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FOIA Number:
2006-0470-F
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the William J. Clinton
Presidential Library Staff.
Collection/Record Group:
Clinton Presidential Records
Subgroup/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting
Series/Staff Member:
Lowell Weiss
Subseries:
17196
OA/ID Number:
FolderlD:
Folder Title:
6/9/99 Racial Profiling [2]
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�Withdrawal/Redaction Sheet
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
AND TYPE
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
001. note
Ruled notebook paper, "be aware: double standard, Littleton brought
attn." [partial] (1 page)
n.d.
P6/b(6)
002. note
"Bradshaw autograph, Honey, Richard Jerome..." [partial] (2 pages)
n.d.
P6/b(6)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Speechwriting
Weiss, Lowell
OA/Box Number:
171%
FOLDER TITLE:
6/9/99 Racial Profiling [2]
2006-0470-F
wr242
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - |44 U.S.C. 2204(a)|
Freedom of Information Act - |S U.S.C. 552(b)]
PI
P2
P3
P4
b(l) National security classified information |(bXl) of the FOIA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
an agency 1(b)(2) of the FOIA]
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute 1(b)(3) of the FOIA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
information 1(b)(4) of the FOIA)
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy 1(b)(6) of the FOIA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes 1(b)(7) of the FOIA]
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
financial institutions 1(b)(8) of the FOIA]
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
concerning wells 1(b)(9) of the FOIA]
National Security Classified Information |(aXl) of the PRA|
Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA|
Release would violate a Federal statute 1(a)(3) of the PRA|
Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
financial information 1(a)(4) of the PRAj
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
and his advisors, or between such advisors |a)(5) of the PRA]
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy 1(a)(6) of the PRA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
of gift.
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
2201(3).
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
�FACSIMILE TRANSMISSION COVER SHEET
Office of the Deputy Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Rm. 4216
Washington, D.C. 20530
FAX NO. 202-514-6897
PHONE NO. 202-514-1855
DATE: 6/2/99
PLEASE DELIVER TO:
FIRM/AGENCY:
CITY/STATE:
RECIPIENT TEL.:
RECIPIENT FAX:
WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON, D.C.
456-2577
SUBJECT: Attorney General's Police Integrity/Trust Building Conference
SENDER:
BRIAN A. JACKSON
Associate Deputy Attorney General
REMARKS/COMMENTS:
TOTAL NUMBER OF PAGES (INCLUDING THIS COVER SHEET): 3
The information contained in this facsimile message is confidential and intended only for the use of the
recipient named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination
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�06/02/99
13:45
© 2 0 2 514 6897
DAG
[21002/003
DRAFT
POLICE INTEGRITY/TRUST BUILDING CONFERENCE
Washington, D.C.
June 9-10, 1999
L
v
,
AGENDA
June 9,1999
9:00 - 9:30
Opening Session
Remarks by the Attorney General
Introduction of Principal Facilitators, and
Conference Overview
9:30- 10:30
Presentation by Billy Johnston/Jimmy Jones
Facing History and Ourselves
10:30 - 10:45
10:45 - 1:00
1:00-2:15
2:15-2:30
BREAK
Roundtable Discussion
Moderated by DAG Holder
Luncheon
Keynote Speaker:
AAG Bill Lann Lee
BREAK
. a
Ot^Jr'^
�06/02/99
13:45
© 2 0 2 514 6897
DAG
2:30 - 5:00
Breakout Group Meetings
Data Collection/Profiling
Police Management Techniques
Use of Force Policies
Recruitment/Hiring
Community Partnering
5:30-7:00
121003/003
Reception
7:30- 8:00
Working Breakfast
Presentation by Community Relation
Service Director Rose Ochi
8:00 - 10:00
Breakout Group Meetings (Con't)
10:00-10:15
BREAK
10:15 - 11:45
Breakout Group Reports and Conference Wrap Up
To Be Moderated By ASG Ray Fisher, each
group to be allocated 20 minutes to report on
results discussion, action plan, and plans for
future meetings
11:45 - 12:00
Closing Remarks
Professor Charles Ogletree
Harvard Law School
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Lowell Weiss
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
REMARKS ON RACIAL PROFILING AND POLICE MISCONDUCT
WASHINGTON, DC
June 9, 1999
e
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
proud of progress pn^rime u
proud of expanding community policing -- out from behind closed doors .
^
restoring trust in police - ^ J M <^^€aj^ r ^ L - s
— j J \-^~> ^ Z T " ^ - '
restoring trust in govt.
