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�LEADERSHIP * FAMILY *OPPORTUNITY* COMMON GROUND
President Clinton's vision for Ameriea
• Leadership: Presidenti.alleadership that makes a difference
Standi~tg up for America: fighting to open overseas markets to American goods~ standing up for
American values overseas
Doing what's riebt ... not because it is easy, but because It should be done
President Clinton took on the NRA to win the ban on assault weapons~ he took on the tobacco
companies to make it harder to hook kids on smoking.
"' Families: Working to preserve and strengthen families
President Clinton is working to giving parents the tools they Deed: from the Family and Medical
Leave Act to the v·chip in television sets. He is fighting to be sure our families will have clean dririking
water and clear air, and to preserve the heritage of our national parks.
Tbe Pre11lldent is determined to make our schools and communities safe: More police on the
street. fewer guns. and safer schools. and a commitment to ending violence against women.
• Opportunity: Providing opportunities for all Amerteans
President Clinton believes the American Dream 18 for every family, and every cbild. His
economic policies emphasize jobs~ education and trade: creating more high wage, private sector jobs,
and - because education i:s the key to higher income -- making computer literacy and college education
available to every student.
Opportunity must be neeompanied by responsibility: President Clinton believes that as we
support policies that reward work and expand opportunity, every American must take more
responsibility for ourselves. our families. and our communities.
• Common ground:
There may be no more important test of leadership than President Clinton·s commtunent to common
ground: leadership and action based on our highest values. By finding common groWld, we can get
beyond divisive rhetoric and take real action on the i:s:sucs that are before us.
At a time when too many politicians use language that divides, President Clinton ill working to find
the common ground. He reminds us that we are all in this together •• and together. we have the strength
and the wisdom to do what is right.
�President Clinton
OpportuniCies for All American•
+ 7.3 million nc:w jobs in the first 31 months- more new jobs
in the first two years alone than all four years before
+ Deficit reduction: three consecutive years of lower deficits
• Low unemployment and low inflation: the lowest combined
rate in 27 years
* Aggressive trade policies have opened new markets for
American goods
"' High wage jobs through education; Dir~t Student lending,
rhe School to Work Act and new opportunities to upgrade
technological skills
"' Balanced Budget in lesg than ten years while maintaining
investments in education
Opportunity with Responsibility
+ Make work pay through the Earned Income Tax Credit,
bringing tax relief to working families
• End welfare as we know it with legislation emphasizing
responsibility, work and family
*
Increased child support enforcement so parents take
responsibility for their children
+ Responsibility and accountability for government with
customer service standards, and streamlined purchasing;
eliminated tax deduction for lobbying·
�President Clinton
Giving Parents the Tools They Need
• Signed the Family and Medical Leave Act
"' Tax. relief for working families; expanded the
Earned Income T~ Credit
·
* Increased support for Head Start and Child
Immunization
Increased child support eollections
• Fought to protect regulations for clean water and
*
clean air
* Preserved the National Parks System
• Working for the v-chip in television sets and
more children •s educational programming
Making Our Sehools and Communities Safe
+ 100,000 more police officers for ow
communities
• 25,000 officers already on the job
* Took on the National Rifle Association to win a
han on assault weapons and a waiting period to
purchase handguns
• Safe and Drug Free School Act supports security
and anti-drug programs in our schools .
• Committed to ending Violence Against Women,
with protection against rape and domestic
violence
�President Clinton
Standing Up for America
• Expanding markets for American made goods by
insisting on fair trade with Japan. Korea,
China and other countries
• Working with American companies to increase
exports and win contracts overseas
+ No more nuclear arms aimed at the U.S. from the
former Soviet Union
- mws
Standing Up for American Values
• Peace agreements in Nonhem Irealand, the
Mideast and Bosnia; democratic government in
* - ....
~
Cl111111n llor11 ...
--;;; ~~
Haiti
+ Hillary Rodham Clinton gpoke up for American
values at the UN Conference in Beijing- and
Pr~ ·!<~
made us proud
Doing What's Right
• President Clinton stood up to the NRA and
banned assault weapons
• Signed the Brady bill which has already stopped
450.000 felons and fugitives from buying
handguns
*
Stood up to the tobacco companies by calling for
rules to prevent marketing to young people
.. ····------
�PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
.
VALUESSPEECH
FALL 1995
We fmd ourselves in a moment of great change. We must make great decisions-- decisions
that will shape the lives of our children and our children's children. Our challenge is to deal
with the changes we face in a way that preserves our vision for the future.
We want a future of high opportunity, where the middle class is growing and the underclass
is shrinking; where people have the opportunity to live up to their own God-given abilities;
and where families and communities have the ability to solve their own problems. The way
to get there is to hold on to the values that have always made this country great: Freedom
and responsibility; work and family; and opportunity for all.
We have to embrace new ideas rooted in those old-fashioned values. We have to work with
Democrats and Republicans to find common ground based on those values. We have to keep
our eyes on the future and do what's right for the next generation, even if it's politically
unpopular. And we have to remember that we are a community, not a crowd.
That's what this budget debate is really all about in Washington-- whether the America of
the 21st century will be a community, as we want it to be, or a crowd, as so many in the
Republican majority in Congress want it to be. We need to stop looking for ways to be
divided, and start looking for ways to reach common ground and higher ground. We must
be forward-thinking enough to stand up for the future, even if it's not popular in the present.
But we must be sensible enough to hold on to those core values which have made this
country what it is.
1
�We must balance the budget. We must lift the burden of debt off our children, and we want
to free up money that will help strengthen our economy today. But I believe we must
balance the budget in a way that is consistent with our basic values. We've got to give
people a chance to make the most of their own lives. We've got to strengthen our families,
and help them stick together. We've got to protect our children. And we have to honor our
parents and our grandparents.
These are the values that ought to guide the decisions we make to balance the budget. I
believe the congressional budgets offered by the Republican majority violate these values.
If we want to honor the people who built this country, do we really want a budget that will
deny 300,000 elderly people the right to be in the nursing homes they are in today? Do we
really want to eliminate quality standards for nursing homes? Do we really want to say to a
woman whose husband has to go to a nursing home that in order for your husband to qualify
for any government assistance, you have to sell your car, your house, you have to spend all
your life savings, you have to be totally impoverished?
If we want to reward work, and help families stick together, do we really want to raise taxes
on 17 million working families -- increasing taxes on them to the point that many of them
will be forced into poverty, even though they're working?
If we want our children to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and eat safe food, do we
really want to stop enforcing the Clean Air Act, or tum back the clock on the rules that keep
2
�dangerous bacteria out of our water and away from our food?
If we want to give every child in America the opportunity to succeed, why would we want to
make it harder for young children to get off to a good start in
~hool?
Why would we want
to make it harder for schools to have smaller classes and buy computers? Why would we
want to make it cost more for young people to get college loans?
Those are the choices. If you insist on balancing the budget in seven years, with the
Republican tax cut and their assumptions, those are the things we have to do. But there is
another way. I have offered Congress a plan that balances the budget in ten years without
destroying education, without undermining our commitment to the environment, and without
violating our obligations to working families, the elderly and our children.
The budget debate forces us to answer a simple question -- do we want a government that
upholds our values as a community and stands on the side of working people who are
struggling to build better lives for themselves? I think the answer is yes. And that is exactly
what I have been working to do.
Two and a half years ago, you sent me to Washington to generate jobs, increase incomes,
shrink the underclass, grow the middle class, and give America a better, stronger future.
Since I started my job, our American economy has created more than 7 million new jobs,
2.5 million new homeowners, 2 million new small businesses. Unemployment is down 20
percent. We're cutting the deficit. It was $290 billion when we started, and it's down to
$160 billion" now. That's a 40 percent cut.
3
�But we have a lot more to do. That's why I fought for the passage of the Family and
Medical Leave Act. That's why we gave a tax cut to 14 million working families with
incomes under $28,000. That's why I support an increase in the minimum wage. That's why
I want to give unemployed or underemployed people a check or a voucher they can use to
get two years of training to prepare them for a new job.
That's why we have to do things in Washington that are right for America 10 or 20 or 30
years from now, even if they look terribly unpopular today. Everybody told me not to get
involved in Haiti. They said nobody is for it, nobody understands it. But the military
dictators in Haiti had given us their word on our soil that they would get out and let the
elected president return. They were breaking their word. They were killing people. And the
United States has a responsibility to be a force for freedom and peace and democracy. So
we did what was right and decent, and it did not cost the life of a single American.
All the political advice I got was not to fight for the Brady Bill. And once we did the Brady
Bill, all the political advice was even louder-- for goodness' sake, don't do the assault
weapons ban. Because if you do, the NRA will convince every law-abiding American with a
gun, that you're coming to take their rifle away. And you will pay a heavy political price.
Well, they were right. Members of the House of Representatives laid down their seats to
take assault weapons off the streets. But it was the right thing to do.
Now we're trying to discourage teenage smoking. And once again, all the political experts
told us this was nuts. You can't take on the tobacco companies. But we knew two things.
4
�First, the tobacco companies knew that cigarettes were addictive and dangerous, but
marketed towards children anyway. And second, 3,000 kids start smoking every day, and
1,000 are going to die because of it. If it saves 1,000 kids a day, who cares what the
political consequences are?
The 21st century can be America's greatest time. Our children and our grandchildren can
enjoy more freedom, more opportunity if we do what is right. But we can't let the people in
Washington who are trying to do it, tum back the clock. We have to keep America moving
forward-- strong, proud and united. Let's stay that way and march into the 21st century
victorious for the values of ordinary Americans.
Nearly 50 years ago, when I was born, the per capita income in Arkansas was barely half the
national average. I was raised by my grandparents until I was four. My grandfather had a
sixth-grade education. And I became President of the United States -- not because of my
goodness or ability or hard work -- there are people like me all over this world. I became
President because of America, because this country stood for something and had the right
values, and gave people like me a chance to be our best.
If we do the right things now, the best days of this country are before us. The best is yet to
come.
God bless you all, and thank you very much.
5
�"
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
October 24, 1995
MEMORANDUM FOR CIRCULATION
FROM:
Michael W aidman }1J/
SUBJECT:
STRUCTURE OF IOWA JEFFERSON-JACKSON SPEECH
Attached, FYI, is an outline I did of the Jefferson-Jackson Day speech, as delivered.
This was given to the President~ and he used it to prepare for the AFL-CIO speech.
I think it's accurate to say that he regards this as the "state-of-the-art" stump speech. I
think it's adaptable for different uses and different formats. (For example, the "tough
decisions" didn't work for the AFL-CIO; instead we put in labor-specific accomplishments.)
Also, it lacked two things -- an explicit veto threat to cap the budget section, and a forward
looking riff about the GI Bill for workers, education tax credit, computers in schools, etc. At
AFL-CIO, he did both these things.
�OUTLINE OF IOWA JEFFERSON-JACKSON DAY
SPEECH AS DELIVERED
Introduction
Simple message - This is a great country; Cold War -->Global Village, info age, new century
-- a time of enormous potential; no nation is remotely positioned as well as USA -- if we are
true to our values. [par. 1]
Why I ran for President in 1992 (goals for country)-- restore American dream; make America
strongest nation on earth; expanded economy; expands middle class/shrinks underclass; values
-- responsibility & opportunity, mutual obligation [2]
America is on the move -- in better shape
This country is in better shape than it was in 1992 .
