Sept. 21 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000

11th Congressional District; Marietta Robinson, President Nelson Mandela of South Africa; and candidate for Michigan State Supreme Court; Republican Presidential and Vice Presidential former Gov. James J. Blanchard of Michigan; candidates Gov. George W. Bush of Texas and former Senator Donald W. Riegle, Jr.; South Afri- Dick Cheney. can Ambassador to the U.S. Sheila Sisulu; former

Remarks at the Dedication of the Harry S. Building September 22, 2000

Thank you very much, and good afternoon. I could have listened to you for another hour Secretary Albright, thank you for your remarks and a half. And I think I speak for all the and your leadership. My longtime friend Ike people in this audience in saying that we are Skelton and the other members of the Missouri grateful you are here to provide us a living ac- congressional delegation, thank you for this great count of a remarkable time and a great Presi- gift to America and to our children. dent. And we are grateful for your service to John Truman and the members of the Tru- America, as well, and we thank you, sir. man family, we welcome you here. We are hon- And I want to thank James Earl Jones for ored by your presence. And I’d like to say a being here, and also for his friendship to me special word of personal thanks on behalf of over these years. I was so hoping, before I knew Hillary and myself to Daniel he would come, that there would be an African- for her uncommon kindness and concern for American in this place at this time who could the First Lady and our daughter, for nearly 9 be the living embodiment of the remarkable years now. We are thinking about her in what steps Harry Truman took that put us on the has been a hard year. road we still travel today. I was telling John Truman when we came You have made quite a showing in your life, out here that Margaret came to dinner with Mr. Jones. But I can’t help thinking that in her late husband several years ago at the White more modest and less famous ways, there are House, and I rather cavalierly, along with Hil- hundreds of thousands of others whose lives lary, had her to dinner in the private dining were also encouraged and advanced by Harry room on the second floor. And I did a little Truman’s courage. And we thank you for being research right before she came and discovered here today to embody that. that that had been her music room when she was a young lady living in the White House Most of all, I would like to thank our Foreign with another First Family that had only one Service and civil service employees who are child, a daughter. here, who work every day to advance our inter- And so I asked her, I said, ‘‘Margaret, how ests and values around the world and to make do you like this dining room?’’ And she said, us more free and more secure. ‘‘Well, Mr. President, I like you, but I really This is a very good thing we’re doing today. don’t think people should eat on the same floor Listen to this: In 1956, at the close of his visit they sleep.’’[Laughter] And I felt as if I were to Great Britain, the London Daily Telegraph in the presence of Harry Truman all over again. called Harry Truman ‘‘the living and kicking [Laughter] So I dutifully got down my well- symbol of everything everyone likes best about worn copy of David McCullough’s great biog- America.’’ That’s a pretty good reason for put- raphy, and I looked at the houses of Harry and ting his name on the State Department. But in Independence, and sure it really doesn’t even get into the top 10, for enough, they were two-story houses, where the history will credit Harry Truman for creating bedrooms were on the top floor and the dining the architecture of postwar internationalism in room was on the ground floor. politics and economics; for drawing the line I want to say to you, Mr. Elsey, I wish you against communism and for democracy, setting had just taken the whole program. [Laughter] us squarely on the trail of freedom we continue

1902 Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000 / Sept. 22 to blaze today; for leading America toward in- With global interdependence growing daily, creasing prosperity and racial equality here at creating ever-new opportunities and new and home; and for laying the groundwork for pio- different vulnerabilities, the need for U.S. lead- neering achievements in meeting America’s ership in the world has never been greater. The health care needs, even though he paid a dear need for building on Harry Truman’s legacy has price for it. never been greater. We are still blessed because President Tru- But the old American pull of isolationism— man understood the importance not just of win- or at least, in this age, cut-way-back-ism—is still ning the war but of building the institutions there. We should remember what he said: ‘‘Last- and alliances that could maintain the peace. ing peace,’’ President Truman reminded us, What a job he did: the United Nations; NATO; ‘‘means bread and justice and opportunity and the ; the Berlin Airlift; Korea; freedom for all the people of the world.’’ My and the . Oh, yes, he was com- fellow Americans, this is a great day, and this mitted to military strength. But from the very is a good thing. But we should do more than beginning, he knew that peace could not be dedicate this building to Harry Truman. We maintained and the cold war could not be won should rededicate ourselves today to fulfilling by military power alone. He told the National his vision in the new century. War College, behind the shield of military To paraphrase what he said so long ago, it strength, ‘‘We must help people improve the means we have to put a small percentage of conditions of life, to create a world in which the resources we put into winning the cold war democracy and freedom can flourish.’’ That’s an to work in the world in keeping the peace, ad- argument he had to make over and over and vancing global prosperity, reducing poverty, over again. I can identify with that. fighting AIDS, battling terrorism, defending In early 1947, the House cut in half President human rights, supporting free press and democ- Truman’s request for funds to prevent starvation racy around the world. and disease in occupied Germany and Japan. We need to move forward with debt relief He knew he had to turn that mentality around, for the world’s poorest nations, to give them but he believed he could. He would often say, the lifeline they need to fight AIDS and educate ‘‘I trust the people, because when they know their children and become better partners for the facts, they do the right thing.’’ us in the world. These are the kinds of invest- So when he went before a joint session of ments Harry Truman proved decades ago could Congress to call for emergency aid to keep keep our soldiers out of war. If we do not want Greece and Turkey from falling into the Com- to overuse our military, we must not underfund munist orbit, he put it this way: ‘‘The United our diplomacy. States contributed $341 billion toward winning I believe if President Truman were here World War II. The assistance I recommend today, he would tell us that if we truly want amounts to little more than one-tenth of one to honor him, we should prepare for the future percent of that investment. It is only common in our time, as he prepared for our future in sense that we should safeguard this investment his. Those of us here today know that that and make sure it was not in vain.’’ With the means not only investing in foreign affairs; it leadership and support of like-minded Members also means investing in the capacity of our own of Congress, the bill was on his desk in 2 people at home. months, passed by overwhelming majorities in Truman once said, ‘‘The success of our for- both Houses. And he fought the same way to eign policy depends upon the strength of our win America over to the Marshall plan. domestic policy.’’ Well, he tried it, and it Harry Truman’s unmatched insight allowed worked. By the close of his administration, he him to see emerging patterns in history, to iden- had helped to create 11 million new jobs; unem- tify new challenges over the horizon, and to ployment was at a record low; farm and business build the institutions and approaches to meet incomes at all-time highs; the minimum wage them. Thanks, in no small measure, to President had increased; Social Security benefits had dou- Truman, we have won the cold war and now bled; 8 million veterans had been to college must shoulder a like responsibility for meeting on the GI bill; and our country had moved the challenges of a new century and a new era closer to one America, across the lines of race in human affairs. that divided us.