^
we need more police not less, more community policing
traffic stops legitimate tool
but there's no defending practice of racial profiling; outrageous - wrong legally and morally
anecdotes from friends re being stopped by police, etc.
c
Ray Fisher: racial profiling, Dialo and Luima, civil rights
Committed to law enforcement.
FOP, IACP anti data collection.
Continuation of dialog.
May be points of disagreement, different perceptions (including on profiling)
We're not here to take sides, here to facilitate dialog. Bring people together, not to drive
wedges. Not get people isolated on issue of profiling.
Perception issue. Community perception. African American community and other communities
of color. Lack of confidence. Generated by profiling and use of force. Not, are cops good or bad.
How do we go about addressing perception issue itself. Confidence in police is necessary to do
good policing. African American communities need good policing. Large majority still does
view law enforcement positively. Way you build trust is by doing things together. Cleaning up
abandoned housing - community policing efforts are geared toward this. Do have to say at the
end of conference, not just dialog but to move toward plan of action for the future. Commitment
from each of them to work with us to develop that plan.
Buzzword: problem solving. Community police approach is not just talking but deciding.
Outreach and dialog. Driven by community. Identify what problems are. Deal with them in
problem-solving mode.
Civil rights: minority concerns bring them into the dialog. Not lip service. Accountability.
Eric Holder: Balance. Both groups. Minority communities disproportionately affected by crime.
Need good policing. Need good relationship. Policing cannot be effective. Perceptions just as
important as reality.
Eric Holder NJ legislators. Revealed to them stopped by NJ state police. College. NJ turnpike.
Coming out of rest stop. Hamburger in hand. State trooper. Would you mind having car searched
�52/17/99
WED 1 4 ; 0 1 FAX
President William J . Clinton
February 17,1999
Page Two
Wheeler Avenue in the Bronx. The assailants were four police
officers who fired forty-one shots at him in a matter of seconds, hitting
him with nineteen of the bullets.
Amadou Diallo wasn't armed with a Uzi machine gun. All he
had on him was a beeper and some house keys. He wasn't a viole nt
criminal. In fact, he'd never been arrested. Amadou wasn't a dnjg
dealer. He was a street vendor, struggling gamely to earn a decent
living.
Amadou Diallo lived scrupulously by America's rules. Yet he
died at the hands of our law enforcement officers and has new
returned to his homeland in a coffin. He is the latest on a list of black
victims who in recent years have met senseless violence or death at
the hands of police officers.
Last week, Pittsburgh took its place, again, in the hall of
shame. A white police officer was arrested for shooting a black
motorist named Deron Grimmett to death last December. Evidently
the driver had slowed down to peer through the side window at the
policeman who was making a drug arrest. This is probably the finst
case on record in which so-called "rubbemecking" is considered a
capital offense.
Horrific cases like these capture headline coverage, But day
in and day out, there are lower profile encounters that undermine
trust and foment tension as well. In a column published in 777© New
York Times on February 10th, David Gonzalez recounted ths
experience of Floyd Coleman, a 27-year-old youth worker with an
agency called Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice. A few weeks
ago, he and four teenaged friends were stopped and frisked by the
police. What triggered the encounter? Evidently it was the fact thsit
they were walking home from the movies after dark.
The encounter further embittered Mr. Coleman toward tho
police. As he said:
"It makes me want to cry. Here I am, steering young people in
the right direction and doing things for them. And we have
cops approaching us for no reason. I feel like we're in prison.
�1)2/17/99
WED 14:01 FAX
President William J . Clinton
February 17,1999
Page Three
There are no bars, but the cops are like corrections officers
standing around and watching you."
In his column in last Sunday's 7/mes, Bob Herbert shared the
stories of other young people who'd had similarly frightening
encounters with police officers. The very next day, the newspaper
ran a front-page story on the elite street crimes unit established by
New York City to reign in violent crime and gun-related offenses. In
their gung-ho aggressiveness, though, this unit has instituted a rein of
terror in the city's neighborhoods which is trampling on the civil
liberties of civilians and fueling widespread racial tension.
The notorious practice of racial profiling is anothef source of
suspicion and tension. Though law enforcement agencies steadfasliy
deny it, the practice has been documented by the ACLU ard others in
several lawsuits. These profile stops often anger innocent civilians
and can escalate into dangerous confrontations.
These snapshots of police misconduct were taken just in
recent weeks. Yet the patterns of abuse have plagued the nation's
cities for years. At first blush, they seem to be unconnected incidents
that are isolated to this community or that. But the cumula tive impact
on constructive race relations all across the country is devastating.
Black and Latino people read newspapers, watch television and tune
into radio like everybody else. The word of these senseless
encounters and systemic abuses spreads like wildfire throughout our
communities. They claim victims all across the socioeconomic
spectrum.