.
. (3]
Economy good- 7.5 million jobs, etc. [4]
Government being reformed/shrinking-- smallest% of wrkfce since 1933; 16,000
fewer pages of regulations; SBA, export promotion, FEMA; Social Security top ranked
by Business Week [5]
Country stronger/safer in world -- no missiles pointed at us, nuclear nonproliferation,
Ireland-Mideast-Haiti -Bosnia. [6]
Coming together again around values-- crime, welfare, divorce, poverty down-- and
our policies helped: FMLA, Crime Bill, EITC. [7]
Unpopular decisions, good for long-term
How we got in better shape: When making decisions, think about the future, children -- I've
made unpopular decisions. [8]
Brady Bill -- NRA scares gun owners ... but 40,000 criminals didn't get guns [9]
Tobacco --farmers will get scared.... but 1000 kids a day will die from smoking [10]
First Lady's Beijing speech -- people said it would legitimize human rights abuse -- ...
but we can't live in a world of peace if they're killing girls [11]
Race speech -- people said it's a political danger to praise marchers ... but I knew they
would stand up for responsibility. [12]
Two strikingly different perspectives on OJ, but most share same values. If we
solve diversity, there's no stopping America in 21st Century. [13]
�Budget
Budget debate now in Washington-- we're debating values, not balancing the budget. [14]
Medicare: [15]
a) waste, fraud, abuse
b) rural/Medicaid
c) medigap
d) spousal impoverishment
Education -- direct lending (4 paragraphs) (16]
Environment (1 graf) [17]
Crime- I don't believe we should walk away from crime bill (18]
AmeriCorps [19]
Pensions [20]
Tax hikes on working people-- EITC [21]
America's choice
So . . . America is on a roll ... and the choice is whether we will be one in which everybody
. has a chance to win, or winner take all, etc.(22]
This is about American values. If we are true to our vision & think about the children, the
21st Century will be ours. (23]
�October 20, 1995
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT IOWA JEFFERSON-JACKSON DINNER
Veterans Memorial Auditorium
Des Moines, Iowa
9:15 P.M. CDT
[ACKWNOWLEDGEMENTS ....]
•••
My fellow Americans, I come to you tonight with a simple and straightforward
message. You know we live in a very great country, on the edge of a new era, a new
century, a new millennium, a time of great change. We are moving from an industrial age
into an information and technology-driven age where even agriculture and industry will be
driven by information and technology. We are moving from the Cold War to a global village
where all of us will be more closely in contact, more closely bound up. We'll have common
possibilities and common wlnerabilities as we see every day with terrorism around the world
and here at home.
This is a time of enormous potential, and your country is on the move. There is no
nation in the world remotely as well-positioned to enable its people to fulfill their dreams and
to lead the world toward peace and freedom and prosperity as the United States. But we must
be true to our values, and we must have a clear vision of that future.
I ran for President in 1992 for the same reason Tom Harkin did. We thought our
country was going in the wrong direction, without a clear sense of vision. I said that if I
were honored by the American people with the presidency I would try to do the following
things: I would try to restore the American Dream for all our people and make sure we went
into the next century as the most powerful country in the world; the greatest force for peace
and freedom and prosperity by having an economic policy that produced jobs and growth; that
expanded the middle class and shrinks the under class; by giving us a modem government
that is smaller, less bureaucratic, more entrepreneurial, but can still fulfill our fundamental
responsibilities to one another; by making sure that America was still the leading nation in
the world in a positive sense; and, most important of all, by being true to old-fashioned
American values in this very new age of responsibility and opportunity for all, of valuing
work, yes, but understanding that families count, too; and we have to help them to stay strong
and be together -- (applause) -- and of a sense of community which means that we are
·
stronger when we work together.
We're going forward or backward together, and that means we have obligations to one
another. It isn't popular in Washington to talk about that today, but it is true. We have
�obligations to our parents when they need us and to our poor children when, through no fault
their own, they need a hand up in life. We have obligations to those who are disabled or who
otherwise need a helping hand who are willing to do their part. We have obligations to take
off our own blinders and the chains on our own spirit, which is why I was so proud to see all
those people in Washington saying in that march, I intend to take greater responsibility for
myself, for my family, and for my community, but I want to reach out to you to ask you to
work with me to make America a better place. (Applause.)
And my message to you is very plain and simple: This country is in better shape
than it was two and a half years ago because we have worked hard to do what we said we
would do. (Applause.) We still have real and significant challenges that require us to keep
going in the right direction, toward a better and brighter future. And we're in the midst of a
struggle in Washington that is not about balancing the budget and is far more important than
economics -- that goes to the very heart of who we are as a people, what we believe and what
we are willing to stand for, and what kind of America we want our children and our
grandchildren to live in in the 21st century. That is what is going on.
You know, in 1993, when we passed our economic program, in the most intense
partisan environment in modem American political history, the other side said, oh, the sky
will fall. There were Chicken Littles everywhere. The world will come to an end if you pass
this program. A recession is just around the comer. Well, two and a half years later we have
7.5 million more jobs, 2.5 million more homeowners, a record number of new small
businesses, the lowest combined rate of inflation and unemployment in 25 years. (Applause.)
They were wrong and we were right. (Applause.)
Do we have more to do? Of course, we do. In any time of great change like this
inequality is a danger because some people aren't very well suited to the world toward which
were leaving -- toward which we're moving. And we've got to do more in the area of
education and training. We've got to do more for rural areas and urban areas that have been
left behind. We have got to do more to spread opportunity. But the answer is to build on the
successes of the last two and a half years, not to tum around and do the wrong thing.
In the area of government, I heard the other side complain about government year in
and year out and how terrible it was. Well, we didn't do that. We did something about it. I
put the Vice President in charge of a reinventing government task force. Two and a half
years later, we didn't just rail against the federal government. Two and a half years later
there are 163,000 fewer people working for the national government. Next year it will be the
smallest. federal government since President Kennedy was President. And as a percentage of
the federal work force, we'll be the smallest federal government since 1933. The big
government myth is just that -- it's a myth. And we brought it down, the Democrats brought
it down. We did it. (Applause.)
There are 16,000 fewer pages of federal regulations, hundreds of programs have been
eliminated. But the most important thing is performance has been increased. Take the Small
Business Administration -- a 40-percent cut in the budget, but they doubled the loan volume.
More loans to women, more loans to minorities, no reduction in loans to men and, most
�important, no watering down of the standards for eligibility. Just a commitment to
old-fashioned American entrepreneurialism. That's the kind of government we're trying to
give you. (Applause.)
For the first time, we realized if we're in a global economy fighting for opportunities,
we need to give small businesses a chance to sell their products and services around the
world. We need to get everybody involved in having a chance to create jobs in America by
relating to the rest of the world. And so, Ruth Harkin and her organization, and the
Export-Import Bank and the Commerce Department, and the State Department, for the first
time ever, are all working together to help create jobs. And 2 million -- 2 million of our 7.5
million new jobs came because of the expansion of the ability to sell American products
overseas in the last two and a half years. And we should thank those people for the work
they did on it. (Applause.)
I am proud of the work the Federal Emergency Management Agency did in Iowa and
in the other states of the Midwest when they had the 500-year flood. That used to be the
most criticized agency in government. I did a novel thing. I appointed a qualified person to
head it, not a politician. (Applause.) And people are proud of it, and Iowans remember it.
And I'll tell you something that will surprise you. Every year, Business Week-Business Week Magazine, not an arm of our party --(laughter)-- gives awards for
outstanding performance in various areas of business. One of the awards they give is for the
best consumer service and customer service over the telephone -- Federal Express, L.L. Bean
-- you name it. You know who won this year? The Social Security Administration of the
United States government. (Applause.)
I want you to go out on the street and tell people these things. We made big .
government a thing of the past. Are there still stupid regulations? Of course, there are, but at
least we have a system for trying to do something about it. We are trying to make this
government more entrepreneurial. But that's a lot different than turning our backs on the
American people. We are not about to do that. (Applause.)
And I know we live in a time when people are more preoccupied with their own
problems. But we cannot run away from the world, either. And America is safer tonight
because we didn't give up our leadership, because we are in a situation where we're
destroying nuclear missiles more rapidly. And for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear
age, there is not a single, solitary nuclear missile pointed at an American child tonight. Not
one. Not one. (Applause.) Not a single one.
We got over 170 countries to agree to in~efinitely extend their commitment not to
proliferate nuclear weapons. And next year, God willing, we will have a comprehensive test
ban on all nuclear testing. (Applause.)
The United States is stronger when these things happen, when we work against
terrorism, when we work against drug-trafficking, when we help to make peace from Northern
Ireland to Haiti to Bosnia to the Middle East. We are stronger in a more peaceful world
�where we are living by our values and the power of our example.
But most important of all, this country is coming together around its values again. In
almost every state, believe it or not, the crime rate is down, the murder rate is down, the
welfare rolls are down, the food stamp rolls are down. The teen pregnancy has dropped for
two years in a row, and the poverty rate is down. America is coming back together and
moving forward together. And I believe -- I believe the commitments that we have had to
family-friendly policies, to community-oriented solutions to our problems have made a
difference.
I think it matters that we pass the Family and Medical Leave Act so people don't lose
their jobs when their children are sick. (Applause.) I think it matters that we're collecting
record amounts of child support. I think it matters that we gave working families in 1993 a
tax cut so that we could say, if you work 40 hours a week and you have children in your
house, you should not and you will not be in poverty. We want to reward work and
parenting. I believe that matters. I think it's important. (Applause.)
And, yes, I think it matters that we decided we had to give all of our young people a
chance to live up to the fullest of their God-given abilities, whether it was helping more poor,
little kids go into a Head Start program, or helping states that have difficulties that most Iowa
school districts don't have to have smaller classes and computers in the classrooms, or making
sure all the young people in this country could go to college by giving them more affordable
college loans. It was the right thing to do. (Applause.)
And let me say this: What I have tried to do in this timeis to always think about how
this is going to impact the future -- the future of these children, the future of these young
people up here. You know, there are so many controversial decisions a President has to make
in a time like this. There is no way -- I'll bet you I've done four or five things that made
everybody in this room mad. (Laughter). And I probably -- and I doubtless have made some
mistakes. But I do show up every day --(laughter)-- and I do work every day, and I do
think about your future every day. (Applause.) Every day. Every day. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Four more years. Four more years.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. I'll just give you some examples. I knew that when
we passed the Brady Bill and the ban on assault weapons that the NRA would be able to
terrify a lot of good, God-fearing, hard-working American gun owners into thinking we were
trying to take their guns away. And I knew it would hurt a lot of people who stood up for
what was right. And don't kid yourself, it's one of the big reasons the Democrats lost the
&~
.
'\
But, you know, last year 40,000 criminals that would have been able to get guns
didn't because of the Brady Bill -- 40,000. (Applause.) And not a single American hunter or
sportsman has lost a gun. Not a single one. And there will not be one. But there are some
mean streets and some schools where some thug can't show up with an Uzi and gun down a·
bunch of innocent kids. And that's worth a little political heat I think. It's the right thing to
�· · do. (Applause.)
When the Food and Drug Administration came to me and they said, oh, Mr.
