Remarks at a rally in Los Angeles, California

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Nov 14, 1994

Well, let me ask you something. I don't know about you, but I think it mattered when you had that earthquake and we produced $11.5 billion in record time. I think it mattered when we fixed I-5 and all the other roads in record time, something never before done in the United States of America. Do you know, today we reopened the last earthquake-damaged freeway, the Route 14 connector on I-5? I think that matters, and I think yon think it matters.

I think it matters that 4.9 million families in California are protected by the family leave bill, so they can take a little time off when a child is born or a parent sick without losing a job. I think it matters. I think it matters when 2.1 million families in this State get an income tax cut so they can raise their children and work and not be in poverty. I think that matters.

After all you've been through with the cost of higher education going through the roof, I think it matters that our student loan reform makes 1.6 million Californians eligible for lower cost college loans. And when we put hundreds of millions of dollars into defense conversion and give a third of it to people out here struggling to get off of the terrible recession you've been through, that matters. When we invest in scientific research at your laboratories and create jobs, it matters. When we revitalize the shipbuilding industry in San Diego, it matters. When we do these things, it matters.

When we do things that build the future, it counts. That's why today we had this wonderful news that unemployment is at a 4-year low, that over 5 million new jobs have now been created. That matters. That makes a difference.

Folks, yon have to decide what sort of future you want. I want a strong America. And what makes us strong? What makes us strong is strength abroad and strength at home. We cannot be strong abroad even though we have the strongest military unless we have strong families and strong education system and safe streets and good jobs. That is the strength we are bringing to America, and we need to keep right on doing it. We don't need to turn back now.

And this whole thing comes down to the state of mind of the people of California on Election Day, because if people are cynical and angry, they either won't vote or they will vote against their own interests. You know, as a parent, one of the first things I tried to do, like most parents, as soon as my child was old enough to understand it, was to say, never, never make an important decision when you are mad. When you are mad, count to 10 before you say something. And every time I only got to two, I wound up in a lot of trouble. [Laughter]

Now that is exactly what the Republicans are trying to get you to do in this election. You look at the Wilson ads; you look at the Huffington ads; you listen to them. What they want you to do is not to take time to count to 10, not to remember that this State is the hope of America, not to remember what we can do when we're at our best. They want you to lash out, or they want you to give up. They want you to stay home or come out and vote for not the future but the past. That is what is going on in this election. If you say no thank you, we are going forward in jobs, forward in bringing our deficit down, forward in investing in our future, forward in education, forward in building strong families, we will win. We will win because you will win. You will win. We'll win.