Nor can these acts be taken out of America's historical
context. The bitter memory of lynchings and of beatings by the likes
of Bull Connor is still too real. These sores have not healed, ami
cannot, when acts of instant injustice are meted out on America's
streets against innocent people of color. Silence will not provide ia
salve to those who think their pain is unanswered. Inaction allows the
sore to fester longer.
Mr. President - State and municipal politicians and criminal
justice officials who revel in crime reduction statistics have no
incentive whatsoever to tackle this issue forthrightly. They lack the
�o 5
^
�WASHINGTON
Richardson: U.S. won't
slam lab doors on world
Energy Secretary BUI Richardson said tl>e Clinton administration willflghtany efforttobar foreign scientists from
US. research labs, where a bipartisan congressional panel
found evidence of widespread Chinese spying. "We will fight
aggressively any proposal to close off our science," Richardson said in dedicating a new particle accelerator at Fermi National Laboratory in Chicago. The congressional reportreleasedlast month said that for two decades, Chinese
spymasters looted US. nuclear secrets.
WAR TALK: Republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan escalated his criticism of US. involvement in the
Balkan War, calling It a "strategic blunder- that has set US.
relations with Russia and China back
to Cold War levels.
"The U.S. has seen its superpower
status and reputation for decency tarnished by the merciless pounding of a
tiny country that never threatened
us," Buchanan said. 'It is neither Just
nor moral for a superpower to ravage
the dvllian economy of a country for
refusing to give up sacred land that
has belonged to Serbia for generationsBuchanan's speech at the National
Buchanan: Calls
Press Qub set him further apart from
U.S. involvement in the leading GOP contenders who
war a 'blunder'
have endorsed President Clinton's
war actions.
8*
l°.f= l i s
tiiiiiiif^
PRESIDENTIAL PAY: Consumer activist Ralph Nader
and other opponents ot doubling the next president's pay, to
1400,000, are asking 11 presidential hopefuls for their views.
Republican Elizabeth Dole came out against it last week.
TWo other Republicans gave their views Tuesday. Republican Steve Fbrbes is opposed and Lamar Alexander said, "I
should not help set the salary I willreceiveas president"
PEACE CORPS: Mark Gearan, who won congressional
plaudits for running the Peace Corps, is leaving to become
president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva,
N.Y. When Congress approved Increased funding for the
Peace Corps last month, supporters said that since Gearan
became director in 1995, the annual cost of a volunteer has
decreased MS. the US-based staff has been cut 13% and
the program remains among the nation's most successful.
HUBBELL CASE: In a victory for Independent counsel
Ken Starr, a federal appeals courtreinstateda criminal
charge against former associate attorney general Webster
Hubbell. It accuses him ofrepeatedlylying to conceal from
federal bankingregulatorswork that he and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton did for a fraudulent land development
when both were lawyere In Little Rock. A )udge had dismissed the charge as too vague.
1I3;!f!i^M5t
GOP CONVERTS: Republicans formally welcomed into
their ranks 13 more elected Democrats who switched parties, bringing the number to 408 since the 1992 elections.
The mostrecentare from the Florida Panhandle, and Republican National Chairman Jim Nicholson went on a seven-dty bus tour of the area to tout the GOP gains.
man
BUSH FUTURE: Texas Gov. George W. Bush says he's determined to "change the tone" In Washington if he becomes
president Reflecting Hiesday on a 140-day legislative session, the GOP front-runner praised Republicans and Democrats who worked together to produce $1.85 billion In tax
cuts, lower electricrates,a children's health insurance program and a Juvenile crime bill. He said he would bring similar bipartisanship to Washington.
— Jill Lawrence
Written by Paul Leavitt with staff and wire reports
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USA TODAY • WEDNESDAY. JUNE 2. 7999
�Hacker-vandals
put feds on guard
Government adds
security measures
to its Web sites
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Hackers who cause
$5,000 damage In one year
can be charged wtth a federal felony that carries up
tofiveyears in prison, said
Scott Chamey, head of the
Justice Department's comWASHINGTON — Computer puter crime section. Merehackere who vandalized govem- ly trespassing on a govemment Web sites are being hunted by ment computer without
the FBI and could face prison time, authorization can bring up
FBI and Justice Department offi- to a year in Jail.
cials said Hiesday.
