-
https://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/files/original/4243c0bebfc25e226d587a05623f8506.pdf
00e8f931e3ef5a728ad6d0bd71d9bb0c
PDF Text
Text
FOIA Number: 2006-0462-F
FOIA
MAR~~~R
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the William J. Clinton
Presidential Library Staff.
Collection/Record Group:
Clinton Presidential Records
Subgroup/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting
Series/Staff Member:
Terry Edmonds
Subseries:
10989
OA/ID Number:
FolderiD:
''
Folder Title:
Ron Brown- Other Tributes
. Stack:
s
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
0
0
0
0
�NNPA Statement On Ron Brown
http://www.eaglenews.com/EVnnpaRbrown.html
NNPA Statement On The Passing Of Ron Brown
by Dorothy R. Leavell
President, National Newspapr Publishers Association
To most of us Ron Brown was a friend, role model and leader into new fields and
dimensions of life. Although he was the first African American to serve as the head of
the U.S. Department of Commerce, to us he was more than that. Ron Brown was surely
one of the best people that department, or any other government agency, had in a
leadership position. Whatever questions that may have plagued Ron Brown in life, his
competence and command of the reigns in that position is not, and never shall be,
subject to uncertainty.
Ron Brown was a friend of the Black Press. During his early days as head ofU.S.
Commerce, he was the keynote speaker during our celebration ofBlack Press Wee 1994. He was a
personal friend of mine and of many o_f our publishers.
·
He often talked about growing up in Harlem reading the New York Amsterdam News and making
lifetime linkages with the people who recorded the news for our people then and now. As a young man,
Ron was at the center of Black politics, entertainment and all the news that emitted from 125th Street
and the famous Apollo Theater and Hotel Theresa.
During later years when he was a principal executive with the National Urban League, Ron Brown often
made headlines in our publications as he sought equality and parity, not only for Blacks, but for all
Americans.Like many of our publishers in their serving communities, as Ron Brown grew in stature he
knew and interacted with people who were unquestionably kingmakers but he also knew and interacted
well with everyday people.
Although he passed in and out of the White House, Ron Brown also went in and out of The South Side
of Philadelphia, the West Side of Chicago as well as South Central Los Angeles. He opened doors for us
to Bill Clinton and through his network of well placed proteges gave many of our publishers and
reporters access to all levels Of the U.S. government and the Democratic Party.
Throughout his life, Ron Brown made news, was often in the news, but, I believe was principally a
devotee to and for Blacks and their news. A cosmopolitan man of confidence, composure and character,
Ron Brown was America's man ofthe season in his tenure as Secretary of Commerce, but he was our
man for all seasons.
To his wife Alma, children Michael and Tracy and grandchildren, Black publishers extend their
sympathy for their, and our, great loss. We also extend our condolences to the families of the other
Department of Commerce employees who were lost in the tragic incident.
In particular, we mourn the passing of Carol Hamilton, Mr. Brown's Press Secretary. Ms. Hamilton
made it a point to work with our Washington National Office to assure that America's Black Press was
always informed as to the events and issues occurring with Secretary Brown and the Department of
Commerce. Untimely as his death may have been, it was the will of God and in our mourning we thank
the All Mighty for having lived at the same time as Ron Brown, having known him and having
measurably gained in what we do because of his productive life.
I of!
07/14/97 16:27:35
�Ron Brown: A Man Who "Made History" -Rev. Jesse Jackson
http://www. cts.com/browse/pub lish/browna.htm l
Ron Brown:
A Man Who "Made History"
Rev. Jesse Jackson
Washington, D.C.
Rev. Jesse Jackson, president andfounder of the National Rainbow Coalition, released the following
statement on the death of US. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown.
Our hearts are extremely heavy today. We were hoping against hope that Ron Brown and his delegation
would somehow survive the crash in Croatia. So now, we send our prayers to the families of Ron Brown
and those who accompanied him on such a valiant mission.