President, we have completed our 14-year study of children smoking -- 14-month study -- and
we know, we know, based on the records, that the big tobacco companies know this is
hazardous to the health of young people, that they continue to advertise to young people, that
3,000 young people a day start smoking, and 1,000 of them will die sooner because of it, the
conventional political advice was, for goodness sakes, you have made enough people mad,
Mr. President, don't fool with this because they will take all those good, hard-working,
God-fearing tobacco farmers and convince them that you want to put them in the poor house,
that you're trying to have the government take over everybody's private decisions, and
everybody who's against you on that will be against you, and the people that are for you will
find ·some other reason to be against you.
That was the conventional politics. But, folks, 1,000 kids a day taking up a habit that
will end their lives early. What is that worth? That's worth a lot of political heat. Think
about 10, 20, 30 years from now. I want those kids to be alive in a great America of the 21st
century, and I think it was the right thing to do. (Applause.)
When the First Lady went to Beijing to stand up for the rights of women and children
everywhere-- (applause)-- thank you-- the conventional wisdom was, notwithstanding your
ovation, that that was a bad idea People said, well, now, look, if she goes, just the act of her
going will legitimize human rights practices we don't agree with. People on the other side
said, oh, oh, if she goes, and says what's true, it might offen.d the Chinese and we'll mess up
our trade relations and will cost these few jobs.
But let me tell you something, folks. We're going to live in a world with all of these
other countries. In South Asia alone, there are 77 million more -- 77 million more young
boys than young girls. Why? These little girls are being killed. They're not valued as
people. Boys are still thought of as more important economically and more important as
human beings than girls. We can't live in a world at peace and harmony, consistent with our
values, until we live in a world where women everywhere, including women here, subject to
domestic violence and abuse on the street, can live in dignity and freedom and equality. We
cannot do that. (Applause.)
And I just want to say one more thing. When I went to the University of Texas
Monday morning, some people said, this is a very dangerous thing for you to embrace the
people that are showing up in Washington and stand up for racial reconciliation. You don't
know what's going to happen there. But I know one thing. I didn't know what was going to
happen there -- I thought I did; I knew that march was about the people that were showing
up, not about the leaders. I knew it was about what was in people's heart on that day, not
what some people had said in political speeches. (Applause.)
I knew that the same thread that's running through America that's driving down the
teen pregnancy rate and the crime rate and all of these other things was running through the
spirit of those people there. And it seems to me that as President, I have a responsibility to
�speak to that. You look around this room, you've got a fair amount of diversity. You look
up in that crowd of young people you'll see a lot more. Generationally. there will be more
and more and more.
In a global village, old-fashioned American values, the power of American free
enterprise and technology, the power of America's example, combined with the fact that we
are so diverse across racial and ethnic groups, is our meal ticket to the future. It is not only
morally the right thing to do, it is a gold mine for us if we will turn away from those who
would divide us. And that is why I said to- (applause)-- that's why I said to the American
people last week, every American needs to make a personal commitment that they're going to
establish some sort of a personal relationship with someone of a different racial or ethnic
group. And if you work with a lot of people from different groups, ask yourself if you've
ever really had an honest conversation; have you ever really told anybody what you thought.
@
The most stunning thing to most Americans in the aftermath of the Simpson trial was
all that public research saying that people from different races saw the same set of facts in a
completely different light. But most of us share the same values. That's what the march
proved. People showed up saying, we do have to take more responsibility for ourselves, our
~amities and our communities, and we are going to· do it, and we want to reach out to you.
So we have to do that. All of you do. We have to set an example. We have to be honest
with one another. We have to listen to one another. And we have got to find a way to come
together. Because, I'm telling you -- if you solve this diversity problem, America, there is no
stopping this country in the 21st century; it is ours to lead and to enjoy. and to profit from.
(Applause.)
So that is the background. This country is on a roll. We're moving in the right
direction. We have problems, we'll always have problems. We know what to do. We need
to have a good economic policy, a government that works and doesn't get in our way too
much, but protects our fundamental interests. We need to make sure we maintain our
leadership in the world, and we need to have a set of policies as a people consistent with our
values.
Now, that is really what is going on in Washington. That's what we're debating up
there today. We are not debating the balanced budget. That is not the issue. I have
presented a balanced budget that Mr. Greenspan -- who was appointed by my predecessors
and is a Republican -- and many others, and all the market analysts say it is a perfectly
credible balanced budget. I have given them a balanced budget. This is not about balancing
the budget. . (Applause.) What is at stake here is what kind of people we are going to be in
the 21st century; what kind of future are we going to have. And I just want to ask you a few
questions.
You heard Senator Harkin talk about the Medicare cuts and how they say they want
to save money, but they've actually made it harder for us to prosecute waste, fraud and abuse
in Medicare. We have set records in our administration for collections of waste, fraud and
abuse, and we haven't scratched the surface. And now they want to stop us. They don't think
that's important.
�Well, my idea of the future of America is not a Medicare program where it's easier to
commit waste, fraud and abuse, but harder for a senior citizen to live from month to month
because their Medicare premiums have been doubled when they can't afford to pay for it.
That's not my idea of the future I think we ought to have in America. (Applause.)
The Medicaid program has not gotten as much coverage, but my idea of the future of
America is not living in a country where we cut Medicaid so much we're closing more rural·
hospitals, we're closing inner city hospitals, we're putting unbearable burdens on our teaching ·
hospitals and our children's hospitals, we're making it harder for poor little kids to get care. ·
And I'll tell you something else that's in this bill. They want to take away the m~ney
that we presently give under the Medicaid program to help the poor elderly pay their co-pays
and their deductibles, people living on $300 and $400 a month -- so the people under this
plan that are going to get hit the hardest are not the wealthiest seniors, but the poorest
seniors. And a study has been put out that said as many as 1 million seniors might drop out
of the Medicare system.
I don't know about you, folks, but I don't want somebody to give me a tax cut and
put a million old people out of the Medicare system. That's not the America that I want to
live in. I don't think it is right, and I do not support it. (Applause.)
Let me tell you -- I want to reiterate, I do support the goal of balancing the budget. I
agree with them we have to save the Medicare Trust Fund. To do it, we have to slow the
rate of growth in medical inflation in Medicare and Medicaid. We don't have to take $450
billion out of the health care system to do it.
Do you know what else is in one of those plans? They want to repeal the prohibition
against spousal impoverishment. Now, that's a government phrase. Let me tell you what that
means. That means if a married couple are lucky enough to be 78 or 80 years old, they've
been together 50 years and they've saved their money and been frugal, one of them gets real
sick and has to go to a nursing home -- which is heartbreaking enough as it is -- they want to
go back to the dark, old days when the state can tell the spouse that doesn't have to go to the
nursing home, we'll give you help, but only after you sell your car, your house and clean out
your bank account. Now, then, we'll take your spouse in the nursing home. I don't know
what you're going to do. That's not our problem. I don't know about you, folks, that is not
the America that I want to live in in the 21st century. I don't believe in ~at. I don't believe
in that. (Applause.)
Look at those young-- how many college students do we have up there? (Applause.)
How many of you get student aid? (Applause.) The only thing that has grown faster than the
cost of health care in the last 15 years is the cost of higher education. And yet we know we
need more and more and more young people to be able to go to college and to be able to
finish college.
I pledged if elected President I would provide a more efficient, more cost-effective
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�student loan program that would get the money out quicker, that would lower the cost to
students, and that would provide for easier repayment terms. I also promised to crack down
on people that didn't repay their loans. We have cut the loan default rate in half by cracking
down. (Applause.) But you know what else we've done? We're getting those young people
their money quicker at lower cost with better repayment terms, so that young people who get
out of college and don't get jobs making a lot of money can pay the loan off as a percentage
of their income. And there will never, never, never, never be an incentive not to borrow the
money to go to college because you can't pay it back.
Now, that's what we did. And it's a good, good thing to do. (Applause.)
Their budget limits or totally destroys, depending on which House you look at, this
direct loan program. It goes back to the old way where we just shove money to the private
sector, total government guarantees, no performance standards, no costs -- nothing. Raises the
cost to the taxpayers and cuts out good loans to them and, for good measure, eliminates
somewhere between 150,000 and 380,000 college scholarships, depending on whether the
Senate or the House version passes.
I don't know about you, but the 21st century I want to live in does not include
kicking middle class kids out of college, taking scholarships away from poor kids, and doing
things that will not help us to build the great American Dream for all Americans. I don't
want that kind of 21st century. That is not my idea of how we ought to be living.
(Applause.)
®
I don't believe we ought to go into the 21st century gutting our budgets to protect
clean air, clean water, pure food, to preserve our natural heritage, and letting the lobbyists for
the biggest polluters in the country write the clean water laws. That's not my idea of the 21st
century that I want. (Applause.)
I don't believe we should walk away from our crime bill, which is lowering the crime
rate, and stop people from putting these police on the street, and stop communities from
having prevention programs to give our children something to say yes to. I don't believe we
should refuse to raise the minimum wage. That's their position. Next year it will get to a
40-year low in purchasing power if we do that. I don't believe that's right, either.
I don't believe, notwithstanding what one of your senators believes, that we should
abolish AmeriCorps. It would be a terrible mistake to get rid of the national service program.
(Applause.) The national service program involves young people and working with other
people to solve community problems. It has no bureaucracy. It ought to be a Republican's
dream. But because it involves the national government bringing people together to do
something positive and good and decent to move people forward, they say, no, no, no.
That's not my idea of the 21st century. My idea of the 21st century has all young
people serving their communities, working together, building this country from the grass roots
up, earning their way to college and moving forward. (Applause.)
�There is a provision in this budget that would allow companies who have been in
deep trouble to withdraw money from their pension funds, even if it puts the retirement of
their workers in trouble. Now, last December, I signed a piece of legislation that saved 8.5
million Americans' pensions, and stabilized 40 million more Americans' pensions. Do you
really want me to sign a budget that would permit pension funds to be looted and have
people's pensions and retirements put at risk?
AUDIENCE: Nooo.
THE PRESIDENT: I don't think that's what we ought to be doing in the 21st
century.
And here's the last thing. This is the last of my Top 10 list. There are $148 billion
of new taxes, fees and costs imposed on middle-class America and poor America in this
budget, including a $42-billion tax increase on working people with the most modest incomes
in our country.
The Wall Street Journal -- again, this is not me, hardly an arm of the Democratic
Party -- The Wall Street Journal yesterday reported -- The Wall Street Journal reported that if
this budget passes with all of its tax cuts in it, the group of people making less than $30,000
a year, 51 percent of the American people will have greater tax hikes than they have tax cuts.
Can you believe it? Why? Ronald Reagan said that the working family tax credit was the
best antipoverty program the country had ever devised. All we did was double it so people
could say, if I work 40 hours a week and I've got children in my house, I will not be taxed
into poverty, the tax system will lift me out of poverty. My country values my work and
values my being a good parent.
I do not want to live in a country that throws people out of the middle class and puts
them back in the under class, and I don't think you do, either. I don't think you do, either.
(Applause.) I don't think any of you want to live in that kind of America. (Applause.)
