspired to work harder to restore our own sense
of community and to celebrate the richness of our~ture.
The job of your associations is to see that more Americans
of diverse backgrounds, races and ethnic heritage have an equal
chance in journalism -- and to make sure that the news media
doesn't ignore a huge segment of our population. My job here in
Washington is to see that every citizen has an equal chance at
the American Dream.
I've said many times -- and I firmly believe -- that America
does not have a single person to waste. Every person, no matter
his or her background, has an idea, an ideal, a vision to share
that can strengthen our nation.
1
�That's why I've been fighting to create new opportunities
for people who work hard, take responsibility and try to make
something of their lives. And it's why I want to move America
away from a pattern of exclusion to one of inclusion,vfrom a
system of dependence to one of independence, and~from an e~ of
paternalism to one of empowerment.
~
One of my proudest accomplishments as President is the
p~eople
I have appointed to-importaFrt positioRs at tb.e White House ~~
a
oughout my Administration. If you look at ~op ~WI--\ er- Cc4-.
position
· goverment today, you'll see the most able, most
talented group ever assembled. These appointees also happen to
make up the up the most diverse administration in American
history.
If you look at our nominations to the federal bench you will
see that a higher percentage of them have been rated "wellqualified" by the American Bar Association than iR any prev4ous~4.f-..
Adm~1.on since these rankings bave been made.'A majority of
~ :. those appointees are women and people of color -not a
d minority, but a majority, for the first time ever.
JJ
None of these people were chosen because they were African
or Hispanic, or Asian-American, or American Indian, or
~ because they were women. These people were selected because they
~ . .,. were the best qualified for the job.
..
Y3~
~American,
J
3~
d
~
Jl
.
~
~
~
[transition]
~ 1\_ ~ ~. ~
1
~
1'v
~ ~c....
L
~ rwc...t.t~~ ~~,....,~
'
j
..
In a year and a half, we have expanded the Earned Income~
Tax Credit for 15 million working parents. We have made it
easier for young people to get to college. We've established
greater job training and school-to-work apprenticeships to help
people find and keep good jobs.
We've sought tax incentives and grant money to stimulate the
economies in needy areas,· through things like our Empowerment
Zones and Enterprise Communities; new Community Development
Banks; reform of the Community Reinvestment Act; and by making
the low income housing credit permanent.
We cut the deficit by 255 billion dollars. We're making the
deficit go down for three years in a row for the first time since
Harry Truman was President. We've cut the federal bureaucracy so
that it is now at its lowest level since Kennedy was President.
And, the best result of all: we've created 3.8 million new jobs
in 18 months.
Some of these achievements have come easier than others. But
as Frederick Douglass once said -- and I'm sure King Hussein and
Prime Minister Rabin would echo this thought:
"If there is no
struggle there is no progress."
2
�------~-
---
--
Our struggles have reaped enormous rewards and have brought
us to a watershed moment in our history. And that's what makes
this period so challenging -- and so exciting.
This week alone has been an historic one for our nation. We
are on the verge of a remarkable victory -- the toughest,
largest, smartest federal attack on crime in the history of the
United States.
And we are also closer than ever before to achieving real,
substantive health care reform.
Think for a minute about what this crime bill means for all
of us as American citizens. For all of us as mothers and fathers
and husbands and wives and children. Look at the cost of crime to
the economy. Look at the cost of crime to our sense of community
and to the idea that we are an American family. Look at the cost
of crime to our efforts to empower every individual, including
far too many young people who are growing up in terribly
difficult circumstances.
Crime is holding too many Americans back from reaching the
American Dream.
It's splintering families.
It's making people
fear their neighbors.
It's interfering with our children's
educations. It's robbing too many us of our freedoms.
Can we really hope to rebuild the economy, or rebuild our
sense of community, or empower individuals to make more of their
lives if we are scared silly by crime?
All the other goals we seek for ourselves, our families, our
children -- and for our nation -- depend on our ability to live
together knowing that, although we are different by race, by
religion, by politics, by tastes and attitudes, a few basic
things hold us together: A fundamental respect for law, order,
and our fellow human beings.
~he most important thing about the crime bill is that it
creates a whole new way of thinking about how to deal with crime.
It doesn't ask us to make a false choice between severe
punishment and strong prevention. It calls for a sensible balance
between the two. It doesn't ask us to make a false choice between
going after criminals and going after guns. It recognizes that
those sorts of debates divided us for too long while more and
more children were dying on our streets.
What this legislation accomplishes is a sensible approach to
crime that calls for swift and severe punishment for those who
deserve it -- and effective prevention programs that offer long3
�------------~
term solutions to help break the cycle of crime.
It will put 100,000 more police on the streets -- that's a
20 percent increase in the number of police officers patrolling
our neighborhoods today. More police, trained and deployed
properly, means less crime.
It will invest nine billion dollars in crime prevention
over the next six years.
It will send a strong message to
criminals that their behavior will not be tolerated. It will give
young people more safe places to go, more positive role models,
and more opportunities to fulfill themselves in healthy,
constructive ways.
~i~ct~y was achieved because,
disa~reeing,~e were able to put people
after lots of arguing and
over politics. We focused
on what the country needed. And hopefully within a matter of
weeks I will be able to sign this bill into law.
'RvJ.. l..t-'- ""- • ~ Sb(J (..A.A.
.fc i4A....
Now we must continue the job ~~~~~r±·~~~~ie-t~~~~
p~s in their daiiy lives. We
and
pass health care reform. If we d
't, ordinary Americans
continue to be deprived of the security they deserve.
If you're like me, you know somebody without insurance or
somebody at risk of losing their insurance.
You know somebody
whose coverage is so meager they avoid the doctor because it
costs too much.
You know people who are eager to work but are
trapped in the welfare system because it's the only way they can
be assured of health care coverage for their families.
You and I know these people because there are millions and
millions of them out there. People who dig and scrape all their
lives so that they can move forward, make progress, build some
security for their families, only to be knocked off the ladder
because of a pink slip, a catastrophic illness, or a simple
change in jobs.
We're moving in the wrong diretion with our health care
system. We're moving in the wrong direction when millions of
hard-working people are losing their health insurance. ~by
the way, most of those without 1nsurance are work1ng people~
It's time we ~ to every American: if you change jobs, if
you get sick, if you are laid-off, if your child has a serious
illness, you will always be able to afford health care as a
citizen of the richest nation on earth.
When I first talked about health care reform, I talked about
the right of every American to have health security that can
never be taken away. I invited suggestions for how we might get
there. And in response to some of the concerns I heard I modified
my approach to make it simpler, more flexible, more sensitive to
4
�5
the needs of small business.
What I have not modified is my belief that our health care
system must work and must be fair. That's what I want and that's
what the vast majority of the American people want. Poll after
poll shows that 70 percent -- even 80 percent -- of our people
want universal coverage. ~'t let a ;ew noi§Y naysayers
drown out the rest of us w o know what's r1ght.
Unfortunately there are many politicians who come before you
and say they su port
iver 1 cov rage. But they forget to tell
you how the 'r
na ce ' t We
ow ~experience
around
e c
in dozens
sta
, t
,f th~re is only one
way tha works. It's the system most Americans already use.
table and a chance at
Every American des
alt care that covers
the American Drea . Th t'
ponsibility; a
everybody; m e ppo
nity or peo e ho take
Crime Bi~l apd
onomic incen 'ves that encourage everyone in our
communit1~o work together.
weeks
5
ight;
in a
The
e mo
ent
I know we
�~-~--~-
------------------------------------------------.
1
July 28, 1994, 9AM
PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
CRIME BILL RALLY
WASHINGTON, D.C.
JULY 28, 1994
[Acknowledgements: Senator Biden (possible) and Chairman Brooks
(possible); Attorney General Janet Reno; Secretary Bentsen;
Director of National Drug Control Policy Lee Brown; Charles
Moose, Chief of Police, Portland, Oregon: a man who has given
nearly twenty years of service to his community, and is now
helping to lead them and the nation towards community policing
and other innovations that will make a difference; and, leaders
of federal and state law enforcement groups representing every
area of the country.]
We are on the verge of a major victory for America. For too
long the people who work hard and play by the rules in this
country have fought crime with one hand tied behind their backs.
Well, we are about to even up the odds.
After six long years, we are very close to enacting the
toughest, largest, smartest federal attack on crime in history.
We are united, and we are going to keep pushing until this Crime
Bill is the law of the land.
I say to Chairman Biden and Chairman Brooks and Members of
Congress from both Parties -- in the name of every child whose
playground has turned into a battleground, in the name of every
senior citizen who is afraid to walk home alone, and in the name
of every citizen paralyzed by fear -- thank you for your hard
work, and for moving America forward into a safer future.
This victory for law-abiding Americans is a fundamental part
of the vision at the very heart of my Administration: to put
people first again.
Everything we have done, we have done so that our citizens
can live the American Dream again. Every step we take is about
making it possible -- at a time of rapid, often remarkable change
here and around the world -- for our people to build good lives
for themselves and to pass the chance of better lives onto their
children.
In this great country, why has this been such a huge
challenge? Because for more than a decade our leaders mismanaged
our country, especially the economy. And the result was that our
middle class worked harder for less, and as they did, our social
fabric weakened. But the American people demanded better.
And for 18 months, I have devoted myself to an aggressive
strategy for economic and social renewal.
�2
That strategy started where it had to: with putting our
economic house in order by coming to grips with the soaring
deficit. Barely a year ago, we enacted the biggest deficit cut
in our history, including $255 billion in specific spending cuts.
