Remarks in Pontiac, Michigan

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Sept 2, 1996

The President. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. First of all, let me say it is wonderful to be in Pontiac. I am sorry that it's been since Harry Truman came here in 1948 since a President has been here. But I'm glad to be following in Harry Truman's footsteps with you today.

Let me begin by saying a thank you to Jay and to Jenna for their work in AmeriCorps, for the example they set for our young people, and for their proof that our young people still care about others and want our country to be a stronger, better, brighter place.

Thank you, Mayor Moore, for your enthusiastic welcome and for your leadership. I want to thank all the community leaders, all the school leaders, all the ministers, all the other folks from Pontiac who are here who've made us feel so welcome. Thank you, my good friend Rosa Parks, for being here with us and for inspiring so many people.

Thank you, Congressman Kildee, for standing up for America and for standing up for the people of this district, and standing against what they tried to do in that budget last year when we made our veto stick. Thank you, Senator Levin. Thank you for all your many fights on behalf of the people of Michigan and the people of the United States. I hope you all will send Carl Levin and Dale Kildee back to the United States Congress.

I want to thank all the fine people from Michigan who came with me, including your former Governor, Jim Blanchard, and your former Senator, Don Riegle, and a whole bunch of other folks who came here with us.

And I'd like to thank my friend, Vinnie Johnson, for being the emcee. I've never seen him emcee anything. And I was wondering if he had as many moves up here as he did on the basketball court. [Laughter] Did he do well?

I want to thank Alice Moore for singing the National Anthem, the Anointed Voices of Praise, the Gang God's Anointed Next Generation, the Pontiac High School Band, the Pontiac Northern High School Band, the fellow that played the saxophone, Randy Scott, thank you, all. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm taking this train through the heartland of America. We've been in West Virginia and Kentucky, all through Ohio and now into Michigan. And I'm doing it for two reasons. First, selfishly, at this, the beginning of what will be my last campaign, to go to Chicago to once again accept the nomination of my party for President. I wanted to go through America's heartland. I wanted to look into the faces, into the eyes, and into the hearts of the people I have been working and fighting for for 4 years to make America a better place. And second, I wanted you to see that not only is this train on the right track, America is on the right track for the 21st century.

I'm proud of our convention in Chicago. I wish Hillary and Chelsea were with me. They started out with me, but Hillary had to go home to Chicago, and she's going to speak tonight. I hope you'll go home and watch it and give her a cheer. And our daughter stayed with me a little while longer, but she left me this morning in Toledo because she wanted to hear Morn give her speech. So that's where they are.

But we've had a wonderful time on this trip. You heard the Mayor - we started the morning in Toledo. Last night an autoworker from Toledo was one of the American citizens speaking at the opening of the Democratic Convention. And he was speaking there because the work we have done with the auto industry to open new markets abroad helped to put 700 jobs in the oldest automobile in America in Toledo, Ohio, built in 1910 - an automobile plant since 1910. That 1910 auto plant is exporting over 41,000 Jeeps overseas this year, selling our cars.

And let me tell you why it happened. It happened because the UAW and the management have a partnership. It happened because they're working together. It happened because 70 percent of the people in that plant are getting continuing education, and they made so much money for Chrysler last year the workers got an average bonus of $8,000.

Now, why? Because that's a company that believes that if they make money the workers ought to have their fair share. That's good for America. It's right for America. But guess what? It turned out to be good for the company. For the first time in 20 years, it is the United States that is making and selling the largest number of automobiles of any country in the world.

Then we went on to Wyandotte, and there we gathered in front of a beautiful old library, about 100 years old, and a huge crowd turned out. And I was introduced by two really young people - not grown young people, I mean young people - about 8 years old, maybe 7. And we built them little platforms, and they stood up in front of the library and they read the end of that wonderful little children's book, "The Little Engine That Could." Do you know that story? The little engine had only been used for switching cars. The little engine had never been over the mountain. But the toys couldn't get to the boys and girls unless the little engine went over the mountain for the only time in its life. And the little engine kept saying "I think I can. I think I can."