So, look-- I'm nearly done. You don't even have to sit down. (Laughter.) I just
want you to think about this. This country is on a roll. We're coming back. It's in better
shape than it was two and a half years ago. The American people deserve the lion's share of
the credit. But our economic policies and our social policies, and our anticrime bill and our
welfare reform -- those things have all played a role. We are moving in the right direction.
And the choice now is whether we're going to be a society in which everybody has a
chance to win, or become a winner-take-all country; a society where we're growing the
middle class and shrinking the under class, or one in which we're kicking people out of the
middle class and swelling the under class; a society in which special interest and short-term
greed override the long-term concern for the welfare of all Americans.
This is a very, very great country. We are a great country. And you look at these
children tonight. And when you walk out of here, I want you to keep their faces in your
mind, and I want you to promise yourself that you will realize that this could be a
�@
Jefferson-Jackson-Abraham Lincoln-Thoodore Roosevelt dinner. This is about American
values, American interests, America's future. And I want you to promise yourself
that when you walk out of this room tonight, for the next year you are going to engage your
fellow Americans in talking about these fundamental valu~s and the fundamental vision we
have for our future.
The 21st century is ours if we will simply be true to our values and follow our vision
and think about these children and what kind of America we want for them.
Thank you, and God bless you all. (Applause.)
END
9:55P.M. CDT
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ill. Hon. Tonr Blair MP,
Leader of the Labour Party
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Today I place befure you myv&on ofanew 8111*. AD81icJil ~.--,
One Britain. I say howtbis vision Is to be achieved by a· new, · ·
die support oldie Bridsh. people, wm ~ away fimM:r the'ftlft.'c·!t-iiliiftM
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New Labour. New Britain.
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I know that fbt some ofyou, new l..ahom has been painfbl 'There is no. • pain to be endured
in poJidcs tb&aldlc birth of a 11ew idea. But I believe in it and I ~.to .~·you why, SoclaHsm
to me was never about utiuualisatio.n or tho power of the State. N~...._,. about ecoaomica or
politics even. It is a moral purpose to life. A sor ofvalucs. A bcliafln ~. In co-opcra1ioll.
In achi.eviua together -Mlat we are unable to addeve almle.
It i5 how I try to live my li&. The siulple truths. I am worth nn mnre b au:Yone else. I am my
brother's keeper. I will u.ot walk by on tho other Sl.clo. We area't ~JH,lOPle set in isolation
ftom each other, face to face Mdl elemity, but IDCIDbc:n uftho ~.~:~~ity, tho 8IIDie
human race.
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This is Dl'J sociaJisa1. And the irony of oar Ions years in ~is that.~Se values are s1l.aied
bythevlll 1119J1ity ofthc Bliliahpeopk
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ljojDed this patty because it rep~~ those vab1e& But 1~ .-•qg·~ ad I~ ln your
heart ofheart~ ynu felt it too. that however great aad tiiJ1-ijeu·*-'~ .Party'& politics,
struetarc md eve its id.eoloSY a.o loqet reftected those valnes iii a waY « ..•... brouaht them alive
for the peuple;,. We~ separatod. &om the very people we .-.·~~ted. We called
them "our people," while ibrgettlq who they weco.
·, ·· ·
f.•.
1983 was. f'nr me. a watershed. New Labour was rebom then. Oftile collrqe of one IDill. We
would not b. here, proud mel cou6deat today, but for that mao. N··~ It grew 1Jilder the
wis4om uf 1ullll S.olith who guidtcl us ~oup the revolutio11 iD out Patty democracy.
We have tnms&tmaed our Party. (Jur COD&1itutimr.wdnen. Our rc1Jd":U11, ~tho Trade Unions
~sed Our Party organisation improved. PolitiQII edu<l8tioll oa m Ulipncedemed scale.
Now poli.oy, breaking new ground.
Hut, I didn't ~ into poliliC8 Lo chango tho Labour Party. I came into politic; to change the
country. And I honestly believe tb~t it we had not chmg~ if we had not rctun1ccl our party to
its values, freed from the wei•t of outdated ideology, we could not change tbe counuy.
Wo could not win IUld even i.fwe di.ci. we would Jtot have guvemed in the way Britain needs.
For I do not want a one-term LaboUI Ouv-=£11Dlalt that d•mcs for a momat then eDds in
disillusion. I wau.t a Labour Govero.m.a1t that govems for a gc:ncntioa and ~ Britain for
good.
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Aod i1 has been Jwd, I bow. U.4 ..... . . . .
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From
Disae)faacUo cticraroniJJp Jo. tweive'.tiart ~ llri'ailot:~~-i~o i·~ OK, I prefer
Bambi Honestly.
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11lcre have been good momeats. Like yesterday wJtai.
~·Jist time sinco I became leader,
my cbilclnm wetb improsaed by somodrins I ciW.. Di& you reily'meet lC8\Iin Keeam. Oad?
Did you really do 27 consecutive~?
Wasn't it gaad to see Edc Cmtoaa back iD acdml? J..en hope tJds 1;ime he remembers that ldcking
people bl the teeth is the Tory Govemrneat'tjnb.
So it's beea tough. No--one ever tbuupt if. wo\lld be cloAt. It Jaas hea:a. And 1 didn't do it alone.
We did it together. So thaDk you. J.ccord by-election resuhs. Keconllocal eleu.iuu 'esuks. And
I am -J.'mud as anything else ofthe u.ew Labour women candidates we hive chosen. Some pain
thoro too. But look at th.e results. We cnuld. have 80 or 90 women MPs after the next general
.ekWun ancl that akme 'Wilt t:ranafona. the politics ofBdtain.
I read that the other day tbat not one wiml.able Tory sea has plgbd a WUliiiW candidate. What
" diAgrace. But then again- what is a wirmable Tory seat? Peter utley. MP forSt Albans.
Mqjo.rlty 16~000. Unsafe. Ulley on the chicbn nm to Hitchelland Hatpenden. Tot)' chairman
B1iao. Ma'Wbimmcy. 1hg man 'Whose job it is to &*)'the Tories .'Wlll sweep the ommtry once more.
Majodr.y ,,000. Unsafe. On the W,Qeo nm fiom.Petahroup. to Cambridgesbh'e. And. Basildon
IDIIl hfmse1f David.Amess. Teaifiecl ofthe Dldon Watdring Oa·~ oip.t u the smug grill ia
finaJly removed. On the chicken nm to Southeacl.
·
Why did the ~ croas the TOad? To get to a safer seat. But uever have so many chickens run
in vain. As rhe man said: lhoy ~ .IDD, but they GaD.~ bide.
Much ofthe work in gearing up our Party bas beal done by :Jelaa Prescott. A good ftiend tmd 11
gx'eat support. Bhmt, nnneAt. and outspoken. And that's just wit1a me.
1 sec dlu Mr Majai hi o.uw p1aonin; ~o ~c me to a 1V clebate during the Gea.eral F.lectinn.
F'me. Your record against our polldes. Any plac;:e, my liwe. But I have a bettor idea. Instead of
just aballenpg· us to a TV debate. Cballenge us to a C:icDera1 Eleaion. We now have J00,000
new mtiDben. Next year fur the first time since the 19SOs we wiD. have more members than the
Tory l'arty. And. a huge m~ease ill Young LRbom-. Now five times as large as the Young
Conservatives.
We value our me~ new and old. But let us aeve:r tiJ1 fbr the oon~ lhaL by 5ClCkio.g new
support, we tum om back on the poor~ homeless and 1111employed..
I bave lip\:Ul lG Y""S being IUl!')', passionate and mdiansnt: About yoong people huddled in
d.ootways, families made vmnchod by waemployman, the poor llll&ble to make es:uk meet.
l am fed up by anger. I tell you. They don't need our anger. They o.eed acpon. And l.hcy will ~~
it not tbroush the ngf! nf opposition. but through a Labour Party that has bad the courage to take
hard ehoic<:s, get into soveromea.t and do something fur them.
2
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And let IJle tell you. lhe hard choices get·haid~· ~ .ov~;~ ~~to take .risks
Mth inflstimt because tJds coUD.try caanot.be ~·-~ ~.~ ma.~ boolll tihot1 torm
employmeat. Wben we want more childnm at.ldliveriity- bQW tbat bow that thoagll the
Stucleat Loea ScUme will be replaced, we 6ce hard choiCe& iboUt What repJicemeut will be.
Its
On public sector psy, ..Wen a Labout gcJVeDIIDall, like auy other, 'Will have to say na u well as
yes. oven to people ill this haD. Hard dloices are wlaal good aovemmcm u abuut.
I love Ill.)' party.
I just bate k ~ 1a oppoWon.
I love my CO\IIItcy.
And llurte what 1he Tories have done to it.
.Every pramiAe ever made broken: taxes. &Ulemploymeo.t, crime, NHS, education.
Theirs is a record ofiacompetence and diAiumesty on an epic soale.
And now ttaey plead with the Britim p~ple; trust us tbia OllC more time.
I say tfri~ to the British people. There are two sides to a deal 'Ihey ,gave their word. You gave
your vote. They broke their wortl And they cloa't ever deserve l'O'Dr vote again.
1'11 ten you aboat.lhe Tories and
Thoy an yom: taxaa befOre 111 electi.cm aod raise them
afterwards. And tbay only ever give you one side ot'• eq~. ~ey ~ yoar iD.Qom.c tax, but
they raise your VAT. they make you pay daaraes, Jiko m dl; ~on~ costs, like ~ oa
insuring your home. Its an a can. We aD. want ordi&ary Jwd..woddag &milies to pay less tax.
LaA.
Hut the way to cqr tax , U; Lu ~,;ut uocmploymaat, cut oriuae, cat weiSare speadmg. aD the teaAOns
taxes have gone up.
And ia:sagine fifth. te.(lt\ Tory Britain.
Would
mere be a N~tliooaUIQ4lth Service?
Would there be a D-ee state edu~tlon systm;n fu,· aD?
Will there be a wel&re state?
··
WiD Mr R.edwnnd. be ill dlarge of decidin~ which siogle paraats get to keep their c:blldreo?
Re-elect them ud be iD no doubt.
Back they come with VAT on tilel
All schools to opt out.
Post o.t1iccoA Mld oft:
More health privlltisatioo.
01am prlvallsed UIOJlopoliQS, controDing your seMees., tbe ~rice decided by the former ministers
oa the board ·For they too ILl" a party ebas1gcd. Half the To-ry backbea.clJ.~ voted for Mr
'ROOwood to be Prhue Minister.
All aboard Stanhip Redwood. bomul for Planet Portillo.
Remember Plau\:1 Portillo. Last year it was a joke. Next ye~r, it. could be Britain.
3
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Don't let them c:aptaN BritaiG's .&ture, fbr they ofFer it n~ ..
'Ibis .is a JWN age. To be Jecl by a new gmc:ndon. Lee. me
,
tllk:.~.)'OU aboUt~·~
We
dertheseccm.d world war. We read.abc~uua.,;.,, Wc?·ndte ~ U.Dicm raul we
learned tn fear exbt!II:DeS of'left md rl&ht We were bomimo th W~ State ad tbo NHS,
the awket eeoa.omy of bank 8CXl011I1tS, sopenaalbts..jeanR aul oar&. We 1iad money ill our
grew up
mto
aevu clreamt ofby OUZ' piii'QOtS. We trawl abmad. We have bee tJarouP the .sexual
revo.IIJtioa. oflhe 60s. Half'the wo.ddbiW IR' now wo.wea and the world ofwom rcwoJudoniscd
by sciaJ.QO. We built a new popular cubre, transfh~ by colour YV. CoronatJon S1reet mel lh~
'RMt1eR. We eqjoy a thousaDcl material advmtages oV. any prevbas generation; aad yet we suffer
a depth ofiu.securlty 111d spiritual doubt they "ever lmew.
pu~bc.
