Remarks at Glendale Community College in Glendale, California

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, June 17, 1996

Thank you so much. Thank you very, very much. President Davitt, thank you very much for welcoming me here and for your kind remarks. And thank you, Hazel Ramos, not only for the fine statement you made but for the power of your example. If you represent the future, I think the future is in good hands, indeed. I thought you did a very good job. Thank you.

I want to thank your mayor, Calvin Baker, and the others who came out to welcome me today, to make me feel so at home. And I want to thank all of you for coming out on this beautiful day in this beautiful community. I told President Davitt, you know, that it is true that I visit a lot of community colleges. I believe in the community college. I believe that as I look at all of you, from all different backgrounds, all walks of life, average age about probably 27 - the student body - I see the future of America at its best.

And I believe that the country we have to create in the 21st century has to work more like the community colleges. It has to be less political and more personal and more human. We have to be very flexible and willing to change and move with the markets, but also be committed to the development of every single individual. And that's basically what the community colleges do. And I hope in these next few months in this election season, as we discuss the future of our country we'll be able to do it in a civil and open and honest way that reflects the kind of strength and roots in America that we all share, as well as the honest differences of opinion we all have. And I see that in the community colleges, and I sense that here at Glendale here today. So I thank all of you for being here and for representing that for our country.

I'd also like to say, on a more personal note - and in keeping with the comments I just made - I realize that Washington is a long way away, and it's easy for all of us to become alienated from it. And I know we live in a time when it is fashionable to criticize public service and long tenure in public service. But even though I am about to begin a rather vigorous campaign with Senator Dole, I would like to ask all of you, including those of you who are my supporters, to just take a moment and wish him well. This is his last day in the Senate. He has given over 30 years of his life to serving our country in the U.S. Congress, and I think we ought to give him a hand today. [Applause]

You know, this school has been a center of learning for nearly 70 years. I learned, in preparing to come here, that when the earthquake occurred here in 1933 - not 1993 the students here were so dedicated to their education that they actually met in tents after the earthquake. Over the years, the student body has changed here. Many of you were born in other countries, including the young woman who just introduced me. But what has remained unchanged is that this community college is a place where students can get the knowledge and skills they need to help to realize their dreams.

And now the community college movement indeed is sweeping the United States. There are more than a hundred community colleges in California alone. And enrollment is exploding everywhere, because community colleges fill a need to strengthen the communities, to strengthen people's individual dreams, and to help them build successful families. There are so many examples of that here, in your professional development center, in the work you do to provide low-cost babysitting services for people who have to be students and parents and workers at the same time.

I want to say a special word of thanks to Glendale for the Volunteer and Service Learning Center that AmeriCorps, our national service program, has helped to fund. I thank you for that.

When I became President, and California's economy and the American economy was under such distress, and there was so much division and rancor in our country, one of the things that-----

[At this point, there was a disturbance in the audience.]

You know, we have now - wait a minute, wait, wait, wait. We have now observed her free speech rights; it will be interesting to see if she will observe ours, won't it? [Applause] Thank you. Thank you. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Folks, you cannot blame this poor woman. They have nothing to run on. We have a good record, so they have to try these kind of radical, crazy attacks. She can't help it. It's just like when you take a cookie away from the kid and they're mad about it. You know, they can't help it. [Laughter] Just be patient. Some people think they own the public institutions of this country, and they have a right to terrify you to get them back. They don't. Just relax. We'll have a good time and talk about the real issues. Thank you.

Now, where was I? [Laughter]

When I ran for this job, what concerned me most was that this was a country of enormous strength. I mean, look around here. You would be here; you're doing this. You would be here regardless of who's President or what was happening. That's not quite true when it comes to student aid, but I'll get back to that. But we did not seem to have any sense of how we were going to deal with all these challenges as we moved into the 21st century.