Remarks in Sun City, Arizona

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Sept 16, 1996

Thank you. Thank you very, very much. I'll tell you, we're off to a pretty good start. Hello, Desi. I'm glad to see you. See that lady right there? She used to take care of my daughter right after she was born. Her name is Desi Centers. Give her a hand, she did a good job. [Applause]

I'll tell you, all the reporters on the plane wanted to know why I was coming to Arizona, and was it about politics and did we really think we could win? And I said, "Look, I just got my AARP card. I thought I'd come check it out." It looks pretty good to me. It looks pretty good to me. [Laughter]

Well, Rose Mofford did what she usually does, she stole the show already. [Laughter] Thank You, Governor. When I saw her backstage she said, "Well, I'm still your adopted mother." [Laughter] She and my mother had a lot in common. I have always loved Rose's irrepressible optimism and her very straightforward manner. And I can tell you this: When we served together as Governors, she loved the State of Arizona, and she took care of you. And I'm glad to see her here today.

I want to thank my good friend, Ed Pastor, for being here with me today. He is a true leader in the Congress, leading for the people of Arizona, leading for the Hispanic Caucus, leading for the concerns of people all over the United States. And thank you, Dennis Jensen, and thank you very much for this beautiful bolo, which I will treasure. I collect them. I love to wear them when I have different attire on. [Laughter] I did wear my boots. If I'd known I was going to get a bolo, I wouldn't have worn a tie. [Laughter] Thank you very, very much. Is the gentleman who did that here? Stand up. Give him a hand, he did a wonderful job. Thank you very much. [Applause] Thank you.

I want to thank a number of others who are here - the chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, Sam Coppersmith, former Member of Congress, a very good man; State house minority leader, Art Hamilton; Steve Owens, our nominee for Congress in the 6th congressional district and a very good man; Barbara Sherman, our nominee for Corporations Commission, thank you for being here. Thank you, Mayor Paul Johnson, from Phoenix, for being here. Thank you, Vice Mayor Crawford, from Tucson, for being here. Thank you, State Senator Sandra Kennedy. And I want to thank the labor leaders, the Native American leaders, the county officials who are here. All of you who have come out to be here, we are very, very grateful to you.

This is a great day for me to be back in Arizona and to be here with all of you. I want to thank the Temptations. The Temptations were singing when I came in the back. I heard them, and they were just great, weren't they? For a moment I thought I was crashing a dance instead of coming to a political meeting. [Laughter]

I want to echo what has been said already about other distinguished Arizonans. I am personally very, very grateful to Bruce Babbitt for his willingness to serve in our administration and for the heroic fights he has taken on, to preserve our natural resources, to fight back on ill-advised attempts to sell some of our national parks, to help to save Yellowstone from a gold mine, to create in the Mojave Desert the largest national park in America south of Alaska, and to be a good steward of our national resources.

I was profoundly honored to present to Mo Udall's son Mark the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which I gave him a couple of days ago. And no American deserves it more. All of you can be very proud of that.

And I know I join all Americans in wishing Senator Goldwater well in his recovery. And let me tell you - you're probably like me - I first met Barry Goldwater 28 years ago when I was 21 years old - almost 29 years ago now. And he was giving a speech at the University of Arkansas at the invitation of Mack McLarty, who later became my Chief of Staff and is now the White House Counselor. And we were there. And I worked at the time for Senator Fulbright from Arkansas who, as some of you, maybe most of you know, was a Democrat. And he and Senator Goldwater had a great difference about the war in Vietnam which was the major issue back then. I will never forget how kind Barry Goldwater was to me as a 21-year-old college senior, a person he could never have known would amount to a hill of beans, and some of his fellow Republicans still think hasn't amounted to a hill of beans. [Laughter]

I'll never forget that. But the thing that means the most to me is the incredible kindness and sensitivity he has shown toward the First Lady over the last 4 years. It means a great deal. So I wish him well. And I thank God for his civility and his service to our Nation.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am glad to be here. I've had an interesting couple of weeks. A lot has been going on in the Nation's Capital, and a lot has been going on out in the country. We had our great convention in Chicago. And before that, I was on the rails, on the track to Chicago. And after that, Al and Tipper Gore and Hillary and I took a bus trip. And since then, I have been going back and forth to work in Washington and then back to the campaign trail when I could.