Kevin Mltnlck, 35, a
The Pentagon, meanwhile, closed hacker Jailed in Los Angenonclassified military Intemet sites les since February 1995, is
Hiesday to Install security firewalls, expected to receive 46
software designed to keep hackers months In prison as part of
out Pentagon spokesman Kenneth a plea bargain. Mltnlck
Bacon said the new firewalls are pleaded guilty March 26 to
part of continuing security upgrades seven counts of wire fraud,
and are "more protective than re- computer fraud and Illegal
active" torecentcases of hacking on Interception of a wire comU M p M B by J a Botnto. TIM p M t f i . N.CJ NM» « ObMm*
such govemment Web sites as those munication. His supporters
of the White House, FBI, the Senate, are seeking hisreleaseto a Mltnlck; Fellow lackers say he already has
the Energy Department, the Interi- halfway house and proba- spent enough time locked up for his crimes.
or Department and the Defense De- tion. They sgy the four
years Mltnlck already has spent be- emment" Chamey said. These atpartment
tacks are preventing people from
Officials say that no classified mil- hind bars is enough.
On Monday, hackers defaced obtaining govemment Information.
itary Web site has been broken Into,
but that hackers did deface a Navy Web sites for the Interior Depart- It's not good for... democracy."
Last month, a grand Jury In VirWeb page In April and an Air Force ment and a federal supercomputer
lab in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Messages ginia Indicted Eric Bums, 19, on
Web site in 1996.
"It s time-consuming and takes a left at the Web sites suggest that three counts of computer Intrusion.
Bums,reportedlyknown as "Zyklot of spade work, but we can track they were attacked to retaliate
down many of these hackers, and against what the vandals called the lon," Is believed to belong to the
that's going on now," FBI spokes- FBI's harassment of hacker groups. group that claimed to have attacked
The late«« spate of attacks is out- the White House and Senate sites.
man Frank Scafldl said. "We'll catch
a few, no matter how deep they hide side a tradition of so-called "ethical
hacking devoted to opening up gov- From staff and wire reports
In their basements.."
Court action affects
media cooperation
with government
By Tony Mauro
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — News media organizations that
cooperate with the govemment could get into new
kinds of legal trouble as a result of Supreme Court action Hiesday in a case Involving CNN.
The court left standing a lower court decision that
said CNN had become a state actor, the equivalent of
a govemment official, when it Joined federal agents In
a raid on a Montana ranch in 1993 to see if endangered wildlife had been poisoned.
The ranchers, Paul and Erma Berger, claimed their
constitutional privacy rights were violated by the Joint
arrangement Last week, the Supreme Court agreed
but said the law enforcement officials could not be
held liable because the law was unclear at the time of
the raid. Tuesday's action Involved a separate part of
the ruling and allows CNN to be sued for its role.
Even though the govemment agents were Immune
from being held liable, the Issue when the case returns
to lower courts will be whether CNN shares that immunity or can be forced to pay damages to the rancher.
"Tlie notion that by working with government the
media can be found to be a state actor Is dangerous,"
says Lee Levine, lawyer for media groups in the case.
"It could affect all kinds of normal arrangements between the media and government pool coverage of
events, allowing cameras outside public buildings and
the like."
Levine also argues that last week's decision by the
Supreme Court makes this week's action less deflnItive, leaving the question of the media's legal status
and Immunity up for grabs. But Henry Rossbacher,
lawyer for the Bergers, said, "The media should be the
watchdogs of govemment. They make all kinds of mistakes when they become partners of govemment."
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�Withdrawal/Redaction Marker
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
AND TYPE
001. note
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
Ruled notebook paper, "be aware: double standard, Littleton brought
attn." [partial] (1 page)
n.d.
RESTRICTION
P6/b(6)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Speechwriting
Weiss, Lowell
OA/Box Number:
17196
FOLDER TITLE:
6/9/99 Racial Profiling [2]
2006-0470-F
wr242
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - |44 U.S.C. 2204(a)|
Freedom of Information Act -15 U.S.C. 552(b)|
Pi
P2
P3
P4
b(l) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA|
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
an agency 1(b)(2) of the FOIA]
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute 1(b)(3) of the FOIA|
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
information |(bX4) of the FOIA|
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy |(bX6) of the FOIA)
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes 1(b)(7) of the FOIA]
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
financial institutions 1(b)(8) of the FOIA|
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
concerning wells 1(b)(9) of the FOIA)
National Security Classified Information 1(a)(1) of the PRA)
Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA|
Release would violate a Federal statute [(aX3) of the PRA|
Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
financial information |(aX4) of the PRAj
PS Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
and his advisors, or between such advisors |a)(5) of the PRA|
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy 1(a)(6) of the PRA)
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
of gift.
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
2201(3).
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
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Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
AND TYPE
002. note
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
"Bradshaw autograph, Honey, Richard Jerome..." [partial] (2 pages)
n.d.