IRon's-I-e-g-acy-~(;: that he augmented_history_hy_winning,_then_mad_e_histmx ofliis own ox working)
Ron Brown could walk and talk with heads of government and industry, yet never forgot his roots, in the
African American community. He was a keen negotiator, who brought that skill to myCf9:88]~resi_Qential
c~ign> He helped the Rainbow Coalition prove to the world that no matter what your circumstances,
you can dream and achieve beyond them. 'l'hat Ron did, becoming one of the most effective heads of the
Democratic National Committee and the Commerce Department.
William Morton and Carol Hamilton were two other people on that ill-fated plane who worked on my
1988 campaign. When we lose talented people with so much to offer -- like Ron, Bill, Carol and others
-- people of faith must take shelter in their faith.
Ontliisaay 28 years ago,
near~ed a painfUl-lesson al5ounlie-strengtnofiaith .on a_hotel-balcony-inJ
~~~~~~}ili]If~;~:~=:~:=fo~ !~~~e~~f~-~~~~a~~~YR~~ak~~;~~~~Jif;~~~ifa\-~~e ~l?~i~C:P
11
0
csame-thing:-They-will-l5e sorelY.: missea, l5unheircontrimrtion-wi1Fi10F1Je·lorgotten-=:J
The loss of the Commerce Department mission hit the civil rights and African American communities
especially hard yesterday. The day began with the death of Carl Stokes, the first African American
mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. Carl was not only a leader in his community, but worked to help
disenfranchised people around the country. Also yesterday, noted la~er,_civiLand_South-AfriGan-rights
activist Haywood Bums was killed in a car crash in South Africa. (~_D_tiefUo-the-rest-of-us-to-carry-theii<;torch~
Ifyou have any thoughts on this or would like to contribute to an ongoing discussion in the
"E-mail, Opinions & Discussion" folder on the In Motion home page,
click here to send e-mail to publish@cts.com.
Return to In Motion Table of Contents
Visit the In Unity Book o[Photographs
I of2
07/11/97 17:46:22
�---------------------------------.----------------
"My Friend Ron Brown"<
http://l92.246.43 .1 0/WWW/Brown/TBrown.html
"My Friend Ron Brown"
I have met Ron Brown three times.
The first time was in October of 1990. The previous year I had been one of the advisors for the
Panasonic Kid Witness News (KWN) project. Our tape had won second place in the national
competition. Perhaps for this reason we were invited by Jewel Jackson McCabe, the organizer of the
project for Panasonic, to fly to DC and interview a number of people attending the annual conference of
the Congressional Black Caucus.
It was early in the school year and the experienced 6th graders from the previous year had left for middle
school. So we hurriedly put together a new team actually with one new 6th grader and two fifth graders.
The first stop in DC was the a congressional hearing chaired by our own Congressman Charles Rangel.
During a break one of the boys, Christopher, interviewed him about drugs in Harlem. With only one
camera and the need to use a tripod the reporters had practiced stepping in front of their interviewee after
the first question so that we got a face shot. Christopher forgot. Mr. Rangel, more than used to being
. interviewed kept trying to turn and talk to the camera but was drawn back to Christopher. Later a student
from the Columbia School of Journalism critiquing the filming called in the "great classic ear shot"
·explaining that even experienced camera operators had that problem.
We were then whisked to the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and shown in to Ron
Brown's office. He was then chair ofthat organization. Yobelin interviewed Ron. She began rather
nervously. The kids rotated among the three jobs of reporter/interviewer to director to camera person.
Michael on camera interrupted. "Cut! The sound isn't working." He adjusted several wires and indicated
to the director that the interview could now continue. Yobelin conducted the interview like a pro- hardly
the most confrontational questions that Ron had been asked but he answered each one with patience and
thought. "Why was the Democratic National Convention going to be held in New York City?"
"Because I grew up in New York City," he laughed, then continued to on praise the diversity of its
population. Y obelin ended with a question about the possibility of a woman becoming president. He was
optimistic about the possibility but suggested that perhaps Yobelin could be that first woman in the
office.