The filmlly weakened, society divided. Wa RCi \1kledy people in br o£ crime, dWdrcll abused.
We Jive with the knowledge that the world, through nuclear weapons, chemical weapom 1111~
contempt for the environment can eod billions of years of evolution.
Mine is the gal~ with more freedom than MlY other, but ~sa oertaiaty in liow tn exerci,;e it
responslbly. The geoentiun lhll bucks 011 tho door of a new miDomrinm, tightened for our
fUture and unsure of our souL
We ive iu. a new age but ill Rn n1d co1111tfy.
Britain WOD two wodd wus. We had aD Empiro mdjimncd ~. ~ We m\fellted
the sports tho rest of the world now plays; gave tbe'wOdcl somo oflhc lille&t.'lltenturc:. art and
poetry. We are proud of our history but its weigbt haqs heavy 111on us. Why? Because It has
left: us .for &r tonlnng defining ourselves as a uatimi,. nc,K by -Matllllites us. bet by v.hat divides
us.
A class system 1Dlequal and IDliquated. A socia11ibliQ tltU:mlmd lOI.LL. A politica vdt.ero clops
chives out common sease. Even an eduQition S)'Stem wllete one part ofthe na1io1l is u.ught apan
from th.e other. And where if we do not change course. we
have two classes ofhealtb
scM.oe, two cla8ses of ate schOols,. two Britms.
nne
nn
wel&re.
mother
p~ for it.
.
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.
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.
1 waat us to be a youog comw:y agajn. Y ouog. W.ll.h a QOmmou purpose. With ideals wo d:uHish
and live up to. Not resting on past glories. Not tipting old bllttles. Not skt:ios back., 1aaad ou
DJnuth, ooncealing a yawn of cynicism, but ready for the day's cbaDemge. Ambitious. idealistic.
Unitecl. Where people suceeed on the bui~ ofwbat they give to their CO\liJtiy. rather than what
thco:y take from their country. Not saying: "this wu A great country" But "Rrit:Am can and will
be a great coWttty again."
KDowlcdge Britain
A young country that will build the nt1W economy uflho .WLure. No more boiSQS versus workers,
but partnershlp at work. No more public versus private fiDant;e. Co-opeaaion l.u no:l.Juild ow:
oation'c; mad, rail. inner cities and regions. No more boom and bust economics. Inflation is the
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aa.emy of the stability which buanesses .need to p1tm flu· the filtunt. Help ~ . . bnfteasos.
A new rdadouhfp bctMxm public: and private segtor to rebuild ~ Measares to
eacourage long teriU investment.
·
Rut .above aD. today we present our proposals to equip our people and businesses ib.r new
tedmologieal an4 economic challenge~, and to change tfle bA~R nfthiR co'IIDtr)'s tlrinJdna of the
Jut 100 yeam.
Education is the best economic policy there is. And it is iD the marriqe of eduoadon and
tecbnolagy·that the fUture lies. The arms race may be over. The knowledge race has begun.
We will never ()()~Q on the basis of a low wage, sweat shop eooaouzy.
We bave juSt one asset Our people. '!heir intelligence. Their potential Develop it· we
sucoeed. Neglect it - we fail. It is as simple as that.
And the paco of tca1mologioa1 chODge meons the task is urgeat. Eclucati.cm dOes 'll.Ot stop when
you walk out of1he tdwul pl.~ ru, lh~ last time. Edu~on ia £or life. Tbis ia hard CCOJtOmios.
The more you leam the more you eam. That is your way to 4o wen out ofll:le. Jobs. Growth.
This combination of technology and know-how win tiJnsform the Jives of aU of us.
Look at industrY and bu.siness.
An oD dg m. the Oulf ofM~ ha.s metal fatigue~ it em be diaposccl.from m oBioe ill Aberdeea
European bnsinesers fillaJising a deal with the Japanese. Wltb simnltaneowf ll'11wtlaliuu dow.u the=
phoae line. And the oalls could be free.
Leisure too. VTrtu.al reality tourism that allows you an)'Mlere in the worlcl
Computers that leam about a child as they teach them, shaping ctmn:e~ tn their persoual ueed.
Knowiedge is power. lnfbrmation is opportunity.
.And tedulology can make it happen.
Tf'we u~~e it properly.
1Wit. lhioL Direct aecess to teaching ~~ frOm the workpla<:e or the home. Clau sizes of o.oe.
'lhe enpeer who Deeds to keep pace with L"...twi"ltl cba.u.ge. l'he~ scJf:.cmploycd •cbitoot who
WID1'S to do his owu accountancy. The computer operator \Wo needs to adapt to DOW sys&e!Dti.
The mother on maternity leave leaminA a
language to equip her for her retum to work.
new
It van be done. But will it happen? Only .if we make it happen.
It means bringing. together the private sector, govemmeot, univerlliil.i~l:i, '~feb. oentr~s and
!iCien.ce labs to put together an advanced system of further education for tile electronic age.
For pooplc at work and for people who lose their job.
It requires a supreme national e:tfbn. The 1113I'k.d. wu11't do it. A Labour govQDJDICilt will. We
have Qrted work on it already. It. will be called the University fix Industry. And Jt wiD l.:nau;C'u,w
education and skiDs in Britain. and make lifelong learWng a reality.
s
�B•t OliJ' aim mast be ev.-. bolder. We. have sucJa. .lwp advaatapa. Soma of the finest
te~OAS oowpaules in the wo.dd. Wodd ~in bmadcasrlna The wo.dd1s first
language, English Together, they (lOuld. put us~ i1iea4 iD. educado.a and techD.ology and
business,
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Bid ill. Tory BtitaiG we waste our assets. We are not usiDs them. erpnlsins, making the most or
areat.
thmn. Tiwe is.tullll.iu.8 out and tho dJallen!e ls
BOC8UIO other OOIIIltrics are cloiDg it. I
make tbis proposal today: WC should opal up thO matket& Dl CQDJDBJDioatiODJ mel tedmology.
Yes. a market soluticm.
The cable compmies are playins their part, usia& tho uew technology to good e&ect. But we
WuuJd aimfu.r fiie md &ir oompctitioo md md iho ~ 1hat havo ptovCiltcd DT, Mercury,
au.d others ftom playing their part In wtrtag up Brllala, UDtil tbere is tb1l 8DCI open competition
.everywhere from 2002.
1his is a 'IIIalket with huge potential But mtetum, these coqtllliet owe so~ responsibility to
the IUitiou. Wo h«ve bocu in these past weeks in cliscUssiOil with BT. In rctum for aocC:ss to thg
marJret, 1 can 8Dll01Jilf.e they have agreect, as they buDd lhelr netwmt, to COJID.ect up every scboo~
fNery oonege, every hospital and every Hbruy in Btitain. Foa: ftee.
They set dle ~ io will aew markets Bot the aatioa .gets the chance to snc:ceed. That iJ: new
Labour. .l'ubliG ad privato. Workiaa toSCfhcr. BaihJiaa; ·• ~o eooaomy. That aclclressec
the :aatimis needs md sa:ves die uatlon's tmcn=a. · ·~ ·· · · ·
Eveatu.ally we want evmy h0111e to be wired up a noWi Qmafp A goal worth striviug for. Wc
can make it happen. Bnciness ealumoed. Life II.IOTe ·et~inins Pohfic AeMC&41 iqJroved.
l'eopkl better oil Bmam better oft:
I can announce a tbird pubJio..private initiative.
David Rhmkett will he opening discus...UX.S with eclucation authorities and the computer
Compaaies which sapp~ them about how we meet the soat ofeasuriDg thllt eveJY dWd bas acaw:
to a laplup wwputer.
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:& would need new forma ofteacher training. It would. need a vmole network ot" delivery. Hut
it it~: J'lftUible. 'Think. SO yean ago their gnmdpareats came into state schools for the first t:ime
and sat at a proper wooden desk. And a Labour~ provided them Half A centm-y later.•
a u..:w way for a now ago. That is what 1mean by now Labour.
35th in the education league may be good enough t:Or John Major. ~ut I didn't come into politics
u:tisfied for Britain to be 3Sth best at anything.
We will put our education system right. No more dogma. No more argu:mm.ts about 5tructures.
For fNa:y sc;b.ool, .fidi md equal f~. No retum to 50l~n, acaclemio or SOQial. But a new
deal in our cJJwrooms. We will be the champions of standards for
21st cc:nrury.
me
More suppnrt. Tn return, more demmd for achievement.
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The aim of a~ place for every three and mur~ Old.
A voluntuy network of Associate teachers - adults Wid! expertise in a Jlm:ip. Jauauaao or
business- to assist the classroom teacb.er. A new adalt·pupU ratio ill cJaa. Pioneered by Labour
authorities. .E.xa:endecl to the whole ofBrilain.
Schools playios to their streqths. Not just tecblloJogy, wbich stloulcl be part of every schoors
cuniaWm. Schook with a sp«ialism that brings out tbe best in their pupils. SQe:nce. Or nmsiQ.
Or desip. Or matbs. Developios areas or expatisl; sotFets in wh1cb they are able to ofFer extra
depth. Tb.ey beoome ~ of cxocboc for the benefit of the whole community.
And
one more tbing.
'lbe Tories say that cl ...ss si7'.e d~'t matter. Tfthat'a true I just wonder 'Idly so many of them
spca.d so amoh. bayiag SUiaD. classes iD th.e private seQtor. 1be Tories spend Over .£100 million
a year on &he ~w Pla~ &heme. Uude~ Laboar, the &dJcme will be phaaecl out.
£60 million- just over half the cost ofthe assisted places soheme- wouJd pay tor every tive, Six
md seven yettr a1d tn he edncated in a class ofless than 30. That is how tlve. six and seven year
olds will be echacatecl in new Britaila.
But tbe prlce ofmore suppcm will bo blgb.er expectidoas of SUCQCSS. And IDOIC autiuu lu wuabill
tiilure.
Teadlers should be propedy rewarded. But if they caD.'t do the job. they dlnuld nat be teaching
at aD. Ilc;ads should provo their lcadcrslUp aldDs before they are oonsidered for a heact•s post.
Parents have duties. Cdldren do homewozk. They sllouldn't be playiq truant. And where they
are, il: is not just the schoorsjob.to do something abouth.lnn the parcats' too. We support the
clevelopmem ofhome-sehool contracts where Bt.hools and l'arents joiot.ly tab respcm.sibility for
dWdreo..
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Tougher inspectiori. Higher targets. ADd more prompt actlou when tbJnp are going wrong.
h liiOliWk harsh but it is Ad'uatly fair. If we tolerate fiilure .in our schools it is ord.illary children
that S\1ffcr and we oarmot betray their fUture.
SUikeholder Britain
But our mallenge tn he a youog eouu:tty is not just ecoaomic. It is a social and a moral challenge.
Luok at the ~kagc of our brokc;n society. See Britain through the eyes of ov children.
