Remarks in Wyandotte, Michigan

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Sept 2, 1996

Thank you. Let's give them another hand. They were terrific, weren't they? [Applause] Wow. First, I think we ought to say to Justin and Elizabeth, there are a lot of people 3 or 4 or 5 times their age that couldn't get up in front of a crowd like this and do what they did. Let's give them another hand. [Applause]

That book, of all the hundreds and hundreds of books that Hillary and I read to Chelsea when she was a little girl, is probably one of our favorites. And you see it today. This was a mountain that Justin and Elizabeth had never been on, but they thought they could. And sure enough, they did. And I'm proud of them.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am very glad to be in Wyandotte today. And I didn't know I was the only President who had ever been here as President. I like Teddy Roosevelt; he's one of my favorite Republican Presidents, one of my favorite Presidents ever. But he didn't know what he missed when he didn't stop when he went through here on the train.

I've got a lot of folks I'd like to thank. I'd like to thank the VFW Post 1136. Their color guard met me when I got off the train. It was a wonderful thing. Thank you. I want to thank the people here at the Bacon Memorial Library. It is a beautiful, beautiful building, and they gave me a few moments there to collect my thoughts. And I thank them for the work they do in this community.

I want to thank Joey Palamara, who was the program emcee before I came out. Thank you, Mayor DeSana, for making me feel welcome in your home town. Thank you to the Wyandotte City Council. I want to thank Dee Okray, principal of the McKinley Elementary School who met me when I came in. I thank the public school band, the high school band. And I want to thank all the teachers, the principals, the people who work in our school buildings and help to maintain them and feed our school children - all the people who are here today. I thank you for helping to educate our children.

I want to thank State Senator Chris Dingell for being here. Thank you, Dr. Patricia Cole, for the fine work that you do in this school system. I want to thank all the folks that made signs. I've loved reading the signs. And one lady brought my mother's book. Thank you for doing that. Hers is better than the one I just wrote. It's a wonderful book. Thank you for all these signs.

Let me say that Hillary and Chelsea would love to be here today, but they have already gone on to Chicago because Hillary has to speak there tonight. And Chelsea spent yesterday on the train with me, but she wants to be there with her more when she speaks. So they're not here, but I know they would love seeing this.

Let me also thank all the people in the community. That beautiful old house across the street with the bunting. I don't know who put the bunting up, but all the things that anyone in this community did to make us feel so welcome, we thank you very, very much.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to say a very, very special word of thanks to two of the best friends I have in the United States Congress, Senator Cad Levin and Congressman John Dingell. You should know that there are no people in Congress who work harder, who are more scrupulously honest, and who labor more diligently for the economic interests of the people of this district and this State and for the values that have made America strong.

I don't know how many times one or the other of them has come to see me in the last 4 years to try to get me to do something to create jobs in Michigan, to advance the economy of Michigan, to make sure that our workers are being treated fairly in global trade. Day-in and day-out, month-in, month-out, they are up there working hard. And it made a profound impression on me because you don't see what I see, and I'm there, and I see it. Every day, in every way, it's not just speeches for them; it's hard work. They're there for you, and I appreciate them, and I know you do, too.

Folks, I have loved taking this train trip through America. We have been in West Virginia and Kentucky and Ohio. This morning I was in Toledo, where I watched an American automobile plant where they make Jeeps roll off their 2-millionth Jeep in the oldest operating auto plant in America. It goes back to 1910.

Last year, because of the partnership we have established when I was in Japan, I went into a dealership, and I sat in a Jeep in a Japanese dealership made in Toledo, Ohio, by American workers. That's the kind of thing I want to see more of.

On this train trip we're saying to the American people, number one, I wanted to go on a train trip to Chicago so I could stop in towns like Wyandotte and look into the faces of the people I've been trying to work for for the last 4 years. But I also wanted to say that this train is on the right track to Chicago and also on the right track to the 21st century for America.

The people of Michigan, with all their diversity in the economy and the diversity of our citizens, coming from all walks of life, all faiths, all races, doing all different kinds of things for a living, know as well as anyone that we are going through a period of profound change in how we work, how we live, how we relate to each other, how we relate to the rest of the world.