Those tough decisions mean that our deficit is now going down for
three years in a row for the first time since Harry Truman was
President.
We had to cut. But we also had to invest so that every
American could compete and win in the most competitive global
economy ever. From the first day of preschool to the first day
on the job to the last day before retirement and beyond, the
American people should know this: whatever the world brings, they
and their children will be prepared.
Fulfilling our strategy has meant change -- which isn't
always popular in Washington. But we have fought very hard, and
it's working. Our economy is coming back, with 3.8 million jobs
produced since I took office. Unemployment has fallen by more
than 1.5 percent, and inflation is the lowest in two decades.
We will do more, but this is an extraordinary start on our
journey of renewal.
I am very proud of all this, and the American people should
be proud of themselves. And, yet, none of this is enough to
restore the American Dream. Not if we don't defeat the crime and
violence that is pulling our people apart when we should be
coming together to face our common challenges as one.
This nation cannot work if Americans aren't safe in their
homes, or if the schools are too violent for our children to
learn. For six years we have debated crime endlessly and fought
it fitfully. But today's progress changes that: it is not about
debate and delay; it's about hope and progress. It is about
putting 100,000 more police officers on our nation's streets,
helping our communities to restore themselves. It will make
Americans safer, and more productive. Surely there is no more
important piece in our strategy for national renewal.
No one has believed in community policing more than Chief
Moose, who moved with his wife into a high risk neighborhood that
he helped make safer. Perhaps the most compelling argument for
this law is that this is the crime bill that law enforcement
demands -- and that's the way it should be.
But it hasn't been easy. No matter how tough and smart this
bill is, everytime we turned around, someone said it couldn't or
it shouldn't be done. So we had to stand up to all those skeptics
and critics who were standing in the way of this bill.
We stood up to the NRA to win the historic ban on assault
weapons. We have finally put the public interest ahead of the
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3
special interest, and when this bill becomes law 19 kinds of
assault weapons will be banned for the first time.
We stood up to the view that prevailed for too long in my
own Party about tougher punishment. Now, we will have capital
punishment for anyone convicted of killing an officer. And
violent repeat offenders will be sent to jail for life. As I
promised, "three-strikes-and-you're-out" is going to be the law
of the land.
We stood up to the forces in Washington opposed to cutting
government to pay for our fight on crime. There's not a penny of
new taxes in this bill. Instead, there will be fewer bureaucrats
and more police.
And we stood up to the people who said that crime prevention
programs are nothing but pork barrel politics. To anyone who says
that, I say: tell it to our nation's police officers. They are
the ones who wanted more support for programs like the Boys and
Girls Clubs. They are the ones who want safer schools -- as more
than 100,000 kids carry guns to school each day. And they are
the ones who say our kids need more mentors and the police need
more resources to help families in crisis.
Now, we are going to fight to make sure this bill becomes
law in just a few short days. But we have to remember that a law
is only a tool, a piece of paper. For it to make a difference,
every single American must make it work.
Every one of us must take responsibility for making this a
stronger country. When we see a youth from a tough neighborhood
who is desperate for that first job, we have to reach out with
opportunity. When we know a police officer is trying to turn a
gang member into a productive citizen, we have to do our part.
And when we see a child in trouble, we have to take personal
responsibility for getting that child back to school and into the
programs that can turn their life around.
We have stood up to all the forces that counted us out so
many times on this Crime Bill, and we are about to win. Let that
be a lesson to all those who have already written us off on our
campaign to guarantee health care for all Americans. If we are
really serious about renewing the American Dream, we must do
this. It's the only way we can open up new opportunities for all
Americans to learn and work and realize their God-given
potential.
How do I know we can reform health care? Because I've heard
the naysayers before, and I know how far we have come to give
America the Crime Bill it has needed for so long.
And because I know that, having come this far, we will not turn
back on our vision of restoring the American Dream.
�"
•
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lit
4
We have faced plenty of tough fights before. And we'll have
plenty more ahead of us. But they are all worth it if they bring
us to a day like this one. We must face all our challenges with
the same confidence and spirit of common purpose that has brought
us here today. That is what has always built America. And that, I
promise, is what will renew America for yet another generation.
�THE PRESIDENT'S ANTI-CRIME LEGISLATION
AN OVERVIEW
Crime and violence threaten America's future. Our economic prospects are on the
upturn and we can now look to the day when all Americans will have health care coverage.
Still, there can be no doubt that improvements in our economic·and physical health will
never be fully enjoyed if we must live every day in fear of crime and violence.
As the problem of crime continues to occupy our national attention, a consensus is
emerging about how best to keep our neighborhoods, our homes and our families and friends
safe from criminal activity. That consensus recognizes that old single-minded approaches
aimed at suppressing crime won't work.
What we need now is an anti-crime strategy that strikes a balance between more law
enforcement, certain and appropriately severe punishment, and strenuous efforts to keep
young people from travelling down the criminal path.
The President's Comprehensive Anti-Crime. Effort
•
President Clinton's anti-crime legislation now before Congress offers America just
such a strategy. Comprised of three key components --police, punishment, and
prevention -- the Pr~sident's Crime Bill is a tough, effective, and sensible approach to
reducing crime in America.
•
Old approaches to fighting crime offered the American people a false choice between
punishment and prevention. This Administration, however, takes a different view.
While more police and swift and certain punishment are critical to our fight against
violence and crime, we must also create sensible and effective prevention programs
that offer the country long-term solutions which help break the criminal cycle.
Police: Protecting Our Communities
•
The President's anti-crime legislation will put 100,000 new police officers on the
streets, walking the beat, working with citizens to prevent and solve crimes. Through
"community policing, we can proactively address neighborhood problems, combining
increased police presence with the development of partnerships with communities to
create safer neighborhoods.
II
•
The plan to put 100,000 police officers onto America's streets represents a twenty
percent increase in the current number local police officers nationwide. The nearly
$9 billion requested by the President for this program will enable the Administration
to help every community in the country that needs and wants assistance to strengthen
its police force to improve public safety.
�•
We can do more to train our current and future police officers, and to recruit more
officers to work with their communities. A Police Corps would provide scholarship
funds to individuals who are committed to joining police departments after graduation,
and other programs would enhance the education of existing law enforcement
personnel who seek to improve their skills and capabilities.
•
We can not expect our law enforcement officers to risk their lives on a daily basis
without doing everything we can to protect them. We can increase the safety of our
police by making sure that they don't get outgunned by criminals -- a goal achieved
by measures that include a ban on assault weapons, a ban on the sale of handguns to
minors, and new efforts to tighten gun dealer licensing.
Punishment: Sending a Message To Criminals
•
The Administration supports measures that swiftly punish violent criminals,
particularly repeat violent offenders. To keep off the streets those who would prey
upon our communities, the Crime Bill should include:
*
The President's "Three Strikes and You're Out" life imprisonment provision,
which is aimed at those career violent offenders who do the most harm to
society; and
Reinstatement of the Federal death penalty for the most heinous of crimes,
such as killing a Federal law enforcement officer.
•
The President is committed to helping states keep violent criminals behind bars by
providing them with the resources they need to create additional prison space. This
includes the Administration-backed prison grant program which will help states lock
up violent offenders quickly and efficiently as well as encourage them to improve
their criminal justice systems by adopting reasonable "truth in sentencing" provisions.
•
The Administration supports smart incarceration programs and tough alternative
approaches, such as:
*
Boot camps that provide the discipline and training necessary to deter young
people from embarking on a life of crime; and
*
Discretionary authority to prosecute hardened young criminals, 13-years-old
and above, as adults for serious violent offenses.
-2-
�Prevention: "Something to Say 'Yes'" To
•
Congress has a special opportunity -- and responsibility -- to pass a Crime Bill that
will help steer young people away from crime and drugs and. as the President often
says. "give them something to say 'yes'" to: Programs that increase youth
employment, recreational and educational opportunities.
•
We endorse a broad range of new and ongoing preventive policies, from initiatives
closely associated with law enforcement, such as community policing, to efforts aimed
more toward empowering communities and individuals, like job and job training
opportunities. These include:
•
*
The President's Youth Employment Skills program, "Y.E.S.," which will
provide young people with job training and work opportunities in hard-hit,
high-crime areas;
*
The Ounce of Prevention Council and programs which can help effectively
coordinate and integrate the delivery of the Federal Government's new youth
development and youth oriented crime prevention initiatives;
*
The Police Partnerships for Children program, which will encourage police
officers to become involved with children and family services agencies to
divert at risk children;
· ·
*
Drug Court programs which will support intensive court supervision of drug
dependent defendants to provide the carrot-and-stick approach that can help
them beat their addiction; and
*
The Gang Resistance Education and Training program ("G.R:E.A.T. "),
already a proven success, which will help kids fight the allure of gang
membership.
The Administration also supports a range of other prevention measures such as the
Empowerment Zones/Enterprise Communities Initiative, the Job Corps, the National
Service program, the Community Partnership Against Crime, the Family Preservation
and Support Program, Head Start, and Weed and Seed.
Paying for the Fight Against Crime
•
Paying for these initiatives won't be easy. But failing to enact them will be much,
much more expensive. The cost to society of a failure to act -- a cost measured not
just in dollars and cents, but also in murders, rapes and assaults which need not have
occurred -- is a cost we can not bear.
-3-
�...
•
By reinventing government and focusing our priorities, we can make the necessary
money available to achieve these goals. With the savings realized by the elimination
of 250,000 Federal government jobs, we can set up a multi-billion dollar Violent
Crime- Reduction Trust Fund. And by putting those savings in the Fund, we can
make the money available for the police, punishment and prevention proposed in the
President's anti-crime legislation.