RESTRICTION
P6/b(6)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
Speechwriting
Weiss, Lowell
OA/Box Number:
171%
FOLDER TITLE:
6/9/99 Racial Profiling [2]
2006-0470-F
wr242
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - |44 U.S.C. 2204(a)|
Freedom of Information Act - |5 U.S.C. 552(b)]
PI
P2
P3
P4
b(l) National security classified information 1(b)(1) of the FOIA)
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
an agency 1(b)(2) of the FOIA)
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
information |(bX4) of the FOIA|
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA|
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes 1(b)(7) of the FOIA]
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
concerning wells 1(b)(9) of the FOIA)
National Security Classified Information 1(a)(1) of the PRAj
Relating to the appointment to Federal office |(aX2) of the PRA|
Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
financial information [(aX4) of the PRA|
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
and his advisors, or between such advisors |a)(5) of the PRA|
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA|
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
of gift.
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
2201(3).
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
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02/19/99 10:05:00 PM
Record Type:
To:
Record
See the distribution list at the bottom of this message
cc:
Subject: 1 999-2-1 9 NAACP dinner remarks of President
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
February 19, 1999
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
IN HONOR OF THE NAACP'S 90TH ANNIVERSARY
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Washington. D.C.
9:07 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: I have been friends with Chairman Bond a
long time. We have had many interesting conversations - not all of
them have been that laudatory. But, Julian, I have that on film now,
and I'm going to play it - (laughter) - whenever I need a little
boost in life, I'm just going to turn that film on. (Laughter.)
Thank y o u . I want to say publicly something I said to
Julian Bond privately when he agreed to become the Chair of the NAACP
— I called him and I thanked him. And I thank him again. And I
thank all of you for what you are doing. (Applause.)
When Kweisi Mfume agreed to become President of the
NAACP and leave the Congress, I w e p t . (Laughter.) But he told me he said, n o w , don't worry. He said, I'll have a good replacement in
Congress - and he did - and I need to do this. It's the right
thing for my country and for my people. And he, too, has served
well. And I'm very proud of our friendship and of the service.
(Applause.)
I thank all of you w h o are helping. When Suzanne Dubose
was up here talking about scientists slowing d o w n the speed of light
and the rest of us speeding up the speed of justice, I wish I had
�thought of that myself. (Laughter.) That line w o n ' t rest, it will
be used again and again. (Laughter.)
I want to thank Bell Atlantic and all the other
companies w h o are standing w i t h the NAACP. I am delighted to see
Bishop Graves and the other officers here. (Applause.) A n d , Bishop,
thank you for your friendship. (Applause.)
Most of the people w i t h our administration have been
introduced, but I want to thank Secretary and Mrs. West, and
Secretary Slater, and Bill Lann Lee for being here, and Judy Winston,
w h o did such a good job w i t h our initiative on race. I want to
acknowledge, also, the presence in the audience of Mary Beth Cahill,
our new Special Assistant to the President for Public Liaison.
(Applause.) And I want to recognize Ben Johnson -- many of you know
he is the first Director of the White House office on our Initiative
for One America, and I thank him for doing that. (Applause.) Since
Bell is so well-recognized, there's one other former member of the
White House staff here, Eric Eaves (phonetic), w h o went on for the
money and the fame of Bell. I want to thank him. (Applause.)
Ladies and gentlemen, I came here tonight for t w o
purposes. One is to say a simple thank y o u . Thank you for what
you've done for America, and thank you for being my friends. I
am grateful. I am very grateful. (Applause.)
The second is to say that - as Suzanne said so
eloquently -- we're in a lot better shape than we used to be, but
nowhere near where we ought to be. And what we have to do as a
people, as a whole country - but especially y o u , because you
know -- you know things about where we are and where we need to
go that not every American does, because of the life you've lived
and the things you've seen and the work you do. You know that no
great nation, and certainly not this one, can afford to say,
well, we're a lot better off than we used to be, so let's take a
vacation from progress. Let's take a vacation from our struggle
for liberty and equality. Let's take a vacation from our attempt
to spread the reach of prosperity and freedom to Africa, to the
Caribbean, to our friends in the Americas.
You know that this is not a time to take a break, it is
a time to thank God for our prosperity and our opportunities and
make the best use of t h e m . The sun is shining and we need to
make hay. We need to work while the sun is shining. (Applause.)
And to do what I would like to do in these last t w o
years of my presidency, just like the last six, we need the help
of every one of your 2 , 2 0 0 branches. We need to forge new
coalitions across the lines of race and class and religion. We
need to close America's remaining opportunity gaps.
