Remarks at an Illinois Victory '94 Fundraising Dinner
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June 16 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 1994 very susceptible to proliferation, to a light water agreement North Korea made for a nonnuclear technology, which is less susceptible, in an envi- Korean Peninsula in an appropriate way. ronment in whichÐand I stressÐin an environ- It depends on the facts. It all depends on ment in which there is a freeze on any nuclear the facts, and that is what we will attempt to activities, then the international community will determine over the next several hours. be able to pursue its objectives of adherence Thank you very much. by North Korea to the NPT, thwarting the pro- liferation of nuclear weapons, achieving the NOTE: The President spoke at 5:45 p.m. in the Briefing Room at the White House. Remarks at an Illinois Victory '94 Fundraising Dinner in Chicago, Illinois June 16, 1994 Thank you. I thought when I got here you'd We're going out to Robert Taylor Homes tomor- be saying, ``Bill, make it short; we're about to row to stick up for the right of people to be starve.'' [Laughter] I want to thank you for wait- safe in their homes and to raise their children ing. I want to thank you for your enthusiasm, in safety. for your dedication, for your support. You know, I am delighted to be here with this entire I had to stay in Washington a little longer to Democratic ticket and your State chair, Gary do my job, the one you elected me to. And LaPaille, and especially with Dawn Clark I was hoping you'd still be here when I got Netsch. Boy, she's something, isn't she? [Ap- here tonight, and I was glad to see you. plause] I think the Straight Shooter is going I want to thank Mayor Daley for his leader- to replace the Comeback Kid as the great mar- ship of this city and for his strong support. I quee of 1994. [Laughter] thank Chairman Wilhelm for that rousing intro- I want to try to tell you a little bit about duction and his hard work. You know, he's just why I think this race for Governor here is im- like a flower at night; when he comes to Chi- portant, and partly in terms of what we're going cago, he just blooms and starts talking. I may through in Washington. You heard David talk have to send four or five of you on the road a little bit about how the odds are stacked with him everywhere, so you can pump him against change; they always have been, you up like that. [Laughter] I thank Senator Simon know. Back in the Middle Ages, the great polit- and Senator Moseley-Braun and Congress- ical philosopher Machiavelli said, there is noth- woman Collins and Congressman Bobby Rush. ing so difficult in all of human affairs than to They are in a very real sense my partners for change the established order of things, because change, and I want to say a little more about the people who stand to lose know what they're that in a moment. I want to thank my former going to lose, and the people who have a hope colleague and good friend Governor Evan Bayh, that things will be better are always afraid that who has done a better job as chairman of the it really won't work out that way. That has al- Democratic Governors than anybody in history. ways been true. And I can say that because I used to have the It is worse in America today because people job, and he's done a better job than anybody have been disappointed for so long, because in history doing it. they have been through difficulties, and because I want to say a special word of thanks, too, we have a political environment in which things to one of my Cabinet members who is here are often communicated to us in the most nega- tonight, to the Secretary of Housing and Urban tive possible way. Those of us who are the forces Development, Mr. Henry Cisneros. I want to of change and who believe in the prospect of thank him for the work he's done with the a better tomorrow, therefore, have a heavy re- mayor and Vince Lane and everybody else to sponsibility to keep our hearts up, our heads try to bring safety and sanity to public housing up, and to keep on fighting for what we believe in Chicago and throughout the United States. in. 1088 Administration of William J. Clinton, 1994 / June 16 When I first came to Illinois, running for zens and ask of them more responsibility in their President, I knew two things. One is, I knew citizenship, to try to rebuild the American com- that even if I won in the South on Super Tues- munity across the lines of race and income and day, I had to win in Illinois the next week or region, and to try to make Government work I couldn't be nominated for President. The for ordinary people again. And we're off to an other thing I knew is what Dawn Clark Netsch awful good start. said, which was even more important, was that Look what's happened to this economy. After I needed to have a reason to want to be Presi- years and years and years in which the deficit dent. You need to know why you want these got bigger every year because nobody had the jobs. And when you do and when you work guts to make the tough decisions to bring it for it and when that drives you every day, then down, thanks to the people standing behind me you can fight for change and you can live with in the Congress and the work we did togetherÐ the misunderstandings and you can fight through with no help, not a single solitary vote, not one, the ups and downs and you can keep on going not one from the other sideÐwe reversed 12 because you're not doing it for you, you're doing years of favoritism for the wealthiest Americans, itÐfor you. [Laughter] explosion of the debt, mortgaging our children's And I looked at her up here giving that future, to turn that around. speech, and I told Mayor Daley, I said, ``You And what has happened? You know, they hate know something? She's really got it.'' She has to admit it, they just scream, ``Tax and spend.'' really got it, because she has a reason that is They're like a broken old record; they can't bigger than herself to be Governor and because think of anything else to say. But the truth is, she is trying to build, not tear down; to unite, the deficit began to come down; interest rates not divide; to talk about something good, not went down last year; the economy began to something bad. This matters. And it is what move. And look what the record is: We've had our country desperately needs today. 3.4 million new jobs in this economy in 17 We are still fighting through this, because months, 90 percent of them in the private sec- every time we win a victory it's a one-day story, tor, not Government jobs. The deficit is going and the problems and the process are a one- down. And when the Congress passes this bill, week story. And we are dealing with an opposi- this budget, we will have 3 years of consecutive tion that is deeply skilled at placing blame and reduction in the Government deficit, not under claiming credit and running away when the a Republican but with a Democratic President tough decisions have to be made. Sometimes and a Democratic Congress, for the first time they remind me in Washington of that old sign since Harry Truman was the President of the I tell everybody about that I once saw on a United States; 3 years in a row the deficit will back road in my State. It said, a sign that was go down. And this Congress did it while increas- waving on a fence, it said, ``George Jones, veteri- ing spending on education, increasing spending narian/taxidermistÐeither way, you get your dog on Head Start, increasing spending on women's back.'' [Laughter] They don't really care as long health research, increasing spending on new as they can put blame and escape responsibility. technologies for the 21st century to give us a Well, I ran for President to end blame-placing better economy. That's the record that we have and to assume responsibility. And I relish in established. I will gladly run on it and defend the controversy change causes as long as we it. are moving. They call it tax and spend. They believe they We were told last year by several nonpartisan can just keep on saying the same old thing and surveys that the Congress of the United States somebody will believe it even if there are no and the President of the United States working facts to support it. I'll tell you what tax and together in 1993 accomplished more in the first spend was in this last budget: 1.2 percent of year of a Presidency than had been done in the American people paid higher income taxes, any time since World War II, except President and one in six working American families got Eisenhower and President Johnson's first year.