After the interview Ron posed for still shots. Jewel asked for a kiss and Ron obliged with a charming
kiss to Yobelin's forehead. With a little prodding he repeated it and Yobelin blushed.
He was a warm person putting us all at our ease. Rereading the paragraphs above it seems guit~natural
to refer to "Mr. Rangel" in the first part and then talk about "Ron." \Jfemade us feel like w_e_were_cl~
\friends·eve!lin-tli~sliofca-time-~~
--:
Our second meeting was more rushed with scores of people in attendance. The Commerce Department,
Nil advisory panel was scheduled to meet at Columbia University. Ralph Bunche School is only a few
blocks away and had just begun a networking project with Columbia Teachers College and NYNEX. It
was planned that now Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown would visit our school. Participants would see
him via the new NYNEX Shuttle high bandwidth video conferencing system .
. It was the first or second day of the school year. But we hastily collected students and prepared them to
show visitors some of the work they had done with computers the previous year. Then we located
Yobelin and invited her to return to conduct a follow up interview.
Ron had recently returned from a highly publicized trip to China. It was I believe one of the first
high-level contacts since the Tiananmen crisis and was quite controversial. He looked tired. Our Vice
Principal overhead him ask an aide in the elevator why he was there. Yet when he was introduced to
Yobelin he perked up and seemed pleased to see the video taken in more relaxed times.
My colleague and counterpart from Community School District Four and I wrote and won a NTIIAP
1 of2
07/11/97 17:45:58
�"My Friend Ron Brown"<
http:/1192.246.43 .1 0/WWW/Brown/TBrown.html
grant from the Commerce Department. We took the train to DC for the official announcement of the
award. Ron came to the press conference. I was reintroduced and he recalled visiting the school and
meeting my kids.
Colleagues at school often teased me suggesting that "your friend Ron Brown" could help us solve some
problem or other related to the NIL My brief encounters had somehow made him symbolic of access to
our government.
·
tad_Illire liis_practicaLappr_qa_cllf01lii_ngs - liisdesireto maRetliings worK.-Tillrtfirst dax in Washing!QQ)
c_tliatj-m:e_rnitn, _v..;e al_so gorthe-bdefe-st of opportunities-to meeHJ'eneral-Colon Powell. Wliile chariDillg)
@nd-R·ersonaole.:GeneralJ>.~Lwgt~_nowhere near as warm and genuine as Ron~Facing decisi_qg_saoout
rthe-imiJending-6-ulfWW:Eo.welLwas evasive-about-the-one_question_he wa,s_(lsked bx the ki@
Ron Brown was probably much too liberal for today's political climate. However, I believe he would
have made a much better presidential candidate than PowelL It is sad that we will never know. His loss,
tragic to the country, seems quite personal to me.
Paul Reese
Teacher, Ralph Bunche School
New York City
preese@ralphbunche.rbs.edu
.-
2 of2
07/11/9717:45:59
�FLOOR STATEMENT BY SENATOR JOSEPH ... COMMERCE
SECRETAR'fi~sHulBtR@>Whiember/ct/liebermanlreleases/ronb.html
April 15, 1996
FLOOR STATEMENT BY smi\TORJOSEPH.LIEBERMA~ON THE PASSING OF
COMMERCE SECRETARY RONALD H. BROWN
Mr. President, as we return to session today 'i'Cis,sRiing iil:_Was_liiugton\ The blossoms are out. It is a
beautiful time, and yet I am sure the experience I had in flying back with my family yesterday was
similar to what others returning yesterday experienced: it brought home the terrible tragedy that occurred
while we were away -- the plane that went down in Croatia carrying Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown
and so many others.(Itfilleu me with·a~sense-oHoss-again-yesterday-and·today.
.
.
-------------~:'..1'
I am proud that I had the chance to work with Ron Brown during his all too short tenure at the
Commerce Department. I enjoyed working with Ron Brown at various stages of his career-- as an
attorney, as a leading Democratic activist, as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and most
closely and, I think, most creatively in these last three years as Secretary of Commerce. I am honored
that I can call him a friend. We are all going to miss him-- it's painful to think that my staff and I won't
have the sheer fun of working with him again -- and the country will miss him even more. I have the
greatest respect for him, as have so many others, as a wonderful, warm human being and as a leader who
had a clear-eyed vision of how to make our people and our country better.
