Remarks to the Arkansas State Democratic Committee in Little Rock, Arkansas

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, July 27, 1998

When Hillary and I went to Africa, we went to Rwanda, where two different tribal peoples, that most Americans aren't even aware exist in a country that has been coherent for hundreds of years, got in a fight, and 900,000 people or so died in a matter of 100 days. Why? Because as we know from our own painful civil rights history, getting people to be pitted against each other because of their differences is deeply ingrained in the human psyche and easy to bring up and very often profitable for people who seek power.

And if you contrast that with what we are trying to achieve in America today, where we're a more and more diverse country, from more and more different backgrounds, in a world that is getting smaller and smaller because of technology, this country's best days are clearly still ahead. But we have to do the right things as well as elect the right people. And it's time the American people and the people of our State actually had to think about that. What are the right things to do in education in Arkansas? What are the right things to do in health care? What are the right things to do in economic policy? What is the right policy in building one community, one State, and one Nation, across all the lines that divide us?

I have tried to give the Democratic Party new ideas based on old values. I have tried to persuade the American people that the consequences that are good that are coming today are due to them, but also due to the fact that in Washington we have done the right things.

Now, this is a very important election. It's important for that little child there and all the kids in this State. And it's very important that the citizens of our State not do what people so often do when times are good, which is just relax and say, "Just leave everything more or less the way it is," because when times are good but changing rapidly, you have to use the good times and the confidence people have to deal with the underlying challenges, and because, as all of us who are older here know, no conditions last forever. If we can't use these good times to deal with our long-term challenges, when will we ever do it?

So I ask you - I'm glad to see you; I've had a good time; I've enjoyed the jibes and the cheering and the yelling. But I want you to keep clearly in mind that we have a future to build for these children. You've got a State to build and a country to build. And the reason we're in the shape we're in today is because we had good ideas that we implemented that had good consequences. And the reason that I will be a member of this party until the day I die is that more often than not, we have been the instrument in this century and in my lifetime in fulfilling the vision that the Founding Fathers gave us to always deepen our freedom and always perfect our Union.

So I want you to help me. I want you to elect these people. I want you to work. And I want you to go out there and literally grab your friends and neighbors by the shoulder and say, "Let's talk about this. Don't go through this election in a fog. Don't say, 'Oh, everything is fine; let's just keep on going the way we're going.'" Think about where we are as a State and Nation. And think about where we were in 1992, and I think you'll have quite a good case to make.