Remarks on summer jobs program funding in Cheverly, Maryland

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, August 10, 1998

Thank you very much. Let's give Terence another hand. Wasn't he good. [Applause] Well, I would say Terence has gotten quite a lot out of his job opportunity here. And he made quite a good speech. Maybe he needs a summer job with Wayne Curry or Congressman Wynn or Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend or the President - or something. He's very good, I think.

I'd like to thank my friend, Wayne Curry, for that wonderful welcome. I thank Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend for her sentiments and her passionate work for our children. And I thank, in his absence, Governor Glendening for his support for so many good causes, but especially the one we have come here to advance today.

I thank Al Wynn. He didn't even come close to breaking the Barbara Mikulski step up here. [Laughter] But every day he comes close to the ideal of what I think a Congressman should be. I thank the State and the local officials who are here, and I thank this hospital. As Wayne said, it's quite an accommodation to take in a Presidential visit, and I thank them for making me and Secretary Herman and our party feel so welcome.

I, too, want to say my personal thanks to Secretary Herman for her role in settling the General Motors strike. We want to keep the economy going, and we don't do very well in America unless all of our autoworkers are out there working hard and making cars. And I know we're all grateful for that.

Let me say to all the young people here in this audience on the summer job program, both those behind me and on the stage and those out here in the audience, I am very proud of what you're doing here, and I hope you are as well, because whether you're serving lunch in a cafeteria or escorting patients in the hallways, you're not only helping this hospital to help others, you're helping to build a better future for yourselves; proving that given the opportunity to work and to learn, there is no limit to what our young people can do.

I want to talk to you today about what we are doing to make sure more young people have the chance to continue to participate in summer jobs and to continue to improve their education. One of the principal reasons I ran for President in 1992 was to make sure that as we move into the 21st century, every young person in this country, without regard to their income, their race, their background, or where they live, would have the opportunity to make the most of his or her life.

I wanted to create a 21st century America where the American dream is alive for all our people and where our people are coming together, across all lines that divide us, into one American community and where that gives us the strength to continue to lead the world to greater peace and freedom and prosperity. None of that can occur unless we make sure that every American has a first-class education, and then, that we have an economy that functions so every American can make the most of that education.

Right now in Washington, we are preparing the budget that will determine how we continue to reform, renew, and advance education next year. This isn't just a normal budget. Because of 5 years of strict budget discipline in our Nation, this will be the first balanced budget in most of your lifetimes, the first one in 29 years. It is also a validation of our economic strategy that you can cut the deficit and continue to invest money in people, in science and technology, in education, in the environment, in building the right kind of future. We have to do both.

To do our part, I have proposed in this balanced budget a comprehensive education agenda with high national standards, more accountability, more school choice in charter schools, more well-qualified teachers, smaller classrooms, modernized schools equipped with computers and hooked up to the Internet, reading tutors for children who are falling behind, before- and after-school programs and summer school programs to keep young people learning in the classroom, not lost on the streets, and summer jobs programs like this one, to give young people the skills they need to succeed when they leave school and to give them something to do and a way to earn money during the summer.

I believe all these things are necessary to help all of you and people like you all across this country live up to their God-given potential. I believe they're necessary to make the America we all want in the 21st century.

I am very proud of the fact that today we are enjoying the lowest unemployment in 28 years, the lowest crime rate in 25 years, the lowest - [applause] - we have the smallest percentage of people on welfare in 29 years. And as I've said, we're about to have the first balanced budget and surplus in 29 years, the highest homeownership in history. I'm proud of that.

But this a rare moment in American history when we have a lot of confidence about our ability to make things work in this country. And we have to use it as an opportunity to act, to give everyone - everyone - a chance. We can't let this moment pass us by. And we have to make progress, both parties together, especially when it comes to the interest of children, education, employment, and the future.