Remarks in Pueblo, Colorado

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Sept 16, 1996

Thank you, thank you very much. Good morning. It's great to be back in Pueblo again. I want to say first, Dr. Martinez, thank you for welcoming us here to the courthouse. And all of you who live here must be so proud of this magnificent building. I love it. I think we should give Josh Rael another hand for doing such a good job on the National Anthem. [Applause]

I want to thank all of those who spoke before me, Mike Beatty, Al Gurule, Lt. Governor Gail Shoettler, and Tom Strickland. I hope you will send Tom Strickland to the United States Senate. I have a lot of confidence in him, and as I'll say in a moment, when these people present themselves for Congress and the Senate, there are real consequences to your lives.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm glad to be back here today because this is an election season, but elections should not be divorced from our lives. The choices we make as citizens for those who represent us affect the way we live after the elections are over.

As I was sitting here looking at Mayor Webb making his remarks, and my longtime friend and former colleague, Governor Romer making his remarks, and I couldn't help thinking how lucky Colorado is to be served by public officials like this who can make a positive difference in people's lives.

I also have to tell that I was talking with Patricia Heine before she got up here to speak; she told me that she had become a police officer 7 years ago, after working on raising her sons. And I thought to myself, it's a pretty great country when a mother who loves her children and cares for other people's children has the willingness, the ability, and is given the opportunity to go back to work in public safety to make this community and this State and our country a better place. And we thank you.

Today I want to talk, as Governor Romer said and Mayor Webb said, about the issue of crime, about the link between crime and drugs, and about what we have to do to make our streets safer if we're going to realize our vision for the 21st century. As your President, I have worked hard on a simple, straightforward vision for the next century, and especially for the children in this audience. We're only 4 years away from a brand new century and a brand new millennium. We're undergoing enormous changes, as all of you know, in the way we work and live and relate to each other and the rest of the world.

I want us to go into that next century as the world's strongest force for peace and freedom and prosperity. I want us to go into that century with all the American people in our mosaic from all different ethnic groups, all different walks of life, growing together and being stronger together in a close-knit community that help each other to make the most of their own lives. And I want to make sure the American dream is alive and well for every single man or woman, boy or girl, who is willing to work for it. And that is my vision: opportunity for all, responsibility from all, and everybody has a place in our American community. I hope you'll help me to realize that.

We've worked very hard in the last 4 years to create economic opportunity, and this country is better off than it was 4 years ago. We have the lowest unemployment rate in 7 1/2 years; 10 1/2 million new jobs. We have 4 1/2 million new homeowners. The deficit has gone down for 4 years in a row for the first time since the 1840's, before the Civil War. (Applause.) Wages are rising again for average working people for the first time in a decade, There are 1.8 million fewer people on welfare today than there were the day I took the oath of office.

Child support collections are up 40 percent; 40 million people have had their pensions protected; 12 million Americans have taken some time off in the family leave law, keeping their jobs while their babies were born or they had a sick parent they needed to take care of. The air is cleaner for 50 million Americans, and we have cleaned up more toxic waste dumps in 3 years than were cleaned up in the 12 years previous. We are moving in the right direction.

On October the 1st, 10 million hard-working Americans will get a pay raise when the minimum wage law goes into effect. And that's a good thing for America.

Twenty-five million Americans will be helped by the Kennedy-Kassebaum health care reform bill which says you can't lose your health insurance anymore just because someone in your family gets sick or you have to change jobs. This country is on the right track for the 21st century.

I have worked hard to make these things possible by working with all people of goodwill who were willing to move our country forward, to change the politics of Washington from "who's to blame" to "what are we going to do about it" and "what can we do together."

I have asked the American people to join with me in building a bridge to the 21st century, a bridge that we can all walk across together, a bridge that will be strong enough to realize our dreams for the future, to give every child the chance to live up to his or her God-given potential. And I want you to help me build that bridge. Will you do that?