Remarks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Dinner - Transcript

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Sept 25, 2000

September 20, 2000

Thank you. Please be seated. Well, in case you haven't figured it out, I'm the warmup act for Los Lobos--[laugher]--and Nydia Rojas and Elvis Crespo and Tito Puente, Jr.

Let me thank you, Lucille, and all the members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus for all you have done with me and for me these last 8 years. I thank the Institute board members for supporting these fine public servants. I thank the members of my administration who have done so much to make sure your concerns were heard, including Maria Echaveste, Mickey Ibarra, Aida Alvarez, Bill Richardson, Louis Caldera. And I understand we have the honorary Hispanic caucus in the Cabinet here tonight, Secretary Herman, Secretary Slater, and Secretary Mineta. I thank them for coming as well.

Because our administration has looked like America, we've been able to--I hope--serve America better. For example, under Secretary Caldera, the Army is cosponsoring a series of public service announcements targeted at young people between the ages of 12 and 14, many of them Hispanic, focusing on the benefits of staying in high school and getting a diploma. I thank him for that, and I thank you for that.

Last week in Philadelphia, I had an incredible experience--really Sunday, the first day of this week. I went there to dedicate and lay the first construction beam on what will be America's Constitution Center, where people will be able to go to Philadelphia, learn about how we got started as a nation, learn about how the Constitution was put together and what is in it and how it applies through countless decisions of the United States Supreme Court to all Americans down to the present day. I also had the opportunity to help to swear in as new citizens 73 immigrants from 23 different nations.

And I told them something that the American people and the Members of Congress should never forget: 8 of the 39 men who signed the Constitution were immigrants, including Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, born in the West Indies, and James Wilson of Pennsylvania, who spoke with a heavy Scottish brogue.

From the very beginning, our country has benefited from immigrants. When I went to Germany 4 or 5 years ago, I presented to the German Chancellor a copy of the Declaration of Independence which was printed the day after it was signed, July 5, 1776. in Pennsylvania, in German, because so many of the people who lived in Pennsylvania at that time had German as their first language and spoke limited, if any, English.

It is very important that we not forget that we have always been, we always will be, and God willing, we will always be strengthened by the fact that we are a nation of immigrants.

This has been a great week for me and the Latino community. Yesterday Lucille and the whole Congressional Hispanic Caucus came to see me, and we went over the remaining issues of this year. They, once again, gave me my marching orders. [Laughter] And last night Jimmy Smits had me to the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, and some of you perhaps were there. I had a wonderful time. And tonight I am with you, in all probability, and hopefully, the last' American President who does not speak Spanish.

And I say that because I am very proud to have been President of the United States during the time when the Latino community of America truly came of age as a political, a cultural, and an economic force. I thank you for that.

The main thing I came here to do tonight is to say that, a simple thank you. I thank the members of the Caucus for working with Al Gore and me for these last 7 1/2 years. Think of what we have done together that would not have been possible without you, and without all the people throughout America who support you.

Together we passed a new economic plan in 1993, which got rid of the worst deficits in our history, is paying down the debt, and has given us the longest economic expansion in history. It has also given us the lowest Hispanic unemployment rate ever recorded, the lowest Hispanic poverty rate in a generation, a median income for Hispanics rising even faster than for the population as a whole, a million new Hispanic homeowners in the last 5 years.

Together we passed the family and medical leave law, which has given 25 million of our fellow citizens a chance to take some time off from work when there's a newborn baby or a sick family member, without losing their job. Together we passed an historic crime bill that put more police on our streets, take more guns off our streets, give kids more things to do to stay out of trouble and get involved in positive conduct. It was opposed by most of the members of the other party, but today, after 7 years of straight decline, crime is at a 27-year low.

Together we doubled the earned-income tax credit, which cut taxes for 15 million of our hardest working families, including more than a million Hispanic families. Together we raised the minimum wage, which benefited nearly 2 million Hispanics. And it's high time we raised it again, and I hope you will support that.