-4 - -
�POLICE: PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITIES
The Administration's commitment to putting more police on the streets is central to
the President's ami-crime legislation. Providing communities with the resources to be able to
hire more cops in the neighborhoods, the ability to select from a motivated group of law
enforcement recruits, and the Federal laws which they need to provide them maximum
backup and protection, together create a package of proposals designed to allow us to catch
and punish criminals and to prevent crime.
100,000 New Officers Engaged in Community Policing
•
Putting 100,000 police officers onto America's streets, engaged in community
policing, is at the heart of the President's overall anti-crime strategy. It demonstrates
that crime fighting is about punishment and prevention.
•
Community policing will put more officers on our streets who know their
neighborhoods and know how to work with residents to reduce and control crime -patrolling neighborhoods, building partnerships based on trust with communities, and
keeping our streets safer for law-abiding citizens.
•
The plan will have an enormous impact, representing a twenty percent increase in the
current number local police officers nationwide. The nearly $9 billion requested by
the President for this program will enable the Administration to help every community
in the country that needs and wants assistance to strengthen its police force to
improve public safety.
•
Currently, there are 504,000 sworn local police officers nationally. Adding 100,000
new cops is a nearly 20% increase. Of the 504,000, up to 380,000 work at the
street-leVel. 100,000 new community police officers increases the number of streetlevel cops by more than 25%.
•
The plan protects small states by guaranteeing each state a significant minimum-level
of community policing funding. It also benefits rural areas and cities of all sizes.
For example, a 20% increase would mean for:
*
Cities like Provo, Utah; Paducah, Kentucky; Florence, South Carolina; and
Bay City, Michigan, which now each have have about 70 police officers, an
additional 15 or more officers each;
*
Medium to large cities, like St. Louis, Missouri; Atlanta, Georgia; Columbus,
Ohio; and Las Vegas, Nevada, which now each have about 1,500 police
officers, an increase of approximately 300 police officers each; and
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�*
Our nation's largest cities, more than 1,000 new police officers. Philadelphia
might gain an additional 1,200 officers; Los Ang~les, 1,600; and Chicago,
more than 2,400.
•
There's no question that demand for more police officers is high and continues to rise
all across the country. Thousands of Mayors and Police Chiefs have already applied
for community policing grants under the Administration's Policing Hiring Supplement
Program. and 250 communities received grants for 2023 new police officers. But the
demand is so great that the Justice Department could not accommodate 9 out of 10
applications due to the Supplemental Program's limited funds of $150 million.
Passing the Crime Bill can change that, because with nearly $9 billion for 100,000
new officers, every community that needs police can receive help.
• ·
Under the President's plan, jurisdictions will be able to request the amount of support
for whatever number of additional police officers they actually need to effectively
control crime -- some may need a 20% increase, some more, some less, depending
upon their individual circumstances. The President's plan, therefore, is a flexible
approach aimed at meeting the different crime control needs of individual
jurisdictions.
•
The plan's flexibility provides the Attorney General with sufficient authority to waiveor modify requirements which might otherwise preclude participation by cities which
have been hit hard. by both crime and economic dislocation and are struggling
financially.
•
The key to the President's plan is flexibility: the 100,000 police program aims to
deploy officers in a way that meets the specific needs of local communities.
Law Enforcement Scholarships
•
The President has indicated time and again that he wants crime legislation which is
both tough and smart. Proposals designed to make sure that we are smart about the
way we fight crime include the development of a Police Corps and the funding of
Law Enforcement Scholarships.
•
We expect our police officers to not only shoot straight, but to think straight, too.
We must do all that we can to have our law enforcement officials not only equipped
with the weaponry and technology they need, but also with the education and skills
which will maximize their ability to fight crime.
•
By providing college scholarship funds for individuals committed to joining police
departments after graduation, we can develop well-educated police officers who have
focused for years on training for that job.
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�•
The Police Corps will develop a new group of well-educated police officers annually
available for recruitment to police departments across the country.
•
In addition, we should fund the Law Enforcement Scholarships proposal to provide
educational opportunities for in-service officers seeking to improve their skills and
abilities.
Firearms
•
Just as the "choice" between prevention and punishment is a false one, the argument
about whether to regulate guns or punish those who misuse them is an
oversimplification of an enormous problem. Gun violence is growing 2 1/2 times as
fast as violent crime not involving guns. Unfortunately, our young people are those
most likely to be victims of gun crimes. Over the last five years, 415 law
enforcement officers were feloniously killed, 91% of them with a gun -- 73% of
which were handguns. We must crack down on gun violence.
•
The Brady Bill is now law, with all 50 states conducting background checks. Now,
we strongly support the funding of grants for the improvement of state criminal
history records, so that the national instant check system can become a reality. And, we support the expansion of the categories of persons prohibited from obtaining a
firearm to those convicted of domestic abuse and those under restraining orders
stemming from domestic abuse situations.
•
Legislation to ban semiautomatic assault weapons is not about controlling guns; it's
about controlling crime.
*
Semiautomatic assault weapons are the weapons of choice for drug dealers,
gangs, and terrorists. While they represent only one percent of privatelyowned firearms in this country, assault weapons account for eight percent of
the firearms traced to crime -- a disproportionately high number which has
been rising in recent years.
*
And every year, these weapons kill police officers -- men and women who put
their lives on the line everyday to keep our communities safe. They are the
ones who are out-gunned by the firepower that street criminals now wield with
assault weapons.
*
Law enforcement officials have been unified in their support of taking these
weapons off of the streets and out of criminal hands. We cannot ask them to
risk their lives in the fight against crime -- and then deny them the help they
need.
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�*
The Administration-supported legislative ban prohibits weapons designed for
military combat, but specifically safeguards hunters' rights bv explicitlv
exempting over 650 hunting and recreational guns. Moreover. not all
semiautomatic firearms are covered by the ban; only semiautomatic assault
weapons -- weapons designed for the battlefields of war -- are prohibited.
•
With gun violence most severe among our young people, new steps must be taken to
keep guns out of the hands of children. We must pass the Youth Handgun Safety Act
so that those under 18 do not have access to guns except in limited, carefully defined
circumstances, involving parental authority and legitimate usage.
•
We must continue the Treasury Department's effort to adopt certain common sense
procedures for the licensing of Federal firearms dealers.
•
*
Requiring them to submit a photograph and fingerprints at the time of license
application, requiring them to comply with state and local law, giving the
Treasury Secretary adequate time to check their backgrounds, requiring the
quick reporting of stolen or lost guns, and requiring readier access to their
records are simple, reasonable steps.
*
We should also raise the dearer license fee to cover the costs of conducting
dealer background checks. These· reforms will help limit Federal firearms
licensees to those who are serious about operat'ing· as a responsible bu~iness,
and w·ill therefore improve oversight and regulation by the BA TF.
We should close the existing legal loophole which permits the rearming of felons.
Those states which chose to automatically restore a convict's civil rights are making it
too easy for felons to buy guns legally.
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�PUNISHMENT: SENDING A MESSAGE TO CRIMINALS
All the good work done by the law enforcement community is lost if we don't punish
those who devastate our neighborhoods. With strict sentences for violent criminals and
prisons to put them in. all Americans will be safer.
Criminal Sentencing
•
Americans are fed up with the fact that even when violent criminals are caught, they
are all too often returned to the streets to victimize again. Tougher and smaner
sentencing procedures are needed to make sure that those who deserve to be in
prison, don't get out before they should -- and that sentences are appropriate for the
crime committed.
•
A small number of violent, repeat offenders, commit a great deal of the crime in this
country. We must end the revolving door and lock up those offenders for good. The
Administration's "Three Strikes and You're Out" proposal sends a strong message
that those who repeatedly commit serious violent crimes against others will be
punished severely.
•
*
Our· proposal imposes life imprisonment on a person who cohuriits a serious
violent felony under Federal law, after having been previously convicted of
two or more serious violent felonies (under either Federal or State law). The
proposal is aimed at those offenders who fail to get the message and change
their conduct even after repeated convictions for violent offenses. Individuals
with such criminal histories should be put away for good.
*
The proposal is both tough and smart: It targets those truly dangerous
offenders in our society without sweeping so broadly as to include persons
convicted of crimes that, although serious enough to warrant significant
sentences, should not result in mandatory life imprisonment; our proposal
limits its coverage to "serious violent felonies," such as murder, rape, sexual
abuse, kidnapping, and using a gun in drug crimes.
We support mandatory minimum sentences for violent and gun offenders, as they
provide the certainty of punishment which society rightfully expects for those who
commit serious crimes.
*
This important tool should be used in a targeted, judicious manner to make
sure that these sentences apply only to those who deserve such stiff sentences.
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�*
It is also important that there be a "safety valve" which permits very limited
sentencing flexibility in the case of non-violent, low-level, first time offenders.
Such individuals must be punished, but the taxpayers should not be asked to
house them for the long, mandatory minimum sentences reserved for the most
serious threats to society.
•
. We support certain "truth in sentencing" proposals whereby the Federal Government
would encourage states to make criminals serve the time to which they are sentenced.
And clearly, states which get tough with violent predators and make them serve their
real sentences are going to need to build more prisons. We want to support states
with laws which honestly reflect the prison terms those committing violent crimes in
their states will serve by favoring them when it comes time to give out Federal grant
money for incarcerating violent offenders.
•
Those who ruthlessly kill others must be treated as severely as they have treated their
victims.