�A lot of you have lived in homes when you were younger
and not so well off and prosperous as you are now -- (laughter)
— where there were literally gaps in the walls or the w i n d o w s ,
and you could feel the wind blowing. Well, there are a lot of
people still getting blown by those kinds of winds and the
opportunity gaps of America.
Kweisi said, as all of you know, that the NAACP was
formed 9 0 years ago. It was founded, as all of you know I'm
sure, in direct response to a riot in Springfield, Illinois.
Now, I learned something in getting ready to come here tonight
that I did not know -- I had always thought it was simply a cruel
irony that this riot occurred in Abraham Lincoln's hometown and
where he was buried. I learned that the white mob was actually
deliberately conducting the riot there, trying to make Mr.
Lincoln turn over in his grave. They yelled, storming through
the black neighborhoods, "Lincoln freed y o u ; we'll show you where
you belong."
Well, quite to the contrary, it was the NAACP that
helped to show you where you belong. (Applause.) On any bus,
and any lunch counter and any voting booth; in any school, in the
Armed Forces, in the highest echelons of government and business
-- you belong everywhere. And so do your friends. And we will
never make what Congressman John Lewis so beautifully called the
"beloved community" until everybody who belongs can be wherever
they belong. (Applause.)
I am very grateful for the work we have done together
in these last six years. Previous speakers commented on all
these folks from our administration, and how our crowd looks like
America. What I would like history to say is, they had the
administration that looked the most like America and that did the
most for America -- (applause) -- proving that excellence and
diversity and community all go hand in hand.
I am grateful that we have stronger communities, w i t h a
dropping crime rate; that there are only about half as many
people on welfare as there were six years ago; that the doors of
college are open to every high school student who will work for
it through the HOPE scholarship and the other academic aid that
we have provided; that we have the longest peacetime expansion in
history, and the lowest peacetime unemployment since 1 9 5 7 . I am
grateful that the prosperity is wider, with the lowest African
American unemployment rate ever recorded, the highest African
American home ownership rate ever recorded, record numbers of new
African American businesses every year. (Applause.)
But it takes a long time to get it all fixed. Just
before I came over here tonight, 117 years too late, I awarded a
pardon, posthumously, to Lt. Henry Flipper -- (applause) - w h o ,
because of racial prejudice, was wrongfully convicted of conduct
unbecoming an officer and dismissed from the Army more than a
�century ago. He was born a slave; he was the first African
American graduate of West Point. He served w i t h great
distinction in the 10th Cavalry. In Fort Sill, Oklahoma, he
eliminated the cause of malaria as a civil engineer by digging
what is still called "Flipper's Ditch," and is now a national
monument.
He lived to be 8 4 . He served as an advisor to a
Cabinet Secretary; he did all kinds of wonderful work throughout
the w o r l d . He was cleared of wrongdoing 20 years ago, but he was
never, never fully restored in his good name, until about an hour
and a half ago, w h e n , in the presence of 16 of his family
members, several African American graduates of West Point,
General Colin Powell and a number of others w h o were here, I
signed his pardon. (Applause.)
N o w , we don't want the rest of America to wait 117
years for justice. And we don't want people to have to wait
until they're gone for people to say something halfway nice about
t h e m . We don't want to have America outraged, even though we
honor the outrage, by another killing like the killing of James
Byrd.
We know still, every day there are qualified African
Americans w h o are turned away from home loans or business loans;
African American drivers pulled over because they look
suspicious. Some of you call it the offense of driving while
black. We know every day there are African American children who
are stuck in failing schools when they're entitled to good
schools.
So w e ' v e been working at it for six years, to try to
bring a special focus to the need to build one America, and to
deal not only w i t h the problems of African Americans, and
Hispanic Americans and Native Americans, but the fact that we are
now becoming the most diverse democracy in the world -California, 10 percent Asian American, soon to have no majority
race. We started the Initiative on Race in 1 9 9 7 . To
institutionalize the work of building one America, I appointed
Ben Johnson to continue our work, in an organized, specific and
concrete w a y . And I want you to help us do that. (Applause.)
I would like it very much if, after the next
presidential election, the new President is asked repeatedly, now
w h o is going to head your One America office? I don't want this
to be a one-shot deal. I want this to be a journey, not a
destination. And I want it to be something that makes us think
more and more every day, seriously, about how we're going to
build unity out of our increasing diversity - get rid of our old
problems and meet our new challenges. And I want you to help me
do that.
I want you to help us, also, to pass this new budget,
which helps to close some of those large opportunity gaps -- the
�disparities in education, in jobs, in economic development, in
civil rights enforcement; in home ownership and quality health
care.
