Remarks at a Get Out the Vote Rally in Oakland, California - Transcript

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Nov 6, 2000

November 3, 2000

The President. Thank you. Good morning.

Audience members. Good morning.

The President. Thank you for the wonderful welcome. We've got people all the way back here, two or three blocks, people all the way down there, two blocks, even people who are separated from the rest of us, way back in the back. Hello back there.

I first came to Oakland in 1971. I liked it then, but it is amazing the progress that has been made, and I want to thank all of you for making this a magnificent city. I also want to thank my good friend Governor Gray Davis, who has done a wonderful job leading this State and been a great partner to me and such a strong supporter of Vice President Gore.

Thank you, Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante. Thank you, Attorney General Lockyer. Thank you, Senator Barbara Boxer, for what you do in Washington. And Congressman George Miller, thank you for the work you've done, especially for the environment. Thank you, Secretary Norm Mineta, former California Congressman, the first Asian-American ever to serve in the President's Cabinet and a great, great friend of mine. Thank you, Mayor Jerry Brown, my friend of now over 20 years. He's made me think about my next career. Maybe somebody will let me be a mayor somewhere; I like this. I like this.

I must say, too, I want to thank one person who is not here, Barbara's predecessor, Ron Dellums, a great friend of mine. Look at this building here. If I had known retired public officials could get buildings like this, I might have retired years ago. Look at that. [Laughter] It's a beautiful, beautiful building and a fitting tribute to Ron, who did such a good job for you and for our country.

I want to thank the Speaker, Bob Hertzberg, who is here; and the State Board of Equalization member, John Chung; your California State party chair, Art Torres; and all the other officials who are here.

But let me say a special word of thanks to Barbara Lee. What a job she has done in the Congress! We've worked together on so many projects affecting Oakland, from the harbor to housing to education to health care to base closure and renewal. And boy, she's done a good job. And I really am impressed with the fact that she has also shown an interest in dealing with the AIDS crisis, not only here but in Africa and throughout the world. The United States needs to be a leader in dealing with that, and so I thank her for that.

I also want to say more than anything else a simple thank you to the people of Oakland and northern California and this entire State. You have been so good to me and Hillary and Al and Tipper Gore these last 8 years. I couldn't have become President without you. I couldn't have succeeded without you. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

You know, one of the things that concerns me about this election is, especially for younger voters, I'm afraid a lot of people will go to the polls or maybe even not go because they now can't remember what it was like 8 years ago. The unemployment rate in California was 9.7 percent. Today, it's about half that. It's a different country than it was 8 years ago. The society was divided. There were riots in L.A. The crime rate was going up. The environment was deteriorating. The number of people without health insurance was going up. People were giving up on our schools. And the political system in Washington seemed tone deaf to you and to ordinary Americans all across this country, from all walks of life.

Well, we've worked hard to change that. Today we got some more good economic news. For the second month in a row, the Nation's unemployment rate was 3.9 percent, the lowest in 50 years--30 years. Wages and incomes continue to rise across the board. I want to say more about that in a minute, but listen to this. The most important thing about our recovery is that for the first time in 30 years, everybody's been part of it--everybody. Yes, the rich got richer, but so did the middle class, so did working families. The poverty rate is the lowest in 20 years. Child poverty dropped 30 percent. We're moving forward together. Listen to this. Eight years ago, the Hispanic unemployment rate was 11.8 percent. This morning, we learned that it dropped last month to 5 percent, the lowest on record. African-American unemployment is half what it was 8 years ago, also the lowest on record.

But America is always about tomorrow--always. And in just a few days, we're going to have another election and another choice. And it is so important for the success of the direction of this country and our candidate that we do well here and that everybody who can vote, does vote.

What I would like to say to you all today, I know I could just give you one applause line after another, and we could have a great time. But I believe that this election is every bit as important as the one in 1992. And I know that every one of you who is here today has a lot of friends, some of whom live here in Oakland; some live in Barbara's congressional district; others may live in the districts that we're fighting hard to win. We have a chance to win five in California, if we work hard at it