Are \W reaJly proud or II? Drugs, vioh:nce, yuun!SI.E:1'S hanging around stred: comers with
nothing to do.
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We 'have to have the coura.ee to build a new civic sodety, a new sooial order. Where everyone
has a stake - and everyoae plays a part.
Justice for an. kesponslblllty ftom aD.
It i~t a bargain between us and t1le people.
No-one prctcads we 0111 so)vg mcmploymaat w~ But no cleceat society can toletate these
levels oflou.g-term unempl.oymeat with all th~e ailiiwy ao.d social brcakd.own it brings.
We will tab the excess profits of the new robber baroas of Tory Britaia. in the privatised. utilltles
IIIUi use it for the mom radical proenmme nf work and education ever put forward iD. Britain.
And use that money too - md. ""cl up saving moo.cy • by sivins ~ parQilt:& th.e ohmge not to
live on benefit but to pJm their future, organise chJidcare and traiDing so they ~ tuppual
themselves and their children. Not the butt of Tory propapnda, but the citizeDs of new ttritain
who eaa. eam a wAge and look after the children they love.
Whb. opportlllli1y, 1~o.u.albility. It is absurd that the dd»ato about orimo M$ soma Wkizas of its
causes and others of the n.ee4 to pUDish crtmtnats. Sweep away the dugma. Tough oo. crime and
tough on the causes of aime.
R.ofonn o£ the Qrlmioal justice &yJtem. A ~ pmgramme to deal with juveoile
offmding, action to tao~ drug a~; proper trc8tiUedt oE victims aacl witnesses. Toqher
penalties on violeuce or guns; a craokdown on lh'*' who make In hell in tlloir loeal
neiP.bowboods thoqb. uoise or distmballce. I:'or the. lint time a Dltlonwld.e crime prevemion
ptllicy ia which in eadl comnnnrity. poJioe. schools, busimesses and local gove.romea.t plm together
how to beat h.
sutTee aime.•thc poorest and wlncrablo most of aD, it is
the duty ofgovemment to protect them. And instead of wasting lnmdred& ofmilliwlll uf pounds
nn compuJsory ID cards as tbe Tory Right demand, let 1hat OIOiley provi4e thousmds more police
oftic:ets on the beat in our local cnm~es:.
Law m4 order is a Labour il!ale. Wo Ul
But the t:nU:h is that the: bCtlt. lwu crime: prcwCilti.on poli.<liGS arc a job ad. a stable family.
A young country that wants to be a strong country C8111lot be morally neutral about the filmily.
It is the found~trinn nf any decent society. Behind strong COlDDlUJlities lie strong &milies.
Go to my ju\i~ court and you wiD. soc. Iu tho family people learn to respect and care for each
other. Destroy that in a family lllCl you CllUlOt rebuild it ill a cOWltly. In every area ofpolioy we
should be examining its etfect oa the family, seeing how we can strengthen h and keep il togeth~.
In batefits, employment, edncation ared hoiLag where we will let local authorities use the money
Ji:Uill the sale of council b.ouses to end the most teJlins obscenity of'fnry Rritaiu, that we spend
miJBaDS of pounds on slum B&.B accommodation for homeless families wh~ we could be using
thiS money to build houses to live in.
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A yntmg COUDtiy DDJSt build a new welfile lUte. It does need refom And the Party that fo1mded
it and be1ieYes ia it is the party to reform it. These lie Jaarcl a1iOicel, but they should be made wtth
jU$llce and equity.
This Party .imroduced uoiversal peD&ions. We believe they must remain the foundati.cm of pension
Jtmvildoa But we can't cure pensioner poverty simply throqh the state 1)eosion.
Some 600,000 of our elderly people ate loft hc'hhlcl beosase they clo aot claim ~DHJ~&otested
income suppon. But JD.creaslllg numbers ofpcmsionmv hav" sewwi aad third pensiOila. 'I'bt is
why we are looking at ways for people to put tosether income fi'om pubHc and private sources
to guarantee a· minimum standard ofliviog for our pensioners.
The aim.oftbQ policy is to remove the Ripa ofmeas testiag for ever, md guanntee a minimum
income that provides cligoity iP uld ·~c=. That is .o.ew Labour.
We are also thiuking thro~ new W8}'S of planning for long t«m care. We all kDow elderly
people who saved aU their lives~ and nnw s;ee their saviDgs eateo away by aurslng hon:ies costs.
And whCil we have ooqleted our examination ofdte issues we will brias fmwud propnSI'l~ tn
help them.
I dou't want an old social order. l want a new one, with rules tor today.
'; •;i:.·..
I believe in tb.e &mily. I believe in bemg toush Oil CriiDe.
Some WOU1d say that those are the moral values ofthe ript md th40'1 old-fashioned. Don't let the
Tories olaim these values as their own. - tbay are our values.
You oaa be to11gb. on c=rime md tous,b on pn-jodice tM. In any yoq COUDtry the talents of aD
ue allowed to flourish. Th.orc shoulcl be a.o cliscrimiaaticm oa. p-ounds of disability, geader. age
sexualtry or race. In us place. tolcnmw lll1d lespe«.
And I say to rhe Tories: those M.o play po1ir:ics \\ith race or immigratioo betray the ~values
o£ an.y civilised society.
And jusd()CI at wurl!.. P«rpl-= at work
mould have a stak" ia. their oo.mpaa.y. M'mimum staadards
of&imess.
A young oountry giv~ right.c; but demands responsibilities. Leave the battles of the past. BaD.ots.,
peaoc:did pketiug. proper oonduct of disputes, these Jaws are stayins. Bm there will be new rights
for an tndividu..bo at work. A Labour &OVef.OlJlCllt ....,;n be part otthe Soeial Chapter.
Part-tb:De employees win no lou.ger be treated. as second class c:ittmo.s. There wiD be an end Lu
u.ro-bnurs contracts. Yotmg people will be properly protected against under-age working.
Joiuing a trade Udion wi11 be a matter offi-ee cllnice. But where tbat choice is exercised, there will
bel a ri;ht to rcp:reSCQtation. md 'Where a majority want it, a risJn to union Tect\gnition.
There is another piece ofllllfillished business in tbe fidd. ofindm;trial malio.o.s. For tc:u. years, good
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a:a.d patrioric \VOrken. at C'.CHQ have been cleDied the right to join a ftee unicm. Under Labour
they will be P., it back.
One other tbiDg. Keir Hardie di41l't achlevo a mfnJmnm wap for Brltam. Nvr did Attlee. Nor did·
Harold WilsoD. Nor did Im CaDagban. New lAbour wiB. introchlce • statutory mjnhmDJ1 wage for
Britain. Not bnildmg a workforce \\here fear is the spur or itlsecurity the inceative, but a
workforce ofpArt~Lars committed to a new 8Dd dynamic Britain at tMnrlc.
Modern Publie Seniees for the People
A yoang ~oiDitl'y, new Britain, will sweep away the dngma ftom our public services. They need
ldOdomising, bu.t keep them as pubHo services azul make them smre the public asliDw not vested
i11terests ofauy 1dDd We created tbe NHS. We win sa~e h. And we will chanse it for the better.
1bat £1 billion in extra administratic:m that the Tories have spalt OD bureaucracy, accountants and
compmy cars ~uld be apeat on hed~ and patieots and DUl'SeS. Let the intemal market that pits
hospital agaiast hospital oeuo. Let our system ofGP Commissionins replace the GP fimclhnlding
that has created thhi colitly mllwo-t.icc system. And let the NHS work as a ~ apin. Let the
doctors do wbat tb.e doctors sb.ould do. Care for the sick. not be fbn:ed Lo II.IIk~ 1 lnasio.ess of
them.
Today, we IUDlOUilCG 1 proposal &om Professor ltobert W"mston, in the audience today, one of
the world'~ lwdiog cousulta.ots.
It is about bow we can use ted:mology to create regional ceattes of excellmce ID speCialist care,
directly linked up throUJh our supeddah'WBY proposals. to local hospkals and surprles. He is
passionate not just about clefeadms the NHS bnt abnut impi'O'Yiq it. He is also a passionate
liUIJPUiter ofthia Party. Working fo-r Labour, WOl'kias for Britaia
Sweep away the dopa of the matket io. trmsport 1114 the eaviroD.r:Dent. Ollr cities cong~ uw
mads a drivel's Di.ghtmare, our railways reduced to such a state that their latest timetable has as
111811Y &lse promisee as a T oey P.Tty manif~o.
tbis Dadon needs a piOpCr Dativwsl ~transport syatgm that &er:Vfi the .neecls of the people
md safeguards the enviroamalt. And we sbould sit down as a wunta y and plan it. Not wait for
the .ftee..market to build it· but plan it together.
Now lQt m: make one tbias clear. I don~ sive blank cheques in any area of policy, including this.
No matter whaL the 1u:~es.
But to an..vone tlrinking of grabbing our railways, buill up over the years., so they can make a ql!Wk.
profit u nur network is broken up and sold oft I say this: There will be a pub.licly owned and
publicly occoUDtable railway system under a l.abour aovemment.
And we wW save the hundreds ofuaiUi.ollS of pounds still bciue speat ou sellia.s our railways to
upgrade our service and modernise our Ua.es.
10
�The privatised utilities will be properly replated..
We have plans 1hr me Lottery too. 11&" lottecy p.wfits ~be goiq to good 0Ali.S88 Camelot
have six years of their contract to nm. A Labour govemmelit wiD. be: ~lUng aa oJiiQcltt
nnn.profb: makina promoter so we can release more moDe)' for the beDe6i of good causes in
Britain. We will also be seeking wra~ af ensuring that the views of lottery players themselves
are takca into accoUDt whcD.louery pG1lel& cleoide how the takiap are spe:at. Tt iA the people's
lottery. The people should get mu•~ out of it.
Deaaocratie Brlt•ID
But nowhere is a yuWJ!, couo.uy more needed than in our politics.
We will change the old and dead political culnJre ofTUJ)I 8ritllin.
Where it ;~ right. we will co-operate as well u oppose. Oa coastkotional change.
On Nut !.hem Ireland. I will not play poJitioal games with peace process in No:rthem Trelnd.
'lhe peace is too imponant for 'dutt.
Tt i11 time to end the Tory sleaze. TDDC.to sweep away the qu.mgo state. Time to take power
back from big govemment and sha1e it witlnhe people.
Scotland Sba1l have Irs Par~ut. Wales will haw ill Asecmhly. They will be legislated fOr ia
the .first year. People W1l1 have a say over how thedr b.ealtb eduaaliun, btw aad order ~ arQ
run.
A YO\JD!' COlDLUy shouldn't be fiisbtenecl of s:u.ch chanae Tt wm strengthen Brilain. The only
thing that tbreat.aa~ the Union is a govem.mc:nt that refUses year oa year to &stE!Il to the people.
London. our Areat capital, will be nm by a directly electecl authority like any other wpiUd And
i( mtime, the regions of England wmt a .greater say ia their health and education and police and
transport, thaD that too can come; ·
We will rebuild local government and en'-' the Jllllddlcd system of rate oappms.
Anti with it a change in the relationship between citizen and state. A l''reed.om oflnformarion Act
for central and local govemment
An end to hereditary p=r~ ~i.u.lo.g 1n the: House of Lonis as the first step to a proper directly
elected second chamber.