*
We support the expansion of the death penalty to certain appropriate crimes
not currently covered by the Federal death penalty, like the killing of a state or
local law enforcement official assisting in a Federal investigation.
*
We also favor the adoption of procedures which will enable Federal
prosecutors to seek the death penalty for a wide range of crimes that have
lacked death penalty eligibility because of missing procedural requirements
and will insure that this penalty is used fairly, justly, and in appropriate cases
only.·
Prisons
•
We must work to lock up the largest number of violent offenders and criminal aliens,
as quickly as possible, at the lowest possible cost.
•
The Administration is cornrtlitted to helping states that are struggling to keep violent
criminals and criminal aliens from being released prematurely because of
overcrowding. While the Federal Government builds enough prisons and detention
facilities to insure that Federal inmates are not released early for lack of space, many
states are forced to release criminals routinely due to space limitations.
•
States must also contend with severely shrinking resources. There are currently over
15,000 state prison beds which cannot be filled because states lack the necessary
operating capital. The safety of our citizens depends upon states being able to keep
violent criminals behind bars to do their time.
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�•
The best way to lock up violent offenders quickly and efficiently, and to make our
streets safer, is by providing assistance to state correctional and detention systems at a
level of approximately $6.5 billion. Such funding, when made available to the states
on a discretionary basis, will allow states to build and operate appropriate facilities
for housing serious drug and violent offenders -- including boot camps. prisons, jails,
and community detention facilities.
Punishment for Young Offenders
•
All. too often, young offenders learn that the consequence for committing a crime is to
be put on probation. That's it. In other circumstances, young non-violent offenders
are thrown in with our most hardened criminals where they learn the "right way" to
commit crimes.
•
By providing alternative sanctions to probation or hard-core, long-term incarceration,
we can teach young offenders that there is a certainty of punishment at the initial
stages of a criminal career. That lesson learned might nip a new criminal career in
the bud. Some alternative sanctions include: shock incarceration, electronic
monitoring, weekend incarceration, home incarceration, restitution programs,
vocational programs, community service, intensive supervised probation and other
innovative and non-traditional options which ensure swift and certain punishment.
•
"Boot Camps" are one such alternative which provide penal authorities with a viable
sentencing solution for young offenders. Frequently called "shock incarceration"
programs, boot camps place young offenders in a program similar to a military basic
training program that instills discipline, routine, and respect for authority. They also
provide exposure to _relevant educational and vocational training, drug treatment, and
general counseling services to develop more positive and law~abiding values and
become better prepared to secure legitimate future employment.
•
Typically, boot camps target offenders who otherwise would have been sentenced to
prison for at least one year. To date, 28 state prison systems are operating 43 boot
camp programs with more states planning to follow. While they have their critics,
the early date suggests .that boot camps are better than prison in terms of recidivism
and cost. '
•
We support lowering the age at which violent offenders can be tried as adults in
Federal court, so that young people who don't act like children, won't necessarily be
treated like children.
.
.
.
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�PREVENTION: "SOMETHING TO SAY 'YES' TO"
Just as certainly as we must punish those who break our laws and wreak havoc in our
cities, we must also take whatever steps we can to stop crime before it happens. Those who
have no hope, no job, no other answer, who know no other way are often drawn to crime
and violence. All Americans deserve hope and opportunity; need to know that there is a
better answer than crime, and must have the opportunity to go another way.
If we are going to steer young people away from crime and gangs we must provide
them with "something to say yes to": after school programs, summer youth activities, and
employment, sports and recreation opportunities that can take the place of gangs. We can
bring community groups, law enforcement officials, and struggling young Americans
together in an effort to keep kids off the path to crime.
Key Prevention Programs in the Administration's Crime Bill
•
The President's Youth Employment Skills program "Y.E.S.' contained in the House
Crime Bill, will provide young people with job training and opportunities in hard-hit,
high-crime areas. We believe that neighborhood youths and young adults will say
"YES" to jobs and no to crime. And we must work with existing businesses in these
.. areas to encourage them to stay, expand, and hire young people from the community.
•
The Ounce of Prevention Council and programs can provide the vehicle for
effectively coordinating and integrating the delivery of the Federal government's new
youth development and youth oriented crime prevention initiatives.
•
The Police Partnerships for Children program encourages police officers to make a
difference in young lives by becoming involved with children and family services
agencies that deal with at-risk children.
•
The Gang Resistance Education and Training program ("G.R.E.A.T. "), is already a
proven success, helping kids fight the allure of gang membership through education.
•
The Community Schools Initiative of the Ounce of Prevention Program will provide
grants to communities across the country to develop and implement afterschool
programs for youth, drawing together parents, clergy, social workers, teachers, youth
groups, community and business leaders and local officials.
•
The Model Intensive Grant Program is a competitive program which will award up to
15 highly targeted grants to support comprehensive crime prevention programs in
chronic, high-intensity crime areas.
II
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�•
The Midnight Sports Program will provide grants to programs designed to prevent
youth violence by teaching sportsmanship, teamwork and conflict resolution.
•
Programs to place Boys and Girls Clubs in public housing projects -- which are all
too often located in high-crime areas -- can provide young people with a meaningful
alternative to gangs, drugs, crime and violence.
Enhancing Law Enforcement's Ability to Fight Crime.
•
The Clinton Administration's Crime Bill is a blueprint for the effective reduction of
crime in both the short- and long-term. Part and parcel to the bill are specific
authorization requests that will give law enforcement the resources it needs to
successfully implement the President's comprehensive anti-crime plan.· Crime Bill
authorizations supported by the Administration include:
*
Funds to hire more prosecutors for gang prosecutions, as well as the support
staff and resources new prosecutors require;
*
Additional funding to hire more Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
agents to curb drug trafficking on our streets;
*
Additional ftmds for law enforcement components· and functions of th~
Treasury Department to help meet increased law enforcement responsibilities:
*
$250 million targeted for rural law enforcement grants to reduce drug
trafficking in rural areas;
*
A comprehensive grant program with increased funding for c·riminal justice
and law enforcement assistance in sexual and domestic violence cases;
*
$300 million in increased judiciary funding for effective Crime Bill
implementation;
*
Grants administered to local prosecutors who are trying to deal with the
serious and growing problem of gang and juvenile violence;
*
Authority necessary to increase the number of Border Patrol agents by 6,000
over the next five years; and
*
Grants for computerized automation and other technological improvements in
law enforcement, as well as for an expansion of Federal training programs for
state and local law enforcement officers.
- 13 -
�Drug Courts
•
We will never control crime until we control substance abuse. We must get the hard
core drug users -- the 20% of cocaine users who consume over 2/3 of available
cocaine -- off the streets and into treatment. Effective, innovative programs, like
drug courts use the power of the criminal justice ·systems to force addicts to kick their
drug habits.
*
Adequately funded and administered drug treatment and coerced abstinence
programs are critjcal to breaking the drug and violent crime cycle that has so
heavily burdened our criminal justice system.
*
We support a basic program which includes an intensive supervision of the
participants by the court, drug testing and treatment, and the prompt ·
application of a series of graduated sanctions for failure to comply with the
conditions of the program.
*
The program can be administered on a pre-trial diversion basis, as· a postconviction probation program, or in combination.
Violence Against Women
•
Action must be taken to stop and/or more severely penalize those criminals who prey,
intentionally, upon women. New Federal laws and programs can help prevent some
attacks and improve after the fact restitution for the victims of others.
*
The proposed Violence Against Women Federal cause of action for gendermotivated violence is both fair and smart. It's fair because it addresses those
situations in which victims are without redress due to inadequate state
remedies, and allows victims improved access to Federal courts. It's smart
because it does not clog Federal dockets by automatically labelling whole
categories of offenses as gender-motivated.
*
We should also be focusing on the interstate incidents of criminal abuse and
violence against women, recognizing the Federal criminal justice system's role
in such matters. We should create appropriate new Federal offenses in this
area, such as fleeing across state lines in violation of a "stay away" or
prot.ective order.
*
Finally, we should increase funding to reduce and prevent violence against
women. By putting money into enforcement, training, and other prevention
approaches, we can effectively respond to crime and prevent many crimes.
- 14 -
�PAYING FOR THE FIGHT AGAINST CRIME
•
The Administration anti-crime program is, appropriately, an ambitious one. It will
cost money, but it will cost us even more to let things continue in the direction
they're going.
•
We propose to make a swap -- taking away money for the salaries of Federal
employees and spending it instead in the fight against crime.
•
By reducing the Federal bureaucracy by over 250,000 employees over the next five
years, we will have the money we need to fight crime.
•
As the Federal Government is cut, the savings will be put in a Violent Crime
Reduction Trust Fund, to be used only for crime fighting programs.
•
Over the course of six years, the fund will hold over $28 billion dollars, with $2.4
billion dollars available right away, this year, for anti-crime efforts.
•
The more money we save from cutting the Federal bureaucracy, the more money we _
will have to spend on anti-crime programs.
•
By making crime the budget priority· it should be, we can fund the programs we
should -- we can focus on both punishment and prevention as we need to if we're
going to take on the crime problem in this country.
- 15 -
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----·------· ---.
�· PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEPP'ERS_ON CLINTON
REMARKS VIA SATELLITE TO UNITY '94 CONVENTION IN ATLANTA
THE WHITB_HOUSE
JULY 29,.1994
'
~hank
ybu, conni~. Hello to everyone in Atlanta at the . .
