Remarks to the community in Detroit, Michigan

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Oct 28, 1996

Thank you very, very much. Thank you so much. Mayor and Mrs. Archer, Congressman Dingell, Congressman Bonior, Congressman Levin, Governor and Mrs. Blanchard, Mayor Stanley - [applause] - you can clap for anyone you like, it's an informal day - Mayor Stanley, Bishop, Mayor Bob Kozaren of Hamtramck, welcome. [Applause] Thank you.

I'd like to welcome the fourth grade students from the Hiller Elementary School from Lapeer, Michigan. They're here somewhere. Where are they? Welcome. We're glad you're here. And students from the Academy of Military Science in Detroit are here somewhere, I think. Where are you, back there in the back? Welcome.

I want to thank Senator Carl Levin for his extraordinary work. As you know - I'm sure everyone in Michigan knows that in January Senator Levin will become at least the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and perhaps the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. We wish him well. In addition to his vigorous representation of the people of Michigan on all kinds of domestic issues, he has been a great leader for keeping our Nation strong and secure in this time of remarkable change. And the State, the Nation, and the President are in your debt, Senator. Thank you very much.

I am delighted to be here in Detroit to discuss the challenges we face as we enter the 21st century, to make sure that we remain the world's strongest force for peace and freedom, for security and prosperity. Detroit is a city meeting the challenges of the future and is the perfect place for me to have this opportunity to visit with you. Yesterday I couldn't help thinking that in the empowerment zone that the mayor and others have worked to make so much of, which has generated $2 billion in private capital to develop the resources of the people of Detroit here, and in the ground we broke yesterday for a $1.6 billion new airport to give you the capacity to reach out to the rest of the world, Detroit is doing what all of America must do. We must develop ourselves and reach out to the rest of the world. Congratulations, Mayor, and to all the other local officials here. We're delighted to be here.

From its very founding, our Nation has stood for the idea that people have the right to control their own lives, to pursue their own dreams. In this century we have done far more than just stand for these principles; Americans have acted upon them and sacrificed for them, fought two World Wars so that freedom could triumph over tyranny, then made commitments that kept the peace, that helped to spread democracy, that brought great prosperity to ourselves and helped to win the cold war.

Now the ideas we struggle for, democracy and freedom - freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, open markets, respect for diversity - these ideas are more and more the ideals of humanity. When we adopted democracy as our form of government in 1776, and then when we ratified our Constitution a few years later, it was an unusual choice that we made. Democracy had largely vanished from the Earth for nearly 2,000 years, since ancient Greece.

In this century, amid all the wars and bloodshed, we have struggled to advance the cause of democracy and to support those who are seeking it. And now, for the first time in history, 61 percent of the world's nations, and for the very first time in the last couple of years, over half of the people on the face of the globe live under democratically elected leaders in free countries. That's a remarkable thing. This never happened before.

Four years ago when I sought the Presidency I said that to build a strong community based on opportunity and responsibility here at home, to be both prosperous and secure, we would have to continue to lead abroad in this new era. The burden of American leadership and the importance of it, indeed, the essential character of American leadership is one of the great lessons of the 20th century. It will be an even more powerful reality in the 21st century, a century in which the blocs and barriers that defined the world for previous generations will continue to give way to greater freedom, faster change, greater communications and commerce across national borders, and more profound innovation than ever before, a century in which more people than ever will have the chance to share in humanity's genius for progress.

As walls come down around the world, so must the walls in our minds between our domestic policy and our foreign policy. Think about it. Our prosperity as individuals, communities, and a nation depends upon our economic policies at home and abroad, on Detroit's empowerment zone and your commitment to an airport facility that will connect you better to the rest of the world. Our well-being as individuals, communities, and a nation depends upon our environmental policies at home and abroad. Our security as individuals, communities, and a nation depends upon our policies to fight terrorism, crime, and drugs at home and abroad. We reduce the threats to people here in America by reducing the threats beyond our borders. We advance our interests at home by advancing the common good around the world.