You never think of a man in the prime of life not being here. In a way, (ihs-death-that-forces~you
,appreciate-eveffli16fe~tli~great sl<illsandllie service th_~i_Ron Brown--;aisplax,ed_for_ouLbenefit.f
------------Ron Brown truly loved the job he had at Commerce. He always managed to fit himself well to the tasks
he undertook, wherever he was, but<tliis_jolireallyJlic[fitnimJik:e a gL~~' from the moment he took it.
He understood as soon as he started the job that the mission of the Department of Commerce is to
promote economic growth, that it is job creation. He understood from his own experience the wide-open
nature of our market system and that the market and its upward mobility was the unique way America
had for creating opportunity for its citizens.
Ron Brown never saw the business community as an enemy, he saw it as an ally in expanding
opportunity, and he threw himself into this job with a single-mindedness and joyous commitment to
moving the system, the economic system, so that it would deliver for all Americans.
Against this background, I want to talk about two efforts he spent his time on at Commerce that I think
were critical. I believe that they were truly extraordinary, and set a new performance standard for our
government's relationship with the private sector.
'EXEORTS::::J
The first has been written about extensively in the di!)'S since his de~t_h,_and_even()ver the preceding
three years: tlie_increai_lJle exRort promotiOriOp_ggtion.he_p_ut tQgeJher_aLCommerce! But I do not think
that enough has been said about why it was so important.
Until the mid-1970's, the United States economy was on top of the world, dominating it. While our
economic rivals, led particularly by Japan, were figuring out that selling advanced manufactured goods
for export was the key to economic growth and raising the living standards of people back home, our
Government was coasting on our success. We were not paying attention to the emerging economic
message.
Other countries built export promotion machines -- and they were machines -- through the most intimate
and comprehensive alliances between business and government, the private sector and the public sector.
But our Government paid too little attention to the need to build these alliances. American businesses -arid I heard this repeatedly from business executives in Connecticut-- would go abroad to compete, and
they would see what the business-government alliances of our competitors were doing for export
··
promotion.
1 of4
07/11197 17:45:18
�FLOOR STATEMENT BY SENATOR JOSEPH ... COMMERCE
SECRETAR'fi~seh~Wbiember/ct/lieberman/releases/ronb.html
I remember being told a story by the executive of one of the companies in Connecticut; his firm was
competing against two other companies, one from Asia and one from Europe, for a very large order in a
foreign country. He went over there to participate in simultaneous bidding among the three business
competitors. This company from Connecticut, a big company, had its executives and lawyers in one
room. But in the other two rooms, the executives and representatives of the Asian company and of the
European company were teamed up with a representatives of the Asian government and of the European
government, respectively. The government representatives were combining with their companies to
enhance their firms' offers. It made the contest unequal. The Connecticut company did not get the
contract. We lost an opportunity and jobs.
The State Department, I am afraid, continued to treat American business as if it had to be held at arm's
length. Too many Administrations went along with that distant attitude. Preoccupied with the end of the
Cold War and retaining the political alliances required for it, the State Department embraced a
traditional and outmoded notion of what foreign policy was all about, of what mattered to people here at
home. It missed what was happening in both the world economy and the American economy, which has
been a grave error. It made export promotion a low priority, while our rivals made it the top priority. The
State Department treated U.S. business like pariahs, it was "Upstairs-Downstairs" --trade was beneath
our diplomatic priorities.