"Upiti '94" convention. And congratulations to the foui minority
journalists' associations, wh~ch are .meeting together for the
fir~t time at this groundbreaking occasion.,
We are living in an extraordinary ti~e, wh~n people in
America and .across th~.entire world are searching_ for common
ground.
Thisweek, the King of Jordan and the Prime Minister of
Israel shared a stage on the White House lawn and openeda new
. era of dialogue. and cooperation between their peopl~s. At about
the same time, halfway aiound the world, the President of Russia
made 'an announcement'that by.the end of August, for the first ·
time since the end of World War II, all Russian troops would be
gone fro'm Germany and ~entral and Eastern Europe.
over and over, we hav'e le~rned from experiences· like these
-that people can tr~nscend great historical, political, and
_.cvltural obstacles in!he name of proqress.
·
And we have also learned t):}at, _here at home,· the 'American
peopie are our greatest .a~set as we try to meet the challenges of
a new century.
All of ·u~ can take pride that we have helped Arabs and
Israelis and other form~r eneliiies bridge. their.differences. But
their examples must· also inspire us to s.trengthen our OWn sense
of c.ommunity and celebrate' the rich diversity of American
culture. ·
·
·
·
?"
The job of your associations is·to see that more Americans
of diverse backgrounds,·· races and ethnic heritage .ha.ve an equal
chance in journalism. It's also to mak~ sure that the .nation sees
the. faces and hears the voices of non-white Americans whose ideas.
and achievements too often are ignor~d. My job here in Washington
is -to ensure that every citizen ,has an equal chance at the
Amer .ican Dream.
·
I've .said many times -- an~ I firmly believe -- that America·
does not have a single person to waste. Every person, no matter
his or her background, has an id~a, a vision, an opinion to share
that can enrich our nation.
That's why I've been
for peo~le who work hard,
something of their lives.
something to give~ And we
,
I
.
fighting to Create new opportunities
take responsibility and try to make
I believe that every person has
'
have to make it possible for them to
\.:_ .
··--....
1
�give
their-best~
One of my proudest accomplishments· as P-resident is the
people I have appointed to serve 'in· my '.Administration. If you
look at- the top positions in the White House and Cabinet today,
you'll see the most able, most talented group everassembled.
These appointees also h~ppen to ~ake up the_most dive~se.
administration in American history.
.,
'
If you look at our n6minations to:the federal bencih you will
see that a higher pe1='centage of them have- been rated "wellqualified"· by the American Bar-Association than in any previous
Administration since these rankings have beeri made. A majority of
those appointees are people of color and women :__ not a minority,
but a majority,
for the first' time ever.·
- '
- '
.
.
'
Non.e of these people wer~ chosen' because they ·_were African
American, or Hispanic~
Asian-American, or Amer'ican Indian, orbecause they were women. They were selected because they were the
best-qualifi~d for the job.
··
or
And they are. proof that the ·Amer,ican Dream is still alive
and within reach, ~6r those who choose to pur~ue ~t~
Still, we.must not ignore the burden~ and barriers that
prevent too many of our people, from moving forward in their
lives.~
I sought the presidency becaus·e I .was worried. that our
country was going in the wrong direction. The deficit ~as-getting
bigger. The economy was on the decline. And Washington was ·
placing heavier and heavier burdens on the backs of middle class
·Americans.
'
.
In just.l8 months, we have begun to renew :the. American
Dream. Our economic strategy will produce the smallest federal
bureaticracy in 30 years and three years in a row of deficit
red~ction for the .first time· since Harry Truman was prestden~.
~he economy ha~ created 3.8 ~illion ne~ jobs and core inflation ,/
1s the lowest 1n two. d7cades.
-:
.
(~- M &Ol> .~.c:-¥ ;~
'
~oday we have seen more evidenc~at Americl ~g the~.
fruit of economic change~ '_I'oday's gtOwth'report demonstrates that
while ·the deficit and the federa_l o'ureaucracy are shrinking' the
private sec~or continues to grow
stronger and stronger.
.
'
Most important, we- are reaching out with greater·energy and
compassion to responsible, working families who too often have to
struggle to make en~s ~eet.·
·
·Already, in just a year and a half, we have offered real tax _
million working parents through an·expanded Earned
Income Tax Credit. We have made it easier for y~p~p_l_g__~.lge~ ·
-r~lief·to.l5
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.
.
.
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to college. We have establish~d greater job traininc[~ ~~hool-0
to-work ~pprenticeships to he~p people ~ind and keep good jobs.
We've sought tax incentives_and grant money/to stimulate the
economies in needy areas, through things· like our 1 Empo.werment
_Zones and Enterprise Communities; new-Community Development
Banks; reform of the Community Reinvestment Act; and by making
the low income housing credit permanent.
Some of these achievements have come easier than others.
But I didn't'ask for this job because I thought progress would be
easy. I a~ked for it so I could fight for the kin4 of change that
Americans demanded~
·
And it'& been worth. it. B~ca~se all-of our hard work has
brought us to a pivotal, exciting moment in our history. This
week alone has been a remarkable one for our nation. We ·are on
the verge of an bistoric victory -- the toughest, largest,
smartest federal attack on-crime in the history of the United
States.
Think for a minute about what this. crime bill means for all
_of us as American· citizens. For all of us a·s inothers and fathers
and husbands and wives and children. Look at the cost of crime to
the economy. Look at the cost of crime to our sense of community
and to the idea that we are an American· family. Look at the cost
of crime to our efforts to e~power every individual, including
far too many young people who are growing up in terribly
difficti'l t circumstances.
Crime is holding too many Americans back from reaching the
American Dream.
It's splintering families. It's 'making people
fear their neighbors.
It's interfering ~ith our children's
educations. It's robbing ~oo many us of us our freedoms.
·.
'
Whatever other go~ls we ~eek for ourselvesj ou~ families,
our childreti -- .and for ~ur nation ~- we have to be able to live ·
together with a shared respect for law, ordet, and civility.
The most important thing about the crime bill is that it
creates a.whole new way of thinking about how to deal with crime_
-- one that doesn''t pit one group of Americans against another.
It doesn't ask.us to make a false·choice between severe
punishment and strong prevention. It 6alls for a sensible balance
between the two. It doesn't ask us to make a false choice between
going. after crimina.ls and going after guns. It r:ecognizes. that
those sorts· of debates divided us for too long while m.ore and.
more children were dying
our streets.
on
This crime Bill strength~n~-our police,.our system of
punishment,. and our means of prevention.
It will put 100,000 more police on the streets
3
a 20
~
_
�percent inctease in the number of police officers patrollin~ our
neighborhoods today. More .police, trained and deployed properly, .
.
'
~
means less crime.
.
£_~~l{'w:~-- ("~~
It includes a ban on a$sault-style weapons, ~omething few
people ever dreamed·could be accompl:ished.~nd it will send a
~trong,message to criminals that their beh~vior will not be
tolerated and that punishment will be tough and swift.
It will invest $9 billion in crim& prevention oVer the next
sixyears --something that law enforcement.of~icers ln every
state and every city asked us to do. That money will ~elp give
'youn~ people ~ore safe places to go~ more positive role models,
and more opportunities to fUlfill themselves in healthy,
constructive ways.
·
·
For si~ years this crime bill was debated over and~over
again. Why is it about .to succeed? Because .after intense argument
and disagreement, all the different interests involved.were able ·
to find a ·common ground. They were able to put people over
pol~tics. And now I want Congress to p~t this bill on my desk
within two ~eek~ so that-I can sign it before ou~ children go
back to school.
·
.If you think six years ~as long enough to wait for a crime
bill, 60 years is ·far too long to wait before every American is
guaranteed health security that can never be taken away. And.
hea'lth security is another crucial piece of the :American Dream .
. '.
'_ Many people across this country kno~ what· it's like to dig
and scrape all their lives to have the op~ortunities that you ·
have been given and have earned. If you're like me, you know
somebody without health insurance or somebody at risk of losing
their insurance.
You know_somebody whose coverage is so meager
they avoid the doctor because it c6sts too much.
You know people
who are eager .t6 work but are trapped in the welfare system
be9ause it's the only way they can be assured of health care.
co~erage for their families .
.
)
We know these people because there are millions and millions ·
of them out there. People who struggle all their lives and·play
by the rules so that they can mqve forward, make progress, build
some security for their families, only to be knocked off the
ladder because of a Pink slip, a catastrophic illness, or a
simple change in jobs. '
,
We're moving in· the wrong direction with our health care system. We're moving in the wrong direction when five million
hard-working people.-~ people with jobs -:-~, lost their insurance
in the last five years. ·
·
Y
Ever since I'begari pushing for reform, I've made it clear
.th-at I was open to suggestions about how to achieve it. I
4
�5
listened to concerns about ~ur approach. And in response we
modified that approach to make it simpler, more flexible, more
sensitive to the needs of smal.~ 9usiness._
.
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security that. is guaranteed in law. We must have a system where
everyone shares responsibility. And we must have a system that
wqrks. That is certainly what the vast majority of Americans
want.
·
·
...
.
We know from experiences across the country what w'orks and
what doesn't work. We've seen in state after state that, if you
have reform without universal coverage, your costs continue to go
up and your /,options for care go down.
,
·'
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And we know from looking at Hawaii that a system of .
~universal coverage in which emp.loyers and employees share
h.<.. 0-.
·responsibil~ty for paying for prem~u~s·will not.only control~
CC?sts but w1ll also lead to a health1er ·populat1on.
-~ J.....c:.l
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We know it can be done.
.
(
.
~-;_,
I'm heartened to be able to tell· you that House Speak~r - · ·
Foley and Majority .Leader Gephardt said today they would put · ~(t\..~~.