And the chanc.e for the people to decide after the election the system by whicb. they elect the
Oovct'IUIJICIU of the future.
Tbe Tories set up the Nolan CoiDIDit.t~ oJJ Standards iD Publio Life. They are rctusing to
implement it because it forces 'l'ory MPs to say wbat,they eam 1luw outside eonsultancics. We
11
�ww11 implement it. Jn full
Stroa~
Britain
A young coUDtry proud of its identity and it~ place in the world. not living :in its history but
gruping the opportuni!Q of'the kurc. It is o disgrace that the Couervative Party have reduced
British foreign pollcy in Europe to the level uf a joke. Of QOUI$C Europe uQQd reform. Wo haw
Jed caDs to reimn the CAP and tbe llldutions of Europe. Of course, if'there are 1b:rther Ktt:pat Lu
imegrado~~w the people should have their say, at a gemeral.election or in a reterendum. BUt ~urope
i& a vital part of our national iu.te..est Tn he Kidelined wnhout influence is not a betrayal of
[moope. It is a ·betrayal ofBdtain. There is now a srowius part oftbe Tory Party that would take
Brhim out of Europe altugc:thcr. ThaL would be a disaster for joba and businesses. I say this in
all honesty to my countty. We can't be half in and balf out for ever. 1bis Wlllll.ry ~uuld be leading
in Europe and under Labour it will.
A nation that will sund up for the rights of other ulltioas, as in Rnaia.
A nation that will stand up for our allies \Wen right, and mU.c 11 st&D.d whco thQY are 'M'OJl& as
we do \\ben we condemn without reservation the decislon by Fnmce to cany out nuclear testing
mthe Snuth Pacific.
A uatioo. that q proud .to welcoDIQ its mends &om abroa~ as we will OD Thunday with the viRit
oflhabo Mbe1d, and is doably proud when it. wu prepaml to support tbom ill prison ad aot just
iii govemmeut A nation tbat will never, fin' the sake of shon·term electoral advmtagc, actlll~e
our overseas aid budget for the poorest people in the world - mel shame on those Tories who
sussestit.
A young cowmy, equipped for the fbtuR with a just society tu1d a new
understanding of its role in tbe world.
po~s
and a clear
I w.mt to make thi~ flledge today to me whole country, and especiaJly to those who despairiDg of
Polilioians hAve almost giveu up hope of ~e.
·
That the party llead will cany out in govemmcml the prog.c&IDIDQ we provide in our Manifesto
beforehand.
Nothlug more. nothing less, that is my word
We deliver what we promise. We don't promise
whaL we: ca.u't dclivcr.
Is that not a vision worth fighting tor'!
But cu you not 'Rlrearly ~the foundations of new Britain being Jaid?
Ahead in teclw.ulugy. Schoob tra:nsf'ol'lllcd. The NHS restored and saved Police patrolling the
streets and a new battle agaJost crime Democracy and polrnc1 renewed The homeless in houses
12
�not on the meets. An integrated transport system, a Dational network ot' road and raiL PaltD.ersbip
betweeo e;nvemment and husmess. public and private sector to create the dynamic economy we
need. J\ direct ~ack on. long tenu unemployment. Real help that 'Will get sinale panmts off
Welfare mcJ. WlU WUI.'J...
.
Feel new Britain come alive. Feel the vitality that can course tbrougb. this co\Ultl')"S veins and
make it ymmg again. Rise. together, to the challenge.
N~w
Labour oaDllot create new Britain alone.
I cha1lenge this country: Let US· rouse ourse.tves to a new moral puzpose tbr our nadoa. To build
a new and young countrY that can lay aside the old prejudices that have dominated our land for
semerations. A nation fi:tr an the people, l:nrilt hy aD the people. Old div&cms cast out. A aew spirit
io the nation. Working tosc:tb.cr. Umty. Solida:r:&y. Partnership. Oae Britaill. 'Ibat is the patrioti~
for the future. Where never agKi:o clu w~ .Gght OW' politi<;s by appealiq to one scotian of om
nation at the expense of another. Where your ch1ld In distress is my ohlld, your p~Rnl iD. 1111d in
pain, is my parent. your friend unemployed or he)pless, my friend, you neighbour my neighbour.
That i& the true ~atriorimn nf a nation.
So that tog"lh~ we: do wake this the yo1JD8 couutzy of my SCDeration's dreams.
50 years from the war. 5 years from a new millennium. A turning point in our blstory.
Be $trOllS and.ofsood courage. Tbe Tories wiD teD :ynu ir. can&t be done. They wiD lie about you.
'l'lu=y will lie about me. 'Ihe:y will lie about themselves.
But do not let fear drive out hope.
The coming election ii not a ~·~1e fot- political power. It is a battle for the soul of om nation.
And I say to you my party. Bo strong and of sood courage..
The Labour Party that first won gjppon fiom me British people wu .llCW Labour.
1945 was nf!W T.ahnur.
1964
WMS
uc:w Labour
Both new Labour because both had tbe courage to take the values of the Labour Pauly aud use
them nnt fnr the world as it was, but for the world a& they wauted it to be.
Ancl uew Labour now, ready in 1995 to build new Britain.
During the VJ Day celebrations, I was on tbe platform with Tucy wi.lllsters. And as WQ wa1kcd
down the Ma1l,. there were thousands of people, holding their Uo.ion Jacks, and h soon becam:=
clear • to the h.oiTor nf rhe Tories - that many of them were Labour. They were waving and
•outing and urging me to "set the Tori.e5 out. •nese Are nur people. They love this country, .iust
as we do. It il; ~use they love this OO'UIIll'y mat they look to US to chqe it. SlJ let. UA ~ay with
13
�pride We are patriots. This is the patriotic party. Because it is the people's party.
As the Tude~ w&:Ye their Union Jacks ne."Ct week, I know what so many people will be thinking.
1 .know 'Mlat the people wmt lu say to those Tories:
It i~~: nn good waving the &bric of our flag when you have spent 16 yean; Lcau i&lg apart the fabric
of our natio:D.
Tearing apan the bmuh; lblll tie ~nmnmirics together and make u£ a united Kingdon Tearing
apart the ser;urky of' those people, clutching their Uuioa Jacks, swdling with pride at tbeir victory
nver t)'J'IDJlY, and yeDiag at me to "get those Tories out," because they waot security, b~ause
they waot to leavP. a better world for their drlldren and their graodchik:lnm than they creat~ fuL
thQIDSC}vQs aud know the Tories camtOt tin it.
Decent people. Good people. Pani.uli\; people. When I hoar people urging us to fieht for "our
people,'' 1 teD. you: These are our people. they are the majuLily. And we must serve them, and
build that new Britain. that young country, for their children and their famllie~~~.
1 make tht~w this promise now. I win do all I can to get the Tories out. And I wiD devote every
breath that I breatbe, every Sinew or my body. to c:nsuring that your srandclilldren do get to live
in t:bal new Britain in a new and better world.
DisQipline. Courase. Determination. Hone&ty. The victory can be won.
The prize is immenx. It is D.cw Britain. One BritaiD. The people "nited by shared values and
shared aims. A Oovemment governing fbr all Lh~ people. The p81ty founded by the people, back.
truly, as the people's puty.
NQW Labour. Now Britain. The party rmewed. The country reborn. New Labour. New Britain.
14
TOTAL r.1G
�EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
. COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS
. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20500
THE CHAIFIMAN
October 7, 1995
:MEMORANDUM FOR DON BAER ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND COORDINATOR
OF STRATEGIC PLANNING/COMMUNICATIONS
FROM:
JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ, CHAIRMANt
MARTIN BAILY. l\1EMBER ~\)'\
ALICIA MUNNELL, .:MEMBER-NO
~.\'\. ·
SUBffiCT:
President Clinton's Williamsburg Speech
As we promised, we are forwarding some additional information for a possible
speech in Williamsburg on economic growth. We· have worked with Dan Sichel of
Treasury on the outliile; Bob Rubin has given us· his ideas and has seen this draft.
They may wish to have further input if the speech goes forward.
Attachment
I
S00/Z00'd
8S69 S6£ Z0Z
�Contacts:
Martin Baily: 395-5046
Alicia Munnell: 395-5036
Dan Sichel: 622-0563
CEA/freasury DRAFT
10-7-95
Outline for POTUS Business· Council Speech
I.
The American economy bas experienced strong growth over the last 2 1/l
years~ Some say we should be able to sustain and increase this growth rate
in the years to come.
•
I know many of you are interested in this important issue. We as a country
should set our sights high.
•
Need to separate the question of Administration forecasts for budget purposes
from our goals for future economic growth.
I.
II.
•
o
•
nt.
o ·
Need for credible projections in the budget process• We cannot include our
aspirations in our economic forecasts when making budget projecti()ns.
' We. cannot re-enact the 1980s when rosy scenarios led to exploding Federal
budget deficits. ,
We must ensure that financial markets find our forecasts credible, because only
then will market participants lower expectations about interest rates.
For these reasons, we have been cautious in our budget projections. In fact. we
. have consistently underestimated employment growth and overestimated
inflation. There have been no rosy scenarios from this Administration.
Moderate growth numbers for budgetary purposes do not conflict with the
pursuit of high growth as a goal.
The business community deserves congratulations for the growth we have
enjoyed in the last 2-1/2 years as the economy returned to full employment.
The private sector invests and the private sector creates jobs, not the
government.
S1211!1/£121121' d
8S69 S6£ 2:121G
ll:Sl
S66l-~121-lJO
�-2
This Administration helped create the climate for a stronger economy.
OBRA 1993 fundamentally altered the outlook for the Federal budget
deficit.
Stable fmancial environment enhanced the confidence. of
companies to invest in plants and equipment and to hire workers.
You responded by creating an inv~strnent·led recovery.
•
The economy is .no longer in recession, and we must now be concerned about
long-term economic growth.
•
· To increase longwtenn economic growth, we must enhance the skills, capital and
technology that our managers and workers have available to· them.
Here again the private sector must take the initiative. but government can
help by ens':11'ing a stable economic environment, and by contributing to
investment of all kinds.
And that is precisely what we have started to do over these last 2Mll2
years.
We have emphasized education and training of our workers, so
.that they will have the skills they ~eed to be productive in our new
high-tech society.
··
We have promoted research and development. so that we can
increase the pace of ~hnological change.
We have opened markets and promoted exports for U.S. goods
around the world in order to expand our productive, high-wage
industries.
NAFfA and OATI lowered barriers to trade, providing an
upward lift to growth in the long run.
·
--
We have just e~sed export controls for high-technology
products, providing further opportunities for expansion of
this dynamic sector of our economy.
·
We have reduced the burden of regulation on business and streamlined
the Federal Government to make it more efficient.
S00/v00'd
8S69 S6£ Z0Z
�3
IV.
Even though progress has been made so ·rar, we need to do more to create
an environment for stronger sustainable growth.
•
First, we want to build on OBRA 93 and complete the task of balancing the
budget. This will free up the resources needed for increased private sector
investment in new factories, offices and research facilities. Balancing the
budget will also bring the cost of capital down further. ·
•
Let me be clear,. we want to balance. the budget, but we want to do it in a way
that e~ourages economic growth.