This hasn't ended. A Business Week editorial this week notes that, "The U.S. foreign policy and security
elite believe security should be divorced from economic issues. Some go so far as to suggest that
providing security is a perk of global power." It concludes, "We don't. American workers can't be
expected to suffer economically to protect [other nations] from one another." IJ{on.Brown.sliare.Q~_thisj
view,_ana]le was tlie new momerttum-forl5finging-our-et·onofiiTilito-foreign-relations. The President
was his staunch ally~on-thiseffort, ana-nelpea-liim force change in this area.
cRon-Btown;-working·with-president-elinton;-understoo·d-that we-na·d-to-cre·ate a centralRO"Sitionin our)
{Q!'§gllriolicy_for_our.:..e.c_onomiGJ~olicy:. ExQort promotion lillci-to-5e-af1:lie-core-of-oudntemational·-)
routre·a·ch~ It was not a bad thing, but in fact it was a very gooa-tliing, irtlie ·Presiaent visited a foreign
country with the Secretary of Commerce and the issues they discussed with the leadership of that foreign .
country included buying American goods.
I come from a very export-oriented State. In fact, it has the highest level of exports per capita of any
State in the country. We know that exports create jobs, high-paying manufacturing jobs, and that each
manufacturing job has an economic multiplier effect, creating a chain of goods and services behind it,
longer by far than other types of jobs.
The sad fact is that we have been disinvesting in manufacturing since the mid-70s, even though we need
these kinds of jobs more than ever to develop a strong economy and a better standard of living for our
people which will continue America as the land of opportunity. Ron Brown, as Secretary of Commerce,
understood this from the beginning of his service.
When he began his export promotion effort, within days of arriving at the Commerce Department, the
leaders of the American business community that I· spoke to -- and I particularly heard this from heads of
firms in Connecticut -- were in disbelief. Someone was finally paying attention to their priorities.
Somebody was finally trying to help them pull together an American governmental countermovement to
·
the vast efforts rival countries and their businesses had been mounting for decades, to take jobs and
exports away from us. Finally, someone with real power, the Secretary of Commerce, understood the
problem. At the same time, in the beginning, many in the business community were skeptical whether
Ron Brown could make all this happen.
this .. \Trai~-~~~s~ll!..~~r and-always-a)
l5usmesses tillq_l!_g!_!out the world:-Ne-k:new
how to run campaigns, and he ran this export operation like a campaign, which is exactly what it is.
Nobody had ever done this before in the way. that Secretary Brown did, and our country has never
benefited as much before as we did from his service.
But he proved them wrong, to
the~r
delight. He was
gr~!_at
C~IJerbadvocate-;-he-usea-those-skrll~-on-behalf-of-Am·encan
2 of4
07/11/9717:45:19
�FLOOR STATEMENT BY SENATOR JOSEPH ... COMMERCE
SECRETAR'fi~seh~Whllember/ct/lieberman/releases/ronb.html
\He even set UJ2, inthe Cornmerce_Departmen1, sometliingJiK:e a campaigg "war_Iq_om,)' where he would
get reports on economic opportunities opening up around the world to sell American products and create
American jobs -- an early warning system. Then the letters and the phone calls would start flying -- Ron
Brown was a phone wizard, it was a technology invented for him, he was forever reaching out to touch
some business leader or a head of State abroad. He followed those calls with visits, such as the one he
was on when his life ended.J2.~s_so_enormously::5K"il_l!il:he_was_so_hard worK"in&Ji~so aosolutely~
jir!.~sistibly-likable;-he-had-such-agre-arsmiling cl}arm,J>uclj: sliarp intell!gen_c_e-;ne was s_uclifun,Jie_fiad==:J
s~ergy.J
The customers loved his performance. They all knew he spoke directly to and for the President of the
United States, and that he would relay their messages back to the White House. Even our friends in
Japan, who have systematically been denying entry for too many U.S. products for too long, liked him,
as he worked very hard at breaking down their barriers.