· forward a bill that achieves universal coverage and controls .~ ~
·
costs. Their bill also. recognizes that shared responsibility is
..__the best way to meet those goals.
· ·
· . ..
·
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And after: 60 years of waiting, it's time to say to every
American: if you change jobs, if you get sick, if you are laid..;.· ~
~,.
off, if.your cl)ild has a serious illness, you will-always be able
to afford health care as a. citi~en of the richest nation on
earth.
·~
Tomorrow I will travel to Independence, Missouri
to Harry ~TrumaJ;l's hometown-- to talk-about health care .. HarryTruman·w~s. ~~.
a man of great dec7ncy and commc;n sense who bell.eved.that Amer1ca~
would be stronger 1f. every ·Amer1can- had health secur1ty. He was
..
right. And that's why President after President has fought for · ~J
that goal.
·
·
·
~~ ,
.f,r~
Now it's up to us to fulfill theirvision and renew the
American Dream. It's time to_build on our economic progress,
~ 1~
,
build on the success of the ,crime bill, and take the next
f\ v:~~
critical step by passing real, substantive health care reform.
·~
That is the challenge our generation faces today~ And that is our~
opportunity.
·
· L ·
.
.sL:T~
· · Thank you..
5
~
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CenJ ,·~
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·.,
President William J. Clinton
Unity '94 convention of minority journalist associations
live satellite feed to Atlanta
July 29, 1994
Thank you Chief Mankiller. Hello to everyone in Atlanta at
the "Unity '94" convention. And congratulations to the four
journalist associations, which are meeting together for the first
time at this ground breaking occasion.
We are living in an extraordinary time, when people in
America and across the entire world are searching for common
ground.
Wilma and I last shared the stage on the White House lawn,
back in April, when the American Indian and Alaska Native tribal
leaders came together for the first time ever. On that same spot
this week, the King of Jordan and the Prime Minister of Israel
opened a new era of dialogue and cooperation between their
peoples.
Hopes for new partnerships make it possible while the new
global economy makes it necessary.
Investment and ideas travel
farther and faster than ever before. Amidst all of this
movement, however, the greatest asset of America remains our
people.
That's why I am working to bring the American community
together, strengthen our economy and empower our people to live
up to the best of their God-given potential.
The job of your associations is to see that more Americans
of diverse backgrounds, races and ethnic heritage have an equal
chance in journalism. My job here in Washington is to see that
every citizen has an equal chance at the American Dream.
This administration is creating new opportunities to reward
people who take responsibility for changing their own lives, to
move America away from exclusion to inclusion, from dependence to
independence, and from paternalism to empowerment.
From the beginning, this administration has sought to lead
by example.
From day one, we have had the most diverse cabinet,
diverse White House staff and most inclusive administration in
American history.
Consider our nominations to the federal bench. A majority
of them are people of color and women -- not a minority, but a
majority, for the first time ever. A higher percentage of our
appointees have been rated "well-qualified" by the American Bar
Association than those of any administration since these rankings
have been made.
I'm proud of the inclusive record of this administration.
But we all know that across our country, barriers still prevent
�..
2
many of our people from realizing the American Dream. There are
too many Americans working harder, stretching budgets thinner and
running faster just to stay in place.
In a year and a half, we've removed stubborn barriers that
kept people from climbing up the ladder of achievement. We
expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit for 15 million working
parents. These are full time workers who shouldn't have to raise
their children in poverty.
We made it easier for young people to get to college. We're
helping our people to become productive members of America's
workforce, through job training, school-to-work apprenticeships
and other innovative efforts.
We've pursued tax incentives and grant money to encourage
investment in needy communities: through Empowerment Zones and
Enterprise Communities; new Community Development Banks; reform
of the Community Reinvestment Act; and by making the low income
housing credit permanent.
We've worked on all of this after cutting the deficit by 255
billion dollars. We are watching the deficit go down for three
years in a row for the first time since Harry Truman was
President. The federal bureaucracy is at its lowest level since
Kennedy was President. The best result is 3.8 mill~on new jobs.
And now, at this very moment, •we are on the verge of seeing
action on two important fronts for the first time in years.
I'm
talking about a national, comprehensive anti-crime bill, and
health care reform.
[Crime Bill news insert]
Crime is holding too many Americans back from reaching the
American Dream.
It splinters families.
It makes people fear
their neighbors.
It divides us more than anything. The Crime
Bill in Congress is about is about giving our people the tools to
join together to make their make their communities safe.
It would put 100,000 more police on the streets. More
police, trained and deployed properly, means less crime.
This Crime Bill also makes a massive investment in the next
generation of Americans.
It will invest nine billion dollars in
crime prevention over the next six years.
It will give young
people more safe places to go to. More role models and positive
influences. More job opportunities and hope.
The Crime Bill is about giving more of our children clear
pathways into adulthood.
It's about improving the way America
raises its young people.
It's about replacing the illegal
activity on our streets with economic activity in our
�!I
\
3
'
neighborhoods.
Another obstacle on the road to advancement is health care.
Some people dig and scrape all their lives. They do all they can
to move forward, make progress, build some security for their
families, only to be knocked off the ladder because of a pink
slip, a catastrophic illness, or a simple change in jobs.
If you're like me, you know somebody without insurance or
somebody at risk of losing their insurance. You know somebody
whose coverage is so meager they avoid the doctor because it
costs too much.
You know people who want to go to work and raise
their families right, but their lack of health care traps them in
the welfare system, because it's the one place where their
coverage can never be taken away.
That's the system we have right now, and its wrong.
For 18
months, I've been fighting for health care that gives everybody a
fair chance.
I want health care that covers everybody, because
universal coverage is the only way to protect everybody and bring
costs under control at the same time.
Our people understand that.
Poll after poll shows that 70
percent -- even 80 percent -- of our people want universal
coverage.
So, don't let a few noisy naysayers drown out the rest
of us who know what's right.
Some in Congress are looking for the easy vote, the halfmeasure that lets them say they are for health care without
really doing much to guarantee it. But across America, in state
after state, the partial solutions have not worked.
Only Hawaii,
with universal coverage, has done the right thing and brought
costs under control.
It's time we made health care work for all
Americans across the board.
We ought to say to every American: if you change jobs, if
you get sick, if you are laid-off, if your child develops an
illness -- whatever your situation -- you will always be able to
afford health care as a citizen of the richest nation on earth.
Every American deserves a place at the table and a chance at
the American Dream. That's why I want health care that covers
everybody; more opportunity for people who take responsibility; a
Crime Bill and economic incentives that encourage everyone in our
communities to work together.
Many of you know that barriers aren't broken overnight;
great victories are never won without a struggle.
At this very moment, we are in a struggle for the Crime Bill
and health care. The work is hard; but we've seen movement, and
there's more movement to come. And, if we keep working hard in
the weeks ahead, I know we will finally get it done.
Thank you.
�PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
REMARKS VIA SATELLITE TO UNITY '94 CONVENTION IN ATLANTA
THE WHITE HOUSE
JULY 29 1 1994
Thank you Chief Mankiller. Hello to everyone in Atlanta at
the "Unity '94 11 convention. And congratulations to the four
minority journalists' associations, which are meeting together
for the first time at this groundbreaking occasion.
We are living in an extraordinary time, when people in
America and across the entire world are searching for common
ground.
Wilma and I last shared the stage on the White House lawn,
back in April, when the American Indian and Alaska Native tribal
leaders came together for the first time ever. This week, on that
same spot, the King of Jordan and the Prime Minister of Israel
opened a new era of dialogue and cooperation between their
peoples. At about the same time, halfway around the world, the
President of Russia made an announcement that by the end of
August, for the first time since the end of World War II, all
Russian troops would be gone from Germany and Central and Eastern
Europe.
over and over, we have learned from experiences like these
that people can transcend great historical, political, and
cultural obstacles in the name of progress.
And we have also learned that, here at home, the American
people are our greatest asset as we try to meet the challenges of
a new century.
All of us can take pride that we have helped Arabs and
Israelis and other former enemies bridge their differences. But
their examples must also inspire us to strengthen our own sense
of community and celebrate the rich diversity of American
culture.
The job of your associations is to see that more Americans
of different backgrounds, races and ethnic heritage have an equal
chance in journalism. It's also to make sure that the nation sees
the faces and hears the voices of non-white Americans whose ideas
and achievements too often are ignored. My job here in Washington
is to ensure that every citizen has an equal chance at the
American Dream.
I've said many times -- and I firmly believe -- that America
does not have a single person to waste. Every person, no matter
his or her background, has an idea, a vision, an opinion to share
1
�- - - - - - - - - - -
-------
-
--
~~
~~~~~~
PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
REMARKS VIA SATELLITE TO UNITY 1 94 CONVENTION
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
JULY 29, 1994
(})
St-1~~
-~-
DRAFT
Thank you Chief Mankiller. Hello to everyone in Atlanta at
the "Unity '94" convention. And congratulations to the four
journalists' associations, which are meeting together for the
first time at this groundbreaking occasion.
We are living in an extraordinary time, when people in
America and across the entire world are searching for common
ground.
Wilma and I last shared the stage on the White House lawn,
back in April, when the American Indian and Alaska Native tribal
leaders came together for the first time ever. This week, on that
same spot, the King of Jordan and the Prime Minister of Israel
opened a new era of dialogue and cooperation between their
peoples. At about the same time, halfway around the world, the
President of Russia made an announcement that by the end of
August, for the first time since the end of World War II, all
Russian troops would be gone from Germany and Central and Eastern
Europe.