1903 Sept. 22 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000

In 1947 President Truman was the first Presi- duty to meet the challenge of the aging of dent ever to address the NAACP. His biog- America; of the largest and most diverse group rapher, David McCullough, called it the strong- of schoolchildren in our Nation’s history; of fam- est statement on civil rights heard in Washington ilies struggling to balance the obligation to work since the time of Lincoln. President Truman with the more important obligation to raise their said, ‘‘I meant every word, and I’m going to children well; to explore the far frontiers of prove it.’’ And so he did, desegregating the science and technology in a way that benefits Armed Forces and the Federal civil service and ordinary Americans and protects our most cher- continuing to fight for civil rights gains. ished values; to get this country out of debt He also envisioned a new system of health for the first time since Andrew Jackson was care for the elderly and affordable health insur- President. ance for all Americans. He led America on the Around the world, we have to face the threat first leg of a long march that would end in of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, 1965, with the creation of Medicare. He en- terrorism, narcotrafficking, the persistent, endur- dured vicious attacks, and his party lost the Con- ing ethnic, religious, tribal, and racial conflicts gress in a record way, in no small measure be- that grip so many places in the world, and new cause he simply thought that people, when they and different threats that could profoundly affect needed a doctor, ought to be able to get one. us all, including global warming and the rise But at the signing ceremony for Medicare of AIDS and other infectious diseases, along several years later, the guest of honor was Harry with the breakdown of public health systems Truman. President Johnson gave him the very around the world. first Medicare card and said, ‘‘It was really But we’re well-positioned to deal with this, Harry Truman who planted the seeds of com- thanks in no small measure to what Harry Tru- passion and duty which have today flowered into man and his generation did so long ago. He care for the sick and serenity for the fearful.’’ gave us the opportunities we have today. It’s So at home and around the world, if we truly a good thing that we say, thanks, Mr. President, wish to honor President Truman, we will do by naming this building for him. It would be in our day what he did so brilliantly in his: a far, far better thing if we would follow his see clearly the long-term path we must follow, lead and give the same set of opportunities to take the first steps without hesitation. our grandchildren. I pray God that we will. This is a kind of time Harry Truman must Thank you, and God bless you. have dreamed of at the end of World War II, at the dawn of the cold war, in the bitterest, bleakest days of the conflict in Korea: an Amer- NOTE: The President spoke at 1:33 p.m. outside ica at peace, with prosperity, social progress, the Harry S. Truman Building. In his remarks, no crippling internal crisis or external threat. he referred to President Truman’s grandnephew, Like our victory in World War II, this opens John Ross Truman, and daughter, Margaret Tru- a whole new era for us. It gives us great oppor- man Daniel; George M. Elsey, former administra- tunities, enormous challenges, profound respon- tive assistant to President Truman; and actor sibilities. At home, we have the chance and the James Earl Jones, master of ceremonies.

The President’s Internet Address September 22, 2000

Good afternoon. We Americans are truly for- way Government serves the American people. tunate to be living at such an exciting time. Today I want to talk about a major step we’re Computers and the Internet are revolutionizing taking toward that goal. the way we work, live, relate to each other and When I became President, there were only the rest of the world. They also have the poten- 50 websites on the entire World Wide Web. tial to fundamentally transform and improve the Today, there are almost 20 million. Under the

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