Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000 / Sept. 12 going to happen?’’ I say, ‘‘Well, I’m pretty opti- so much darkness since the dawn of human mistic.’’ The Speaker of the Knesset said, ‘‘Ah, history has not yet quite been expunged from yes, but that’s your nature. Everyone knows it.’’ the human soul. And so we all still have work [Laughter] The truth is, we have come to a to do. painful choice between continued confrontation Thank you, and God bless you. and a chance to move beyond violence to build just and lasting peace. Like all life’s chances, this one is fleeting, and the easy risks have all NOTE: The President spoke at 9:38 p.m. in the been taken already. Grand Ballroom at the Pierre Hotel. In his re- I think it important to remind ourselves that marks, he referred to Edgar Bronfman, Sr., presi- the Middle East brought forth the world’s three dent, World Jewish Congress, his son, Edgar great monotheistic religions, each telling us we Bronfman, Jr., president and chief executive offi- must recognize our common humanity; we must cer, Seagram and Sons, and his daughter-in-law, love our neighbor as ourselves; if we turn aside Clarissa Bronfman; Singer, secretary gen- a stranger, it is as if we turn aside the Most eral, World Jewish Congress; Nobel Prize winner High God. and author Elie Wiesel; former Senator Alfonse But when the past is piled high with hurt M. D’Amato; Vice Chancellor Joschka Fischer and and hatred, that is a hard lesson to live by. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of ; Gov. We cannot undo past wrongs in the Middle George E. Pataki of New York; Alan G. Hevesi, East, either. But we are never without the comptroller; Paul A. Volcker, power to right them to some extent. And the former Chairman, Board; former struggle you have waged and won here for res- Secretary of State Lawrence S. Eagleburger; attor- titution, the struggle we honor tonight, shows ney Stanley M. Chesley; Speaker Avraham Burg, that the effort is always worth making. Israeli Knesset; Prime Minister Ehud Barak and I thank you for supporting that good work. former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of I salute you for what you have accomplished. Israel; and former President Nelson Mandela of But I remind you, the demon that has driven South Africa.

Remarks on Proposed Education Appropriations Legislation and an Exchange With Reporters September 12, 2000

The President. Good morning, everyone. I’m to invest more in the priorities that work well looking forward to a meeting this afternoon with for our students, in smaller classes, good teach- congressional leadership that will be an impor- ers, modern schools, more after-school programs tant part of our ongoing efforts to resolve the and preschool programs, and accountability for budget differences that we still have in these results. The Vice President is also talking about last few weeks on the basis of good policy, not this important issue today in Ohio. politics or partisanship. In 1996 only 14 States had statewide aca- Perhaps the most important issue is edu- demic standards. Today, with strong Federal in- cation, where politics always should stop at the centives, 49 States have them. The results are schoolhouse door. We’ve worked very hard for measurable. Reading and math scores are up 71⁄2 years now for higher standards, more ac- across the country. The number of African- countability, reforms that work, and greater in- American students taking advanced placement vestment. The results are coming in, and it’s courses has nearly tripled, and for Hispanics the clear that this strategy is working, thanks to the number has jumped 500 percent. efforts of our educators, students, and parents. Over 90 percent of our schools are now Today I’m releasing a report showing that hooked up to the Internet. Overall, SAT math American students in schools are making steady scores are the highest since they’ve been since gains in almost every category. I urge Congress 1969, the year Neil Armstrong landed on the

