Remarks in Arlington, Ohio

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Sept 2, 1996

And what have we gotten out of it? We have 10 1/4 million new jobs, 4 1/2 million new homeowners; 10 million families have refinanced their homes at lower interest rates; 12 million American families have taken advantage of the family and medical leave law so they can take a little time off when a baby is born or a parent is sick without losing their jobs. We have record numbers of new small businesses, record numbers of exports, 50 million Americans are breathing cleaner air. We cleaned up more toxic waste dumps in 3 years than the previous two administrations did in 12.

The crime rate has come down for 4 years in a row. We're putting 100,000 police on the street, banning assault weapons. The Brady bill has kept 60,000 felons, fugitives, and stalkers from getting a handgun, and not a single Ohio hunter has lost a rifle, in spite of what the other side told you in the 1994 election.

After a decade, real wages are finally starting to rise again for ordinary working people; 15 million American families with the lowest wages who are working full time have gotten a tax cut so we can say in America, nobody works full time and has kids at home and lives in poverty anymore. That's a very important principle that every American of any income ought to share. We want all families to succeed at home and at work. We can have no greater objective than to help people be good parents and successful in making a productive country.

College has been made more affordable with lower cost college loans with better repayment terms. We need to do more, but I feel good about where we are compared to where we were 4 years ago.

What I want you to think about now is where we still need to go. The main thing we need to say for the next 70 days is we ought to stay on the right track. We're on the right track; why in the world would we reverse course? What we need to do is to lay plainly before the American people what still needs to be done.

First, we know that while the economy has 10 million more jobs, not everybody has fully participated in the benefits of this economic recovery. We know - we know already that the next generation in the 21st century will have more chances to live their dreams than any generation of people who ever lived, that America's best days are before us if we do what it takes to make sure all these children can participate in that future.

That's why I say, first of all, we've got to keep the economy going. That means balance the budget, keep the interest rates down, and don't have unnecessary cuts in education, the environment, technology, science, research, Medicare, and Medicaid - protect our people's obligations.

I also say to you that we know that education is more important than ever before, and yes, we've made some strides forward. But we have more to do. We must make sure that every classroom in this country has access to computers, educational programs, trained teachers and that by the year 2000 every single classroom in America, in the smallest rural village, in the poorest inner city neighborhood, is hooked up to the information superhighway so every child has the same access to information that every other child has.