I came here tonight to celebrate and thank y o u , not to
talk policy, but I want to mention just t w o areas. First, the
economy. We all know that even though we have the lowest
peacetime unemployment rate since 1957, there are places that
haven't felt much of this vaunted recovery. We all know that
even though we have the lowest African American unemployment rate
ever recorded -- and the same for Hispanic Americans -- it's
still quite a bit higher than the national average. And for
young, single men, it is still quite high indeed.
N o w , if we can't use this moment of unprecedented
prosperity to bring jobs and opportunity and enterprise to the
neighborhoods and to the people who have not yet felt it, but are
willing to work for it, we will never get around to doing the
job. Now is the time to do that. (Applause.)
So the NAACP is a non-partisan organization; you do
have Republican supporters out across this country w h o believe in
civil rights. And I want you to go get t h e m . (Laughter.) And
haul them up here to Washington, with the Democrats, too, and
say, look, we want you to pass this new markets initiative. We
can put $15 billion in private investment into neighborhoods in
this country that have not seen new investment and new jobs and
new opportunity for people by giving the right kind of
incentives, the right kind of tax cuts, the right kind of loan
guarantees, the right kind of support to business people. And if
we d o n ' t get around to doing it now, we will never get around to
it. We need to do it n o w . (Applause.)
I also want to tell you that a lot of far-sighted
business people have figured out that it would be very good for
the American economy. Why? For the first five year of my
presidency, 3 0 percent of our g r o w t h came from expanded exports,
selling more to other people around the world. Last year we had
a good year, but we didn't get 30 percent g r o w t h from our
exports. Why? You know w h y — because of the financial troubles
in Asia and in a lot of Latin American countries. Now, I think
we ought to help our friends in Asia, Latin America and in Africa
to trade w i t h us more so we can grow and they can grow. But in
the meanwhile, w e ' v e got the most significant untapped market for
the g r o w t h of the American economy right here at home, in all
these neighborhoods that still are not growing as they should.
(Applause.)
The second thing I want to ask you to do is to help me
give every child in this country a world-class education.
(Applause.) I want you to help me finish the job of hiring
1 0 0 , 0 0 0 more teachers. I want you to help me finish the job again, I want you to bring your Republican and your Democratic
friends up here and help me convince the Congress not to say no
�this time to our proposal to build or modernize 5,000 schools.
I'm tired of going into these inner-city schools and seeing
schools so old we can't even hook them up to computers, w i t h
broken w i n d o w s and peeling plaster. It's w r o n g . (Applause.)
And in many other areas, you go and the kids are all
having half their classes in house trailers because the schools
are bursting at the seams. We need to do that. I want you to
help me continue our work to hook up every classroom and library
to the Internet by the year 2 0 0 0 . (Applause.) I want to ask you
to help me change the way we give out federal money, to not
become victim to a tyranny of low expectations.
I have said many times that I want to end the practice
of social promotion, but not for the purpose of punishing the
kids for a system that is failing t h e m . And let me just give you
one fact - I said this in the State of the Union, but I'm going
to say it until I'm convinced every American knows it -- last
year, in the International test of Math and Science, a
representative sample of American children, by race and income,
scored near the top of the world in the 4th grade test. By the
8th grade they had fallen to average. By the 12th grade they
were near the b o t t o m . Nobody came and took brain cells out of
those kids' heads. They did not get dumber. The system was
failing t h e m . (Applause.)
So, yes, I believe we should end social promotion, but
we also are tripling funds for after-school and summer school and
tutoring programs, and sending more college students into the
schools to mentor kids when they're in middle school
and tell them they can stay in school and go to college and what
they need to do to do that. We need to do that.
We are dramatically increasing our scholarship program
to tell young people, if you'll go into inner cities or isolated
rural areas and teach school for three or four years, we'll pay
off your student loan. (Applause.) We want you to go out there
and give something back to your country. (Applause.)
We have got to change the way we spend the money. The
teachers and the parents and the kids are telling us what works;
we ought to stop funding what doesn't work and start funding what
does. We ought to say that school districts should raise
standards for teachers, and we put money in there. There are so
many of our teachers out there having to teach courses w i t h the
schools overcrowded, that they don't have college majors or
college minors in.
That's what happens in high school. It's not that
these people are not dedicated -- they are. But they have not
had the chance to be properly prepared. And the schools can't
get enough teachers to put enough people in the classroom w i t h
the kind of academic background. We ought to help them change
that.