Cutting back on investments in education and technology is the wrong
way: a deficit reduction package based on such cutbacks will be
counterproductive. Rather· than enhancing economic growth, it may
·actually retard it.
·
o
In addition, we must continue to reduce the burden of regulation and to give
more freedom and flexibility to business while preserving the goals ·of
improving the health and safety of America.
•
We must continue to. open markets for our goods and services around the world.
•
·The policies this Administration has enacted and the policies we are proposing
are the right ones to raise long~term economic· growth. Unfortunately these
growth-enhancing policies take a long time to come to fruition, so we must be
both persistent and patient. . , .
V.
This Administration's. number one priority is improving the living
standards for all Americans.
•
The message I want to leave with you today is that growth is the number one ·
priority of this Administration. Our growth rate should be higher. ·Standards of
living· should rise faster.
o
S00/SBB.'d
But administrations don't cause economic growth: the private sector does. ·The
government can help by creating a receptive environment. But we rieed you to
ensure higher growth to raise the living standards of our children and our
children's children.
8S69 S6£
~0~
~t:St
S66t-l.B-1JO
�Daily Mirror
October 4, 1995, Wednesday
PARTY FOR PATRIOTS; I LOVE MY COUNTRY BUT I HATE WHAT THE
TORIES HAVE DONE TO IT. THE COMING ELECTION WILL BE A BATTLE
FOR THE VERY SOUL OF OUR NATION
BYLINE: Conference Reporting Team: David Bradshaw, Nigel Morris, Kevin Maguire,
Richard Gamer, Jill Palmer, And Sheree Dodd
TONY Blair unveiled his vision of a Britain reborn yesterday - pledging to harness
people's talents and energy to build a new nation ready to take her place in the world again.
In a passionate 65 minute speech he mixed detailed plans for government with a patriotic
rallying call to the country to join new Labour's moral crusade.
He told the conference: "Socialism to me was never about nationalisation or the power of
the state.
"Not just about economics or politics even - it is a moral purpose of life,a set of values, a
belief in society, in co-operation, in achieving together what we cannot achieve alone.
"It is how I live my life. The simple truths: I am worth no more than anyone else, I am
my brother's keeper, I will not walk by on the other side.
But putting these beliefs into action needed the modernisation of the party.
Values
"I believe that if we had not changed, if we had not returned our party to our values, freed
from the weight of outdated ideology, we could not change the country. We could not win
and even if we did, we would not have governed in the way Britain needs.
"I do not want a one-term Labour government that dazzles for a moment, then ends in
disillusion. I want a government that governs for a generation and changes Britain for good.
"I have spent 16 years being angry, passionate anq indignant about youngpeople huddled
in doorways, families made wretched by unemployment, the poor unable to make ends meet.
"I am fed up by anger. They don't need our anger - they need action. They will get it not
through the rage of opposition but through a Labour party that has the courage to take hard
choices, get into government and do something for them.
�But he warned: "The hard choices get harder in government- when we refuseto take risks
with inflation because this country can't be built on boom and bust.
Record
"When we want more children at university but know that means that thoughthe Student
Loan Scheme will be replaced, we face hard choices about its replacement. .
"And on public sector pay, when a Labour government, like any other, willhave to say no
as well as yes.
"I love my party. I just hate it being in opposition. I love my country andl hate what the
Tories have done to it.
"Every promise ever made, broken - taxes, unemployment, crime, NHS,education. It is a
record of incompetence and dishonesty on an epic scale.
"And now they plead, 'Trust us one more time'.
"I say to the people: 'There are two sides to a deal. They gave their word,you gave your
vote. They broke their word and they don't deserve your vote ever again'."
He went on: "This is a new age, to be led by a new generation. My generationwere born
into the welfare state and the NHS, the market economy. We had money in our pockets never
dreamed of by our parents.
"My generation enjoy a thousand material advantages over any previousgeneration. And
yet we suffer a depth of insecurity and spiritual doubt they never knew - the family
weakened, society divided, elderly people in fear of crime, children abused.
"Mine is the generation with more freedom than any other but less certaintyin how to
exercise it responsibly, the generation that knocks on the door of a new millennium frightened
for our future and unsure of our soul."
Britain faced the challenges of a new age but remained "an old country"whose history "has
left us for too long defining our nation not by what unites us but by what divides us - a class
system unequal and antiquated, a social fabric tattered and torn, a politics where dogma drives
out common sense.
"And where, if we do not change course, we will have two classes of healthservice, two
classes of state school, two Britains - one on welfare, another paying for it.
"I want us to be a young country again with a common purpose, with ideals wecherish and
live up to, not resting on past glories, not fighting old battles.
"Not saying, 'This was a great country' but 'Britain can and will be a greatcountry again'."
�It would play its full part in Europe, "a vital part of our nationalinterest. To be sidelined
without influence is not a betrayal of Europe, it's a betrayal of Britain."
Electrifying
The family would be at the centre of Labour's crusade. "It is the foundationof any decent
society. In the family people learn to respect and care for each other. Destroy that in a family
and you cannot rebuild it in a country."
In an electrifying finale he appealed to the country to join the crusade.
"Feel new Britain come alive. Feel the vitality that can course through thiscountry's veins
and make it young. Rise together to the challenge. New Labour cannot create new Britain
alone."
And he ended: "This coming election is not a struggle for political power -it is a battle for
the soul of the nation."
TECHNOLOGY
EVERY school, office, library and hospital, and 21 million homes willbenefit from a new
industrial revolution signalled by Tony Blair.
Talks between Labour and British Telecom pave the way for a pounds
15billionsuper-highway to transform communications.
And as the network is built, BT has agreed to connect all schools, colleges,hospitals and
libraries .. .for free.
Succeed
"BT gets the chance to win new markets but the nation gets the chance tosucceed," said
Mr Blair.
Millions of miles of high-quality cables will replace existing copper phonelines to give
clear pictures on computers and TVs.
It will mean people being able to watch videos by phone and to shop bygazing at 3-D
supermarket aisles.
Schools will use the computers to teach everything from the 3Rs to thelatest information
technology.
And doctors will even be able to body-scan patients hundreds of miles away.
�The talks between BT and Labour show big business preparing for a newgovemment.
CWU communications union chief Tony Young said: "Britain can once again beat the
forefront of technological revolution."
LOTTERY
LABOUR will commission a non-profit- making Lottery operator when Camelot'scontract
runs out in the year 2000.
The change would release millions of extra pounds every year for goodcauses.
It will also shake up the membership of the Lottery boards to give ordinarypunters a say in
where the hand-outs go.
As Tony Blair declared: "It's the people's lottery. The people should getmore out of it."
JOBS & INDUSTRY
A PACKAGE to give people secure jobs and end long-term unemployment was MrBlair's
radical pledge.
He promised that Labour would build "a workforce of partners committed to anew and
dynamic Britain at work."
A minimum legal wage will also be introduced to end exploitation at work.
Part-timers will get a right to holidays and the European Social Chapter -ensuring good
working conditions - will be signed.
Employers will be forced to recognise unions if a majority of a firm'sworkers join.
But union ballots and a ban on mass picketing will remain.
And public-private partnerships will be encouraged for key services.
WELFARE
THERE will be a new look welfare state under Labour.
"A young country must build a new welfare state," said Mr Blair. "It doesneed reform.
And the party that founded it and believes in it is the party to reform it."
Dramatic action to help single mums break out of the benefits trap andsupport for all
pensioners to enjoy their old age was promised by Mr Blair.
�Labour social security experts are even now looking at ways to put cash fromthe state and
private pensions together to guarantee a minimum income for pensioners.
There will also be action to ease the plight of pensioners whose life- timesavings vanish
when they go into nursing homes.
Single mums will be able to top up pay with benefits - encouraging them tofind jobs.
Labour will help by offering them new skills training and aid with childcarecosts.
RAIL
LABOUR will halt rail privatisation and put a publicly owned system back together.
Mr Blair warned those hoping to buy parts of the network that they will not be allowed to
make "quick" profits.
"There will be a publicly owned and publicly accountable railway system," hesaid.
"We will save the hundreds of millions of pounds still being spent onselling our railways
to upgrade our service and modernise our lines."
HEALTH
THE National Health Service will get a new lease of life under Labour.
Mr Blair told the conference: "We created the NHS. We will save it. And wewill change it
for the better.
"That pounds !billion in extra administration that the Tories have spent onbureaucracy,
accountants and company cars could be spent on beds, patients and nurses."
He said the internal market that pits hospital against hospital will cease. "Doctors should be
allowed to care for the sick, not make a business of them."
There will be a GP commissioning system where doctors in an area worktogether to
provide the best service for their patients.
It will replace GP fundholding, which has created a costly two-tier system.Medics could
then put the care of a patient before the cost of treating them.
And there will be specialist care centres linked to local hospitals andsurgeries.
�LAW & ORDER
TONY Blair promised a nationwide crusade to tackle Britain's law and ordercrisis.
Police, councils and businesses would be brought together to help preventcrime in their
areas.
And a Labour government would help by putting more bobbies on the beat.
Labour also plans tougher penalties for violent and armed criminals, and ashake-up of the
court system.
There will be a new drive against juvenile offenders, a blitz on drugdealers and youth
education about the perils of drugs.
"We all suffer crime - the poorest and vulnerable most of all. It is theduty of government
to protect them," said Mr Blair.
GOVERNMENT
POWER would be wrenched from "big government" and shared with the people, MrBlair
promised. "We will change the old and dead political culture of Tory Britain," he said.
Labour will begin setting up a Scottish Parliament and a Welsh Assemblywithin a year of
taking office, and is committed to establishing super- councils in English regions.
Mr Blair also promised to stop hereditary peers sitting in the House ofLords.
EDUCATION
EVERY school will have fair and equal funding under Labour, with no returnto selection,
whether academic or social, Mr Blair pledged.
Every child should have access to a laptop computer, and every three andfour -year-old
will have a nursery place.
A Labour government will tackle the scandal of rising class sizes as apriority.
Confident
Education chiefs are confident classes of over 30 will be outlawed for fiveto
seven-year-olds within the lifetime of a Parliament.
Labour will use the pounds 1OOmillion a year saved by scrapping the Tories'subsidies for
private schools to pay for more primary teachers and assistants.
�Every child will be tested when they start school to see if they need extrahelp with reading
and writing.
The schools revolution will also bring in new powers to weed out badteachers.
Mr Blair said: "Education is the best economic policy there is for a modemsociety. The
more you learn, the more you earn."
Schools supremo David Blunkett will this month talk with education chiefs,and with
computer companies to provide every pupil with access to a laptop computer.
��
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Don Baer
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Office of Communications
Don Baer
Date
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1994-1997
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<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36008" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7431981" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
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2006-0458-F
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Donald Baer was Assistant to the President and Director of Communications in the White House Communications Office. The records in this collection contain copies of speeches, speech drafts, talking points, letters, notes, memoranda, background material, correspondence, reports, excerpts from manuscripts and books, news articles, presidential schedules, telephone message forms, and telephone call lists.
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Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
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537 folders in 34 boxes
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Labor Speech
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Office of Communications
Don Baer
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2006-0458-F
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Box 14
<a href="http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/2006/2006-0458-F.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7431981" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
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Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
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42-t-7431981-20060458F-014-018-2014
7431981