U.S. business strongly appreciated his commitment to them, his accomplishments. He was a terrific
in the ver_y best sense o~ this phrase --IQe__}Yas_m_Q_QiJi~ing Flie p_ol~!~c~l ~ystem t~ s~rve)
~p_uohc:s_needs!The busmess commumty understood this and respected It deeply-- I've heard tliis
again and again from U.S. companies. Ron Brown was a new kind of life force to them and they had
great affection for him.
political.~perator
Ron Brown and his team's export success was only beginning when he left us, because the historic
changes he was starting are a long-term project. But this new direction was a very important
accomplishmentfQr America. Q\: major jooforSecretaries of"Comrtfetcefrom now on will-be-to-promote
<Q~g?_ods,_noLjusU~J_he__<?ffhaJJ~e-~.'_r:andom.Fay_ofJhe_past, but with all the for~~of~Ron~~·~
~ampmgns, or tliey will oe Juelgeel fmlures. From now on, the federal government IS gomg to liave to get
down aridgeffu-worK: witlfousinesssellingour economy. It's about time, but it took Ron Brown to show
us how to do it. Ron Brown has set an entirely new standard for the country by which all that come after
him will be judged.
INNOVATION
~d remarkable_thing_he dida5Commerce Secretary wa~ to figb-! fori~. This has been
almost nowhere mentioned in the press, and it is not well understood by the public or the fourth estate or
Congress. But Ron Brown understood that for the American dream of opportunity to be sustained for a
new generation, a higher level of economic growth was crucial. In addition to exports, he concentrated
on another ingredient of that strategy, innovation. Even before he was sworn in as Commerce Secretary,
his friend George Fisher, then President of Motorola and now of Kodak, invited him to speak to a
leading group of business thinkers, the Council on Competitiveness. Ron Brown set out in that speech an
~ggressiveag-enf}{l__()ftechri_~Qg:x- development and promofi~ He recognized that innovation has been
the great American competitive advantage for generations, that it is now under attack as our competitors
expand, and that it has to be renewed if we are going to keep expanding our economy. Economists
estimate that technology development (coupled with a technologically trained workforce) has accounted
for eighty percent of the increase in U.S. productivity and wealth for most of this century.
Innovation is our bread and butter.
Brown understood that since the Second World War, the federal government has backed most of the
long term research and development and applied R&D that has gone on in the U.S., while business
focused on shorter term product development. That is an economic reality-- the risk and cost of R&D
means that the private sector must focus on what it can raise capital for-- shorter term products. It's a
classic market failure problem, and until recently Congress on a bipartisan basis has supported the need
for governmental support of innovation. Brown picked up a series of small technology and technology
extension programs that h~I_Lquietly started at Commerce in previous Administrations, and made
the~-~-centr_al focus.\_W~h-~:a?le_team around ~m, Jleinadetli~ Comme,r~e D~partmen:rtheL_ _,
~atwn's_le_gd_~ _:11 CI}'-!l!E-_~~<?l<?gy Cl~velopment, and supporteCl .~cnew-system-of coo?eratiye-:J
rR&D ClevelQpD_1ent witli 5usmess, requmng busmess to match feder::tLfundmg_to_ensure-sounder
(goYernmentR&P investments and leveraging federalLes_earch_dollarsJHe also helped expand a new
system of manufacturing extension centers around the country, now in over thirty states, to bring
3 of4 -
0711.1197 17:45:19
�FLOOR STATEMENT BY SENATOR JOSEPH ... COMMERCE
SECRETAR'fi~sHulfAR@>Whlember/ct/lieberman/releases/ronb.html
advanced manufacturing techniques and technology to smaller and mid-sized manufacturers desperately
in need of it to be able to compete with global competitors. In a time of budget cutting, he successfully
found the resources to build these programs. He was also head of the Administration's Information
Infrastructure task force, formulating policies on the new information highway and how to expand our
population's access to it.
He was both an innovator and an innovation supporter, and was moving quickly toward making the
Commerce Department what it long should have been: a department for trade and technology, where
each of these two sides of the department provides synergy for the other. It was becoming an agency
which provided governmental leadership in these two areas in support of the private sector, not trying to
dominate it, and much stronger because of this.