�And there are school districts w i t h schools that are
doing great and schools that aren't doing so well. The school
w i t h the biggest -- the state w i t h the biggest gain in student
performance in the last couple of years is North Carolina,
because they adopted a strategy that says, we've got to turn
around or shut d o w n failing schools. When you do that, you
almost never have to shut one d o w n -- they find a way to turn
around.
The great English scholar Benjamin -- I mean, Samuel
Johnson, once said -- I had Benjamin Johnson on my mind -(laughter) -- Samuel Johnson said that it is remarkable how the
prospect of one's o w n demise concentrates the mind. (Laughter.)
We don't want to punish anybody; we want to turn schools around.
And there's things in this budget to do that -- and to help the
teachers, and to give the parents more information, and to help
more districts set up charter schools, and to do things that will
w o r k , so that we d o n ' t have one size fits all.
I read a story the other day about a school district
out West that organized a school just for high school dropouts.
Let them come at different hours. Let them have access to
computers and special tutors. And all of a sudden, almost all
the dropouts came back to school. There are all kinds of
different things that can be done to raise the performance level
of our schools.
But I think all of you know that we'll never really
have one America, and we'll never really get by discrimination,
unless we create opportunity in the schools, and opportunity in
the economy. So I ask you to help me pass these initiatives.
(Applause.)
N o w , let me just say one last thing. I was delighted
to be asked to come tonight, honored to accept. The work that I
have been privileged to do as President, and before, in my life
to advance the cause of equal opportunity is perhaps the thing I
cherish most, of all the things that I and my w i f e , and our
administration have been able to do.
You'd be amazed how many times in my weekly lunch w i t h
the Vice President, after we get through w i t h whatever business
we have to do, we get back to talking about this subject. I
guess it's because I grew up in the segregated South. Maybe it's
because I met and was influenced by people like some of you here
tonight, so many years ago. But part of it is, I know that it's
a pure miracle that, starting out from where I did as a kid, I
wound up here tonight. A pure miracle. (Applause.)
I once heard a guy say, every politician wants you to
believe he was born in a log cabin he built himself. (Laughter.)
�But the truth is, we don't build our log cabins ourselves. And
not a person standing here or sitting here tonight got here on
your o w n . And most of us get out of this life better off than we
deserve, because God is good and so are the people that we get in
touch w i t h . (Applause.)
But it really bothers me that there are children in
this country, w h o are certainly just as smart, full of as many
dreams, w i t h whatever abilities God gave me, they have them who may not be able to live out their dreams. And if all of us
as citizens have one responsibility -- apart from honoring our
country and Constitution and laws -- it ought to be to make sure
that at the end of our days we have done everything we can to
make sure no one we ever touched was denied the chance to live
their dreams. We know we'll be better off when that's true. We
know we'll all get something out.
I look at these young kids that are here tonight, these
young people. I'm kind of jealous, actually. If they'd let me
be 2 0 , I think I'd let them be President. (Laughter.) You know?
I think about the life that lies before them, and all that they
might be. I imagine, 3 0 years from n o w , some African American,
Hispanic, Asian female standing here as President of the United
States, you know? (Applause.)
But I know that as long as there are Native American
reservations, where young American citizens live in communities
where the diabetes rate is t w o and three and four and five times
the national average; as long as there are neighborhoods where
kids really don't have a chance to get a world-class education;
as long as there are places where nobody's taking care of the
pollution, so the health rates are not what they ought to be; as
long as there is anyplace where anybody can't live out their
dreams, the NAACP will have work to do. And America will have
new ground to break. And together, there is no better cause for
our energies and our lives.
Thank y o u , and God bless you. (Applause.)
END
Message Sent To:
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�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Lowell Weiss
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Lowell Weiss
Office of Speechwriting
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1997-2001
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36408">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7431951">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0470-F
Description
An account of the resource
This collection consists of the speechwriting files of Lowell Weiss. Lowell Weiss worked as a Special Assistant to the President, Presidential Speechwriter from June 1997 - August 2000. Weiss traveled and wrote speeches for President Clinton on domestic issues. His speeches cover a broad array of topics. Major issues he wrote on concern the environment, education, the economy, and race relations. He wrote weekly radio addresses; commencement speeches; and remarks for bill signings, events, and conferences. The records consist of speeches, drafts, memoranda, correspondence, schedules, event and travel arrangements, notes, articles, and printed email.
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Extent
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464 folders in 36 boxes
Text
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Original Format
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Paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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6/9/99 Racial Profiling [2]
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Office of Speechwriting
Lowell Weiss
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0470-F
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 36
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36408">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/20761244">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
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Adobe Acrobat Document
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Preservation-Reproduction-Reference
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20761244
42-t-7431951-20060470-F-036-005-2015