Remarks in Macon, Georgia October 25, 1996
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Administration of William J. Clinton, 1996 / Oct. 25 2185 So in the President's race, in the Senate didate for the Senate in Georgia. A tape was not races, in the House races, in the governor- available for verification of the content of these ships, it's notÐthe choice people make for remarks. This item was not received in time for their future is not just for whom they vote, publication in the appropriate issue. but it's whether they vote. Now, you know what to do. You know how to do it. I think every one of you listening Remarks in Macon, Georgia to me today understands the profound his- October 25, 1996 toric significance of this vote. But I just sit hereÐI'm in Georgia today. The President. Thank you. Hello, Macon. We just left this rally, so I'm thinking espe- Audience members. Four more years! cially about Max Cleland. It's hard to imagine Four more years! Four more years! an American serving in public life today who The President. Thank you so much. sacrificed more for his country than Max Thank you. Mr. Mayor, thank you for a beau- Cleland, a man who nearly gave his life, gave tiful day in a beautiful city. I'm delighted to up three of his limbs to serve America in be here. Thank you for the Macon Whoopee the war in Vietnam. But he's still out there hockey jersey. [Laughter] You know, tomor- with a smile on his face, a song in his heart, row is Hillary's birthday; maybe I ought to trying to serve the public. Being attacked as give that to her. [Laughter] If that gets on being too liberalÐthatÐis heÐI don't think the news before I get home tonight, I'm in so. deep trouble. [Laughter] It's just that his idea of sacrifice is not tak- I want to thank all of our musicians here, ing Head Start away from children or telling the Central High School Marching Charger people they can't have a college loan or tell- Band, the Northeast High School Raider ing young people that live in poor inner-city Band. I thank the Community Church of neighborhoods they have to go on living by God choir, the New Fellowship Missionary their toxic waste dumps because we're going Baptist Church choir, the Swift Creek to cut environmental enforcement and envi- Church choir. Thank you all. ronmental protection. His idea of service is I thank the Mayor again for welcoming me helping other people to make the most of here. I thank Mayor Floyd Adams, who has their own lives so that the sacrifice he made come all the way from Savannah to be with so many years ago is for the America of his usÐone of the most beautiful cities in Amer- dreams. And that's why I soÐI want Max ica. Thank you. I thank the legislators and Cleland to win. He is a remarkable man. I've the others who are here. I thank Rosemary known him many, many years. He's a won- Kaszans, who's running for Congress in derful man. Georgia, and wish her well. It all depends on the turnout. So I ask you I want to say a special word of thanks to all to think about that. Do what you can. You the person who seeks to be your Congress- know what to do. You know how to do it. man here, Jim Wiggins. Jim Wiggins is really And if we all show up, we'll have a real cele- what a Member of Congress from this district bration on November 5th. ought to be, a distinguished American vet- Thank you. eran, a distinguished prosecuting attorney who did an excellent job as the United States NOTE: The President spoke at 2:05 p.m. from Attorney here. I frankly hated to lose him Paschal's Restaurant. In his remarks, he referred in that position. But I was proud of him for to former United Nations Ambassador Andrew coming back home and wanting to run for Young; Carol Willis, senior adviser to the chair, Congress to try to give this district to the Democratic National Committee; Mayor Eman- people of Georgia and to its future. Thank uel Cleaver II of Kansas City, MO; Alma Brown, national cochair, Clinton/Gore '96; Bishop Chan- you, Jim Wiggins, for your [inaudible]ÐÐ dler Owens, presiding bishop, Church of God and Thank you, Richard Gallo, and the Inter- Christ; Mayor Dennis W. Archer of Detroit; Gov. national Brotherhood of Police Officers, for Zell Miller of Georgia; former baseball player your support. One of the most moving things Hank Aaron; and Max Cleland, Democratic can- to me in this election has been to have every VerDate 28-OCT-97 07:52 Nov 06, 1997 Jkt 010199 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 1244 Sfmt 1244 W:\DISC\P44OC4.028 p44oc4 2186 Oct. 25 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 1996 major law enforcement organization in the I was honored to take Zell Miller to country endorse 4 more years for Bill Clinton Princeton University with me when I pro- and Al Gore. We're making the streets of posed an American version of Georgia's this country safer. If you give us 4 more years HOPE scholarships to make 2 years of col- we'll do a better job and people will feel safe lege as universal in America as a high school in their streets, in their neighborhoods, and diploma is today, and I thank you, Zell Miller, in their schools. for that as well. I want to say a special word of thanks, too, And I want to thank Senator Sam Nunn to Congressman Sanford Bishop. What a for his early support, for the ideas he has fine, fine Member of Congress he has been. contributed to our administration, for the He will be an even greater Member of Con- work that he's done to make sure our military gress when you give a young man like him remains the strongest in the world, and the some more terms, some more experience, many, many contributions he has made to and greater capacity to help this State, his making Georgia and America a better place. district, and the people. So if any of you here There are some AmeriCorps folks out here; live in his new district, give him a boost, he's Sam Nunn was out there supporting national earned it. You need to help him. Thank you, service before I became President. And when Sanford Bishop. I got in office I was able to take the advocacy There are some people here, tooÐI know that Sam Nunn had had for so long and now that Hershel Gober, the Deputy Director of we've given 60,000 Americans a chance to serve in their local community, to solve prob- the department of veterans administration, lems at the grassroots level, and pay their and Mary Lou Kenner are up here on the way through college. Thank you, Sam Nunn. stage; they're veterans for Clinton-Gore, tak- Senator Nunn told you that very moving ing caravans all through Georgia. Thank you story about seeing the Russian nuclear sub very much. There they are over there. Thank destroyed. But he was characteristically too you, I treasure your support. modest. I wrote him a letter the other day I want to say now a special word about and I said, Senator, when the history of this my friend Governor Zell Miller. Zell Miller era is written and people talk about how the spoke at the '92 convention about growing cold war came to an end and how we moved up in a house his mother built herself with into a bright new day of security, the name her own hands. It was about the most moving of Sam Nunn will loom large because it was talk I ever heard at one of those political con- Sam Nunn's leadership, along with Senator ventions, maybe because it was so personal, Dick Lugar, that got the funds through Con- so human, and because the political positions gress that helped us to contribute to the ef- that Zell Miller holds flow out of the experi- fort to make sure that the nuclear missiles ence of his life. He's been a teacher, a United were removed from the non-Russian Repub- States marine, and a brilliant, brilliant Gov- lics of the former Soviet Union and helped ernor of Georgia. us to reduce nuclear arsenals by two-thirds He wrote the new platform that the and helped make sure that today, as we stand Democrats are running on. And I got so tick- here in Macon, Georgia, there are no Russian led when our friends met in San Diego and missiles targeted at the United States of their nominee, my opponent, saidÐthey America. Thank you, Sam Nunn. said, ``Well, what about this platform. Do you I want to thank those of you who have any- agree with the things in this platform?'' And thing to do with Robins Air Force Base. It he said, ``Oh, I haven't read it.'' They were did win the President's award as the finest running from their platform, just like they're Air Force base in the world last year. It will running from what they did in 1995 and early be the home of the 19 new J±STAR's, which '96. Well, I want to tell you something, folks. I saw yesterday, the place where they're I'm not running from the platform Zell Mil- made in Louisiana.