Ron Brown's clear success, ofcourse, led to the usual Washington political reaction against signs of
creativity. UnfortunatelM,~for=tooomuch oLthis past _y.ear he had 10SReildtimedefiJxcfe:flecting aftacRs on;
rtne existence of the_Commerce_Departmerit. But he had helped make it into an instrument for growtli and
"job creation, and his efforts had strong support among business and workforce constituencies. He had
begun the process to put the Commerce Department on the map as a unique American engine to support
opportunity and growth in America. He had a great dream for his agency, and I respect that dream very
much. I, for one, pledge to him that I am not going to sit here in this body and let it get dismantled.
BARRIERS
I have discussed his innovations at Commerce, but I want to raise an additional subject. Much was said
in the aftermath of Ron Brown's tragic death about his role as a bridge builder. I say he was also a
barrier breaker. I think sometimes about Chuck Yeager and how he felt piloting his X-1 rocket plane
when he first broke the sound barrier. ~Ron_Brown_was_a_greaLbarrier.::oreaRe..r, too, our firsCA:ffican~
American-to-achieve-manytliings·. While Chuck Yeager's courage enabled him to break his barrier, the
~d-oarrierremainedand had to be broken again by countless other pilots. Ron Brown's
barrier-breaking was different. It also required courage, but 'tie nadawax of breaking barrierstruifl5egan!
@_erasetllefiDHe would get through a barrier in his wonderful, excited, buoyant way, and he woula~
malCe everyone who watched him think, there goes another one, and why didn't we do that long ago?
When Ron Brown became Commerce Secretary, many were expecting the President to name an
experienced business leader, and were disappointed when he named a friend and politician. Ron Brown's
outstanding performance as Commerce Secretary, and the depth of support he built in the business
community, was unlike anything any Commerce Secretary has been able to do before. We watched and
·thought, there he goes through another barrier, the biggest he had ever faced.
In so doing, Ron Brown broke an even bigger barrier. America has been blessed with a long line of
outstanding African American leaders. Many of those leaders have been seen as leaders of the African
American c_ommlJ!li!y~?~r.o.wn_was~.ly loyal-to-his-African-Americanroots,o~t~l~Re Coli~
~ell,:he-was-also_a_nat~onat-l"eader;-an A:n:encan leader wh~ wa~ cl~arly understood, m h1s great)
\energeflcway;-to-be-batthn~rforthe-well-=bemg-of-every Amenc~:)
**
In his struggle to save the Commerce Department over the last year, Ron Brown often compared the
abolition of the Department to unilateral disarmament in the international economic wars of today. In
closing, I note that all around our city of Washington are statues of our great ~<l:t:Y- heros. Now we are
engaged in a different kind of global conflict: an economic global conflict.{~e_eyer_s~ildillg)
s~fforthose-who-have-served-cour(l_g~usly-an-d-with-great-success-in-this-ec-0115ffiicl5aftlefoi ~
(oppgrfuni1y_®dJhe -well=lieing of._o}lr_people,_w:e_ought_to_ere_ct_a_stat.u~--B:_~n Brown-as-one-of...::-tnel
firiestonl.lOSe::leaaers.~
~
[Home Page] - [Press Page]
4 of4
07/11/97 17:45:20
�
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
Terry Edmonds
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Office of Speechwriting
James (Terry) Edmonds
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1995-2001
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36090" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7763294" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0462-F
Description
An account of the resource
Terry Edmonds worked as a speechwriter from 1995-2001. He became the Assistant to the President and Director of Speechwriting in 1999. His speechwriting focused on domestic topics such as race relations, veterans issues, education, paralympics, gun control, youth, and senior citizens. He also contributed to the President’s State of the Union speeches, radio addresses, commencement speeches, and special dinners and events. The records include speeches, letters, memorandum, schedules, reports, articles, and clippings.
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
635 folders in 52 boxes
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Ron Brown – Other Tributes
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Office of Speechwriting
James (Terry) Edmonds
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0462-F
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 40
<a href="http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/2006/2006-0462-F.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7763294" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Adobe Acrobat Document
Medium
The material or physical carrier of the resource.
Reproduction-Reference
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
12/9/2014
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
42-t-7763294-20060462F-040-010-2014
7763294