Over and over, we have learned from experiences like these
that people can transcend great historical, political, and
cultural obstacles in the name of progress.
And we have also learned that, here at home, the American
people are our greatest asset as we try to meet the challenges of
a new century.
All of us can take pride that we have helped Arabs and
Israelis and other former enemies bridge their differences. But
their examples must also inspire us to strengthen our own sense
of community and to celebrate the richness of our ~t~ul~ure.
(9'C.M.
,.,~
The job of your associations is to see that more Americans
of diverse backgrounds, races and ethnic heritage have an equal
chance in journalism. It's also to make sure that the nation sees
the faces and hears the voices of non-white Americans whose ideas
and achievements too often are ignored. My job here in Washington
is to ensure that every citizen has an equal chance at the
American Dream.
I've said many times -- and I firmly believe -- that America
does not have a single person to waste. Every person, no matter
his or her background, has an idea, a vision, an opinion to share
1
�that can enrich our nation.
That•s why I•ve been
for people who work hard,
something of their lives.
something to give. And we
give their best.
fighting to create new opportunities
take responsibility and try to make
I believe that every person has
have to make it possible for them to
One of my proudest accomplishments as President is the
people I have appointed to serve in my Administration. If you
look at the top positions in the White House and Cabinet today,
you•11 see the most able, most talented group ever assembled.
These appointees also happen to make up the up the most diverse
administration in American history.
If you look at our nominations to the federal bench you will
see that a higher percentage of them have been rated "wellqualified" by the American Bar Association than in any previous
Administration since these rankings have been made. A majority of
those appointees are people of color and women -- not a minority,
but a majority, for the first time ever.
None of these people were chosen because they were African
American, or Hispanic, or Asian-American, or American Indian, or
because they were women. They were selected because they were the
best qualified for the job.
And they are proof that the American Dream is still alive
and within reach for those who choose to pursue it.
Still, we must not ignore the burdens and barriers that
prevent too many of our people from moving forward in their
lives.
I sought the presidency because I was worried that our
country was going in the wrong direction. The deficit was getting
bigger. The economy was on the decline. And Washington was
placing heavier and heavier burdens on the backs of middle class
Americans.
we~egun~ wor~o~~~ewn(g
In just 18 months,
the
American Dream. Our economic strategy will produce the smallest
federal bureaucracy in 30 years and three years in a row of
deficit reduction for the first time since Harry Truman was
president. The economy has created 3.8 million new jobs and core
inflation is the lowest in two decades.
&~P
Most important, we have reached out with greater energy and
compassion to responsible, working families who too often have to
struggle to make ends meet.
Already, in just a year and a half, we have offered real tax
relief to 15 million working parents through an expanded Earned
2
�Credit.~
~.::te
Income Tax
have made it easier for young people to get
to college. We have established greater job training and schoolto-work apprenticeships to help people find and keep good jobs.
We've sought tax incentives and grant money to stimulate the
economies in needy areas, through things like our Empowerment
Zones and Enterprise Communities; new Community Development
Banks; reform of the Community Reinvestment Act; and by making
the low income housing credit permanent.
Some of these achievements have come easier than others.
But I didn't ask for this job because I thought progress would be
easy. I asked for it so I could fight for the kind of change that
Americans demanded.
And it's been worth it. Because all of our hard work has
brought us to a pivotal, exciting moment in our history. This
week alone has been a remarkable one for our nation. We are on
the verge of an historic victory
the toughest, larges~
smartest federal attack on crime in the history of the United
.91:"ates.
~
Think for a minute about what this crime bill means for all
of us as American citizens. For all of us as mothers and fathers
and husbands and wives and children. Look at the cost of crime to
the economy. Look at the cost of crime to our sense of community
and to the idea that we are an American family. Look at the cost
of crime to our efforts to empower every individual, including
far too many young people who are growing up in terribly
difficult circumstances.
Crime is holding too many Americans back from reaching the
American Dream.
It's splintering families.
It's making people
fear their neighbors.
It's interfering with our children's
educations. It's robbing too many us of our freedoms.
Whatever other goals we seek for ourselves, our families,
our children -- and for our nation -- we have to be able to live
together with a shared respect for law, order, and civility.
The most important thing about the crime bill is that it
creates a whole new way of thinking about how to deal with crime
-- one that doesn't pit one group of Americans against another.
It doesn't ask us to make a false choice between severe
punishment and strong prevention. It calls for a sensible balance
between the two. It doesn't ask us to make a false choice between
going after criminals and going after guns. It recognizes that
those sorts of debates divided us for too long while more and
more children were dying on our streets.
This Crime Bill strengthens our police, our system of
punishment, and our means of prevention. It accomplishes what our
law enforcement officers, who risk their lives every day fighting
3
�-
--
-----------------
crime, asked us to do.
It will put 100,000 more police on the streets -- a 20
percent increase in the number of police officers patrolling our
neighborhoods today. More police, trained and deployed properly,
means less crime.
It includes a ban on assault-style weapons, something few
people ever dreamed could be accomplished. And it will send a
strong message to criminals that their behavior will not be
tolerated and that punishment will be tough and swift.
~
v ~· o;. wU ~ .l.o.c- ~
'1 ~
.f.. '"i . ~ --~ ~
It wi~invest $9 billion in crime prevention over the next
six years. That includes giving young people more safe places to
go, more positive role models, and more opportunities to fulfill
themselves in healthy, constructive ways.
For six years this crime bill was debated over and over
again. Why did it finally succeed? Because after intense argument
and disagreement, all the different interests involved were able
to find a common ground. They were able to put people over
politics. And now I want Congress to put this bill on my desk
within two weeks so that I can sign it before our children go
back to school.
If you think six years was long enough to wait for a crime
bill, 60 years is far too long to wait before every American is
guaranteed health security that can never be taken away. And
health security is tn~~ece of the American ?r~am.
what~
Many people across this country know
to dig and.
scrape all their lives to have the opportunities that you a~ r ~ ~
enjoy. ~~f you're like me, you know somebody without health
~-~~
insurance or somebody at risk of losing their insurance. You
~
know somebody whose coverage is so meager they avoid the doctor
~.
because it costs too much. You know people who are eager to work
but are trapped in the welfare system because it's the only way
they can be assured of health care coverage for their families.
Y~1 ~dlr know these people because there are millions and
millions of the~ out there. People who struggle all their lives
and play by the rules so that they can move forward, make
progress, build some security for their families, only to be
knocked off the ladder because of a pink slip, a catastrophic
illness, or a simple change in jobs.
We're moving in the wrong direction with our health care
system. We're moving in the wrong direction when five million
hard-working people -- people with jobs -- lost their insurance
in the last year.
Ever since I began pushing for reform, I've made it clear
that I was open to suggestions about how to achieve it. I
4
�V'·
�5
listened to concerns about my approach. And in response T-~
modified it to make it simpler, more flexible, more sensitive to
the needs of small business.
What I have not modified -- and will not modify -- are the
underlying values of reform. We must give every American health
security that is guaranteed in law. We must have a system where
everyone shares responsibility. And we must have a system that
works. That is certainly what the vast majority of Americans
want.
We know from experiences across the country what works and
what doesn't work. ·we've seen in state after state that, if you
have reform without universal coverage, your costs continue to go
up and your options for care go down.
And we know from looking at Hawaii that a system of
universal coverage in which employers and employees share
responsibility for paying for premiums will not only control
costs but will also lead to a healthier population.
We know it can be done.
And after 60 years of waiting, it's time to say to every
American: if you change jobs, if you get sick, if you are laidoff, if your child has a serious illness, you will always be able
to afford health care as a citizen of the richest nation on
earth.
Tomorrow I will travel to Independence, Missouri -- to Harry
Truman's home state -- to talk about health care. Harry Truman
was a man of great decency and common sense who believed that
America would be stronger if every American had health security.
He was right.
Now it's up to us to fulfill his vision and renew the
American Dream. It's time to build on our economic progress,
build on the success of the crime bill, and take the next
critical step by passing real, substantive health care reform.
That is the challenge our generation faces today. And that is our
opportunity.
Thank you, and God bless all of you.
###
5
�I
\
'\
\
.
\
\
\\
\
\
PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
REMARKS VIA SATELLITE TO UNITY '94 CONVENTION IN ATLANTA
THE WHITE HOUSE
JULY 29, 1994
Thank you Chief Mankiller. Hello to everyone in Atlanta at
the "Unity '94" convention. And congratulations tothe four
minority journalists' associations, which are meeting together
for the first time at this groundbreaking occasion.
We are living in an extraordinary time, when people in
America and across the entire world are searching for common
ground.
Wilma and I last shared the stage on the White House lawn,
back in April, when the American Indian and Alaska Native tribal
leaders came together for the first time ever. This week, on that
same spot, the King of Jordan and the Prime Minister of Israel
opened a new era of dialogue and cooperation between their
peoples. At about the same time, halfway around the world, the
President of Russia made an announcement that by the end of
August, for the first time since the end of World War II, all
Russian troops would be gone from Germany and Central and Eastern
Europe.
Over and over, we have learned from experiences like these
that people can transcend great historical, political, and
cultural obstacles in the -name of progress.
And we have also learned that, here at home, the American
people are our greatest asset as we try to meet the challenges of
a new century.