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Moon. And thanks in part to the HOPE scholar- repair another 5,000 a year over the next 5 ships, bigger Pell grants, and more affordable years. student loans, more students are going on to Yesterday the Urban Institute reported that college than at any time since the GI bill. at least 4 million American children between We’ve also been working hard to help more the ages of 6 and 12 are latchkey kids, fending low-income students go to college, expanding for themselves every day after school, until a the TRIO program, and pushing our new GEAR parent gets home from work. Experts tell us UP initiative. GEAR UP is a partnership with this is precisely the time of day when young low-income kids that says if you’ll aim high and people without adult supervision get into the aspire to college, we’ll help you get there with most trouble. That’s why after-school programs counseling, mentoring, tutoring, and financial are so important. aid. It sends a message that with hope, hard We had the beginnings of our after-school work, and high hopes, high expectations, you program with a $1 million demonstration pro- can go as far as your abilities will take you. gram back in 1997. Now, it’s a critical program Today I’m releasing $46 million in GEAR UP providing a safe learning environment and extra grants to create even more college opportunities. academic support in the after after-school hours With existing funding, these grants will now en- to students all across the country. Last year the able more than 700,000 of our students to study 21st Century Community Learning Centers pro- hard, graduate, and get ahead. But we need vided after-school and summer school opportu- to do more. For every student participating in nities to 850,000 of our students across the GEAR UP, many more were turned away. country. In fact, just a few days ago, I received a This year our budget would more than double letter, signed by more than 100 college presi- that program to a billion dollars. If we more dents, underscoring the need for more GEAR than double the 850,000, that will make a sig- UP funding. That’s why I’m asking Congress nificant dent in the number of those kids who to increase next year’s support to $325 million, are latchkey kids. which would give another 600,000 students the These are just some of the education priorities chance to succeed. that we need to address this fall. There are Making sure these students get the attention a number of others included in our budget. I and instruction they need is even more vital hope they’ll be in the final agreement. But we in the early grades. That’s why we’re working need to do this, again I say, based on good so hard to reduce class size by putting 100,000 policy. We need to do right by our children, good, new, well-trained teachers into our class- make smart choices, and give them and our rooms. Over the past 2 years, we’ve helped our Nation a better future. schools to hire nearly 30,000 of these teachers, Thank you very much. and this year we’re asking Congress for the funding to make that 46,000. Firestone Recall And we can’t act fast enough. This fall, our Q. Mr. President, do you think that the Gov- schools are overflowing with a record 53 million ernment dropped the ball in detecting the Fire- students. Around the country, school districts stone tire problem and was aggressive enough are struggling hard to find good teachers. They in ordering a recall? shouldn’t have to shoulder this burden alone. The President. Terry [Terence Hunt, Associ- That’s why we’ve requested a billion dollars for ated Press], I honestly don’t know. I have been recruitment and training to help to put a quali- following the congressional hearings, and as you fied teacher in every classroom. know, I’ve been otherwise occupied for the last We also need to ensure that the classrooms several days. So before I can give you an in- themselves make the grade. The average Amer- formed opinion, I need to be fully briefed, and ican public school was built 42 years ago. Time I haven’t been. has taken its toll. Congress should act quickly to help districts modernize old schools and build United Kingdom Petroleum Protests/OPEC new ones. It’s high time we got our children Production out of trailers and into 21st century classrooms. Q. Mr. President, do you have any reaction As you know, our initiative would help to build on the situation in Britain, where they’re pro- or dramatically overhaul 6,000 schools and to testing they don’t have enough oil? Even though

1796 Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000 / Sept. 12

OPEC has promised to increase output, there by continuing to push production above con- are still problems. sumption. The President. Well, all I know about it is But it’s clear, if you look at the what I read this morning in the press. And and , where the population is just I couldn’t tell, frankly, whether the protest was a little over—well, our population, combined over high prices, where 76 percent of the price with Canada’s, is about 80 percent of Europe’s, is in fuel taxes—their gasoline prices, I think, and our fuel, our oil usage is about 50 percent are about more than 21⁄2 times what ours are— more than theirs. So I think that we have lots or whether they’re worried about short supplies. of low hanging fruit here for energy conserva- But I don’t think blocking the way to the tion that will create jobs, increase incomes, and refineries is a way to deal with the short supply reduce our vulnerability to the tight oil markets. issue. I’m just not sure I know enough about I have, for the last several years, asked the the facts there. Congress to adopt some vigorous tax incentives I think what we need to be concerned about to encourage both businesses and individuals to is what we’re doing here. We’re working very buy energy conservation supplies and appliances. hard to make sure our home heating oil reserve I hope that Congress will consider them this is filled for the Northeast by the end of October. year, favorably, and I hope that we will also And I think we’ll get there. The Secretary of increase our investments in high mileage vehi- Energy has let the contracts, and we’re watching cles and alternative fuels. We’re on the verge very closely what the market will do on prices, of some very, very promising discoveries, and as a result of the recent OPEC initiative. And now is not the time to weaken our commitment we’re also examining what other options we to the partnership for the next generation vehi- might have in the event we have a tough winter. cles that the Vice President has supported so So I think we need to look at that, and we strongly, and to developing these other alter- need to make sure we do everything we can native sources of fuels and other means of get- to get through this winter. The fundamental ting high mileage vehicles. challenge here is that the economies are now We’ve got to deal with the long term and strong in Europe and the United States; they’re the short term and recognize that, at least over picking up in Asia. So oil price consumption the long term, we’re going to have to have a is going up, and it has been above oil price combination of alternative energy sources and production. greater conservation. And it can be a great job Oil price production can get above consump- boon to our country, and it can save money tion again, and we can replace some of our for ordinary Americans if we do it right. So depleted inventories, which are quite low in the I’m hoping we’ll have a short-term and a long- United States, and I hope that will happen. But term resolution. I also hope that the American people and the Thank you very much. Congress will look at the long-term implications. I believe we can get through this winter, and NOTE: The President spoke at 9:20 a.m. on the we can get through another couple of years, South Lawn at the White House.

Remarks on the Legislative Agenda and an Exchange With Reporters September 12, 2000

The President. I’d like to make just a couple I’m hoping that we can resolve our dif- of brief remarks and then ask the congressional ferences over the budget, especially in the area leaders to speak. Let me, first of all, thank them of education, and I made a more detailed state- for coming here. I’m looking forward to our ment about that earlier today. I’m also hoping meeting and to these last few weeks of working that we can pass a Patients’ Bill of Rights and together before they adjourn for election season. hate crimes legislation and a minimum wage agreement that will have some small business

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