Remarks at Glendale Community College in Glendale, California

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, June 17, 1996

And today, I want to formally reissue an invitation to the people from the entertainment industry involved in television to come back to the White House before the end of July to discuss that. If we can control, by ratings, give parents the power to deal with what their children are watching on television, surely - surely - we can agree to increase the content of children's television that goes to education. If you're here in school, going to community college for 4 hours a day, and your kids are back home watching television, it wouldn't hurt to have at least 3 hours a week devoted to their education while you're here pursuing yours. And I think that is something that we ought to watch and work for.

Well, let me say again, I view these things together. And when I leave here today I hope you will all have a conversation about the things that I mentioned. I hope you will talk among yourselves and with your family and friends who aren't here about these great questions. This is an incredible time we are moving into. Those of you who are students here will have more opportunities to live out your dreams than any generation of Americans before you. Some of you who are students here, within 10 years, will be working at jobs that have not even been invented yet, that we cannot even imagine.

The best days of this country are still ahead of us if we can figure out how to make opportunity available to every person who will exercise the responsibility to seize it, and if we can figure out how to come together, with all of our diversity. If we can respect each other and share the basic values of America, we're going to do fine. You are going to have a great, great future. But we have to be willing to have an honest discussion about this: How do you create opportunity for everybody? How can people succeed at home and at work? How can you build strong families and a strong community? That's the way to a strong America. It all starts here with your education and with making sure that every single, solitary American who is willing to work for an education has a chance to get it, not just when they're young but for an entire lifetime. We can do it together.

Thank you, and God bless you all.

NOTE: The President spoke at 10:40 a.m in the Courtyard. In his remarks, he referred to John Davitt, president, and Hazel Ramos, student, Glendale Community College; Mayor Sheldon Baker of Glendale. CA; and Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, Archbishop of Chicago.