All of us can take pride that we have helped Arabs and
Israelis and other former enemies bridge their differences. But
their examples must also inspire us to strengthen our own sense
of community and celebrate the rich diversity of American
culture. ~y.yJ'
T~'ob
of your associations is to see that more Americans
t backgrounds, races and ethnic heritage have an equal
chanc~_i·
journalism. It's also to make sure that the nation sees
the faces and hears the voices of non-white Americans whose ideas
and achievements too often are ignored. My job here in Washington
is to ensure that every citizen has an equal chance at the
American Dream.
of dtfrer
I've said many times -- and I firmly believe -- that America
does not have a single person to waste. Every person, no matter
his or her background, has an idea, a vision, an opinion to share
1
�that can enrich our nation.
That's why I've been
for people who work hard,
something of their lives.
something to give. And we
give their best.
fighting to create new opportunities
take responsibility and try to make
I believe that every person has
have to make it possible for them to
One of my proudest accomplishments as President is the
people I have appointed to serve in my Administration. If you
look at the top positions in the White House and Cabinet today,
you'll see the most able, most talented group ever assembled.
These appointees also happen to make up the up the most diverse
administration in American history.
If you look at our nominations to the federal bench you will
see that a higher percentage of them have been rated "wellqualified" by the American Bar Association than in any previous
Administration since these rankings have been made. A majority of
those appointees are people of color and women -- not a minority,
but a majority, for the first time ever.
None of these people were chosen because they were African
American, or Hispanic, or Asian-American, or American Indian, or
because they were women. They were selected because they were the
best qualified for the job.
And they are proof that the American Dream is still alive
and within reach for those who choose to pursue it.
.
Still, we must not ignore the burdens and barriers that
prevent too many of our people from moving forward in their
lives.
I sought the presidency because I was worried that our
country was going in the wrong direction. The deficit was getting
bigger. The economy was on the decline. And Washington was
placing heavier and heavier burdens on the backs of middle class
Americans.
/
In just 18 months, we havelto renew the American Dream. our
economic strategy will produce the smallest federal bureaucracy
in 30 years and three years in a row of deficit reduction for the
first time since Harry Truman was president. The economy has
created 3.8 million new jobs and core inflation is the lowest in
two decades. /,/ 1
b
rt
•
A-..
l,. _· fL .L . • L I~
"0-~ ~ ~ A.az.... r--L ~ fr.v..J"
' 1 ~t!<>- ._., ~
qu.....r 6
'
Most important, we have reached out with greater energy and
~
compassion to responsible, working families who too often have to ~~~~
struggle to make ends meet.
fSt'ow/'L.
A
•
•
Already, in just a year and a half, we have offered real tax
relief to 15 million working parents through an expanded Earned
~
7
~L
• ~
ty..e. k..,..o
2
f\.....L~
t\.t. ~ ,. bt.\,
~
llt..
h-4.,
')y,- '
(1/V': ......ta...
(
~I
L
~(...~OvJ I
.S'\T ~ I i "-"U'L~
�Income Tax Credit. We have made it easier for young people to get
to college. We have established greater job training and schoolto-work apprenticeships to help people find and keep good jobs.
We've sought tax incentives and grant money to stimulate the
economies in needy areas, through things like our Empowerment
Zones and Enterprise Communities; new Community Development
Banks; reform of the community Reinvestment Act; and by making
the low income housing credit permanent.
Some of these achievements have come easier than others.
But I didn't ask for this job because I thought progress would be
easy. I asked for it so I could fight for the kind of change that
Americans demanded.
And it's been worth it. Because all of our hard work has
brought us to a pivotal, exciting moment in our history. This
week alone has been a remarkable one for our nation. We are on
the verge of an historic victory
the toughest, largest,
smartest federal attack on crime in the history of the United
States.
Think for a minute about what this crime bill means for all
of us as American citizens. For all of us as mothers and fathers
and husbands and wives and children. Look at the cost of crime to
the economy. Look at the cost of crime to our sense of community
and to the idea that we are an American family. Look at the cost
of crime to our efforts to empower every individual, including
far too many young people who are growing up in terribly
difficult circumstances.
Crime is holding too many Americans back from reaching the
American Dream.
It's splintering families.
It's making people
fear their neighbors.
It's interfering with our children's
educations. It's robbing too many us of our freedoms.
Whatever other goals we seek for ourselves, our families,
our children -- and for our nation -- we have to be able to live
together with a shared respect for law, order, and civility.
The most important thing about the crime bill is that it
creates a whole new way of thinking about how to deal with crime
-- one that doesn't pit one group of Americans against another.
It doesn't ask us to make a false choice between severe
punishment and strong prevention. It calls for a sensible balance
between the two. It doesn't ask us to make a false choice between
going after criminals and going after guns. It recognizes that
those sorts of debates divided us for too long while more and
more children were dying on our streets.
This Crime Bill strengthens our police, our system of
punishment, and our means of prevention.
3
�It will put 100,000 more police on the streets -- a 20
percent increase in the number of police officers patrolling our
neighborhoods today. More police, trained and deployed properly,
means less crime.
It includes a ban on assault-style weapons, something few
people ever dreamed could be accomplished. And it will send a
strong message to criminals that their behavior will not be
tolerated and that punishment will be tough and swift.
It will invest $9 billion in crime prevention over the next
six years -- something that law enforcement officers in every
state and every city asked us to do. That money will help give
young people more safe places to go, more positive role models,
and more opportunities to fulfill themselves in healthy,
constructive ways.
.
__
f?
.
i~ lf- (5._ ~ fr; SCic::ce..eo- For si~ears this crime bill was debated over and over
again. Why~~±y sueceed~Because after intense argument
and disagreement, all the different interests involved were able
to find a common ground. They were able to put people over
politics. And now I want Congress to put this bill on my desk
within two weeks so that I can sign it before our children go
back to school.
If you think six years was long enough to wait for a crime
bill, 60 years is far too long to wait before every American is
guaranteed health security that can never be taken away. And
health security is another crucial piece of the American Dream.
Many people across this country know what it's like to dig
and scrape all their lives to have the opportunities that you
have been given and have earned. If you're like me, you know
somebody without health insurance or somebody at risk of losing
their insurance.
You know somebody whose coverage is so meager
they avoid the doctor because it costs too much. You know people
who are eager to work but are trapped in the welfare system
because it's the only· way they can be assured of health care
coverage for their families.
We know these people because there are millions and millions
of them out there. People who struggle all their lives and play
by the rules so that they can move forward, make progress, build
some security for their families, only to be knocked off the
ladder because of a pink slip, a catastrophic illness, or a
simple change in jobs.
We're moving in the wrong direction with our health care
system. We're moving in the wrong direction when five million
hard-working people
people with jobs -- lost their insurance
in the last year.
Ever since I began pushing for reform, I've made it clear
4
�5
that I was open to suggestions about how to achieve it. I
listened to concerns about our approach. And in response we
modified that approach to make it simpler, more flexible, more
sensitive to the needs of small business.
What I have not modified -- and will not modify -- are the
underlying values of reform. We must give every American health
security that is guaranteed in law. We must have a system where
everyone shares responsibility. And we must have a system that
works. That is certainly what the vast majority of Americans
want.
And I'm pleased to be able to tell you that House Speaker
Foley and Majority Leader Gephardt said today they would put
forward a bill that achieves universal coverage and controls
costs. Their bill also recognizes that. shared responsibility is
the best way to meet those goals.
We know from experiences across the country what works and
what doesn't work. We've seen in state after state that, if you
have reform without universal coverage, your costs continue to go
up and your options for care go down.
And we know from looking at Hawaii that a system of
universal coverage in which employers and employees share
responsibility for paying for premiums will not only control
costs but will also lead to a healthier population.
We know it can be done.
After 60 years of waiting, it's time to say to every
American: if you change jobs, if you get sick, if you are laidoff, if your child has a serious illness, you will always be able
to afford health care as a citizen of the richest nation on
earth.
Tomorrow I will travel to Independence, Missouri -- to Harry
Truman's hometown -- to talk about health care. Harry Truman was
a man of great decency and common sense who believed that America
would be stronger if every American had health security. He was
right. And that's why President after President has fought for
the same thing.
Now it's up to us to fulfill their vision and renew the
American Dream. It's time to build on our economic progress,
build on the success of the crime bill, and take the next
critical step by passing real, substantive health care reform.
That is the challenge our generation faces today. And that is our
opportunity.
Thank you,
aM" &
of
ii!t:S:S ai:l -5
\m.l,
~·
�
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
Speechwriting
Creator
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First Lady’s Office
Speechwriting
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1994
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36105">Collection Finding Aid</a>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2012-1004-S
Description
An account of the resource
Within the First Lady’s Office, Speechwriting assisted with the writing and editing of the speeches given by the First Lady at various events and on various trips. This collection highlights topics relating to the arts and humanities, women’s issues and organizations, medical issues and organizations, health care, the economy, the military, and the efforts of the First Lady on behalf of candidates running in the 1994 midterm elections. It contains speeches given by the First Lady, and speeches given by President Clinton and Ira Magaziner, to a wide variety of organizations and audiences during 1994. The records include memos, notes, speech drafts, talking points, pamphlets, articles, correspondence, and newsletters.
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
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William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Extent
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150 folders in 10 boxes
Text
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Original Format
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Paper
Dublin Core
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Title
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BC [Bill Clinton]/Unity '94 7/29/94
Creator
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First Lady’s Office
Speechwriting
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2012-1004-S
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 4
<a href="http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/Systematic/2012-1004-S-Speechwriting.pdf">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1766805" 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
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Adobe Acrobat Document
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Reproduction-Reference
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11/13/2014
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42-t-7763272-20121004s-004-008
1766805